Category Archives: Work

the hooker index

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for external use only!!! 

Some people, although not all people, and certainly none of the people who post around these parts, hold the major New York media outlets in esteem which almost amounts to veneration. They have, perhaps, confused New Yorkers with The New Yorker.

And there are those, among them us, who revere the Washington Post for the achievements of its past; it is the ultimate journalistic coaster, except maybe for Carl Bernstein.

MediaBistro’s FishbowlDC is chipping away at the tiny amount of reverence we still have for the paper, with ongoing coverage of the hooker index, tracking the change in escort/massage ads in the WaPo over time.

Hooker indexThe chart is flat for the week, but the high-water mark came on Wednesday with 10 ads.

Far from agreeing with Fishbowl‘s diagnosis of “sale” we at the raincoaster blog would just like to point out that there is a reason that Wednesday has its famous nickname.

sobering message for BC booze pros

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drooling drunk but not YET propositioning the lieutenant-governor of the province 

Now, I don’t know if you grew up in the Middle of Great Canadian Buttfuck Nowhere like most of us here did, but if you did, then I won’t need to explain to you the great Canadian principle and tradition of the bush bash.

This has nothing whatsoever to do with American politics, except that, in all likelihood, we did something like this when we invaded Washington in the War of 1812, and that should Dubya finally go down in flames, or up in a puff of fire and brimstone, it’ll be another fine excuse for such a celebration.

The bush bash is nothing more than a huge party, involving anywhere from about 15 TO 300 people: you all leave town at different times, by different routes (assuming your town has more than one road, not a given in some small towns) and rendezvous out in some farmer’s back 40. It is considered friendly-like, but not compulsory, to invite the farmer as well.

You bring beer.

There is a bonfire.

That’s it.

Once, my parents were out at one such bash (yes, respectable-ish middle-aged people go to these things, not just teenagers; the teenagers are all home playing video games and playing on MySpace) with the mayor and the head of the local RCMP detachment. At one point, some uniformed officers materialized and shamefacedly walked over to their boss to tell him that they’d be busting up the bush bash and arresting people, “in about twenty minutes, okay?”

Thoughtful of them; the place emptied faster than a can of Moosehead! No arrests were made: the raid found the bash mysteriously empty.

In any case, there comes to the raincoaster blog word that last year’s award dinner for the BC Liquor Distribution government agency was not exactly the picture of decorum. No indeed: it appears that the BC boozefloggers showed an entirely overenthusiastic dedication to the product, with one of the award-winners securing his place in mythology by being too drunk to walk up the short staircase to the podium.

He crawled it. Respect!

drunk crossing

…an unholy combination of circumstances developed at the province’s annual long service awards dinner at Government House that left many guests shuddering. The event turned into such a drunken horror show it took almost a full year of legal wrangling to resolve. The full story, recounted in a recently released arbitrator’s ruling, is a hair-raising tribute to Lt.-Gov. Iona Campagnolo‘s grace in the midst of chaos (and ability to keep a lid on the story of the Party Disaster of the Century).

With 25 years service to Her Majesty on his record, the janitor — let’s call him Party Boy — was given an invitation to the dinner. He checked into the Laurel Point Inn and had four ciders to relax, before attending the pre-reception reception, where he downed four rum and cokes, and two glasses of wine from the open bar. He had four more rum and cokes at Government House.

With 250 guests assembled, including every single one of his bosses from the deputy minister on down, the festivities began…

The lieutenant-governor was at her imperturbable best when she noted at one point during the carnival: “It’s always entertaining when liquor distribution branch employees are receiving awards.”

There must have been video, or otherwise how could anyone have remembered?

sorry I haven’t blogged

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There are good reasons.

pushed tin pushes back

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you call that control?

Fabulous cast, horrible movie, fabulous anecdotes.

