I am constantly asked for this recipe and never seem to be able to find the last email version of it – so here it goes. 

There is a story behind this recipe. It was taught to me by a dear friend who educates blind children and teens. As such it is easy to make, hard to ruin and good result for the input. She also works with profoundly mentally disabled toddlers and young children. She is an amazing person who I am privileged to call my friend. One of the things I truly love about cooking this Ratatouille is that whenever I make it, I think of her and good times. 

You can either make this chunky or fine, depending on how interested in dicing and slicing you are – cooking time is longer for chunky. If you have a pressure cooker this is a breeze, otherwise you are looking at around a 30-45min cooking time – stirring once or twice after all ingredients entered. I tend to buy organic for just about everything, but if you are on a budget, just go normal and make the adjustment listed in the recipe).

It seems like a lot now I have written it, but I can have this simmering away in under 10 mins of walking in my front door.

I generally serve this along with green salad and fresh crusty bread. 

Ratatouille

1 small to medium sized eggplant without blemishes OR 4 eggfruits (the long skinny ones)

1 small to medium brown onion

1 medium zucchini

1 good sized red capsicum

1-2 cloves quality garlic (recommend Australian if you can get it, but if you are in a hurry, 1 heaped tsp crushed garlic)

1 large tin of tomatoes (diced if you are wanting faster cooking time – I prefer Roma)

1 vegetable stock cube or 1 tsp of vegetable stock powder (this is a must not skip if not buying organic)

1 heaped tblsp tomato paste

1 light splash of good quality virgin olive oil

(Optional)

Generous splash of good quality red wine – I use left over wine from dinner parties, so always good quality.

1 lrg glass of good quality red wine (to be consumed while relaxing after the dicing is done)

 

 

Couscous

1 cup dry couscous

1 cup boiling water

1 tsp butter

 

 

Chop to preference onion, eggplant and fresh garlic and put into large pot with cold oil. Bring up to high heat together – keep lid off. Stir occasionally while chopping zucchini and red capsicum.  Once eggplant changes colour and onion begins to brown, add zucchini and stir through oil. After a minute or two, add the remainder of the ingredients. Stir, cover and drop to low to mid heat (I have gas so I drop it right back to simmer).

Relax, drink wine.

Stir.

Relax, drink wine.

Stir.

Relax, drink wine.

Stir

Once it is ready  (egg plant is mushy) place couscous and butter in a large coverable bowl/dish. Boil water and pour over the couscous and cover.

 

Serve.

 

This recipe is good for a dinner for 4 with usually 2 days of Ratatouille leftovers for lunch (just make fresh couscous)

 

Enjoy.

 

Channel the Boy Scouts and Be Prepared!

You applied to a few positions and your resume got you to the next step. “The Phone Screen.” Any Hiring Manager / Recruiter worth their salt will assess (or have someone else assess) your suitability for this or other opportunities over the phone, before investing an hour or more in an interview. 

A quick way to dash any possibility of success is to have no idea who you are talking to or what position they are calling about. A sure way to combat this problem is very, very high tech. Pen and note book – or your PDA/Touch/iPhone/Blackberry – though pen and small, portable note book works easiest IMHO. This is going to sound incredibly anal, but have the small note book sectioned into three.

1. Date applied – Company – Position – 2 reasons applied – Contact (if known)

2. Company – Date applied – Position – 2 reasons applied – Contact (if known)

3. Contact (if known) – Company – Position – 2 reasons applied – Date

Fill this in for each section every time you submit an application, even general applications, and tick them off when you hear back on them.

 The following will explain why.

 “Jody, it is Tae calling from Adecco regarding your recent application. Are you able to talk at the moment?”

 Always ask for a moment – even if you are in a quiet room. Get yourself organised. Look up in your book under Adecco, in this case. Instantly you know the position/positions, when you sent in your application, who to, and why you applied for the job.

 

Have it on or have it on Voice Mail

Now you are ready to talk to me. “Tae, good to hear from you. I was really interested in the Technical Sales Representative role I applied for on Monday so it is great to hear from you so soon.”

 Instantly you are 10 feet ahead of the competition.

