Railly Railly Dull...

Might have been dull out, but it was an escape at lunchtime from the office today - advice given on a couple of different projects yesterday bounced back to me overnight as variations on the theme of, "Are you sure you were looking at the right things because that doesn't sound like it would be right to me and anyway it doesn't sound like it would be that big a deal and I think we should just go ahead with my idea because after all these are only contractual issues and the other lot are only seeking to protect their position and despite the fact I'm paid three times as much as you I'm going to end this without actually making a decision but question your legal ability which is the thing you're employed for and ask you to take responsibility for the commercial decision to go ahead which isn't what your tiny-in-comparison-to-mine-salary goes into your bank account for every month."

For the first time in a while here I've taken the bull by the horns and acted like the lawyer I was lead to believe I was originally employed to be in here 5 years ago. 5 years in which it's become clear they wanted an admin-monkey that they can call 'legal counsel' and blame for things every now and then. Despite the change in management there are some who still think the old rules are in place. And they're not liking finding out they're not.

Saw a big advert when I was walking into Boots to collect my new contact lenses at lunchtime which proclaimed that some new celebrity perfurm was the 'Fragrance everyone has been waiting for'.

Everyone? Everyone?!?! Considering I didn't even know it existed till I saw the poster I'm not entirely sure how I could have been anticipating its arrival so eagerly. Surely that couldn't be some copywriter indulging in hyperbole could it? Or maybe said copywriter got over-excited because it was the copywriting job that everyone had been waiting to do.... I remember listening to something on the radio one night (on 4 or 5) where they had a pukka-gen perfumist talking about the growing range of celeb-endorsed fragrances, and bemoaning the fact that the best smells have no celebrity endorsement whatsoever - those ones are often just picked from a rack by the celeb, or even more often just chosen for them.

They don't tend to be the truly crafted perfumes that scream of a true chemical art, but rather those things that can be mass-produced as cheaply as possible because they know that the face of the celeb will be enough to sell it. It's a desperately manipulated world in which we live. I'm not immune, I only buy disposable pens if they are supported by a reputable footballer... (seriously, how much need does David Victoria Beckham have for filthy dirty cash that he was advertising biros???)

p.s. for a truly remarkable (and slightly odd) insight into the world of fragrance try 'Perfume' by Patrick Suskind.

Discarded blip:
We are merely players....