Show me your WAR FACE! AHHHHH

Note: I wrote this about 4 months ago, and never posted for whatever reason. It seems unfinished or too obvious.

Does anyone.... anywhere, enjoy the coverage provided by cable news channels. It's terrible, and annoying, and overloaded, and tiring. It doesn't matter what network, fox news, cnn, msnbc, I can't watch it for more than 3 minutes. And in that time... I begin to tune out the talking head and read the ticker.

THE WAR ROOM: With Wolf Blitzer. Is this magical world full of floating graphics, large tv's, and an interactive table that allows the WOLF, to analyze and plan his tactical strategies for delivering you stories. My work constantly has a small television carrying the CNN feed, and at some point in the day, I always glance over and see this show, and WOLF delivering some breaking news. We happened to turn the volume up on it one day, to hear him telling us about Larry Craig, and its WOLF saying " Larry Craig says he's not gay" and then the graphic under him says the same thing, and its repeated over and over, cutting in footage of Craig at various times. Theres no more information, beyond what you glean in 10 seconds watching the show, or reading a headline online; it's essentially the same coverage constantly.

Yes, cable news, as the same goes for ESPN, isn't meant to be watched all the time for hours on end, but the lack of content is astonishing. The same goes for local news, so basically, I'm questioning any television newcast.

I could give more examples of useless content, from the fake no-spin vortex of ego and opinion that is Bill O' Reilly, to the insane, rather ugly (cheap shot) Nancy Grace, but in the end, lets label the majority of cable news as unwatchable and unhelpful.

The problem is not that there aren't enough newsworthy items; I think its more the approach to delivering the stories. Logistically, and mentally, it's easier to whittle down the news of the day into 3 or 4 main stories that have the most visual bite, and lend themselves to being cut up into tiny chunks. Setting up stories and productions and scripts and everything, everyday, is not an easy job, but in the end that's not an excuse.

Maybe we just don't need 24 hour TV news coverage. Maybe we need to replace the blowhards that can dominate tv news. Maybe we all just need to read more.

The Ledge

Well damn. Here's to Heath Ledger, who seemed genuine, who wanted to act, to try a variety of roles, who wasn't just "riding the paycheck." ... Who let me nerd out immensely pouring over The Dark Knight trailer.

Love to his family, and anyone dealing with the always tragic loss of a human life.

Apparently he directed this Ben Harper video, ledger's first and last:





Note: I was reluctant to post anything, because of my loathing of celebrity obsessed media, but I felt like who gives a crap, its my blog, very few people see.

If you could be come in, that'd be great

Next week, a supposed "ball-busting" corporate manager type is coming in to check up on the place that I work. Apparently, he knows enough technical information that he won't be appeased by platitudes and random bs'ing (damn). I'm told he also will sometimes cause problems to see how people react to them, and that with him here "everyone's job is on the line... but don't freak out." I've not been at the job long enough to know this guy, so he may be better or worse than I hear.

The question is, if the rumors are true... what's the point?

I have no problem with corporate wanting to send people to check out how our business is running. I have no problem with someone wanting to ensure the people they pay are doing a quality job, and have a good knowledge of whats going on. The problem I have is how it's gone about. These one or two day stress fests rarely result in an accurate portrayal of what is going on. The floors are polished, the lowly employees are warned and told to clean up, and everyone is on edge. The quality in work will somewhat spike, but it's artificial, and probably unrealistic for the long run.

There isn't a realistic way to check in unnoticed, but if you talk to employees in a relaxed and candid manner you'll have a good idea of what they know and how they work. By coming in and grilling people, you also send the message that you don't trust your other managers to have hired quality employees, or to have fired employees that were not good for business.

Luckily, I no longer work for a large corporate franchise, so this time around, I won't be forced to hear the corporate approved phrases to describe how employees should behave/work. I was actually told in private, with my normal manager, that "speed is life." I lost any respect I had for him at that point. Using those phrases during a corporate review is one thing, but to tell me them during a one on one conversation ... I could barely stop myself from rolling my eyes.

I think younger employees now are too savvy to accept normal management bullcrap, the games and whatnot. We've read too much, heard too many stories. I think the way to go about it now is to just be honest, respect who you talk to, and most employees will be fine with semi-annual audits, and the realities of running a business.

And if they can't handle that... well you can always fire them.