Socially Speaking

100 Greatest TV Theme Songs Ever, 95-91

Mon, 14 Mar 2011 23:48:19 -0400

Numbers 95-91 in my little list of the 100 Greatest TV Theme Songs Ever.

95. One Day At A Time — Not that I’m a big huge fan of this show or this song. But there’s a nostalgic element to this for me; re-runs of this show used to run at like 11:30 on Friday nights when I was a kid, and I remember sitting up with friends as an 11 year old watching this cheesy show.

94. Good Times — How come that when I was a kid, I didn’t realize how unfunny Jimmie Walker was? In hindsight, that’s like not noticing that Kate Gosselin was domineering. Anyway, the theme song and more importantly that opening montage it played over set the tone quite well for one of the first family series to be set not in the perfect suburb or among the elite but in poverty.

93. Eight Is Enough — No, the title does not refer to the combined number of arrests for the various Bradford kids, though it could have. As I look back on many 70s comedies, I now know why they added a laugh track: they needed to. But belly up to the dinner table, kids — there’s a plate of homemade wishes on the kitchen windowsill.

92. Mad Men — I haven’t watched much of the show; while the premise sounded interesting, between fatherhood and work I don’t remember the last time I was able to watch anything on a regular enough basis to get into it. But this theme song is a smooth blend of strings and groove, and adds to the series’ allure.

91. L.A. Law — Is there a theme song that screams 80s Yuppie any more than this one? Sure, others capture other elements of that decade quite well, but for the anthem of the much maligned Yuppie, I think this was unparalleled.

100 Greatest TV Theme Songs Ever

Sun, 13 Mar 2011 12:00:18 -0400

This post and the series that will follow it have nothing to do with social media. Or anything of consequence. This is a simple little fun thing to do with no redeeming business value, and I make no apologies for that!

A while back, my friend Lish Dorset and I were talking about a particular TV show’s theme song, and got into a discussion of what the top TV theme songs of all time are. It’s taken me several months to revisit the subject, but I think I have my top 100 now. My rankings have nothing to do with the quality of the shows or their historical value. I also didn’t take “iconic” status as the #1 factor - let’s face it, even though we all know the Brady Bunch theme, the thing’s an annoying earworm that would be playing on the elevator to hell - so it won’t make the top 50 despite iconic status.

No, my choices are based on 1) The coolness of the music; 2) the effectiveness of the theme at setting the tone for the show; and 3) iconic, nostalgic or historic status. A song that was a hit before its use as a TV theme is disqualified (I’m talking to you, CSI) because it’s not best known as a TV theme.

I’ll put a few new ones up each chance I get. Here’s the first few:

100. “Leave It To Beaver” — Evocative of the aspirations to suburban conformity that held America during the Eisenhower era. Simply listening to it from beginning to end results in the sprouting of a white picket fence and the gestation of the “.5” of the 2.5 children.

99. “The Dick Van Dyke Show” — Iconic yet an earworm. Don’t believe me? Listen to it now and tell me it’s not in your head all stinking day.

98. “The Jeffersons” —I know, everyone knows Movin’ On Up and cites it whenever a friend moves apartments or houses. But I’m just not a fan of the faux gospel sound.

97. “Silver Spoons” — Can’t you just feel the return to family values in the air? Yknow, because together, we’re going to find our way. One of a series of kind of pablumesque family sitcoms of the early Reagan era, but it did feature Erin Gray, who’s as attractive as I thought she was when I was 14.

96. “Bewitched” — Captures 1960s suburbia as effectively as Beaver’s theme did the 50s.

Thanks Indeed

Thu, 25 Nov 2010 16:21:01 -0500

Thanksgiving. Since for most of my adult life my family has been spread across the country or even planet, this has not for years been a “get family together” holiday. Most of my Thanksgivings have been of the “gosh it’s nice to have a four day weekend” variety more than anything else. But this year, I’m actually going to take the time to remember the spirit of the day. In no particular order (except for number one), here are things I am thankful for this year:

