 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
Friday, October 26, 2007
THE JUICE AND THE LOWDOWN, AND SOME HYPOCRISY
Lest you think this space has turned into a cyberspace morgue, it's Friday night again and I am finally free (enough) to sprinkle some much needed water here.
I felt exceptionally productive this week - work-wise (wish I could say the same bout my studies and uni applications though), hitting several milestones - attending my first invitation-only launch, specifically, the launch of the new BCBG store in Pavilion; mingling for the first time with big-timers in a purely social setting; and committing my first major blooper at work.
If any of you saw my live program on-air, on tuesday, in the midst of the show, you would have seen that there suddenly were a 5-second black screen and a 1-second frozen frame before commercial took over - dramatique-style. Yup, that was me, and no, I didn't get fired because I blamed it on the machines. I was terrified the whole day through, because apparently, on-air blunders are a HUGE thing in TV. Something about the sponsors paying hundreds of thousands of money.
Nevertheless, I felt the whole episode was oddly ironic, as I have never really witnessed a black screen and frozen screen in all my television-watching years, and yet now I work at a TV I made it happen, effortlessly, amidst frantic screams of 'commercial commercial take over take over!', just like in the movies. There's a perverse sense of triumph to it, just make sure no one busts you.
Since I mentioned attending launches and events, I should probably divulge more on the glamorous side of my job and unveil the green-eye monsters in you, or, I could not caramelize the truth and reveal the real deal - which is not always a bunch of roses.
First launch I attended was the launch of BCBG concept store in Pavilion, and there were drinks and evian and hors d'oeuvres of pretty little yummy food, an awesome door gift, and of course, a fashion show. Then I attended the launch of Esprit Flagship Store, which had the same stuff as BCBG. Events pending are the store launches of Tangs and Levi's and Braun Buffel, which will happen over the next couple of weeks. So here you go, the glam stuff - fun, freebies, and mingling and free food. But behind these just-like-in-the-movies stuff there's blood, sweat and tears and possibly some exaggeration.
When attending events I have to be uber diplomatic and all smiles and praises for the party-thrower, even if the place was hot and stuffy and the fashion show ridiculous. It's like a 24/7 job. Then the after-party mingling is just an extension of the previous two sentences, because GETTING CONTACTS are these two sacred words that hang from a pedestal. These events also happen mostly in evenings that extend to nights, so as much fun as it sounds, it's still work and after a long day of work smiling may just be the last thing you want to do, especially if the goodie bag is actually a stuff-that-don't-sell-well-at-the-store clearance bag.
Another arduous part is not being able to eat properly. Every time a nicely bow-tied waiter hover pass me with a tray of oysters or brownies or indistinguishable-but-no-doubt-yummy food, I have to pass them up because for the couple of minutes I'd take to chew the food, someone wearing a lot of makeup (celebrity), someone wearing heavy jewellery (possibly the manager), someone clutching a clipboard/notebook/nametag (from the PR agency) or someone old and comes with a plus-one (definitely the biggest fish there) might just walk pass me, and a self introduction with broccoli stuck to my teeth doesn't exactly leave a good first impression, no matter how firm the handshake.
Though it is uncountable the times I wished I could just show up and whisk away the goodie bag and then dwell at one dark corner, and call me a hypocrite if you wish to, but so far I've actually enjoyed getting my first taste of the big fancy world of connections and exclusivity, if you take out the fatigue of coming home past 12am and other bad seeds that sodden the deal.
In the end it is the journalist that stays on late and waits till the party dies down, then proceeds to catch one waiter and make him wait while she pops one after another the small cute foods on his tray till there was none left.
|
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
|
|
