Secrets of the City

Chuck’s video: Not Safe For Work.

Chuck, you sly devil.

Youtube has video of the corpse flower blooming.

That St. 0 application is classic…I went to Carleton (originally from NYC), and recall being frequently terrified by what came out of the mouths (and ostensibly, brains) of the Oles I ran into. They’re not all like that…but enough of them are

I get a kick out of “journalists” who think they should have “jobs for life” or something.

The whining about “journalist” layoffs at the Strib is tiresome.

As is the fear and loathing of the free market capitalist ownership group.

Par seems like kind of a dolt, granted.

The marketplace is speaking.

Let’s move on.

oh yeah… 3 frames of the video are NSFW.

You obviously don’t get it, bud. Being a journalist and having the chance to change the world through your reporting is the most important job in the world. Why, it’s so important, some people here would do it for free, even. heh

heh, indeed.

Man, I can’t wait to gloat when you guys get fired.

How can one get fired from sitting on his couch, trolling message boards and smelling his own farts?

That Ole application makes me very, very proud of my cheap public school education.

That application inspires in me a complex blend of hilarity and mild depression. Depilarity? On reflection, probably not.

The person posting that didn’t do a great job disguising the kid’s identity – They accidentally left his first name in there, someplace. And you have the first letter of his second name from the title.

I’m mildly amused to see that the author still seems to think that apartheid is in operation in South Africa.

The kid may be stupid, but I’m betting he has an intellectual equal up the road at Carleton. I’ve seen the evidence.

He’s a liberal, that’s certainly clear.

Closed circuit to Max: No one’s “gloating”.

How could you tell, Bud? Was it his mild antipathy to pre-reformation Catholicism, or the fact that he once saw a movie about Nelson Mandela?

I think it was the fact that he said “I…am not opposed to trying new things.”

No, it was his poor grammar, spelling, and the rather non-specific meandering of his interest in the program.

What a surprise that a couple of chucklehead neocons would derive such pleasure out of someone else’s pain.

Wouldn’t it save us all a lot of trouble and grief if bud jr. and mazaspaza would just go into a room and beat each other off to the Rush Limbaugh show?

Thanks. And please make sure you take the time to clean each other up, fellas.

Not to bud: Then stop acting like it.

conservatives smoke weed, too.

That Ole post struck multiple chords with me.

1. I’m an Ole grad. As much as I think the kid is a screwball, I wonder how flat out stupid my own abroad app sounded. Yikes.

2. I’ve taught high school English for 12 years. The quality of his writing didn’t strike me as being that funny because it was so in the wheel house of much of what I’ve read from our beautiful young patriots.

3. My best friend went to Carleton, so I was over there almost as much as I was at Olaf. And yes, Carls. You’re very, very smart. Very smart. If you doubt this, just ask a Carl and he/she will tell you.

4. Olaf girls were smoking hot.

4. Olaf girls were smoking hot.

Yeah, but the ones I’ve known tend to break into the Hallelujah Chorus from the Messiah, at the drop of a hat.

I went to Carleton (originally from NYC), and recall being frequently terrified by what came out of the mouths (and ostensibly, brains) of the Oles I ran into. They’re not all like that…but enough of them are

Wow, aren’t we condescending. Dude, liberal arts snobs like you annoy the hell out of me. Maybe you didn’t notice but going to a top-tier liberal arts college doesn’t mean that you are protected from morons attending your school. Yes, the kid wrote some ridiculous stuff but you cannot tell me that there aren’t times when Carleton students are like, “oh, shit! I’ve got to turn in an app.” and then just start typing.

While this doesn’t happen often, I’m going to have to join Team Maz on this one:

The kid may be stupid, but I’m betting he has an intellectual equal up the road at Carleton. I’ve seen the evidence.

Seriously, considering how easy it is to get into study abroad programs most of the time, the kid probably didn’t think really think through the app. Also, he probably didn’t anticipate it being posted on the internet.

Aside: how the fuck did this get on the internet? Several of my friends have asked how do you post that shit without problems of confidentiality. Considering the stuff I write, to think that my various thrown together apps could end up on the web is so not cool.

I’m mildly amused to see that the author still seems to think that apartheid is in operation in South Africa.

I don’t think he does because if you read the following sentence the kid writes

Who agrees with the new government and who is against it?

I do, however, love that he calls it The Apartheid. It’s like the Google but more oppressive (except in China).

