POTUS calls Kanye a "jackass" - or doesn't he?

One of my clients is a news organization on Capitol Hill, so I follow a lot of press corps reporters on Twitter. This afternoon I glanced over at Tweetdeck, and Patrick Gavin from Politico retweeted Nightline co-anchor Terry Moran: Pres. Obama just called Kanye West a "jackass" for his outburst at VMAs when Taylor Swift won. Now THAT'S presidential.

So I looked for it, but Terry's most recent tweet was posted (and still is, as of this writing) on 9/10. Where did his tweet go? Poof - it disappeared. Something funny's going on.

Later on I got the dirt on what is now considered the premature tweet.

Read the story here: http://www.politico.com/blogs/michaelcalderone/0909/ABCs_Moran_tweeted_OTR_Obama_swipe_at_Kanye.html?showall

To add insult to injury, "jackass" is now trending on Twitter.

West willl be on Leno tonight to apologize - again. Hope that does it. I'm over it.

Kanye, you tool, what did you think was going to happen?

When you behave like a tool, it's not going to go unnoticed - especiallly if you do it on TV.

Kanye West's insensitive stunt last night on the VMAs put a big dent - maybe a crater - in his personal brand.

Seconds after hijacking the microphone from Taylor Swift, Twitter was alight with brutal slams against him from fellow entertainers in the audience - from rappers to pop artists - for his cruel and ridiculous outburst.

Minutes later the outburst was making the rounds on the Internet, and this morning I woke up to this lovely portrait with appropriate caption in my mailbox.

There are so many lessons to be learned here.

1. Don't be a tool.

2. Don't be a tool in front of people.

3. Don't be a tool on national TV.

The biggest lesson is: just be a nice person and treat others with respect, and you won't find yourself in the tool box with Kanye.

Nothing goes unnoticed anymore. One faux pas, large or small, can get picked up and become a viral sensation.

So never, under any circumstances, be a tool. Get in the habit of always being nice to people. It's good for you. And most of all, show some class - like Beyonce.

MJ's Tour Trailer Part Deux

This is the trailer to Michael Jackson's upcoming tour movie that premiered last night on the VMAs. Packed with some pretty bad ass dance sequences and reminds me of the true talent at the core of the sad man he became. Chilling to watch.

Sorry, but I can't seem to get this blog to acccept anything but You Tube videos, so here's the link:

We're Number 37 - ROCKS!

Funny but sad video celebrating our worldwide ranking in healthcare with a great beat...

Not Just a Trend - Fashion Blogging

In a world where newspapers and magazines are struggling to survive, it's fascinating to watch the evolution of what will be. The next generation of journalists are creatively taking ownership of their future - as they should. Following is an excerpt from today's New York Times.

New Young Bloggers Have Ear of Fashion Heavyweights

Helen Zhu

 By ALICE PFEIFFER

Published: September 13, 2009

 PARIS — At first glance, Dirrty Glam appears to be like any trendy online magazine. It features famous faces like Lily Allen and Sienna Miller on its cover and combines fashion, celebrity interviews and film and music reviews in its 250 digital pages.

 There is just one thing: Dirrty Glam’s entire team, from editor in chief to public relations manager, is 19 to 22 years old. Based in Paris, the magazine was started three years ago by Alie Suvelor, then 18 and now editor in chief.

 “We’re young, but this isn’t a hobby. This is our full-time job,” said Ms. Suvelor, who also serves as stylist and writes for the magazine, which is in its 24th issue and has an English-language version.

 Dirrty Glam and similar fashion blogs and blog networks are helping give young entrepreneurs an early entry into journalism and winning some of them a place in the notoriously competitive fashion industry.

Read the full story in today's New York Times.

Shitmydadsays

This is one of my favorites to follow on Twitter. This kid just tweets whatever his dad says - and I can't get enough.

Reminds me so much of my dad. My hero. Feared no one - said whatever was on his mind - and I mean whatever, whenever.

His best was on a visit to Los Angeles in the early '70s. Were were standing at the counter of a trendy natural foods restaurant reading the menu on the wall. At the top of his voice in frustration he says "What in the hell is kwitchie?" Quiche...

Second City Dining

While cruising around looking at other blogs before my first real entry, I came upon the The Bloggess' recent post in her PNN advice blog "I AM SICK AND TIRED OF THIS BULLSHIT."

In a nutshell, she counsels a requester who is tired of a coworker/lunch companion who is always dissatisfied and complains at every meal.

Her very sound advice was to stage a tremendous scene and shock and embarrass said coworker into behaving like a human being in the future.

I have to admit, I have a soft spot in my heart for staging scenes in restaurants.

My son (yes, the one born in Woodstock) and I have a ritual when going to restaurants of randomly having a quiet word with our server, informing him/her that it is the other's birthday.

Both of us are rather quiet, shun-the-spotlight kind of people, so having the waiters and everyone in the place make an unexpected huge, stupid, embarassing scene is excruciatingly painful to the unsuspecting victim - but pure, unadulterated pleasure for the instigator to watch the other one squirm.

We never know when the mood will strike. Could be once a year, or once a month. By the way, we never do this on real birthdays - that would be mean-spirited. Happily (or frighteningly), we share the same sense of humor.

Welcome

Greetings. Just getting started here, and still figuring out how it will shape up.

Everything I write is relatively censored for my business audience, but I think this is the place where I will be able to comfortably rant and express my own gnarly point of view on things.

The 'gnarly but gnice' term comes from the description son gave to one of his friends when he was younger in response to "what's your mom like?"

I guess he was pretty much on the money. I've never done anything half way, have a pretty bent sense of humor, but still kind of nice. In a future post I'll fill you in on my bizarre journey from Woodstock to the boardroom.  KJ