Finally!!!

So it has only taken 4 or 5 years since I first decided they are one of my favourite bands, but The Killers have finally announced a NZ tour!!! And even better, one of the shows is in Christchurch, which almost gaurantees me going.

Trying not to get my hopes up too much after the bitter disappointments of Christina Aguilera, Duran Duran, Ryan Adams and Kanye West, but this does fit in with my theme of the last few years (the whole 'see one awesome gig at the start of the year and miss out on every other good one after that' theme that has plagued my existence since moving to Christchurch)

All We Are Saying...

During my recent John Lennon Marathon (where I listened to all my 40 hours of John Lennon music during work hours for a full week. Also referred to as my 'Lennonthon') I felt a pang of inspiration while listening to Amsterdam:

"...what we're really doing is sending out a message to the world, mainly to the
youth, especially the youth or anybody really that's interested in protesting
for peace, or protesting against any form of violence and we say everybody's
getting a bit heavy or bit intellectual about it. Everybody's talking about
peace, but nobody's doing anything about it, except for a few people, and the
things are - the Grosvenor Square marches in London - the end product of it was
just newspaper stories about riots and fightings. And we did the bed event in
Amsterdam and the bag piece in Vienna just to give people an idea, that there's
many ways of protest and this is one of them. And anybody could grow their hair
for peace or give up a week of their holiday for peace or sit in a bag for
peace, protest for peace any way, but peacefully cause we think that peace is
only got by peaceful methods and that to fight the establishment with their own
weapons is no good, because they always win and they'd been winning for
thousands of years. They know how to play the game violence and it's easier for
them when they can recognise you and shoot you. They don't know how to handle
humour, peaceful humour, and that's our message really."

Anyways, one line of that really stood out while I was listening to it: "anybody could grow their hair for peace"

And I figure that with all the violence in the Middle East right now, and the constant reminders of racism in this country - all this bullshit in the world - I am doing my part and growing my hair for peace. Luckily, I was going to get it cut on New Year's Eve (I haven't had it cut for around 2 months already - maybe I was subconsciously beginning my peaceful protest...) but didn't end up getting it done, so it will be interesting to see how long I get it.

Also, I think my flatmate may be starting a 'Grow Your Hair for Peace' group on Facebook (I would, but I am allergic to Facebook)

Happy New Year

And so here is my first post of 2009 - don't get used to it. The next month or two will be awfully busy for me, and I have nothing to say these days so I can't imagine I will be posting on here often.

But anyways, 2008 is now long gone. I can't remember much of it; just one of those years you look back and go 'Gosh, I really didn't do anything in the last 12 months' so here's hoping I actually do achieve a little more this year.

On to the point of today's blog:

In the mail today arrived some mail for the Human Resource Manager (we don't have one, so I decided that was me) and it was an ad for a seminar. A seminar on 'Dealing Effectively with Unacceptable Employee Behaviour'.

Now you may be saying "But that is a good idea!". You may also be saying "I have a bag of cashews" in which case I am saying to you "Give me some!"

But what makes this advertisement so fun is the following info:

If you supervise one or more of these employees, you need to take action NOW!

Antagonist:
Is rude and unpleasant to co-workers,
suppliers and
customers
Blameless Bob: Always has an excuse for
everything
Whiner: Complains no matter what he or she
is asked to do
Thumb-Twiddler: Lacks motivation and
initiative
Insubordinate Subordinate: Challenges you in
front of
other workers and managers
Tortoise: Shows up
late or not at all
Amy Attitude: Has negative attitude that
brings everybody
down
Hand-Holder: Needs constant
supervision
Early-Retiree: Has been around awhile and is
beginning to
practise at-work retirement
Worrywart: Has
personal problems that infringe on the
working
day
Clock-Watcher: Refuses to work weekends or even a minute
beyond "quitting time" - even during deadline crunches

While I would consider myself a strong candidate for Early-Retiree, the name Amy Attitude just cracked me up. And if you have an "Insubordinate Subordinate", then it probably means you make stupid decisions and someone is just smart/brave enough to call you on it. Also, if your contract states you work Monday to Friday 8am to 5pm, I don't really see that refusing to work weekends makes you a difficult employee. I work extra hours when I need to (always is my own decision to do so, and they are completely unpaid) but I do it so I too do not have to work weekends. I also used to work with a girl who left 5 minutes early everyday no matter what, and my boss thought she was the greatest employee she had!

OK I need to stop being a Thumb-Twiddler and do some work...