Sparkplug

The gang over at Jib Jab have done it again.  This time the target is the press and what a target it is.  After the Virginia Tech media orgy over the past few weeks this animation is even more relevent.

What We Call the News is unfortunately sad, but true.

Thanks to my dad (the consumate journalist) for pointing this hilarious new animation out. 

It’s always the little things that get to you…  The person next to you at the lunch counter who smacks loudly while eating because he can’t eat with his mouth closed.  Or the moron who insists on sharing her mundane life with everyone around her as she talks loudly on her cell phone.  Or the thoughtless person who doesn’t pick up when their dog uses my front lawn as a toilet. Or my personal favourite, people who talk in the movies.

Pet peeves we all have them. Some, like people who have 12 items in the 10 items or less check out line, are minor nuisances.  Others, like idiot store clerks or obnoxious civil servants, are major pet peeves. (more…)

Here he was on the front page of every newspaper, looking like a crazed Yosemite Sam, waving the pistols he would use to kill 32 innocent people at Virginia Tech.

In this age of instant celebrity and media madness, he had camera-checked, locked and loaded and delivered his raving manifesto in his innocuous Napoleon Dynamite voice.  Like a dutiful press agent he had paused between killing sprees on Monday to thoughtfully mail his “package” to NBC.

I can imagine his package moving its way through the postal system and then into the NBC mailroom where I’m sure it was sorted into the pile of other unsolicited materials along with the amateur audition tapes for The Apprentice, bad ideas for new series and other items destined for form letter response. (more…)

The latest issue of e-learning magazine (Spring 2007) arrived this morning and it has a great article on organizational leadership development called “Are You Herding Cats“.

Apart from a worn out sports metaphor kicking off the article author Kim Lamourex takes a revealing look at the state of leadership development today.  It is not surprising to see that organizations who target all levels for leadership development are the most successful.  These companies lead in categories such as business results, retention and quality of leadership strength.

It’s worth a read…

“The average age of our employees is thirty two.”

This quote is from a young, and some would argue, airheaded, human resources professional who was interviewing a friend of mine for a position at a media company several years ago.

My friend was approaching fifty so this casual remark was not lost on her.  It was if the H.R. functionary had informed her that “the average skin colour of our employees is white“. (more…)

Kurt Vonnegut passed away yesterday after suffering a head injury in his home last week.

I first encountered Vonnegut in high school when I read one of his short stories and discovered he had named a character McGarvey.  After that I went on a Vonnegut binge reading everything of his that was in print. (more…)

More shameless promotion…

Back in the 90’s my friend Don Hutchison wrote an excellent book on pulp magazines called “The Great Pulp Heroes”.  Many critics consider it to be one of the finest studies of the subject.  As a result the original printing was completely sold out and it has become a much sought after book.

“The coverage of the characters, content, authors, and even some of the artists of the pulp hero era of American popular literature within this volume are excellent and help you really understand the blood, sweat and tears that went into the development of the pulps. A must-read on the subject!” (more…)