My wife Holly and son Anthony, who remind me every day that there are more important things in life than my job, my company, social media, or anything else.
I’m still alive and semi-kicking. I’m not as healthy as I once was, and age is starting to take its toll. But I’m alive, I can get up every day, I’m mobile, and it doesn’t take too many miracles of modern science to keep me breathing.
My company turned three straight quarters of profit and we had a successful IPO. After the stressful past two years and not knowing what the future held, it feels indescribably good to have things clicking now. Thankful also for all the people who either stood by us or have agreed to give us a second chance.
I have a remarkable team and extended team of people who are outstanding at what they do and help make me successful. Every one of them is a blessing.
The Red Sox, Tigers, Cardinals, Reds and even the Nationals. And that the Yankees failed in their efforts to buy another World Series.
Detroit. Everything about this place — from the resiliency and scrappiness and grit of its people to the simple placid beauty of watching the Detroit River flow by on a summer afternoon.
I landed a book deal. It’s been a life goal for me to write a book someday, and now I’m doing it. I’m incredibly thankful to all the people whose efforts over the years made me look good enough to get a book deal.
The remarkable community here in Detroit, including Dave Murray, Brandon Chesnutt, Alicia Dorset, Audrey Walker, Henry Balanon, Becks Davis, Stephen Clark, Hubert Sawyers, Adrian Pittman, Hajj Flemings, Jane Fader, Angela Hernandez, Charlie Wollberg, and dozens of others.
Some wicked smart people in the social media world who teach me something by example almost every day, including Geoff Livingston, Aaron Strout, Mitch Joel, David Meerman Scott, Chris Brogan, Joseph Jaffe, Peter Shankman, Olivier Blanchard, Liz Strauss, Lucretia Pruitt, Jason Keath, Amber Naslund, and many others. Every one of them teaches me something different than the others. Sometimes, I even disagree with them or they with me. That is why they are so awesome.
Some really cool people I’ve met online and/or in various outreach efforts with GM. Some are social media rock stars, some are just rock stars in their own worlds. But I love ‘em all the same, and they are proof that online friends are damn well real friends. Brian Simpson, Jessica Randazza, George Smith, Nicole D’Alonzo, Emily Haughey, Summer Boone, Casey Mullins, Chris Moody, Anissa Mayhew, Jeff Pulver, among many others, have made my life more enjoyable through their presence in it. Thank you, guys.
Little things that make life fun: the Sesame Street Grover Spice Guy; Armando Galarraga and Jim Joyce reminding us what sportsmanship is; the funny look on Wayne Gretzky’s face when the pillar didn’t work during the Winter Olympics; the look on the young Chilean son’s face as his father was brought out of the San Jose mine.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone.

Update on Faith - Sad, Mad!

Thu, 18 Nov 2010 20:46:58 -0500

Thank you to everyone who responded with so much care to the story of Rosie Faith, the injured cat I told you about Monday. I would have followed up sooner, but as you may have heard we had a small activity at GM this week that took up my full attention and I haven’t been able to do this until now. I have an update for you - if you are an animal lover or have even the slightest bit of humanity in you it will infuriate you, but we need to tell the story in order to help this cat and prevent horrible things like this from happening to other animals.

Faith was picked up Monday afternoon from the lady who notified us. She was transported to the home of the MMCR director, where Sarah was able to evaluate her late Monday. There are a few changes in the initial analysis of Faiths situation. When Sarah first approached her, she moved towards Sarah & rubbed her head in Sarah’s hands. Faith then rolled onto her back (as if to say please take a look) which allowed Sarah to do a thorough examination.

Faiths injuries are more severe than originally thought. She is the victim of animal cruelty via humans. She has severe burns to all of her tail as well as her genital area. She is not a she but is a he. The evidence shows that he (Now just Faith) was set on fire. It melted his genitals so it made it very difficult to tell if he was a boy or girl. He is able to go to the bath room. Regarding the tail damage the bottom 50% of his tail is black bone that will need to be amputated. Infection has set in, in his tail and his genitals. He is currently on pain medications as well as antibiotics.

He is scheduled to go into the vet tomorrow morning. (CB note: this note came Wednesday, so he has been to the vet as of this morning; I will update his condition for you when I learn it.) The vet will do a much more extensive examination to determine if he will need a second surgery for his neuter procedure and any additional reconstructive surgery that he will need. I know this sounds so grim but we really expect a full recovery after a tail amputation, which will have no effect on his ability to function normally.

For those of you that made donations to help cover his care we are beyond grateful & appreciate all that you have done. The initial $300 request was an estimate. But we do believe that we have gotten enough donations to cover his immediate medical & follow up care. Any donations that we received that maybe above what it takes to care for Faith, will be used to take care of the approximate 120 other precious kitties that we have in our care currently. Many of our cats are also in need of special care. Again thank you from Faith and all of our current and future kitties.

You read that correctly: someone set this cat on fire and melted his genitals! When I think of the unspeakable pain this poor animal must have gone through and still must feel, it makes me want to cry for him, and makes me want to find the horrible, evil, cowardly person who did this to him. (I’d suggest a similar punishment… but discretion probably mandates that I just suggest pressing animal cruelty charges!)

This is a sad, horrible situation — but one that can get better for this cat thanks to people like everyone who donated. Here’s a photo of this sweet little boy:

Thank you to everyone who chose to help. Click here to learn more about Mid-Michigan Cat Rescue.

A Kitten Needs Your Help!

