Last night I went to another one of those Inspiring Women In Business talks. The last one I went to was pretty good, so I thought I'd shell out the £25 to see the next one.
That was my first mistake.
My second mistake was showing up.
The third was not bringing my hip flask to spike all of the fucking free Vitamin Water (complete with colorful neon straws) they were giving us. You know how women are about their water!
So. We have a bunch of women sitting in a room, who are all there to listen to three women talk about personal branding and entrepreneurship, and who are all silently psyching themselves up to network and frantically scanning the list of attendees to see if there's anyone even worth talking to.
The first speaker goes by. She had presence, charisma, and stretched out, pixelized photos in her Power Point presentation. Aside from the latter she was fantastic.
The next speaker...I don't even know what happened. I couldn't understand a damn word she said, she droned on and on and on, and I still don't know what the hell her business is or why she was supposed to be inspiring.
The third speaker was interesting, but half way through some jackass behind me had a "question". The presenter of the evening asked her to stand up and ask her question and from behind me this grating, overly loud voice says,
"HELLO. My name is BLAH BLAH and I'm a freelance designer and I have been trying to get in contact with you company FOR YEARS and now that I FINALLY have you in the same room as me I just want to let you know that I have some GREAT IDEAS for you that I think you will REALLY LIKE and I WOULD LOVE TO SIT DOWN TO TALK WITH YOU."
There was a hum of laughter, and most of the women (including the presenter) broke into some sort of congratulatory applause and acted like this was an act of inspiring bravery. I, on the other hand, had my eyes closed and was doing breathing exercises because it was SO FUCKING AWKWARD.
The presenter smiled graciously and tried to tell us all, yet again, about a time when networking and bravery REALLY worked for her, but Miss Blah Blah in the back of the room wasn't done:
"And LADIES. If you're wondering where I got all this CONFIDENCE from, I'll tell ya. It's a book called THE SECRET, ladies, and it's in paperback and DVD. It is SO INSPIRING. IT CHANGED MY LIFE. YOU SHOULD GO OUT AND BUY IT."
More awkward cooing and uncomfortable applause.
Wow! I'm sorry...that was confidence? I thought it was tactless, awkward, rude, and inconsiderate jackassery. Maybe I'm confused.
Soon after the awkward Secret outburst, the third "inspiring" speaker was finished and we were encouraged to, "Get out there AND START NETWORKING!!!!!!"
And that, my friends, was the moment that I silently started screaming in my head.
Trust me, I like to network. I've met some really cool folks by networking. I get how important it is. I know. I KNOW.
However, I believe you have to have the right combination of things to create the right networking atmosphere.
You also need people in common fields. AND MAYBE BOOZE.
By this time none of us had had dinner and their idea of snacks were those quarter-sized mini sandwiches and odd shaped cheeses on sliced tomatoes. Fucking hell, people. A GIRL NEEDS TO EAT. It was almost 9 and the event started at 6:30. Hello. We're not ALL anorexic!
And also, I find that if you DON'T PUSH THE NETWORKING THING SO FUCKING HARD people will feel a lot more comfortable and natural when they do speak to someone.
It's like asking us to flirt on cue! I can't do that! And, to be honest, I'm pretty sure the idea of networking is that everybody is after something. It's a get and give situation. You're looking for clients, you're looking for a new job, you're looking for contacts that can increase your business and help you.
So when you tell me us all to hop to and to get networking, it's just becomes so unnatural and feels really competitive...like a bunch of cats in heat wandering around scratching up against every thing in the room that moves.
I guess it pissed me off so much because every single fucking time I go to an event like this, especially when it's for women, I'm not only the youngest, but the only person in my field. Women In Business is such an odd term, if you think about it. Does that mean women who work? Women who start their own business? Women who are interested in business?
And why is it that I've been to TWO "INSPIRING WOMEN" events in one month? Can't they think of something else? Why do we always need to be inspired? I would much rather be fed and given free booze than given some lame *inspiring* speech. Talk to me straight. Tell me how you got to the position you're in. Give me a case study of yourself. Please don't feed me Eleanor Roosevelt quotes that I've already heard and posted on my Myspace page about 5 years ago.
