Digging for a Smile

Keeping up the public image.

Good yeomen, is it me, or is there no lighter side to the news coverage at the moment?

For the last few weeks, I’ve found news coverage to be either depressing or bland. Normally, when I’m seeking inspiration for my blog entries, I can always rely on borrowing something from news coverage. Normally, it isn’t too difficult to find something that is either interesting or amusing.

Maybe it is time to start counting down to my holiday. That will be 26 days away then. Yes, in less than four weeks, I will be in the Caribbean and generally doing very little except topping up my tan and my sense of humour. (Note 1)

Maybe, I should be spending more time in my third place.

I never realised that I had a third place until today. It is a discovery that I indirectly owe to Howard Schultz. Mr. Schultz does not draw cute cartoons of dogs. Well, to my knowledge, he doesn’t draw cute cartoons of dogs. He is the chairman of Starbucks. (Note 2)

According to Tim Egan, in an article about Seattle Billionaires, Mr. Schultz realised that most cities lacked this ‘Third Place’ is the oasis that we all need between home and the office. (Note 3)

I must have missed something. Visiting Starbucks never strikes me as a pleasurable experience. You join the queue at the door, shuffle forward to be served by a young girl who is intent on dismissing you as quickly as she can. You then mill around for a couple of minutes waiting to be handed your order by some spotty faced oik who refuses to make eye contact before you rejoin the herds of commuters.

In saying that, the idea of a ‘Third Place’ is appealing. Perhaps that ‘Third Place’ is the online world; a place where you can escape all of the doom and gloom journalists and their permanently depressed editors.

If any of you are virtual residents of Second Life are in for a big shock. Doom and gloom journalists and their permanently depressed editors are moving in.

Oh well, it looks like all the news sites seem to be depressing. It looks like there isn’t a single piece of interesting or silly news to be had anywhere.

From 14th June, the industry standard Crozzy Standard has been applied to footnotes.

NOTE 1: The really worrying thing is that all this depressing news is beginning to rub off. As soon as I wrote about my upcoming holiday, a horrible little thought crept into my skull. I found myself doing a quick check on the hurricane season – and what do you know, it doesn’t end until the 30th November! Yes, I need a holiday. Click to return

NOTE 2 : And according to that Wikipedia entry, a significant stakeholder in the intriguingly named ‘Jamba Juice’. The word ‘Jamba’ sparked off all sorts of synaptic tangents. Perhaps it is my mood, but none of them seemed that positive – almost to the point of deciding that by rights this should be a branding disaster. Jamba is associated with the Far Right militia of the Angolan Civil War. It is also the name of the company that produced that annoying ‘Crazy Frog’ mobile phone ring tone. The Jamba company is now part of the Murdoch evil empire (Yet another plague to lay at his door). Click to return

NOTE 3: Mr Schultz suggests that this is a role that used to be filled by the British Pub. Perhaps that is where I’m going wrong. I should be visiting the pub on the way to work and having a few pints before facing the rigours of the day (although in 26 days time I may choose to start my day with a few glasses of rum punch).

In the same article, I learned that London and Seattle share weather. I guess London has it every Monday, Wednesday and Thursday, while Seattle has it Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays while they have alternate Sundays. There is probably a formal custody agreement to cover holidays and such. Click to return

TECHNORATI TAGS : Trivia ; Life ; News ; Comedy ; red1hols.