Mon, 15 Nov 2010 14:44:49 -0500

Sorry for the non-social media or automotive related post; as some of you know my other passion is trying to help as many animals and animal rescue programs as possible, and my wife and I do a lot of volunteering with Mid-Michigan Cat Rescue. This story comes to us from MMCR, and I’m throwing it out to you to ask for help.

We received a call from a very concerned citizen last week. She rescued an injured 6 month old kitten from under a family member’s porch. Unfortunately she is unable to keep this sweet little girl, who is going to need a great deal of extra care and love. We need your help!

Sadly, this kitten — whom we’ve named Rosie-Faith — has a severely damaged tail. We don’t know whether it was human abuse or an animal that got to her, but she will need to have her tail amputated in order to save her life. Amputations are not only expensive but very traumatic for any animal, and Rosie-Faith will need a great deal of extra medical care, love and socializing before she is ready for a new furever home. Our rescue is currently at capacity, so our director Sarah will be personally fostering Rosie-Faith in her home in order to provide the additional medical care she will need until she is ready for adoption.

Not only has the deadline passed for us to take her, but the longer this little angel goes without medical care, the worse her odds of recovery are. Can you help her have a second chance? We need to raise $300 ASAP. If you’d like to consider donating, please click here http://bit.ly/cUy5xu

CB here… my family and I will be donating to get things started. But we could really use your help. Please consider helping this sweetie.

Per the rules of #Movember, I’m starting the month clean...

Mon, 01 Nov 2010 18:48:31 -0400

Per the rules of #Movember, I’m starting the month clean shaven. The real mystery: will there be anything but silver in my mustache/goatee when it comes in?

If All My Friends Jumped Off A Bridge... #movember

Mon, 01 Nov 2010 16:24:05 -0400

Since somewhere around 10th grade or so, I haven’t been the kind of guy who’d just do something because all his friends were doing it. But a whole lot of my friends in the social media space are doing something this month, and they’re doing it for an important reason… so I’m going to do something because all the cool kids are doing it.

#Movember is to men’s health and men’s cancer awareness what the pink ribbon is to women’s health and breast cancer awareness. Men across the social web are committing to “change the face of men’s health and men’s cancer awareness” by literally changing their faces — growing a mustache if they don’t have facial hair, or shaving it off if they do usually wear it. Teams across the country raise money for men’s cancer causes as part of the effort as well.

Few things can make a grown man cry, weep, or squirm like the idea of a prostate exam. Of course, one of the things that would be worse is prostate cancer. Or testicular cancer. So part of the aim of #Movember is to get guys to figure out that they’re not invincible, and that as unpleasant as examinations for prostate and testicular cancer might be, they are miles better than the alternative.

My father is a prostate cancer survivor, so in his honor I’m joining the effort. There’s good teams to join: Team Austin, Team RDU, Team Boston… I think I have the rest of the day to play the “which team will I join” game (maybe I should hire Scott Boras as my agent?). But in the end, it won’t matter whose “team” I join — because we’re all on the same team.

I’ll be posting a photo per day for the month of November as I grow my face out. I haven’t worn a goatee since my DC days — but for this cause, I’ll put up with the embarrassment of the fact that, like the hair on my head, my facial hair now comes in gray. My wife hates facial hair, but for this cause she’s lifting her ban on my growing my face out. I hope you’ll consider joining. I hope you’ll consider pledging to any of the teams. Most of all, guys, I hope you’ll change the face of your own health and make regular exams part of your routine.

#Movember it is.

Where Is The Love?

Tue, 07 Sep 2010 23:52:56 -0400

So I’m watching a freak of nature happening tonight; fires started as high winds blew down power lines and were subsequently whipped by high winds into infernos. More than 80 fires burned across my adopted hometown today. It’s a sad and frightening thing - both because of the speed at which it happened, and because so many of those affected have nothing left and nowhere else to go.

I’m also watching irresponsible coverage from national news outlets desperate to push the “arson” angle despite overwhelming evidence that Mother Nature was overwhelmingly to blame. Unfortunately, here in Detroit we’ve gotten used to national media looking for negative angles to pursue on Detroit; it almost doesn’t surprise anymore.

I’m also watching a disgraceful display on many national news websites, where at least half of the reader comments are of the “let ‘em burn” variety. I’m left wondering how anyone with a conscience can take glee in the suffering of fellow human beings, or how some Americans can be so vitriolic in wishing ill on fellow Americans. And I’m left wondering what happened to the concept of compassion and empathy.

Social media offers such wonderful possibilities for people to connect, to build relationships, to find commonalities and bring people together. The web also offers people the choice to be ugly in cowardly anonymity, to say things online that they’d never dream of being rude or callous enough to say in person. We each have the choice to use the tools of the web to be whatever kind of person we wish. I often tell my eight year old that the way to know somebody’s true character is observing what they do when they think nobody’s watching. I think an amendment to that might be that the way to know someone’s true character is how they behave when the Net ensures that no one can know for sure who they are.

