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The five word webby speech

Monday, December 7th, 2009

5 WORD SPEECHES FROM WEBBY WINNERS, INCLUDING DAVID BOWIE, EBAY/MEG WHITMAN, BEASTIE BOYS, YOUTUBE FOUNDERS

From David Bowie and Beastie Boys to eBay’s Meg Whitman and YouTube co-founders Steve Chen and Chad Hurley, winners at Tuesday night’s 11th Annual Webby Awards proved once again that less is more with a speedy procession of the awards’ trademark five-word speeches.

Unlike most awards ceremonies, The Webby Awards limits speeches to just five words, a rule that is only slightly relaxed for special achievement honorees like Bowie.

“I only get five words?” Bowie asked. He continued: “Sh*t, that was five. Four more there. That’s three,” concluding: “Two,” before exiting the stage.

*17/702/13*

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Our Reality Show moment

Monday, December 7th, 2009

J and I have been avoiding reality shows for years but have been finally sucked in.

It started with the second season of Top Chef and has progressed to two other shows – by accident, really. Note: Sara Mair is going down! Why would they vote off Joey in favor of this passive aggressive jerk? Bad decision.

I stumbled upon the show VH1′s “Rock of Love” one day while flipping through the endless array of un-watchable cable shows. Believe it or not – it was the only thing worth watching. The ridiculousness of the show was what drew us in. We questioned aloud whether or not the people on this show were actually from this planet. They seemed so serious about their – ummm, goal? I missed the intro so I wasn’t sure exactly what it was supposed to be. The premise of the show is basically – fifteen women vie for Bret Michael’s (Former lead singer of the 80′s band Poison) affections. They live at his house and take turns talking with him. I think they actually are supposed to end up with him in the end? (True Love) It is so dumb that I am having trouble explaining it. The groupie-like women on the show have apparently divided themselves into the bad girls and good girls…I don’t see the difference – but, hey, that’s me. They spend each episode bickering until one of them is asked to leave. Try watching it and tell me what you think. J and I are waiting for Bret Michael’s to reveal his hairline. What’s up with the bandanas and hats, dude? hehe….hiding something?

The second show, “The Two Coreys” airs on A&E is about two 80′s childhood stars Corey Feldman and Corey Haim. Feldman is the family-man-working-actor and Haim is the unemployed-sloppy-single-nonworking-actor. Both have a history of drug abuse (Haim suffering the most) and the show is a stagey look at their attempt to revamp their careers. The antagonist in the show is Feldman’s wife and believes me – she is very unlikable. At this point, I am rooting for Haim. I want this guy to be able to make a living at acting. Who hasn’t messed up and why shouldn’t he be given a chance to redeem himself? The show isn’t bad – a notch up from Rock of Love but I am biased (due to a childhood crush on Haim). Note: To whoever is making a straight-to-video sequel to “The Lost Boys” – Two Words: BAD IDEA.

I can’t believe we have been sucked into the Reality Show black hole…I rationalize it by thinking – at least I am not falling for “Dancing with the Stars” or “American Idol.” Now THAT is shit.

[Rock of Love photo courtesy of VH1 and Two Coreys courtesy of A&E]

*20/702/13*

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Things you learn over time

Monday, December 7th, 2009

•Most of it doesn’t matter. So much of what I got excited about, anxious about, or wasted my time and energy on, turned out not to matter. There are only a few things that truly count for a happy life. I wish I had known to concentrate on those and ignore the rest.

•The greatest source of misery and hatred in this world is clinging to past hurts. Look at all the terrorists and militant groups that hark back to some event long gone, or base their justification for killing on claims of some supposed historical right to a bit of land, or redress for a wrong done hundreds of years ago.

•Waiting to do something until you can be sure of doing it exactly right means waiting for ever. One of the greatest advantages anyone can have is the willingness to make a fool of themselves publicly and often. There’s no better way to learn and develop. Heck, it’s fun too.

•Following the latest fashion, in work or in life, is spiritual and intellectual suicide. You can be a cheap imitation of the ideal of the moment; or you can be a unique individual. The choice is yours. Religion isn’t the opiate of the masses, fashion is.

•If people complain that you’re too fond of going your own way and aren’t fitting in, you must be on the right track. Who wants to live life as a herd animal? The guys in power don’t want you to fit in for your own sake; they want you to stop causing them problems and follow their orders. You can’t have the freedom to be yourself and meekly fit in at the same time.

