EDIT ADD: I just emailed this to Cingular. If they’re smart. They’ll listen.

============================================================

Obviously, the world is abuzz right now regarding
iPhone–and they should be. It’s an absolutely incredible product! I’ve posted
about it on my blogs and already talked to dozens of friends about it since it
was announced on Jan 8th.

In my conversations one of the things I am coming across is
“if only it WEREN’T Cingular”. For me this doesn’t matter, as I AM a
Cingular customer, but due to the poor service area that Cingular maintains in
the LA/SO CAL area, most of the people I know have Verizon or T-Mobile. SIMPLY because
of the poor service area.

Obviously, LA is a big place. But know this–you would
benefit EXTREMELY by DRASTIC improvements to the service coverage in LA and Orange Counties.

With the proper marketing, and with the iPhone being released
in June, I believe you would have a SIGNIFICANT increase in customer base if
you “Raised the Bar” in LA.

I’m just trying to help you out and let you know what the
word on the street is.

Thanks for listening.

Daniel

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Well, Act 2 was done a few days ago, and I’m forging the way through part of Act 1, but this jungle is thicker than the last one…and there are more trees and snakes…and the connecting rivers don’t flow together as well…and stuff.
Needless to say, I was been beating my head against the wall doing all this arranging and all I really wanted to do was blog about the new iPhone.
Yeah, it’s here.

I’m not talking about some dumb article about how Apple is probably making it soon or something, this is the real deal. Steve Jobs announced at MacWorld San Francisco on January 8th that Apple would start shipping the iPhone in June of 2007. I have to tell you, my friends, that I almost pooped my pants when I watched Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple (now Apple, Inc.–the name change was also announced on Jan 8th) do a live demo of the product. It is truly the most innovative and stunning thing I’ve seen in a long time. It’s absolutely amazing. In fact, I guarantee that you will be shocked at how advanced this product is, and how amazing it is. It’s beauty and simplicity is unparalleled. Go check it out–watch 20 minutes of the keynote speech from Macworld (the introducing iPhone one) and you will be stunned!

I forgot how much I like 24. I was skimming a 24 insert in my EW magazine and it was recapping some of the characters I remember fondly…ahh Chloe. So smart and sulky. I love it. I can’t wait for Sunday and Monday!

Speaking of 24–don’t forget to go to my xanga page and watch the cool Keifer clip from 1991. He hosted SNL and I have a favorite and rare clip of him singing!!! It is up in honor of Jack Bauer.

Hm…I have a lot going on. Sometimes it’s hard to keep it all straight in my head…

I think I told you about David & Tina, right?

I met them when Tina was directing the music for Beauty & the Beast last May in Baldwin Park. Tina teaches at a big local high school, and David is a film composer and USC alum. The thing that is interesting about this couple was that, after the show was over, I bumped into them two times that following week in completely random places. Then, I played racquetball with David soon after (which was totally fun, btw) but due to our increasingly busy schedules, we haven’t played since. This was probably six or more months ago.  We hadn’t really talked since.

Then on Friday, we got a call from Tina that she was throwing a HUGE bash for David for his 30th birthday. HUGE. Tuxes, ball-gowns, jazz combo, buffet, dancing, and so on…so we went! We got a babysitter, got the outfits, and headed off for a super fun time. Happy Birthday, David!




Last night I finished ACT 2 of the huge project I’m working on. I have to finish ACT 1 of the show by January 16th. I’m going to work my butt off this week. Pray for me!

That is almost 1,000 hits this week!!!

For a long time in San Diego, I frequented the Starbucks near our church. It was always busy, it was expensive to go there a lot, and the left turns you had to make at the deadly intersection of Palm/Saturn made it a treacherous venture–but I still went. Why? The people. 

The people there were great. I enjoyed talking with them, they were very friendly, and the made the experience something worth looking forward to. It was unique-not all Starbucks are like this (as you may know). In fact, towards the end of my time in San Diego people started transferring stores, the manager changed a couple of times in the span of one year–to the point that going back there means seeing nobody familiar anymore.

Once I moved up to West Covina a year ago, I’ve been a regular at the Starbucks on Badillo/Grand. It took a little while, but I got to know their crew, and mostly the folks in the picture here. They know me as “Good Foam” because I always order my Caramel Macchiatos with good foam (it’s the best part of the drink, really). I also like to decorate my offices with Starbucks stuff, so I’m always asking for old posters and things they would normally throw away.

It’s fun. Fun to go into a business and experience a deeper level of customer service than you would anywhere else. It’s fun to know that people are truly happy to see you, and even though we’ve moved farther away from this location (and closer to a few other locations) I still like to go back there every once in a while to see my peeps. I HARDLY get to see them all at once, which was the case today, so a snapped a picture. I know-I’m an idiot, but why not?

From left to right–Amber, Sharifa, Daniel, & Edward.
Yes, her name is Sharifa…the blond one…and congrats to her for earning her black apron!

