I feel apocalyptic

"Take Care!"

If there were such a button in my mentalsphere, it would also have a switch. The switch would toggle modes between 'self-destruction' and 'destruction'. So, that the world's safe when I'm busy sabotaging myself, but my attitude toward the world gets kinda ornery when i'm not busy self-destructing.

From Exploding Dog.

Laugh, Think, Cry

One of the best speeches I've ever seen. Moving.

Been needing a cathartic cry. Might watch this later tonight at home.

YouTube - The Wire Season 4 (The Music Video)

I get nostalgic.

It seems like just yesterday I was heading over to Hollywood video and renting the entire seasons of the Wire on VHS while avoiding the rain in Portland.

I miss Portland and the people there. Feeling a bit lost today, and I miss the sense of belonging to a group that I felt there.

Shitty

Having a shitty time of it this past weekend and so far this week.

Realizing that I've got some pretty significant problems around alcohol, sleeping pills and then rebound insomnia, and that I can't manage them simply by cutting down on how much I consume of the first two.

Really stopping to examine everything that's happened over the past 2+ years in LA, and starting to realize what an awful descent it's been. Not. Healthy. At all.

Going to go on the wagon for a bit and see if I can't find some direction and self-control. I don't think it's going to be pretty, but as the book says, "Life is suffering."

Send me good thoughts. I need it.
m

thanksgiving at the wesson/cote's

thanksgiving at the wesson/cote's, originally uploaded by ideateller.

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thanksgiving at the wesson/cote's

thanksgiving at the wesson/cote's, originally uploaded by ideateller.

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thanksgiving at the wesson/cote's

thanksgiving at the wesson/cote's, originally uploaded by ideateller.

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She’s No Morgenthau - New York Times

I'm a big Obama supporter.

Ooh! Burn!

She’s No Morgenthau - New York Times: "“ At a news conference, the Illinois senator was asked about Hillary Clinton’s attack on his qualifications. Making an economic speech in Knoxville, Iowa, earlier that day, the New York senator had touted her own know-how, saying that “there is one job we can’t afford on-the-job training for — that’s the job of our next president.” Her aides confirmed that she was referring to Obama.

Pressed to respond, Obama offered a zinger feathered with amused disdain: “My understanding was that she wasn’t Treasury secretary in the Clinton administration, so I don’t know exactly what experiences she’s claiming.”
...

With all due respect,” she told a crowd in Iowa. “I don’t think living in a foreign country between the ages of 6 and 10 is foreign policy experience.” But is living in the White House between the ages of 45 and 53 foreign policy experience?"

Ironic funny & Unintentional funny

Ironic funny & Unintentional funny, originally uploaded by ideateller.

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Ironic funny & Unintentional funny

Ironic funny & Unintentional funny, originally uploaded by ideateller.

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sad airport wurker iz sad

sad airport wurker iz sad, originally uploaded by ideateller.

Taken Saturday after dropping Christy off at the airport.

Burning Man fire performance

Amazing video of fire performes the night of the Burn.

I think of all of the things that hurting my back has taken away from me, the chance to be a fire dancer hurts the most. I've never had such joy working hard to learn a skill and never been so pleasantly surprised as I was to pick up spinning poi so quickly.

Okay. Back to work.

My Neko shows

Saw Neko on Friday night at the Disney Music Hall for Jessica's birthday. It was a strange show. We had gone out to dinner downtown at the fine Takashimi Restaurant (next to the Elevate Lounge. The place actually looks down on The Standard.

The show actually started on time, so we arrived as Neko was playing Deep Red Bells - maybe my favorite song of hers.

Since the Disney Music Hall is a fancey venue, we had to wait to be seated until the song was over. Once seated, the venue is pretty spectacular, and we seemingly right above the band.

No Sadies with her this time, but a fine group of musicians (including a pedal and steel guitarist) along with melodic and comedic foil Kelly Hogan singing back-up.

Having missed her first 3 songs, we were treated to an eclectic set. For some reason, Neko kept straying from the setlist, informing the band of the changes. Her and Kelly were chatting a lot in between songs, telling jokes and laughing.

Set highlight was "I wish I was the moon" which Neko explained was a song for her father who was a 'very odd and lonely man.' 'Runnin' out of fools' was nice, and the bible lifting song, 'John the Baptist' was great with Kelly and Neko's harmonies.

A subdued crowd was a big downer at the show. Those that yelled out were the hoi polloi that don't usually attend these hi-falutin events. Between that and the confusion over the set list, I never felt like the crowd warmed-up. Also missing the first 3 tracks was a bummer.

