BlueWaveBlog.com

Breaktime

2005-12-13T05:11:00.000-06:00

Where's My Agent?

2005-12-13T05:08:00.000-06:00

Little Guy Hangs with Liasion to the World

2005-12-13T05:00:00.000-06:00

The Agent

2005-12-13T04:56:00.000-06:00

BurritoBaby

2005-12-13T04:45:00.000-06:00

Search This

2005-11-07T05:18:00.000-06:00

Although I think Google is rapidly becoming as important to life as ice cream...you could technically live without it, but why...it seems Yahoo is getting serious about improving the area it "traditionally" (over the last few years) lagged behind, which is the search potential. With various acquisitions, it has been trying to match Google's speed and accuracy. Yahoo's next phase (click the link to try it out) in search technology is in testing. The most significant part of this is the "community" based search results. If this goes well, one should be able to benefit from other people's input into search results, rather than simply a technical or arbitrary set of results. Google is also working on the next phases of search engines, but at the end of the day, it's about getting the best information in the most expeditious manner.

Escape

2005-11-04T03:31:00.000-06:00

Thanks to Eric Zorn for making me try this simple, but challenging game.

Try it...

White Sox Win World Series...Wow!

2005-10-27T01:51:00.000-05:00

The Chicago White Sox are the World Series Champs. It's going to take a while for this to sink in, but they gave baseball and Chicago fans a remarkable team performance as they swept the Houston Astros and were lost only one game during the entire postseason.

Read the Sign Behind the Dugout

2005-10-24T07:40:00.000-05:00

The Chicago White Sox defeated the Houston Astros last night in Game 2 of the 2005 World Series in what I can only describe as another "expect the unexpected" manner (grand slam by Konkero to take the lead, game tied in the bottom of the 9th with a walkoff home run by someone who hit ZERO home runs during the season). Not sure if it's destiny or great team effort or whatever, but the White Sox seem to be on track to shatter the drought of a World Series championship for themselves, for Chicago and, for many who root for the ultimate once-in-a-lifetime-I-finally-have-seen-it-happen event. In many ways, being in the World Series is stunning enough, but these guys are the best true "team" I've seen in recent memory. There is no one particular person that is carrying this team. Its different people each game and that's why they've been able to win 9 out of 10 postseason games so far. Two more wins and what many thought was impossible for baseball in Chicago is actually going to happen...World Series Champions.

Chicago Skyline

2005-10-23T08:10:00.000-05:00

Skyline View(s)

2005-10-21T06:35:00.000-05:00

Anyone checking these pictures out must be wondering what on earth is going on. Actually, we are trying to choose a new skyline shot for the Olympic project. Feel free to comment on any that are liked (or not liked).

2005-10-21T06:25:00.000-05:00

2005-10-21T06:08:00.000-05:00

2005-10-21T05:16:00.000-05:00

White Sox Advance...to World Series!

2005-10-16T11:34:00.000-05:00

Chicago Whte Sox are on the way to the American League Championship Series. I know certain Boston Red Sox friends are disappointed, but hopefully the same thing that happened last year to the Red Sox will happen to the White Sox.

Update - White Sox just completed an impressive 4-1 series win over the Angels. They found ways to win but no doubt there starting pitching was the story. It's hard to believe, a Chicago baseball team in the World Series. Expect the Unexpected.

AquaFish

2005-10-10T15:58:00.000-05:00

What's so interesting about the fish in the aquarium? It isn't real. It's an aquatic robot in the London Aquarium, one of three developled by the University of Essex to teach the public more about robotic technology.

Sox v. Sox

2005-10-03T05:22:00.000-05:00

I have some very special friends who live in or near Boston, so I'll be nice about this. Last year, the Boston Red Sox finally won a World Series after a billion years, leaving the Chicago Cubs and Chicago White Sox as the teams with the biggest droughts. This year, the Chicago White Sox won the AL Central and Boston is their playoff opponent as a wildcard team.

Thanks to WGN-TV and Wrigley Field, the Chicago Cubs have had enormous fan interest, but the Chicago White Sox finished with 99 wins and deserve the opportunity to end their World Series vacancy. I look at this as a no-lose situation.

If the White Sox beat the Red Sox, great for obvious reasons. If not, then hopefully the Red Sox will knock out the Yankees or Angels. Good luck and may the best sox win! The playoffs start Tuesday.

Governor's Ball 2005 Emmy Awards

2005-10-01T06:28:00.000-05:00

This was a picture from the Governor's Ball site decorated with an art-deco look after last week's Emmy Award show.

Dave Gorman Explains a GoogleWhack

2005-09-30T05:20:00.000-05:00

We went to see British-based comedian Dave Gorman on Wednesday evening. The show is all around Googlewhack. What on earth is a Googlewhack?

Basically, it's when you enter two words into Google. Usually, you end up with thousands of results, but a Googlewhack is when you have just ONE hit. It seems easy, but try it with any two unsual words and you'll see it isn't easy. The show is unique and very humorous. I highly recommend it if you get a chance to see Dave here or elsewhere.

Speaking of that, I was somewhat surprised at the lack of publicity prior to his performance at the Paramount Arts Center in Aurora, Illinois. The crowd was small and Dave deserved a much bigger crowd.

