Monthly Archives: May 2007

Black Donnellys: Best show on television is cancelled

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Donnellys
Those who
know me know I am not a connoisseur of television (far from it). while I own a television, it has been
sitting in my closet unplugged for the last 4 years. My only television comes from the times I am
trapped in a hotel room or when I download shows I like on iTunes (I’m an avid
"The Shield" watcher) and occasionally sneak in a Daily Show at the
Comedy Central site.

But this
year I really got into The Black Donnellys — a vivid show about a young Irish
gang. this is a great action drama that
was always riveting and always had me at the edge of my seat. While I don’t have a TV, all the shows are
available on the Internet on NBC’s site (they did a really good job).  

And,
of course, The Black Donnellys is now cancelled. I ran into a friend of mine at NBC last
month and she was making fun of me for watching The Black Donnellys … maybe I was
one of just a handful of viewers but this really is a good show. But the good thing is that all the episodes
are still online so you can see for yourself. Watch the pilot at now. 

The “time problem” with being helpful

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Continuing on the theme that you can buy time, I
got the following mail from a friend of mine today (names and locations obscured
to protect the innocent):

I wonder if
I can ask your advice on something (which, admittedly, will be somewhat
ironic).

For the
past few months, I’ve noticed I field (as I’m sure you do as well which is why
I’m reaching out to you) about 10 requests a week from people who want (a)
general career advice (b) help marketing their new startup or blog or (c) an
actual job in new media/traditional media/press/etc.

Everyone
wants to meet (a) for lunch [which is impossible because of work commitments
and meetings all day], (b) for drinks [also impossible unless I let this
interfere, in a big way, with social plans] or (c) for
brunch/coffee/drinks/etc. on the weekend.

At first I
took calls during the week, but that is no longer an option because of
work.  For the past 3 months, I’ve pushed everything to the weekend
days.  But for weeks upon weeks I’ve found myself in back to back meetings
all day, every day, giving marketing and job advice Saturdays and Sundays.

So, I’m not
sure how to handle this and wonder if you have any advice. 

I realize I
personally would never be even close to where we are without the unending,
brilliant and generous advice of people like you and other incredibly busy
people. But I also realize that working
all day during the week, then giving marketing and business advice every
weekend, is not sustainable. I would
really love and appreciate any advice (and sorry to burden you with this!)

I
think we all go through this.   the bad news is — there is no good
answer.   But there are time hacks to fit helping people into your
life. More in this on a future post …

buy My Start-up Life on Monday

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Ben Casnocha, the 19-year-old founder of Comcate, just published his first book called My Start-up Life .   It came out in stores today and I highly recommend the book.   it is a great personal journey filled with interesting anecdotes, tidbits, and words of wisdom.   

But please buy the book this Monday (May 21) … if everyone buys the book the same day it will really affect the Amazon sales list (I personally plan to buy 4 copies on Monday).

Ben is one of the most impressive people I know — certainly for his age.   he’s extremely well-read, very smart, and is a talented writer.

It is hard for new authors to make it — but Ben is worthy of our support.   please support Ben Casnocha this monday.      

Keith Devlin writes cool articles about math

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if you like math … and i mean really like math … then check out some of the articles by Keith Devlin.

i’ve gotten to know Keith over the last year and am extremely impressed with him.   Besides being the "Math Guy" on NPR, he’s also the executive director of Center for the Study of Language and Information (CSLI) at Stanford University and was the co-founder of the Media X Research Network at Stanford.   

meebo rooms launched

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Meebo rooms launched … it is awesome.   essentially allows discussions around media.   congrats to elaine wherry, sandy jen, seth sternberg, danny bernstein, jian shen, martin green, andrea biondi, and the rest of the team!   

(disclosure: i am a proud meebo investor)

2012 Predictions

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I recently went to a retreat where they asked all the participants to make a non-obvious prediction for 2012.   here are the ones I submitted:

Math and number puzzles will overtake crosswords … reminding America of when salsa overtook ketchup.   

The legal drinking age in the U.S. will be 18 again causing teenagers to become utterly sober and move, en masse, to Saudi Arabia … where drinking will be cool again because it is illegal there. 

Every major presidential candidate will support gay marriage … to show their solidarity the Republican nominee and Democratic nominee will marry their daughters to each other.    

2011 is the coldest year on record … global macro hedge funds make a killing investing in manufacturers of leg warmers.