Thankfully, the good mostly outweighs the bad — online and in real life. My wish tonight, though, is that all of us — especially myself — remember when we’re engaging online that even when we’re in heated disagreements, we still have a responsibility to be decent people, and we watch what we say or how we say it. Civility is not, contrary to what we might see sometimes, an outdated or dead concept. I hope we all dedicate ourselves to practicing it more fervently.

Epic

Sat, 28 Aug 2010 13:37:04 -0400

Back in late January, about 5-6 weeks before SXSW 2010, I was sitting with Detroit semi-legend (and soon to be father) Henry Balanon in the Volt Bar at the Renaissance Center Marriott in downtown Detroit. We each had an idea we wanted to run past each other — and as it turned out, they were similar ideas. Over Ketel One and tonics, we quickly realized that we might be onto something.

I had Chevrolet at SXSW as a major sponsor and was scheming out a road trip that might draw some attention to our presence in Austin before the event began. Henry had a plan to get to SXSW and wanted to get there in such a way that did something to benefit Detroit. As Chevrolet is a great Detroit brand and we were sponsoring South By, Henry wondered whether we’d be willing to work with him on a road trip idea. “Wait a second,” I remember saying, “I had been thinking this, but what if we did that instead?” Excitedly and pretty much in back-of-cocktail napkin fashion, he and I spent about two hours bouncing ideas off each other and mapping out what would eventually, with the help of LOTS of other people, become the Chevrolet SXSW Road Trip Challenge.

You probably know by now what happened. We lined up eight teams from eight cities to be part of the program… all of whom turned out to be incredibly creative, talented, and social web-savvy beyond my wildest hopes. All eight teams delivered more than we ever dreamt they would, eight communities started following along and becoming part of the experience along with the road trippers, and eight teams — along with their communities — deserved to win. But only one could. Only one did.

Somehow, I should not have been surprised… it was the team from Detroit.

Something happened shortly after Henry, Brandon Chesnutt, Dave Murray and Audrey Walker left from the D. Not only were the four of them epic, but the Detroit social community became emotionally invested in the trip at levels that stunned all of us involved. For the Detroit community, it became a statement — a declaration! — that our city and our area are full of creative, talented people who love our hometown and will bring it back, and this was our way of making sure the national digital community got a chance to see it first hand. For others, it may have been a fun road trip and a way to celebrate social networking and SXSW. For Detroit, Team #detchevysxsw became a rallying point, a primal shout of fierce civic pride from a community that felt like the world had maybe done a little too much piling on to Detroit. The emotional investment from the community meant that the road trip win belonged not just to Henry, Brandon, Dave and Audrey, but to the entire Detroit digital community.

The payoff for winning was a promise from Chevrolet that we would pay for a huge tweetup, hosted by the winners, for their city or community. Tonight, we’re making good on that promise, as the Detroit social community gathers at the Magic Stick for what has been dubbed “#EpicTweetup.” More than 500 people have RSVP’d that they’re coming. 500 people who own March’s victory, who embraced the team and embraced Chevy and what we were trying to do… 500 people I feel personally indebted to — not only for being a part of the most successful overall program I’ve ever worked on as a professional, but for reminding me of why my family and I love it here, how much Detroit feels like home though we’ve only been here since 2007, and how right a decision it was to come here. I’m a Detroiter; so is my wife. And tonight, we’ll be there with everyone else celebrating an epic achievement back in March, and an epic community that continues to make its every member feel welcome and home.

Are you using the real-time web in creative, innovative and...

Sun, 01 Aug 2010 22:24:26 -0400

[Flash 10 is required to watch video.]

Are you using the real-time web in creative, innovative and fresh ways to make positive change in your field? Then we want to hear YOU speak at #140conf Detroit!

Flying lessons

Tue, 27 Jul 2010 09:27:00 -0400

I should probably be ashamed to admit this, but I am not a very patient traveler. I do enough of it that I have my routine down, can get through an airport (if unimpeded) quite efficiently… and thus I don’t have much tolerance for the amateur who hasn’t mastered the intricacies of the security line, or who fumbles to put their change in their pocket at the newsstand, or dallies in line trying to decide which fast food culinary treat best suits their taste buds at the moment. I’ve become that jaded jerk frequent traveler.

This morning, while grabbing breakfast while jaunting to my connecting gate in Charlotte, I was doing my usual grumbling to myself over the slowness or indecisiveness of the couple in front of me, when I stopped to look at them. They were an adorable elderly couple, well into their eighties, slowed by age and having trouble focusing their eyes on the menu. But they were clearly in love with one another. You could see it in their eyes, hear it in the way they talked to each other about their dining options… they were just “cute” in every sense of the word. Suddenly brushing brusquely past them didn’t seem so important anymore. I found myself smiling at them, off on this adventure together at the airport. I even thought to myself, that could be my parents when they fly, in another ten years or so. Heck, it could even be Holly and I in forty years.