Straight Ahead with a Twist

2005-09-29T06:32:00.000-05:00

Thought this was an interesting directional sign used for a trade show.

Bach Stradivarius

2005-09-26T04:37:00.000-05:00

Back in the 20th century, someone stole my gleaming silver Bach Stadivarius trumpet out of a music locker at college. It wasn't like I was going to do a duet with trumpet superstars like Wynton Marsalis, Maynard Ferguson or Doc Severinsen, but I hope that whoever took it at least sold/gave it to some music shop that sold/gave it to some high school or college kid who's putting good use to it somewhere out there.

Check out Wynton Radio HERE (click 'on' if necessary, try classical or jazz)

Maynard will in the Chicago area on October 14th and 15th.

3D Graph

2005-09-26T04:28:00.000-05:00

If you were able to graph a great idea on water, it could look something like the above picture.

Ozzie's Roller Coaster

2005-09-23T18:39:00.000-05:00

When Ozzie Guillen was named manager of the Chicago White Sox, the team where he played not that long ago, most people didn't expect him to lead the White Sox to a division title. As the White Sox blazed to the best record in baseball for most of the season, it's important to keep that original expectation in perspective as their 15 game lead over Cleveland has shrunk to 1.5 games (as of last night).

Anthony Gomes to Open for B.B. King

2005-09-10T18:06:00.000-05:00

Just heard that Anthony Gomes will be opening for the above pictured B.B. King on September 29th and then will be the featured act the next night, September 30th, at Mr. King's club in Nashville.

Anthony will also be opening for the Doobie Brothers on November 5th in Ardmore, OK in case you are in the neighborhood.

A quick glance of future tour dates indicates Anthony, Biscuit, Barry and Rusty are going to be very busy over the next few months, but the good news is that they also have some dates in the Chicago area.

* November 11 Chord on Blues St. Charles, Illinois
* November 25 Kingston Mines Chicago, Illinois
* November 26 Kingston Mines Chicago, Illinois
* December 16 Porter's Oyster Bar Crystal Lake, Illinois
* December 17 Porter's Oyster Bar Crystal Lake, Illinois

Note to Anthony and friends: if you see this, check out the profile for the most recent nominee for the 7 Wonders of Chicago at the Chicago 2016 Olympic Games.

Los Angeles

2005-09-08T05:12:00.000-05:00

On Wednesday, the Southern California Committee for the Olympic Games and the City of Los Angeles announced their intent to bid for the 2016 Olympic Games. The USOC will be determining soon the criteria and process to select a U.S. candidate.

Los Angeles hosted the Olympic Games in 1932 and 1984. They were among several cities that was seeking to be the 2012 candidate, which was eventually narrowed down to San Francisco and New York City (we had pulled Chicago out of the process before that).

I know some of the people who have been involved with Los Angeles and respect their history and potential. Having said that, I intend to make sure the Chicago 2016 Olympic Games are a reality and am confident we have the best choice to compete on a worldwide stage.

Let the competition begin :)

7 Wonders of Chicago

2005-08-30T20:03:00.000-05:00

The Chicago Tribune recently has been sorting through nominees for the top 7 Wonders of Chicago after a professor recently discussed a sculpture as one of Chicago's wonders. Since the Chicago 2016 Olympic Bid wants to highlight such things as well, there's an ongoing list of nominees at the interim site for Chicago 2016 or www.chicago2016.net.

Building Bridges

2005-08-30T19:58:00.000-05:00

If you like building bridges, try this simple game by clicking HERE.

Grill This

2005-08-30T19:54:00.000-05:00

I'm not a BBQ expert when it comes to cooking, but I was just told that there's some risks associated with cooking meat like chicken on a direct flame and that instead there should be "indirect" cooking. Even better, marinate meat overnight and "pre-cook" in the microwave, then finish it off on a grill.

Need for Speed

2005-08-30T13:06:00.000-05:00

Check out this link (thanks to Eric Zorn) for testing your internet connection speed.

Denzel Washington's Generosity

2005-08-25T05:40:00.000-05:00

Regardless of one's view of the Iraq war, everyone can agree that it is tragedy when anyone is seriously injured or killed. I know some people that were in Iraq, including an Air Force and Army physician, who have had to deal with the reality of injuries firsthand.

Recently, Denzel Washington and his family visited troops at Brook Army Medical Center (BAMC) in San Antonio, Texas. Soldiers who are transferred from Germany come here, including burn victims. They have something called Fisher Houses, a place for soldier's family to stay at little or no charge. BAMC has several, but they are full most of the time.

Denzel Washington toured one of the Fisher Houses on his visit to BAMC. He asked how much one of them would cost to build. He took his checkbook out and and wrote a check for the full amount on the spot. Soldiers overseas were amazed to hear the story and want to spread the word to the American public about Mr. Washington's generosity and concern, even though such a story has not received much media attention.

Fisher House is a public-private partnership to help familes have a home away from home. To learn more about their programs, locations and how to contribute, see www.fisherhouse.org.

