Movin' Out

With over 70 posts since I started posting my inner-most thoughts here on 11/16/04, I've decided to close up shop. Only 'sorta close though.

See, over the past year I've had a small - and appreciated - group of close friends read this thing. I never bothered to promote the blog or put up subscription feeds, because it was mostly for my friends entertainment and my own release. Well, being on MySpace for a while now, I figured it might be a bit more sensible to integrate my blogging into that and open up the chatter to a wider audience of friends. So if you're still here (yep, another looong gap in posts) I'll be around, just set up at another address. If you're not one of my good friends, but you've been reading from time-to-time because you've somewhat enjoyed these random musings, please follow me over there and add me to your friends list - it'll even make you look more popular!

I'll be here: http://www.myspace.com/dreamingsfree

Peace, love, and fishgrease.

- E

I Can't Sleep

A little too much going on upstairs tonight. Usually I'm the type to be out like a rock too.

What do you do when you can't sleep? When you've got too much racing through your mind. I've never taken a middle-of-the-night run but right now seems like a good time for one.

Speaking of Sports Radio...

I started another blog project with my friend Aaron. If you didn't just stumble across this blog, there's a good chance I've told you about it. If you're still in the dark, click here.

Not 100% sure if we're going to do the podcast, but keep your eyes open and please, please, please spread the good word.

Top 5 Dream Jobs

"Thank God dreaming's free, 'cause I spent all my money on make believe" - Ryan Adams

One of the characteristics of my personality that has definitely been evident over the course of writing this blog is my penchant for lists. Making lists of things to do, things I like and ranking things. It's definitely my main idiosyncracy. It's also a small reason (of many) that I love the movie High Fidelity. Outside of the standout humor scenes of the movie, one of my favorites is when Rob (John Cusak's character) breaks down his dream jobs with a top 5 list, the running motif of the movie. I saw the movie on t.v. a few weeks ago and thought about my own top 5 then and when popped back into my mind again today, I thought I'd make a quick post about it.

Now unlike Rob, I can accept at this point that it really isn't feasible for me to become a professional football player or a musician in a well-known rock band (a small-time band would be tough given my lack of experience on any instrument). Instead, I'm going to focus on things that I could actually do given my skills and potential ability to be successful in the position.

1. Independent record label owner (Second-tier: replace label with any business)
2. Writer/Producer for television or movies
3. Full-time travel writer/travel show host
4. Copywriter/Creative Director at my dream ad/marketing agency (ie. Crispin Porter, GSD&M, etc.)
5. Sports radio show host

Now looking at this list, it doesn't look like any of them would be impossible. The problem I always have is pinpointing one thing and dedicating myself solely to it. If I had to choose which would be easiest right now, I would have to go with the Copywriter gig, BUT it would be more of a hybrid creative communications position involving marketing copywriting, blogging, and marketing within social media and new media. Out of all of them, my ultimate gig would be a toss up between owning an independent label and being a writer/producer. I'd be quite happy owning any business that I was passionate as an alternative to the record label as well.

Sitting here reflecting on this list and the possibilities of my future, I know I can land one of them. I just need focus...and a whole lotta grit, determination and resilience. New goal? Be sitting in one of these positions within the next five years...that is, unless I've found something better.

Feelin' the music

I haven't written about music in a while and with the variety I've been rotating lately, I figured it was a good time. I've always felt like people listen to music for two different reasons: because of melodic enjoyment (the way it moves your body) and because of a lyrical message that resonates with them. Some people seem more geared towards one or the other, but I pretty much fall in between, favoring each type based on my mood and the setting. Here's some of the new music that I've been into lately and my reasons for "feelin' it."

For the former:
Wolfmother - Love Train
Jamie Lidell - Multiply (dope blue-eyed soul!)
The Roots - Doesn't Seem Right
Secret Machines - Lightning Blue Eyes (Saw them perform it Live @ First Ave - AWESOME)
Snow Patrol - Hands Open

The latter:
Mason Jennings - Be Here Now
The Raconteurs - Together
Rogue Wave - Eyes
Drive By Truckers - Dress Blues (Live on The Current)

Download those songs and you've got a start to a pretty hot mix. For more goodies, check out this live recording of Bloc Party's set at the recent Coachella Valley Music Festival.

Papa's got a brand new Mac

Soon enough anyway. After a long-awaited release, I jumped online this morning to find the MacBook glamourously featured all over the front page of Apple's site. About $1500 later (bought the Apple 3-year warranty), my spankin' new laptop is on it's way.

It can't come soon enough.

Finding purpose in what we do

If you've been reading my rants, raves and ruminations here for a while, you know quite well that this blog is more of an inconsistently updated personal journal than a themed or focused piece of editorial. While I often write about my passions and things I enjoy, such as music or sports, I also sometimes delve into deeper thoughts and personal stories. Well, here's one for the latter so leave right now if you were expecting fun.

If you did read a few months ago, you probably caught me sharing thoughts about my first "career" job and how I felt about the whole career thing in general. I was uncertain if I made the right choice taking the job I did, as I wasn't totally in line with the things I had been passionate about for a while. Well, since then it's been a lot better. As the situation has been, the position/industry is not ideal, but I'm getting great experience in a wide variety of things and seeing where my work impacts the business, so I've started to enjoy it more and see its benefits.

In addition to thinking about my initial career out of college and the life that comes with the 9-5 grind, I began thinking about the bigger picture. For one, how I might be in this type of work lifestyle for the rest of my life. On a deeper level, I began contemplating the purpose of what I do.

When you're bored at work or sitting in traffic on the way home, there's A LOT of time to think. Sitting in a car and looking out and seeing tons of other cars, you start wondering what the life of the person in the lane next to you is like - and then, how big the world is. And you're just one person on a globe that's filled with billions.

So this is something that has been on my mind lately. In addition to continuing to try to enjoy my work and eventually putting myself in the position where I love what I do, I've been thinking about my place in the world and validating what I do in that career that I go to for 8-9 hours a day. Sure this is easy to do if you're a doctor or a teacher, but if you work in Marketing or PR? Maybe the purpose of life is as simple as us just being here to experience life and enjoy it as much as we can. But I also feel an inherent push to find something greater in what I do. And that's an immensely added weight of thoughts for someone already questioning if they enjoy their job on a level of self-satifaction.

Do you have ever have these type of thoughts or do I just think about this stuff too much for a 23-year old with most of his life ahead of him? None of this would matter if I was content with "just getting by." But I'm not. My girlfriend questions my level of spirituality and though while I guess I don't casually bring up subjects this profound very often, there's a whole lot going on in the internal monologue. I think I've just started to scratch the surface of the spiritual exploration and it's not something you figure out overnight.

So recently I decided to get myself involved in more activities outside of work. I think more involvement these things will suck up the free time I have to ponder what I'm doing with my life and cure my need to question it in the first place.

This post has probably gone in circles so excuse me if it was a bit of a ramble.

CURRENT LISTENING: The Postal Service/Ben Gibbard - Recycled Air (acoustic)

I can smell the summer

It's getting gorgeous outside and that's enough to make many-a-Minnesotan happy. The season for hangin' out by the lake, pickup basketball games and scent of sweet bar-b-ques is right around the corner. I'm lovin' it.

Speaking of lovin' it, I had a blast watching the NFL draft and enjoying some cold lager in the company of good people over the weekend. The University of Minnesota Spring Jam was once again spoiled by rain but I wasn't really participating anyway, being a graduate and all. I won't get into it much but I was very satisfied with the Packers draft and it looks like I wasn't alone as they pretty much received high grades across the board from national sports reporters. While draft grading is pretty worthless since you don't know how good prospects will be in the NFL until they've actually played a few seasons, it's hard not to get excited by Green Bay's 2006 draft class. Spearheaded by the animal that is Ohio State Linebacker A.J. Hawk, the Packers rookies look like the core of a team headed in a new direction: intelligent, athletic, hard-working, tough and most of all, REAL football players.

