Wednesday 26 September 2007

Vid: One of my staff, showing how excited I have gotten about season 4 SGA. This, is my happy dance. :o)

To say that I’ve been a bit excitable this week would be an understatement as passions and competition between myself and my partner in crime reached new heights this week. Both of us have been vying for the same position, and recently we were called for a temporary promotion interview on his side of the business. Up to the days preceding it, both of us have been trying to psych each other out, as we commenced in a friendly game of rivalry. Ribbing each other about each others crap application forms was just the starters. Before long it had escalated when my other half was asked to see the boss. "He obviously wants to console you in private, and to let you know that you haven't got the job. You know, just in case you start crying, and make a show of yourself in front of the staff." I jested with a huge smile on my face, as he was called in to talk with his boss. It turned out his boss was giving him pointers!

I looked around, my boss was nowhere in sight. My partner in crime came out grinning like a cheshire cat, I knew then he was up to something! He never smiles in public, unless he's conspiring. I watched and waited for him to make his move. For days he kept me waiting, and watching for any sign. Somethig wasn't right here, and I couldn't put my finger on what it was. Then the day before the interview, he announced later on in the afternoon that the interviews were cancelled. What? Cancelled? Why hadn't I been notified? Then it dawned on me, this must be his plan to put me off. "I don't believe you." I told him smiling. So he ushered me over to his email messages and there in plain sight was an email from the boss advising that the interview had been cancelled and they had decided to give my evil partner in crime the job. I looked at him trying to assess how this could be. "Sorry." He told me grinning, "I guess the best man got the job after all." Best man?! Right. Well, now i'm pissed and curious, so I start to investigate. The boss was out the office and I had no one to ask if this really was the case. Dejected I had to accept the evidence in front of me. Two hours later as I headed out for home, he decides to say, "Gotcha!" Little shit. He's good, i'll give him that, but two can play at that game. :o)

On the day of the interview, I arrived in style, perfectly immaculate attire, compared to my normally casual attire. My other half who is normally in jeans and T-shirts came in that morning looking as if he had won the lottery. Whistles from the team suggested that both of us dressing up, was a sight to be hold and we bowed respectfully to our audience. Let the games commence once more! I was due to be interviewed an hour before him, but we had time before hand to have a bit of fun with each other… *minds out the gutter please* Psychological games are something of a skill, and even if I do say so myself, we’re extremely good at it. So, just before I went into my interview, a voice echoed behind me, "You do realise, they're only doing this so it doesn't look like they're playing favourites, don't you?" I laughed at his nervousness, then told him, "You keep thinking that partner in crime." And in I went to the torture chamber. Given that we'd timed everyone who went in before us, the average seemed to be 40 minutes, usually a good sign for any interview. So we'd vowed each other to keep an eye on the clock. I came in under 30 minutes. Not good. But, like the good sportswoman I am, I played it up, advising him that he needed several examples of budgeting, and competencies, (which I knew he didn't have, and had been stressing about for days). With sickly sweet innocence, that could put an angel to shame, I told him that those were the areas where the interiewers focused on. With sweaty palms and a rolling stomach, he went in. Game, set and match to me, I think. :o)

Alas, neither of us got it, but at least we had fun along the way. I'm still waiting on the results of one of my interviews. I guess no news is good news.

My goodness me, i've rambled today, and i've not even finished!!

So, as season 4 approaches, SciFi and MGM have been pulling out all the stops over the last couple of days with regards to promoting Stargate Atlantis Season 4. So can I just take this moment to say, "It's about bloody time!" One of the things that irks me, is that it feels like SGA is the ugly step sister to SG1. Hoepfully now, with some fantastic and top notch advertising at long last, it can surpass everyone's expectations and stand on it's own two feet. So, for those of you who aren't regular watchers or have no clue what i'm talking about, go check out the promo's and see what you're missing, and then tune in on September 28th for the best Atlantis season yet. So with the previews now available for us and S4 only a couple of days away, the GW Shep whump thread have finally got their squee back after a bit of a dry spell. Consequently we did go into overload yesterday after all the whump stuff that was shown in the trailers, and many of us will now require valium from now until the start of the season. Thankfully we've not got long to go, otherwise, we'd never make it. :P Ha, you think i'm being overly dramatic, don't you. Ah no, my blogging friends, go check it out and see for yourself. ;o)

So, before I finally say goodnight, what have you all got to remember, apart from petitioning SciFi and Mr M for shirtless Shep?

That's right, STARGATE ATLANTIS, SEASON 4 - Friday on SciFi at 10PM.

Thursday 13 September 2007

Desperate times, desperate measures


Firstly, I have a confession to make. *blushes* In my defence though it was everyone else's fault for getting me too excited with all of the talk on the pre speculation threads/spoilers for season 4's Stargate Atlantis. If they hadn't gone on and on about how fantastic it was and how brilliant the storyline was, i'd not have caved... Yeah right, who am I kidding?!

