Presidential Debate Drinking Game

How about the Presidential Debates as a drinking game? Though it may be a way to attract college students, I was thinking of it more as a means to cut through the spin, a helpful tool for media analysis. So how about a drink everything Bush says flip-flop or accuses Kerry of changing his position? How about a drink every time Kerry exceeds the time limit and every time Bush keeps it so simple that there is time left to respond? I'm sure you can think of a few more.

Bush's Top Ten Flip-Flops

Warming up the debate.

AdSense Is Internet Currency

I'm stuck by the fact that AdSense has become the internet currency. Several startup sites I'm using lately incorporate AdSense into there business model. 

For some it appears AdSense is replacing venture capital and others it looks like a unit of measure for the venture capitalists. I can see the interview, "How much revenue have you generated from AdSense in the last 6 months?" The spreadsheets and chart displayed.

It is micropayments. There will be others. (Sure I'm not first to say this.)

 

Trade Secrets

Spent an hour listening to Trade Secrets Radio. This is a mp3 (and more?) radio show by Dave Winer and Adam Curry. Here's my take on it all.

Many new concepts need to reach critical mass before they work. Email lists are an example. Without enough subscribers there is no discussion. I think the same is happening with these type of "digital audio shows." With Trade Secrets and Gillmor Gang and others, there are now enough nerdy content to make a serious nerdy (early adapter) market. Other markets will follow. New markets will be discovered. I have no doubt there is a market for audio.

My next observation is that for all the hype about digital radio since my stint at the FCC (74-78), it is misnamed. This really is digital radio. Consumers can manipulate the content. Basically you can pick and choose your programs (shows, mp3s, whatever they'll eventually be called) and string them together with your digital playback unit (iPod, Treo, PPC, etc.). These digital shows obsolesces non-talk, broadcast radio.

However, a usability/marketing problem. I've already commented about the uneven volume of this audio which is probably an easy fix. But there is another problem. Blogs are the premier example of microcontent. Users want to pick and choose. MP3 generally is one big chunk. In this case an hour plus. So the next step is to pick and choose the segments you want, stream them together like you want, listen when you want. For me it was at the breakfast table this morning while glancing at washingtonpost.com, then I finished listening with my laptop on the Metro (subway) after work. Anyway, it will get there and I'll keep listening. 

Iron City in Aluminum Bottles

Iron City beer is the classic steelworker's beer. IC at the bar after a day on the line. In steel cans. Made in the plant, paid for with a paycheck from the plant.

Move into the next century and Pittsburgh Brewing has announced aluminium bottles. A few unionists must be spinning in their graves.

C&O Canal Biking Guide

Since moving to DC 30 years ago, I've slowly become more and more fascinated by the C&O Canal. This is a trail that goes along the Potomac River from Washington DC to Cumberland MD. A few years ago I heard that a trail from Cumberland to Pittsburgh was nearing completion. I immediately wanted to do a bike adventure with my son and hopefully my brother and his son. Somethings never worked out for this big trip.

So this fall I am trying my hardest to take a long weekend and do the DC to Cumberland portion. Actually, I plan to leave from my house near the W&OD trail, so the overall trip should be about 200 miles. There is a wonderful site that makes it easy to plan the trip: C&O Canal Biking Guide. (Thanks!)

Problem is finding motel rooms on Columbus Day weekend in Hancock and Harpers Ferry. More later.

Countdown on MSNBC is Best News Show

I've been watching Keith Olbermann on my TiVo for nearly six months do Countdown on MSNBC. In my opinion, it is the very best news show on television. He takes the resources of NBC, he get interviews for every one of the five segments and adds his wit to deliver the news. Not just the PR and spin, but the news.

News is so much spin these days. The 'No Spin Zone' was a great hook but that promise went unfulfilled as O'Reilly added his own spin. I'm sure more rightwing viewers think that Countdown is not spin free, but from my view he does a far better job at being objective than even the standard 6:00 o'clock news.

Here is a good example. The standard line even on Air America was that the GOP got a bounce out of their convention. (And the standard line was that the Dems did not.) Countdown did not just look at the first two polls that came out - they looked at 5 or more and then interview an expert on the matter. What bounce? Great stuff.

Don't miss Countdown. TiVo Countdown.

Nils Lofgren Tribute Concert

Tommy Lofgren and others at rehearsal at Tribute to Nils Lofgren.

Just back from "A Tribute to Nils Lofgren"  at Strathmore in North
Bethesda, Maryland. A perfectly wonderful late summer evening with joyful musicians. This was part of the Washington Musical Timeline Concert Series organised by WAMA. Congratulations to all who put this together.

Poster info: They were selling copies of the the show poster to help pay for the video. So even if you were not able to attend, apparently a video will be available at some point.

I arrive about three hours prior to the show and was able to listen in on several rehearsals and sound checks. The facility is acres of rolling hills just south of very high end shopping mall and nearby million dollar homes. The weather was perfect, in fact surprisingly nice. I couldn't accurately guess how many people were there. My position ended up being on the edge of the Lofgren family patchwork of blankets. Lots of young kids enjoying a late summer evening.

The show started at 7:00 pm with the sun setting behind the stage about 15 minutes after the start. The first two hours were tributes to Nils by many local musicians. Please see the poster for a complete list of performers. I'll try to put together the set list and players. There were so many changes that I'm sure my notes contain several errors.

After a short break and under the hazy stars, Mrs. Lofgren, mother to the four boys introduced each of her sons. The boys played a tune, a few more players join Nils for another. Then the reunited Grin took the stage. The rest of the night was Grin except for "I Came to Dance" encore. I'll try to get this set list up too.

Outdoors is not as intimate as clubs can be, but tonite was a delight. The tributes by various artists were touching and a pleasure. Each player or singer seemed to have personal connections to Nil's songs that came through. Though Nils plays Grin songs during his solo shows, the second part of the show was clearly a Grin performance. For me, this was pleasure to hear the Grin take on the songs. And of course, Nils on guitar.

A Story About Mark

Joan suggested that I tell my daughter a funny story about my cousin Mark. I feel that my son and daughter, ages 17 and 19, are old enough for this story now. I grew up with Mark living just about a block away. Mark being a little older, he was always a little more independent. My family moved away in early grade school and his family took the two hour car ride to visit us a few times. One trip stands out today. He and I and our two younger brothers were swimming out in Lake Michigan. And I mean out - straight out with basicly a raft. It was a complete calm day and the sailboat was our raft. We kept pushing the boat out. We heard our parents, aunts and uncles yell at us that we had gone out far enough - probably 1/2 mile. I told Mark that we better turn around. Mark looked at me in complete disbelief. "What? I don't hear anything." I followed my cousin's lead for probably another 1/2 mile in disbelief and enjoyed the day in the Lake. PS. My daughter made her big decision for her life and acted on it today. I'm sure Mark smiled.

Choices on Family Life and Death

My cousin's funeral is tomorrow. He laughed like his father and always invited me back into our extended family. He was two years older and after many afternoons in backyards in first and second grade, we heard from each other less as the years and miles went on. I feel sad about this because of all of my cousins, he is the one I knew.

It is also too bad because he had recently started a blog. While he may have started it to help solve his son's murder, it really reads like he did it for himself. He died driving "his couch" back from northern Canada. He hoped to return a better writer. I feel glad to have his blog to read and wish he could have read my blog before his death. Perhaps we could have become close again in the blogsphere. I'm sure we would have enjoyed that.

Even though I just heard about his wake and funeral, it is possible for me to get there. And my daughter needs me here. Work could wait. A choice between family and family, between cousin and father, between living beyond death and living healthy.

I see what the day brings.