 Hiring Managers / Recruiters are calling you because your resume suggests that you are a good match / capable of excelling in the role or a similar one not advertised. The last thing you want to say instead is “Which job was that?” or pretending like you remember when you clearly don’t. Even after telling some people the title of the job, because they have possibly applied to ten of more positions with the same title the night before, they are still clueless. Finding a job, or a new job, is a job in itself and should be approached as such… thorough and organised, not desperate and in disarray. Frequently, the person calling you is not the person you applied to. Your details have been passed around a HR / Management / Recruitment team and someone else wants to talk to you. This is why Company has its own first section. “Tony at Adecco? This is a nice surprise as I was expecting to hear from Lisa regarding the Receptionist position in New Farm. How can I help you Tony?”

 Unless it is a general application, the first question usually asked is “Did you have any specific questions about the position / application?” At this stage it is fine to say “No” if you don’t have any, but temper it with a reason why you applied, eg. “I don’t have any questions yet Tae, but I saw the company had a strong mentoring program which is a huge plus for me.”

 From here we get to the real information we want to know:

 “What made you apply for this position?”

 “Why are you moving on from XYZ company?”

“What is the most important thing you are looking for in your next role?”

“How come you have changed companies so much over the past twelve months?”

“What is your availability for interviews?”

“What are your salary expectations?”

 - and more specific questions relating to the role, eg. “You said in your resume that after being promoted to Team Leader you increased retention and brought individual sick days down to less than 2 a year. Can you tell me how you achieved this?” You need to be able to defend your claims and sell your ability.

 This ten minutes is make or break time. Make no mistake, you are convincing the Hiring Manager / Recruiter why they should invest at least one hour of their busy week on you. They want to know what they are going to get out of meeting you.

 Steer away from clichés. Everyone says they are a hard worker, reliable and a team player. Tell me why I should meet you.

 “Tae, given the company’s focus on growing their lifting equipment division and my own background in hydraulics plus internal sales, it seemed like the perfect opportunity for me to take my proven experience and knowledge from ABC Hydraulic Sales to the next level. As you saw, I consistently exceeded set sales targets and won three customer service awards in the last twelve months alone. After four years, I am ready to take my career further than ABC can take me. With your client’s proven mentoring program that you mentioned in the advertisement, I would be crazy not to apply. I would appreciate the opportunity for the two of us to meet at your earliest convenience so we can work together on this.”

 No matter what the position, know why you are applying and have it ready to go in your head. Practise out loud.

 Oft times, when I ask someone why they are applying I either get vague answers or a five minute plus negative, word salad.

 If you are leaving for negative reasons, get it out of your system with your friends. I don’t care that Marjorie in Dispatch told David in Processing that you saw Catherine at Reception taking a two hour lunch and told Steven in Management. Really, I don’t. If you have problems at work, address them. If you have tried to address them with management without success, then you can convey that in your cover letter, and refer the Hiring Manager / Recruiter back to it during the initial phone screen. You only have ten minutes, don’t waste it by complaining. “Tae, as I mentioned in my cover letter, there were some unprofessional actions taking place which, when brought to management’s attention, were ignored. Professionalism is very important to me, so you can understand why I am seeking a new company – one with strong professional management.”

 

Try and pencil in alternate interview times

The close. Don’t be afraid of asking if you are progressing. A good way of doing this is to ask what the time line is for the position, or if you can pencil out some potential interview times. If the Recruiter / Hiring Manager says “I have a number of other people to contact before deciding on interviews,” you didn’t get it. Best case scenario, is that you are in the “Maybe if no one else really comes home then we may see you” pile. Most likely though, it is simply because some Recruiters / Hiring Managers don’t like saying “No” to people, so try and softly let you down now before using that wonderfully personal ‘Thankyou for your application” letter.

 If it is a “No,” move on. Mark it off your lists and keep moving forward. Don’t take it personally (which is hard I know), but given the fact there is more competition even at a skilled level in some cases, companies have their own “list” now. Just as job seekers for the last few years have been able to pick and choose, employers are now able to be more selective. Some sections of the market have had a large increase in applicants, it is just a fact of life – neither nor unfair – but the onus is on you to take that phone contact and turn it into an interview.

 Next time – The Interview.

As many of you  know – I work for one of the largest (or largest if you measure it a particular way) recruitment companies in the world. In Australia alone, we send 10,000 people to work every day – just in our casual on call/temp/contract business and place 5,000 people in full time employment every year – Just in Australia! And we have 6,000 offices world wide across sixty countries. Nifty huh?

