No, no, seriously – I really mean it. Stop reading NOW. It’s for your own good. This blog post will not change your life, it will not help get you a job if you don’t already have one, and it will not increase your productivity if you do. And, unlike some blog posts you may have read here on Creativepool, it does not contain an interesting interview, nor does it offer job-seeking advice – or, indeed, offer any opinions of any significant value. In short, it is five minutes of your life you will never get back. It will, however, make you more attractive to the opposite sex…
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Posts Tagged ‘Ashley’
He’d like to teach the world to sing (in virtual harmony…)
Tuesday, April 12th, 2011
When American composer Eric Whitacre first thought of creating a ‘virtual choir’, he didn’t necessarily expect to be setting any world records; it was more an exploration into the unifying power of music – via the unifying power of technology. “For me, singing together and making music together is a fundamental human experience,” he says. “And I love the idea that technology can bring people together from all over the world and get people to participate in this transcending experience.”
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Eye jewellery: the look you’re looking for?
Monday, April 4th, 2011
Eye jewellery. Jewels in your eyes. Yes, I said JEWELS IN YOUR EYES. Apparently, it’s out there. Turns out that I (and everyone else I’ve asked) must be behind the times because I only heard about this last week and yet there was a warning about it on a news website in 2004. At least that means it hasn’t really taken off, I suppose – which is just as well because it actually makes me feel queasy just thinking about it. So perhaps my decision to blog about it is akin to immersion therapy, because for me this would be like a poke in the eye with a sharp stick. Or worse.
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In-Car Technology: Driving You Sane
Monday, March 21st, 2011
I must admit that I’m a bit of a car geek – but that doesn’t necessarily mean I just drool over supercars. I even love modest cars – and have been the very fond and proud owner of a relatively humble Ford Focus for nearly 11 years. But now that it’s coming to the end of its serviceable life and I’m looking around at what I can get for my wonga, I’m becoming more and more amazed at the technological advancement of driving aids over the past few years.
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Ticking the right [equal opportunities] box
Monday, March 14th, 2011
Getting your ideal job (or any job, come to that) can be a real uphill struggle in the current economic climate. But is it any harder if you have a disability? Equal opportunities statements might well be printed in black and white at the bottom of application forms, but realistically, do they actually count for anything? When rejecting a perfectly well-qualified applicant, it’s very easy to trot out the phrase ‘there was someone with more directly relevant experience than you’. Nobody will be any the wiser as to whether that is the real reason or not; it’s impossible to prove. So in our evermore touchy-feely society, is having a disability in the current job market any less of a stigma now than it once was?
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To beard or not to beard
Monday, February 28th, 2011
Last week, in a mid-awards season but pre-Oscars bout of celeb watching, I commented on the saving grace of the classic dinner jacket – the saving grace being that it allows men not to have to think too much about what to wear if required to be exceptionally natty. In light of Mickey Rourke’s effort a few years ago, I didn’t really expect to be surprised at anyone’s appearance last night at the 2011 Academy Awards. But my cereal-filled spoon stopped just short of my mouth this morning when Grizzly Adams accepted his award for Best Supporting Actor. Turns out it was Christian Bale.
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Job Application Hell. Welcome to my world
Monday, February 7th, 2011
Trying to find a new job ‘in the current economic climate’ (to trot out the phrase of a half-decade) is no small undertaking. Whether you register with an agency or reply to an ad in The Guardian or specialist publications – or the Creativepool website, come to that – the chances are you are one of several hundred all gunning for one position.
If you don’t tick every darn box – and then some – you can pretty much wave goodbye to your chances of success unless you happen to know someone who knows someone. And woe betide the applicant who allows anything so heinous as a misspelling to creep into their CV or covering letter. The rules for employers, however, are very different. They can get away with murder, which, coincidentally, is what I’d like to get away with when I receive a particularly annoying reason for rejection and/or a clear fob-off.
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Spanish religious art – a tour with Rachel Ropeik
Tuesday, January 18th, 2011
When I recently took a break in Marbella, I didn’t expect it to be an especially cultural break. But I’m not one for the beach (and certainly not sub-20 degrees) so I drove nearly 1,000 miles in the course of that week to historic cities and towns such as Seville, Granada, Cordoba and Ronda for a more cultural take on Spain and Spanish art. Luckily, we were travelling with art historian Rachel Ropeik, who made it that much more interesting. I posed the following questions to Rachel about Spanish art…
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Bl**dy b*gger to you, you beastly b**tard
Monday, January 10th, 2011
You can’t fail to be aware of the Oscar buzz surrounding the film The King’s Speech, which opened on 7 January at cinemas all over the country. As a lifelong stammerer myself, I was intrigued and possibly slightly nervous at how the film would turn out. The trailer was moving and comical in equal parts – the latter because of the unorthodox and now dated therapy techniques used by speech therapist Lionel Logue. These days, techniques have moved on considerably. But what about technology? Has it actually improved life for stammerers, or does the best therapy come from within?
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The Mind Boggles
Monday, January 3rd, 2011
Ah, Christmas. Missing it already… Well, actually, I’m glad to see the back of it for another 50 weeks or so, but there is one thing which I do always enjoy about it: the post-Christmas dinner party games. Why? Because I usually win – and for a very good reason.
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