The Country Hip Hop
So, tomorrow is Kristin’s birthday and I thought I’d give her an early birthday present. Nothing says ‘I Love You’ like a rad country hip-hop dance instructional video like this bad boy. So tomorrow when you haven’t heard from her or I all day online, you know what we’re doing.
And for the record…. no one, and I mean no one is cooler than T.J.
The Last Shall Be Middle… Then First
So, today this weird thing happened. I woke up completely not thinking about today being the day that AT&T stores were starting to sell the iPhone4. I got up with the kids, drank some coffee then remembered. Without much hope I called a couple different AT&T stores asking what the chances were of getting a phone today. One guy told me they’d been open for an hour and already gone through fifty phones. Another place told me that they had some but I’d better hurry because the line was getting longer and the supply was getting smaller. So Blue and I hoped in the car and headed that way.
When we got to the store there were about twenty people outside the store lined up so we took our place in the back. Not a huge deal if I can’t get one today, but at least I’ll be on some list or something for later this week. Customer after customer came out of the store holding a bag, but refusing to look up or speak. It was almost as if they had been sworn to secrecy in there. Kind of creepy really. Fast forward about 20 minutes and here I am seven or eight people back. A guy comes out, breaking his code with AT&T and yelling out, “There’s only two left.”. All at once the line in front and now behind me lets out this synchronized moan. Well no kidding. People were there at three o’clock this morning. I’m still in it for the sign up and phone call later this week.
Jump ahead now to five minutes later and I’m about four people back. An AT&T employee comes out and explains that they are, in fact, out of phones, but would be getting another shipment later today and it should be able to accommodate everyone in line. All we needed to do was fill out this sheet and wait for a call. ”Nice. I’ll get a phone today”, I told Blue. People were noticeably disappointed but I guess I had pretty low expectations so it worked out.
Fast forward one more time to now I’m the next guy in line. I’m still outside, but waiting for the guy to open the door and allow me in the store. As he’s opening the door another employee walks up to him and says quietly, “I found one more.”. The guy looks at me and says, “I guess today’s your lucky day.”. I guess so.
Five minutes later I was dropping my first call on my new phone with my dad who was in line in California waiting to get his phone.
I’m not sure the moral of this story, but I got a new phone and it seems pretty cool. Who’s getting / already got one?
Social Networking
Now, I’m no ‘Social Networking’ expert by a long shot, and everyone knows all you need to do is Google those words to find a thousand people out there that claim they are, but today I stumbled onto this article by Steven Overly for the Washington Post that absolutely everyone trying to have a business or music career online should read. In fact, I’ve already emailed this link to every artist and manager that I work with. Now sure, some of it has nothing to do with the music industry, but if you look at an artist as a ‘brand’ or a ‘small business’ and in that context some of these things are great. Here are three of the ten ‘mistakes’ pointed out in the article that jumped out to me. I added the bold.
Giving It To The Intern
Too often, social media responsibilities will be piled on the most inexperienced staff members, or worse, someone who abhors social media. Debbie Weil, a local corporate social media consultant, said proper use of social media requires someone who is not only communication savvy, but comfortable with exposure to the public. You can’t hide behind a brand, Weil said. Social media needs a personal touch.Only Using The Freebies
Free social network and media Web sites such as Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube may be easy to activate, but they don’t give an organization much control. Weil, who also authored “The Corporate Blogging Book,” warns that companies that rely solely on external networks relinquish a certain degree of autonomy. She recommends that organizations and companies using social media have a hub on their primary Web site where users can find links or feeds to blogs, Flickr photo galleries and other third-party Web sites. This also gives customers or constituents a single go-to URL.Making It About Money, Money, Money
Most nonprofits and other donation-driven organizations recognize the potential to raise funds through social media, but Fair said it is too often viewed as a funnel to the organization’s coffers. She said nonprofits stand to collect more money from a community that participates, through social media or otherwise, in an organization’s cause. You can’t initiate social media as part of a fundraising effort, she said; it has to happen beforehand.
Oh my goodness. Is this saying that it’s (once again) not about the numbers? It’s about community and quality over quantity? Is it saying that ‘Social Networking’ is an important part of today’s society and should be addressed as such?
I love the idea of bringing people together for a cause or a goal more than just selling things. It’s something we’ve have been trying to do for almost three years now with SkörInc, and I think it’s amazing to see the relationships and connections that have been achieved through these artists interacting online more. So obviously I’m on board. Anyone have any other thoughts on this article? Read the rest here.
Podcasts
I’ve never been a huge Podcast guy. And by that I mean, I haven’t ever really paid any attention to them at all. In fact, there’s only one Podcast that I am subscribed to, but I do love it. It’s the Mars Hill Church podcast. Normally I only have the time to listen to them on airplanes, but I’ve decided I need to start listening to them regularly. Anyone else out there into Podcasts? I mean there’s something to them right? People like them? Who has the time to listen to them every day? What’s your favorite podcast? Anything I need to be checking out?
Ready? Go.