I'm gonna leave it there for now. Here's my Top 5 for May:

1. Cinco de Mayo
2. Developing a blog for my employer
3. Border Battle
4. Lake Calhoun
5. Gnarls Barkley

CURRENT LISTENING: The Vines - Take Me Back

It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas

That might seem strange given that the date on the calendar is April 27th. But it is, my friends, and it isn't the teenage Christmas where you know you're going to get a bunch of clothes and probably some stuff you don't like from your relatives. It's the 5-year old kid, "there's so many cool new toys this year" Christmas. Yes, if you're a Green Bay Packers fan, and even a fan of football in general, it's a good week to be a fan.

First off, came Tuesday's breaking news from 1265 Lombardi Avenue that Brett Favre had indeed informed the team that he was coming back to play for the Pack in 2006. This is great for several reasons: a) it gives the Packers a fighting chance; b) new coach Mike McCarthy has a more talented team to work with; c) it's another season of watching Brett Favre. To sweeten things, on Wednesday the Packers made their big free agent splash by signing veteran Cornerback Charles Woodson to a seven-year deal. This move increased the Packers offseason focus on shoring up its defense, adding a much-needed playmaker to a defensive backfield. With Al Harris and Woodson, the Pack could now hold one of the best CB duos in the league. Let's just hope Woodson can stay healthy this year - knock on wood.

As if the previous news wasn't enough to put fans into a state of Green and Gold euphoria, the 2006 NFL Draft still awaits us two days from now. Holding the fifth overall pick, Packers GM Ted Thompson has kept the team's intentions close to vest, though most mocks have them taking either Ohio St. LB AJ Hawk or the draft's most talented receiving playmaker, TE Vernon Davis, whom I must mention is a physical freak running the 40 yard dash in 4.38 seconds at 250 lbs. Either way, I'll be happy and I would expect the like from most of the Packer faithful.

Besides the Packers top pick, the entire first round looks to be quite a roller coaster ride with no picks seemingly set in stone except Reggie Bush at #1. There could also be an unprecedented number of first round trades this year with speculation running rampant about teams wanting to move up to get a player as the days to the draft grow shorter. It's going to be an exciting ride. I don't know what you'll be doing for the draft, but if you're looking to spice things up a bit, this will do the trick: The Official 2006 NFL Draft Drinking Game, courtesy of Deadspin.

To keep the football theme going, I have one more great tidbit to share. For all you '80s kids and other fans of Tecmo Super Bowl, there are emulator versions of the game (replica versions for your computer) floating around various sites on the web, with some even adding updated rosters. So yes, not only can you relive the joy of zig-zagging your way to 80-yard touchdown scampers, but you can do it with Edgerrin James or Antwaan Randle El. See this for more.



Have a great weekend. I know I'll be enjoying mine with the help of some cold brew, NFL draft coverage and tons of random fun via the University of Minnesota's annual Spring Jam celebration.

CURRENT LISTENING: ESPN Radio Podcast

Return of The King

Of course you already heard. But there had to be a post in honor of the news.

Are we in store for a record year? Only 24 touchdown passes needed to tie Marino, 25 to pass him.

Sometimes you just need to go home

For the third consecutive year in a row, I attented the Minnesota Twins home opener at the Metrodome on Tuesday. While every baseball fan gets excited for the home opener, the enthusiasm was a little bit tainted going into the game after the Twins started the season 1-5 on the road. Well, proving that the homefield really can provide a strong advantage, the Twins beat the Oakland A's after staring out the game down 3-0. It was a good time made even more exciting by a strong finish. The only thing that was lacking was the half day of tailgaiting which I missed out on due to not taking time off from work. I did end up sneaking in a few before the game with some friends who were out there all day doin' it up for the rest of us.

Proving that they weren't a one day home field fluke, the Twins won again yesterday after another disappointing early lead by the A's. It was done in dramatic fashion as Justin Morneau came through with a 3-run dinger in the third inning. The Twins never looked back. The funny thing about the start is they've actually got the bats going moderately well but their pitching has left a lot to be desired, which is exactly the opposite of preseason prognostications. Things came together today though as the Twins won 8-2 to complete a three game sweep. Maybe they're headed in the opposite direction of my other team - the Brewers - who have seemed to simmer down after a 5-0 start.

Speaking of going home, this weekend I'll be back in the homeland - visiting family in Wisconsin for Easter. I look forward to getting away from work and Minneapolis for the weekend. It's a quiet, small town environment and although that's quite far from my preferred situation for everyday living it's a nice one to be in a couple times a year. And even though the visiting routine is the same, it's easy to enjoy as I only see the relatives a few times per year. Plus, that side of the family makes the BEST bloody marys after mass on Sundays.

Almost two weeks until the NFL draft.

CURRENT LISTENING: Bob Dylan - The Man in Me

Sometimes you need this kind of validation

Some days I get really bored at my job. Whether it's not having enough to do, not being challenged or thinking about how I'd rather be concepting/writing copy all day, it happens. All there is to do is try to make the best of it and some days that's pretty damn hard. Especially the days when I have to call VPs of corporations ("soft" cold-calling) or put together another powerpoint presentation. Others it's easy, when I'm putting MY ideas into action, working on a B-2-B execution or online marketing initiative. Today has definitely fallen into the category of the former. Luckily, either myself or Mark Cuban had great timing because he wrote a post on his blog, Blog Maverick, about "getting paid to get experience." Cuban (Mavericks owner/billionaire) outlines the story of himself right out of college. Working at jobs he wasn't crazy about and having to cold call and do some things that you despise early in your career. The moral of his story is that in the end, doing those things on a regular basis will be better experience is sales and other types of skills that almost every career requires at some point than going back to school and learning in the classroom.

While I'm convinced I never want to work in a full-fledged sales career, it's easy to see what he means by this because in any creative career you'll always have to sell your ideas to people. I'm still convinced that I'll only be truly happy as a writer, brand manager or best of all - running my own business, but it's a bit inspiring to know that a billionaire who is incredibly passionate about his work was in the same situation in their young career and can illustrate how it benefitted them.

I don't know why I write about so much serious stuff.

Opening day and the comfort of new socks

One of the most awaited days of the sports calendar arrived today: the opening day of the MLB season. Baseball has lost much of it's luster for me since my childhood: big market teams can buy their roster due to a lack of collective bargaing system (what makes the NFL successful) and in general, I usually don't have much interest in watching a full game. But, I'm still a casual fan - attending a few games and watching the highlights of the rest on Sportscenter - and Opening Day still stirs my interest. There's nothing like the start of baseball to signal that spring is here and we have the warmth and fun of summer to look forward to.


This year, my Twins and Brewers are both being touted to be surprise teams in their respective divisions. For some reason the Twins were one of the only teams not to open today, taking the field tomorrow against Toronto (was today a Canadian holiday or something?). But the Brewers played in front of a sold-out field in Milwaukee and I'm sure the sausage was good and the tailgate lots were rockin'. In what hopes to be a sign of good things to come the Brew Crew won 5-2 on a two-run single by pinch hitter Jeff Cirillo, a former Brewer who returned this year facing the twillight of his career.

On a completely unrelated note, I bought some new socks this weekend. I needed them badly as it seemed every time I did laundry the number of socks diminished and the ones that remained gained more holes. After today I gotta say that wearing new socks has to be one of the most underrated comforts out there.

That's all for now. If you're bored this week round up a bunch of conservative friends and take them to see V for Vendetta.

