Bright side
Apr. 23rd, 2026 11:58 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
eve_primeWe always have a highly entertaining skit as part of my employer’s annual meeting, and two years ago I got to contribute a little video of reading outside and passing an Olympic torch. This year they’re making another special effort to include those of us who work remotely (I’m not even funded and haven’t been for years) – the skit’s theme is Monty Python and the Holy Grail (I assume substituting “grant” for “grail”), and those of us who are remote were asked to sign up to help sing or whistle an adaptation of “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life” from The Life of Brian. The revised lyrics are quite entertaining – the challenges of getting funded in an era of forbidden language and sometimes even AI grant reviewers.
I can’t whistle a tune at all, and I’m no great singer – I’ve never seriously considered joining a choir like several of my friends. I do know this tune, though – it’s very simple, and I can sing it in a key that works for me (rather low). So today was my online meeting with L and E, who would record whatever the employee wanted to contribute, whether that was whistling, singing parts of the song, or simply bopping their head from side to side or putting a pet on screen. E sang it to me first… and then I sang it myself. Their reaction was priceless – apparently I did considerably better than anyone else had, up to that point. I suspect that few of the others were even willing to sing at all. They described me as “musical” compared with the others, and I don’t think anyone else has ever done that in my life. So that made me very happy.
I’m not even sure how they can paste the clips together, since each of the singers will be singing in whatever key they wanted, but I’m looking forward to seeing it. Also I had Ajani on screen some too. I’ll get to see it in a week.
I can’t whistle a tune at all, and I’m no great singer – I’ve never seriously considered joining a choir like several of my friends. I do know this tune, though – it’s very simple, and I can sing it in a key that works for me (rather low). So today was my online meeting with L and E, who would record whatever the employee wanted to contribute, whether that was whistling, singing parts of the song, or simply bopping their head from side to side or putting a pet on screen. E sang it to me first… and then I sang it myself. Their reaction was priceless – apparently I did considerably better than anyone else had, up to that point. I suspect that few of the others were even willing to sing at all. They described me as “musical” compared with the others, and I don’t think anyone else has ever done that in my life. So that made me very happy.
I’m not even sure how they can paste the clips together, since each of the singers will be singing in whatever key they wanted, but I’m looking forward to seeing it. Also I had Ajani on screen some too. I’ll get to see it in a week.