That quote (from the movie True Colors starring John Cusack and James Spader) has always amused me. A friend of mine and I used to quote it to each other when one or the other was frustrated about not having something we felt we “had to have” and it usually brought a grin and bit of a reality check. Yesterday was my birthday and not only did I not get what I deserve I got something I truly don’t deserve - a Canon 40D.

My wife and kids spent way too much money on me and got me this truly beautiful camera. I had been using an old Olympus E-10 as my camera and while it was great in it’s day it is limited by being only a 4 megapixel camera. (When I bought it that seemed quite impressive of course!) The E-10 was a replacement to my first ever SLR camera a Canon EOS 10s which shot regular film. Since I still have both previous cameras I took a shot of them also, I used my wifes point and shoot Canon Digital Elph SD750 for the photos.

I bought the original Canon right after my daughter was born. It was not the latest model then but it was a very solid camera for the money and it served me well. A number of years later I bought the Olympus when friends of mine were getting married and asked me to shoot the wedding for them. They didn’t have the money to hire someone and if I hadn’t done it they would probably have had disposable camera photos and that’s it. The Olympus was not brand new either but it offered a good picture for the price and was really all I could afford at the time. Generally speaking the pictures turned out good and the newlyweds were thrilled with what I was able to give them.

I have a job for this new camera as well. My nephew is getting married this summer and has asked me to take the pictures for him. (Did I mention my brother is a lot older than I am?) I had been planning on getting a new digital slr in the next year anyway but this request gave my wife the excuse to spoil me. (Again - way more than I deserve)

So now I’m off to the store to buy a couple of compact flash cards for the camera. Good thing a couple of my birthday cards had checks in them because I’m sure my checking account is pretty low.

Why didn’t I think of that?  I can get my valentine’s back hair removed for a V-day present! 

It’s always a good idea to run your latest marketing idea past a few other people before you run with it.  That’s the message I take from the ad above.  This is an ad that ran in my local paper and in my personal opinion it shouldn’t have.  Granted, everyone wants to take advantage of special occasions to boost their business but really, there are some combinations that should be avoided.  Whatever poor schmuck gives laser hair removal to his significant other as a V-day gift won’t have to worry about what to get her next year. 

To the guy who created this idea I have this advice, “Reminding your girlfriend/wife that she has back hair isn’t romantic and it isn’t very smart either.  Next year run this ad as a February special instead.

“I stopped drinking, cause I drink too much.  Plus, I’m 40 and I have gray hair.  You’re 40, you have gray hair, you drink too much…you’re no longer a WILD MAN…you’re a DRUNK!”

“Young people drink cause they think life is AWESOME!  Older people drink cause they know…IT’s NOT!  And because we hate young people!”

I was listening Bob and Tom in the morning a while ago and was amused by Nick Griffin who was a guest.  I checked out his website NickGriffn.net and ran across a video of him where I grabbed the above quotes from.  If you want to hear it from the horses mouth look for the video titled, “Nick Griffin on The Late Show with David Letterman 2007″. 

The media has been buzzing over the weekend about the potential hostile takeover of Yahoo by Microsoft for something in the neighborhood of 44 billion dollars. While people hash over the pluses and minuses of such a deal what I found worth noting was a sentence tucked away in this recap of the situation.

“Indeed, Google and Yahoo have already begun hammering out a partnership that would not only outsource Yahoo’s search, but would have the companies work together in other key areas that could strengthen both their hands.”

This is what I expected might happen soon when I wrote several weeks ago Something Curious At Yahoo! These Days.  It seemed that Yahoo! was showing signs they wanted to stop being a search engine and return to focusing on being a portal.  Now with the Microsoft threat those plans seems to have been sped up.  Whether it will matter now is unclear.  If a rival bid comes along it may but if Microsoft’s bid is successful we certainly won’t see Google results on Yahoo! search.

There is a lot of posturing going on by Google, Yahoo!  and others right now regarding how generous Microsoft’s offer is and/or whether consumers should feel threatened by a Micro-Hoo combination.  Regardless what your take is on either of those issues it will be hard for Yahoo! not to accept the Microsoft proposal given the financial bonus it would bring their share holders.

Apparently there are other manic people out there as Wired had this to say about subscription cards in their “Why things Suck” article:

“You know all those subscription cards cluttering up this issue of Wired? Well, um … sorry. We understand you detest the deforesting paper rectangles” “bind-in” or “blow-in” cards, to use industry parlance. Honestly, we do, too. But they’re part of our business model. It’s not just about money, really it’s about your eyeballs. See, advertisers pay based on audience size. And blow-in cards are a cheap way to snag subscribers and boost numbers: It costs a glossy monthly about $10 to acquire a new reader through one of those cards. But using direct mail? $25  or more.”

Okay, I get it.  I realized that there was a dollar issue behind those damn things but let me give you some advice that might make me slightly less likely to hit a wall or kick the cat everytime I read your mag.

1. Cut the number of subscription cards per magazine down from five to two.  Take a look at the picture below and tell me that’s not a bit more than is really necessary.  And you even annoy me two different ways by having them fall out of the magazine because they aren’t secured and by making me have to rip out others because they are fixed into the binding.  C’mon, give me at least a few less sub cards and I’ll promise to get you one new subscriber this year.
2. If I’m buying the magazine at the newstand I understand having a couple of sub cards but as a subscriber you should know I don’t need 60 cards each year to subscribe again, I’m already sold.  So I suggest that you make two versions of the magazine. One version would be for newstands and would obviously still contain subscription cards. After all, if those readers don’t love you enough to commit to a long term relationship they should be tortured.  (Just don’t don’t spit on me because others don’t love you enough.) The second version would be for your loyal subscribers which wouldn’t contain subscription cards inside the pages of the magazine .  After all, Wired gets delivered in a plastic wrap which you could still slip a card into (inside the plastic - not the magazine) in case it’s time for me to re-subscribe.