I heard plenty of Ole girls break into the Hallelujah Chorus, but it wasn’t when I dropped my hat.

P.S. I’m not really sure what that means, but it’s the sort of quippy ZING that makes MNSpeak such a daily delight.

P.S.S. Oh I’ll show you a daily delight!

I’m not going to defend this poor shmuck. I went to Olaf, and recognize that there are too many Oles who spend the rest of their lives trying to re-create–usually through acquisition of overpriced artisanal furniture and Norweigan sweaters–the wholesome, Lutheran utopia they remember from their time on the hill. Sickening. But Carleton people are the absolute worst. Smug, emasculated little fuck-ups with the inevitable older sister that actually got into an Ivy League school; as pseudo-intellectual adults, they continue to think they know what’s best for anybody in a lower tax bracket (having a rich black friend from Namibia doesn’t count, fuckers) and fall all over themselves lining up behind the latest “progressive social policy,” whether smoking ban or the ethanol push.

A pox on both their houses. Ron Paul in ‘08.

Big fan of Lambert today. Great. Kate Parry is such a pussy. Worthless.

Smug, emasculated little fuck-ups with the inevitable older sister that actually got into an Ivy League school

-Fordham’s not in the Ivy League, is it?

Matt has a younger sister, not an older sister.

I went to Carleton, and the only thing I learned there that is worth knowing is that what you learn in college is 99 44/100 percent bullshit…and that goes double for the Ivy League.

I went to Carleton, and the only thing I learned there that is worth knowing is that what you learn in college is 99 44/100 percent bullshit…and that goes double for the Ivy League.

Seconded. Well, not the “went to Carleton” part (but I’m [hooray] graduating from a similar school) but the rest is so true. Double true.

Tom and Bixby,

Can you please pass those words of wisdom on to every rich fuckwad I go to school with? They refuse to believe us public school kids.

but the rest is so true. Double true.

You’ve already got a leg up on your contemporaries, by recognizing it at such a young age.

Having spent my entire (educational) life around rich private school kids of some type, it seems that, if they don’t want to believe it then there’s little you or anyone else can tell them to change their mind.. Instead, they just have to learn the hard way (if they learn at all).

We’re made to think that just because we attend a certain school, we can have all these great things. Granted, attending certain schools may open doors that you might not have otherwise been able to open but it’s always interesting to speak with alumni of my college who say they did everything the “right” way and end up in a job that they aren’t happy with.

Actually, in January during our J-term a did a project about what happens when students at my college experience failure and disappointment while at the college. I interviewed current students and younger alums and it was interesting seeing the different ways that we came to realize that a diploma from a certain school isn’t a magic wand. In fact, there were several who said that they wished they’d had gone to less prestigious schools that were better fits for them.

I really only came to this understanding after two years in school, two years away from school, and three more years in school. So, it’s not like I’m learning this ahead of my peers of anything. Honestly, if 25 year old Bixby traveled back in time and told 18 year old Bixby these things. I’d still end at this school because of it’s name and reputation. I think that I can only come to terms with much I wouldn’t be missing out by being elsewhere because I’ve gone here. If that makes sense.

Right now, it seems like all my peers are going to prestigious grad schools and there are times where I’m momentarily jealous of this. Why? I don’t know. The last place I want to be right now is in a classroom for several more years. I’m quite excited about my job and I don’t think it could be a better fit for me but still, there’s just something about wanting to go where you can’t go and/or shouldn’t be…

Yeah, I’m a bit off topic. Sorry.

I went to a small, Midwestern, Norwegian college (not St. O, those fucks), and I resemble these remarks…I mean “resent”…yeah, that’s what I meant…fuck…

Bixby – During my business career, I’ve interviewed dozens of job applicants, some of whom were young people right out of college. When you have no professional experience or accomplishments you can point to, the interviewer doesn’t have much to go on other than the applicant’s academic experiences.

In those situations, I have to admit that the prestigous school on the resume always caught my eye. If you were interviewing for a job with me, and had no previous professional experience, I must admit that the fact that you went to Williams College would score points with me and you would have an advantage over other applicants with less prestigous academic credentials.

But I’m also impressed with a high GPA from less prestigious schools. I once hired a young woman to work in my video studio who had just gaduated from the University of Wisconsin at Plattville … not because it’s a fancy school, but because she had a 4.0 GPA. That told me something about her work ethic.