Monthly Fests
So, back in the day, when Kristin and I lived in California and before kids we started a monthly tradition at our house loosely based off of Oktoberfest. Except it was monthly. If I remember correctly it was the second Tuesday of every month. Although I could be completely making that part up. Anyway. If it was January it was ‘Januaryfest’, February, ‘Februaryfest, March, Marchfest… You get the idea. Basically all it was, was a time for our friends to come over and hang out. We’d barbeque some food, and hang out. You know, a monthly excuse to hang out with people.
Well, since we’ve moved out here we haven’t really had a chance to do it. We haven’t had the time. Or really the group of people wanting to do it with us. But here we are. I’m wanting to start up this thing again. The low-key hang out at our house with food and friends appropriately named after each month.
I’m not sure if we’ll have time to fit in a Junefest, but I’ve got my sights on Julyfest. Now, I don’t know details yet, and Kristin and I haven’t even really talked about it all that much, but I think it’d be fun. Who’s in?
Father’s Day Canoe Trip
Kristin always hits it out of the park when she plans things. Today for Father’s Day, she planned an amazing seven and a half mile canoe trip down the Duck River about 20 or 30 miles from our house. It’s one of those places that takes you up river in a van and drops you off and gives you several hours to make it back. Absolutely perfect. Well, perfect except for the part where I jumped in the river to chase a turtle with my phone in my pocket. But other than that, perfect.
This morning I woke up to the Kristin and the boys bringing me breakfast in bed. Cooper was so excited that he swung on the curtains and ripped the pole out of the wall and it slammed into my computer, then spilled the coffee. Nothing like a dose of fatherhood reality in the midst of breakfast in bed.
So, about a quarter of the way into the trip, we stopped for some lunch. Now, when I said that Kristin plans, I mean she plans. Just the sandwich she made was no joke. Homemade bread, avocado, pesto, turkey, spinach and some other cool stuff. Then after lunch Kristin had strawberry shortcake. Frick. Strawberry shortcake. On a river. Complete with whip cream and all that. I told you she was no joke.
So after seven and a half miles, and another layer of sunburn on the shoulders and a full belly, we’re spending the rest of the day relaxing, watching some movies at some point eating some sushi. An absolute perfect day despite the distracting turtle that ruined my phone. I have the coolest family out there.
So, happy Father’s Day to all those dads out there. Keep your phones out of the water and enjoy the rest of your day.
Go Boston
I have two rules when it comes to cheering for basketball teams. The Kings first and after that… anyone but the Lakers. Usually that ends up to be the Suns or the Spurs and for a time it was the Mavericks. You know… anyone but the Lakers. Tonight is no exception. I had no idea Boston was a good team three weeks ago. Tonight, they are my favorite team.
See, it all goes back to Kobe. I can’t like him. I can’t like his smug attitude. I can’t like this non-team-player-ness. Yeah, that’s not a word, but you get the idea.
Go Boston.
Who are you pulling for tonight? Lakers? Boston? Soccer?
What A Week
Dang. It’s been a heck of a week. Over 1,700 miles, meeting up with over 40 friends, 1 wedding, a couple second degree sunburns, and a cracked windshield. I’d call that a success. Well, except for the windshield.
It’s been a long time since we’ve taken a vacation like this. In fact, I don’t know if we’ve ever taken a vacation like this, but it was a good one. We had amazing time in the car, the boys were fantastic, lots of time to talk, listen to music, watch some movies, play some Words With Friends, you know… all the stuff you’re not supposed to do while you’re driving.
Luckily the oil hasn’t made it to any of the beaches we went to, so it was nothing short of perfect water to swim in.
I’m still sorting through all the pictures but here’s a few of my favorites.
The Happiest Place On Earth
Disney World was Wednesday. We spent about twelve hours there and I think by the end we were all pretty worn out. The boys got to see all their favorite characters, go on tons of rides, and eat all sorts of sugar. You know, all the stuff you do at Disney. And this was just the first day.
World Cup 2010
So, I’ve never been really interested in soccer. Not because I don’t like it or anything like that, but mostly because I don’t really care. Even to this day I don’t care, but stick with me on this really long story as to why I think I’m going to be interested this year in the World Cup.
We don’t have local television. You know the ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC. We don’t have them. We just don’t really watch all that much TV as it is, and anything on those networks are played on HULU the next day anyway. The one problem with this? NBA Finals time. Sure all the Playoffs are on TNT or some other cable channel, but when it comes to the Finals, it’s straight to ABC. So if I want to watch Kobe lose, I’ve got to somehow find the game online. This usually means some weird channel out of someone’s basement or something and last night was no different.
Last night there were no ‘real’ commercials on the channel I found online. There were only World Cup commercials. Now, I’m not usually a sucker for advertisements, but after two hours of watching intense basketball and then seeing these amazing soccer commercials, with dancing people and bright colors, and excitement and cool sounding African stuff, I’m sold. When’s this thing kick off?
I mean seriously. Can this many people around the world be wrong? People riot over this junk. It’s got to hold my attention some right?
So here’s the deal. I’m going to give this soccer thing a shot this year. I’m going to try to pay attention to it, and if I have questions, I’ll ask William. He’ll set me straight.
And while I’m getting into soccer, here’s the song that seems like it’s the current ‘Theme Song’ for the World Cup. I’m not sure what’s up with the awkward white guy in the video, but he’s funny to watch.
Who’s with me? Anyone else into this soccer thing? Anyone else going to try it with me?