And then it hit me: not only could this be my parents or even ME someday, but these people were someone’s parents, grandparents, favorite neighbors. People whom two minutes ago I was cussing at under my breath for having committed the “unpardonable” sin of slowing me down… of inconveniencing me… of simply messing with my routine. Suddenly, I was sheepish about how I’d been thinking about them — and how wrapped up I can get in my own routine, so that any disruption is an annoyance rather than an opportunity. I’m going to try to resolve myself to be more patient from now on when I travel.

I think that’s a lesson for all of us in business, too. We all have our routines and the way our day is “supposed” to go; it’s all too easy to get annoyed at the customer who doesn’t understand that they’re wrong about something, or the person on Twitter or Facebook who’s complaining about something but is misinformed or underinformed. It’s a disruption to our routine, and it’s all too easy to grumble under our breath or once we get off the phone or in the privacy of our office where the social graph can’t hear us.

But we’d all do well to do what I was reminded to do this morning: picture yourself in the position of that customer. We’ve all had complaints we felt were justified that turned out to be wrong. (Or sometimes, we’re actually right.) We’ve all been confused as to how something was supposed to work, been frustrating to the people dealing with us (without realizing it, of course). We’ve all unwittingly been “that guy” or “that lady” to someone at a business somewhere, at one point in our adult lives.

How did we want to be treated by the people dealing with us? Did we want the person’s exasperation with us to show? Did we want it made clear to us just how wrong we were or just what an annoyance we’d become to the person we were dealing with, because we didn’t know how it was “supposed” to go or because our problem had interrupted their routine? Or did we expect to be treated with kindness, courtesy and respect, even when we were wrong or underinformed? How would we hope — expect — that our *parents* would be treated if they were the ones calling in or having an issue?

Every customer, every person you connect with on the social web, is someone’s mom or dad; someone’s brother, sister, or spouse; someone’s beloved child. Every one of them could be US. And no matter how frustrating or annoying it may be to be confronted or challenged, or to have our routine disrupted by someone who for whatever reason are wrong… we’ll do better — for our customers and for our businesses — if we picture ourselves, our spouses, or our parents on the other end of the conversation, and then treat them accordingly.

Now THAT’s something I hope becomes more a part of my routine.

Dear Oscar...

Sun, 25 Jul 2010 18:14:00 -0400

We lost you this week, my friend. And I’ve been missing you horribly since Thursday when you died. Writing you a letter is stupid; dogs can’t read, and even if they could read I suppose you’d have to be alive to pull that off. But I deal with stuff by writing, so you get your very own letter, big boy! To Oscar with love, from the person you adopted as “yours.”

Do you remember how afraid of you I was when I first met you? When I first started hanging around your mommy, I heard the words “pit bull” and I judged you just like so many people judge your breed. I made her gate you in the kitchen of her house before I would come inside. But you know what, you big dummy? Some of it was your fault! You barked VERY loud, and you sounded fierce when you did it, too!

I didn’t learn until later that you did it just because you were protective of “your people” — but if you’d gotten out and gotten to me, all you’d have done was lick me to death. You taught me two things about pit bulls, Oscar: that they’re intensely loyal dogs, and that they’re not nearly the monsters you guys get made out to be.

In fact, you ended up being quite the lover, not a fighter. Even when you were playing with me, you would grab my foot just tight enough to provide some resistance for pulling me, but never tight enough to hurt. You always amazed me, how gentle you were for such a brute dog. You were one giant 55 pound coiled muscle… but you’d never hurt a flea.

You and I got past that initial mistrust, and you adopted me in no time as the one person in the house who was “yours” above all others. You’d follow me around the house; if I was working in the office, you wanted to be right there on the rug in front of my desk, getting up every so often to come plopping up in my lap, putting your head and paws in onto me and licking my shirt, of all things. That was another thing — you licked everything. Not just stuff that made sense — but things like my shirt or even the coffee table! Someday when I see you again you’re going to have to explain to me why you licked tables, dopey dog!

You bonded with me like few dogs I’ve ever known. Your mommy told me that she used to always know when I was 5 minutes away from pulling up in the driveway… because after an entire day of lounging around the house and sleeping, you’d somehow sense me getting close and start pacing around the house and looking at the door. As soon as my car turned down our street, you’d start woofing at the door and pattering your paws on the kitchen floor… and when I came inside, I’d never get more than three steps in before I was being “attacked” by a happy, galumphing, licking pit bull who’d get up on his hind legs and push his paws into me so forcefully that I’d have to take a step backwards sometimes.