Note: Thanks to JD for sharing the information

Building a Logo

2005-08-24T12:01:00.000-05:00

A friend of mine sent this to generate some ideas for a Chicago 2016 logo (by the way, if any graphic designers are reading this and want to submit ideas, let me know). The above is for some 2006 conference on social justice in Chicago. There are a couple other logos that were contemplated when we were planning for 2008 and 2012, so we may revisit those or come up with something brand new. The logo must be "pin-friendly" since Olympic logos tend to end up on pins.

Chicago 101

2005-08-24T02:04:00.000-05:00

If you think you know Chicago, take a look inside at the comment section.

Special thanks to Sara for the enclosed

Podcasting

2005-08-24T01:44:00.000-05:00

Tuesday evening on ABC7 Chicago, they did a special feature on PODCASTING. Like blogs have soared in numbers and use, podcasts are becoming more common.

My friend, Rick Klau, who is always on the cutting edge and has had a very successful blog, works for FeedBurner, which was featured on the ABC7 story. They do various things, including helping with the creation and distribution of podcasts.

See inside the comment section for the text of the story or check out the story from ABC7.

Perhaps we may do some PODCASTING for Chicago 2016.

Gifted Children

2005-08-24T01:07:00.000-05:00

I've got a lot of very special little friends. I was having a conversation with a particular little guy named DannyBear recently that, in retrospect, was not typical for a 3 year old. Along with various observations about his talent and potential, I'm starting to think he's got "gifted" characterstics. The above graphic can also be found at www.nagc.org (National Association for Gifted Children). Click on the picture for a larger version.

By the way, this special little guy may also be ambidexterous, which is very cool since I write left-handed, play basketball and football right-handed, baseball left-handed, bat (I first wrote BATH) both-handed and play tennis right handed. He may be a future Olympian in addition to various other super talents. If the Cubs, Yankees, Red Sox, White Sox or Dodgers are interested in the 3 year old, you will need to wait a while to meet him, but we can talk :)

Future Olympic Sport?

2005-08-18T13:01:00.000-05:00

Looks like I may be playing WhirlyBall in the near future. It's a combination of hockey, lacrosse, basketball on very bumpy bumper cars. Last year, I ended up taking super-duper mega-strength doses of Tylenol, so this year, I think I may need to warm up better or bring a bunch of pillows to line the bumper car.

The Chicago area has three WhirlyBall venues ready for 2016 :)

NYC was HOT

2005-08-17T23:24:00.000-05:00

I had a HOT trip to New York City (temps rising to almost 100 degrees in Central Park) that included hanging out in Manhattan, a wedding in New Jersey and a blend of biz and fun. My cousin lives on the upper east side of Manhattan, which is sorta on the upper left side of this picture. Across the East River is Queens, where some of the Olympic venues were to be located.

Manhattan is a unique place, like putting several downtowns of most cities all together in one, but aside from the intense size, there's an energy level that is impressive. On the downside, it's slightly very super expensive to live in Manhattan.

My opinion on the Olympics being anywhere is biased, but the NYC bid team deserves credit for their efforts.

Coca-Cola's 2020 Vision

2005-08-02T20:04:00.000-05:00

Being involved with the Olympic Games means you tend to have a lot of stuff like shirts, pins and assorted Olympic merchandise.

Coca-Cola (aka "Coke") has had an extensive worldwide relationship with the Olympic Games since 1928, the longest of any Olympic sponsor. The 1996 Olympic Games were in Atlanta, home to Coke's headquarters, so there was an increased presence.

Yesterday, Coca-Cola announced its sponsorship of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games and extending partnerships through the year 2020 (yes, that includes 2016). That's great news for the Olympic world!

I have just one minor wish...since I tend to drink Mountain Dew somewhat frequently, it would be great to see it move from the Pepsi family to the Coke family so when I go to Olympic meetings and events, I can get some Dew.

Pepsi, which does pretty well with Mt. Dew and Doritos in their portfolio, might want to consider a trade with Coke. How about trading Coke's Minute Maid Orange Juice for Moutain Dew? Pepsi would get premier entry into the juice biz and Coke would get the a premier non-cola brand...just an idea.

2014 Winter Olympic Games

2005-07-29T18:33:00.000-05:00

Here are the official candidates that submitted official bids to the International Olympic Committee by the midnight deadline...my guess is a couple of these will be eliminated before the final round and look for Pyeongchang and Salzburg to be considered the initial front-runners because they lost to Vancouver for 2010:

Almaty, Kazakhstan
Borjormi, Georgia
Jaca, Spain
Pyeongchang, South Korea
Salzburg, Austria
Sochi, Russia
Sofia, Bulgaria

The Next Tallest Building

2005-07-29T09:13:00.000-05:00

Pictured above to the right is the proposed Fordham Tower, a 2000 foot, 115 story "spire" tower, designed by Santiago Calatrava. Plans include 200 hotel rooms and 200 to 250 condos. It would be the tallest building in the United States, passing the Sears Tower.

There is no truth to the rumor that I am proposing this as a venue for the first-ever vertical Olympic marathon, but perhaps we can use it as the Olympic Village or hosting the IOC in 2016.

Eric Zorn doesn't seem to like it.

