Anatomy of a Birthday

4:15am - Leah wakes up with a scream. Sarah rolls over and grunts, "happy birthday." Irony before 6am. Heh.

6:00am - I go back to bed, and hand Leah over to Sarah.

7:30am - The kids wake me up by climbing all over me and screeching "happy birthday!" We make pancakes, some of which are shaped like Mickey Mouse.

1:00pm - Nap time for the kids. I clean up a bit, then dash off to get a haircut.

3:00pm - Kids wake up. Sarah puts together an impromptu birthday party for me, with the kids clapping as I blow out the candle on a delicious coconut cream pie fashioned by Asher and Sarah.

4:00pm - We hook up with Sarah's sister Debbie and head up to Prospect Park for a little playground and soccer fun. Leah masters the slide.

8:00pm - Kids are in bed. Dan comes over to babysit, so Sarah and I can catch Roy Hargrove play around the corner at the Brooklyn Conservatory.

10:30pm - We get home. Dan leaves. Leah starts screaming. Sarah's in with her now. And there's wet laundry in the basement. And the kitchen still needs to be cleaned.

All in all, my best birthday in years. Seriously.

Happenings

Tomorrow's my birthday.

Yesterday, I went to a taping of The View and saw Obama get fawned over by the ladies.

Today, I'm trying to figure out the most productive way to tell a peer to shut the fuck up.

Quick Test...

Pay no attention... This is a quick test of MSNBC and CBS embed capabilities....

But What About the Homer Simpsons?

Atlanta Journal Constitution journalist Cynthia Tucker said this about the Obama Speech, yesterday on "This Week":

This Speech was not aimed at rank and file voters. It was aimed at political elites, mostly superdelegates.

It's a great point.

To be blunt: Unless Obama tattoos a swastika on his forehead, declares allegiance to al Qaeda AND cheats on Michelle with a white boy, Clinton is not going to surpass him in pledged delegates, popular vote, or States won. The only immediate political exigency he has left is to shore up enough support among the superdelegates to block his opponent's last path to the nomination. Obama needs to (re-)assure them in a measured and intelligent manner that he has the social, intellectual and rhetorical capital to rise above the "scary Black man"/anti-American motif planted by the Rev. Wright controversy. This is exactly what an Obama candidacy will face in the general election, and there has been growing concern that it would cost him (and the Democrats) the Presidency.

The Democratic superdelegates are people who pride themselves as having an intellectual streak, roots in the Civil Rights movement, and a hankering to rely on their "better angels" (yes, even class-A in-fighters like Rahm). And among them, I think the Speech was successful (witness Richardson's endorsement).

That said, there was a secondary and a terciary audience for whom the Speech was a mixed bag.

Among Obama supporters (regular citizens and journalists alike), it also reassured them. To paraphrase one excitable blogger, it was like giving the ball to Michael Jordan or Joe Montana with seconds left on the clock, holding your breath, and then sighing in relief when they came through as you knew/hoped they always would. Don't discount this secondary audience. Their support is critical to maintaining positive reinforcement in the media echo chamber.

The tertiary audience is, as Fox News and George Stephanopoulos (!!) has so frequently reminded us, the dominant voting block in a general election - white, working-class males. For these guys, there's a paradox: One Speech isn't going to do it (in fact, certain de-contextualized points of the Speech exacerbate the problem). But a few more of these Speeches, and Obama becomes "the Black candidate" - something that will undoubtedly sink his chances in the general.

Hmm...

The Speech

Barack Obama spoke today in Philadelphia about race in America.

Did you see it? Did you read it? Here it is.

Do you think America will realize how incredible that speech was?

Do you think America will realize how incredible it was that someone rose to write it and deliver it in such a fashion?

My Trusted Sources

Where do you go for your political information and punditry?

Here's my list:

Podcasts:
Now (PBS)
Bill Moyers Journal (PBS)
Face the Nation (CBS)
Countdown with Keith Olbermann (MSNBC)
Hardball (MSNBC)
Meet the Press (NBC)
On the Media (NPR)
Real Time with Bill Maher (HBO)
This Week (ABC)
Brian Lehrer Show (NPR)
World News Webcast (ABC)

Websites:
New York Times
Talking Points Memo
Andrew Sullivan's Daily Dish
Political Punch (ABC News)
The Note (ABC News)
Daily Kos
My DD
Powerline
The Corner (National Review)
Red State

Saturday in the Slope

It was the first nice weekend day of the year, and Asher and I hit the road in search of the Prospect Park waterfall to celebrate. On the way, we picked up his friend Charlie, and the three of us "hiked" about 3/4 of a mile into the park and towards our stated goal where we threw sticks in the water and talked about why woodpeckers were probably sleeping in their tree homes ("Because it's winter?" Umm, yeah, that and it's still fucking 9 o'clock in the morning on a Saturday)

Afterwards, we hooked up with Charlie's parents, his baby sister, Sarah and Leah, and lounged around a bit before heading home.