I have been working in recruitment for almost eight years, and am going to share some tips on how to make your way through the job market with its higher unemployment level. 

The market looks scary now, but don't let that negativity control your applications!

Twelve months ago, a C grade resume and an indifferent attitude would have seen you employed (probably not in a great company but at least employed), but these days, the market is seeing a greater number of applicants – and your job is to stand out and be “the” person they are looking for. The more playing in the pool, the harder that can be to be seen. 

Step One is having resume one that reads well, is easy to use (for a prospective employeers/interviewers/consultants) and that will get you to the next step. Naturally there will be some “d’uh” moments – but you would be surprised at the “obvious” problems I, other recruiters and potential employers, encounter on a day to day basis.

Let’s start today with resume some basics.

You are probably doing a fair bit of your job applying on line – either through seek/my career/career one or similar, or even a company’s own job database/engine. So let’s cross this bridge first.

1. Do not call your resume/cv “resume.doc” or “cv.doc.” Please. It takes two seconds to put your name on the file eg “Baker.Thea_cv.doc.” 
2. Take it one step further by showing that this application has been specifically targeted to the position to which you are applying “Baker.T_ConsultantAdecco.doc.”
3. This goes the same for your cover letter – and yes, include a cover letter. Even if no one reads it initially, it will have given you a step of preparation for your phone screen or first interview. Who knows, while writing it you may work out you really do not want the job.
4. Unless requested, do not send basic documents as PDF’s (caveat – in some industries PDF’s are standard so ignore this one if this is you). Almost all companies (recruitment or otherwise) are using engines that “pick out” key words associated to skills, positions etc. Even some of the on line application management tools these days have basic ones – and none that I have ever worked with read PDF’s. You are making it harder for someone to process your application, and not getting all that information goodness across to the powers that be. 
5. This probably should be number one, but put your name, address, contact number, and email on your CV. This is much more common that you would think. Also just because you applied through an online database tool, doesn’t necessarily mean someone can easily find your email address. Don’t make it hard for anyone to reach you.
6. Ensure that your contact numbers are easy to read. Eight numbers with no spaces is hard to read when you are reviewing fifty plus resumes a day and if I get a wrong number I must REALLY want to talk to you to try again.
7. If you don’t have message bank on your phone, tell me what is the best time to call you – 0400 040 040 (between 12.30pm and 1.30pm if possible or any time before 8am and after 5pm). Calling a company or an agency and saying “I had a missed call from this number” is going to get you nowhere fast.
8. Don’t, under any circumstances, just send the same cover letter with all your applications. “Dear Michael, I am applying for the position advertised in the Sydney Morning Herald for the role of Contracts Administrator – Regional NSW.” When it should read “Dear Tae, I am applying for the position advertised on the Adecco webpage for aSenior Contracts Administrator – Civil, Western Brisbane.” These people usually tell me one of their skills are “Attention to Detail,” too.

 

Make sure you can be contacted!

Not hard huh?

 

Let’s move on to some basic content.