There are shit loads of creative, YOUNG, smart ,savvy women out there who are in business and I'm sure feel just like me at these events. Where are all the women in tech at these events I go to? Where are the writers? The artists? The photographers?
Why is always just the same women from banks and corporations and PR companies with the occasional bitchy fashion editor thrown in the mix?
I just want to go to an event, meet other creative working women, leave with a stack of business cards with at least 3 I actually will use and knowing that I met and talked to women who in the same sector as I am.
I've had enough of being let down and insulted by the snooty bankers and fake ass PR women that clearly are only talking to me for the sake of saying the met their business card distribution quota for the week.
Clearly, these situations will always arise. At certain events and certain venues they are inevitable. However, I am simply saying that I refuse to participate and act like a Networking Sheep at another one of these "INSPIRING" women's events. I'm not going to pretend to like Vitamin Water or force myself to talk to people that clearly have no idea what a blog is, just for the sake of throwing out a business card.
The one thing I did learn at that even was from the first speaker who said "networking isn't about handing out business cards...it's about having genuine conversations with people and putting the best version of yourself out there".
So. From now on, I am going to be smarter about networking decisions. I am not going to something just because I was invited. I am going to go to something because I think that there is something I can truly gain and walk away with.
And not just a free bag of things women like. You know...like, fruity lip gloss and tiny bottles of bath gel. UGH.
Since it's a little quiet in the 'hood today, here's my lame contribution of ephemera.
- the statement above is from my physiotherapy guy. After being sick and coughing a ton I had a pinched sciatic nerve for three weeks before one visit to the chiropractor and two visits to him managed to give me an adjustment that freed it. By that time, it had gotten into the habit of being flared up and it's taken another visit to figure out how my biomechanics are contributing to the problem when I'm not locked up. I engage the large muscles in my back too much (it's true -- I perch on the edge of my desk chair a lot of the time, and overwork them, and clearly have no idea how to relax). He did some "medical acupuncture" on me this morning to help the situation (i.e. not the Traditional Chinese Medicine kind to do with chi and such, but the kind to stimulate particular nerves.)
- I don't care what anybody says, acupuncture needles hurt, when they go into the large, "grippy" muscles in your back.
- I have just had approximately my 9th snack of the workday. Yes, I had both breakfast and lunch. But in between have been: a small yogurt, some brown rice chips, carrots, jujubes out of the candy bowl at Reception, carrots, more brown rice chips, more jujubes, celery, Diet Coke, an organic "Oreo". I am, however drinking a lot more water than usual this week. I don't hydrate enough. Apparently, I don't eat enough at meals, as well.
- speaking of brown rice chips, these are my new favorite snack. At first, only two of the six flavors were out up here in Canada. I'm hooked on the Sweet Chili flavor, mostly passing on the simple Sea Salt. Within the last two days, me and Terri, my snacky-friend at work have run into the Salsa Fresca and Sesame Soy and have been sharing back and forth. Thumbs up all around.
- I'm headed out after work to catch Indiana Jones and Whatever The Problem is This Time. Seriously, I am a fan.
- the sailing ship on my computer deskstop is the smooth sailing version this week. Aaaaah.
Tuesday: Stupid hot - 107 degrees with blistering sun.
Thursday: Cold and rainy - snow in the high country, rain and hail here in metro Phoenix. Hail? Hail yes!!
Strong winds blowing outside, temps in the 60's. Sixty degrees might not be cold for some of you, but a 40 degree drop in temps is a bit of a shock to the system. Brrr!
Big storm system in just in time to ruin everyone's Memorial Day plans. Except mine. I was going to sequester myself inside my place and spend some quiet time with Elvis.
Except for when I vacuum. Then it will be noisy time without Elvis.
(All pics from reader submissions to azcentral.com. It's weather! Everyone's taking pictures!)
I just finished Watching Seasons 1 & 2 of Michael Mann's Crime Story and suggest to anyone who appreciate good TV ought to check it out.