•If you make your work your life, you’re making your life into hard work. Like most people, I confused myself by looking at people like artists and musicians whose life’s “work” fills their time. That isn’t work. It’s who they are. Unless you have some overwhelming passion that also happens to allow you to earn a living doing it, always remember that work should be a means to an end: living an enjoyable life. Spend as little time on the means as possible consistent with achieving the end. Only idiots live to work.

•The quickest and simplest way to wreck any relationship is to listen to gossip. The worst way to spend your time is spreading more. People who spread gossip are the plague-carriers of our day. Cockroaches are clean, kindly creatures in comparison.

•Trying to please other people is largely a futile activity. Everyone will be mad at you sometime. Most of the people you deal with will dislike, disparage, belittle, or ignore what you say or do most of the time. Besides, you can never really know what others do want, so a good deal of whatever you do in that regard will go to waste. Be comforted. Those who love you will probably love you regardless, and they are the ones whose opinions are worth caring about. The rest aren’t worth five minutes of thought between them.

•Every winner is destined to be a loser in due course. It’s great to be up on the winner’s podium. Just don’t imagine you can stay there for ever. Worst of all is being determined to do so, by any means available.

•You can rarely, if ever, please, placate, change, or mollify an asshole. The best thing you can do is stay away from every one you encounter. Being an asshole is a contagious disease. The more time you spend around one, the more likely you are to catch it and become one too.

•Everything takes twice as long as you plan for and produces results about half as good as you hoped. There’s no reason to be downhearted about this. Just allow for it and move on.

•People are oddly consistent. Liars usually tell lies. Cheaters cheat whenever it suits them. A person who confides in you has usually confided in several others first—but not got the response they wanted. A loyal friend will stay loyal under enormous amounts of thoughtless abuse.

•However hard you try, you can’t avoid being yourself. Who else could you be? You can act and pretend, but the person acting and pretending is still you. And if you won’t accept yourself—and do the best you can with what you have—who then has any obligation to accept you?

•When it comes to blatant lies, there are none more egregious than budget figures. Time spent agonizing over them is time wasted. Even if (miracle of miracles!) yours are honest and accurate, no one else will have been so foolish.

•The loudest noise in the world is the sound of people whining. Don’t add to it.

*18/702/13*

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Flexcar and Zipcar Merge!

Monday, December 7th, 2009

Flexcar and Zipcar, two firms that popularized car-sharing but so far haven’t figured out how to make it pay, are merging in the hope that they might turn a profit within a year.

The Washington Post reports that Flexcar, which is led by America Online founder Steve Case, is merging with Zipcar, which is the larger of the two firms. The idea, Case said, is to quickly expand the market for car-sharing and position the new company — which will be called Zipcar — to go public.

“They’re both in turbo-growth mode,” Case told the Post. “We think the companies combined will be on a path to profitability in the next year or so, and with rapid and significant expansion will be ready” for an initial public offering of stock.

The two companies were founded in 1999 and lead a field that has grown to include two dozen competitors. The new Zipcar will serve some 50 cities in 23 states, two Canadian provinces and London. When the deal is done, the merged companies will have 180,000 members and a fleet of more than 5,000 cars.

*13/702/13*

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Spinach with Blue Cheese and Apples

Monday, December 7th, 2009

* About four cups or one bag of fresh spinach

* 4 ounces of blue cheese crumbled (I used Bleu d’Auvergne)

* One apple

* 4 ounces of candied pecans

* ½ cup balsamic vinegar

* 1 tablespoon honey

* 1 ½ tablespoons Dijon mustard

* 3 tablespoons water

* 1 cup olive oil

* ¼ teaspoon salt

1. Wash and dry field spinach.

2. Cut the apple into ½ inch pieces.

3. Chop the candied pecans.

4. Toss the spinach, apples, and pecans.

5. Put the vinegar, honey, mustard, water, olive oil, salt and pepper in a shaker and shake well until blended.

6. Add to the spinach to your taste.

7. Serve immediately.

*14/702/13*

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Baked Red Daikon

Monday, December 7th, 2009

1/2 pound daikon

1 T honey

1 T butter

1 dash cinnamon

Steam daikon for 5 minutes, drain and arrange in a shallow baking dish.

Combine honey, butter and cinnamon in a small saucepan to make a glaze.

Pour over radishes, bake at 350 till tender, about 30 minutes.

*15/702/13*

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