1. Audience appropriate. Please, please, please(!) make sure that the resume you are using is correct for the role you are applying for. Do not send me a resume all about Social Media if you are applying for an Administrative Assistant. Your Social Media resume is probably your “career” resume, or your dream job resume, but you are applying for something else – so make sure your resume reflects this. Certainly many components of your main resume will be transferable, but remember your audience. If you don’t, you are again making it harder for yourself. 
2. Have a goal. If you have a goal, share it! People who have goals, and I mean specific ones, not “to be the best employee in my chosen company,” have drive and time lines and expectations etc. Enthusiasm is the word here. Something crazy like 86% of hires are based on enthusiasm if two candidates are equal. However, don’t “goal” yourself out of a career/position, eg. “I aspire to work in the travel industry as a specialist in cruises” if you are applying for a position as a Credit Controller? I would suggest that this is not the job for you. Don’t lie though either, this will be obvious as soon as you open your mouth, so don’t even bother.
3. Qualifications, Licenses, Tickets etc. If the position you are applying for requires specific qualifications etc, give them a high priority in your layout, ie. Right after your goal/aim. This way they won’t get lost in the quick look over, and you quickly make it to the next level.
4. Specific skills. If the advertisement or the company requires particular skills, address them next. These can be the type of person who succeeds in the role, programs known, depth of experience etc. These are the ultimate “gi’mes” for applicants, because the advertisement or the position description is telling you exactly what we are looking for. So if we are seeking someone who has managed a team of ten sales executives – tell me if you have or have come close. Ditto for programs. If JDEdwards experience is “advantageous” it would advantageous of you to put that pride of place.
5. Achievements. Hirers and managers (hopefully) have an idea about what they want you to do over the first three, six, twelve months and beyond in the role. You can tick every box, but if you don’t know how to make any of it work successfully, then no cigar. Again, make it easy for the reader. The PD may say “Keep creditor balances to set levels.” The associated achievement would be “Ensured debtor roll was kept under 90 days for all clients, and had 80% of clients paid in full less than 45 days.”
6. Money Talks. Have you saved your employer money? Come up with a new process that improved efficiency? Management eats this up like donuts at a cop shop. Why wouldn’t they want to meet someone who is going to make them look good and help them get their bonus or promotion?
7. Experience. The last few jobs is plenty, unless others specifically relate to the position for which you are applying. Include dates – not just years, but months as well. If a position was a contract assignment, ensure that this is clearly marked, ditto to casual or temporary work – otherwise if looks like you have the tenure of a may fly.
8. Lost time. Don’t have unexplained gaps in your resume. If you went sailing around the world for six months, tell us! 
9. Training and further studies. Most people complete small courses while working, or take on the training themselves on an external basis. Include these in your resume as it shows you are current with work trends and legislation, and you may have knowledge or exposure that they are hoping to see but not really expecting. Don’t discard the power of  Senior First Aid (current naturally), or that weekend course on Generating Referral Business your manager sent you on.
10. Interests. Everyone has some. These are often use to both “break the ice” at interviews as well as seeing how you would fit in with team dynamics. An extroverted base jumper may not work well in a quiet group of quilt, knitting and crochet lovers.
11. References. If you are currently out of work, do not put “references provided upon request” – it just looks like you don’t have any. If you are currently working, it is perfectly acceptable to initially withhold until contact (unless specified). Your mum’s best friend is not a referee. The person you sat next to in the typing pool is not a referee. A referee MUST be a superior, someone you reported to. Ask them to be your referee and tell them when you are looking for a position. While you may clearly remember Marcus Boyd, Senior Marketing Executive, he may not remember you, or have you confused with someone else. Generally, references are done after your first interview, and if you are excited about the job I just told you about, call your referees and tell them! Also give them my name and when they should expect my call. Nothing says “I am professional and I really want this job” compared to calling your referee and hearing Marcus say “Tae, Sam told me you were going to call me about that fantastic position in Anna Bligh’s office,” (oh and written references are close to worthless – so don’t bother unless requested).
12. Length. Keep it under four pages. There will be specific areas you want to expand on/highlight, that is what your cover letter is for as well, but if your resume is application specific, four pages is plenty!
13. Photos. Don’t (unless the application requires it and if it does, be smart and don’t include a picture of you drunk with a beer in your hand a cigarette in the other, yes that was a real photo on a resume I saw two years ago).

 

Take your time, a good resume is worth the time.

So now you are ready to work on your resume. Don’t worry if you get stuck or delete it a few times. A good base resume takes around four goes and will be chunky and over specific. It is from this document that you craft your specific resumes. 

Your resume is the first step. It has to “get you across the first line,” that is, a phone call. I will discuss the phone call next time… 

Get to it!

Holy Mary Mother of Fuck. What a beat up. 

There has been some serious emotions running after McDonalds announced that they will be adjusting the prices of their product by location.

The hoopla seemed to be that poorer suburbs would be required to pay more when it was felt by seemingly most of the general public (especially those in those areas) should pay less.

Thanks to Cam at Maccas Free WiFi for the image

Maccas and I have a very good relationship – without their wifi my life is crap (as I am out and about from my office every day) and I like their coffee. Now that they have free wifi (which, while not as fast as Telstra 3G isn’t too shabby at all, especially when you consider the magic word, FREE). I am more frequently swinging by lower socioeconomic Maccas than those in more luxurious suburbs as much of my work is associated in industrial and logistics.

The lines at these Maccas are insane! Seriously, insane.

