Friday, January 11, 2008

One more thing...

From my email came this in the Adrants newsletter:


PETA Advances Vegetarian Viewpoint With 'Road to the Greenhouse'

celery_clinton.jpg

Rather than the road to the White House, PETA gives us its Road to the Greenhouse which gives us candidates such as Selery Clinton, Fruity Giuliana, Broccoli Obama, Dijon McCain, John Breadwards, Mike Huckelberry, Spread Thompson and more. Predictably, the questions to the candidates deal mostly with diet and the advocation of a vegitarian lifestyle. Still, it's funny.

Friday or is it Fried-day?


Starting to drag a little. See, today I did what all the experts tell you do to be more productive and that is start your day earlier!

6:15am the sounds of ROCK 104 fill the bedroom until I can slap the snooze alarm and roll over for another 7 minutes.

I used to get up at this earlier time until the holidays and then I found myself sleeping in until 7 something and getting to work between 8 and 8:30.

Too late I decided and so I was at work before 7:30 this morning. I'll try this again next week. In the meantime, if you see me nodding off, leave me alone.

Thursday, January 10, 2008

Writers strike leads to self discovery?


Or it's a sign of growing older.

How old do you need to be to start reflecting on your past? Does a five year old do it when they start school and long for the days when they could play all day?

The 50 year old that longs for his life in his 30's? The 70 year old that wonders what's wrong with the kids of today who also remembers with a twinkle in her eye the mischief she got into in her youth?

Back to the subject at hand. In the fall of 2007, I found myself with a favorite tv show nearly every night. Chuck and House, Boston Legal, Brothers & Sisters, Private Practice, Grey's Anatomy, 20/20, the CSI series, Without A Trace, and a couple others.
But once the reruns kicked in and the networks started screwing around with the schedule, I turned back to TV as a background noise, instead of getting my full attention.

Where did I go? More time on the Internet, reading books and on line and I have come across a few shows on PBS recently. Last night they had a special on the Tonight Show with Steve Allen, Jack Parr and early Johnny Carson. Recently I watched a salute to Carol Burnett, and a few salutes to TV stars from the 60's and 70's.

What about you? Has the writers strike changed your habits?

UPDATE: In my email today came this from Chuck McKay:

Pencils Down.

For two months now the Writers Guild of America has been on strike against the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. Have you noticed, yet?

Most of the television drama is produced months before it's aired, so no significant changes in drama.

“Reality” programming such as Survivor, American Idol, American's Next Top Model, or Celebrity Apprentice doesn't use written scripts (so they say), which means no problem there.

It appears that the only programs showing any immediate effect of the writer's strike are the daily comedy shows – such as those hosted by Jay Leno, David Letterman, John Stewart, Stephen Colbert, Conan O'Brien, and Craig Ferguson.

The writers seem determined to continue their strike.

The networks are rumored to already be considering programs produced in other countries. (BBC anyone?).

The producers are betting that Americans don't care enough about quality to affect their viewing habits. If they're right, the nation will watch whatever is put before them. If they're wrong, there are always writers in other countries. (Did we mention the BBC?)

The writers are betting the opposite - that people will angrily demand better programming.

They're both wrong.

While the writers and producers play chicken with the prime time lineup, they're all missing a major point.

Today's younger audience considers TV to be just another option on a much bigger menu. These viewers are much less likely than their parents to watch programs which are only marginally interesting to them.

If viewers don't care for Letterman, Stewart, or Colbert (who have all returned to the air without writers), then YouTube or World of Warcraft are only a mouse click away.

And, as advertisers, we should always be thinking about advertising where the viewers are.






Wednesday, January 09, 2008

Update on a family brag

Less than a month ago I wrote about my daughter Rachael excelling at her job; well today she got a nice surprise with an early review and a raise, (about three months before she was scheduled to have a review)!

Congrats! Here's an older picture of her when she was younger:

Tuesday, January 08, 2008

60 n' sunny in January

Today:





Not today:

Monday, January 07, 2008

Reaching goals


As of 2:30pm today, I personally reached our company goal for the week. And we still have 4 more days to go!

There is something reassuring about reaching for and exceeding goals. As a former manager of mine would say, "Don't let our goals hold you back."

Now my plans for the rest of the week are to set up the successes for the rest of the month.

Did you set a goal for yourself for today? for this week? for this month or year? Do it!

Sunday, January 06, 2008

Sunday evening reflections



Wow, the Holidays are finally over. It's almost one long 2 1/2 month blur of activity going back to Halloween followed by Thanksgiving, birthdays, Christmas, and New Years. Add to that college break for Abby from Purdue and Josh and Madeline from COA and we have had lots of activity. On Monday, life will settle down a bit with work in full swing, most of the folks I need to contact are finally done with their holiday plans and we get to move forward in 2008.

Typically due to my wife's work schedule, our church preferences and my own mental state, by the time 5pm Friday hits we are ready for the weekend. That includes doing nothing work related until Sunday when Kathy works and I begin preparing for my week ahead.

This weekend was different. I had a "Meat Remote" with ROCK 104 and Doc West yesterday at Kroger for a couple hours. Had a great time, and was inspired to pick up some rib-eyes and fixed one for dinner tonight. A very delicious, simple meal that took 15 minutes to prepare. Ask for details if you want them.




Last night we watched most of the debates that were on ABC and will be rebroadcast on CNN tonight. Today I spent most of the day watching CNN and the other news outlets to see how the election coverage is shaking out and now that it's nearly 6pm, it's time to prep for work.

53 degrees and climbing

Tomorrow we are supposed to hit 63. Normal temp is about 1/2 that. Looks like the only snowmen are in these old Calvin and Hobbes cartoons...