This was taken at last night’s Burbank City Council Meeting. Most civic buildings have old pictures of Police Squads and Firehouse staff – but this was a whole new level. I got to ask the Fire Chief about it. It went like this:

(Please keep in mind that the fire chief in Burbank looks like Mr. Incredible before superheroes were outlawed, he’s massive!)
Me: Hey Chief
Chief Incredible: Yeah?
Me: These pictures are amazing, I’ve never seen anything like this. Explosions in the background and taking a team picture – what a wild idea!
Chief Incredible: It was a hot one! The hair on the back of our necks was singing while we got that shot.
Me: Really? No way!
Chief Incredible: (laughing) Yeah!
(he then slaps me on the back with his giant arm)

It struck me this week at how much life has changed from this birthday to the last. It got me thinking about how life was going currently, what I’m working on right now… and what was doing a year ago and I’ve come up with one consistent theme –

I don’t consistently dream big enough.

Here’s why – last year at this time I was looking forward to an easy week of work (3 days with Thanksgiving Holiday) and wasn’t really sure where life was taking me. Some recent interpersonal breakthroughs and healing were happening but professionally I really didn’t have much of a plan.

And then WHAMMO! In the week of my birthday a scandal had broken out at my workplace and as a result I was probably going to be laid off. Looking back now it was very Charles Dickens “it was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” There was the struggle to keep it together and at the same time I was a ball of anger.

It was the worst because I didn’t know what was next. It was the best because of the same reason. I was emotionally kicked out of the safety net I had created for myself. It was like that moment in Fight Club where Ed Norton’s loses his apartment and his world crashes – it was no different for me.

I tried to find work all over Virginia and came up with nothing. I contemplated moving to DC when I was offered a really neat chance. The option to move to LA and work on a film project. Move to the west coast AND have a paying job. I didn’t have to worry about housing or transportation. The decision wasn’t that hard considering my alternatives.

So I moved and met a great group of people. A community of people who care about excellence, each other and making the world better than the way they found it. I’ve been handed some really amazing opportunities and blown some along the way too. This year hasn’t been easy but I’m enjoying the stretching.

I’d view this last year as a HUGE success for me and I’m very thankful and overwhelmed with gratitude to my community here and back on the east coast.

If I can encourage you, I’d say this; take the risk, dream bigger, imagine yourself doing what you love. Seek out the tools to do what you’d like to do, research, stay up late, wake up early, talk with your friends about what you’re doing and working on. It’s scary but it’s worth it. Malcolm Gladwell just released an extract from his new book Outliers on “pure Genius” and he says it takes 10,000 hours to become an expert on something. It breaks down to 2-3 hours a day for 10 years. We take for granted the genius that we see in The Beatles, Rockefeller and Bill Gates. Gladwell shows it was their passion and their pursuit that made them stand out. Read it here.

So why don’t we try it as a bit of an experiment. The conversation goes 2 ways. I’ll start with telling you some of the things I’m thinking about and working on and then you can leave me comments or send me an email with what you’re working on and any feedback you have on what I said.

What I’m working on – (there is no cohesion to this list, it’s all stream of consciousness)
I’m trying to figure out a pitch to get funding on a short film that is set in an independent bookstore. I thought that the short split into 3 webisodes combined with a fun website that encouraged visitors to the site to connect to their local bookstore. As far as I know it hasn’t been done before but experience tells me their may be a reason for that.

In December I’m taking some serious time to travel and see everyone in my family. Make those connections stronger and really enjoy my family. I plan on doing some serious reading.

The Drop – it’s come to an irreversible point. A decision has to be made to continue with it or not. I really like the idea of talking to people about what music they are into and what I’m listening to at the time. I’ve got a great bunch of people around me who are ready to move forward but I’ve got to get it all together. My hesitancy is that I foot the bill for the Drop and it needs a new financial model. The audience is still there (average monthly podcast downloads this year are approx 16,500)

Web development – I’ve really been enjoying working with some incredible non profits this year that have incredible heart to help people. To me this is a double whammy, doing fun work and giving these organizations the tools that fortune 500 companies haven’t even put into effect yet.

With the SAG strike looming, business in SoCal would change pretty drastically if the strike actually happens. (AND another year of awful TV, tell me a story – not Flavor of Love) I wonder if there would be a market then for digital TV stations – how fast could I collaborate to have one started. Could quality independent content trump reality TV? What do you think?

Ok, that’s it for me – your turn. Dan@PortnoyMediaGroup.com

So the rumors are flying about what Apple will be releasing this September. Alleged phone calls of insiders saying that financially they would be having an explosive quarter. And then it’s reported that Apple stores aren’t renewing iPod stock. Plus, subscription based iTunes and Leopard for PC’s!!!

Is it true and what does it mean?

iTunes Unlimited – The subscription thing sounds totally on the level, Apple is changing before it has to and that is always a good thing. It’s going to hurt current monthly music subscriptions like eMusic, Rhapsody, Amazon and other providers. If the reports of $129.95 for a year of the service are on the level I don’t think that’s too bad – but I may be on the far side of the pendulum swing. I haven’t bought a CD in years and my download dollars are in the thousands. Depending on how the service would work, users could see some real value. The ramifications would launch AppleTV well ahead of the pack. Even to the point that there wouldn’t be a need for regular cable, satellite, etc. It has potential to usher in the full TV On Demand model. If you gain access to all the shows listed on iTunes by paying for your subscription why wouldn’t the masses flock to get the HD Appliance. I tend to think there will be another shoe to drop on that. That’s too much to my benefit for what I think Apple normally does, but then again it would really do some hurt to Comcast and Cox and if they could do the same thing in the TV market as what they’ve done over the last year to the phone market – I’m in.

The 2nd quarter results – With the new iPhone 3G and over a million phones sold in 3 days kind of seals the deal, don’t you think?

New iPods – Pretty standard for September in Apple’s history. My guess would be that a newer larger iPod touch would only accentuate the iTunes Unlimited service. The larger size would accommodate for HD movies easier and allow for more music storage. Plus with touch, it allows all the 3G goodies of maps, GPS, and widgets.

Leopard on a PC – Why wouldn’t Apple make it’s move against Mojave, ahem, Vista? Microsoft got ginormous on software and with out the platform architecture limitation I think it’s a golden opportunity.

As with any kind of rumor there’s a good possibility that it’s all a house of cards and Apple is notorious for doing the “end around” drill. What do you think about Apple TV? What are the implications?

This past week I had the chance to explore my inner nerd very publicly via The Star Trek Experience at the Las Vegas Hilton. (Pictures coming soon) I was sent this today and thought I should share.

Thanks Grete!