Crime Story (TV series)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Crime Story | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Format | Crime / Drama |
| Created by | Chuck Adamson Gustave Reininger |
| Starring | Dennis Farina Anthony John Denison John Santucci Stephen Lang Bill Smitrovich Ted Levine |
| Country of origin |  United States |
| No. of episodes | 44 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 60 minutes per episode |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | NBC |
| Original run | September 18, 1986 – May 10, 1988 |
| External links | |
| IMDb profile | |
| TV.com summary | |
Crime Story was an NBC TV drama created by Gustave Reininger and Chuck Adamson. It was executive produced by Michael Mann. The show premiered with a two hour pilot - a movie which had been exhibited theatrically - and was watched by over 30 million viewers. Crime Story then was scheduled to follow Miami Vice on Friday nights, and continued to attract a record number of viewers. NBC then moved the show to Tuesdays at 10 pm to counter program it opposite ABC's Moonlighting.
Set in the early - pre-Beatles -1960s, the series pitted two men against each other - Lt. Mike Torello (Dennis Farina) and mobster Ray Luca, (Anthony Denison) - in an obsessive drive to destroy each other. As Luca moved from street crime in Chicago, was "made" in the Chicago Outfit and was sent to Las Vegas to monitor their casinos, Det. Mike Torello followed Luca, as part of a special Organized Crime Task Force.
The first season ended with Ray Luca and Pauli Taglia on the lam, hiding from Det. Mike Torello, in a Nevada desert shack, which is located in an Atomic Bomb test area. An A-Bomb explodes, presumably obliteraing Luca and Taglia, in one of the most memorable cliffhangers in television history, leaving viewers wondering whether they were dead or alive, just as the show's creator were wondering if the series itself was dead or alive with NBC.[1]
Contents[hide] |
[edit]
Production
After the success of the first season of Miami Vice, Mann had complete freedom with NBC for another show.[2] According to Mann, the genesis of the project was to follow a group of police officers in a major crimes unit in 1963 and how they change over 20 hours of television, "in 1980, with very different occupations, in a different city and in a different time."[3] He asked Reininger and Adamson to write the a series pilot and a "Bible."
Reininger was a former Wall Street international investment banker who had come to Mann's attention based on a screenplay he had written about arson investigators, and a French film that he had written and produced. Reininger researched Crime Story by winning the confidence of Detective William Hanhardt who put him in touch with undercover officers in Chicago. They sent him on meetings with organized crime figures. Reininger risked wearing a body microphone and recorder. After visiting the crime scene of a gruesome gangland slaying of bookmaker Al Brown, Reininger backed off his Mob interviews.[2]
In a June 1986 press conference, Mann said that the first season of the show would go from Chicago in 1963 to Las Vegas in 1980.[3] He said, "It's a serial in the sense that we have continuing stories, and in that sense the show is one big novel."[3] Mann and Reininger's inspiration for the 1963-1980 arc came from their mutual admiration of the epic 15+ hour film, Berlin Alexanderplatz, by German director Rainer Werner Fassbinder'.[4] Mann said, "The pace of our story is like the speed of light compared to that, but that's the idea - if you put it all together at the end you've got one hell of a 22-hour movie."[4] Mann predicted a five-year network run for the show.[4] However, due to budgetary constraints (the need for four sets of cars proved to be too expensive)[2]. Tartikoff eventually allowed their series to move to Las Vegas for the last quarter of the 22 episodes.
NBC head Brandon Tartikoff (who had started his career in Chicago) gave an order for a two-hour movie, which had a theatrical release in a handful of U.S. theaters to invited guests only.[4] Tartikoff also ordered 22 episodes which allowed Reininger and Adamson to tell a story with developing character arcs, and continuing stories (instead of episodic, self standing shows.). The ratings which began very strong when it followed Miami Vice, dipped when it was counter-programmed against ABC's Moonlighting.[5] This prompted the network to move the show to Friday nights after Miami Vice on December 5, 1986[2] where its ratings improved but it still lost to Falcon Crest.[5] NBC temporarily pulled Crime Story off the schedule on March 13, 1987. In order to get more people to watch, Farina and other cast members promoted the show in five U.S. cities.[5] After the first season, the show was nominated for three Emmys, all in technical categories.[6] By the second season, an average episode cost between $1.3 and 1.4 million because it was shot on location, set during the 1960s and featured a large cast.[7]
Two famous rock and roll musicians of the past contributed to Crime Story: Del Shannon sang a revised version of his hit "Runaway" as the theme song, and Todd Rundgren started the musical direction of the series with Al Kooper taking over as the series musical director.