Chicago 2016

2005-07-27T17:21:00.000-05:00

Thanks to a few media people and Mr. Mayor himself, the question of whether to pursue the 2016 Olympic Games for Chicago has been getting some unintended LOUD attention...so much for the low-profile. Back when I first initiated the efforts for the Olympic Games in the early 90's, there were certain things that were easy and difficult. Now, some of those easy things are difficult and the ones that were difficult seem easier. I'm not sure yet what's going to happen, but hopefully some perspective and experience will help the "final final" decisions.

It's interesting to see the reaction to something I've thought through every single possible aspect since the 20th century. Mostly positive, but I need to turn my friend OneMan around.

UPDATE: Keep in mind, we are still "exploring" but here's the interim site: www.chicago2016.net.

Technology Transformation

2005-07-27T00:02:00.000-05:00

Lately, I've gone through a transformation with technology and communications, realizing not all things are created equal and there have been surprises along the way, involving my cell phone, cellular carrier, phone company (SBC), standard cable vs. digital cable, DSL problems to cable internet, new modems, routers and some interesting experiences at Best Buy and Circuit City.

However, what may be the most intriguing technological change will be my test of using VONAGE, the broadband phone service that I'll use over my cable internet connection. It is amazing that home phone service can be achieved bypassing the traditional phone companies. Before I totally disconnect SBC, I want to see how well Vonage works, but I already know it's financially more feasible.

By the way, with the internet stock bubble bursting, some VoIP companies suffered, but one company to keep an eye on is Sonus Networks, which makes the equipment to switch between VoIP and phone company equipment. I'm not saying invest in it, but my guess is that Sonus is going to benefit strongly from the worldwide growth of VoIP.

Anthoy Gomes - A Guitar Hero In the Making

2005-07-20T08:42:00.000-05:00

Check out this great article on my friend Anthony Gomes after his weekend performace in London, Ontario. He will be in Chicago this coming Sunday (see post "BlueWave Welcomes Anthony Gomes" for more details).

Anthony Gomes A Guitar Hero in the Making
Thunder Bay's Source By Leith Dunick
July 18, 2005 www.tbsource.com

Anthony Gomes wrote his Masters thesis on the racial evolution of blues music, which he called his first steps down the dirty road of life on stage.

He took his first steps to being hailed a guitar legend locally last Sunday, when he stole the show at the Thunder Bay Blues Festival with a performance that had audience members comparing him to everyone from B.B. King and Jimi Hendrix to the late, great, Stevie Ray Vaughn.

Coincidentally, all three guitar gods top the 30-year-old’s list of idols he looked up to growing up in his native Toronto.

“I had the greatest teachers in the world, my CD collection,” he explained when asked where he learned to play the guitar.

“I have Jimi Hendrix and B.B. King and Buddy Guy and Albert King and Stevie Ray Vaughn and Carlos Santana and a bunch that I’m forgetting; and there (were) people who didn’t play guitar but were very musical that inspired me, like Ray Charles or Stevie Wonder or Aretha Franklin.

I just try to tap into that melody and the spirit and throw (my) heart and soul into it. I guess it’s working. It seems to work.”

His heart and soul blanketed the audience at Marina Park last weekend as the overheated crowd ignored soaring temperatures, arose to their feet and followed his every word as if it were the gospel of the blues.

Gomes, who left Toronto for the bright lights of Chicago and has since made his home in Nashville, said simply getting up on stage and playing music is too one-dimensional, which is why he and his close-knit quartet whip out every trick in the trade to get the audience involved.

“For us, music is the means by which we communicate a much deeper thing, which is a spiritual interaction and a spiritual message of love and unity,” said Gomes, delivering on his promise to his band members – drummer Barry Alexander, keyboardist Rusty Hall and bassist Biscuit Miller – that Canadians would give them their best show in ages.

“That’s what we’re trying to do through music. And I feel people like Stevie Wonder, U2, B.B. King, Jimi Hendrix and Bob Marley tried to do all these things and used music as a vehicle. It’s not to diminish the power of music, but music was the messenger and the message was much deeper. So the energy is fueled by this fire that we have and reinforced by the crowd.”

A proud Canadian, Gomes knew he’d have to leave the Great White North in order to further his career. Unlike some of his contemporaries, it was an easy decision to make.

Still, his departure for the promised land south of the border is usually one of the first subjects he’s asked about when talking to his fellow countryman on his never ending tour of North America and Europe.

“Canadians have this thing about Canada versus the U.S., like Trudeau’s the mouse and the elephant. I didn’t look at it that way. I just figured if you want to be an actor, you go to Hollywood, if you want to play in the NHL you go to Toronto (and) if you want to be a musician you go to New York, Nashville, Chicago or L.A.”

It was while he was in Chicago that he first hooked up with Miller, a fun loving bassist whose duel with Gomes was a highlight of Sunday’s show. Their first encounter happened in the late ‘90s, and the two have been together ever since.

“We all came from the same community. We’d hang out every Sunday night at the jams,” said Gomes, who has fused rock and roll, soul, gospel and R&B with the blues to create a unique sound all his own.

The two eventually found their way to Nashville, a city Gomes called the perfect environment to learn and grow and exchange ideas.

“It’s sort of like a big college town of musicians. It would sort of be like London, Ontario or wherever and it’s just musicians. Half a million people are involved in the music community there in some capacity.”

