JOBS WE DON'T WANT

To compliment one of our favorite features “Things That Make You Go…Hmmm,” T.A.H. is adding a new horse to the stable – “Jobs We Don’t Want.”

We know there is a recession and any job is a good job so this is more of a theoretical presentation. This was inspired when we woke up one morning last month and saw President Obama giving a speech in Egypt with a live audience of thousands.

Our initial reaction was pretty simple – wouldn’t want to be in charge of the security detail today. That’s a job we don’t want.

That brings us to the 2009 Glastonbury Music Festival and being in charge of this amazing event in another job we don’t want. The biggest musical festival in Europe, Glastonburry takes place on an 1,100 acre cow farm in Somerset, England.

It attracts about 140,000 folks and features more than 300 acts on too many stages to count. Acts this year included Bruce Springsteen, CSNY, Black Eyed Peas, Spinal Tap, Tom Jones, Lady Ga Ga and Roger McGuinn to name a diverse few…and, yeah, that’s Spinal Tap of Spinal Tap the movie.

Aside from all the obvious logistical issues, it being England and all, it’s prone to rain. In fact festival organizers say the place is famous for its “music and mud.”

Of course, like any gathering in excess of 100,000 there are a few rules. Like no glass, no fireworks, and no boom boxes. Here’s what the organizers had to say about the latter:

Please don’t bring your own sound system - the Festival has music pretty well covered. The campsites are patrolled for rogue systems, which will be confiscated.

And we liked this tidbit from the section of the brochure titled Getting Around:

The Festival covers a massive 1,100 acres. Not counting endless distractions, or carrying baggage, it takes at least an hour to walk across the site. If it is muddy, or you are carrying an injury, it will take even longer. And that’s in daylight and sober.