CURRENT LISTENING: T.I. feat. Pharrell and Common - Goodlife

Awake is the new sleep

I am the antithesis of a morning person. Every morning I wake up and have to hit the snooze a few times before I'm actually ready to get out of bed. I've always been this way. In high school and college I would doze off to sleep during class - not because I was completely disinterested - because I just couldn't keep myself awake. You can probably see my natural connection to Red Bull somewhere here...

I've tried solving this by going to bed earlier, but even on the mornings when I've gotten a nice 7-8 hours of sleep it doesn't seem to help much. Well, the other day, BoingBoing, a blog I read from time-to-time - and probably the quirkiest one on the web - had a post that covered a "How to..." article someone had written on another site about how to become an early riser. I was a bit skeptical at first, but read on. The approach detailed by the author (who seems to have had the same plight as me) is actually pretty simple. In the author's words:

The solution was to go to bed when I’m sleepy (and only when I’m sleepy) and get up with an alarm clock at a fixed time (7 days per week). So I always get up at the same time (in my case 5am), but I go to bed at different times every night.

I go to bed when I’m too sleepy to stay up. My sleepiness test is that if I couldn’t read a book for more than a page or two without drifting off, I’m ready for bed.

So simple, but I can see how it might be easy on the body clock. So I've decided that I'm going to try this out starting this week. We'll see how it goes. If it works out you'll know. You'll start seeing more posts with a timestamp around 7:00 am.

CURRENT LISTENING: Matt Pond PA - Athabasca

Counting down the hours

Approximately 6 hours until tip-off of the first game of the NCAA's Sweet 16.

About 9 days until the Major League Baseball season opener.

36 days, 20 hours, 30 minutes, and 42 seconds until the 2006 NFL Draft.

Guess which one I'm anticipating most?

This is where I want to be right now

Well actually it ended a few days ago, but Austin's annual music industry SXSW (or South by Southwest) took place March 15-19 and it sounds like it was bigger than ever this year. Now in its 19th year, SXSW has been known for rockin' showcases that put bands on the map and create a buzz, and of course rockin' parties. As someone who interned at a major music distributor and once dreamed of being a record label exec (before I realized the only way to get hired was to be an unpaid intern for 3 years), this would be a dream environment to me. This year the conference expanded to include interactive and film components, most likely only exponentially increasing the fun.

I do have to say that last weekend was quite a blast. I spent two days consuming large amounts of basketball and beer in the company of some friends. I've come to the conclusion of no matter how much basketball you watched the first two days of the NCAA tourney, you still want more. Those upset moments are just addicting.

And of course march madness brings the ubiquity of NCAA pools. While they're usually referred to as "office pools," that term holds no significance to me because when you work at a 22-person industrial design firm there's none taking place. Luckily, I managed to enter three different pools with groups of friends. After sitting in the middle of the pack at the end of round one I've moved to the top three in each thanks to some nice sweet 16 picks. Gotta love having extra incentive to watch the rest of this thing play out.

I wasn't planning on talking about anything marketing-related in this post, but I just read about one of the coolest online marketing initiatives I've ever seen. Nike and Google have quietly launched the first invitation-only Web site for soccer-mad fans around the world. The site, Joga.com, went live late last week and will be running in 140 countries and 14 languages. It looks like the site will be incorporating profile pages, forums, video and rich media conent, and more. It sounds very similar to MySpace, but the bigger thing here is this is the first example I've seen of a brand getting the social marketing thing right. If the content is as good one would expect from these brands, this thing could really catch on with soccer hooligans worldwide and provide an authentic, interactive brand experience for Nike (not to mention further cement Google's reputation for amazing content). If it does catch on, we're also going to see A LOT of shitty, contrived attempts at the same sort of thing. Gotta love clueless marketers.



Alright, I'm out. Go UConn! (Daddy needs a new pair of shoes)

CURRENT LISTENING: White Stripes - Walking With The Ghost cover
LAST MOVIE SEEN: Good Night, and Good Luck

Meet idiot #2

Not to be outdone by Mr. Culpepper's idiocy, the most notable athlete to score under a 10 on the Wonderlic test since Vince Young is also demanding a trade: Javon "I wear my own jersey to the the club" Walker.

As reported by ESPN.com this morning, the Packers star receiver who sat out most of the 2005 season with a torn-ACL in the first game is seeking a trade due to what he views as "unfair treatment" stating that he has "no interest in being in a Green Bay Packers uniform or playing for Green Bay again." But it doesn't stop there. He even goes as far as to say that he'd rather retire next season than play for the team he has no desire to be a party of. Quite a threat for a guy who has no leverage considering he's coming off a major injury and has only performed at a Pro Bowl level once in his career.

Of course the Packers could not less let this mess pass without commenting. GM Ted Thompson issued the following statement:

"During his time as a Green Bay Packer, Javon Walker has been well thought of by everyone here. I like Javon, certainly as a person and as a player.

That said, Javon is under contract, which he signed as a 2002 first-round draft choice. That contract is governed by the Collective Bargaining Agreement, which was negotiated between the National Football League and the National Football League Players’ Association, and we expect him to honor it.

There have been several highly publicized cases of player discontent in the National Football League. I don’t anticipate us making any concessions in this matter.

We will continue to stay the course, and the Green Bay Packers will have no further comment on this topic."

Javon, meet brick wall.

All kidding aside I think the Packers will probably end up trading Walker as it would be more of a detriment to have a tantrum-throwing player like this around to become a cancer in the locker room. It's too bad. I used to really like Walker. He seemed like a hard-working player and improved each of his first few years in the league. But he's not the player he is in his own distorted, little mind and for that, I hope he gets traded to some team with a shit QB and learns how good he is when he isn't catching passes from a future Hall-of-Famer.

QUARTERBACK FOR SALE

If you give a rat's behind about the NFL offseason, you've probably noticed that everyone's favorite Sex Boat Captain, Daunte Culpepper, has been part of an ongoing soap opera thus far. Said soap opera also stars the Minnesota Vikings front office, including owner Zygi Wilf, and carries a varying plot-line based on the Quarterback being on the trading block, off the trading block, receiving his soon-due roster bonus, to finally demanding for a trade or release. The main catalyst for all the controversy has been e-mails to the media, who seem to be the only people in Minnesota who still love Culpepper.



Had Mr. Culpepper not suffered a major injury or been involved in the lewd acts of that Lake Minnetonka boat cruise last year, he probably would've been gone by now. But it turns out, while there has been interest for the QB, the Vikes haven't exactly been offered the type of value that they're expecting. But never fear Vikings fans, for one of your sharp-thinking faithful has found the solution: send Culpepper off to the highest bidder...on eBay!

The bidding starts at $1 million and the questions are already flying in like the strippers were last October. Damaged? Only slightly. Young? Definitely. Talented? That's debatable.

If only it were this easy (and fun!) in real life. In reality, it turns out the Vikings have found some offers and are getting ready to pull the trigger.

Speaking of trades, Green Bay bonehead receiver Javon Walker is seeking one for himself now as well. More on this crap later.

Are we ready to see it on the big screen?

On Saturday afternoon I went to see the movie 16 Blocks with my girlfriend. It was a great action flick with an outstanding performance by Mos Def, but that is not the significance of this post.

About halfway through the previews, I was completely taken-aback by the start of a preview that featured the visual of an airport flight-tracking grid that seemed to be depicting something eerily similar to the events of 9/11. It turned out, that's what it was.



The movie is called Flight 93. The trailer was not very telling, mostly omitting any actual film footage except for a small, blurred segment. But the audio told the story. It was filled with air traffic control checks, passenger phone calls to loved ones, talk amongst themselves and screams. And paired with the simple, but chilling digital depiction of the planes changing course on a monitor, it was enough to get your heart racing.

The first thing I thought to myself upon seeing the preview was "holy shit." The events of that tragic day are less than 5 years behind us. The movie comes out in April. Is it too soon? How soon is appropriate? This is the debate that's sure to be all over the media within a few weeks. Given that the movie comes out in April (the 28th is the release date I found upon some research), I couldn't believe I hadn't heard a thing about the film yet.