[edit] Influences
Crime Story and its imitator Wiseguy were the prototypes for today's arc-driven television series, such as 24 and The Sopranos that have continuing story lines over multiple episodes.
In addition, Martin Scorsese directed and produced his movie "Casino" loosely basing it on elements of "Crime Story," which was recognized at the "Casino" premiere as an inspiration. Joe Pesci played the Spilotro character. With Spilotro dead, "Casino" writer Nick Pileggi was able tell much more of the details surrounding the Chicago "Outfit" and its Casino operations in Las Vegas.
[edit] Cast
| Dennis Farina | Lt. Mike Torello |
| Anthony Denison | Ray Luca |
| John Santucci | Pauli Taglia |
| Stephen Lang | David Abrams |
| Bill Smitrovich | Sgt. Danny Krychek |
| Bill Campbell | Det. Joey Indelli |
| Paul Butler | Det. Walter Clemmons |
| Steve Ryan | Det. Nate Grossman |
| Ted Levine | Frank Holman |
| Andrew Dice Clay | Max Goldman |
| Jon Polito | Phil Bartoli |
| Joseph Wiseman | Manny Weisbord |
| Darlanne Fluegel | Julie Torello (1986-87) |
[edit] Notable Guest Appearances
The series featured many well-known actors and actresses before they were well known.
- David Caruso appeared as Johnny O'Donnell in the pilot (episodes 1 and 2). He appeared in flashback scenes in episode 12, and in episode 19 of the second season.
- Julia Roberts appeared as a juvenile rape victim in "The Survivor" episode in season 1. It was her first TV appearance.
- Kevin Spacey appeared in second season premiere as a crusading, Kennedy-esque Senator. This was his first major television appearance.
- Deborah Harry appeared in the second to last episode of season 1, "Top Of The World", as the girlfriend of mobster Ray Luca. She did not sing.
- Gary Sinise appeared in the season 1 episode "For Love Or Money", as Howie Dressler, a husband forced to steal to pay for his wife's iron lung. He also directed two episodes, credited as "Gary A. Sinise."
- Ving Rhames appeared in the season 1 episode "Abrams For The Defense," as Hector Lincoln, a husband and father accused of assaulting his landlord. This was Rhames's second television appearance.
- William Russ was featured during the opening credits, even though his character (an MCU detective) was murdered in the pilot.
- Christian Slater played a teenager who discovered a body in the episode "Old Friends, Dead Ends".
- Paul Guilfoyle appeared in "Hide and Go Thief" as a criminal who gets into a shootout with the MCU. His hostage was played by Lorraine Bracco. Bracco's sister Elizabeth played a hostage in the pilot episode.
- Michael Rooker played a uniformed police officer in the pilot episode.
- Lili Taylor played a waitress in Frank Holman's Diner in the episode "Hide and Go Thief".
- Pam Grier played Suzanne Terry, an investigative journalist and girlfriend of federal attorney David Abrams, in five episodes spread out over both seasons.
- Jazz musician Miles Davis made a cameo in the first season episode "The War," and shared the scene with Stephen Lang.
- Stanley Tucci played bomber Zack Lowman in "The Battle of Las Vegas".
- David Hyde Pierce appears in the second season episode "Mig 21," as NSA Agent Carruthers (billed as David Pierce). That episode also featured George Dzundza, who would have later success on Law & Order.
- Season Two episode "Protected Witness" featured both Laura San Giacomo as Theresa Farantino, and Billy Zane as Frankie 'The Duke' Farantino.
