It's a joke, right? I'm being asked to pay $ for typos like this?
I still have a spiral notebook with outrageously awful clippings of typos from the IC-PC from when I worked at ACT from 1993 - 1995. I will NEVER EVER pay for an IC-PC subscription!
In fairness, I may have typos on this blog, but I don't make anyone pay $ to read this blog either!
As you're about to read, I believe that my 80 year-old father-in-law has a "limited arena of acceptable genres" when it comes to music. It made me wonder if my future son-in-law will describe me as having a "limited arena of acceptable genres" when I am 80.
All of that speculation due to this email:
From: UIowa Neuropsychology
Sent: Wednesday, March 27, 2019 3:58 PM
Subject: [Research] Healthy 80+ Year-Old Men Invited for Music Research
Researchers in the Neurology Department at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics are recruiting healthy older men in a study of music's influence on emotions. We would like to know how healthy men respond to a music listening task, compared to men with Alzheimer's disease.
If you are interested and meet the following descriptions, please call us at 319-NPA-NXX or email us at Firstname-Lastname@uiowa.edu for more information:
-Free of neurological and major psychiatric conditions
-Men age 80 and older
-High school OR bachelor's education
The study will take place in the Neurology Department at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. We will provide compensation. Thanks for your interest!
So I wrote back:
I suspect that since father-in-law was diagnosed with Parkinson’s earlier this year, that means he is no longer considered “Free of neurological and major psychiatric conditions”?
Would have been interesting to see how he would do in the study. While he loves music, he has a limited arena of acceptable genres: polkas, waltzes, or Big Band. Because, you know, (his words, not mine) “Elvis was the start of the decline of our culture - all those girls screaming for no reason!"
His favorite musician is Lawrence Welk and yes, despite owning a DVR and being able to watch LW whenever he wants, he doesn’t. He would first have to learn how to use the DVR!
Have a great Thursday!
I can imagine myself only listening to Bayside, Metallica, and Count the Stars (just listened to them for the first time this year yesterday) because everything else is sh!t.
Department: UI Health Care Marketing and CommunicationsPay Grade: 6A https://hr.uiowa.edu/pay/plans
Percent of Time: 100%
Staff Type: Professional & Scientific
Type of Position: Regular
Drivers License required: No
Overview
The Director of Digital and Multimedia will have a leadership role in aligning people, technology, and creativity to achieve the business goals and teaching, research and clinical care provided by University of Iowa Health Care. Develop and execute an integrated strategy for web and multimedia initiatives including web, video, photography, and graphic design. Manage a broad range of technical and creative information; oversee project tracking system and metrics; assign and monitor creative projects; clarify priorities and provide direction to team. Serve as a senior member of the Marketing and Communications leadership team.
Position Responsibilities:
Operational Support and Management
Lead and provide strategic, data-driven direction for a comprehensive range of digital and multimedia projects across multiple channels intended for external and internal audiences.
Manage a team of web developers, content writers, designers, photographers, videographers, and digital communications experts in the creation and execution of high-impact, integrated communication campaigns aimed at a range of UI Health Care audiences.
Partner with all divisions to develop requirements and prepare plans including concepts, schedules, and cost estimates.
Strategic Planning
Partner cross-functionally with MarCom marketing, strategic communications, and outreach & engagement divisions, providing creative consultation and guidance while cost-effectively meeting department objectives.
Lead development of forward-thinking creative and interactive strategies, ensuring integration of evolving marketing technology and digital capabilities.
Define effective tracking mechanisms, using analytics to consistently report on and improve outcomes.
Human Resources
Provide coaching, support, guidance, and feedback to team of graphic designers, web developers, web content writers, videographers, photographers, and other internal and external technical professionals.
Hire, develop, and manage performance of staff, assessing effectiveness and promoting staff development and engagement.
Ensure a high quality of creative and production value; maintaining consistently high standards for self and for team members.
Collaborates with others throughout the organization to achieve goals and outcomes.
Communications Management
Provide leadership and collaborative support in shaping and enforcing the UI Health Care web governance practices. Oversee and support all UI Health Care internal and external web properties.
Track and manage timelines, deliverables, and implementation of digital campaigns, ensuring integration with strategies of other MarCom divisions.
Oversee the management of multimedia production elements for institutional events, including UI Health Care’s Excellence Every Time training.
Coordinate production, development, and maintenance of new and existing website projects.
Information Management
Uphold best practices for production and web development and management, seeking out and implementing best practice and leading-edge solutions.
Oversee marketing technology, including digital asset management, project tracking, customer relationship management and other systems used by the department. Make recommendations for new technologies.
Financial Responsibility
Provide budget development and oversight for division.
Manage multimedia vendors and negotiate contract fees for outsourced projects and services.
Please attach a resume and cover letter as part of the application process. Job openings are posted for a minimum of 14 calendar days. This job may be removed from posting and filled any time after the minimum posting period has ended.
Successful candidates will be subject to a criminal background check.
This position is not eligible for University sponsorship for employment authorization.
Education Required
Bachelor’s degree or equivalent amount of education and experience required. Master’s degree in Business, Marketing, or Communications preferred.
Experience Requirements
7 years professional digital and multimedia experience.
Proven project management skills with ability to lead multiple creative initiatives across a wide range of platforms and projects through full strategic and creative development.
Experience guiding professional teams and effectively managing external resources.
Experience in the collection, analysis and reporting of user data to determine the effectiveness of digital campaign.
Excellent verbal, written, and interpersonal communication skills.
Strong working knowledge of digital marketing and communication, including content marketing and social media.
Strong working knowledge of web design, including use of analytics, accessibility standards, testing techniques, performance improvements, and application security.
