Saturday, August 22, 2009

Don't Let The Door Hit You

I got laid-off from my new/old job on Thursday, less than four full days since I re-started.

Ninety minutes into my final shift, the managers gathered up all the new clerks, announced that there had been a mistake and that we should not have been hired. Then they collected our badges, had us sign time sheets that they had already filled out for us, and escorted us out of the office and back into the job market.

It was unspeakably demoralizing.

First, they re-hire us and then, at the last minute, move the start day back by one week...then , when work finally begins, we get 15 hours of training,- spread over three days- and then we get laid-off on the fourth day. Before lunch.

But at least I still got this here radio show:

The New Breakfast Snob , Aug 22, 2009

Cary Grace- Tales of Brave Ulysses
UK-only release of classic Cream song, recorded by expatriated singer/doer-of-many-things Cary Grace , who may not be a citizen yet, but should certainly qualify for Siren status.
Note: This song made me want to re-read Joyce's Ulysses, so I asked a fellow DJ
(a known bibliophile) if he had a copy on him. No, he informed me, but he had one in his car that I could have. How cool is that?
Big tip o' the hat to DJ B!

Peter Bayreuther- Wild Roses
I stumbled across violinist/everythinger Bayreuther on the web and have been a fan ever since...and this song is part of today's Krautrock-based mini-theme. Be happy!

Chou Pahrot- Yaw Yaw Song
Major props if you know who this band is...my knowledge of them extends back as far as this morning. Sort of a cross between Jethro Tull, Can and the Cardiacs. But different.
(A big thanks to Cary Grace for this)

Can- She Brings The Rain
Hahahaha! At least one of you gets this!

Papa John Creach- Slow Groove
Despite having one of the cheesiest album covers of all-time, the former Hot Tuna/Airplaneshipwhatever fiddler has a few decent cuts on this solo outing...it's from 1976 and isn't disco or arena rock, so that's a plus.

Funkadelic- Baby I Owe You Something Good
Hurray! I am absolved by Funkadelic!

Ray Manzarek- Wake Up Screaming
Kudos for introducing a then-unknown Patti Smith to the world. Demerits for making her read Jim Morrison's poetry. Kudos for rendering it unintelligible with slappy delay. Kudos for the Joe Walsh slide solo. Demerits for thinking hissing cats make cool sound FX.

Ten Years After- Standing at the Station
Has a really long Arp solo. You don't hear that everyday.

Emerson Lake & Palmer- Are You Ready Eddie?
Recording studio in-joke done on a goof. I'm guessing it was done on a goof, anyway.

Stefanie Seskin- Chill Now
Skillfully sung good advice from talented multi-musician with shrewd observational skills.

Pere Ubu- Electricity
"I've checked in and I can't check out"

Velvet Underground- Train Round The Bend
Part one of my "Allan loses his marbles theme".

Tom Verlaine- Coming Apart
Part two.

Dare Dukes- Ballad of Darius McCollum
I draw the line at subway 'thrill-seeking'. I'll experience it vicariously via the excellent songwriting of Dare Dukes.

Skidmore Fountain- Earthquake
New and shaking.

Kelly Richey- Leave The Blues Behind
Hi there! I sorta expected your call, hope you enjoy this solid rock song about needing jobs, being poor, etc etc. My life, in other words.
(Minus the parts about kids)

P.J. Harvey- Long Snake Moan
A huge dark cloud hovered over the studio for the entire duration of this song. I could see it through the skylights...eerie. Is my voodoo working?

Gong - Where Have All The Flowers Gone?
Perhaps some psychedelic harmonica will clear things up.

Area 27- Wild Card
When in doubt, sing about being naughty. The worse, the better.

Barry McCabe- Rollin'
Non-psychedelic harp-driven rocker.

Daddy- Love In A Bottle
I keep finding links to other things, things that make me nervous ...how did I find this catchy and humorous bit of infectious twang? Internet is weird today.

Cat Dail- Conscious Mess
Sweet, witty and a little warped. I really like that.

Kaiser Cartel- Carroll Street Station
Upbeat song from happy couple on the rise. When I saw how happy they were, I tried really hard to not like this band. I failed. Miserably.

Astronauts of Antiquity- Breakthrough
Oops. Did I hit the 'hope' button again? Technical error.

Chrissy Coughlin- Big Log
Part three. Playing this song is like me rubbing my own nose in it for five minutes. Great song, hard lesson.

Green Man- Herringbone Sky
The DJ coming up next arrived and described the sky outside as "apocalyptic" as the
skylights went dark for the second time during my show. Brilliant and slightly menacing production on this understated cloudbringer.

Monacy - Orbit
Part four. Monacy are becoming one of my favorite bands, smart pop with a well-applied sense of humor and sweetness.

Garbage- Sex Is Not The Enemy
Thank Godzilla for that. I'd be at war with myself if it were. I hope I didn't say that on the air...

Monika Jalili- Biya Bare Safra
1940's era Iranian pop, re-done in a universally appealing way. Very interesting and listenable.

**************************************
Thanks for listening!

I now return myself to my regularly unscheduled unemployment.

9 comments:

secret agent woman said...

Oh, no! I'm so sorry to hear that. Demoralizing is just the word. And also, hideously unfair.

yellowdoggranny said...

well fuck!...I'm going to put my thinking cap on and see what I can come up with...oh i know..I'll light a candle and say a prayer to the goddess..see if she's not busy and can give you a hand...

Enemy of the Republic said...

I will do the same as yellowdog granny. You don't need this.

Sling said...

That's beyond fucked up!
The paranoid in me senses that it wasn't a mistake.
Maybe some kind of 'We can show this many people on payroll to get this kind of perk,and then shitcan everyone' sorta deal.

NYD said...

Well, th job situation might suck, but the music still rocks!

Craig D said...

I told ya! A.C.O.R.N. thughs have taken over the U.S Census! Mega dittos, Rush. Mega-dittos!

"Unspeakably Demoralizing" - you should design a logo with this slogan and sell T-Shirts, methinks.

AngelConradie said...

Dude... I think you need to suck up to karma a little somehow!
I can't believe it!!

billy pilgrim said...

how are these fucknuts gonna count 300 million people?

homeless, right wing militia, illegals, transient job seekers....

are they going to impute from the last census?

the blogger formerly known as yinyang said...

Holy shit, how many mistakes do these people make? It's a wonder they get anything done.