But all that just gets you in the door. I guarantee you, within days after getting the job, people will forget where you went to school and start judging you only on your job performance.

Well, sometimes it helps and sometimes it doesn’t. Honestly, I’ve had at least 8 internships and various jobs and the vast majority of the people who hired me had never heard of Williams. While I was away I pursued several internships in a field where going to Williams meant nothing to the employers. They were familiar with the school but it meant nothing because I was a political science major, which wasn’t the norm for the field I was getting into. I had to do several internships in the field before I was able to get the one internship I really wanted. Mind you, I was away from school for two years.

I can see how it can be frustrating to be unable to get your foot in the door immediately aftergraduation, when time is not a luxury and when you were under the (mistaken) impression that, since you did what you were supposed to, Williams would always give you that extra push.

Still, my resume did get pulled to come in for an interview and for a really competitive position because the hr person had a friend who went to Williams a while back. I had never met this person or anything, so there are times when it does give you a leg up.

But sometimes I liked when they haven’t heard of Williams. It’s nice going into the interview without having to deal with preconceived notions of what students from your school are like. Granted, I do have a ton of work experience from two solid years of internships plus my summer positions other years, so it sucks for my friends who don’t have as much experience.

I guess what I am saying is that it’s a really, really bad idea to bank on the name of your small college pushing you up to the front of the line and opening doors, especially when you are trying to find jobs further away from your college. There are times when you do get the extra push and, because of the reputation of your school, it is an especially powerful push but to expect this always happen just sets you up for disappointment.

So, this SB from St. Olaf and some kid from Carleton might apply for the same position at a company outside of the region and that knows nothing about either school and, to that HR person, both applications look equally ridiculous.

Wow, I definitely went around the block to go next door on that one…

Wow. Mazaspaza openly admits to preying on…er, “recruiting” impressionable young college students to do his evil bidding.

One can only imagine the kind of human atrocities these poor young people witnessed while under his “thumb.” No doubt the indignities they suffered have scarred them for life.

Bixby, your blog is pretty great.

You’re in for the Next First Official MnSpeak Get Together. No arguing.

I love, LOVE shaming rich kids at school. It’s my favorite thing in the world. Plus, it’s easy.

Yepnope, I’m glad you like my blog. It’s really just to amuse me (as I am easily amused) but good to hear other people find it amusing as well.

I won’t be back in the 612 until around 6/15 but if the next one occurs after that, then sure I’ll come. TV is in re-runs at that point, so I’ll have no other obligations.

“How can one get fired from sitting on his couch, trolling message boards and smelling his own farts?“

More importantly, how can one get HIRED for that?

We’re made to think that just because we attend a certain school, we can have all these great things.

They told me the same about the Big Ten engineering school I went to. Turns out it only applies to the B-school. Dammit.

I didn’t even realize they had an engineering program in Ann Arbor…I thought it was just “Very Liberal” Arts Mon-Fri, Football on Sat, and smoking dope and playing hacky sack in the diag on Sunday while eating shitty Cottage Inn Pizza…back when the Big 10 had 10 schools we used to say that 9 out of 10 women in the Big 10 were attractive…and the other one went to Michigan.

Let’s not totally discount the “right school on the resume” idea. Last time we hired a lawyer, I got over 150 CV’s. At that point, you have to make cutoffs and distinctions based on superficial qualities. (You know you’re probably going to rule out someone good, or keep considering someone who’s not right, but with that many responses, you’re stuck.) One of the easy cutoffs was, have I ever heard of their law school?

I didn’t even realize they had an engineering program in Ann Arbor…
Really? Given that UMich tends to be a pretty damn good school all around, I just assumed that their engineering school would have been pretty good.

bobby_b, where you work? if i put “mnspeak lurker” on my resume, does that move me to the top of your pile?

it’s not being completely discounted but knowing “people have heard of the name” isn’t even the concern of a lot of my peers. We think that those who need to know, know how great it is and because of this we’re going to have tons of opportunities that we never would have had any other way. It’s a deeper problem than people having not heard of our school, it’s about coming to terms with how much/little you gain by “X School” on your resume. Getting through the first screening round because people have heard of your school is great but I think a lot of people I know who went to “brand name” schools expect more than that. They expect that they will find their dream job and have access to all sorts of powerful people who can help them find this job and, for some, this occurs but for the vast majority of us it doesn’t go down that way.

