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Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category

Life Lessons from Angie Tribeca

It’s easy to have mixed feelings about a TV cop show (this one from TBS), including a comedic take like Angie Tribeca.

So far it has broadcast two seasons, albeit of ten episodes each, and likely will have at least one more.

It is uniquely placed in the current landscape due to its throwback focus on sight gags, supported by verbal puns, irony, etc., often delivered at rapid fire pace.  (more…)

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Art of Communication, Arts commentary, Behaviour & Relationships, Humour, Uncategorized

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Blogging Tips from a Pro

Early on in his latest book, Thank You for Being Late – An Optimist’s Guide to Thriving in the Age of Accelerations, author and Pulitzer prize winning, New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman, embeds some tips for writing opinion pieces.

While this aspect of the book is precipitated by a chance encounter with a New York parking attendant who is also an Ethiopian blogger, his advice is widely both cogent and timely, especially for those of us striving for relevance in the blogging sphere. (more…)

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Art of Communication, Behaviour & Relationships, Business Commentary, Personal Development, Uncategorized

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‘Headlines Revisited’ – Part Two

As we launch into the new year it’s enlightening to reflect on recent historical perspective.

When Jay Leno was host of the Tonight Show, one of his regular features, usually on Monday evenings, was ‘Headlines’. During this segment, he would display a range of actual newspaper headlines, as well as ads or other similar excerpts, (more…)

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Art of Communication, Behaviour & Relationships, Humour, Social & political humour, Uncategorized

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TOP 10 New Year’s ‘Without a Box’ Resolutions

Diverse Goals to take on in 2017:

  1. Lose weight by trimming your bling or dysfunctional cosmetic implants, whichever is heavier
  2. Organize your files in non-alphabetical order to increase the impact of random chance
  3. Post a list of resolutions in declining font size and brightness so the later ones can be overlooked more easily
  4. Add a microchip in your business card so it will whine if a week passes without the recipient handling it
  5. Invent a new species and become its trusted advisor in bilateral negotiations
  6. Memorize the first and last lines of book chapters so you sound like you are well read
  7. Hang up a world map as a dart board to select your travel destinations
  8. Develop your own social networking site and then turn it into a secret society
  9. Get a special phone number for keeping script-bound service providers on indefinite hold
  10. Take back-to-back courses on empathy and callousness, then have a point-counterpoint debate with yourself

(more…)

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Art of Communication, Humour, Social & political humour, Top 10, Uncategorized

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‘Headlines Revisited’

There is a famous long-standing saying that ‘Those who do not learn from history are bound to repeat it’. Sadly, there is anecdotal and other evidence this is true.

When reflecting on this, many will tend to focus on larger, national and international episodes, some on personal experiences. It applies to instances of daily life, little events or communiqués which slip by in newspapers or on newscasts, subjects varying from actual life to advertising poseur. (more…)

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Art of Communication, Business Commentary, Humour, Social & political commentary, Social & political humour, Uncategorized

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Holiday Greetings with Another Message

A couple of interesting juxtapositions this time of year involve, on the one hand the desire to be gracious in communicating holiday season greetings, and on the other the desire not to have to ‘turn the other cheek’ to people who have really annoyed or disappointed us.

This is a tricky situation for many in business. There are times where the benefit of dealing with a PITA (Pain in the ___) client, supplier, etc., means having to hold one’s nose and treat that party as though they were not a pain to deal with, at least until the ‘enough’ meter is reached. (more…)

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Art of Communication, Behaviour & Relationships, Business Commentary, Social & political humour, Uncategorized

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Twere the Days Before Christmas

‘Twere the days before Christmas, and all through the land                             Many people were busy, last chores still at hand

Arrangements for family, for travel near and far                                                    Whether by transit or by train, air, or car

Whatever the weather, neither snow, sleet, nor rain                                          Would stop the festivities to come, this is plain

Decorations appearing from those late to the mood                                              Helped ensure time would be left to get beverage and food (more…)

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Art of Communication, Humour, Social & political humour, Uncategorized

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Living an Acronym Filled Life

Very much tied into modern life and communication is the precept of getting messages across in a timely, i.e. brief and abbreviated, manner.

A few decades ago, frequently based on clever, easy-to-remember terms for technology, acronyms became resplendently immersed in our societal landscape.  One of the early favourites was ‘laser’, the one word short form for ‘light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation’, the longer version not a favourite of non-scientists. (more…)

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Art of Communication, Humour, Social & political humour, Uncategorized

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Being Advised

As we come toward the end of another calendar year, many Canadians will try to wade through a range of activities and other personal commitments.

Among issues historically many of us take stock of is our financial situation. It may involve looking to trigger capital losses to offset taxable income (gains), maximizing annual RESP or RRSP contributions (the latter with its 60 days’ grace period into the next year), and bigger picture issues such as how our investments portfolio has performed over the year, or even how effective our relationship is with our financial institution(s). (more…)

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Art of Communication, Behaviour & Relationships, Business Commentary, Financial commentary, Uncategorized

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Mistakes in Selecting a Target Audience

Anyone with entrepreneurial experience, or at least spirit, can understand the vital role of target marketing. Efficient targeting helps reduce, if not efface, some expenses of time and dollars in getting goods or services delivered to consumers. Launching and building a successful enterprise continues to require some lucky timing and dedicated, hard work. However, in an everchanging environment, no matter what is being promoted, even successful approaches need review and updating. (more…)

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Business Commentary, Humour, Uncategorized

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