"The most widespread beliefs draw their power from the fact that they cannot be verified." Alessandro Morandotti

"The world, like an accomplished hostess, pays most attention to those whom it will soonest forget." John Churton Collins

"Sometimes we praise the way things used to be in order to blame the present, and we esteem what is no longer in order to scorn what is." Madame De Sable

Today's image: Come on Pino, We're going Home by Mattijn. Wonderful. Thanks for sharing.

Your future is free (some restrictions apply): Should you be a radio group exec or cluster manager working for one of the top thirty broadcasting firms Kurt Hanson will comp your entry into next Monday's big event the RAIN Las Vegas Summit: The Future of Radio. Use the magic words - please and thank you - more info here. See you there!

Howard never got the memo: The one that told us the dead tree guys were, uh, dead. So when Starbucks decided to spend some cash to get out the word on its new coffee they went dead tree. E&P writer Mark Fitzgerald has the story Starbucks Embraces Newspapers In Launching New Coffee here.

Bonus: Videogum

Midtown buzz: Let the Katie Couric countdown clock begin. She just ain't feelin the love @ 6:30. The popular wager seems to be sometime after the election. Same outfit but totally unrelated: Why did Les have to go negative and say 18-34 was a "BS demographic"?

Congrats & cheers: Rob Barnett, the energizer bunny studio head of web video, shoots and scores again. Webby noms including Wainy Days and You Suck at Photoshop (Comedy: Long form or series), You Suck at Photoshop (How-to and DIY), Harry Shearer - Waterboardin USA (Music). Read more here. Sue Naegle hires on at HBO as entertainment prexy. Hugh MacLeod, the man who put the FU back in fun (and official cartoon artiste of N=1) on his very cool book deal. Broadcast rock star Big John Wetherbee joins WTOC-TV full-time, solid gain for TV, a real loss for radio. PRX (Public Radio Exchange) on getting a well deserved MacArthur Foundation grant.

Bonus: someecards Love their tag line "ecards for when you care enough to hit send."

Video: Carnegie Mellon Professor Randy Pausch on Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams (76:26). Highly recommended. This is the video link we shared last New Years and the first link to get rave reviews from every single person, 100%. Well worth your bandwidth. Chock-full of take away including..."Fundamentals & Hard Work!"..."Wait long enough and people will surprise and impress you" - Jon Snoddy..."Brick walls are there for a reason: they let us prove how bad we want things, they let us show our dedication"..."Enabling the childhood dreams of others"..."You obviously don't know where the bar should be and you are only going to do them a disservice by putting it anywhere"..."Find someone better than you"..."Millions of kids having fun while learning something hard"..."You're such a good salesman, that any company who gets you is going to use you as a salesman, and you might as well be selling something worthwhile like education"..."All-time best head fake award - 'Yeah, but why is that fun?'"...FUN..."Decide if you're Tigger or Eeyore"..."Never lose the child-like wonder"..."Help others"..."Loyalty is a two-way street"..."Never give up"..."You can't get there alone and I believe in Karma"..."Tell the truth"..."Be earnest"..."Apologize when you screw up"..."Focus on others, not yourself"..."Don't bail; the best gold is at the bottom of barrels of crap"..."Get a feedback loop; and listen to it!"..."Show gratitude"..."Don't complain; just work harder"..."Be good at something: it makes you valuable"..."Work hard"..."Find the best in everybody"..."Be prepared"




The Heston mashup...