3/31/2006

Dirk and Jessie

This weekend, I will attending a wedding of two friends, Dirk and Jessica. I have the extended honor of being one of 2 signers of their ketubah.

(New Picture added post-wedding)

In case you didn't know, Jessica and David met via a set-up of a friend .... That friend is me. Dirk and Jessica are both personality-filled, special people that truly are meant for each other. Their wedding takes place at the Garden City hotel, which I've heard is a very nice venue.

I am looking forward to enjoying this day with them and their family/friends. An interesting thought that recently dawned on me, is that I am the one friend- no matter what happens over time that is gauranteed to never be forgotten in their lives together...

Mazel Tov!

3/24/2006

Amy Tiene un Trabajo Nuevo

This is somewhat old news, but Amy officially has a new job. (I tried waiting until the trade magazines came out with a story, but couldn’t wait any longer)

She left TV Guide Channel and now works for Telemundo. She will complete her 2nd full week of work today – so she’s still feeling the ins’ and outs’ of the new gig, but overall she’s really excited about the new opportunity.

One of the funniest aspects of her new job is the reaction people have to the news that she works at Telemundo. When I tell people that I work for Google, one of 3 responses usually take place:

  1. “Wow – that’s so cool. I love Google”
  2. When did you start there? (In other words – “are you rich”?)
  3. Oh – my website ranking stinks – can you help me?

With Amy, there is primarily one reaction (or should I say question): “Oh – so do you speak Spanish?”:….

Amy does not speak Spanish, nor does she have to in order to sell advertising. The people who she sells to are primarily based in New York. The brands that buy Spanish language television are all the same brands you would see when you watch TV. The difference is that the actual creative is geared towards US Hispanics, so it’s often in Spanish. Amy has nothing to do with the creative. Her job is to get advertisers to understand the value of reaching US Hispanics.

*The good news here, is that this market is actually the 2nd (next to, um, Internet/Search):

Congrats to Amy on her new job! I’m very proud of her as leaving a place where she was successful and considered a clear superstar is very tough to do. Felicitaciones Amy!!


3/21/2006

Google Idol

For all of the non-stop praise that my in-the-closet friend has been posting about American Idol, I thought I would share something I just came across:

Google Idol

No, this is not a Google product or even sanctioned by Google -- It merely uses the Google Video functionality. You can watch (and vote) for head-to-head videos of people lip-synching and creating their own music video.

Hey Colediggy...Do I hear a little Lionel Richie, "Dancing on the Ceiling"?

Enjoy.

3/14/2006

Tommy Amak-GRRRRR

Let me start by saying IÂ’m not the biggest college basketball fan in the nation, but I do love my Wolverine hoop squad. It has been increasingly tough over the years in Ann Arbor to believe in the Michigan basketball program. (I don't know - Brian Ellerbe just did not get me excited)


Enter Tommy Amaker from Seton Hall .. a former Duke guy who everyone loves. I was pumped. I didn'’t expect genius overnight, but I did expect to be competitive and to root for UM in a tourney game or 2. Well 5 years has passed and I'’m still waiting...

As I told mearliernd ealier this week... reallyly really want to like Tommy Amaker. He says all the right things -- He is certainly a stand-up guy... he seems to recruit very well. Again, I really want to like him. The problem is, he just doesn'’t appear to be a good coach at all. "Just not an X's and O's guy"” some may say... Losing 7 of your last 9 games due to sloppy play and turn-overs is a sign for bad coaching if I'’ve ever seen one. He has excuses (injuries, sanctions when he first got here, facilities, etc) BUT ... Good coaches don'’t use execuses. They get wins with the talent they have around them.

Not I'm not saying that I think Tommy should get the boot just yet ... But I would like to see a little sense of urgency for once! I feel like he is fully OK with not making the Tournament in 5 years. I would like to be patient with you Mr. Amaker - but if I have to follow UM hoops for 2 more years without making the big dance (which would make 12 in a row), I just may lose it.

Hire some assistant coaches with some in-game coaches skills. You can still be the face guy that everyone likes. PLEASE!

3/13/2006

Google Talk (for your blackberry)

I've been slacking on the front of informing all of you about Google products that should benefit your daily life...