I am talking 8-10+ people infront of each register and a drive thru line out the wazoo at peek times. So it is little wonder that Maccas recognise one of the basic principle of Economics – Supply and Demand.

Props to Boners.com for the pic

Simply, Supply is based on how many people want to buy something at the particular price at a particular time, and Demand is the willingness and ability. Obviously, even with the vast number of fast food outlets in these areas, demand is still high enough that it outstrips supply at peek times (and there is a reason why there are so many). So why is it any surprise that where there is a higher demand that anyone in business wouldn’t put up the price? Add to this the fact that people in lower socioeconomic brackets eat less healthily that their wealthier cousins and you can totally understand Macca’s decision.

One Maccas decision I understand but don’t like is the removal of filter coffee in their higher socioecomonic outlets. I am sure it is to stop people like me (and pensioners) popping in and having 2 refills while working on my Touch (or reading the newspaper for pensioners). Thankfully in the less affluent areas you can still do it. /waves at the lovely staff at Goodna Maccas!

Noone is forcing someone to buy there. Infact supermarkets are cheaper in those areas. So does it suck a little if you live there? Possibly, but you can go next door to the Subway, Noodle Box, Hungry Jacks, KFC, Red Rooster or any number of smaller take outs.

By the way, Maccas Free WiFi have a great new app at the ITSAU - which allows you to find your closest WiFi Maccas – even gives you directions – on sale until the national role out finishes mid-March.

So it was not much of a surprise that the Queensland Election was called today for the 21st of March. Given the changing face of the world economic climate it was quite unlikely that Anna Bligh, Queensland first female Premier and Australia’s third, would wait out till full term in September – I am humourously bemused that Dr Lawrence Springborg would act surprised, Personally I couldn’t imagine a worse time to want to lead – but some people love to rise to challenges – even impossible challenges. In my mind, why would anyone want to lead at a time like this? No matter how well you do, the depths of emotions that will run against you will be so much stronger. I suppose it helps to believe that you really can make a difference, and it is my cynicism that makes me think that difference really is not possible.

I am one of those old fashioned people who vote on my local member, not on the leader – though having a leader I believe in obviously helps. I have “crossed the floor” to vote for a member I believed in and I am sure will do so again. My local member is someone I like as well as respect – even though she is a true numbers politician. The refreshing thing is that she makes no qualms about it and addresses it as a positive.

To be honest though – I really don’t know what anyone can do. While my local member has been active in my district, after checking her webpage and thinking back to promotional material – what has she actually accomplished that makes my life in this economic climate any better than anyone else might have? In truth, nada.

However, I am straining to think of any local member who has done so. For all I know they have, I just haven’t seen anything about it in the media. It should also be noted that no one really expected this, and certainly not as bad as it appears to be.

Since I have met my local member a few times, I thought I would do a quick search on her opponent in one of Queensland’s safest seats… I was really interested in his background etc until it reached one part – his “commercial” experience… which just happens to be in a segment of the health industry of which I have 0 respect. I certainly look forward to meeting him and discussing what he feels he can bring to the seat. His lack of political involvement to date is not a good thing in my opinion.

I look forward to learning about the policies in more detail.

At the end of the day my vote for which I am thankful to be enfranchised, will be dictated by what the candidate can bring to my district… real change, real impact, real difference.

Get set… Go.

 

 

 

Incase you are interested – my local member is Grace Grace who won the seat of Brisbane Central in a bi-election after Peter Beatie resigned. Running against her is political fresh faced ex-nurse – Mark Wood. I am going to be blogging throughout the election campaign (here and for another site) and hope to interview both candidates – so who knows – maybe LNP will garner that 8% swing.

“I am fighting back with the most powerful tool known to man – the silicone bracelet!”

Slacktivism has been bandied about for years – but recently we have seen more and more, and now we have Consumer Slacktivism on steroids here in Australia.

Just incase you haven’t heard of Slactivism, the name itself is a great word whose creation is also its definition. Web talk leads to lazy writing and communication. Blog instead of Web Log and Slactivism is easier to write than Slacker Activism.

And that is what Slactivism is really all about. Doing nothing or as little as possible thinking it will have a result. Little energy to feel like you are actually doing something. 

