The one thing with my new job at Alphalink, is that I seem to get a bit of time to reply to personal emails and read the online news. My knowledge of world events and social commentaries seems to have increased dramatically of late, which I find somewhat amusing and frightening at the same time. I keep finding links that verge on mildly amusing... and I think Damian from JOY FM seems to be benefiting from it the most as I send them through to him for his onair nutbag news.
For instance, yesterday there was an article about a eldery woman in Japan who fell over and hurt herself while chasing a man in a gorilla outfit who had stolen her banana's. She claimed that all she saw was something big, black and hairy, and thought it was a ghost. Ok, now... call me stupid, but what kind of ghosts are big, black and hairy? Obviously, there is some form of cultural folklore that i'm missing out on here. Turns out it was for a television prank show, or else you would have to question why someone would dress up like a gorilla and steal an elderly shopkeepers bananas... UPDATE: Found the URL again to this story here.
I did hear on the radio this morning a news piece about Mob Flashing as well. Apparently the new trend in Europe is to 'mob flash', where a mass of people go to one spot at precisely the same time and do the same strange act. In one instance, 300 people congregated in front of a giant public screen at precisely the same time and pointed at it with remote controls for three minutes, and then just disappeared... In Birmingham, 54 people went to a clothes store at precisely 12:43pm and returned clothing while breaking out into a chorus of Red Hot Chilli Peppers 'Give It Away'... these mass Mob Flashings are co-ordinated via email and sms, and while rather strange, I can see the appeal of them. Certainly, they make a lasting impression, and in this world where the next most profitable medium is 'thought', it's an exciting prospect.
Advantages to Alphalink continued: parking. I guess people never realise how much money they truly spend on parking, and it always cost me a fortune weekly working at FMR. Parking metres cost atleast $40 a week (sometimes more), and then there were the inevitable parking fines that occured atleast once a month... and then, through my own stupidity (or lack of time), they would never be paid upfront and end up costing me a minimum of $67... so we're looking at over $200 a month JUST on my car sitting still. Mind you, I now have to travel to North Fitzroy daily, which is a 40 minute or so trip in the morning, and with a 9AM start, this whole 'getting up and being there at a set time daily' thing is rather... er... interesting. But i've not been late yet, and keen to prove anyone who thinks that i'm not capable of doing this wrong.
I must admit that i'm frustrated by my situation at the moment. I feel that i'm having difficulty in transfering my skills. I'm sure that after three years of doing what I have been doing, there has to be more to me than ending up doing basically a 'call centre' style role. The pain is made easier by the fact that everyone here is really nice. But I always found that my job at FMR gave me a sense of purpose. I remember when I was in the interview for the job, Sue McCaully asked me why I wanted to be in the music industry, and I responded that I wanted to be part of making music history. Yes, it's a wanky responce, but it is genuine. Infact, when she asked me how much I would consider to be a fair wage, I laughed and said that I hadn't thought about it, and that it wasn't about the money for me. And it still isn't. But I want to feel that i'm doing something with a sense of purpose. When I worked in music retail, I would describe myself as a 'Celine Dion pimp'... no offence to Celine (or Sealion, as I like to call her), but it did feel like my role was just that. When I got to Mushroom/FMR, and it was about taking new artists, and breaking them, and making our established artists bigger, it become something more. I'm only just realising how much of a 'relationship' I had with FMR.
Caught up with my english friend Ben last night... he's a bit of a blog addict from way back... you can check out his site at Live Journal. He is incredibly witty, and I find his ramblings often rather inspiring. But leading back to the topic at hand, relationships... I was drawing comparisons between Ben's recent break up with his partner and my leaving FMR. He is finding coping with single life difficult, trying to adjust to a whole new mindset. I told him that I felt like I understood him better than he thought, as it almost feels like a divorce from a 'loved one' and that I was trying to adjust to a world without them... and how surreal it seemed... I still sometimes sit there thinking 'oh, but then when I get back to FMR...' until the realisation kicks back in that I won't be going back to FMR. Onwards and upwards and all that la la.
Simon here (i'm writing this at work) has just shown me a 1GB portable hard drive... me want!
One of the other personal faves for the staff here is the Shockwave site for their assortment of games. Infact, it isn't uncommon to find people here indulging in a bit of game play between calls. I must admit that I haven't really checked out any of the games yet.
Ok, I think i've written enough crap for today... I'm sure i'll read something that fascinates me in my own little pathetic way within the next 24 hours. I have a temporary email for work hours - lol_at_work@hotmail.com - so feel free to drop me a line if you want and amuse me.