Some nights I was happy to see you. Other nights, if it had been a long day, I would grump at you; I’d shout “Oscar! Down! Geez, let me get in the door! Go away!” But you never took it personally; you’d just wait until daddy was ready to be happy to see you, and then you’d cheerfully wag your tail and jump up into my lap on the couch — didn’t anyone ever tell you that 55 pound dogs are not lap dogs? — and give me wet nose kisses until I’d give in and pet you and scratch your belly. And you’d talk to me, too, wouldn’t you? You’d make those rumbly growly noises deep in your throat, and change the pitch and tone of them as I’d talk back to you! I don’t care if the books or Wikipedia say dogs can’t talk, Oscar; I know you were talking to me, I know you understood me back, and I think we had some darn good conversations.

The last few months of your life weren’t horrible, but I don’t think you were as comfortable as you once were. There was a doggie ER visit when I thought we were going to lose you, and a few other episodes where I didn’t think you were quite “yourself.” But you never complained. You never whined or got short tempered or made us worry about you. Right up until the last day I saw you, you were your tail-wagging, happy, “I’ll never hurt you guys” self.

I hate that you died alone, big boy. I hate it. I wasn’t there for you. Mommy and your little boy went to go see Toy Story 3 that afternoon, so they weren’t with you either. And so I’ll never know how it happened for you; I’ll never know whether you had a seizure and you were shaking and scared… or whether you just didn’t feel right and crawled into your cage to go to sleep. I’ll never know whether you knew you were about to go. But I know you well enough to know that you would have wanted to say goodbye. You would have wanted us, or me, to be there to look into your big brown eyes one last time, and to hear us say we love you, and to maybe wag your tail weakly once more to let us know that you heard us and you loved us too. I wasn’t there to comfort you or pat your head or stroke your neck and make you less afraid of what was happening to you… and that’s what’s been hurting the most since you died. I made you go through it alone.

You should know that I really made sure, though. When I got home and mommy told me you were gone, I went into your room and looked at you in your cage; I opened the door and got down on my hands and knees and stared at you for two full minutes, looking for a small sign, anything — your chest rising and falling weakly, your leg twitching, the hair on your muzzle moving… anything that would have been a sign that you were just sick, not dead. I really didn’t want it to be happening, buddy — and I didn’t give up on you until I was 100% sure.

I managed to hold it in while we were driving you to the vet’s for the last time, buddy… but when everything was done and they told me I could go to the front lobby and meet our family, and you and I were the only ones left in the room and I decided to say one last goodbye to you… I lost it. I cried like a baby, buddy, while I petted your neck and looked at your face and wished you would look up at me and give me one more of your patented lick-kisses. I cried because I knew this would be the last time I saw you, Oscar, and because of how much I know you loved our family and loved me, and because I loved you back and am going to miss the hell out of you.

You were a great dog, Oscar. Unconditional love is the rarest gift a living being can bestow in this world — and you gave it to me in droves. Thank you for being a good dog, you woofie dog. Thank you for picking me to bond with in our family. I know you’re barking at every mailman, delivery truck, and plastic bag drifting on the breeze there in heaven, keeping the angels and saints safe from the neighbors and from random litter. I know you’re there, big dog, because it won’t be heaven if I get there and you’re not there to greet me. Actually, St. Peter will know I’m coming five minutes before I get there, because you’ll start pacing the floors and clacking your nails on the tile and woofing at the gates.

I’m going to really miss you, you big galumphing ball of happy. I love you. Goodbye.

Departure

Wed, 07 Jul 2010 07:39:25 -0400

I’ll catch up on the last day of Disney and the five days since we left… once we’re home. But today, we have an 11 1/2 hour drive in front of us — so for now I’ll just mention that, when it’s not my turn to drive, I’ll be tweeting the long drive home from the Delaware shore from @cbarger, Follow along & keep me occupied if you have nothing else to do!

Day Seven: EPCOT

Wed, 07 Jul 2010 00:49:39 -0400

So at this point I’m nearly a week behind, which I guess happens when you’re on vacation. I’m hoping I’ll still remember all the details of everything over the past six days…

Wednesday June 30 was Day Seven of our vacation - and we had a little VIP experience to go with it. We’d decided that I would mix in a little work with pleasure during this trip, so the good folks from GM’s southeast regional team set up a small event with Playground magazine at the GM Test Track at EPCOT. About 20 people affiliated with the magazine — plus four friends of Barger who came in for the event (Corey Long, Kathy Perilla, Summer Boone, Emily Haughey) — did a sort of scavenger hunt inside EPCOT looking for GM brand-related clues and puzzle pieces. It was a fun way to combine the fun of Disney while informing people about our products. The cool thing for my family and I was a behind-the-scenes look at the Test Track — how it works, the different elements of the attraction, and photos/drawings of the planning before/afters of the ride. VERY cool, not just for me but especially for our 8 year old.