Airtraffic controllers versus pilots, via Fark. A sample:

Allegedly the German air controllers at
Frankfurt Airport are renowned as a short-
tempered lot. They, it is alleged, not only
expect one to know one’s gate parking location,
but how to get there without any assistance
from them. So it was with some amusement
that we (a Pan Am 747) listened to the following
exchange between Frankfurt ground control
and a British Airways 747, call sign Speedbird
206.
Speedbird 206: “Frankfurt, Speedbird 206
clear of active runway.”
Ground: “Speedbird 206. Taxi to gate Alpha
One-Seven.”
The BA 747 pulled onto the main taxiway
and slowed to a stop.
Ground: “Speedbird, do you not know where
you are going?”
Speedbird 206: “Stand by, Ground, I’m looking
up our gate location now.”
Ground (with quite arrogant impatience):
“Speedbird 206, have you not been to
Frankfurt before?”
Speedbird 206 (coolly): “Yes, twice in 1944,
but it was dark,…… and I didn’t land.”

Shebeen Club October Meeting: Creativity Tips for Writers

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the bar of the ShebeenCross-posted on the Shebeen Club website too. 

What: The Shebeen Club : Creativity Tips for Writers
When: 7-9pm, Tuesday, October 17 (3rd Tuesday of each month)
Where: The Shebeen, behind the Irish Heather, 217 Carrall Street in Gastown
Why: Up your creativity with one of the world’s best creativity catalysts
Who: Contact lorraine.murphyatgmaildotcom for more information
How(much)? $15 includes dinner and a drink

Background: Each month The Shebeen Club gathers to catch up, gossip, eat, drink and learn about literature in all its many versions. We’ve featured Ann Vicente, maker of fine art books, actor and speech coach Jesse Jhames reading James Joyce, and many talented local authors including Robert Chaplin, James Sherrett, Sylvia Lim, comicbook empresario Sandford Tuey, and poet Lucan Charchuk, among many illustrious others.

Heir to the popular Stammtisch, created by Christoph Kapp of McGraw Hill, the Shebeen Club revives the warm camaraderie and vicious rivalry that has characterized all great literary meetings from the days of the Algonquin Round Table to last week at Gawker. The pen is mightier than the sword, so every third Tuesday of the month ditch the remote, stuff a messenger bag with manuscripts, adjust your berets, and head down to the Shebeen.

The Procedure: Sink into a warm velvet banquette and enjoy our programme: your basic meet-and-mingle from 7-7:30, followed by a riveting, yet brief presentation, followed by Q&A and then breaking up into casual groups for wandering, boozy reminiscences of the time you snubbed Jay McInerney in the airport. A fine dinner of bangers and mash or vegetarian pasta from the kitchen of the Irish Heather, plus one glass of wine, beer or pop are included in the $15.

This Month: Our next Shebeen Club meeting is this Tuesday, October 17th from 7-9pm, and our featured speaker is Linda Naiman, internationally-known creativity instructor.

Linda Naiman will present strategies for cultivating creativity used by writers, artists, entrepreneurs and scientists, to help you keep your own creativity fresh and alive. Topics include: The distinction between creativity and problem-solving, the right-brain myth, the genius myth, and principles that encourage creativity.

This is an exercise-based workshop, so be ready to participate! Pencils and notebooks out, ladies and gentlemen!

Bio: Linda Naiman is founder of Creativity at Work.com , a Vancouver-based coaching, consulting and training group at the forefront of transformational change in organizations. She is co-author of Orchestrating Collaboration at Work, and is known internationally for pioneering arts-based learning and development in organizations. Her work has been documented in several books: Art-based Approaches: A Practical Handbook to Creativity at Work (Chemi 2006), Wake Me Up When the Data Is Over: How Organizations Use Stories to Drive Results (Silverman 2006), and Artful Creation: Learning Tales of Arts-in-Business (Darsø 2004). Her work has also been featured in The Vancouver Sun, The Globe and Mail, and Canadian Business Magazine. Linda is an associate business coach at the University of British Columbia, and an adjunct faculty member of the Banff Centre Leadership Lab. She holds a BFA from California College of the Arts, and a diploma in Graphic design from Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design.
For more information, contact: Lorraine Murphy, raincoaster media ltd www.shebeenclub.com or  lorraine.murphyatgmaildotcom 778-235-0592