I'm completely compelled to see this movie. In fact, it's the only situation where I think someone could be moved to tears seeing and hearing a preview, as I almost was. But for how many people is this situation going to be the same? I remember that day as clear as any of my four years of college and maybe as clear as any day of my life. But I was blessed enough not to suffer the loss of any family member or friend, or anyone I knew for that matter. Many people were not.

As intrigued as I was by the preview, the first thing I did when I got home was jump online and do some research on the film background. Somehow I had missed this New York Times article that was published on January 1st (though I can imagine why I was not reading any newspapers that day). From this article, I not only learned more about Flight 93, I found that there are three other films in the works with storylines related to 9/11, including a picture by Oliver Stone. Not only is this arguably going to be too early, it could be too much.

The question must arise whether Hollywood studios are capitalizing off of America's pain, or if there are just too many Producers/Directors with a desire to show the world these events in a different way and spread larger messages. There isn't much information on the other three films yet, but I can tell you that Flight 93 fits the latter. The movie is being directed by Paul Greengrass, best known for directing The Bourne Supremacy and the less well-known, but more intention-showing Bloody Sunday, a 2002 movie that depicted the 1972 incident in which 13 unarmed civil rights demonstrators were killed by British soldiers in Londonderry, Northern Ireland.

Upon reading even further, and discovering this website devoted to the movie, I am convinced that Mr. Greengrass is serious about magnifying the true story of what the individuals on that plane experienced, and creating a dialogue about how these people were really the first conversation in how to deal with terrorist attacks in our modern world. According to the website, the movie "tells the story of the day through a meticulous re-enactment of events surrounding United 93, the last of the four hijacked aircraft, in the belief that by examining this single event something much larger can be found - the shape of our world today." The film run in real-time of the 90 minute flight with phone calls to loved ones and conversations between passengers, pilots, etc. being as authentic as possible. That being possible from the two dozen phone calls and 30 minutes of cockpit recordings that stand as the only true records of the events.

I'm preparing myself for an intense, emotion-wrenching viewing experience. Will you be going to see it? (View the teaser trailer here)

Speaking of movies, I just got done watching the Oscars. If it wasn't so inappropriate this would be an easy time to make a joke about a looming Armageddon after members of Three 6 Mafia won an Academy Award for "Best Original Song."

It's that wonderful time of year

When I was at the peak of my sports-crazed youth, in junior high, I once declared that March Madness was the second best time of the year only to Christmas. While I no longer devote quite as much attention to college basketball as I once did when I was playing the sport, I'm still a fan and the upcoming start of the greatest tournament-style playoff in sports still gets my blood rushing. I can hardly wait for that first day of simultaneous and back-to-back-to-back hoops contests. I even heard something on the radio the other day that with all of the people watching the games or checking for score updates online during the first two days of the tournament, U.S. employers lose something like $3 billion in productivity. Bummer.

Although the NCAA tournament is still a couple weeks away, March Madness officially started with a BANG yesterday with Florida State upsetting #1 ranked Duke at home, after arguably getting a Duke upset stolen from them earlier in the season with a lack of an apparent foul call. As any jacked-up fans would, members of FSU's student section rushed the court. The one tiny detail they overlooked was that there were still seconds on the clock. I could really care less about this. It happens all the time and the game was realistically out of Duke's hands. But the downside of this is, Coach K got the opportunity to take attention away from FSU's performance by acting all miffed about the whole thing. Sorry Coach K, but there are bigger fish to fry, such as is your team even going to beat North Carolina and when is J.J. Redick going to get his stroke back?

Unfortunately I will have no home team to root for in this year's tourney. While my Minnesota Golden Gophers have been playing their best ball of the season in the last month and beat several ranked opponents, they also started the season 0-6 due to injuries and an overall lack of identity. Thus, my loyalty will probably be turned to my home-state Wisconsin Badgers (and of course whoever I pick to go far in my bracket).

Anyway, it's been a while but I gotta get back on track with the Top 5. Here goes for March:

1. March Madness
2. St. Patty's Day - to steal from a sports blog I read I'll be "0% Irish, 100% drunk"
3. A big tax return
4. My new Panasonic digital camera (in the mail!)
5. Dave Chappelle's Block Party

Be cool.

"24 is a soap opera for men"

Said my friend Jon, also a devout fan of the show.

I never thought I'd say this, but I'm a soap opera addict.

Mankato, MN: Most drunk students per capita?

Over the weekend I hung out with one of my best friends from high school where he goes to college: the town of Mankato, MN. This was probably the fifth or sixth time I had been to Mankato for "leisure" purposes, though I've been to their campus area in the double digits because of my part-time job with Red Bull in college.

My friend, who I jokingly refer to as "The Mayor" due to the fact that he seemed to know everyone down there as a freshman, is truly enchanted with his college town, even going as far as calling it "the greatest place on Earth." On the surface, this town of 32,427 people looks anything but a potential treasure to a twenty-something from a major metropolitan area, though it could easily seem to be an exciting place for someone from a bit of a smaller town. But dig a little deeper (translation: go out at night) and you'll find what all of the fuss is about. From campus house parties to the highly concentrated few blocks of bars fighting for students with cheap drink specials, it is as big of a party school atmosphere as you will ever see. Sure, UW-Madison holds the official title, which if I'm not mistaken is awarded anually, but they have the bias of a larger and more visible student body. Of Mankato's approximately 14,000 students, I have to believe that at least 70% of them "binge drink" on a weekly basis (the def. of "binge" states "5 or more drinks in a single setting"). And sure, my friends and I did a fair share of partying ourselves at the U of M, but when you go to a school that's actually academically rigorous, you can't drink 5 out of 7 nights of the week (though I'm sure a few people I've met would argue with me). My counterparts at Mankato can do this when they choose to, and they love their school for it. I don't know how they'll all turn out, but at least they have Timberwolves owner and MSU alum Glen Taylor for inspiration.

He said it

Reggie Bush on what he likes most about the possibility of playing pro football in Houston: “No state tax.”

What about-to-be-rich twenty-something would blame him? Reggie Bush knows he's money and he knows he's all but solidified the number one pick in the upcoming NFL draft. What comes as a refreshing deviation from what's becoming the norm in pro sports is that the NFL's next big superstar is a surprisingly humble, level-headed guy. You won't find Bush talking himself up when the microphones are in his face. He just lets that ankle-breakin' play on the field do the talking.

Speaking of the NFL draft, the thing is still about two months away, yet the hype and speculation has already started to occupy at least 20% of each SportsCenter broadcast. I guess I really can't blame them though. As much as I love baseball, the stories from spring training tend to be as exciting as quarterly corporate financial statements.

The NFL draft combine has gotten exponentially bigger each of the past three years and this year it's almost as big of a media circus as Super Bowl week. This draft prospect meat market is now even being covered on the NFL Network and the event itself has garnered corporate sponsors (I'm personally waiting to see The BenGay NFL Draft Combine). Personally, I still think scouts put way too much stock into the draft. Just get some "football players." You know what I mean. Favre. Urlacher. John Lynch.

Okay, 180-degree topic switch. Last night I was out for an ultra-belated holiday party for my previous part-time employer, which I was graciously invited to even though I was done working for them in January now that I have a full-time job. The first part of the night was a group trip out to ComedySportz, a live improv comedy show that offers good, clean fun for the entire family, but also manages to be completely hilarious. Since we were in somewhat of a mall-type complex -- it's called Calhoun Square and has various shops and restaurants -- we had some bars at our disposal. I rounded up a few of the guys and threw out the idea of us going to get a shot before the show. So we scurried over to the bar and I was hounded by a few people to buy the round, being one of the only guys with a full-time, "real world" job (although I can't say my disposable income is much higher than any of them, especially when one of the guys still has his rent paid by his parents). So I give in. The shitty part is, one of my friends takes the liberty in choosing what shot to order and has the audacity to choose a $6-per shot selection. Fine, whatever. I didn't have a whole lot of money set aside for the night, but my friend tells me everyone will hit me back later. Okay, cool.