Yeah-that’s the nickname for the Ford Aerostar my Grandmother bought my parents brand-new in 1993, and that last year my parents passed down to us. I have many memories in this car. I drove my first long trip (to San Jose) in this van. We rode to many soccer tournaments in this van.
It’s also of great sentimental value to my parents, and my mom especially since it was her mom that bought it for them, who has since passed on.

Well, as I pulled out of the driveway 10 minutes ago to head back to work, the gear-changing lever snapped off. Yes, snapped OFF. It’s still hanging there connected by the rubber that runs between the stick and the actual transmission thingy (ok, I don’t anything about cars). I was lucky to somehow maneuver it back into DRIVE so I could pull back into the driveway. However, I cannot actually put it into PARK. I can shut off the car and take the keys out, but the ignition is binging right now as if the keys were in.

Oh boy. Sorry, Mom–I took care of it as best as I could. I’m sure it’s not a total loss, but it may be pricey to fix…

I have to say something.
I secretly love business. I mean, I almost feel like if I had another life, I’d be a business person. Knowing the tiny bit I know about leadership & branding, and from what I know from watching The Apprentice and from observing my favorite companies (Starbucks and Apple, of course) I get excited when I see good business people and the innovative things they come up with.
I know, weird.

So naturally, I have to report a couple of excellent things I have seen in the past 24 hours relating to this topic–and believe me, I could talk about business stuff all day. It’s like your Uncle Jack and his constant ravings about politics. He doesn’t really know what he’s talking about, but he knows enough to be dangerous and to carry on moronic conversations with whoever is stupid enough to be reeled in to that web with him at Thanksgiving…that’s me and business.

1) The Complete Depeche Mode catalog is on iTunes. This is 644 tracks…for $169.99
This includes 60 remixes, live recordings, and other rarities you can’t find anywhere else. Plus, it comes with a 54-page digital booklet. Dang folks. OK-so buy 29 albums at 15 bucks a pop you get $435.00 OR buy each song individually on itunes and it’s $637.56. Either way you slice it, it’s an amazing deal. Sure, Depeche Mode fans have probably purchased some of these albums in the past, but this is an amazing set of music, including stuff you really won’t find anywhere else-like rehearsal tracks and the Dick Clark remix of this tune, and so on…they did this with Bob Dylan a while back, and I know people that bought it. What a piece to be able to offer…

2) The marketing device on myspace for the movie 300.
Yesterday, (and today as well) whenever a myspacer logged into their site, they got a message from Tom that said:

“Happy New Year! I’ve got a little gift for you all, made possible by 300 the movie!
Some of you may have noticed already–the photo count has been increased to 300! You can now upload up to 300 photos. Enjoy! Next week we’ll have albums so you can organize your photos. Enjoy and thanks to Warner Bros and 300 for making this possible!”

Brilliant. One of the things that myspace users have complained about is that you are only allowed to upload a dozen or so pictures at the most without going through a 3rd party and making a slideshow. So whatever company that is putting out this movie purchased new servers for myspace, and just got exposure to 300 gazillion people at once. Not just with an ad, but by doing something that directly affects everyone. Genius. I love it. So simple.

I love it.

Exactly one year ago today, we moved from San Diego to Los Angeles. It was one of the hardest things we had to do as a family because we weren’t coming to anything, we just came because we believed it was the right thing to do. Of course, we’re so glad we did–although it’s been a tough year, it’s been a great one. We’ve seen God do amazing things. I finished a year of grad school, we beat the odds and got Noah the best therapy available, Nathaniel is in a great school, and Christy started grad school. I have a job with very cool people, and I’m working in a church. I have made some cool contacts, and have some great projects on the horizon. We’re all very thankful.

So, if 2005 was “The Year of Balance”, then 2006 was “The Year of Transition”. My hope is that 2007 is “The Year of Settling Down” or something.

So, resolutions? Nah. What a waste of time. Resolutions are snap decisions that poop out because of poor discipline and lack of resolve. If you are going to change, you have to change, regardless of if it’s the hip thing to do or not.
True life change is born out of necessity or deep passion. People that are diagnosed with high blood pressure have to change their lifestyle in order to survive–that’s necessity. Other people change because of their own grave desire to achieve a pre-determined goal for a very specific reason. This is a bit more nebulous, and I’m no psychologist.

Here’s the point, though–I need to make life-change. I’m obsessive, addictive, indulgent, and somewhat selfish. I don’t like these qualities in myself, and I think that to improve upon my own quality of life and the quality of the lives of those around me, I need to change.

QUICK NEW YEAR’S NOTES:
The first ball was dropped 100 years ago. Let’s compare and contrast today’s ball, and the first one:

In 1907 the ball was made of Iron & Wood, it had roughly 100 lights on it, and it weighed in at about 700 lbs.

In 2007 the ball is made up of Waterford Crystals, has 696 computer-controlled lights, and weighs in at 1070 lbs. Not to mention, it is worth over $1 million smackers.

Wow. Happy New Year’s.