For those of you who don't use Google Talk, you should try it out. Iif you have (and use) your GMAIL account, you will automatically be able to use Google talk within your browser, but you have to download the software to use the cool functionality of talking person to person over your PC.

As of last week, you can now use Google Talk on your blackberry. I've been using it for about a week and have found it very useful in terms of keep in touch with folks while I'm not in front of my computer. Enjoy!!

3/09/2006

The last time I watched MTV

I guess I'm officially old, but the other day I realized that I truly have not related to anything on MTV in a few years now. I'm thinking that the image below was the last memorable thing I that comes to mind from those days in the "MTV Generation"

3/06/2006

Thoughts on The Oscars

I contemplated leaving this post completely blank, to symbolize that "I have no words for this junk," but decided I'd be much more satisfied with writing a few words.
  • To start, I find it really annoying that the show is known as both "The Academy Awards" and "The Oscars." For a very long time, I truly got these names and "The Emmy's" all messed up....Just pick one!!
  • I would like to point out that Amy (who I believe will represent most women), was certainly most excited for the pre-show, where various entertainment networks pay very annoying people to "interview" celebrities and critique their clothing decisions. (If there was a metric that tracked the intolerance of the opposite sex on things like sporting events or these events -- call it "torture per second" -- this hour takes the cake!!)
  • The actual show is such a sham! It starts with decent entertainment of the host followed by giving one of the 4 major awards... It is then followed by 3 hours of complete filler (I'm sorry to any of those who are interested in art direction, make-up decision, foreign short-films, and lengthy old movie clip montages)
  • Throughout these 3 hours, the network thinks that attracting A-list celebrities to do the presenting will satisfy the beyond boring content of the program. Let's just say that having these A-list celebrities read corny jokes from a teleprompter (and created by random freelance writers) does not do the trick...Either give the celebrities the freedom to come up with their own material or just have them say "The nominees for crappy category XYZ are"...
  • Acceptance speeches are always fun.... (Um - NOT) I totally understand someone wanting to thank people personally - but this just does not make for entertaining television.
  • Speaking of acceptance speeches ... I think it's hilarious that because the network wants to wait until the end to give the most prestigious awards (in hopes to improve it's ratings throughout the evening) it truly gives the winner(s) of the "Best Costumes" more time to speak than the winner of "Best Picture." By the time the final award is up - the show has already run 30 minutes over... Here's an idea ABC: Give every winner their own website or blog to thank anyone they want after the fact. Promote these URLs throughout the following week during your regular programming... With the time saved from all of the smaller awards -- give the big winners 5 minutes of air time to talk about whatever they want.
To finish off, let me say that I am confident I will be going through this hell once again next year. The truth is that Amy certainly doesn't force me to watch it. I suppose it's a sort of pop-culture knowledge thing, where knowing who won "supporting actor" in a given year or recognizing who forgot to thank their significant other in their acceptance speech is just some random, useless knowledge that doesn't hurt one's conversational skills...

So...Until next year (where I will probably push some sort of rooting interest like a pool)....

3/03/2006

Seth Godin speech at Google

Seth Godin (one of my favorite business authors) speaking at Google in Mountain View.

3/02/2006

Default Elevator Conversation

I don't have a deep problem with it, but after several home and office elevator rides with neighbors or co-workers, it is clear to me that the safe 45 second time filler of choice is without question "the weather." I'm curious to know who decided this? (Matt Weiss??)

I suppose it makes sense...
  1. It's certainly a common interest among elevator occupants - as everyone is obviously witnessing the same thing.
  2. It doesn't take but 10 seconds of watching New York 1 (or any morning news program) in the morning to be up-to-date on the topic.
  3. It's a lot more comforting than, say, "Hey - how many times do you think this elevator can go up and down before it just snaps?"
Anyhow - in noticing this - I have made a conscious effort to never be the one to actually bring the topic up. (If someone bring it up - I'm versatile - I can go with it). I mostly don't bring it up because I wouldn't want to offend anyone else who has noticed this very same thing (that the weather is the default conversation with someone that you clearly have nothing else to talk about with). However, I'm also not the "weather conversation starter" as I like to buck the trend -- but again -- it's not something that totally drives me crazy. I just hope you notice it now that I've pointed it out (if you haven't already).