The author of three albums, including 2003’s Unity, which sold quickly in Thunder Bay as fans rushed to the merchandise tent to pick up a copy during and after his much-talked about set, Gomes is in the process of making his fourth, utilizing well-known producer Jimmy Gaines, who helped propel Vaughn to stardom in the 1980s.

Gomes is happy just to have his music heard, and didn’t seem too concerned that he hasn’t hit it big outside the blues world yet.

“How far you go, that’s out of our hands and we’ll just keep doing what we do because we love it and we don’t want to put the cart before the horse. Our goal is not to play for 100,000 people and compromise what we’re doing.

“We’re doing what we want to and hope that 100,000 people get tuned in to it.”

If he continues to play like he did at the Blues Festival, he should hit that target by the end of the month.

See the Light

2005-07-19T07:24:00.000-05:00

At first glance it may seem odd, but tucked inside the final draft of the energy bill is a provsion to extend daylight by two months, one on each end, starting the first Sunday in March and ending the last Sunday in November.

BlueWave believes this could have potential impact on the U.S confection (candy) industry due to an extra hour of daylight on Halloween.

BlueWave Welcomes Anthony Gomes

2005-07-19T05:55:00.000-05:00

(UPDATED) BlueWave welcomes friend ANTHONY GOMES, who will be appearing on the Main Stage at the Sheffield Garden Walk Festival (around Webster & Sheffield) in Chicago this Sunday, July 24th at 5:45pm. Tickets are just $6, there is FREE parking available.

There are various musical performances by others and plenty of things to do before Anthony takes the stage. Some friends with kids have been looking for a way to see Anthony and his band peform, so this is your chance. At the moment, this is the last Chicago area performance on his North American schedule, so take advantage of it.

Anthony played this year at the Kingston Mines in Chicago and the Clearwater Theater in West Dundee. The above picture is from his performance at Chord on Blues in St. Charles, where special guest Jim Peterik (middle) from Survivor joined him to jam on stage. Biscuit Miller (right) plays an awesome bass guitar. Barry "BamBam Duran" Alexander from Minneapolis recently joined the band on drums and the new "rookie" keyboard player is Rusty from San Francisco.

As I've said before and will keep repeating until the whole world knows, Anthony is not only one of the best guitar players on the planet, but combined with a great voice, creative songwriting and a fusion of blues and rock, he is a future Grammy winner.

For full-track samples of Anthony's previously released CD's (new one will come out in the not-so-far future), see his website at www.anthonygomes.com.

Be Like Beckham

2005-07-18T08:02:00.000-05:00

(UPDATED) Football (uh, that's known as Soccer around the USofA) England's superstar David Beckham is shown here at a press conference at the IOC meetings in Singapore to help promote London's Olympic bid. According to my sources, his presence significantly helped sway some votes. One of the Olympic venues will be built on where he grew up playing soccer as a kid.

He's married to Victoria of the Spice Girls (she was there, too), but with all due respect to Victoria's fame, Mr. Beckham is the Michael Jordan of Europe (they both use the #23). He makes about $24 million per year in endorsement deals without the marketing power of USA (that could change because he may consider playing in the United States).

He currently plays for Real Madrid, one of the elite professional soccer/football teams anywhere (note: The City of Madrid came in 3rd for the 2012 Olympic Games, after Paris, ahead of New York and Moscow).

I had an opportunity to see Real Madrid play an exhibition before more than 56,000 this past weekend, but I had planned on going to the Anthony Gomes concert in West Dundee (which was great, of course).

Real Madrid won the game with some last-minute drama, but a lot of attention was paid to David Beckham. He seemed to be impressed with Chicago enough that I would say that if Beckham ever makes the move to the MLS to play in the United States, the Chicago Fire should be prepared to make a serious offer and bring him to Chicago. From a sports marketing perspective, Beckham would maximize his stardom coast-to-coast by being in a more balanced top-tier media market.

Of course, some famous and future superstars find their way through Chicago (Walter Payton, Michael Jordan, Oprah, Anthony Gomes...David Beckham).

Howard Dean | Sleepless Tour

2005-07-13T18:44:00.000-05:00

A friend of mine emailed this picture depicting Dr. Howard Dean's Presidential campaign and its "Sleepless Tour" going through Chicago. Whatever political view you may have or opinion of Howard Dean, the reality is the Dean campaign ignited a grassroots interest that has been lacking in national politics for a while. Combined with brilliant people like Rick Klau who undertood how to leverage the internet to interact with the masses, the Dean campaign changed the way campaigns use the internet.

Creating "rock star" status for political candidates is not easy. It's not for everyone and it requires you to have substance behind the style if it is to be sustained. I was in Los Angeles last year when Barack Obama gave his speech at the Democratic convention and what struck me is that many people who were talking about Obama didn't actually watch him on TV. They had read about it or watched online. Thanks to the internet, he went from an adjunct professor at the University of Chicago, state senator and civil rights attorney to "political rock star" overnight.

Political candidates, rock stars, global events or consumer goods are various forms of a brand. Developing the brand includes developing relationships with your voters, fans, participants or customers.