I still love Neko, but I'll definitely think twice about seeing a show at the Disney Music Hall.

Stream the whole show at: NPR

Feel like I'm missing a Portland show, but:
Sasquatch 2003 Molly
Aladdin Nov 2004 with the Sadies - Michele
Missed her at the Bowl 2006 to see the Spree
Fonda Feb 2007 - Jessica
in the New Pornographers, Oct 2007 - Ozer, Jessica, Amburr, et. al.
Disney Music Hall 2007 - Jessica

My Spree shows

Via a thread on the Unofficial Polyphonic Spree Forum

My shows.

The best of which might have been the first. I flew down from Portland Oregon to Coachella in 03. In Portland, it rains from about Labor Day through July 4th with barely a day of sunshine. This was late April in Palm Springs – 90 and nothing but sun.

The Spree were the first band to play on Sunday, and my friends wanted to hang out at the pool until late in the afternoon. So, I had them drop me off at the fast food area so that I could hitchhike in. The first girls I asked, two San Diego hotties, looked at each other. One asked the other if she thought I looked like a serial killer. The other laughed and I was in.

On our drive in I took a couple of pills and went direct to the main stage. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky and when they played ‘It’s the Sun’ I was fuh-ly-ing.

10 shows with 20 different friends going with me later, I’m not sure I’ve had a better Spree moment. 8)


1. Coachella 2003
2. Portland 2003 Aladdin Theatre with the throat singer (Donna, Miika, k8?)
3. Portland ? - Can’t remember (?)
4. Portland – Lucky Strike show Dec 04 - (Hope was there)
5. Seattle – Lucky Strike show Dec 04 (KWatts & Trika)
(couldn’t walk up the hill to the coffee shop the next day, my calves were so sore from jumping 2 nights in a row.
6. SF first show of Together We’re Heavy Mid 04? (Orange and her drunk friend) (TWH played str8 through, and they started at like 7pm, so we missed half the show.)
7. SF Together We’re Heavy Feb 05? (Esmerelda Strange and Joanna
8. LA – Henry Fonda Sep 06 (Vallier)
9. LA – El Rey July 07 (Marcus, Josianne, Hart, Marc, Erika, Jessica, Jodi, her husband, her friend, Butter, Ted) a birthday celebration
10. San Diego – July 07 (Adam)
11. LA – Henry Fonda – Nov 07 (Erika)

Whole Paycheck to Venice

Rumor has it that Whole Foods will be moving in to the former CVS space on Lincoln and Rose. That would certainly be nice, although the plan to move to a different part of the city would affect that.

It'd still be close to work though, and that makes for a healthier lunch option.

Whole Foods Market : Locations : New Stores: "Venice Whole Foods Market Venice, CA 47,317 sq. ft. Opening date to be announced. "

Ted's nemesis is Ted

Here's an article about a entrepreneur who turned his attention on fighting the VCs.

And he's former disorient campmate Super Duck Man aka Adeo. It was his girlfriend at the time who accidentally gave me k instead of e, thus launching a million k-hole jokes against me.

He and our friend and campmate had a huge falling out a few years ago. I like the irony.

From Wired

The Man Behind the VC Slagfest at TheFunded.com Reveals Himself to Wired
By Carlye Adler Email 11.15.07 | 9:00 PM
Photo: Rainer Hosch

The door swings open before I have a chance to knock, and I get my first glimpse of the man known to thousands only as Ted. At 6'5" in socks, he is squeezed into the door frame of his midtown Manhattan loft. He's got a shaved head, thick-rimmed black Prada glasses, and a small bag of Chips Ahoy! cookies. "Come in," he says, grinning toothily.

It has taken four weeks to arrange this meeting. Four weeks during which I spoke with Ted, the pseudonymous founder of TheFunded.com, nearly every day. He refused to give me his phone number, calling me — almost always late at night — whenever he decided it was time to talk. If I needed to reach him, I sent a note to his Gmail account. He usually called back from a blocked number within an hour or two. Until now he had rebuffed my suggestions of a face-to-face meeting. First he said he was too busy overseeing the sale of his technology company. Then an unexpected family crisis took all his time and energy. Finally, just as I began to think Ted was avoiding me, I received another email: "4:40 pm, OK?" And about an hour later, here I am, staring at the most mysterious Web celebrity since Fake Steve Jobs.