A few hours later, everyone's at the sushi bar chowin' on sushi rolls and putting back sake. Without much money left and wanting a brew, I'm patiently waiting for one of the guys to step up and offer to buy one. Well, no one made the move. The great part is, when I subtley ask the friend discussed earlier if he would be kind enough to hit me back, he relies "I'm not going to buy a drink here" like the prices made the idea blasphemous. Nice. Real nice.

Well, I've fulfilled my rant obligation for the week and while it's quite possibly the slowest day I've experienced since that time I actually watched grass grow, I can't think of anything else I want to write about to extend the life of this post. So this is it.

CURRENT LISTENING: Built To Spill - You Were Right

Now THAT'S good advertising

"People don't read advertising. People read what interests them, and sometimes that happens to be advertising." - Howard Gossage

In an age of DVR, product parity, thinly spread individual media consumption, and perhaps marketing overkill, this statement rings especially true. That's why Crispin Porter and Bogusky is so amazing. Campaign after campaign, they deliver, engaging viewers and building their clients' brands in ways that have profound impacts on sales (see: Burger King, MINI). Well guys, it looks like they've done it again.

The latest and greatest campaign from CP+B is their first work for Volkswagen and features some of the most entertaining commercials I've seen in a long time. After U.S. sales slumped for five consecutive years, Volkswagen picked up their $400 million account and took it from Arnold Worldwide to CP+B without a review. It looks like it was a good idea.



The new TV ads for Volkwagen's just-released GTI performance car made their debut during the Winter Olympus coverage on NBC and have been running constantly throughout the coverage. The campaign theme is "Make Friends With Your Fast," with the "Fast" being the "thing" inside drivers that makes them want to drive...fast, naturally. The thing that makes the campaign ridiculously entertaining is that the "fast" is embodied in a strange little black creature figure that looks like it was the spawn of Darth Vader and some type of rabbit. Various plots have the "fast" riding with the owner of a GTI and start speaking to the driver in an evil voice as if it's their conscience. These humor-inducing situations include being pulled over by a police officer and driving around with a girlfriend.

The quick impact of the campaign has been unmistakable with all of the ad blogs and trades producing stories on it. More importantly, viewers are loving the spots and talking about them with their friends. All four commercials made their way onto a GTI fan site called myfastgti.com before Crispin Porter could even launch a campaign minisite for Volkswagen. But you know you're really creating a buzz when you have people wanting to get their hands on some type of figure of the brand icon you've created. There were several reader comments similar to this one following a BusinessWeek feature on the campaign:

Nickname: Michelle
Review: Where can I get a "My Fast" character? Every time the commercial comes on everybody stops what they are doing to watch it! We have Tivo so my sons have been taping the commercials so they can watch them over and over again. Does the "My Fast" come with the car?
Date reviewed: Feb 19, 2006 3:56 AM

The geniuses at Crispin Porter + Bogusky have created yet another amazing brand icon. But this campaign doesn't only demonstrate the impact of creating an icon that really personifies a brand: it's another lesson that in order to be successful in building a brand, you must find it's true soul.

As a Wisconsin-born and loyal guy, I'm sure glad to see Miller moved it's Lite brand over to CP+B. That's the best call (bad pun intended) they've ever made.

CURRENT LISTENING: Rogue Wave - Postage Stamp World

Coffee, coolness, and human disposition

- As a college student and generally morning-challenged person, I've always needed something to get me going in the morning whether it's a shower or a caffiene-loaded beverage. Working for Red Bull for 2 1/2 years that was never a problem. While from time to time I'd mix it up with something else in the morning, that was my fuel of choice. Since I started my full-time job in December, I've started to mix it up a bit more having coffee or tea some mornings and if possible, just water (which is tough and rare). One of the most frequent consumer beliefs we had to dispel when I worked for Red Bull was the idea that the stuff is chock full of caffiene. While it does have a solid amount of caffiene (80 milligrams), lately I've found myself much more wired on the mornings that I drink coffee. Today in particular my mind seemed to be whizzing in all sorts of directions and putting me in an ADD-like state. I'm sure it has something to do with the fact that I'm so used to Red Bull it doesn't affect me in the way it once did, but on the other hand coffee doesn't have an ingredient to help focus as taurine does in the Bull. Either way, I was about as focused as a kindergartener after a jumbo pixie stick this morning.

- A recent study discussed on Agenda, Inc. this morning found that technology is a huge factor in in being 'cool' among today's youth, with cool kids now being defined as the "creatives."

No longer are today's generation of cool kids defined by the brand names they wear -- now they're defined as being the "Creatives," according to a recent study. According to the Energy BBDO study of teens across 13 countries "Creatives are the most wired, most innovated and most influential teens worldwide."

My question: does this mean the teenage bloggers and Sidekick users are getting laid more than the jocks?

- Finally, the other day I was thinking about my career choice and how I couldn't see myself in any career other than marketing/advertising or something that involves writing. Besides my natural proclivity for creative outlets, I was thinking on the larger scale of my personal dispositions to certain types of thinking . Though I can be pretty good at analyzing thinkings and making deductions, I absolutely hate math and never really had a strong interest in how machines worked or other things that engineering types are sometimes into at a young age. Moreover, my interests have largely been in activities involving human emotion/relation or expression, which are obviously a huge part of branding, marketing, and advertising. Now it could be a rather narrow and short-sighted view, but it seems to me that you could place (white collar) careers in one of two categories: people/emotion-oriented or analysis/logic-oriented. This is like the whole left brain and right brian argument where it's pretty ignorant to say people completely fit one or the other, but relatively speaking I think it applies. Thinking of the people I know and what type of job they're in, I can definitely see those dispositions having a magnetizing effect.

I know, lots of cerebral stuff today. I'll write about something fun next time. For now, go read about modern day yacht pirates.

CURRENT LISTENING: Stevie Wonder - "As"

Hallmark: The kings of PR

Like millions of people, I will be spending the night celebrating this "lover's only" holiday with my girlfriend. We'll be going out to a nice dinner at a restaurant that we haven't checked out before and of course have bought each other some little gifts as the Valentine's tradition has come to be. Now I'm not a huge fan of the holiday for several reasons. While I truly love my girlfriend and celebrating the fact, I am one of the believers that I don't need one specific day of the year to recognize it by spending copious amounts of money. The fact that this tradition has been created by the PR Machine of America's largest greeting card company only makes my opinion of it dip even more. But, as a advertising/marketing student, I have to believe this whole phenomenon would make a pretty damn good case study for one of the college courses I took.

The lady and I have a good practice of setting spending limits for holiday gifts. Of course I like to go above and beyond that sometimes, particularly when I have an awesome gift idea in mind. For this Valentine's Day we decided to keep things on the low end, which I like. I'm not a chocolate fan at all and I really don't need any stuffed animals so my girlfriend's options often fall into more personal things like framed photos or out of the realm of traditional "romantic gifts," which is quite fine with me. As for what I buy her, I bought her flowers on Valentine's two years, but am no longer going that route. I try to stay away from the standard gifts and I think flowers are better given in spontaneity anyway.