- Michael J. Pollard played pimp Leon Barski, and William Hickey played Judge Neville Harmon in "The Brothel Wars."
- Dennis Haysbert appeared in "Moulin Rogue" and "Seize the Time" as the bookkeeper of a jazz club.
- Among others, Eric Bogosian, Michael Madsen, Vincent Gallo, and Armin Shimerman.
[edit] DVD Releases
Anchor Bay Entertainment has released the entire series on DVD in Region 1.
A Region 4 release of Season 1 has been classified by the OFLC."[8]
| DVD Name | Ep # | Release Date | Additional Information |
|---|---|---|---|
| Season 1 | 22 | November 4, 2003 |
|
| Season 2 | 22 | September 20, 2005 |
[edit] Basis in Chicago crime history
Before becoming an actor, Dennis Farina was a member of the Chicago police department, as was series co-creator Adamson. Adamason was a Sergeant and Farina was Detective in Chicago's Central Investigative Unit, the real-life counterpart to the "Major Crimes Unit" in the series, which was commanded by Det. William Hanhardt. John Santucci, who played mobster and safecracker Pauli Taglia, was, in his past, a notorious jewel thief. The museum score depicted in the pilot episode was based on a real heist in which Santucci participated. In his previous career Santucci had been arrested by both Adamson and Farina, and was a confidential informer for Det. William Handhardt.
Many of the early episodes were composited stories based on the Chicago mob, called "The Outfit", and the CIU, the special crimes and criminal unit of the Chicago Police Department that tracked the mobsters, and was run by Det. William Handardt. Torello was based on Det. William Hanhardt, the real life head of the anti-mob unit. Hanhardt's exploits were legendary in Chicago's press and police files. Reininger and Adamson based Luca, on Chicago mobster Anthony Spilotro. Spilotro started as the head of a sophisticated burglary "crew." He attracted the attention of Chicago Outfit because he "fenced" his merchandise through their associates. Spilotro is considered by the FBI to have made his "bones" by assassinating the legendary head of the Chicago Outfit, Sam "Momo" Giancana, who had become a liability because of his involvement with the CIA in events surrounding the Bay of Pigs. Spilotro went from street thief to mafia chief in record time. Eventually, he was sent to Las Vegas to monitor the unreported cash that was "skimmed" from Chicago crime-syndicate-owned casinos back to their bosses in the Windy City, and then distributed to other Mob "investors" in Milwaukee, Kansas City, Detroit, and Cleveland.
Spilatro was unsuccessfully prosecuted several times by Federal authorities. He never served jail time. In 1986, he was the target of a massive prosecutorial effort led by the Las Vegas and Chicago branches of the U. S. Justice Department's Organized Crime Strike Force. In early 1986, he was on trial in Federal Court in Las Vegas, being defended by attorney Oscar Goodman, who eventually was elected the Mayor of Las Vegas. Reininger was supoenaed as a material witness for Spilotro, who was alleging that the only way Reininger could have written scripts and the series "Bible" was by having access to Federal wiretaps of Spilotro. Reininger in turn discovered that his New York phones were being monitored. Reininger was served Spilotro's subpoena, and given a deadly warning, in a New York hotel bar by private detective Anthony Pellicano, who in 2006 was imprisoned for illegal wiretapping, blackmail and harassment while representing notable Los Angeles entertainment figures.
Ironically Spilotro, like Giancana before him, had become a liability to the "Outfit." On a weekend trial recess, Spilotro returned home to Chicago and was brutally murdered along with his brother Michael, and buried in an Indiana cornfield. The case was dismissed, and Reininger, who had sent all his "Crime Story" work materials to a former banking associate in Zurich, Switzerland, did not have to testify.
I just ran across this story...
Florida delegates sue DNC over primary votes
Reported by:
Don Germaise
May 22, 2008 12:54 pm
FORT LAUDERDALE, FL -- Three Florida delegates, including the state's
Senate Democratic leader have filed a federal lawsuit against the
Democratic National Committee claiming the DNC violated their
constitutional rights by barring them from the party's national
convention...