I get the sense that Ted enjoys this cloak-and-dagger routine. After all, he's been playing it since the beginning of the year, when he launched TheFunded.com, a community site for startups to anonymously review and rank venture capital firms. In effect, it has given entrepreneurs a peek into the secretive VC industry and a chance to dish about some of the unseemly behavior they've witnessed there. "We have seen distinctive pieces of our business plan end up in marketing materials of a competitor," reads one testimony. "The senior guy was arrogant, rude, and dismissive," reads another. "He had his feet up on the table the whole time he was telling us how bad our business is." Visitors to TheFunded can pore over tales of VCs who overwhelm a founder's influence, who change deal terms at the last minute, and who find out what other VCs offered a company to weaken its bargaining position. TheFunded has also become something of a support group for its 3,150 members; when one recent poster asked whether he should accept a deal that would give a VC the sole right to sell his company, he received 19 responses, including "AVOID" and "Run!"


.....

The group, wary of retribution from funders, posted anonymously and pledged never to identify one another. They even voted on Ressi's pseudonym, the first name of a nemesis. ("They did it to spite me," Ressi chuckles.)

NyTimes adoption blog

Gorgeous, gorgeous, courageous post from a 16 year old on NYTimes:

From NYTimes

November 16, 2007, 9:31 pm
Being Adopted, and Being Me

By Adam Wolfington

Being adopted is different. It can be confusing to the adopted kid and to other people (especially if you are a transracial adoptee, because they spot the difference and then want answers). So, adoption to me is black – and my family is white.

How is being adopted different? Well, I don’t know who my birth parents are. I wonder about that. Not because it makes me sad, but because I just wonder. Well, maybe it makes me a little sad. It’s kind of like a missing piece of me. My mom told me my birth parents were not married and were very young, so if I ever wanted to track someone down it would be her – my birth mom. I’m not sure if I want to do that or not. She was white. He was black. How much does all that matter? I don’t know now.

Maybe not all adoptive parents are great, but mine are — pretty much. More than anything else, I love to play music and my parents support me in that all the way. I have an older brother and sister. My mom calls them “home-mades” because she and my dad are their birth parents. I am the “gourmet take-out,” in her words. When people ask if she is my “real mother,” she asks, “What do I look like, a hologram?” I just don’t like it when my parents make me study and I get grounded for not doing what I am supposed to. But I guess that’s what parents who care do. Anyhow, that’s what they tell me.

I get into trouble sometimes because too often I don’t do my schoolwork. Right now I am grounded for ten days! This is a hard lesson and punishment. I am allowed to do my music and community service and go to school. And that’s all. I hate this. But I know it is my fault. And I know my parents are not happy about it either. They say they care enough to make me do what is right. Grrrrr. It still stinks.

My first memory of realizing “I was different” was when I was in kindergarten. People looked at us (my mom, dad, sister and me) funny. Some asked questions. Some said nothing at all and just stared. I finally understood they were trying to figure out our family. And I think that’s when I began to wonder, too.

My mom keeps a journal and tells me she wrote about a time when I was 6 years old and in pee-wee ice hockey. She says, “You were the only tan on the squad.” Some kid came up to me, looked at my mom, then back at me and said, “That’s your Mom?” I said, “Yeah.” And he said, “How come?”

My mom wrote in her journal that I just looked at him and said, “Different strokes for different folks.” The kid just shrugged and walked away. (I do remember watching a TV show called “Different Strokes.” That’s probably how I came up with my answer.) Anyhow, it worked and no one there asked that again.

Another time, on my ninth birthday, Mom wrote, I asked her, “Do you still have the phone number for that nice lady?” When she asked which one, I said, “The one that carried me in her belly.”

Mom’s notes say:

“You mean your birth mother?”

“Uh huh.”

“Why? Is there something you want to say to her?”

“Yeah.”

“What would you like to say to her?”

“Oh, I’d just tell her what a nice kid I am and that I’m O.K.”

When I was about 10 years old I remember kids saying stuff that really upset me, like, “At least I know who my real parents are.” Or, “You’re so bad even a black family didn’t want to adopt you.” Some days I came home and just cried.

But my Mom helped me work out answers. She asked me, “What does a real mother do?” When I gave a list of things she asked if I knew anyone who did those things for me. “Yeah,” I said. “You do.” Same for my dad. So Mom and I sat down and I told her the ten worst things people said to me. She wrote them down. Then I made up answers that were funny but not mean. (Mom’s rule is to never make someone feel bad just to get back at them.) Mom wrote these down too. I then memorized the list. Next time it happened I was ready. It felt great! I wasn’t so scared, or hurt (as much), or embarrassed by those questions again.

