Please & Thank You

Say them often.

Use them daily.

Works in life.

Works in business.

Don’t forget to.

Rinse and repeat.

Image: Fran Tapia

As many of you know, I grew a mustache during November as a part of Team Boston in Movember. All of the money raised went on to benefit the Prostate Cancer Foundation and LIVESTRONG. My team generated nearly $40,000 with $400 of that coming from those of you supporting me. To that I say thank you to my friends, family and online friends that I am still yet to make an IRL connection with. Please accept this video as my humble thank you to you and let me know if there is a way that I can help you in the future.

If you want to see some full mustached tomfoolery, check out the Team Boston slideshow below:

Amid many of the stories that were printed on the relief in Haiti, perhaps the most troubling one was about Fugees front man Wyclef Jean supposedly profiting off of his charity.

This morning he responded with a YouTube video to the allegations. This is a brilliant PR move (similar to Conan’s) that also gives more insight into the charity.  Check it out for yourself (click here if you can’t view):

What do you think of the move to respond on YouTube rather than to the media?

Thanks to C.C. Chapman for passing this along.

When I was packing to head to New Hampshire, I saw a Nike commercial that was titled It’s All About You in conjunction with Livestrong. Instead of the staple of Lance Armstrong, the commercial featured snippets of other atheletes who had beat cancer.

One of the interesting stories that I saw in the piece was Jon Lester. Initially, I thought that it was just another simple ad campaign, until I read this story at Fanhouse:

When Jon Lester takes the mound Friday evening in Boston, he’ll not only carry with him his 7-6 record, he’ll also carry a yellow baseball glove to raise awareness for cancer; a disease that knocked Lester down, but not out of baseball three years ago.

Friday will mark Lester’s involvement with Nike and Livestrong to help “raise awareness, fund research and end the stigma about cancer that many survivors face.” Lester will wear his yellow glove for every start at Fenway Park in July.

Pretty cool if you ask me, so without further adieu, here’s the commercial

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fX1dboWZ1yk]

First it was the Internet, a fad that traditional news media would tolerate. This was the beginning of the end as it berthed blogs and last I checked some papers still don’t want to admit that blogs and other forms of online media have made the morning paper as outdated as a VCR.

Aside from killing the traditional newspaper Industry, the Internet, along with cable television, created a 24-hour news cycle that began to challenge evening news. However the assault on mainstream media had always been lacking something- live video to go along with news that could go along with the pulpit that anyone with a computer was given with the Net.

Well that all looks like it changed when Google announced Reporter’s Center on YouTube. Not only does the site promote the ability to help shape and create news, it also gives pointers from reporters and credible news sources. For Google it is a genius move as any video that’s uploaded onto their site has the chance to go viral if it hits one news source. Imagine if Twitter had this during the height of the Iranian protests. Google obviously saw this and is looking for a grainy cell-phone video to become the next big thing and add popularity and capital into their video money pit.

Here’s a how-to video on starting a citizen journalism organization, which just furthers the assault on news as we know it.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AL3CeFUp5EI]

Mistake (as defined by dictionary.com) – 1. An error in action, calculation, opinion, or judgment caused by poor reasoning, carelessness, insufficient knowledge, etc. 2.     a misunderstanding or

misconception.  -verb (used with object) 3. to regard or identify wrongly as something or someone else: I mistook him for the mayor. 4. to understand, interpret, or evaluate wrongly; misunderstand; misinterpret. -verb (used without object)5. to be in error. -Idiom 6. and no mistake, for certain; surely: He’s an honorable person, and no mistake.

Everyone makes them – whether it’s a typo on an email, rolling

through a stop sign or simply acting before thinking about the consequences for a particular action. More often than not, we can easily laugh them off or take the flack that we get from our bosses or family.

Then there are times where the mistake gets you in trouble. A DUI, shoplifting or sneaking a cigarette on an airplane come to mind.

There are also mistakes that ruin the lives of many people. In this category, you’d usually think of guys like O.J. causing this kind of strife – not a college administrator.

Well that was until today with at the UC San Diego:

NBC San Diego - Earlier this month, about 17,000 students were offered admission for the fall, leaving nearly 29,000 hopefuls out in the cold.

But on Tuesday, the school’s communications office said an e-mail was sent Monday afternoon to all 46,377 students who applied for admission — including the 29,000 rejects — welcoming them to the campus.

A half-hour later, school officials said, they realized their mistake. Almost two hours after the first note went out, a second e-mail was sent, apologizing to 28,889 freshmen applicants for the mistake.

While on parent called this colossal mistake, I think that is a gross understatement. How can you explain to a student who had their heart set on UCSD and received an email saying that they were accepted we’re sorry you weren’t supposed to get that email? All because someone in charge of the email list didn’t double check before clicking the send button.

Unfortunately these students will have to grin and bear it; it might make it more bearable if the email administrator was handed a pink slip and a ticket to the Unemployment Olympics.

We’ve all had contests that we would kill to win. Whether its a high-dive meet for a shot at the podium, eating contest for the mustard belt or a putting contest for bragging rights the prize was only outweighed by the pride taken in the

Image Sam Adams

work – maybe not the eating contest.

However most contests really don’t offer something that is a true reward for winning where you get to show off your wares to the masses that is unless you are a home brewer. For the second year in a row, Sam Adams is offering one lucky brewer to have their liquid goodness poured at Gillette Stadium, home of the Patriots during the 2010 football season in their Patriot Home Brew Contest.

Now I may not like the Pats, or be the best brewer, but the contest is one hell of a way to hold bragging rights over your friends. Plus imagine toasting one of your brews at the opening kickoff or having it brewed over in Jamaica Plain and distributed to select liquor stores.

Sam Adams is the biggest micro-brewer in the US and may very well be the largest American brewer. I know you are thinking Bud, Coors and Miller, but all of them are now owned by foreign brewers. If you’re a brewer this might be your one chance to have your beer produced without having your house smell like a bakery and have the risk of exploding glass. Click here for the full contest rules.

I was trolling around YouTube tonight and came across this video, which truly fascinated me. For those of you that know me, you know that I hate to paint, but enjoy looking at painting.

A quick look at this thumbnail looks like an intricate painting, which is a gross understatement.

Enjoy.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3SNYtd0Ayt0]