I gotta ask, what is with car dealers and big ass American Flags?

Every state I’ve been too and every town I’ve lived in has had a car dealership or two with the biggest US Flag you have ever seen. Well at least since the last car dealership you drove pass.

I would understand this from a marketing standpoint if you were the only car dealership in town with a big ass flag. But if the guy down the street has one then it kind of defeats the purpose. Now you’re cheesy local TV ad has to rely on the old standards of “NO MONEY DOWN!” and “WE CAN GET YOU FINANCED!”

I appreciate car dealers being all patriotic but I’m guessing they aren’t as hardcore as their big flags lead us to believe at least not like the CEO of Miracle Grow is. The CEO put up the “DON’T TREAD ON ME” flag at company headquarters. The Board of Directors wasn’t too happy about it but he told them that it’ll come down when Bin Laden goes down.

I hope these local car dealers have some sort of similar standards.

I keep getting asked ‘what are your hours?’ I work as long as it takes to get whatever it is I need to get done done. How does that sound?

I’m not trying to be mean or anything I am just tired of being asked the question. I am here to work and be rewarded for that work. If it requires 10-12 hours a day 5-6 days a week I’m ok with that. Like I’ve said before, this is put up or shut up time for me and I’m not playing for a draw.

During events I will be working long hours. It is what’s required.

Speaking of crazy hours, I saw that Massive Attack is going to play at the Hard Rock on the 23rd of September. I won't be able to attend because I will be in Anaheim for an event.

Jogging this morning which is now mid morning for you home gamers on the East Coast. I looked to my right and saw the sunrise behind the New York skyline. I know it’s been hot in NYC lately but not this type of hot.

While on the road to work I was driving straight towards a giant Pyramid. Now that structure fit the desert heat little bit better than the New York skyline.

In any event I guess I have to get use to it. It is Vegas after all.

My friend told me the other day that the average for each hotel room is $600 a day. I guess that’s why they can light up so many things and spew water 30 feet into the air in some form of Lord of the Water Dance.

Just some random thoughts for you on a Monday.

I have made it to Vegas. I got here about Noon on Thursday and spent the rest of the day unloading the truck.

Again, never drive a U-Haul while towing a car across the country b y yourself. It is a pain in the ass, probably highly dangerous, and you will lose your mind somewhere in New Mexico while going up dinky little rolling hills for half of your drive.

In any event, I am still unpacking and trying to find things in Vegas like Costco (which I found. Boo Yah). Pictures of my road trip are coming in the near future.

into Oklahoma City (which isn’t much better by the way but at least it’s an urban area so I’ll make an exception) is the worst paved Interstate I have ever been on. I was beginning to wonder if going off-roading would be better!

So take it from me, do not drive cross country with a U-haul towing a blazer by yourself because it…well you get the point.

However I did get to the overpriced motel room just in time to see the Daily Show which had on Samuel L Jackson. The first clip, Jackson saying “I am sick and tired of the mutha fuckin snakes on this mutha fuckin plane!” I may not even get to see the movie at the theatre but I don’t care because we got MUTHA FUCKIN SNAKES ON A MUTHA FUCKIN PLANE!

Yeah, I am feeling better now.

Big props to Jerry, Liz, and Janice for the shower, food, beer, and good conversation. You really can’t ask for anything more.

It’s cloudy, raining, windy, and I have a cup of coffee and a Wi Fi connection along with a breakfast burrito. Not a bad way to start the last Saturday in Charleston or North Charleston.

Last Day, uneventful then again it’s not like I haven’t done this a few times before.

It occurred to me the other day that the last time I moved West was about 5 years ago and around the same time. I left Savannah for Austin, TX. 5 days early a group of men hijacked planes and flew them into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and one crashed in a field in Pennsylvania.

Fast forward 5 years and I am moving west again, this time from Charleston, SC to Las Vegas, NV. I leave Monday and about 5 days earlier a group of men were thwarted from supposedly trying to blow up commercial airliners over US cities.

I may never move west again.

In any event I am moving west along a road I know. I know where the stops are the pot holes and so on. I know exactly were it starts and where it ends. It is the road that connects me to the South and to the West. What I would do without the road I do not know.