My friends’ parents welcome me as their own, the way my parents treat my friends. No different. People say I am just like my father because I act like him. I know both of us like to get the last word in, no matter what. Also our sense of humor is similar. Sometimes a little off. It can even be a little … am I allowed to say “vulgar”?

Like my mom I like hats. I always look up words I don’t understand because she uses big words so I have had to keep on trying to figure out what she is saying. When I was younger this was a real problem because she talks fast. A lot of the time I had no idea what she was saying to me. Also, we both love music. I’m a good singer (she thinks she is, too). But I play a mean electric heavy metal guitar and she can’t.

Sometimes I think people are looking at me, feeling sorry for me because my birth parents let me go. I’m not sure why. But I know I am really loved. Still, sometimes I wonder if there was something wrong with me? My birth mom placed me with my parents even before I was born so it’s not like she didn’t like me. Still, I wonder.

Sometimes I am sad. Sometimes I feel lonely. Sometimes I feel empty. Mostly I feel happy. Lots of times I get mad at my parents for being on my back. Then again, I am 16 years old. My friends feel the same way and none of them are adopted. So, maybe I’m just sort of normal.

It has not been easy, being me and being adopted and being in a racially different family. My parents and I have gone through lots of therapy. But you know what? It’s not bad either. I am happy, have a fun life and am loved. I am safe and secure and, yes, forced to be accountable (don’t like that at all). My family cares about me … forever.

Being adopted is different. It can be confusing trying to go back and figure out “why me.” On the other hand … “lucky me.” I am different from my brother and sister. But I am the same as them in lots of other ways that matter and will be their brother forever. Best of all I am loved for who I am. Period.

Having a family that cares about you is awesome. I have some “home-made” friends that don’t have the kind of love and acceptance I have. Adoption is about me and my family and how lucky we all are to have each other. So, to kids waiting to be matched, I say get the best possible match and then work at it. Nothing is perfect. But having a forever family is the best.

NYTimes: Most common surnames

From NY Times

Step aside Moore and Taylor. Welcome Garcia and Rodriguez.

Smith remains the most common surname in the United States, according to a new analysis released yesterday by the Census Bureau. But for the first time, two Hispanic surnames — Garcia and Rodriguez — are among the top 10 most common in the nation, and Martinez nearly edged out Wilson for 10th place.

The number of Hispanics living in the United States grew by 58 percent in the 1990s to nearly 13 percent of the total population, and cracking the list of top 10 names suggests just how pervasively the Latino migration has permeated everyday American culture.

Garcia moved to No. 8 in 2000, up from No. 18, and Rodriguez jumped to No. 9 from 22nd place. The number of Hispanic surnames among the top 25 doubled, to 6.

...

The latest surname count also signaled the growing number of Asians in America. The surname Lee ranked No. 22, with the number of Lees about equally divided between whites and Asians. Lee is a familiar name in China and Korea and in all its variations is described as the most common surname in the world.

Altogether, the census found six million surnames in the United States. Among those, 151,000 were shared by a hundred or more Americans. Four million were held by only one person.

“The names tell us that we’re a richly diverse culture,” Mr. Kominski said.

But the fact that about 1 in every 25 Americans is named Smith, Johnson, Williams, Brown, Jones, Miller or Davis “suggests that there’s a durability in the family of man,” Mr. Kaplan, the author, said. A million Americans share each of those seven names. An additional 268 last names are common to 10,000 or more people. Together, those 275 names account for one in four Americans.

As the population of the United States ballooned by more than 30 million in the 1990s, more Murphys and Cohens were counted when the decade ended than when it began.

In 1984, according to the Social Security Administration, nearly 3.4 million Smiths lived in the United States. In 1990, the census counted 2.5 million. By 2000, the Smith population had declined to fewer than 2.4 million. The durability of some of the most common names in American history may also have been perpetuated because slaves either adopted or retained the surnames of their owners. About one in five Smiths are black, as are about one in three Johnsons, Browns, and Joneses and nearly half the people named Williams.

The Census Bureau’s analysis found that some surnames were especially associated with race and ethnicity.

