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Showing posts from December, 2018

The 'Absolute Shambles' 2018 Awards

'My responsibility is to tell the truth'- Christine Blasey Ford to the Senate Judiciary Committee, 27 September 2018 So here we are. 2018 is about to end, ready to bow out and let 2019 take the spotlight. In true 2018 style, it bends as low as it can go and proceeds to fall flat on its face. As it drags itself up to its feet to regain some composure, it shrugs it off and pretends that nobody saw that. Everyone saw it; it was painfully awkward and nobody wants to make eye contact with the year that is about to be added to the annals of human history. 2019 puts a hand on its compatriots shoulder and quietly tells the parting year to leave now. Some people have also experienced awkward moments on stage this year OK, that's quite an unfair way to say goodbye to 2018. It hasn't been a travesty of a year , none of us can deny that. Yes, Brexit has turned the United Kingdom into a laughing stock , Donald Trump is blundering his way through his tenure as President of th

Sarajevo, the city unafraid to show its scars

'Objectively, Paris is the most beautiful city in the world, and nothing in Sarajevo can be compared to Paris, but my heart never trembles in Paris like it does here in Sarajevo, when I wait in line at the post office- Goran Bregović The ease to travel all over the world means business trips can be taken to our heart's content. Airplanes are packed with people dressed in suits, who type furiously away at their laptops to complete an important presentation or to book escorts for a night on the town (saw that recently; hilarious). They wait impatiently for the time when they can turn off flight mode on their electronic devices and make important business calls to prospective partners or colleagues. It's a strange life, and recently this humble blogger had the chance to become one of them. The software company where the curator of 'Absolute Shambles' spends his days have their Quality Assurance team based out of the head office in Surrey. It isn't down the ro

What I Love About Christmas

'Oh, Christmas isn't just a day, it's a frame of mind' - Kris Kringle, played by Edmund Gwenn, Miracle on 34th Street , 1947 From the desk that this blogger spends his working days at, there is a TV situated on the wall opposite. The slides move through statistics, BBC News and the latest version of software released by the company for public consumption. One slide, however, always grabs everyone's attention; the Christmas Countdown. Excited squeals, little jigs and a hurried hand clapping is the common reaction to the upcoming festivities. December is now upon us, and Christmas is on the horizon. Get pumped OK, everyone calm down. We all love this time of year but we are adults who have the ability to keep our childish glee in check. Let's just take a minute to compose ourselves... oh forget it, IT'S NEARLY CHRISTMAS!! In case you are getting a feeling of déjà vu, there was a  Christmas-themed post  last year on the joys of the season, but this time

Who rules supreme in the battle of Christmas adverts?

'Advertising is legalised lying'- H.G. Wells Christmas is fast approaching. Temperatures plummet to levels that require anyone brave enough to venture outside to wrap up warm in their finest winter gear. Extensive planning begins on what concoctions shall be crafted in the kitchen this festive season, from the roast turkey served on Christmas Day to the cake drowned in brandy that will make even the heaviest drinker regret having another slice. Black Friday and Cyber Monday have been and gone, once again causing scenes of violence and desperation as shoppers search for bargains. It's the most wonderful time of the year. These are all very clear signs of the arrival of Christmas, yet perhaps the most telling one is the broadcasting of the adverts. For years now, companies have battled hard to reign supreme in this brand new battlefield of advertisement by tugging at heartstrings and causing the feels to flow. Much like with the Super Bowl and their half-time adverts, the