Holidays approaching

It's that time of the decade, I'm taking holidays. 3.5 weeks of R&R. Unprecedented, yes I know. I can't wait to unplug my brain for a while and let it cool down.

In the spirit of the occasion I have decided not to even check my email for the duration. Ye gods man, you will surely kill us all. Ah well, shit happens.

Catchy on the flipside Brodie dude!


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Stress

Stress is one of those things that some people seem to be plagued by, while others seem to be able to deal with it.

My recent career change (read: management) forced me to confront stress and learn how to turn it to my advantage.

Stress is an agent of change- if your stressed it is usually because shit is going south. Deadlines, organisational problems, interactions with others, inaction of others. The list goes on. When I'm stressed I recognize the main driver - things must change. Now this is not always easy, but it is possible and is the main escape hatch. Reorganization, restructure, rethink, reprioritise, retask and reevaluate.

Stress feeds on inaction - Inaction includes complaining, overthinking, trying the same thing expecting different results, wasting time, and of course doing nothing but worrying. Do something positive. Not only does it keep your mind busy, but is actively moving you towards the ultimate goal of removing the source of the stress.

Focus is key - stress can often be caused not by individual issues, but by the compound crushing weight of many issues. Focus on the top three issues to focus 90% of your effort, time and thought. Focussing on too many issues is a surefire recipe for disaster.

Let it go - know when to detach. Continual engagement stifles creativity, logical thinking and impairs judgement. Force yourself to think about other things.

Don't be a dick - never take out your stress, anger or frustrations on others. This includes verbal abuse, being unhelpful or rude to others. Accept that this is your cross to bear and don't take it out on the world. Dont be afraid to ask for help! Life sucks, don't let it turn you.

So that's my top 5 tips for dealing with stress. Sure they might not work for everyone. But they helped me so deal with it.


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Imported beer

What's the go with imported beer. Specifically Mexican, el salavadorish (is that the right term), Chinese, Indian etc

It's all the rage, but why so popular. Particularly when one would not drink the local water. Is it some masochistic desire to drink shit water safely? It's not like it's even bloody cheap.

Don't get me wrong. I don't mind a Corona as much as the next gringo - but paying $50 for a slab of quasi Mexican distilled bathwater is pushing the friendship.


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Steak Cures what ails you

There's something about the promise of steak that is enough to get any (real) man excited. Dead cow chargrilled and served up with a delicious array of side goodies. Sauté mushrooms, cheesy fries, beer!

Some "crazy" people out there say it's wrong to eat meat. Don't let those bovines fool you. If they got the chance they would eat you and everyone you have ever cared about.

Sorry! I couldn't resist at least one Simpsons quote for good measure.

In the battle of man vs bovine - man will triumph!

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Social networking

This morning I was reading an interesting article on Sydney Morning Herald about a recent trend in people refusing to use facebook, twitter and all the other equally useless social media wankfests. As my close friends and family can attest, I started this trend years ago. Social networking is a waste of time, effort and is a virtual wedge for preventing any meaningful form of physical human interaction. It is a monopolistic,self involved,egotistical, shameless outlet for incomprehensible dribble. Where Self promotion is king.

Millions of people sharing jack shit. Tweeting about every sandwich they eat, posting yet more crap to yet more people.

It's the age old parable of data vs knowledge. Data has no inherent value. It is just data. Social networking generates loads of it. But without any inherent value it might as well be random binary datum.

After all, it's just another fad. No business applications that are anything new or useful. It's a pimply faced teens veritable wet dream, but devoid of any long term usefulness.

I'll stick with my old school blog mentality thank you very much. I have plenty of constructive ways to waste time (yes i know that's an oxymoron) without participating in a big giant ego stroking social orgy.

Join the revolution and cast off the pinko social(ist) networking hyperium. come back to the real world.

Of course I know noone is reading this, your all too busy friending other cretans on twitbook or facespace.

Just you wait, I'll dance on their grave. And I'll laugh, laugh I tells you.

That is all. We mow return to your regular programming.

