I need a vacation
Sunday, September 30th, 2007
This holiday is very much needed. In less than twenty-four hours I should be well on my way across the Atlantic for a week of sun and thrill rides. In a way it has come at a good time, because work is becoming evermore stressful, but in another way it is most unwelcome as for the next two weeks there is an air of uncertainty over my future.
I need a promotion desperately, and am willing to take pretty much anything right now. So long as it encompasses more money and authority then it is a step forward. Right now, all the extras that I do that are above and beyond my pay grade are simply not worth my effort. I get paid the same wage as all the other food and beverage guys and yet do more work.
In the last two days I have found out that a guy in my place is being given the position as assistant food and beverage supervisor, or something like that. The question begs – assistant to who? It’s certainly not me. I don’t think it would be the General Manager either because he doesn’t spend any time in our department to oversee anything. The only other possibility is assistant to a new Operations Manager, who I have heard rumours of. There was even a mention of a new one being in place by the time I got back from holiday, and any ops manager who comes along will surely be putting in a significant presence in our department in our very heavily food and beverage orientated hotel.
Read on..
Tags: Life, Work. 
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From Disciplinery to Promotion in 3 easy steps
Saturday, September 22nd, 2007
The disciplinary action facing myself and two of my work friends has been formally dropped. Thank heavens for that. The General Manager who was calling for it has now left to be replaced by a new guy, who felt that it wasn’t necessary given that we are fully aware of the severity of the incident, and it would also be a rather crappy start to our working relationships.
With a new manager comes more change. My good friend and former Operations Manager has now moved on to bigger better things leaving my department with a somewhat fragmented managerial structure. Officially, we have no bar or restaurant managers or supervisors. This could pose some kind of problems from ordering napkins to getting our collective shit together when all hell is descending upon us. It does so frequently.
As of writing this, no formal title has been handed to me. I am still a food and beverage assistant. This will not do.
Tags: Work. No Comments »
Mourinho out, USB cap in
Friday, September 21st, 2007
Who would have ever, ever put money on Jose Mourinho to be the first premiership manager to face the axe this season? They say he left Chelsea by ‘mutual consent’ but I don’t believe it for a second.
“The decision comes after the club held a crisis meeting to discuss the indifferent start to the new season.”
It’s been no secret that there has been some tension, shall we say, between the Abramovich, the boardroom and the big man himself but Jose is not the kind of manager to just up and leave in such a sudden and frankly shocking way. He always declared his love for Chelsea and desire to see out his contract which ended in 2010, and with the most loyal team of players behind him it would have had to have taken a serious bust-up to force him out the door.
Abramovich has always had a few screws loose when it comes to football. No other club has had so much money to throw around and it’s fantastic for building a world beating squad but letting this Russian look at the players market is like taking my Nan to Halfords. You end up spending £70 on a wiper blade that doesn’t even fit. Shevchenko and Ballack are great players; don’t get me wrong, but in football you build your team around the system and not the other way around. Tactically Mourinho is sound. It may not be fascinatingly entertaining but his system works. Two Premiership titles prove that. Bring in these multi-million pound stars (OK, Ballack was on a free transfer but at £130,000 a week he is also the most highly paid footballer in the UK) and you’ve got players who look great on posters but shocking on the pitch.
Tags: Toys, People. No Comments »
28 Weeks Later
Monday, September 17th, 2007
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- Juan Carlos Fresnadillo
- 2007
I was very eager to see this sequel after I had much praise for 28 Days Later. Although Danny Boyle was not to direct this one, he was still a very influential member of the production team. I was also not surprised at all to see that, to much criticism, that the style of the film was completely different.
Whereas 28 Days Later was subtle, slow, deep and portrayed realistically, 28 Weeks Later is much more sensational. Films that have a heavy family element can be great. I have nothing against child actors. I do however have a lot against child characters - especially the kind in this film. They are stupid. The boy has no emotions. The girl looks twice her supposed age.
The plot also has a lot more holes. The situation that allowed the outbreak of re-infection is just totally outragous and demonstrates the complete ineptitude of the United States Armed Forces. How the infection was allowed to spread to the civilian population without being exterminated by a soldier with a big gun is also beyond me, but then I guess we’d have no movie.
Once the outbreak took over, I was pleased with the accelerated pace of the movie, and it took on much of the traits that made the first one so good. A group of people trying desperately to escape and survive total chaos brought on, this time not only by the infected but by the intervention of rapid military response.
It would have been so easy for Hollywood to destroy this. In truth, they didn’t do it many favours either, but the film is still enjoyable - at least the first time you see it. 28 Weeks Later is good for entertainment value but don’t count on any awards being handed out.
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28 Days Later
Monday, September 17th, 2007
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- Danny Boyle
- 2002
I really liked this movie for some reason. It’s quite slow to start with and much of the story that occurred within the previous 28 days later is left to speculation and imagination. Whereas a lot of reviewers of this film ramble on about how the terrifying concept delivers and terrifying film, I was more absorbed by intrigue.
The idea of a virus that requires the most minimal of exposure from an infected sample of blood or saliva that could turn any person in to an outraged and demonic being hell-bent on attacking anyone who doesn’t share that same virus is totally out of the world of reality, but forgetting the science behind it, this movie makes it seem like a real possibility and genuinely gets you thinking about how fucked up it would be should it actually happen - and what would you do?. This is what I loved about this film.
As you’ll see if you watch the sequel, the absence of Hollywood in the production of this flick makes takes all the sensationalised crap you get from guys in camouflage with big guns blowing the heads off of people and focuses on a small group of young people simply trying to survive. This is much more in touch with the average person and it’s a nice change.
The acting, script and screenplay are all very good. 28 Days Later does suffer from the token love element and there are a few issues that always bugged me. I can’t believe that the central character Jim was able to walk around London, the most heavily and densely populated city in the UK, in broad daylight, for some several hours before encountering an infected. We can however, overlook this because it is this scene alone that sets the opening for the surreal tale of a bleak, empty, futureless Britain.
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Screw heads
Tuesday, September 4th, 2007
They are way more complicated than they need to be. A certain Mr H.F. Phillips came up with this great invention for a screw head that is extremely easy to use and allows a certain flexibility when deciding what size screwdriver is required to get one of the things in or out? So why do a lot of manufacturers still insist on using screws that require the most precise of tools to use them. Perhaps it’s a safeguard against tampering hands like my own.
My Sony Ericsson w810i has taken some beatings over the past 16 months, not least the screen. It works as well as the day it came out of the box but on Friday night I must have dropped it six too many times because the plastic covering that protects the glass plate above the LCD has enough scuffs and scratches to make using the phone a real headache.
Tags: Toys. 2 Comments »
Alien 3
Monday, September 3rd, 2007
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- David Fincher
- 1992
Its around the 2nd sequel mark that you start to feel that someone was really out to milk this franchise. On the back of the success of Alien and Aliens, Alien 3 was inevitable at some point. To be fair, I’ve probably seen this movie in its entirity once, and then watched odd bits and pieces of it now and then and it’s unlike me to struggle to remember this film in any detail, which just goes to show what a poor take on it that is. Compare that to the dozens of times I’ve seen Aliens and the disparity is obvious.
From what I do remember, the film does a good job of keeping the suspence as we go back to having just one alien. I can’t help but feel the plot lacked any really depth - a prison full of idiots, basically.
David Fincher is the director, and how many of his other films can you name? Yea, me neither. This is only on my shelf to complete the collection.
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