In case you didn’t already know people are trying to kill other people. In this case bad guys were apparently attempting to mix a “explosive cocktail” on a plane a blow it up kill lots and lots of people, mainly Americans.

 Some of the suspects apparently traveled to Pakistan recently and were of Pakistani descent. However, the Pakistani’s played a key role in thwarting the plot for the time being.

 What this should tell us is that if these terrorists want to attack Globalization then Globalization will fight back even harder.

 Personally I like what I saw today. Governments and Intelligence Agencies working together on a Global scale to stop mass murder. If only the UN could work like this.

So here's the deal. I am going to be a Content Developer of New Media at the UFC. This means I am dealing in the on-demand World as opposed to over the air World. I will go to fights and so on but I will be mainly responsible for putting things online or to other new forms of devices and distribution channels.

 So now that that is out here is a thought along the same lines.

 It's always reassuring to me to see heavy hitters in the Movie business like Lucas and Rodriguez point to technology and believe in it. Because I carry some of their beliefs such as technology will only get better, costs will come down, and we are only scratching the surface here.

 I read an op-ed today on CNET from John Chambers the CEO of Cisco Systems. He was giving praise to Prime Minister Tony Blair for embracing technology and education and seeing not only its impact but also its potential. Again I felt reassured of my beliefs.

 Seeing that people like Blair, Chambers, and Lucas are seeing beyond the 6 inches in front of their face gives me hope that these things are going to happen and are going happen sooner rather then later.

 PLUS: I am moving Monday and will attempt to blog from the road. We’ll see how that goes.

I saw a new ad on CNBC (I think) the other day for the New AT&T showing how you can watch something on your TV, continue watching on your Cell phone and laptop and yada yada yada.

 Friday I was getting some blood drawn and got to listen to the tech vent a little bit about here current communications problem.

 She has service with Knology which is the same cable company I use for TV and Internet access. She uses a Knology “bundle” where she gets TV, Internet, and phone service all in one. Well her service went out meaning ALL of her services went out. No TV, Internet, or phone. To boot, she claimed that she has had constant billing issues with the company as well.

 She wasn’t too happy about it any of this.

 This dilemma she is encountering gives us a window into the future of your consumer communications life. The lesson; if one line goes out then your communication life comes to a screeching halt. That movie you can watch on your TV then on your cell phone and your laptop, not anymore.

 What needs to change is not the one line concept but the way of thinking which is going to be even harder. Broadband is a utility. It’s a communication line. Think of it like electricity or water.

 Some might think that this one line idea isn’t a very good because of the problem I described earlier which is valid. However, if a severe storm hits your area and the electricity goes out then you’re probably not going to be able to do anything anyway.

So we got another conflict in the Middle East…again.

 Why is it that anytime something happens with Israel whether it’s a bomb on a bus or rockets dropping in from Lebanon, why do cable networks have to employ British guys or girls to do the reporting (if you can call it that)? Did a consultant tell them that if you get a British person then it would make the reporting sound more international?

 And why do they yell? Everything is so dramatic. Yeah, I know it’s a war people that’s pretty damn dramatic in itself don’t you think? Does exaggerating words and phrases make the missile impacts or resulting deaths mean more or something? I get that it’s terrible, it’s war. People are shooting at each other and rockets are falling from the sky killing people who are trying to seek shelter.

 Of course my favorite part about watching coverage of this war in Southern Lebanon is all of the live shots. If you watch CNN you’ll always see live shots of anchors or reporters in various places. Then they’ll do live shots during one the shows like The Situation Room or Anderson “The Mole” Cooper 360. When exactly do these people have time to report anything if they’re always doing live shots? Maybe I’m not giving them enough credit they do have big staff’s after all.

 Also, why is everything a ‘Developing Story’? When exactly does a story STOP ‘developing’ anyway? It’s a war isn’t something always happening?

 One more thing, ‘Crisis in the Middles East’ when has it not been in “Crisis” what with all of the ‘Developing Stories’ and ‘Breaking News’?

 Just some thoughts about your current ‘Middle East conflict’.