More than 96 percent of Yoders, Kruegers, Muellers, Kochs, Schwartzes, Schmitts and Novaks were white. Nearly 90 percent of the Washingtons were black, as were 75 percent of the Jeffersons, 66 percent of the Bookers, 54 percent of the Banks and 53 percent of the Mosleys.

sign of the year

from the EDSBS gameday open thread:

EDSBS � Archive � OPEN THREAD, WEEK TWELVE: "Anyone else see the sign of the year on Gameday this morning?? “You can’t spell C_CK_ _ CKER without OSU” Those classy Columbians"

Are ads are teh rulerz!111!!

Thanks to a great game and the best creative work I've ever done, Call of Duty is kicking much ass.

From PSX extreme


Analyst: Call Of Duty 4 To Match Halo 3 Sales

Most times, video game industry analysts say some pretty logical things. Like, "Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock will be a big title for Activision," and Halo 3 will be huge." Yeah, those predictions make perfect sense. Others, while somewhat controversial, have a foundation based in some potential validity, like "the PS3 will eventually win this generation," and "no Grand Theft Auto IV could hurt the holiday season." But others...we just gotta scratch our heads and wonder.

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare is definitely a huge game, but we never thought it would be Halo 3-huge. Sure, it's sold out all over the place and the reviews are sky-high (so far), but can it really end up selling as much or even more than Bungie's massive title? According to Nollenberger Capital Partners analyst Todd Greenwald, yes, it can.

"Thus far, the game has an average score of 9.5/10 on Metacritic.com, which is almost unprecedented and puts it on par with Halo 3," he said. "It certainly is the highest-rated game Activision has ever created. Keep in mind, CoD4 is launching on four times as many platforms (Xbox 360, PlayStation3, PC, DS) as Halo 3 (360 only). Halo 3 has so far sold about 4 million units. A year ago, Call of Duty 3 sold about 3 million units, and we anticipate this year's version could do four million or more." (source- EscapistMagazine)

He makes a good point in the fact that CoD4 is a multiplatform title, which obviously means it has greater sales potential than an exclusive title like Halo 3. But the latter is the fastest selling entertainment-based product, whether we're talking about games, movies, books, music, whatever, so can this really be true? Microsoft expects to sell 10 million copies of Halo 3 (albeit not in 2007)...will Activision boast similar numbers with CoD4? We realize Greenwald is only talking about this year, though, so we suppose it's feasible.

Top 10 games that should be movies

I enjoy #2 on the list, though the version I played of Oregon Trail didn’t have any graphics.

Can I also suggest NHL ‘94 directed by Oliver Stone? It would be a 3 hour movie centering around the various conspiracies that 'made Gretzky bleed.'

(See this clip from Swingers: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owk4S0GGDbU Jesus Christ does John Favreau look young.)

The Top 10 list from NY Mag via Matthew at Fluxblog.org:

2. Oregon Trail

Director: The Coen Brothers
The pitch: The dearth of good barber shops in the nineteenth-century American West would surely provide the Coens with plenty of hilarious haircut and mustache options for their actors — Steve Buscemi and John Turturro as a pair of hapless pioneers who, when they're not dying of typhoid and diphtheria, suffer inclement weather and random attacks by Native Americans.


1. Tetris

Director: Michel Gondry
The pitch: In a world of defeatist, no-imagination-having square and L-shaped pieces, Géraud (played by Elijah Wood in a cardboard suit, beret, and French mustache) is a Z-shaped romantic with dreams of becoming a painter, even though his awkward posture makes it really hard to set up an easel. One day he meets a beautiful L-shaped piece named Virginie, but their love can never be because she's engaged to a square who seems her perfect fit. But is he? (No — he has no dreams!) The soundtrack would consist solely of Jon Brion playing "Kalinka" (the Tetris song) on a vibraphone, getting gradually faster over 90 minutes.

Earlier:

Mercy, mercy me

Mercy, mercy me, originally uploaded by ideateller.

Download the Marvin Gaye song over at the music blog: WeHeartHandclaps.com

82 and Sunny

82 and Sunny, originally uploaded by ideateller.

Just another morning in Venice. Actually broke a sweat just walking to the
grocery store today.

82 and Sunny

82 and Sunny, originally uploaded by ideateller.

Just another morning in Venice. Actually broke a sweat just walking to the
grocery store today.

82 and Sunny

82 and Sunny, originally uploaded by ideateller.

Just another morning in Venice. Actually broke a sweat just walking to the
grocery store today.

82 and Sunny

82 and Sunny, originally uploaded by ideateller.

Just another morning in Venice. Actually broke a sweat just walking to the
grocery store today.