Slacktivism isn’t new – it was first bandied around almost 15 years but came into more popular use around 2000 when the email campaigns really began in force. Like all of us, I see ridiculous emails from people I consider to be quite intelligent and even thought leaders in their field, asking me to forward some vapid email touting a cause to others, asking them to log into a site and sign a petition or even click on a banner. 

These days it is more than just emails. We have the Facebook groups – every time I log in I have 2 or more invitations to join some cause in the Social Media network. Does anyone actually even believe that having a group on Facebook with a few thousand slactivist members actually accomplishes anything? There are even groups calling people to contribute to charities… I would kill to know how many of those members actually contribute financially or with real time. Clicking is easy. Tiara told me that she is in Facebook groups because “they’re causes I believe in, and there’s enough critical mass that the discussions are actually useful.” I think that the interesting point here is the word discussions. I am taking the liberty with interpretation hypothesising that these discussions lead to positive outcomes. A quick net search showed that the only real group demanding change that had any real success was the group opposed to Facebook’s own revised Terms and Conditions. I would love to be proved wrong.

Slactivism goes beyond the net. Be honest – do you own a wrist band? Sure the $2 you forked out will see tha something goes to the cause/charity, and I am sure that wearing makes you feel like you are doing something, but in truth it is very little other than their being badges. I have heard it argued that a little is better than nothing, but $2 directly to the charity is much better return on investment. One of the funniest thing I saw last year was the ongoing joke from the Colbert Report of the Wrist Strong bracelet. 

Colbert and his team came up with this after Stephen Colbert fell and broke his wrist which as we know is the “ankle of the arm.”  

The bracelets were for “Wrist Awareness” and the idea was that the more important the person who wore one the higher the awareness. Therefore, all in the Colbert Nation were called upon to pass their bracelet up the chain if they met someone with a higher profile. This is based on the idea of Actorvism or Celebrityvism (if they aren’t words yet I totally claim the mash). This exercise in futility  raised some serious coin for the Yellow Ribbon Fund (an American charity that supports the service men/women injured in the line of duty and their families). I am quite sure that only a few of the people who bought Wrist Strong Bracelets would have donated to that charity without the hilarity associated with it.

This does show that not all web based movements are empty. I just have to think about a week or so back to the Brisbane Twestival – part of a world wide event (outside of the web and within it) raising money for Charity : Water. This event had people coming out of cyberspace and into the real world to put their money where their mouth is. Brisbane alone raised over $5000, now multiply on a global scale and you have the result of over US$250,000 and still counting. This event organised through social media had an outcome that will positively impact approximately 17,000 people. But Twestival wasn’t Slactivism – it was activism brought about through net based awareness and social groupings.

So what brought along Slactivism? There are lots of theories out there. I think the most likely is the numbing of the net generation to urgent threats and calls to arms. They grew up with real instant news, charities and calls for help in overload. Just like anything in oversupply, you stop truly reacting. Is it any wonder that Slactivism came to such prominence. 

The real problem with most of Slacktivism is that the outcome is equal to the input – true of everything in life really. Rumour Has It suggest, quite convincingly actually, that the e-petition doesn’t equate to outcome. All those names and calls to action mean jack and diddly  if there is no one actually passing the information to someone who matters or even if it lands in the lap of someone that matters that they will actually do anything with it. If they are not directly respresenting you within their ward or constituency why would they?

Mike DiCenzo from the Onion put it best with:

“For years, government-backed Arab forces known as the Janjaweed militia had attempted to wipe out black farmers in Sudan’s western Darfur region. However, just as they were about to set fire to another village, word reached them that an American teenager thought that what was happening in Sudan “sucked.” After learning that all her friends agreed, they immediately called off the whole genocide.”

This leads to the obviously question – if they don’t accomplish anything, why do we do it? When I think think about issues that I am truly concerned about it, there is no easy answer.  It is much easier to think you are doing something by saying “something needs to be done” or throwing your name into the ether. And this has lead to a real rise in Consumtivism (which isn’t a real word yet but has a couple of hits on google).

Comsumerism mixed with Slacktivism is a dangerous precedent that I have seen in overload since the fires in Victoria. Basically, just do what you would normally do and we will do the giving for you. So rather than actually doing something, shop at Coles, Woolworths, Bi-Lo, Franklins etc, and we will give OUR profits to those charities. Don’t get me wrong, many thousands of people have made very generous donations in both money and items, but shopping to give is an easy out. Not satisfied with the fantastic free publicity these brands received, it continues with monies going to different causes – just yesterday you could shop to help Aussie Farmers. How far does it go?

