i got sent a link to this. Galic Football is an entertaining game to watch, this is an Ireland (home of the game) Australia game where a dog not only gets loose on the pitch, but joins in the game. The commentators are having fun, worth 4 minutes of your time.
At 1.40ish, “The dog has been the best defender for Ireland in this game!” I was amused.
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We were in the office this morning (yep Sunday) talking about plans and traditions at this time of year. Friends and colleagues are heading all over the world for Christmas. Thailand, Florida, California, Ohio (reluctantly), Spain, France, and of course I’m heading to London.
Other than the family and traditional over indulgence (which seems universal), this time of year means different things all over the world. From my experience Christmas tends to be more raucous, often involves regrettable incidents at company Christmas parties and good times with friends.
My brother works for the police and the weekend before Christmas is their busiest weekend of the year. The cells are overflowing with people over doing it and making poor decisions.
Company Christmas parties are typically an excuse to drink too much and create stores that will do the rounds until someone in accounting eclipses it next year. It’s almost like a get-out-of-jail-free pass is given to act like a fool and the only consequence is everyone in the office get’s to laugh at you. According to the Daily Mail half of those who attend company party in the UK will be hungover the following morning.
One of the things behind this is that the bosses are expected to provide an open bar, and seeing as the company provides the drinks, the feeling is the company accepts the consequences. The stories are legendary and can be a large part of the brilliant self-depreciating British humour.
Other than Australia, I don’t think I have been anywhere that loves a drunken party as much as the British. Read more…
I’ve sent most of the last couple of months working off the main site at work. I was in my regular office for the first time in a week. A friend dropped by my desk, we used to work together on a project for a year or so. She is one of those I’ll go to for advise and help, or when I want an independent review.
She’s very smart, has good insights, get’s the politics at work and has helped me a lot. While we don’t talk every week, we exchange the occasional IM and I will find the time when she drops by. As she did today.
While she is smart, educated and so on, she’s not seen that much of the world. It just does not contain much of a fascination for her. But her daughter is heading to London for a year in college and she had a few questions.
She talked about the eye watering expense of living in London, I could do little but sympathize there, but then she got s very serious look…
G “Dave, I’m really worried about what she’s going to eat.”
Me: “What do you mean?”
J: “You know what the British diet is like. It’s full of cholesterol. Eggs, bacon, all those fries and deep fried food. I think that’s about all people there eat.” Read more…
What is there to say about BlogWorld 2011?
So much and this is just my first thoughts, I’ve got a lot of notes, audio and interviews to go through yet. There are a few more posts to come.
This is my second BlogWorld Expo, last year it was in Las Vegas and was a really entertaining three days. And while LA may be the center of the media universe, Vegas really was a blast last year so this has a lot to live up to.
OK, so what’s BlogWorld? Simply put, it’s largest new-media conference in the world. It’s a massive coming together of social and new media types for three days of meetings, sessions and parties. It’s about meeting people (good god I hate to call it “networking”), spending time with friends and understanding where we are as a group, what’s changed and finally a little crystal ball glazing as to what’s next.
I came away with a huge long list of things I want to try; both here and on another couple of projects I’ve ben working on.
For me it’s the learning and meeting people, I do this for fun and don’t want to be a blogging superstar. I just don’t have the energy or creative talent that those people do, but it’s always interesting to talk to them and see their take on the world. It’s quite frightening how much energy people like Ewan Spence, Kevin Pollak, Cecily Kellogg, Kelby Karr or Srinivas Rao have.
Friday night I ended up drinking with some people from my new favorite publisher. It’s a long time since I’ve been up that late drinking, Peter and Shannon from Wiley came close to drinking me under the table, I missed a lot of the Saturday sessions dealing with a hangover. Thanks to Wiley publishing for the pile of books, the advise and encouragement. It was an awesome night, but either you guys can drink, or I am a total lightweight.
The best session was probably the Friday night keynote by Ford CMO Jim Farley. He started talking about his role in leading Ford into the world of new media, how a company has to give up control and let the consumer’s message become the companies’ message. That’s the big-company issue, to engage people in an authentic way means the same people, both inside and outside the company, get to be part of the telling of story of Ford and their products. Read more…
Today has just kept on giving and giving…
“It’s not like he eats his boogers all the time…”
Peer to peer mentoring at it’s best.
“She’s got good teeth for a crack whore…”
From an early morning phone call, someone has issues with their sister…
I get a mail every day from Amazon with offers on local merchants. Typically it’s been pretty well targeted, cycle stores in Snohomish, book shops in Mill Creek, mens barber in Woodinville and so on. I’m guy, it’s guy stuff and I’ve used got a couple of what I thought were really good deals from it.