A few things outside of V-day that I've been chewing on:
- Is it just me or do people have a slightly different work habit/schedule on Mondays? The last two weeks I've noticed that when I leave for work around 8:00 in the morning (about a 10 min commute, mind you), the roads have been considerably less congested with cars than the rest of the days of the week. On my commute home, the roads are even more wide open. Now as the sole marcomm guy at an industrial design firm I'm almost never busy to the point where I have to put in time outside of my normal work day. But based on the way the Monday drives go for me, I'm led to the conclusion that most Americans trickle into work a bit late on Mondays and put in longer hours than the rest of the week. Is this assumption correct? Friends of mine (who have full-time jobs): how often do you end up putting in a day longer than 9 hours? Even though I'm sometimes unhappy that I'm not working in the exact industry I'd like to be in and don't have the level of passion I've had at previous workplaces I definitely can't complain about my work environment and the culture there. I'm sure a lot of recent grads have some big gripes in that area at their workplace.
- Speaking of commutes, in addition to the low traffic PM commute I enjoyed yesterday, it was great to get home when it's still completely light out. Yes, the dark Minnesota winter is starting to pass. Unlike many people winter doesn't get me down too much, but when you work until 5:00 and it's completely dark out when you get out it can be a little depressing sometimes.
- I'll leave you with just one link today (because everyone already knows the Vice President shot a lawyer): T.O. is getting his own reality show. Yes, everyone's most hated receiver is coming to prime time. Here's a brief synopsis courtesy of Businesswire.com:
"The show will combine T.O.'s passion for working out with his natural curiosity about other people. Guests on the show will come from the worlds of sports, entertainment and even politics -- and no subject will be off limits. The show will rely on T.O.'s witty personality and tendency to speak his mind."

As much as I hate T.O., I have a feeling this is going to be like a bad car crash for me (I won't be able to help but watch). It'll be interesting to see if Drew Rosenhouse ends up on there pretty often. I'm sure he'll end up proving to the two people that don't already know that he's T.O.'s bitch, reminding him that he's the greatest wide receiver in the world as he does his laundry and washes his car. Let's just hope they find a way to work in Ron Arest, Jose Conseco, and the infamous Flava Flav.

Cheers,

EH

CURRENT LISTENING: Rocky Votolato - "White Daisy Passing"

Tearing through the terrain of...the skyways?

Last night I volunteered to help on the course at Red Bull SkyRide, their latest major original event to take place in Minnesota. SkyRide was a mountain bike race through the skyways of downtown St. Paul complete with stairs and many a hard corner. There were 50 racers (mostly from MN) and each racer got two runs through the time-trial course. The coolest thing about the event was the complete originality of the idea – the birth of MN Mountain Bike fanatic Adam Buck. He also happens to work for the company on the local field marketing team that I used to be a part of. Unfortunately, because of the nature of the event it wasn’t very spectator friendly. It should get a lot of press though. Here’s an article and an unedited video of the entire course via bike-cam from one of the local news stations.

Just another great example of Red Bull involving the brand within a core culture that it fits in a unique and authentic manner. Keeping with the brand personality, they threw a nice lil’ V.I.P. after party too.



More Awesomeness:
If you’re a Google mail user, like myself, you’ll probably dig their latest and greatest feature addition to your mailbox: Google chat. Yep, they went and embedded instant messaging right into the mailbox page. Apparently only a limited amount of users have the feature upgrade showing up right now but Google promises that everyone should have it within a few weeks. The one catch: the only “contacts” on your buddy list will be other Gmail users that you have sent or received e-mail from (but they’ll show up automatically). So whaddya waitin’ for friends? Go get a Gmail account!

CURRENT LISTENING: Birdmonster - EP

Hooray for Steel City! Hooray Beer!

Congratulations to the Pittsburg Steelers for reaching the pinnacle of all sports by winning Super Bowl XL, even if it's disputable to some. I can't say the play was anywhere near spectacular on either side of the ball, but with a few big plays and a little help from the men in the black and white stripes they did enough to fend off the potent Seahawks offense. I am glad to see "The Bus" ride off into the sunset in an ideal fashion. It'll also be nice to not have to hear any more of the human-interest pieces about him playing his last game in his home town.

I had a great time at my Steeler friend's bash, consuming plenty of food and even more of the official beer of football (unfortunately no twins were present). Winning the first half of our football pool didn't hurt either. But ultimately, the thing that makes Super Bowl Sunday the most enjoyable for me is being surrounded by good friends with everyone from your hardcore fan to the "I'm just here for the beer" guy engaged in the event. It's a day that falls just below Christmas, the 4th of July, and New Year's Eve in my book.

As an advertising major (and hopefully lifetime professional), I take even more interest in the entire spectacle that game day due to the infamous multi-million dollar commercial spots (a cool $2.6 mil per :30 this year). I'm not going to give an in-depth analysis like every ad and marketing blog out there seems to be doing, but I will say I thought the commercials were above average as a whole this year. Generally speaking, the humor was a bit smarter than last year, staying away from the crude and crass stuff in favor of more outright quirky stuff. My favorite spot was either the Fed Ex Cave Man spot or Bud Light's "Magic Fridge." I was definitely a little disappointed by Burger King, though my dwelling on the concept would never go as far as this funny little diatribe in comic form.

I've also found it interesting how many advertising and media experts have argued the "value," or complete lack thereof, in the Super Bowl :30 spot. There's good arguments on both sides of the coin. While marketers could surely find a lot more effective (and more creative) ways to spend $2.6 million dollars, it's hard to argue against the post-game buzz and the number people going online to watch free downloads of the spots available via countless major websites.

Well, that's my little "Post Super-Bowl Wrap-up." It's going to be a long three weeks without any worthwhile sports to watch (see: March Madness). Yes, I did just discount the winter Olympics.

Before I go, let me remind you that the next time you're out on the town, do it up like Big Ben does...

Is the average person paying attention to blogs? Not my friends

One thing I've been meaning to share here for a while is reactions people have had to my blog, whether in real-life or in the form of a Facebook message. Here are some of the highlights:

"What the hell is a blog?" - a friend/former co-worker

"You have a blog?!?" - a friend, in a surprised, "wow, you ARE a geek" fashion

"Love yer blog dude!" - Facebook message most likely drenched in sarcasm

"Just read your blog 'o fun. Interesting." - Facebook message

Those are a few of the more unique choice quotes. Other than that I have a few friends who read the blog on a regular basis, really understand what it is, and are geniunely interested.

Some of the reactions from people, all my own age, made me wonder what the actual readership, awareness, and interest in blogs is. After a quick search, I found a March 2005 CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll that revealed some major findings about the actual level of most Americans' familiarity with weblogs. Interesting figures:

"More than three-quarters of Americans — 76 percent — said they use the Internet, but only 26 percent said they were “very familiar” or “somewhat familiar” with blogs.

Just 7 percent of adults said they read blogs at least a few times per week...Forty-eight percent said they never do."

With the current number of blogs at a staggering 26.9 million, it would seem surprising that only 26% of internet users read blogs -- and only 7% of total American adults.

While I could not find anything focusing particularly on Generation Y, the one that I belong to and the one known for being the most socially connected through the internet, I would assume a huge concentration of those percentages lies there.

And while blogs have certainly come into discussion in mainstream media in the last 6 months, they probably haven't quite hit the tipping point in mainstream America the way instant messaging and most recently, MySpace, have. From talking to friends, I only know a few others who actively read blogs and an even smaller number of people who write their own.

It's still a fringe thing. And that explains the sarcasm and "geek" type responses.

Onto other things...
- I'm attending a cool party this weekend thrown by a friend/former co-worker and some of his buddies. The party is billed as "The First Annual Random Party" and the invitation came with the following description:

"The concept behind the random party is simple…you're much more likely to meet new and interesting people through your friends than at a packed bar full of "striped shirt guys" and "cougars" (look up the terms if you need to!!!)."

I can't say I disagree with that premise. The party is being held at Martini Blu, a classy, albiet somewhat "yuppie," downtown Minneapolis bar located in a swanky Hotel. I don't know if I'd pick the same setting and vibe, but I'm up for getting dressed up a la "Swingers" and doin' it big at a nice place a few times a year. Should be a good time.