I know the chance of you taking my advice is unlikely (okay non-existent) but at least I feel better for having told you how I feel.  Now if you will excuse me I have to apologize to the cat.

So scottb and Sue here’s the picture I promised. 

Ghost is up on the 55th floor of the Palms Casino resort.  It has floor to ceiling windows and a balcony offering a stunning 360 degree view of the Vegas strip. Here is a photo taken from the balcony that doesn’t come close to doing justice to the view.

Many thanks to Microsoft who invited us to Ghost.  I have used Live Search more often since and even increased my Adcenter budget in an effort to pay back your kindness. : )

After two weeks of practicing the “Tigers” took the court this weekend to face “The Frogs” so named because of their green jerseys.  I am pleased to announce that our team finished the game ahead 2-1 giving us a perfect season.  I’m quitting now to protect my coaching win percentage.

Also similar to what can be seen in the CNET video with Kara the television star likes to flirt.  My wife was standing nearby watching as David Caruso had his picture taken in the convention center by a professional photographer he had brought with him.  During a break in taking photos he walked over to her and commented that she was very attractive and asked if she would like her picture taken with him.

So, it’s true that David Caruso showed no interest in a picture taken with me while I spoke to him.  It’s also true that he sought out my wife for a photo.  Luckily, I can salve my ego with the knowledge that my wife is more attractive than I am AND the fact that I don’t want “Horatio Caine” (Caruso’s character name on the show) flirting with me.  : )

More seriously, David Caruso seemed like a nice guy and was remarkably patient about having his picture taken or giving an autograph to those that asked.  If I had been more aggressive about getting a picture with him (or if I’d been an attractive woman) I could have had one too.

I don’t have anything concrete to tie that claim to but here are three quick have got me thinking:

1. There have been whisperings lately about Yahoo!’s commitment to search and/or the lack thereof. 
2. Yahoo!’s leadership changed this last year with the promise of getting Yahoo! headed to increased profitability.  Newly named CEO Jerry Yang said in late July, “There will be no sacred cows and we need to move very quickly.” also “I intend to spend the next 100 days or so focused on mapping out a strategic plan for long-term success, working with our teams to put the right organization and the right people in place, and making any necessary changes.”  Hmmm, 100 days ended not too long ago.
3. Yahoo! chose not to send representives to Search Engine Startegies Chicago show earlier this month. (While they did have representatives at WebmasterWorld’s PubCon it was announced in 2006 that Yahoo! had signed a two year sponsorship agreement with PubCon.)

It’s certainly possible that I’m just reading too much into random events but don’t be surprised if the Search industry is soon buzzing.

8:15 am

We started off the day getting a picture with Santa for the “wee keg tour - southern style”.  Many thanks to the desk worker at the hotel for taking the picture for us.

9:00 am

 Excitement starts early this morning as we are able to narrowly avoid an attack by a killer tumbleweed.  the semi-truck we were following took evasive maneuvers (it really was quite large) causing us to wonder if were going to die fromthe tumbleweed or from colliding with him.

10:30 am

What appeared to be a state trooper who had pulled over a car along the side of the road turned out to be border patrol agents who had a man handcuffed and kneeling beside their vehicle.  We decided not to stop to get details.

12:30 pm

We got quite a shock as we were coming into Phoenix when we saw evidence the wee keg had hit the big time.  And to think we knew him when he was just a struggling wannabe.

1:20 pm

We pull over on the outskirts of Phoenix to get some food.  The faster we eat and get back on the road the sooner we can be done driving for the day so we end up choosing Taco Bell because it was conveniently located and we’re both cheap.  While we are there what seems like a freakin monsoon lets loose from the sky.  Sheets of rain pound the roof while we calmly enjoy tacos.  I left the camera in the truck and while I wanted to get a picture of the storm I’m way too happy being in dry clothes to go back for it.  Luckily for us the worst of the storm passes after only 20 minutes and we are back on the road.

4:00 pm

We have entered the Joshua Tree National Forest which is VERY COOL!

4:30 pm

Tired of taking over the internet Wikipedia is going brick and mortar with it’s own town.

 

5:00 pm

We’ve left the Joshua Trees behind and are now surrounded by cactus.  Watching cactus is just like cloud watching where you begin to “imagine” things in their shapes after you see enough of them.  For example, I just saw a cactus that looked like an illustration from the Kama Sutra.

5:30 pm

We find a pull out beside the road that allows us to get a picture of a Joshua Tree.  And while we’re doing that I decide to get a picture of the “wee keg” on the open road. 

7:00 pm

We crossed over the California border for just a little bit since our rental truck is not allowed to cross the Hoover Dam.  Heading into California meant being stopped at an “agricultural checkpoint” so we could prove we weren’t bringing anything into the state that would do harm.  We naturally had to open the back of the truck and the inspector noticed our “wee keg”.  Adam and I shared a few tense moments wondering if he would try to come up with a reasonhe should be able to confiscate but luckily we were on our way soon with the “wee keg” still safely stowed in the back.

8:00 pm

Home!  Okay, not home but the hotel that will be home for most of a week.  Right now anyplace that doesn’t constantly move or smell like Adam is heaven.