Creative commentary plus crafty composition

Posts tagged ‘Art of Communication’

‘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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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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Time to Evaluate

An article in the November issue of Toastmaster magazine puts under a humourous light the normally unnerving experience of oneself under an evaluative microscope.

The author relates a traumatic instance of a job performance review. When he hears about the subjects he expects to be discussed, namely effective performance, efficient specializing, and exhibiting professionalism, what he hears his boss really talking about is ‘doing his job well x 3’. Focusing on strengths is still in vogue, but what used to be weaknesses are now potential improvements. (more…)

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Art of Communication, Humour, Personal Development, Uncategorized

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Green Buys & Cyber

(with apologies & deference to The Outlaws, ‘Green Grass & High Tides’)

In ‘honour’ of Cyber Monday…

At a time we really count on

When the shipping may be free

Silver ear phones, golden earrings

Fill the orders, plain to see (more…)

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Arts commentary, Humour, Social & political humour, Uncategorized

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Black Day in November

 (with apologies & deference to Gordon Lightfoot) 

 Black day in November

Friday deal madness has struck the world at large

And through malls and the internet

You can see it in their eyes

The cash and cards are flowing

And the browsers left aside (more…)

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Humour, Social & political humour, Uncategorized

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Trumped-Up Terms

As a heretofore regular word in the English language, ‘trump’ has some familiar, longstanding applications. While it can be both a verb and a noun, recent connotations seem to be putting it more frequently into the pro-active role as a verb.

Given the electoral earthquake in the U.S., it’s interesting to note how many of these meanings are open to being flavoured, or perhaps coloured, in the reflection of the (capitalized) eponymous President elect. (more…)

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Art of Communication, Behaviour & Relationships, Uncategorized

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Vernacular Correctness

‘Vernacular’ refers to language commonly used in regions or countries. It seems that such a loose parameter allows for the use of words or expressions which, at times, can test the patience of lexophiles.

George Carlin, probably the best stand-up comedian ever, certainly the most observant about the foibles of language, spent much of his career pointing out glaring issues in our lexicon, often involving clever observations about human behaviour. (more…)

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Art of Communication, Social & political commentary

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