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Untitled

As per usual, my evening commute home gives my brain time to switch into a lower gear, the more distance I put between myself and the commerce centric white noise of work, the more I unwind.

Gone are is the daily pursuit of some semblance of order, of schedules, tasks, organization and multitude of communications. Replaced by the quiet solitude of a clear mind, accompanied by the beat of my own heart, and the stirring of of creative thought.

I pity the poor souls who march to the incessant beat of omnipresent engagement with work. Unable to escape it's grasp to steal a few precious moments of peace.

As the train rumbles onwards, my minds drifts, music twinges happy recollections and spurs further meanderings. Time retreats , replaced by more spurious realisations of the constructs of time and place. And then, almost inexplicably the journey is at once complete, yet also beginning anew.

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Sick

It's been 9 days and the battle of mark vs the flu continues to rage. The germs continue their quasi guerrilla warfare from their mountain stronghold. They are bashing me like a damn pinyata, trying to get to my delicious candy centre.

I hate being sick. The helplessness of the situation, as you lie there struggling to breathe, even thought becomes agony. Praying that if you ever get better you might somehow find a way to appreciate your life on some newfound plane. Really that's a big crock of shit. You only remember how it feels to be sick when your bloody well sick.

For the love of god, make it stop!

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I watched a Miley Cyrus Movie and Didn't Stab my Eyes out

Go figure. I've never been a Miley fan. Always thought of her as a poor imitation of Hilary Duff. Never actually seen her in any movies, but I always kinda figured I would rather incrementally remove my brain with a salad fork.

That being said, and with much trepidation I watched "The Last Song" the other day. A mix of boredom and lack of available options was the main problem here. Anyhow, I digress.

The plot summary from IMDB:

A drama centered on a rebellious girl who is sent to a Southern beach town for the summer to stay with her father. Through their mutual love of music, the estranged duo learn to reconnect.

It was actually a pretty darn good movie. The plot was a little trite, and rehashed from other similar genre films (Greta springs to mind). Miley plays Ronnie, a highly talented piano player from NY - who has been shipped off (along with her brother) to her fathers beachside house by her mother for the summer. There is some animosity with her father who she blames for her parents divorce.

In the end we find out her father is dying of cancer, and the emotional journey plays out from there. Of course the usual summer romance plays a big part of the movie, but unlike other films in this genre - this does not overpower the story, or needlessly subject us to the usual tacky scenes.

I was surprised at the acting ability and range of Miley in this role. She really makes the role her own and brings a sense of believability to the movie.

So there you go, I wouldn't say I am a Miley Cyrus fan, but her performance in this movie really made me sit up and take notice, and I will have to keep an eye out to see if she follows up this stellar performance with anything else - or if this was a one hit wonder. So do yourself a favour, just watch it.

Insurance and/or Credit Card Ads

Is it just me -or is everyone else sick and tired of the ad-nauseum Insurance ads recently? Seriously - every single commercial break there is insurance ads for bloody funeral protection plans, life insurance etc etc. They trot out the same stupid plot lines with people crapping on how great it is - the same shitty acting, and the same lame crap. And not once, but over and over. Which bright spark in the marketing department decided that showing the exact same ad twice in the space of 3 minutes will get better results. I'm pretty sure that the stats would back up an increase in violence.

Then comes the bloody credit card ads. Over and over. One of these days I am going to snap. They must must be stopped. They must be made to suffer like we have.

Goosebumps

Does anyone else get goosebumps listening to "Tuesday Morning" by Michelle branch? Or have I contracted some sort of deadly song induced virus?

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Train to nowhere

Every morning my train pulls into A certain station, halfway between work and home. Halfway between quiet solitude and the white noise of commerce. As the commuters pile on and off the train I stare at the ticker showing trains heading out of the city. I wonder what it would be like to forget my days pursuits and responsibilities and just ride that train out of the city.

One day I might find out. That day is not today.

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GroundHog Day and Today Mashup

Groundhog Day and Today by the Smashing Pumpkins Mashup! How awesome is that?

http://vimeo.com/20291066