I would doubt most of the acts listed here, but if this is the line-up, I'm driving up Thursday, watching the shows on Friday night (yes, the Verve chief amongst them) and then driving home late Friday night, early Saturday morning.

Also posted at the music blog at http://WeHeartHandclaps.com

Ah, it's the 90s on campus.... EVERYWHERE!

Sure to get fans of hatin' on Political Correctness a twitter (sounds like a game show - filing that away for when the writers stop striking).

Back in the days at Miami Ad School, I was freelancing with a friend and wrote a headline for a local 'adult' store. It said, "Ho. Ho. Ho. And presents for your other girlfriends, too."

Fight for you right to Ho! Santa.

From Yahoo!

Santas warned 'ho ho ho' offensive to women

Wed Nov 14, 9:45 PM ET

SYDNEY (AFP) - Santas in Australia's largest city have been told not to use Father Christmas's traditional "ho ho ho" greeting because it may be offensive to women, it was reported Thursday.
ADVERTISEMENT

Sydney's Santa Clauses have instead been instructed to say "ha ha ha" instead, the Daily Telegraph reported.

One disgruntled Santa told the newspaper a recruitment firm warned him not to use "ho ho ho" because it could frighten children and was too close to "ho", a US slang term for prostitute.

"Gimme a break," said Julie Gale, who runs the campaign against sexualising children called Kids Free 2B Kids.

"We are talking about little kids who do not understand that "ho, ho, ho" has any other connotation and nor should they," she told the Telegraph.

"Leave Santa alone."

SI.com - 2007 Sportsman of the Year - My Sportsman: Florida's Oh-Fours - Tuesday November 13, 2007 12:20PM

Gator Boyz is Still Hot

SI.com - 2007 Sportsman of the Year - My Sportsman: Florida's Oh-Fours - Tuesday November 13, 2007 12:20PM

The question had to be asked. It was late on the Thursday night before the Final Four in Atlanta, and Florida coach Billy Donovan had spent nearly an hour recounting the challenges and achievements of his historic class of juniors: Joakim Noah, Al Horford, Corey Brewer and Taurean Green. Four nights later, they would achieve one of the rarest feats in modern American team sports, becoming only the second squad in 33 years to win consecutive Division I men's basketball national titles.

It seemed like a good time to put things in perspective.

"Do you ever wonder," I asked Donovan, "if this is a once-in-a-lifetime group?"

The expression on the coach's face was a fascinating blend of pride, wonder and a slowly dawning nostalgia. How many coaches devote their entire careers to searching for that perfect combination of players and personalities? How many find it even once?

"I hope not," Donovan replied. "Because this is what coaching should be like all the time. I have the joy and the hope that this could possibly happen again with these types of kids."

Gift

Gift, originally uploaded by ideateller.

From my executive boss.

Said he found these New Guinea rhythmic instruments lying around his house
and immediately thought of me. Which isn¹t strange or harassing because of
the Loyal Order of the Anti-Teabaggers in our Ahmadinejad spot, which you
can watch here: http://www.worldleaderreviews.com

The Glamourous LIfe

The Glamourous LIfe, originally uploaded by ideateller.

Yep, working in advertising today is exactly like working in advertising on
the show Mad Men.

Witness this gourmand meal of leftover chicken and rice-a-roni. Degustation?
But of course.

Video Game News Report 2: The games we pimpin' be sellin'

Been working hard on these two games, and now that they're out and we're advertising, they're selling like mad. All due to us, yep. Just the advertising, yep.

From GameBiz Daily

According to analyst Todd Greenwald, Activision's Call of Duty 4 is selling out very fast, and so is Guitar Hero III to a lesser extent. CoD4 could sell over 4 mil units, he said.

Posted by James Brightman on Thursday, November 08, 2007

In his latest research note, Nollenberger Capital Partners analyst Todd Greenwald has commented on the high demand for two of Activision's top video games. Greenwald noted that Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, in particular, is getting snapped up by eager gamers at a very rapid rate.

"Call of Duty 4, which was released two days ago by Activision, appears to be in extremely high demand and is sold out across the board. We've checked with a wide range of retailers (Gamestop, Wal-Mart, Target), and only pre-orders are being satisfied—stores are otherwise sold out of the title," he said.

Greenwald also commented on the game's great sales potential. "Thus far, the game has an average score of 9.5/10 on metacritic.com, which is almost unprecedented and puts it on par with Halo 3. It is certainly the highest-rated game Activision has ever created. Keep in mind, CoD4 is launching on four times as many platforms (360, PS3, PC, DS) as Halo 3 (360). Halo 3 has so far sold about four million units. A year ago, Call of Duty 3 sold about three million units, and we anticipate this year's version could do four million or more," he predicted.