Colin Powell Gets Part-Time Gig

2005-07-13T03:26:00.000-05:00

Colin Powell is about to get a part-time job with a well-known venture capital firm called Kleiner, Perkins, Kaufield & Byers. He won't be doing the usual stuff of evaluating proposals from companies, but instead providing advice to the companies associated with their firm along with international affairs wisdom. Kleiner Perkins helped launch various Silicon Valley companies like Google and Netscape. It will be interesting to see when Colin Powell opens up on his tenure in the Bush administration. Something tells me that there's some explosive things coming sooner or later. BlueWave is extending an open invitation to Mr. Powell to express himself here.

Music of the Moment | Josh Welton and Fatty Koo

2005-07-12T05:12:00.000-05:00

I met a very polite and friendly Josh Welton way back when he was 14 (he's now 15) during a certain political campaign I was involved with, the same one that is associated is future Grammy winner Anthony Gomes. In addition to Anthony and Josh, there were some other talented people that had performed in some way with our campaign and names to remember, including the group "Out Sold," Alexandria Bennefield, Sandra Mendoza and Rachna Khatau (Miss Illinois 1st runner-up). Denny Hastert, U.S. Speaker of the House, endorsed our campaign, but we never asked if he could sing :)

I've met Josh's Dad and know there's some good people around him, including my friend Clayton and his family. The first time I saw Josh sing was during the preliminary rounds for Aurora Idol, a compettion similar to American Idol for the 2nd largest city in Illinois. It's obvious immediately that he's got some special talent and we invited him and the other Aurora Idol finalists to a campaign event to perform later. He can sing, dance, but it's more than that. He understands how to put it all in the complete package...and he's just 15.

He recently joined Fatty Koo, a group from Columbus, Ohio and they have their own reality show that airs on BET on Saturday evening at 7:30pm CT (check your local listings). They've been signed by the Sony Urban label.

Today, July 12, their first CD is being released and I highly recommend you check it out. Their song "Bounce" was featured on an NBA spot for TNT. They have a music video. They are going to open for the Black Eyed Peas in Los Angeles on July 28th. Oh yeah, did I mention Josh is just 15?

Go to the official FattyKoo website to hear samples, see the NBA/TNT commercial, the Bounce video and photos or check out the following links:

NBA/TNT COMMERCIAL SPOT:
>Windows Media
>QuickTime
>RealVideo

OFFICIAL 'BOUNCE' VIDEO:
>Windows Media 450k
>Windows Media 300k
>Windows Media 56k
>QuickTime
>RealVideo

Thinking Beyond the Outside Box

2005-07-11T09:12:00.000-05:00

Times Square in NYC is known for its glitzy electronic signs, but Reuters has taken their sign to a new level...23 stories to be exact with the corner scroll. What makes this even more interesting is that they aren't just flashing advertisements, but are using ads to interact with those who view them via cell phone, text messages, digital pictures, internet, live events and email.

For example, Nike did a promotion where people on the street were invited to call a number flashed that connected to information on designing a custom shoe, then getting a web address sent back by text message the customer could purchase later. Some got free shoes. Unlike typical billboards, this resulted in developing a customer database and actual sales, all in addition to the usual exposure of people just seeing the advertisement.

Yahoo also did a promotion where callers were invited to push certain buttons that affected a virtual auto race up the building. Honda invited people to sit in a streetside Odyseey and then see themselves pictured in a Honda Odyseey on the Reuters sign and having a digital picture emailed to them.

Meet the Staff - East Coast

2005-07-10T16:34:00.000-05:00

Introducing three of BlueWave's favorite people and members of the Executive Editorial Board of BlueWaveBlog.com. They are based on the east coast. Dru leads the way and is chief liasion to the world for MattyBear (in Dru's lap) and DannyBear (front, aka "ScrunchyFace").

Chicago Casting Call for The Apprentice

2005-07-09T03:55:00.000-05:00

NBC is having an open casting call for The Apprentice on Saturday, July 23rd in Chicago. At 9am, wristbands will be distributed and interviews will begin at 10am. I wonder if Chicago's Bill Rancic will be passing out the wristbands since he was the 1st season's winner.

NBC Tower - 454 N. Columbus Drive, Chicago, Illinois 60611

Download an application in advance at www.nbc.com. You don't have to bring a video.

It got me thinking...there's a few people I personally know that would have interesting potential on reality shows.

Jake Parrillo (aka Chris Rhodes) could be a possibility. He works for Illinois House Minority Leader Tom Cross, handles the JoinCross Blog and has his own blog called Rhodes School. I've seen him do the Badger Dance. That alone should cause ratings to soar. If you haven't seen the Badger Dance, click HERE.

Hmm, who would be a female to cast for The Apprentice? Any suggestions?

The Next Jordan

2005-07-08T15:53:00.000-05:00

Various basketball players have been called "the next Jordan" in the last few years. For those of us fortunate to have watched the most talented basketball player in the history of basketball, it's hard to imagine anyone could replace him, but I now realize there IS the next Jordan who has every right to the claim. His son...Jeffrey Jordan, a six foot 16 year old who will be a junior at Loyola Academy College Prep and was invited to Indianapolis to play with 120 prep stars.