We even have a bottled water company asking us to drink their product and they will donate to clean water charities on our behalf. Again, don’t change what you do, just change your consumer and buyer behaviour. Hell, milk companies will donate a few cents to your child’s school if you collect their milk tops. While I am Apple biased, their (Product) Red had raised serious coin (part of an international campaign) and made a real impact as does Mount Franklin’s pink topped water bottles for Pink Ribbon Day – though as the charity corporate fund raising exec said at a function I attended not too long ago – most of the products we see with the pink packaging at that time of year have paid nothing to the charity or asked to be associated. These products and their companies are counting on our comsumtivism to buy their product more than usual or for the first time, simply because of the special packaging which sees us assume they are associated with Pink Ribbon Day.

So is this the future of marketing and our impact on the world around us? Are we so consumer focused and convenience orientated that we won’t actually do as much as we should? Some suggestions for easy effort with great results would be the fantastic Kiva micro lending charity (don’t panic if you can’t see anyone to invest in, new entrepreneurs are updated daily) (props to Shaun for putting me onto them), foster a child overseas through Worldvision or at home through Smith Family – and don’t bitch about the administration costs.

To really make a difference – get active. Become involved in local politics – take up the “come in for a coffee” invitations from your local members. Go to open meetings. Make donations that have a direct impact by giving directly to the charity and not to get something in return.

I am going to follow up on my own advice and meet with my local representative as the Queensland election is nigh. I am enfranchised and intend to do something with this right.

So one final word – or the words of another (Andrew Taylor) written back in 2005 in response to the email petitions and calls to arms – what he wrote then is as true today as it was then.

“So where’s the harm? It only takes a few seconds, and it doesn’t generate any excess landfill waste. Well, just consider the cumulative power of those few seconds, multiplied by a million. Then consider the loss of personal momentum when you’ve forwarded such a message, and figure you’ve done your good deed for the day. Finally, consider the fact that many such messages are out of date, out of touch, or just plain wrong.”

The Watchmen – Public Announcement

I can’t believe the time is almost at hand. I am so jealous of Pete at www.fulltimecasual.com who received press passes for the hoopla and previewing.

Pete, if you ever get yourself up to BrisVegas we are going to have a “talk.”

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Let’s start with a game.

Echo (Eliza D) sultry

Echo (Eliza D) thinking

Echo (Eliza D) as a doll

Echo (Eliza D) confused

You get the gist.

I was lucky enough to be in the States last week when the pilot was shown (this is absolutely 100% true because I would never illegally download anything by Joss Whedon).

As a huge fan of the Whedonverse – even persevering through Angel till it got good, I still find it hard to be excited about Dollhouse.

In case you have been living under a rock – this is the premise of the show.

Beautiful young things choose to give up their lives for a stint with a company that keeps them as docile “dolls” until some billionaire wants one to be something special and they are downloaded new identities (right down to asthma) and become an “active” – be it a prostitute (let’s not pretend that a perfect weekend with someone you paid for isn’t a prostitution), hostage negotiator and who knows – bomb disposal expert. The dolls don’t remember anything of their previous lives or their “excursions” after the fact. *add suspense music* However the FBI have heard whispers of this illegal operation and one lone agent fights for proof! *add more suspenseful music* A rogue doll is also out there who wants the truth to be told. *add some super suspenseful music* Echo’s perfect “active”ness is filled with errors/problem/memories so this perfect little world isn’t so perfect after all.

The first thing that comes to mind about Dollhouse, other than Eliza Dushku’s lack of range, is the lack of Jossness in the show. There is none of the pithy humour, biting one liners, the innuendo or even amusing anecdotes. Of all the shows in all the world, THIS one is the one that he decides is going to be serious? Shame really, because the premise and the protagonists are perfect for his sense of humour. The only time I laughed was when Echo was trying to look scared yet in control of a nasty situation.