It got cooler, too (not temperature-wise, because it definitely got hot after that!). We got VIP passes to Siemens Base 21 at the base of Spaceship Earth (that’s the big geodesic dome, if you’ve never been there you’ve at least seen pictures of the dome), which offered both me and my family a “not everyone gets to have this experience” experience. Thank you Siemens and the people at the Test Track!

I only got to spend a few hours exploring EPCOT; we had the opening activity for the GM event in the morning, the closing activity in mid-afternoon, and I had a scheduled dinner with my counterpart at Disney to discuss executing social media in a large company. But my family reported back very favorably on the Energy exhibit, we all enjoyed Spaceship Earth, and they said that the Morocco, France, England and Mexico exhibits were all fantastic. And I can give Les Chefs (situated within the France exhibit in the World Showcase) a thumbs up! While I can’t talk directly to too much within EPCOT, my family very much enjoyed it and recommends it.

Day Six: Disney Hollywood Studios

Sat, 03 Jul 2010 09:06:29 -0400

Due to the hotel charging for Internet access and my being unwilling to give them even $9.95 more per day (don’t get me started on how dissatisfied I was with our non-Disney property hotel), I am way behind on keeping updated with our adventure. I’ll try to get caught up this morning — although we have another long driving day ahead of us and I really want to get moving, so who knows how much time we’ll have for updates?

Day Six was Tuesday, and we headed off to our third Disney park, Disney’s Hollywood Studios. From the moment we walked through the gates, this was almost instantly the favorite park for both Holly and I — based on decor alone. They’ve done a fantastic job of making “main street” in that park a perfect homage to the Hollywood of the 1920s through 1940s (or at least how it existed in the mind’s eye of those who weren’t alive to see it) — lots of Art Deco, recreations of the Brown Derby, and a pastel color scheme of aqua and pink that almost makes you feel like they were aiming for Miami Vice instead of Hollywood & Vine. But the whole effect is wonderful; it feels authentic and throwback and fun, and my wife and I were instantly smitten.

The Star Tours virtual ride is fun if you have a Star Wars fan in your house… which we do. I didn’t list the ride among my favorites at this park, but Anthony loved it so that’s all that mattered. We also did the Great Movie Ride, which is a “Pirates of the Caribbean” style tunnel ride through some of the great scenes in movie history. We all really enjoyed that one! We thought that the stunts during “Lights, Motors, Action!” were really fun to watch (LOVE that they were using Opel Corsas — go GM!), and Anthony really enjoyed the Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular.

We also enjoyed the Studio Backlot tour. I know the Toy Story 4D ride gets lots of recommendations and raves… it’s also VERY popular which led to really long lines (in Disney’s defense, they do a great job of managing lines and crowd flow, and this was the ONLY ride in all four parks which had an excessive wait… Holly & I both kept remarking what a great job they do at managing crowd flow and access to rides). The ride was fun, but after the wait I was kind of grumpy and probably didn’t enjoy it as much as I could have. I also liked the bio program on Walt Disney’s life (yes, I am a History Channel geek and will never stop being one).

But the big winner of the day for all three of us was the MuppetVision 3D theater show. First of all we’re all Muppet fans, so that was a win already. But the show is hysterical — and in the same great 3D that you find in all the Disney 3D attractions. All your favorites are there: Kermit, Statler & Waldorf, Beaker & Dr. Bunsen Honeydew, Fozzie Bear… and the “4D” (i.e., physical experience) portions are as fun as anything we experienced the whole trip. BIG thumbs up from us.

Disney Hollywood Studios remains my favorite of all the Disney parks, and goes on my list of “must see/must do” things with either kids or adults.

Day Five: Animal Kingdom

Wed, 30 Jun 2010 08:24:13 -0400

We spent our Day Two — Monday — at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. Loved this one as well!

First attraction up was “It’s Tough To Be A Bug,” which is this great interactive 3D experience that uses the characters from “A Bug’s Life” to educate about insects. Actually, it’s “4D,” which means that you get real-life additions to the show — when the cartoon termite sprays acid to demonstrate its defense mechanisms, you get a small little spray of water. When the villain insects decide to spray repellent or a ‘bug bomb’ on people to turn the tables on us, the entire theater fills with dry ice fog… to the point where you can’t see a thing. When they say that the bugs get to leave the theater first, you feel little creepy crawlers on your back (if you’re sitting with your back against the back of the chair, that is). I dug it. Holly dug it. Anthony not so much, though.

We then went on the Kilimanjaro Safari, which was very cool; even though they make it look like you’re driving on this rutted, muddy jungle road, it’s all paved — nice use of effect. The trek through the jungle area is really neat, because you have the chance that a white rhino or an elephant could cross the road right in front of your guide vehicle, and we saw ostriches building a nest along the side of the road next to us.