- Work has been somewhat slow this week. I've been keeping myself steadily busy throughout the day, but it kinda feels like the week has dragged by. In addidtion, my workload now involves more calling random people on the phone. Although my title is Marketing & External Communications -- not particurly sales -- a part of my duties is lead generation before we create and send personalized marketing materials to decision-markers at target companies. I wouldn't call it cold-calling, but it's not too far off, and I'm not particularly thrilled when I have to do it. Guess there's positives and drawbacks to every job...

- I'm pretty excited for Super Bowl XL, as it should be a great game. Things are definitely heating up between the players right now. I'll be watching at the house of my hardcore Steeler-fan friend with plenty of beer and food in tow. A few friends of mine and I tossed around the idea of not only wearing, but making, Seahawks gear to wear over. Steeler friend would probably find it funny until his team had the lower numeral in the score column.

Well, that's it for the day. Have an awesome weekend.

New decorating around here

As you can see, I decided to make a few changes to the look and feel of the blog. It pretty much came down to me being sick of the previous color scheme, not to mention the difficulty reading the font.

I also opted for a change in title. "The Graduate" seemed too generic and while "Too Be Young" isn't a big leap in complication or intellectual references, it embodies my personality and spirit perfectly and happens to share the title with a song by one of my all-time favorite musicians, Ryan Adams.

Finally, I was thinking the topics and content I've been covering when I sit down to write a new entry. If you've followed this blog since I started it -- there's gotta be 2 or 3 of you -- you've noticed that I went from updating about once or twice a month to the couple times per week I've made the concerted effort toward as of late. And while I've been writing more often, it's also been more of just posting links to major news and cool stories. So I'm takin' it back to my original intention for this thing. To reflect on all of the things I'm currently celebrating, pondering, or agonizing over (all of the topics listed in that little description below the title) and to share what's goin' on in my life with whoever cares to read. I'm not going to pretend to be an expert about marketing or politics, because quite frankly, I'm not and there are plenty of much better blogs you could read of you wanted that sort of thing. But I am going to express my ruminations and go on the occasional rant...so, maybe the content isn't changing much at all.

Anyway, I should continue to post on a pretty regular basis. Leave me more comments and drop an e-mail if you like something, or if you especially don't.

I'm ghost like Swayze...

CURRENT LISTENING: Curtis Mayfield - Move On Up (yep, Kanye jacked it!)

Dear sports reporters: Just leave Favre alone

In case you slept all day or didn't get a chance to read, listen to, or watch any sports coverage, Chris Mortenson's Sunday ESPN interview with Brett Favre realed that the legendary Quarterback is leaning toward retirement.

"If I had to pick right now and make a decision, I would say I'm not coming back."

About 3 years ago the media launched what has become an annual "Favre retirement talk" circus. Throughout the disappointing 4-12 season that the Packers endured last fall, fuel was continually added to the fire with speculation and questions about the end coming from sports reporters at every opportunity. Since the end of the season, it has only gotten worse and has now enlarged into a full-blown spectacle. Can't the media just leave this guy alone and let him make his decision when he's ready?!?

Now I know what you're thinking. If Brett didn't want to do the interview, he should've have granted one. As much as Favre really doesn't care for the limelight, the ol' southern boy has always been admirably frank and candid when posed with questions from media, whether it was during the announcement of his addiction to painkillers or after the death of his father. At this point, I think he went on camera to discuss his uncertainty with wanting to continue playing because he isn't sure and wants people to decide for him. Or maybe he wants to show Packers GM Ted Thompson and new Coach, Mike McCarthy that he's serious about possibly retiring and that they better make some moves to shore up the talent on the roster while he's waiting to decide. I don't know. But I do know that it would certainly be great if the media just put the speculation to rest and leave the man alone about his decision until he's ready to announce it for real.

Is he going to retire? I think most fans are thinking yes right now. But, if the man was serious about retiring, don't you think he would've just announced it by now? As much as some of his comments about desire concern me (I never wouldn've thought his desire would wane), I would love to see Brett decide that he's going to play one more year -- and no more -- and put everything he has into going out with a great one. If he does decide not to come back, Packer fans should be thankful for 14 years of watching one of the greats and let the man ride off into the sunset...on his lawnmower of coursre.

Onto a few other topics...
-Minneapolis ad agency Carmichael Lynch developed a series of unique Porsche-inspired film shorts that will run on IFC Films' Cult Theater. They are currently running 11 of the shorts on their website (right-hand column). I like "Masochist" and "Sunshine Supercar."
-A good tutorial on how one can take professional-looking photos without being a professional.
-Lonely Planet "Bluelist" is a website that I recently discovered and like quite a bit. To "bluelist" is to recommend a travel experience and the site has a large selection of travel recommendations on a diversity of list topics ranging from "best beaches to visit worldwide" to "best places to get naked" (I swear I didn't find that second from a keyword search). Oh yeah, they have a cool new book out based on the Bluelist too.

That's all for now. I'm aiming for at least one more appearance this week...no promises.

CURRENT LISTENING: Neil Young - Heart of Gold

Just "Blink"

Let me start at the beginning.

As a recent college graduate who just began his career, I’ve heard from plenty of people that I should start saving and investing money while I’m young and that the sooner you start saving, the sooner you’ll be able to retire. Since starting my job I try to save at least $200 per month in my savings account though the money in there will be going toward a new (used) car in the spring.

Rewind to 3 or 4 months ago. As a loyal Chipotle-goer, I wondered to myself whether the company would end up splitting from McDonald’s and ever offer stock. I did a little searching and found some speculation online and talked to my investing-crazy friend who at 23 seems to follow the stock market like many of us follow our sports teams at that age. He mentioned to me that he had heard some talk about it, but nothing for sure.

My whole interest in Chipotle stock is based off of a few simple, but somewhat marketing and business-savvy observations. I saw a company who had a great product offering, taking a ton of business away from traditional fast-food outlets with its “gourmet food, fast” position. I also saw a well-developed brand, great store design and experience, and excellent customer service and promotions including “free burrito” giveaways on holidays and “buy one now, bring back the receipt for a free one on X date.” Most importantly – and the result of the previous three factors – is a cult-like following that sees people standing in 15-minute lines on their lunch break just to get a craved burrito.

Now I have zero stock market experience whatsoever. While I’m no student of finance, I’m smart enough to understand the core variables like capital, assets, and debt on a balance sheet. But a few things that I would hold at an equally high level of importance as balance sheet and growth plan are a company’s dedication to innovation and customer service and their brand power – the presence of or ability to produce a brand loyalists and zealots. With Chipotle having many of these things, I saw them as a great investment opportunity.

This week my investment-crazy friend was texting me news of Chipotle announcing the release of an Initial Public Offering later in the week. We started discussing it on the phone and through e-mail. It was speculated that the IPO would be $18-20 per share. I started pondering the thought of actually buying some stock, but since I was also saving for a car I figured I could throw down $300 on shares at most. I didn’t have an online brokerage account (and wasn’t going to open one anytime soon with many services requiring a minimum of $1000 to start), so my friend was going to buy the shares on his E-TRADE account for me.

Well, today was the actual IPO. Last night I didn’t talk to my friend about when the market opened in the morning and whether to get on and buy it for me. He was hanging out with his girlfriend and I was with mine and we put the subject off until the next morning. I came to work this morning, did some research on the IPO and because of a few sentences of concern over the capital required for their growth strategy – amidst much of the talk of high buzz and other potential – I couldn’t decide whether I should buy for sure or not. I hadn’t heard anything from my friend either. So what happened? The market opened and I got a text message an hour later from the friend telling me that the stock had leapt to $42 per share, double the initial offering, within an hour.