Another difficulty I found with the show – and trust me there are a lot – is the inability to empathise with the dolls. When they are not active – they are empty vessels without a care in the world living in the lap of luxury. Sure they end up doing some questionable excursions, but as they don’t remember it and also chose this, it is hard to feel anything at all other than contempt. Empathy seems as though it has to be transferable through the non-doll characters – a challenge at the best of times. Certainly the most likeable character (dare I say the only likeable character) is that of Echo’s handler Langton – played by veteran tv actor Harry Lennix. He certainly questions the morality of the Dollhouse and those that run it. This is one character that I am interested in seeing develop. How do you walk the line between continuing on to keep your doll safe, yet having such deep uncertainty about all you do? Let’s just hope that because he isn’t all young and buff he doesn’t get the out but it appears as though his is the obligatory Whedon father figure of the series.

Maybe it is just me, but basing a show about the down right abuse of individuals isn’t my idea of something to be explored. SciFi has always broached moral taboos and questioned the status quo – but Dollhouse is on Fox, and not what I would call SciFi. Yes it is a biting idea, but it is wrapped up in the commercial blanket. Abuse has never been marketable to the masses (thankfully) and this is abuse, no matter how you dress it up. I want to know who decides an excursion is acceptable. We know that sex and murder are OK – how dark and deep do we have to go? I am sure we will see some dark and even more questionable excursions, and how Langton deals with them is going to be interesting, but I highly doubt this will be an underlying theme of the show. It is Fox.

I had seen, during the last few months, people discuss how Dollhouse is a brave new world of tv – new ideas, breaking ground etc. Maybe it is true when someone says there are just no new ideas out there. Without even thinking too hard I see a lot of similarities.

Let’s start with Alias – female protagonist takes on different identities/characters week to week to find out the truth behind themselves and nefarious operations. The only difference? In Dollhouse they actually believe they are the character and are downloaded all the knowledge and skills required to be that person/complete that task. Matrix anyone?

Other comparisons would be the highly talented Tamoh Penikitt playing the aforementioned FBI agent. The new Fox Mulder – I want to believe! I can’t understand how someone so good in BSG is well, stiff and more than a tad crappy in DH. The only time any real light shone through was a toilet scene with another man… If you haven’t seen it I won’t spoil it for you.

At least with United States of Tara we have an accomplished actress versatile enough to carry multiple personalities.

Probably one of the most underlying issues with the show – one that they even tried to address in the show (all be it very unconvincingly) is why anyone would want a doll. If you need a specialist in a particular area, why wouldn’t you just go out and get the real thing, rather than a facsimile? So you are a multi-billionaire and you want the world’s greatest courtesan. First off, yeah grats mate. But on a prostitution level, having them actually believe they are in love with you is better than pretending I suppose, but at the end of the day it isn’t real anyway – so what is the difference? Why would you have a sex slave one week and a hostage negotiator the next? Are we talking about a whole new level of perversion? Maybe the doll market hasn’t grown enough for companies to specialise in specific dolls – but as it stands, it is just silly – just like Amy Aker’s makeup. Gee do you think something bad happened?

 Some of the few positives after viewing the pilot are:

• There is LOTS of room to improve
• That we might get to see the many varied writing styles of Joss Whedon as the genres change week to week?
• The soon to regular Dollhouse drinking game – drink whenever a character says “Did I fall asleep?”

Will I watch again? I will give it a few episodes when it comes to Australia in the vain hope that it does improve. Let’s not forget that many shows are a LOT better than their pilot, but we can at least hope that some sort of Blue Sun is on the horizon.

Howard to receive honorary doctorate – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation).

I vote NO!

Less the doctorate is in kissing a twat’s arse… then I could approve of that.

I never had this problem as a child – but I understand that some kids get their lunches stolen at school.

Enter the scene this nifty idea. I can’t see it working in a word fridge though, someone is always cleaning out a work fridge and this would get tossed quickly. But can you imagine it in a lunch box at school? PERFECT.

Nifty Jiffy Bag!

No idea who invented it but found that it was sold here with a portion of monies going to charity. This got me wondering about other things – especially for work.

Sick of someone using your expensive perfume? Herpes medicine box hiding your $300 bottle of perfume.

Someone keeps stealing your pen? Leave it with a chewed lid next to the Herpes medicine box…. You are seeing a pattern here right?

I sometimes think I have a brilliant idea – usuall when half asleep but can never remember what it is. I went through a phase of writing a couple down as I had them at night and couldn’t decipher what I wrote OR thought it was a complete load of bollocks. I doubt you will ever see me on The Inventors – but you never know!