At the company I work at now, all the engineers my age went to Iowa State. I didn’t, and that kept me out of consideration for a good while. General Mills (and other large companies) have established recruiting relationships with certain schools for certain fields. If you didn’t go to one of those schools, it’s pretty damn hard to get in. It’s worse (at the Mills anyway) in marketing than it is in R&D.

Just like if you happen to submit a resume to a job and that one person that’s doing the screening happened to go to your school, no matter how large or small or well-known or not it may be, you get a leg up.

So if you went to a big school, or one that’s tops for whatever field your in, it sure does help. It’s a networking tool as much as it is a quality education.

I thought it was just “Very Liberal” Arts Mon-Fri, Football on Sat, and smoking dope and playing hacky sack in the diag on Sunday while eating shitty Cottage Inn Pizza…

It’s all of that, too.

My whole family went to Moo U (that’s Michigan State, y’all), so you can’t say anything I haven’t heard before.

General Mills is a pain in the ass for hiring. Even though I had more experience than the vast majority of their candidates in terms of branding and marketing because of internships, they were just like, “no, you aren’t a marketing major, so you can’t intern here”. I was actually told that by a GM person.

Anyway…

General Mills is a pain in the ass for hiring. Even though I had more experience than the vast majority of their candidates in terms of branding and marketing because of internships, they were just like, “no, you aren’t a marketing major, so you can’t intern here”. I was actually told that by a GM person.

Anyway…

It’s absolutely true across the entire company. If your degree doesn’t have the right word in it, they either won’t hire you at all or will have to bring you in through back channels and screw you over when they really do hire you. It’s a nice place to work, but some of their corporate bureaucracy is such horseshit that they drive away a lot of capable people.

Wait a minute! Whoa! Whoa!

I went to a small liberal arts school. It was WAY harder to get good grades at this small, private liberal arts school than say, the UW Plattville. I could have gotten a 4.0 at UW Plattville with my eyes closed. Getting a 4.0 at my school, however, is A LOT harder.

But the 4.0 at UW Plattville looks better? That’s stupid.

Hey since you guys are talking about college name brand recognition, has anyone heard of the Worcester Polytechnic Institute?

No?

God, I’m so fucked.

But the 4.0 at UW Plattville looks better? That’s stupid.

It doesn’t look better, it simply tells me something about that person that’s admirable. They work hard. I’m sure there are people who failed to graduate at Plattville.

My only point is that just because you don’t go to a prestigious school, because let’s face it, only a small minority of people do, it doesn’t mean you have no hope of getting hired at a good job with a good employer (she started at 35k) if you can show you made the best of it.

But if you had mediocre grades at a non-descrept school, forgetaboutit.

My grandfather never finished high school and he made himself into one of the richest, most successful business men in town.

Grades/school have nothing to do with how smart or talented you are.

I hate to break it to you, bubba, but the days when someone could do that are mostly over now. The world changes, and now there’s a pay-to-play system that’s pretty expensive to get into.

Yeah. Thanks for the news flash, Wayne. It doesn’t change the fact that the only people who really care about your GPA are the HR nimwits who themselves graduated from Ronald McDonald’s Clown College of Asshatry.

My oldest son graduation magna cum laude from Macalester and is a rock musician. My youngest son never went to college and I’ll probably be borrowing money from him in my old age as he’ll own a string of Punch Pizzerias.

And 35K for a 4.0? That’s just sad.

And 35K for a 4.0? That’s just sad.

well, that was about 15 years ago.

Bubba knows others like Maz’s kids. Kudos!!!

Hey since you guys are talking about college name brand recognition, has anyone heard of the Worcester Polytechnic Institute?
Yes. No, really, I have. Actually, I’ll probably be in the area next week after I get lost trying to find Ware, MA. Don’t ask…

My oldest son graduation magna cum laude from Macalester and is a rock musician. My youngest son never went to college and I’ll probably be borrowing money from him in my old age as he’ll own a string of Punch Pizzerias.

Oh yeah, well, I don’t even know my GPA and if I don’t finish 30 pages of writing by 5pm tomorrow I’m not even going to graduate. Still, that doesn’t matter because I’m going to be an astronaut and I plan on colonizing Mars and buying my mom a condo to retire there.

So clearly I win.
(Going into space trumps any terrestrial occupation)