The Goods On This Friday

This weekend marks the third anniversary of my adventure in blogging.

And I have nothing momentous or profound to say about it whatsoever.

So let's get on with it...

I'm enjoying a very restful Good Friday. And that's... good!

A very necessary period of downtime. Just relaxing, drinking good coffee, listening to good music, surfing the web, trying not to follow any agenda or attach myself to any schedule. Off the workaday grid, so to speak. Will get together with some of boys in the band tonight for a rehearsal, probably go for a few beers afterwards (wait a minute... are pubs open on Good Friday? Hmmm, I can't remember). Either way, it should be a good way to spend the evening.

What have I been listening to? The new Solomon Burke CD is quite good. He goes a little over the top at times, but even when he does, it's entertaining. The lead-off track "I Need Your Love In My Life", is fantastic. Great Keef-esque rhythm guitar.

Been quite impressed with Josh Rouse's latest album, Nashville. Nice, warm, acoustic pop. "It's The Nighttime" is a great, catchy tune. Hear it and other selections streaming from his site. The piano ballad "Sad Eyes" is a little on the saccharine/schmaltzy end of the spectrum, but I find it hard to resist nonetheless. Overall I find him a cut above most of the other pretty-boy folk-pop romeos around these days, people like John Mayer. Rouse may be travelling the same road, but he's not so firmly planted in the middle of it.

Been following the Schiavo case, of course. Sad, sad story all around. I don't know all the details, and of course, none of us do, unless we have firsthand knowledge of her telling her husband or anyone else that she didn't want to be kept alive artificially in such a vegetative state. But seeing as how 30+ judges have heard the case at virtually every level of the judicial process, and the findings have all concluded that she did express that view, and has a right to die, I'm inclined to believe that those were her wishes. Similarly with the conflicting medical opinions. I'll side with the court-appointed experts over the bought-off hacks on this one.

Pat Boone was on Larry King the other night. His grandson had been in a lengthy coma after a fall, and then came out of it, despite doctors' advise that he wouldn't. Pat was calling the Schiavo case murder, and tossing around unsubstantiated innuendo about abuse from her husband. The fact that Larry King pointed out that the kind of coma Boone's grandson was in is a medically different condition than the vegetative state Mrs. Schiavo is in, didn't seem to disqualify Boone as "the voice of morality".

The bullshit, faulty logic and spurious argument coming from the right is simply incredible. If I hear one more right-wing pundit use the dog analogy, I'm gonna scream. Here's the spiel. "If I did to a dog what they're doing to Terri Schiavo [withholding food and water], I'd be arrested." Wrong. If you did that to an otherwise *healthy* dog, yes. But Terri Schiavo is not a healthy person. Fact is, if your dog was hit by a car, and was in misery, you'd be *expected* to put it out of its misery, perhaps even legally required to do so, but certainly ethically and morally obliged to end its suffering.

Then there's this ongoing talk of "activist judges." Apparently an activist judge is one whose decisions run contrary to right-wing, conservative Christian agendas. I guess some of the Reagan and Bush appointees on the Federal bench and on the U.S. Supreme Court have now succumbed to the same disease. People are screaming that "the judges are running the country". Funny, I don't remember these people so upset when judges appointed George Bush to his first term as president.

The level of hypocrisy is truly astounding. But that seems to be the central principle guiding American decision-makers--and we in Canada have certainly seen it in the area of trade disputes--if the game goes against you, change the rules. Or even better, ignore the rules.

I was happy to hear a voice of reason on CNN use the phrase "sanctity of the marriage bond" in defense of Mr. Schiavo's actions and in criticism of the bill passed by Bush and the Congress. Ah yes, that creature that is under attack by the forces of immorality and needs to be protected: the heterosexual marriage. Thank god Bush and the neo-cons have such respect for that institution.