Post-nap, Sarah, Leah and I followed Asher on his tricycle up to the new frozen yogurt store on the corner, stopped by the Brooklyn Conservatory fish pond (where Asher taunted the fish and I picked up tickets to the 3/29 Roy Hargrove show), and then found our way to the playground where we ran into, well, everyone.

Back home... leftover chicken for dinner. Baths, Frog and Toad for Asher, a colors book for Leah, and then bedtime for the kids. Now, I'm drinking scotch and forcing my way through intellectually deadening schoolwork.

Oh... Asher was the "Shabbos Aba" at school on Friday. That meant Sarah and Leah got to come for the Shabbos celebration. Asher had to wear a kepah and a tie, and once again, I ask myself, what the hell kind of place is this pre-school?!?!

Quick Hit

Online Community Resume

Another Monday, another room full of people talking about "online community" who have never participated in one beyond a stale facebook profile, created when ABC signed a partnership with them....

For the record, here's a partial of my online community resume:

1991:
First post to rec.music.gdead
Vote to establish rec.music.phish

1992:
Founding member and prolific participant in rec.music.phish

1994:
My site, Centerstage Chicago, adds user reviews of Chicago-area arts/entertainment establishments, becoming the first site to do so.

1995:
Senior thesis completed. Topic: practical applications and philosophical implications of online community
First WELL account

1996:
Head of online community for the Rolling Stone Network of sites (Rollingstone.com, TheSource.com, Downbeat.com, JAMtv, Tunes)

2000:
Led the listen.com redesign, adding community functions to the site.

2003:
Joined Friendster

2006:
Joined facebook

2008:
Active participant in facebook, Park Slope Parents listserv, Bay Ridge Parents listserv, Flatbush Families listserv

Toss the Maxells?

In 2003, just before Sarah and I moved here from Berkeley, I gave away most of my Phish and Dead tapes to an eager beaver who responded to my Craig's List ad ("FREE! Phish/Dead Collection Needs A Good Home"). But, I couldn't bear to part with some of the "gems."

Five years later, what that means is that I have an annoying stack of crappy-sounding cassettes collecting dust in a critical corner of my increasingly tiny apartment.

Should I just toss them?

I haven't listened to this stuff more than twice since we moved to NYC.

Should I take the last remnants of my care-free youth and kick them to the curb?

Can I do that?

Washington DC

I took the Acela (high-speed) train down to DC for some meetings yesterday. The trip took roughly 2 1/2 hours, and I spent it sitting in a plush chair pulled up to a sturdy table, laptop, blackberry and cellphone at my fingertips. It was very productive (the trip itself and the DC meetings), and very 21st century.

DC is a beautiful town - very clean, calm and civilized. The sidewalks aren't packed to the gills with people hurrying along at 60mph. There's no trash strewn across the gutters. People smile. You can see the sky.

Why do I live in NYC, again?

Wow, Has It Been That Long?

I'm certainly getting out of the blogging habit, aren't I?

What's new? Let's see...

Work:

I'm still trying to hire some solid product managers. We're pretty close with a couple of folks, and should know more this week. If all goes well, more hands will revolutionize my existence.

We're entering the thick of our annual long-range-planning. It's a fairly useless exercise for the business, I've learned. But, it's invaluable in that it keeps Corporate informed about and comfortable with the track that ABC News is on. For those unfamiliar with long range planning, here's what it means: We construct a five-year product roadmap, attach revenue/profit numbers to it, and run it up the flagpole. Hopefully, we will be able to show a scalable business with a healthy profit margin.

School:

Eh. This week's assignment was (more or less) to sketch a campaign strategy for Obama in the General. My response? Run to the right on foreign policy. Remember the missile gap in '60? We've got a security gap.

Home:
Business as usual. We're still consumed by real estate conversations - when we're not cleaning up after kids, or putting on puppet shows, or changing diapers, or disabusing the notion that grown-ups wear diapers during long car trips.