The litigation takes aim at three essential issues:
- The DNC broke its own rules by not investigating the events that led to Florida's ealy vote before punishing the state.
- Even though Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina also broke the same party rules by moving up their primaries, they were not sanctioned as Florida was, but were instead granted a waiver by the DNC from any such penalties.
- As the controversy unfolded, the DNC maintained that Florida should have held a post-primary Caucus. Doing so, Geller argued, likely would have resulted in only about 100,000 votes being counted, a tiny fraction of the 1.75 million voters who turned out in January, while at the same time, completely disenfranchising Florida Democrats in our country’s military serving outside of Florida.
[ED - I can't get rid of the underline in the passage below, please ignore it]
Today, msn.com has featured a wonderful piece in Newsweek about bipolar disorder in children. link here
The author of this piece has profound insight and I encourage anyone who has been curious about this to read it.
I've never been able to put my finger on exactly what it is about bipolar, specifically, that people cannot understand, even after learning about the symptoms. But I see now that it's the extreme "happiness" that is the most difficult for folks to wrap their heads around. It isn't really happiness at all. Just like the anger and sadness that goes along with this mood disorder isn't "real" either. The moods are extreme and come from a different place than pure emotion. The emotions may physically come from the same part of the brain but they are biologically skewed. There is such a thing as being "too happy". From the article:
Eureka! How can happy be bad? That is so so so hard to understand. But, as I said before, it isn't actual happiness. And this is the type of happy that isn't fun to witness, either. If you've never witnessed mania personally, you'll just have to trust me on that. If you've seen Tom Wilkinson's performance in the film Michael Clayton then you've seen, at the very least, the best depiction of mania I've ever seen expressed on film.
If you have a minute, read the story. It's heart breaking but worth it. It exposes how difficult it is to diagnose mental illness in children and it puts a human face on the problem, as well. It's better to TRY to treat it than to do nothing at all. No one asks for their life to be so difficult, it's something out of our control. And humans are not known for handling things that we cannot control very gracefully. When it comes to mental illness, we'd rather the problem at hand not exist, as opposed to stopping and taking the time to understand it - until you've been there, that is, for most. When I hear stories like Max's, I realize that because his parents and he have been through hell and back trying to treat the problem, constantly having to weigh pros and cons of medication, hospitals, schools and therapy, once Max is old enough to TRULY understand what is happening to him, there will be hope. It's true that this kid will have a rough go at it. There is no cure for bipolar but there IS treatment. If his parents had done nothing at all and chose to live in denial and suffer along with him without trying the drugs and therapy, things would be a lot harder for this child. He'd probably be dead considering his suicide attempt. From the article:
"There was a night last month when Max was calm, and after he finished his homework, he curled up in an easy chair with Amy. She was reading him a book, and although it was only 7:45 his eyelids were fluttering. Eventually he began to whine, and Amy asked him if he was about to start a fight. "Probably," he said. "Let's just get it over with." But he didn't fight. Instead, he was quiet for a few minutes, then he looked at her and said, "Your heart is the size of the world." What he may not realize now, although he surely will someday, is that it has to be."
I think FDR said it best. I wonder if Howard Dean and the Democratic National Committee would agree with him?
"The liberty of a democracy is not safe if the people tolerate the growth of private power to a point where it becomes stronger than their democratic state itself. That, in its essence, is fascism - ownership of government by an individual, by a group,”
Franklin D. Roosevelt
“Rules are NOT necessarily Sacred..Principals are”
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Are there any people you would not tell if they had food in their teeth or if their zipper were down? Why or why not?
Submitted by Charms.
OK, I like this question. A lot. Anyway, YES, there are several people. They are smug, self-centered, arrogant, self-righteous prigs and I don't care if they are embarrassed. But I suspect that food-in-teeth and zippers-down wouldn't bother them anyway. They'd blame it on someone else and disregard their responsibility for the situation(s). Well, tough nougies. And if that makes me a bad person, OK.
EDITED TO ADD: Now I feel guilty. :(