I noticed something strange on a sign on Bloor Street, just west of Avenue Road:
Note the services offered: “Imagineering”?
I read the sign: “Accupuncturist, cardiologist, dentist…imagineering? As in Disney ride engineer?” (Clearly Cory Doctorow has rubbed off on me.)
It turns out that Imagineering is also the name of a multimedia company. Ah well.
Ah, the peril-fraught office holiday party…
I’ve always worked in small- to medium-sized companies that had casual dress codes — if they had any at all. Hence when the office Holiday/Christmas/Festivus/whatever party rolled around, the most I’ve ever received in the way of a dress guideline was “it’s at the Palais Royale, so it’s semi-formal”. It’s a simple, reasonable request (TSOT’s party, which takes place tomorrow, is semi-formal).
Other people are not so fortunate. A reader whom I’ll call “Noel” sent me a copy of the memo s/he received from her/his company’s social committee regarding appropriate dress for their upcoming holiday party. It appears below — the only change I’ve made was formatting it so that it’s easier to read:
This year’s event is not as formal as last years. The dress code is semi-formal/cocktail attire. Please find below some suitable clothing examples for the occasion:
Suitable Articles of Clothing:
- For Women:
- Dresses (short to mid-length elegant dresses, i.e. hem one inch above/below the knee to two inches above the ankle)
- Pants Suits (ankle length hems)
- Dress Suits (dressy evening separates, not business suits. hem knee length to floor length) (Suggestion: choose looks with a bit of sparkle or holiday bent (for example a beaded sweater with black pants, a red silk blouse with a black skirt). dressy evening separates)
- For Men:
- Suits
- Tie (Optional) (General Rule of thumb: if a button-down shirt is worn with the suit, then a tie would be in good taste).
- Dress shirt (with or without tie) with dress pants
Appropriate Fabrics and Materials:
- Women: Silk, Chiffon, Satin, Sateen, Gossamer, Brocade, Rayon, Cashmere, Polyester, Velour, Velvet, Velveteen, etc.
*Also, embellishments such as sequins and beads are appropriate for women.- Men: Wool, Polyester, Gabardine, Cotton, etc.
Many thanks,
Your Social Committee
When I asked “Noel” if I could post this memo on this blog, s/he replied: “Certain ‘cultures’ thrive in darkness. I think shedding a little light on this particular one would be a good thing!” In case you were wondering, the company from which this memo came is located somewhere in the greater Accordion City area.
Got any examples of corporate overly micro-managey behaviour that you’d like to share anonymously on an insanely popular blog? Send ’em to me!
Switching jobs from Tucows to TSOT means that for the first time in four and half years, it’s quicker to commute by subway than by bicycle. Hence for the past couple of weeks, I have been doing something I haven’t done in a long time: I’ve been riding the subway during rush hour on a regular basis. I’m concerned by what I’ve been seeing.
It’s been a while since I was a regular subway rider, so my memories may be wrong. Could someone tell me if there’s been a downhill slide in the Toronto Transit Commission’s service? I’ll admit that my commute is incredibly quick — it’s a quick walk to High Park station, 10 stops to Bay station, then a quick walk to the office — but even in that short trip, I’ve faced trains too full to board, trains running at half-speed and trains sitting idle at the station, sometimes for five minutes at a time.
I know that when it comes to its website and to promoting itself through merchandise, the TTC often tempts me to declare “Toronto Transit Commission, Thy Name is Half-Assery!”. The TTC’s apparent attempt to mimic San Francisco’s MUNI’s core incompetency at public transport worries me.
TSOT Ruby/Rails Night
Tuesday, January 8th, 2008 (and the second Tuesday of every month)
@ TSOT’s office — 151 Bloor Street West (on the south side, just east of Avenue Road)
11th floor
Door open and food at 5:30 p.m.