Exceptional customer service skills; client-oriented focus; proven ability to collaborate.
Desirable Qualifications
Experience in health care, university or other large, complex organization highly desired.
High degree of creativity, energy, self-motivation and initiative is highly desired.
Fluency working with content management systems, such as Drupal, and familiarity with current web development platforms and practices.
Expertise in user experience design.
Advanced knowledge of Photoshop, InDesign and other creative programs.
Why is this blog significant? Simple. Without the blog's author giving me his 8-track tape collection prior to leaving for the military, I would have never discovered the music I love today. His 8-track tape collection included REALLY good music. This is a list of what he gave me, going by memory (the actual 8-track tape collection is long gone):
The Police - Zenyatta Mondatta
The Eagles - The Long Run
Van Halen - I
Van Halen - II
J. Giels Band - Love Stinks
I'll have to come back to this list in the future.
Last night, Karen, Megan, Alex, and I saw Five Feet Apart. It was a really good movie with a really good message about cherishing the ones that are around you.
I made a choice 3000 days ago and, thankfully, I've never not chosen to make that choice every day. The choice? I decided to not drink booze. Over the years, I've returned to this post many times as a way to remind myself why. On this anniversary, I just did skim it again. It truly captures what I feel is still the best decision for me and who I want to be on this planet. I remain grateful that I have held firm.
Life is sweet for my friend Matthew. Not only is he writing articles and communicating information that, frankly, whooshes over my head - for example, Migrating to the Cloud is Chaotic. Embrace it, it feels like every time I read his writing, I pick up subtle techniques I feel like I should adapt into my writing. For example, there's this blurb that he wrote on LinkedIn:
His first 3 sentences are 3 words each. It's a great hook. Simple sentences. Then he bumps the word count to 7 in the 4th sentence. It goes to 18 words in the 5th. I believe that's the secret sauce to Matthew's writing style. The first 3 sentences suck me in because they are short and setting the stage. Then, comes the 7 words, then the 18. It's like a staircase taking me to his point.
In our society, it's very easy to pick fly shit out of pepper.
I was reminded of that as I began looking at my Inbox today. To be clear, I love reading my howtogeek.com newsletter. The content is generally well-written and I think the articles either inform me of something new or remind me of something I had tucked away into the archives of my brain. I also do not normally see errors on their website or within the emails I receive from them on a subscription basis. Thus, when I saw the following in my Inbox, I chuckled as it's an example of how automation can sometimes go awry when their software - either the software they wrote or the software they purchased - created the email for Monday at 11:05 AM and included the link to the How to Make Your Smarthome Easier for Other People to Use story twice. What that tells me is that when the software assembles the email, there is no check for duplicate entries. The URL to the story should be the same for the two entries so, at a very high level, I presume there isn't a step, prior to sending the email, that looks for duplicate URLs. If there was, I wouldn't have seen this:
Paying 6 million dollars to guarantee your child gets into a prestigious college is nuts, but that's what the most likeable "desperate housewife" on the ABC series "Desperate Housewives" did. Also, Jessie's wife on "Full House" is involved as well.
I realize the graphic below is hard to read so here's the online version of Fox News First
Once upon a time, I thought spring break for the kids was this week - starting on Friday, March 8, 2019. When I thought that, I thought that we would go to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, OH. I thought if we were on the road to Cleveland, OH, we certainly would need to stop in Indy to see Metallica.
Well, here's the 'modern' thought. Spring break for the kids is not THIS week. It starts on Friday, March 15, 2019. Thus, I was not in Indy last night.
In either case, this is what Metallica played:
Hardwired
Atlas, Rise!
Seek & Destroy
Ride the Lightning
The Unforgiven
Now That We’re Dead
Creeping Death
For Whom the Bell Tolls
Here Comes Revenge
Indiana medley of the Zero Boys’ “Vicious Circle” and “Amphetamine Addiction” and John Mellencamp’s “I Need a Lover” performed by Rob Trujillo and Kirk Hammett
Hit the Lights
Fuel
Moth Into Flame
Sad But True
One
Master of Puppets
Encore
Fight Fire with Fire
Nothing Else Matters
Enter Sandman
Compared to the setlist I heard when I saw them in Newton, IA, ignoring where tunes were placed in the setlist, I see these differences between Newton, IA, and Indy, IN:
"Hit the Lights" not "Whiplash"
"Ride the Lightning" not "Fade to Black"
"Creeping Death" not "Wherever I May Roam"
"Fight Fire with Fire" replaced "Blackened"
"Here Comes Revenge" not "Halo on Fire"
I would gladly take "Whiplash," "Ride" would trump "Fade", "Death" would trump "Roam", "Blackened" would trump "Fire", and "Halo" or "Revenge" is a wash - both are great choices.
Des Moines, Iowa-based psychedelic/stoner metal trio DRUIDS have been making their rounds in the underground for the better part of a decade, but are poised to break out in 2019 with what will prove to be their most confident and explorative effort to date. The trio's brand new five-track record, Monument, is scheduled for release on April 19, 2019 via The Company KC. DRUIDS first laid their destructive groundwork over two releases - Pray for Water and The Sound of Meditation (released in 2009 and 2013, respectively) - continually looking to push their own personal boundaries, physically and sonically. With the release of 2016's Cycles of Mobeum, the boys embarked on a full year of heavy touring all over the United States, giving audiences in unsuspecting cities a heavy, cathartic live show, awash with wailing guitar solos, rhythmic drumming and chunky, grooving bass-lines. They took to the studio in early 2017 to record their follow up, Spirit Compass, with producer Brandon Darner (David Keuning, Radio Moscow) to shape what would be a smoldering follow-up.