There are some obvious pressures of having Michael Jordan as your Dad while trying to play basketball. Reporters, photographers...even some blog out on a blue wave, but to Jeffrey's credit, he's trying to be himself, not his Dad. His number is 32, reversed from Michael's famous 23. I'm sure Jeffrey is going to have the superstar college programs interested in him, but something tells me Jeffrey will end up at the University of North Carolina two years from now.

London 2012

2005-07-06T07:58:00.000-05:00

(WEDNESDAY) Congratulations to London for prevailing in the final round over Paris for the 2012 Olympic Games. Madrid, Moscow and New York City also were finalists in the most contested bid race in Olympic history.

Special note for those of you who know me and are wondering about 2016...the next official bid process is for the 2014 Winter Olympics. More on the future of 2016 in the near future. Maybe baseball and softball will be added back just in time for it to be played in the United States :)

Olympic Movement

Olympic Games Blog

London 2012 Official Site

BBC

NOTE: As someone who has been to London a few times, enjoyed riding the "tubes" and understands the critical importance of mass transit for London and how it is the essential component of the London 2012 Olympic bid, it obviously raises concerns about what could happen after Thursday morning's bombings.

Most believe this had more to do with the G8 Summit or Britain's role in the invasion of Iraq than the coincidence of London being awarded the Olympic Games. Security for the Olympic Games will be at the highest level for any location with Torino being next this coming February 2006. To give some perspective, security cost $150 million in Atlanta (1996) and increased to $1.5 billion in Athens (2004). Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta was bombed during the 1996 Olympic Games by Eric Rudolph.

This may sound like oversimplification, but for Torino, Beijing, Vancouver and London, the plan is to prepare for the worst and hope for the best.

Music of the Moment | Coldplay's Speed of Sound

2005-07-05T10:38:00.000-05:00

BlueWave's Music of the Moment is Speed of Sound from Coldplay.

See the official video here (click on refresh after the window opens if it doesn't start playing). For the live concert video from NYC, click here.

For more on Coldplay via AOL Music, click here. They played at Live8 this past weekend.

The Speed of Sound lyrics are enclosed in this post's comment section.

Swiss Army

2005-07-05T06:24:00.000-05:00

The Swiss have an interesting army. Five hundred years without a war. Pretty impressive. Also pretty lucky for them. Ever see that little Swiss Army knife they have to fight with? Not much of a weapon there. Corkscrews. Bottle openers. 'Come on, buddy, let's go. You get past me, the guy in back of me, he's got a spoon. Back off. I've got the nail clippers right here!'

--Jerry Seinfeld

Rules of Grammar

2005-07-05T05:45:00.000-05:00

From time to time, we will be sharing some reader mail here at BlueWaveBlog.com.

Craig P. of LaJolla, California writes the following:

Hey BlueWave, I like the blog so far with the special effects on top and very cool pictures, but at the end of the day, it's still the text that rules the world. May I suggest some rules of grammar and writing for guidelines?

Avoid alliteration. Always.
Prepositions are not words to end sentences with.
Avoid cliches like the plague.
It is wrong to ever split an infinitive.
Contractions aren't necessary.
Foreign words and phrases are not apropos.
Don't be redundant; don't use more words than necessary; it's highly superfluous.
Exaggeration is a billion times worse than understatement.
Analogies in writing are like feathers on a snake.
Who needs rhetorical questions?

Hope these help. Good luck!

Craig P
LaJolla, California

BlueWave responds:

Thanks Craig for those serious tips. My only question is that if you live next to the Pacific Ocean near San Diego, what are you doing on a computer? Proceed directly to LaJolla Cove and see some blue waves.

Note: If you have comments or brilliant ideas, the email address is info@bluewaveblog.com. We will publish selected ones for worldwide broadcast.

Make the Call: Motorola or LG?

2005-07-05T04:18:00.000-05:00

On a slightly personal note, I thought I'd share my recent cell phone experience. For a long time, I was an AT&T Wireless customer until their customer service finally sunk to the level of AOL's reputation. Then, since U.S. Cellular had an "unlimited calling" plan for $69, I switched, even though there was also some downsides. One of them is that I lost long distance and get charged an incredible 7 cents a minute, which in today's shrinking lost-distance economy, is more than what some friends pay to call Toronto or London (note to US Cellular, it would be very smart to include unlimited nights/weekends for long distance with this plan).

Thanks to some yet-to-be-explained-to-me theory, cell phones magically only work for specific carriers, so I had to get a new cell phone, which turned out to be the LG-4400. My previous Sony Ericsson was put on display with other gadgets of my past. Had some problems and it went to repair, got a LG-6000 camera phone as a loaner, except that the camera didn't work on the loaner. No big deal since it was just temporary and my LG-4400 didn't have a camera in the first place.

Several months later, it turns out my LG-4400 is lost. I went into a US Cellular store since my loaner was starting to fizzle out. They gave me a new Motorola v262 (pictured above) as a replacement for my lost phone...and charged me $21 for a car charger. The 262 has some problems, static and weird things happening, so I called the woman at the store and she said we could swap it out for another new 262 or I could have a new LG-6000 camera phone, similar to my loaner. I said "well, what about the Motorola 265, which is the same as the 262, but with a camera?" She said I'd have to talk to the manager on Monday.

