The news that Ray Davies is putting together a Kinks tribute with people like Bruuuuuuccccceee and Bon Jovi and the Killers is actually helpful today. While I'm not excited about a Kinks reunion tour, given that Dave Davies is recovering from a stroke and god only knows what the lead playing would be like or what he'd end up doing
(Triangle? Do the CSN deal from the old Daylight Again tour where they basically had turned off David Crosby's guitar since he was drugged out? Glockenspiel? Given the relationships between the brothers, frustration could yield to an onstage performance with the Glock-10...) but we don't appreciate the Kinks as much as we should. New Wave, Punk, Alternative...Ray Davies is definitely a major rock influence, and we could claim not a terribly commercial one. Hell, Mark Knopfler is a direct descendent of Ray Davies aesthetically...he just is a superb guitarist, composer and arranger...Ray is more poet-journalist.
That actually made me feel better when I thought about it. I got to spend time this morning in a "webinar" on employee engagement. This is the new management buzzphrase for employees actually not hating their jobs and hoping that the company does well. The webinar or links can probably be found on the Towers-Perrin website in a couple of days, and from an academic point of view, it was pretty good. From a reality based point of view, keeping in mind how the pointy-haired boss keeps replicating, I gotta say I can see shortfalls should the researcher's thoughts become mainstream.
For example, one way to track employee engagement is by the amount of time people spend seeking career information from internal sources versus external sources. If they're on the company career site, that's a good thing, indicating that they think not horribly about the place. However, if they are spending all their time on Monster or Careerbuilder, that's not so good. So, I can picture a ton of people I have worked for or with who's solution would be simple -- block internet access to sites with career information. Loyalty is better than chaining people to their jobs, but in a pinch, chains work. And, if you're a pointy-haired boss, you don't worry if the chains pinch.
Enough to make a Defeatist decide to take up playing on street corners and parking lots, hanging out in front of Vons strumming Joe Hill songs for quarters...oh, and most of the people I know...? They're probably looking at Monster right now.
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