Then there was today’s…
“With the Women’s World Cup in full swing, it’s only natural to have Brazil on your mind.”
OK questionable, but it’s been an entertaining Women’s World Cup and the Brazil-USA game was a great game. But I don’t really have Brazil on my mind. It continued…
“And with today’s deal, you can have Brazil on your body, too: Get one Brazilian wax at Seattle Hill Nails & Spa in Everett for just $35 (a $70 value).”
Arghhhhhhhh… But wait, there is more…
“Grab this deal and give unwanted hair a red card.”
I passed on what may have been a great offer, but I think Amazons algorithms need a little more work. Having said that I enjoyed the link with how Amazon river running through Brazil… Nope, apparently it was just me…
OK here we go, someone is going to take this personally, but it’s not aimed at any particular individual self absorbed, vacuous individual other than the one checking in last night…
This started a couple of weeks ago when one of the engineers that worked with me dropped by my desk and asked for some advise on surprising her husband with a trip to Vegas. They have a 4 year old son and my first question was “Who is looking after the kid?”
This post is inspired by the rest of that conversation, the bitter experience of the last 20 hours and a few unbelievably self obsessed people last night.
To whom it may concern…
There was an evening, it may have been a few days ago, it could conceivably have been months before your arse hit the strip complete with that hot Vegas accessory, the stroller. If this may be you, step away from your yard of margarita, put down that attractive “Welcome to Las Vegas” fridge magnet and take stock of what you are doing.
Who the hell brings kids to Las Vegas? It’s called “Sin City”, the tag line is “What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas”, what made you think this was a great place for a family vacation? Oh yeah, that’s right you are a selfish arse who wants to play poker while letting the 9 year old run around the Adventuredome for 8 hours by herself.
I can see the conversation
Dad – what about a vacation this year? Any thoughts?
Mum – Well there is always DisneyLand, they are at the right age to enjoy that…
Dad – Or we could go to Vegas, blow their college fund playing blackjack and get that threesome with a hooker we’ve been talking about for a while…
Mum – That sounds like an awesome idea, can I choose the hooker? You know how I like false tits… But what about the kids?
Dad – It will be fine, we’ll get adjoining rooms…
Perhaps I should rephrase it as “What happens in Vegas when almost criminally negligent parents are wandering along the strip at midnight while pushing their offspring, stays in Vegas until they are all in the family therapists office in 10 years time”
I’ve said before there should be parent licenses. I’ve seen some horrible parenting in my lifetime, you need a license to have dog in Snohomish, but across this country any selfish woman and random alcoholic baby-daddy can have a kid and then a few years later take them to Vegas. Parenting skills and having to be thoughtful of this little life you created are to some people very, very optional.
So Mr and Mrs Inconsiderate, I hope you’ve got good medical insurance, ’cause therapy ain’t cheap.
I’ve got a lot of problems with Vegas ($20 for a gin and tonic for a start), but the biggest one of the last 20 hours is kids. I can spot poor parenting at 200 yards and I am sick and tired of having to deal with the consequences of terrible parenting. I’m sick of fact that I have to censor myself when we are sitting in a restaurant after midnight because the parents at the next table are clucking in disapproval at a wonderful, profanity laden story about jumping a racecar 164 feet (“and then Jeff said “That is so fucking cool…”).
In England there is the “watershed”, it means nothing racy on TV before 9pm, there is nothing similar in Las Vegas and there should be. The clock strikes 9 and the strip becomes a kid free zone.
I hate how slow the check in line moved last night because the self absorbed parents are too busy dealing with whining, crying Johnny who thinks now is the right time to empty the contents of his sisters diaper bag on the floor of the check in area in the Wynn. WTF, I really mean WTF. A lot of credit to the Wynn here, they handled the situation perfectly and it has a no stroller policy. And I like that. This is a place where people come to gamble, drink, have fun and discreetly stare at silicon chested stripper wannabes by the pool.
If you really must be so selfish as to bring your kids to Vegas, at least have the decency to stay at Circus Circus. Next time I inadvertently bump into your precious while backing away from the $5 craps table in Bills after a series of good rolls, you can apologise to me, because you are a thoughtless, self absorbed arse. When I’m on my 4th gin & tonic, and still feel like the responsible one in an argument, it’s not a good reflection on you.
So thank you for your time, it’s been at least a decade since Vegas even pretended that it’s a family vacation spot. And there is a good reason for that, because it’s not.
Thank you, and have a good night, because I have a dinner reservation with my friends and a fight to attend.
And the Wynn really did a great job in dealing with the issue, I am very, very happy with the customer service. My problem is not with them, but the inconsiderate arse who checks into the hotel at midnight with two kids who are “expressing themselves”.