Great, so I finally talk to him and he says I should have the 262. I talk to people at another US Cellular store and they say I should ask to get an LG-6100. Motorola's cell phones apparently don't do well on quality control with the repair guys at US Cellular.

So, it looks like I may have to stay with a 262, but now that I've also switched my calling plan to a "normal" plan, a friend advised me to insist on the LG-6100 or the Motorola 710 or whatever I want and reminded me they LOST my phone. Well, I'd really like what my friend Rick Klau has, but I'm not sure a Treo is even available at US Cellular. That got me thinking. With number portability, why do I need to stay with US Cellular at all if they aren't going to give me a camera phone that I'd end up paying for by using?

Don't get me wrong, I think US Cellular does a better job at customer service than the AT&T Wireless, which has since merged with Cingular. I was at a lunch recently with the US Cellular's Director of Marketing as one of the speakers (her name is Karen, very nice and is in the process of planning a wedding) and I know that customer retention is a big issue for all cell phone companies, so maybe it's time to test the waters and consider alternates again.

Then again, maybe Cingular and US Cellular will merge so I'm back to where I started (sorta).

7/18/05 Update: I'm still waiting to resolve this increasingly annoying situation with my phone, but it has come to my attention that "static" has been experienced by others with a V262. Laurie, the salesperson at the store I went today, didn't seem to understand the problem (she likes Motorola). Oh, one more thing...due to a billing error, my phone bill for last month is $2366 (no, that is not a typo). If anyone from US Cellular's upper management reads this, we need to talk.

Deep Impact

2005-07-05T02:33:00.000-05:00

Congratulations to the folks at the NASA's JPL (Jet Propulsion Lab) in Pasadena, California for successfully coordinating the DEEP IMPACT mission to collide with the Temple 1 Comet.

For more info, images and video, see www.nasa.gov/deepimpact

The 2012 Olympic Games

2005-07-04T06:27:00.000-05:00

For those who love fireworks, this was the scene less than one year ago at the 2004 Athens Olympic Games. Torino, Italy will be the winter host in 2006, Beijing the summer host in 2008 and Vancouver the winter host in 2010.

Five cities are finalists for the 2012 Olympic Games and will be decided soon in Singapore. The finalists are London, Madrid, Moscow, New York and Paris.

In the interest of full disclosure, BlueWave's editor-in-chief was responsible for initiating Chicago as the the U.S. candidate city for the 2012 Olympic Games before deciding to postpone the bid for the future allowing other cities to compete to be the U.S. candidate (that resulted in New York).

Because of the conflict of interest, can't say which city is preferred to win (or lose), but can say Paris is the leading contender to be chosen for 2012 with London very close. Moscow and NYC are longshots.

BlueWave Launches

2005-06-30T07:07:00.000-05:00

BlueWave is ready to launch, but would like to take this moment to acknowledge some veteran bloggers who inspired this blog, each of whom will be featured in more detail at a later time. They are (drumroll please)...

...Rick Klau and his TINS

...Eric Zorn's Notebook

...Henry and OneMan's Thoughts

...Jake and Rhodes School and JoinCross

They are all invited to BlueWave's launch party at some future Anthony Gomes concert. It could take a while to get the hang of this like these experts, but we'll try one post at a time.

-A

2006 NBA Rookie of the Year?

2005-06-30T05:54:00.000-05:00

Deron Williams is shown here during the 2005 NCAA Championhip Game in April between the University of Illinois and North Carolina. Deron was the #3 pick by the Utah Jazz in the NBA draft. Teammate Luther Head was picked later in the 1st round by the Houston Rockets.

This year's Illini were the most exciting since the 1989 Flyin' Illini that made it to the Final Four with Kenny Battle (who also went to my high school), Kendall Gill, Nick Anderson and Steve Bardo. All four played in the NBA. Kenny Battle is now the head coach at IIT-Chicago.

Illinois is a leader in academics, but just like the 1989 Flyin' Illini where success spread to a Men's Gymnastics championship and Final Four for Women's Volleyball, this year the Men's Gymnastics team finished 2nd in the nation, Men's Tennis and Men's Wresting each finished 6th.

For more on the Illinois Athletics, click here. For more on the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, click here.

Taste of Chicago

2005-06-30T05:19:00.001-05:00

Taste of Chicago runs through July 5th in Grant Park in Downtown Chicago. This picture is from 2004. Santana will be playing at the Petrillo Music Shell on Saturday. Stop by and then go over to see Anthony Gomes at the Kingston Mines later in the night.

Michael Jordan Flashback

2005-06-30T05:19:00.000-05:00

Michael Jordan, shown here at his retirement press conference from playing with the Chicago Bulls after winning his SIX NBA Championships, is excited about BlueWave's launch.

Did you know that only SIX teams have won the NBA Championship since Jordan entered professional basketball about 20 years ago? Chicago Bulls, Los Angeles Lakers, Detroit Pistons, San Antonio Spurs, Houston Rockets and Boston Celtics.

For more on the NBA or draft earlier this week, see www.nba.com.

Inside BlueWave

2005-06-30T04:30:00.000-05:00

You may get splattered, but don't worry, it's only water from the hydrogen powered squirt guns our design team is using to get ready for BlueWave's unofficial launch. If you have any comments or feedback, let us know (we realize not all the links are linked yet).