The Management Mythbuster

Beats to Blog By

Regular readers will know that music provides the soundtrack to my life.  My new book, Half The World Away, which will be published soon uses song titles as chapter titles, so  Sweet Child of Mine marks my entry to fatherhood, Cold Hard Bitch is not about Hilary Clinton (though It could be) and You're So Vain is not about me, though it could be! 

Anyway the last couple of weeks have seen me digging up some new, well relatively new, music that has made at least one of my playlists.  First up is a band with a great name, The Airborne Toxic Event, I love the track Sometime Around Midnight - very Coldplay-like guitar and great lyrics about a girl dumping a boy (some things never change).  The Toxic's as I call them are American but I'll forgive them that. 

Next listen to a Wire to Wire from Anglo-Swedish outfit, Razorlight. Its a beautiful, almost haunting, piano-driven ballad with a great first two lines:

"What is love but the strangest of feelings?
A sin you swallow for the rest of your life?"

A little older (from 2007) is Panic At The Disco (is it me or are band names getting better) with the song Nine In The Afternoon which has a nice almost symphonic bit in the middle (I think that's a technical term, don't you?).  Wikipedia informed me that the song was ranked number 76 on Chile's Top 100 Songs of 2008 - what more can one say?

Check the out...

Is It Real Or Just A Movie?

So history has been made and now comes the easy part - reviving the economy and saving the world!  Amidst all the coverage of the inauguration the snippet that got my attention was a listing of the top grossing films in the US when each President was elected.

Starting with Carter, the box office champ was Rocky. Very appropriate as the Georgia peanut farmer came from nowhere to the White House much like Sly.  Unfortunately the ending got screwed up.  In the film, Rocky of course overcomes all the odds to be the champion;  Jimmy lost to Reagen and even his potential crowning glory, the release of the Iranian hostages failed to make it, occurring as the credits on his presidency were rolling.  Another difference is that Carter's sequels were probably better than the initial release which certainly can't be said of Rocky!

Reagen, the actor, entered as Darth Vader ruled the screen in the Empire Strikes Back.  Clearly this is perfect symmetry.  The Death Star is the Soviet Union and Reagen is Luke! Remember his words in 1987:

"General Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, if you seek liberalization: Come here to this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!" Perfect don't you think? Better than a light sabre.

Bush the Elder entered on the back of Rain Man and his utterance "Read my lips, no new taxes" illustrated some of the challenges he faced in relating to the real world; although Dustin Hoffman's Raymond had the edge in intellectual capacity compared to most of Bush's cabinet.

What about Bill C? Well it had to be Aladdin didn't it? I will leave it to your imagination to work out what Bill used as his "magic lamp."

For Dubya, I kid you not when I tell you that the top film was ... wait for it...The Grinch Who Stole Christmas.  You can't make this stuff up.  But wait it gets better. Barack rode to power on the back of The Dark Knight!

Let's hope is he is equally able to vanquish evil.

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So This Is What Change Looks Like

The poor guy hasn't even been inaugurated yet but the promises of change are looking shaky already.  Don't get me wrong I want Barack to emerge as a great leader - it's what America needs - but we need some positive signs...

- His pick for Treasury Secretary made an "honest mistake" it not paying over $30,000 in taxes - would you or I get away with that?  Geithner probably will because these are "extraordinary times" so if I forget to pay my taxes this year will I catch a break?

- His pick for Secretary of State has a husband who has raised millions from all manner of foreign individuals and governments but of course none of these donations were made with a view to gaining any influence whatsoever despite the fact that said husband is an ex-President.

- Rep. Edolphus Towns the new head of House Oversight and Government Reform Committee listed his top five issues and coming in at number five was whether the college football championship was being decided in the fairest manner.  Yup, I've got to agree that is one of the top issues of the day.

- The highly ethical Governor of the Land of Lincoln quotes from Abe's second inaugural address in asking the Illinois legislature to put the people first rather than his own rather sordid and certainly potty-mouthed dealings.  Does the image of Rod channeling Abe strike you as just a little incongruous?  They only have one thing in common and that's a dodgy haircut!

Rock Goes Green; Content Free Comedy

The Axson week was bookended by entertainment.  Monday saw the whole clan head north to the "Q" in Cleveland for an evening of vintage rock from AC/DC.  Despite being in their fifties, the music is stuck at 17 and focuses exclusively on areas below the waist.  Nearly every song is about sex, hell or something black.  Many combine all three!

These guys know how to put on a show - loud, lewd but cartoonish enough to allow the many teens in the crowd to avoid being fully corrupted. I mean how seriously can you take a 53 year old guitarist dressed as a schoolboy?

Of course the real money was bing made at the merchandise stands as the essential $35-$50 t-shirts were being hoovered up by the masses.  However the best example of AC/DC branded gear was definitely the eco-friendly tote bag especially designed so you can haul your six-pack and patchouli oil home without destroying the planet.  Is this what rock has come to?  Mick Jagger must be turning in his grave, oops he's not here yet!

Still the show was excellent and everyone in our family from 14 to 47 was rocking-out to Highway to Hell.

Last night saw the adult Axson's head back to Cleveland in a snowstorm to sample comedy about "nothing" courtesy of Jerry Seinfeld, who incidentally is the same age as Angus Young and does not dress as a schoolboy.  Much like his eponymous television show his stand up is largely about nothing - riffs on cell phones, marriage, and fatherhood marked Jerry as a humourous but not very original comedian.  He's got nothing of the edginess of Robin Williams for example, but he does offer an entertaining enough show.  But its no doubt who won the week - You Shook Me All Night Long accurately sums up the vibe at the Q last Monday!

Anything to look forward to in 09?

So another year dawns full of hope, or maybe its just blind fear.  It's not the happiest of times as we confront continuing economic woes; however it all pales beside the challenges many face so we should not get to down.  What does the year ahead hold? Who knows but here are a few ideas to get you started:

- Politicians will go on a pork-free diet as they dispense trillions in economic stimulus; on a related note Illinois becomes a beacon of ethical political government as Iowa takes over the state

- Hillary Clinton personally negotiates peace in Gaza but not before braving rockets and sniper fire as she flies over the troubled territory at 40,000 feet thereby fulfilling at least one of her campaign claims; unfortunately the peace last only three days but its a start

- Reality shows are banned from television and writers are forced to develop characters and craft stories for the viewing public - now there's a radical thought

- GM actually brings a car to market that people want to buy; however on further investigation its found to be a Toyota Camry in disguise

- the French invade the Channel Islands thereby securing their first military triumph in centuries; Britain allows the French to stay in return for giving up Carla Bruni to become Prince William's wife and hence a future Queen of England. Nicolas Sarkozy is reported to holidaying in Alaska and is arrested for stalking the Governor.

- the New York Yankees win the World Series but no one cares

- Apple introduces the iV a virtual reality where house prices actually go up and people can afford to pay their mortgages; Chrysler makes really cool cars; Microsoft releases software that works first time; health care costs go down; and the Cleveland Browns go undefeated.  Sales are lackluster as consumers complain that its not realistic enough.

- David Axson's new book, Half The World Away, finally gets published and sales are astronomical. J.K. Rowling and Dan Brown demand recounts before accepting that a new literary giant has emerged on the scene.  Axson remains the same humble being and only grudgingly accepts a place in Barack's cabinet as his newly appointed Czar of economic regeneration for Bath, Ohio thereby becoming the 412th Czar appointed during the Obama administration's first year.  

And os it goes on...should be fun shouldn't it?