Lazy Brain™

Lazy Brain is a theory/concept I came up with years ago after witnessing my father-in-law interact with his family.

He would misspeak out of sheer laziness, mispronouncing a well-known name or movie title and someone in the family would jump to his aid by correcting him or finishing his sentence.

Later, alone with my wife, I would tell her that the family was enabling his Lazy Brain and perpetuating the behavior. And that they were doing him a huge disservice, keeping him from exercising his brain.

Flash-forward to the last few years when Lazy Brain has taken on a reverse-meaning for the practice of not letting outside resources help when the inevitable brainfart occurs.

It usually happens with a song, a movie, an actors name or the name of an acquaintance. And the Internet age has made it even easier to look it up. The act of thinking hard, sometimes stopping what we’re doing, until we get it has become a weird ritual in our new family. One that I hope will - like using your non-dominant hand for brushing your teeth - stave off Alzheimers for at least a little while.

I’ve been trying to remember the name of a band after hearing an old song in a Budweiser spot for three weeks now. I could just go look at my CD collection, but I’m determined to dig it out of my Lazy Brain.

We all keep this information deep within our brains. We don’t forget it. We just lose the will (or think we lose the ability) to go find it. I believe that the more we stop and dig deep for it, the easier it will be to get the next one. And even if we never reach photographic memory, we might just get a little smarter by forcing our Lazy Brains to be a little less so.

iPhone Update & Apps

Fun day for iPhone owners. Kinda like opening one present on xmas eve. I don’t know who leaked the update that was due tomorrow, but for those of us who are keeping our old and obsolete doorstop phones, it’s a smart move to keep us happy while we see all those shiny new iPhones being bandied around tomorrow.

So far I’ve only downloaded the free apps, but even then I’m impressed. The Jott for iPhone takes what I’ve been missing with the iPhone - namely voicenotes - and ratchets it up with transcriptions in text to use with other list features. My only worry here is that my next million-dollar idea will be on the Jott grid somewhere… hmm.

The next thing I’ve noticed is that the web works faster (pre 3G, mind you) within the apps than it does in the Safari browser. Makes perfect sense because all the heavy graphics and formatting are now local and it only needs to fetch data. I’m not sure, but I’m guessing that Twitterific will win this round against Hahlo and Socialthing! until the latter two get apps available. Plus, Twitterific has raised the bar with some features in the app. Very nice.

If this was orchestrated by Apple (and I can’t believe it wasn’t) to keep old customers happy, mission accomplished. I know I’ll be satisfied with my new apps while watching the frenzy tomorrow.

Independence Day

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

Now if we can just do something about that “Creator” part, we might be on to something! How about:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their very existence with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

Yes. Yes, I like that a lot better.

Natasha Shneider

One of my all-time favorite songwriters/musicians and part of the Real Pie extended family, Natasha Shneider, died yesterday. She will be sorely missed. Our thoughts are with her loved ones and friends.

Please help cover medical costs by donating to the memorial fund if you can.

Coolest Republican on Capitol Hill

Congressman John Culberson of Texas has discovered Qik streaming video and he’s hell bent on giving us a firsthand look inside the offices and hallways of Capitol Hill. My two worlds have converged and I’m a pig in shit watching John’s videos.

Tip of the Hat to Robert Scoble for shining the light on Culberson and the other “Twittering Congressman,” Tim Ryan of Ohio. Scoble spells out how technology is changing the world in DC.

To Hell With Hollywood, California!

Mystery solved! I live near and grew up in Hollywood, CA. So according to this article in the L.A. Times, it’s no wonder I don’t believe in god. Hell, I market movies for a living. I’m part of the “corrupting influence”..!

The larger point of the Pew survey - that 92% of all Americans part - is the true mystery. I wish there was someone who could put it all in perspective…

George Carlin

Amen.

Stan Winston

I hate that I’m writing again so soon about one of my heroes passing away. Stan Winston was the best boss I ever had. I had the pleasure of working for him from 1995 to 1999 as an animatronics designer. The picture above is one of my favorites: Al Sousa, Stan and me in front of the full-scale stegosaurus Al and I designed and built for The Lost World: Jurassic Park.

Before working “at Stan’s” as we used to say I, like many others, jumped around from shop to shop for years. You would work on a movie, and when it was over, you were usually looking for your next gig. But once you landed at Stan’s, you were set. His was the first (and only, while I was there) shop that treated you like a long-term employee with health and retirement benefits, Christmas parties, vacation pay, etc. Vacation pay! It was unheard of at other shops, but Stan knew he’d get more out of us if he treated us well.

It was the heyday while I was there. Over 100 employees and more work than we could handle. Stan opened up his private gym at the studio so we could use it during lunch or after work. His generosity was matched with a commanding presence and ridiculously high standards. You could feel the room tense up with respect when he walked in. He was tough and fair but could be playful when appropriate. Like a good father.

What I know about being a boss myself - I learned from Stan. When I started Real Pie in 2000 and started hiring/managing people, I remember constantly going back to “what would Stan do in this situation?” His guidance has gotten me through eight years of being a boss. And for all these reasons, I remember Stan very fondly.

Tim Russert

Meet the Press has been my weekend ritual for nearly a decade. Tim Russert and a cup of coffee. Other guys reserve time alone for watching sports on TV. My wife generously allows me one hour on Sunday morning to catch up on my favorite sport; Politics.

Today’s tragic news came as such a shock. I’ve come to rely on Tim’s no-bullshit guidance moderating the egos and agendas of world leaders and puffed-up pundits. He had a gift of bringing them down to earth. I’m really going to miss Tim Russert.

The only consolation is the most important one. Cliche’ as it sounds, he seems to have lived life to the fullest. He loved his family, always writing and speaking of his father and son. And his passion for politics fulfilled the rest of his time. Who could ask for anything more out of life? We should all be so lucky. We should all appreciate it as much as he did, while we’re here.

Religulous Trailer