Point of the story: I didn’t make a quick, decisive action. I didn’t Blink.

(It would’ve helped to hear from my friend BEFORE the market opened too).

Why Sports Guy rules

If you frequent ESPN.com or have ever checked out any of my links to the left of the page (yes, those links) you may have read a column or blog entry by Bill Simmons, aka "Sports Guy," a regular columnist on ESPN.com Page 2. The Sports Guy is an often humorous, always entertaining ruminator on the current happenings of the sports world. He also entertains mail from readers once a week on Page 2 and is
known to discuss about many things out of the normal sports world subject
matter including famous women and pop culture. The following letter serves as a perfect example of why I love the "Sports Guy":

Q: I think I was actually more upset over the assassination of former President David Palmer on "24" last night than I would have been if our actual president would have been assassinated. It was like I lost
a member of my own family. Maybe I'm just screwed up, but I don't think so. Here is my question: If you forced every registered voter in America to watch seasons 1-4 on DVD, and convinced Dennis Haysbert to legally change his name to David Palmer, don't you think he would win in a landslide in 2008? I have bounced this question off several people and Palmer has every vote so far, and most would have voted for
him over Bush and Kerry.
-- Ryan Desmond, Miami

SG: Obviously I'm with you. But while we're here, some readers were upset that I revealed the "24" plot twist in Wednesday's column
because they hadn't watched the show yet. So here's my question...how can you call yourself a "24" fan and not watch the season premiere of "24" right when it airs? Are you kidding me? Would you save the Super Bowl on TiVo and watch it later? What about Game 7 of the NBA Finals? When "24" came on the tube Sunday night, my baby daughter
could have had a diaper covered in six pounds of poop and I would have waited until 10 o'clock to change her. I'm not apologizing for this one. You had three days to watch it -- unless you were trapped in a well or something, there's no excuse. That's like saying that I shouldn't have discussed the Bettis Fumble.

It was a good Monday

I'm someone who hates Mondays. It's something that was preingrained long before I started the 40 hour week, but that certainly hasn't helped things. That said, today turned out to be a pretty good Monday. Nothing special, but it felt "alright" for a Monday. Maybe it was the solid night of sleep I got last night. Or it could've been the fact that I had some things to jump on right away at work and was steadily busy the entire day. It could've even been my comfort in knowing that I won't have to see Jake Plummer play in a Super Bowl. Who knows, but I hope a few of you out there had a good start to the week too.

I'm not going to post much today, but here's a few stories worth reading:
- The New York Times reports that Dub-ya is going to start taking unscripted audience questions during his appearance. We'll see how long that lasts.
- Kobe Bryant dropped 81 points! on the Raptors last night. I say he's a ballhog. I'm only half-kidding.
- Long time coming film "Little Miss Sunshine" starring Greg Kinnear and Steve Carrell finally makes its debut at the Sundance Film Festival.
- The Minnesota Golden Gophers men's basketball team SUCKS (No link necessary).


Finally, if you're as much of a fan of Conan O'Brien as I am you'll thoroughly enjoy reading this transcript of his Commencement Speech to the Harvard Class of 2000. Nothing short of awesomeness.

Only two hours until 24!!!

CURRENT LISTENING: Cat Power's "The Greatest" and The Flaming Lips' new single, "The W.A.N.D."

Pack + the Playoffs (not in the same paragraph)

Throughout the past few weeks, some strong winds of change have whisked
through 1265 Lombardi Avenue (that's the offices of the Green Bay Packers
for all you who ain't knowin'!). I've declined to post any comments
here yet partially because I've been pretty busy and partially because I
wasn't sure how I felt about the situation. My beloved Packers
went out and hired Mr. Mike McCarthy, Offensive Coordinator of the SAN
FRANCISCO 49ers?!? The collective gasp and ensuing backlash from much of the
Packer faithful luckily isn't being felt to the same magnitude out here in
Minnesota, but reading and hearing things from afar, I can tell that GM
Ted Thompson is on a very short leash with fans from here on out.

As someone who tends to let my emotions control my reactions and
judgements, I tried to remain level-headed and find out more about Mr.
McCarthy before joining the lynch mob in the streets of Green Bay (I wanted
to see Thompson hire Defensive Coordinator Jim Bates). So a lot of
reading, I found out that McCarthy...
-Is a no nonsense guy from blue collar Pittsburgh who demands respect
from players
-Has a good track record of developing Quarterbacks, including Aaron Brooks, Jake Delhomme and Matt Hasselbeck
-Is widely regarded as a creative playcaller in NFL circles

In addition, McCarthy has a relationship with Brett Favre after serving
as Packers Quarterbacks Coach in 1999. Hopefully it's enough to bring
Brett back for one more go around. If he doesn't, we'll be starting the
2006 season with a first-time, unproven head coach (and the third named
"Mike" in a row); a new, first-time Offensive Coordinator; a new
Defensive Coordinator; and an inexperienced, second-year Quarterback. It's
sure to be quite an interesting season. I'm going to support the coach and wait to see how things turn out. Good Luck "M3" -- you might need it.

Alright, enough Packer talk for now. I'll put it away until the draft
pending any major events.

Only 14 days 'til Super Bowl XL. I can't say I was sad to see the Colts
lose last week. Peyton Manning just can't get it done during the
playoffs. I kinda feel bad for Dungy though. It's fine to give your
intelligent, highly skilled QB the license to call the plays and audible at the line of scrimmage, but when you let him wave off the punt team in
your face on 4th and 2, your authority -- and balls -- are starting to
come into question. Then again, why were they even going to punt that late
in the game when they were down by three scores?

I'm not even going to comment on the atrocious call by the officials
in that game. I'll leave that to Joey Porter...

Today's Conference Championship games should be some great ones.
I can't remember the last time the playoffs were this wide open. Any
team could win it, but my picks for the Super Bowl are Pittsburgh and
Seattle. A hard-nosed defense versus a the league's most high-powered
offense could make quite a game.

Next time I post I'll deviate a bit from the football talk. It's just that football, beer, and snowboarding is what it is this time of year.

CURRENT LISTENING: Rogue Wave - Desceded Like Vultures
LAST MOVIE SEEN: Lord of War

That king is so hot right now!

Apparently a series of paparazzi-style photos of Brooke Burke and the one and only Burger King have been circulating around blogs and photo sites. While no one knows for sure it's pretty easy to assume that this is another viral effort from BK's ad agency Crispin Porter + Bogusky. Another buzz-generating -- albeit simple -- idea. View the photo series here.

So...after looking at the comments section I take it people don't exactly care one way or another what I do with this blog?

What to do, what to do

With the start of a New Year, we're always in a full press of self-reflection. Questions like 'what was great about the past year?' and 'what could've I have done better?' fill our heads as we look ahead. I have done plenty of it myself in the past couple weeks and one of the things I've been thinking about (though much further down the totem pole) is what to do with my blog.

I continue doing this for a few reasons. Keeping friends updated on some of the events in my life, having an outlet to vent or express my inner monologue and finally, to write more often outside of work. You don't have to be a great guesser to determine which one has failed in its purpose the most.

So for 2006 I've thought about a few different things I'd like to do with my blog. A natural course of action would be to just ditch it, as I only bring myself to write in it 1-2 times per month anyway. Another option is to continue writing, keeping the journal style going and making a valiant effort to write much more frequently. The final option -- and one I've thought about a lot lately -- is to narrow the blog down to a specific focus, whether it be music, football or just news and thoughts on the happenings of my good ol' Green Bay Packers. It should be obvious that I'm never going to use this blog as a money-making outlet, and while I don't care a ton about the number of readers I know that if I focused the topic (and of course, wrote frequently) I would have a bit more of a readership.

So what do you think? Drop a comment for once...unless you're another one of those blog spammer scumbags.

Oh yeah - Happy New Year!

- EH