Somehow, and ask me no questions and i'll tell you no lies, that the first two episodes for season 4 of Stargate Atlantis (Adrift and Lifeline) made their way on to the internet! The episodes were raw, as in no score, no sound FX and cue's coming in from directors, reflected that this was the uncut version. Yet, it has to be said, that for me it made my whole viewing pleasure even more memorable. I won't spoil it for those that won't get to see it until it premiers on the 28th September on SciFi, but let's just say that you won't be disappointed one little bit. The quality of the visible effects, the storyline the Weir arc, was executed and played out brilliantly. And in the words of Harry Potter's, Ronald Weasly, "That was bloody brilliant!"

So Mr M, here in the safety of my own blog, I feel I can once more release my burden!

*Cough*

Dear Mr M,

I feel I can open up to you, since a) you don’t know me, b) you’ll probably never know me, and c) I’m hiding out in the safety of my own blog! But nevertheless, I feel I can’t go forward until i've admitted to you something. Think of it as a confessional! I watched it, Season 4, episodes. The non sfx supped up, non scored eppies of Adrift and Lifeline. I couldn't help myself, it called to me, and I did give in to temptation. Now I feel I must repent!

*Squeeee*! Okay, so maybe I can pay penance later on by way of chocolate?

Joe, the eps blew my socks off! Even without all the effects and the score etc, the storylines were fantastic, great twists and turns around every corner, and it's made me that much more desperate and excited to see the full and finished version when it airs in a few weeks. It really made me appreciate how much work you all put in on a daily basis, and it's given me a greater understanding of what you guys do. Thank you for what looks to be a great season! I'm more excited than ever. And you know what else I noticed? For a handful of folk who were so adamant that they weren't going to watch, there's sure been a hell of a lot of watching! The problem with that is, irrespective of what was on screen, they never were going to be happy, because they’re too closed minded to give it a decent shot. It wouldn’t matter what the ep was, there will always be people with an agenda and their viewing pleasures would be tainted because of the changes. And the worst thing is, I never expected some of them to behave any differently. Sometimes it’s not nice to be proved right!

*hugs for a fantastic start to season 4*
Cheeky xxx

The day finally arrived for the most important interview of my career. Well, the second most important interview. The first of course being a promotion, but of course this came in as a close second; a job that I was born to do. What’s so special about this job I hear you ask? Or not?! Well, as per my previous blog entry, the person wanted was to hold certain attributes. *checks both of her favourite attributes* :P That’s one attribute sorted without even trying. ;)

This time I didn’t put on a skirt… sorry mom. After three goes of trying to put on pantyhose’s (tights) and putting a ladder in all three, I gave it up as a bad job. You know, hopping round the bedroom and trying to get your leg over (minds out the gutter) to put these tights on, only resulted in yours truly becoming hot and sweaty! And let’s face it, men *cough*Shep*cough* look good all hot, and sweaty, but I don’t! So, enough was enough

So, I donned the relevant clothes, taking into account the last interview and clothing attire. This time, not to be outshone by the interviewer in the cleavage department, I put on my brand new one of a kind ‘Hello Boys’ apparel. That was my first mistake. My friend said I looked as if I’d stuffed a pair of balloons up my shirt! Maybe the wonderbra wasn’t such a good idea after all…. But that was just the beginning of the day. You'd think that the shop would tell you when you buy this type of lingerie that you shouldn't do anything that could affect the body's response to... gravity, shall we say. So, being the good consumer I am, I feel it is my civic duty to warn all the girls out there.
*cough*
Ladies, please be advised that when purchasing said, 'stopemfloppin', then you must do the jiggle test. Failing to do the jiggle can result in embarrassment for all concerned. Once you've done the jiggle, you then need to ensure that when bending over to retrieve an item 'things' don't fall out. Be advised, that gravity, is not always your friend! I had a feeling that this time it wasn't going to be the interviewer who was adjusting herself during the interview!

So anyway, I was feeling calm and quite relaxed despite the bad start and headed off for my interview. During the 20 minute presentation, things were going too well.... I knew it was too good to last. The interview was supposed to be question me with regards to achieving the job's core competencies and my application form, which i'd rehearsed backwards, front wards and sideways. I'd covered all eventualities, anything they asked me about my form, i'd have the perfect answer! So, there I was eager for them to start firing away the questions, and what does the interviewer say? "Forget what's on your form. Hypothetically, what would you do if..." Noooo!! Someone was determined to make me work hard, either that, or I really did overdo it in the cleavage department and he had forgotten what he was going to ask!

So, he asked me how I would deal with unruly employees, and I explained about my team. As per the norm, I gave the standard management speak, and so he pushed that bit harder on how i've dealt with my team, and he misunderstood what I was saying, then started asking how I dealt with them when they've rebelled against my management style! My team rebelling against me? I think not. They're vocal, and opinionated and passionate, but to me that's a great quality... and the interviewers saw this as rebellious? Ooops! Maybe i'm not what they're looking for. In the end, after ten minutes of toing and frowing with the interviewer, I told him, that it would never get to that stage because i'd tell them to 'wind their necks in' and they would! Maybe it wasn't exactly the best reply, but at least it was an honest one! LOL. I should hopefully find out if I have the job sometime over the next few days. *iz keeping everything crossed*

The worst thing is, i've got another interview tomorrow, so have to go through all this again. This time, minus the wonderbra, I think!