In the hit British TV show, Britain’s Got Talent, an unlikely star wowed the audience, and in fact the world, with her rendition of I Dreamed a Dream from Les Miserables. The fact that she has great voice is one thing but I think one factor that made her performance “newsworthy” is that Susan Boyle, 47, is not your typical TV star.
One look at her and you can easily dismiss her as another aspiring singer whose main reason for standing in front of the stage is to waste everybody’s time. Frankly this is the look that the audience and even judges Simon Cowell, Piers Morgan and Amanda Holden gave when Susan Boyle stepped up the stage.
Then she started to sing. As soon as she opens her mouth and the notes started to permeate the room, everyone was dumbfounded. I was only watching it on YouTube but I got goosebumps all over while watching it. I bet the people who are hearing it live are even more overwhelmed, almost on the verge of tears.
Tears because throughout the whole song, you will realize that it’s easy to dismiss someone based on their looks, only to realize what a true gem that person is. You will be in tears because you will realize you are one of those people who easily pass judgment based on one look. I should know, I'm one of those people sometimes.
Well, Susan Boyle is certainly not one to be judged. Certainly not with that kind of talent. Way to go Susan! Keep wowing. Watch the video and see for yourself.
Remember the “I’m a PC, I’m a Mac” series of commercials? It was not a long time ago when Apple (creator of Mac) came up with series of “ads” that lampoon Microsoft and cemented Mac’s image as a cooler machine. Microsoft responded with an “odd” commercial that features Jerry Seinfeld and Microsoft founder Bill Gates himself. Truth be told, I don’t think Microsoft achieved anything with the release of that commercial so they had to pull it out earlier than expected. Had they kept showing that commercial, I think it would’ve achieved the real results they were hoping for. Anyway, that’s another topic. I blogged about it a few months ago, if you want to read it, feel free to do so.
Just recently, Microsoft flexed its “odd” muscle again and came out with an ad that basically says: “Ok, Mac is cool but PC is cheap.” Of course it was not said verbatim but anyone with an IQ greater than zero will get it. I’m not in any way an advertising genius but as an average user, that Microsoft ad screams Buy Mac! Buy Mac!
Basically, the commercial features an average user, Lauren, looking to buy a new machine. Sees an Apple store and finds the merchandise beyond her budget. Lauren sighed: “I’m just not cool enough to be a Mac person.” By a stroke of genius, she hops on another store where different machines running Windows are being sold. She looked around and found the “cheapest” one. An HP machine running Windows. Nice. Now HP is dragged into this mess. She bought it and showed a big smile on her face. End of commercial. Duh?!
I’m not sure who are the people behind this commercial but I’m pretty sure their respective careers will be finish sooner than they say “cheap.” I find it disappointing because I’m a PC user. I admit Mac is cooler but there are tons of reasons to use Windows also. Maybe my reason is similar to the billions of other PC users out there. For Microsoft to come out with this ad and (inadvertently) portray PC as somewhat inferior to Mac is for me a great disservice to the billions of PC users around the world.
I hope Microsoft can still redeem their badly beaten image – however much of it are of their own doing.
In a recent study done in Britain, it was found out that Tuesday, 11:45am is the Most Stressful Time of the week. This debunks the Monday morning blues that used to permeate our collective inanity. First time I heard the news, I thought, hhmmm, this can’t be true. Surely, if Monday is the first day of the WORK week, then it follows that it is also the most stressful. Just imagine the rest of the work week that you still have to go through. Wow, the thought alone makes one stressed already.
However, reading through the article about the study, I see that it actually makes sense. Basically, respondents of the survey says Monday is not that bad because it is usually the day they check their Facebook accounts to view photos from their weekend antics. Tuesday is the time when they actually start to “work”, specifically, midday, around 11:45am. Hhhmmm..
For what it’s worth, I find the study rather interesting. The relationship of work and stress at this juncture seems directly proportional. I beg to disagree. Work can be fun and sometimes, can even be a source to de-stress yourself if you’ve GOT the right company and IN the right company (I hope my boss is reading this..hehe)
Maybe the next study should be about the most effective way to waste your time. My vote would be: “To read a study done in Britain about Brits while you’re a non-Brit living very far away from Britain.”
In the hit British TV show, Britain’s Got Talent, an unlikely star wowed the audience, and in fact the world, with her rendition of I Dreamed a Dream from Les Miserables. The fact that she has great voice is one thing but I think one factor that made her performance “newsworthy” is that Susan Boyle, 47, is not your typical TV star.