Presentations start at 6-ish
FREE ADMISSION (but limited space)
To register, please email joey.devilla@tsotinc.com
TSOT is a Toronto-based start-up that develops — look out, here come the buzzwords — social networking applications using Ruby on Rails. Our first applications are FraternityLive and SororityLive, social software built specifically for people in fraternities and sororities. Both apps are currently being tested with a userbase of thousands of university students and alumni, and we expect to release them in early 2008.
We believe that it’s good for Toronto to have a healthy developer ecosystem — it’s good not only for us as a Toronto-based development shop, but also as a group of developers who are passionate about the work we do. We’d like to see Toronto as “Silicon Valley++” — with the vibrant high-tech scene, but with all the amenities that make Toronto a better place to live than the Valley (such as not being a dreary 50-mile stretch of suburbia and having decent places to go at night).
Hence our contribution to the local developer scene: TSOT Ruby/Rails Project Nights, which will take place on the second Tuesday of every month. They’ll feature in-depth presentations by developers working on interesting projects — primarily Ruby and Ruby on Rails — along with drinks and munchies and a chance to socialize with your fellow developers. They’ll be hosted by Yours Truly, TSOT developer and DemoCamp regular Joey “Accordion Guy” deVilla.
This first Ruby/Rails Night will feature presentations by a couple of Ruby/Rails local heroes on their current Ruby/Rails projects:
The doors will open at 5:30, the first presentation will start at about 6, and we hope to wrap up the evening by 8:30 or 9. We’ll provide food and drinks, and if there’s enough of a demand, we can always go out to a nearby pub afterwards. There’s no cost to attend (but be advised that seating is limited).
If you’ve been thinking about making a Ruby or Rails presentation (perhaps you want to rehearse for RailsConf 2008!), we’d like to have you present it at one of our project nights!
Add TSOT Ruby/Rails Nights to your list of New Year’s resolutions!
Registration is free, but space is limited. To register for the upcoming Jan 8th gathering, please email joey.devilla@tsotinc.com
For more information about TSOT Project Nights, please contact:
The event is also listed on Upcoming.org.
It’s going to confirm my old fartdom, but I’ll admit it anyway: I’m old enough to remember the days when Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody came out and got played on Top 40 radio. Hence it warms my heart every time the song goes through a revival, whether via Wayne’s World, or more recently, by way of the Flaming Lips covering it at concerts in spectacular fashion:
Click the picture to see it at a larger size.
Photo courtesy of Miss Fipi Lele.
Here’s a video of that performance:
And if you’re too young to have ever seen Queen’s video, here it is (and yes, it’s the original, not the one with the scenes from Wayne’s World hacked in):
I think it’s time I learned the chords for this song and gave it the accordion rock treatment.
Conservative columnist Mark Steyn declared me his reader of the day on his site:
The quote comes from my recent article on the Conrad Black case. Alas, thanks to some sloppy editing on my part, my quip is missing a couple of key words. It should read (and after editing, it does now):
While I have not been following the details of the Conrad Black case, the fact that such questionable characters such as Mark Steyn and Elton John defend him doesn’t help his case as I am concerned.
I don’t often agree with him, but I’ve got to hand it to him for taking it with good humour. Cheers, Mr. Steyn!
My original accordion, a Titano student model, has been through a lot, from the streets of Accordion City to Burning Man to saving my butt from a mugging in Prague (see this story for details). In spite of a few broken chord buttons, some missing key tops and a slight air leak, I can still get some sweet sounds out of it.
These days, I keep it at the TSOT offices in case of emergencies. You’d be surprised at the number of times having an accordion handy has paid off.
Click the picture to see the video on Facebook.
Last week, I did a quick little medley at the office, and my coworker Dan Williams shot some video of the event and posted it on Facebook. If you’ve got a Facebook account, you can see it here. I’ll see if I can get the video from Dan and post it someplace a little more easily accessed, like YouTube.
A friend of Dan’s saw the video, and she commented that if it were posted on a dating site like LavaLife, I’d get responses like crazy. The accordion has already served that purpose, but maybe it’s time for me to give lessons.