In both the Asia and Africa sections of the park, they’ve done a great job of making the park feel like authentic street scenes from each continent (or at least, if you’ve never been there it’s exactly how your mind thinks it would look). Extra points for realism here.

For me, the highlight was the Kali River Falls river rafting ride. Not scary at all, so if you have kids they’re likely going to have a great time. One lesson learned, however: make it one of the first rides you go on when you get to Animal Kingdom… because you get very wet, and you’re going to need the day and the hot Florida sun to dry you out. We waited until nearly the end of the day, which resulted in our being more than a little damp while sitting in very cool air conditioning while having dinner at the Rain Forest Cafe on site.

The Rafiki’s Planet Watch was a little disappointing to us; the animal “affection section” (petting zoo) was light on animals (they might have been being smart by staying out of the heat!)… but the displays about animal health and care were quite informative and interesting.

Thumbs up for Animal Kingdom; maybe a little less than Magic Kingdom was, but still absolutely worth going to — and you’ll have a great time!

Family Disney photo

Wed, 30 Jun 2010 00:09:49 -0400

Family Disney photo

Patience Testing

Tue, 29 Jun 2010 14:47:12 -0400

We’re loving Disney Hollywood Studios. But a 2 hour wait for the Toy Story ride? Consider my dad-patience. Welo worn. :-)

Day Four: Magic Kingdom!

Mon, 28 Jun 2010 10:35:00 -0400

We started our Disney adventure at the grand-daddy of all WDW theme parks: Magic Kingdom. I’ll be honest: I was looking forward to this one a little less than the others, just because I remembered it from my one visit as being a little more tailored to little, little kids. That ended up being sort of true, but it was a wonderful day just the same — because I got to see it through a little boy’s eyes instead of my own, which made it perfect.

First, I’ll say this: the moron who decided to come to Florida in June just wasn’t thinking! (Um… wait, that’d be me. Never mind.) This place is freaking HOT. It was 100 degrees yesterday, with all that lovely Florida humidity. The good news is that I can guarantee that I will lose weight on this vacation, not only because we’re doing so much walking but because I will sweat off at least 4 pounds each day in this heat!

We started out as everyone does, on Main Street USA, which was cuter than I remember. I’m not sure which town ever looked like that — sometimes I think we as a country idealize our own past beyond what it ever was — but it’s absolutely adorable. (One regret: we didn’t stop in the ice cream parlor.) :(

We then circled the park left to right, from Adventureland through Tomorrowland. My initial fear was that even Anthony was going to find it a little young for him… but when we left the Enchanted Tiki Room, he said “That was cool!” So my fears were alleviated.

We hit all the major attractions: Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Pirates of the Caribbean, Peter Pan, It’s A Small World (that infernal song is still in my head), the Jungle Cruise, Buzz Lightyear’s ride, the Haunted Mansion… but the king of ‘em all is Space Mountain, of course — which provided the day’s best moment.

Anthony has never been a daring kid… he can be a little timid with things. So we didn’t think he was even going to consider Space Mountain. But when he dug Big Thunder Mountain, we brought it up… he was open to it. We got in line and he was very excited about all the space themed stuff. Then Holly & I realized that we couldn’t sit with him — it’s a single file ride — and we were sure we’d be looking for an exit. But he gulped and said he wanted to stay in line. Even as the ride began, with Mommy in front and me behind him, I was pretty sure he was going to be terrified. I did my best, since I couldn’t see him, to whoop and holler and make it sound like fun (even though I was slightly more heart-in-throat than I would be), so he could at least hear me.

When the ride came to an end, as we were getting off, Holly turned and asked, “are you okay?” He didn’t say anything. Just then they let us off, so we helped him off and as we did, Holly asked, “Was that a little bit much, buddy?” He just nodded his head. I was trying to figure out what to say or how to calm him, but before either Holly or I could get a word out, he broke into the biggest grin I’ve ever seen on him and said, “But can we do it again?” :-)

As we moved up the moving sidewalk to the exit, he started pretty much bouncing off the walls. “That was AWESOME!” “I rode Space Mountain!” “We GOTTA go back and do that again!” This excited rant pretty much kept on for the rest of the day and into the evening, even as Anthony and I played in the pool back at the hotel after dinner. I’ve never seen him so excited or happy with himself… and I have to tell you, I was proud as anything that he’d “toughed up” and gotten his courage up to do something he knew was going to be scary. That’s not how he usually is… yesterday was a big day for this kid. Chalk it up to Disney magic, helping my son discover his brave side. Thanks, Disney!

Downtown/Main St., Tifton GA, June 26 2010.

Mon, 28 Jun 2010 09:22:59 -0400

Downtown/Main St., Tifton GA, June 26 2010.