And then there was the guy on CNN today protesting via megaphone outside of Jeb Bush's gubernatorial mansion, seemingly outraged that the groundspeople were watering the plants while Mrs. Schiavo was being denied water. Do us all a favour buddy, and start denying yourself food and water. Interesting too how Jeb Bush seems to have lost his righteousness and stomach for doing "the right thing" now that opinion polls are showing that his brother's ratings are taking a hit.

And what happened to the time-honoured conservative value of keeping "Big Government" out of people's lives? If one good thing comes out of this, other than more people getting their wills and their wishes in order, maybe it's the prospect of a rift developing on the right when the more moderate conservatives get a real clear look at what kind of religious zealots they're politically sleeping with.

But I'll just say right now, in lieu of a real living will with all the proper legalese language, that if I ever end up in a vegetative state from which there is no hope of recuperation, I don't want my body to be kept "alive" artificially. That's not being alive.

To quote a T Bone Burnett song:

The frightening thing is not dying
The frightening thing is not living

Leg Up

Haven't had much time or cause to blog lately. Now that I'm doing two jobs at work, I've been busier than a one-legged man at a butt-kickin' contest.

As you may recall, I got a new boss back in January. So far, things are working out pretty well. New Boss has a lot of energy and enthusiasm, and a lot of very good ideas about how to make our magazines fresher and livelier and more interesting. Shortly after she came on board, we sat down and talked about what kinds of changes she'd like to see, and I like the direction she's going in. Wants to add more editorial content to our magazines, letters from the editor, that kind of thing. More interactive elements. Crosswords, games, etc. Things to make the reader feel like they're members of a club, and not just reading a catalogue of product to buy. Things that are more fun for me to write too.

And she really likes my work, and is quite a bit more supportive than my previous boss. Less stingy with praise. So, in turn, I find I'm coming up with better ideas and being more creative in general, which leads to more appreciation, etc etc...

We also talked about my role, and I pitched her on the fact that I'd like to have more control over copy decisions, and more responsibility. She seemed open to that idea.

Then about a month ago, the other copywriter quit. Since then I've been writing and overseeing all the copy for the company--Music and DVD/Video Club magazines, web, direct mail pieces, even a display for a trade-show booth and a telephone script for outcalls from our call centre CSRs (cutsomer service representatives). It's been a load of work with many late hours. Getting to know the cleaning crew quite well.

But, we've been doing some really interesting things with our magazines, adding the aforesaid contests (asking readers to match rock-star tattoos with their respective albums), getting more interactive with readers (asking them to go to our website and vote on their favourite albums of the moment, sharing picks from some our staff, etc.). I just finished writing some expanded, review-style features on the most influential albums of the past four decades. Our graphic artists have been doing some great designs and layouts, and everyone's been getting a lot more creative and coming up with fresh ideas, including me.

It seems that all is turning out well. And for me personally, it's meant a more satisfying work environment--albeit an extremely busy one--and greater job satisfaction. And help is on the way! We've begun interviewing for a junior copywriter.

Why "junior"? Because... [drumroll]... I got a promotion! I'm now the Senior Copywriter, and the new person we hire will report to me. I'll be responsible for overseeing all copy in the Music and DVD/Video Clubs, and other projects. The new person will write mostly for the Music Club. If I had my druthers, I would write the music stuff, but the fact is, our music sales are down and dropping lower, while DVD is growing. Career-wise, handling most of the DVD side of things is the smart thing to do. Better to be on the rising boat than the sinking one. Plus I get to deal with all our Playboy DVD products!

And speaking of getting a raise, I got a fairly decent increase in pay too. Nothing that'll change my income-tax bracket, but I was happy with it. I considered perhaps pressing for a bigger increase, considering I am in a bit of an advantageous position, as the only writer on staff. But, with the company in precarious financial health, I'm satisfied with what I got. There's promise of more in the future as we move forward. And if I choose to leave, I can market myself at a more senior level.

So, all in all, the work front is a lot more satisfying these days.

Things is lookin' up!