Video Game News Report 1: Nudity in Grand Theft Auto

I know this blog readership, in addition to loving video games, is a fine upstanding moral fiber crowd. And each reader stands to recoup $35 from Grand Theft Auto for being forced to see nudity in the game about shooting cops, and beating up hookers for money, after they downloaded a mod code from the Internet.

Frankly, we were shocked. Shocked, I say! That there could possibly be a way to see naked people in this video game:

From

According to the terms of the settlement, all class members can apply for benefits that range from an exchange of the game disk for an edited copy (M-rated as opposed to AO) of San Andreas to a cash payment of up to $35 for consumers who submit detailed proofs of purchase. Take-Two said that class members can only claim benefits if they "swear" that they did one of the following:


(a) bought a copy of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas before July 20, 2005; (b) were offended and upset by the ability of consumers to modify and alter the game's content using the third-party Hot Coffee modification; (c ) would not have bought the game had they known that consumers could modify and alter the game's content using the third-party Hot Coffee modification; and (d) would have returned the game, upon learning the game could be modified and altered, if they thought this possible.

Our first Call of Duty fan video

Kudos to Pyrogamer for creating a George W. parody video. Minus kudos for not using an understandable mike. Plus kudos for the end rating. Wouldn't have thought up that one. Good stuff.

Trinking Dransparency

Been a good 3 nights (which, is a warning sign in of itself, that 3 nights is the metric of a period of sobriety).

Monday night: 2 glasse of Rioja.
Tuesday night: Yoga. No drinking.
Wednesday night: Cooked dinner and played Halo. Desperately wanted to get some wine.

The nights where I've got nothing planned are the hardest evenings to not drink. How to pass the time? I need more 'after school activities' to help fill the time. In the new year, I'll be teaching class again and hope to still take yoga. But I could use something else to count on. Maybe this is where bowling comes in? Of course, that probably means some drinking. But the big thing I'm trying to alter here is the drinking on my own. Getting hammered is the second thing.

Tonight's plan: workout, followed by cooking some dinner then drop off stuff for a garage sale at Marcus'.

I lead.... the glamourous life.

NYTimes: Sleeping pills not so necessary

I'd have preferred to hear some anecdotal evidence from some succesfully treated patients, but as we know, everything we read in blogs about national medical studies is true. 8)

From The Times:

Better sleep doesn’t have to come in a pill.

For people with chronic insomnia, studies show that simple behavioral and psychological treatments work just as well, and sometimes better, than popular medications, according to a report in The Journal of Family Practice.

The medical journal Sleep last year reported on five high-quality trials that showed cognitive behavioral therapy helped people suffering from insomnia fall asleep sooner and stay asleep longer. Another American Journal of Psychiatry analysis of 21 studies showed that behavioral treatment helped people fall asleep nearly nine minutes sooner than sleep drugs. In other measures, sleep therapy worked just as well as drugs, but without any side effects.

The behavioral strategies for better sleep are deceptively simple, and that’s one reason why many people don’t believe they can make a difference. One of the most effective methods is stimulus control. This means not watching television, eating or reading in bed. Don’t go to bed until you are sleepy. Get up at the same time every day, and don’t nap during the day. If you are unable to sleep, get out of bed after 15 minutes and do something relaxing, but avoid stimulating activity and thoughts.

So-called sleep hygiene is also part of sleep therapy. This includes regular exercise, adding light-proof blinds to your bedroom to keep it dark and making sure the bed and room temperatures are comfortable. Eat regular meals, don’t go to bed hungry and limit beverages, particularly alcohol and caffeinated drinks, around bedtime.

Finally, don’t try too hard to fall asleep, and turn the clock around so you can’t see it. Watching time pass is one of the worst things to do when you’re trying to fall asleep.

It may be hard to believe, but studies show these simple steps really do make a meaningful difference for people with sleep problems. These interventions are based on the notion that thoughts and behaviors can “hyper-arouse” the central nervous system and deregulate sleep cycles, resulting in chronic insomnia, reports Family Practice.

If these steps don’t work, talk to your doctor about a referral to a sleep therapist, who can also teach you additional relaxation techniques to help bring on sleep. Sometimes, a therapist might work with you to reset your sleep-wake schedule, a more involved process whereby patients adjust their bedtime each night over the course of a few weeks.

