"One of the symptoms of an approaching nervous breakdown is the belief that one's work is terribly important." Bertrand Russell

"From birth to age 18, a girl needs good parents; from 18 to 35 she needs good looks; from 35 to 55 she needs a good personality; and from 55 on she needs cash." Sophie Tucker

"Tradition is what you resort to when you don't have the time or the money to do it right." Kurt H. Adler

From the open letter to Dow Jones shareholders by Brad Greenspan...
"Every company and individual makes strategic mistakes over a long career. It always happens. But the big winners historically are the companies/individuals that learn from these mistakes, make changes, and have the courage to make another bet on themselves, their employees, and their portfolio of assets." The entire text here (WSJ sub). Over at CNBC, The Brain (aka David Faber), says the deal with Murdoch will be signed tonight.

400 year death spiral continues: Dead tree guys keep selling those ads. September fashion books are setting record high ad pages. Harper's - 360, W - 477, Elle - 598, Vogue - 727 (incl Fashion Rocks supplement in both Vogue and W estimates).

Mixing metaphors: Tom Asacker offers up a good post on brands, marketing and metaphors...

"It is compelling, and much simpler, to view a brand as a fixed and valuable asset, like a piece of real estate. One that simply requires protection and promotion. Instead, today's brands should be thought of as perishable assets, like salad bars. They are marketplace offerings, which need to be constantly reinvented and refreshed to remain relevant. Make no mistake about it. That's the metaphor change that will turn marketers into leaders." Read Tom's entire post here. Kudos Tom, well said. Brands are alive in the moment and related within the context of a dynamic marketplace. Winning brands are not static. The best brands are much more like fashion than architecture, soft v hard, alive v dead, moving picture v snap shot.

The Sumner show - Les is more: Q2 CBS earnings call this morning. Sumner set the stage, introducing Les as the "best executive in the media industry." Les said "technology is our friend" going on to chat up the last.fm acquisition ("a community around content") and other interactive initiatives. In his division by division review Les praised Dan Mason for his "swift and decisive changes" related to the radio group's New York portfolio saying that Dan was a "programmer at heart." Les indicated the NFL cpms are up double digits. Scatter up consistently. Same TV station sales down Q2 (taking out NCAA - flat). Les on Google radio and TV inventory sharing: "We're in discussion with everybody over everything, all the time." On the balance sheet - $2.8Bil in cash. My sense is Les is doing a great job. Thanks to Dan Mason, CBS Radio should enjoy a great 08.

Bonus: searchCrystal. Compare, remix, share. Very cool.

Congrats & cheers: Rob Barnett launches his new venture My Damn Channel. But wait, there's more - throwing down with Rob are Harry Shearer, David Wain, Paul Reiser and Don Was. Okapi Venture Capital is backing. CBS Radio's Mark Edwards, delivers good books for KEZK and KYKY. Elizabeth Guider named top editor at The Hollywood Reporter.