And for more information about sleeping pills, read this story in The Times.

The Wire preview

The best show on TV returns for it's final season in January. Here's a preview...

Yo! Adrian! Joins The Fragile Army

Interesting side note from The Polyphonic Spree blog: The Fragile Army: "Also Robert's ( from Rooney) mom was at the LA show. She had some nice things to say about Polyphonic..... Seen at the Polyphonic Spree show... Nov 5, 2007, 02:21 PM | by Shirley Halperin Categories: Music, Music Biz, Theater Tim DeLaughter and his robed 24-member choir can count a new convert to the musical movement that is the Polyphonic Spree: actress Talia Shire (Adrian, of Rocky fame), who grooved, bounced, and chanted along to the band from the core of what can only be described as a 'Come to Jesus'' pit, which had formed at Hollywood's Henry Fonda theater on Friday night. Shire was there to see her son Robert Schwartzman's band, Rooney, open. (Shire, pictured with Schwartzman, also makes a cameo in their video for 'When Did Your Heart Go Missing?'.) But clutching a just-bought copy of the Spree's latest album, The Fragile Army, she was clearly impressed with the headliners. 'It's like watching Hair,' she told us as the Spree segued from a killer cover of Nirvana's 'Lithium' to the psychedelic (and hence, Hair-like) 'It's the Sun.' 'It's like a spectacle... they're so theatrical and visual, this should be on Broadway or, even better, an open-air stage.' Ah, always the thespian. Besides, if the Flaming Lips can do it, why not this indie rock collective?"

mini godzilla attacks nyc decomp

mini godzilla attacks nyc decomp, originally uploaded by ideateller.

Found this picture taken at NYC decom. Good stuff.

Drinking Transparency

The scorecard isn't very good for this week.

Thursday: wine for the reception for our new agency president + a whole bottle of chardonnay.
Friday: Polyphonic Spree night. Sake with dinner + 3 beers + 1 bottle of red wine at home.
Saturday: 2 bottles red wine.
Sunday: 1 bottle red wine.

Lasik?

Good news here financially, so I'm thinking about getting Lasik surgery next calendar year.

Anybody out there have any tips, references or recommendations?

Thanks!

doreen&son

doreen&son, originally uploaded by ideateller.

My heart really goes out to Hart and family. Doreen was a wonderful, warm,
funny woman and anybody that knows Hart can see where he gets it.

No funeral. But a wake like thing sometime this weekend.

Call your mother and tell her that you love her.

brooklynvegan: iPup

brooklynvegan: iPup

Now I really want a dog.

Some creatives get all the fun

From Ad Age

Published: October 31, 2007
NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- A former creative director at Dentsu USA has filed suit against the holding company, claiming he was fired after he complained about being put in sexually-charged work situations that included side trips to a Czech brothel, a Tokyo bathhouse and a Maria Sharapova photo shoot.

Former senior VP-group creative director Steve Biegel is claiming that Dentsu Holdings CEO Toyo Shigeta put the married Mr. Biegel and other employees in awkward out-of-office situations. When Mr. Biegel balked and confronted Mr. Shigeta, the relationship declined and he was ultimately fired, according to an Associated Press report on the lawsuit late yesterday. The lawsuit, filed in federal court here in New York, demands unspecified damages.

Emphasizing crotches
The court papers, as reported by the AP, contain a number of lurid details. Among them:

* A 2004 trip to a Tokyo bathhouse during which the Dentsu chief told Mr. Biegel and others to dip naked into a bath with him.

* A trip to Brazilian beach where Mr. Shigeta took numerous photos emphasizing the crotches of sunbathing women, and not letting up until he was threatened by one of his subject's male companions.

* A photo shoot in Florida that was the site of another alleged "crotch shot," this time of tennis star Maria Sharapova, who stars in Dentsu's "Make Every Shot a Power Shot" campaign for Canon. The snap was passed around and is now attached to the lawsuit as evidence.

* A separate Canon photo shoot that took Messrs. Biegel, Shigeta and others to the Czech Republic, where Mr. Biegel was duped into visiting a brothel. According to the AP, Mr. Biegel and the other executive declined to take part, leaving Mr. Shigeta angry and to label them "no fun."

Puno's party

Puno's party, originally uploaded by ideateller.

Thanks to Puno for hosting some folks for a drink or 5 on Halloween.

Puno's party

Puno's party, originally uploaded by ideateller.

Thanks to Puno for hosting some folks for a drink or 5 on Halloween.