codedread

I’ve written a little bit about the impact of The Long Tail before I even knew what The Long Tail was. If you have some time, read the excellent 1-year old essay here by Chris Anderson. It illuminates the way things are going to work in the new market and the rules that companies must follow:

1. Make Everything Available
2. Cut the price in half. Now lower it.
3. Help Me Find It

I started thinking about this again while watching some Our Gang (Little Rascals) VHS tapes I borrowed from the library. I would gladly pay to have restored, remastered and uncut/uncensored versions of these great films on DVD (especially if they had the same level of care present in the
Looney Tunes Golden Collection DVDs), yet they are simply NOT AVAILABLE. There were some Cabin Fever DVDs that were released years ago that are long out of print. I’m currently on the eBay hunt for Laserdisc versions of these films. Ironically because whoever owns the rights to these films are not releasing them, they are contributing to a thriving piracy/bootleg community (I was very suprised to find snazzy-looking bootleg DVDs of these films on Amazon, of all places!).

My general rule is: Plunk down my hard-earned cash for the stuff that is available and quite simply bootleg the rest… If you lock up national treasures, don’t expect people to take it sitting down. The bottom line is this: I want my kids to experience some of the great things that I did as a kid. I am not going to let the fact that certain films are entangled in ownership or censorship battles or that some marketing executives feel that there isn’t a market for such and such a film stand in the way of enriching my children’s life experience (and yes, I know there is more to a children’s life experience than watching some funny shows - but that was a big part of mine). My kids will soon grow up - and I don’t have the luxury of waiting until you sort out your legal battles or clear things with the politically correct crowd. I need to act now.

I will apply the same rationale to Disney’s Song Of The South (may be released by Disney November 2006) and those great black and white Fleischer Popeye films that are being held for ransom by King Features Syndicate. Release these films and we’ll buy them! In today’s Long Tail world there is profit to be made.

Mileage may vary depending on your reading and voice acting skills, but I thought I’d list some books our boys have enjoyed in case there are any parents out there looking. Warning! This entry for parents only … and beware of shameless ads. Click To Read More...

Our library kicks ass. It’s about 3 blocks away so it’s often a place to take the boys and let them blow off steam looking at puzzles, playing with puppets or picking out books. We’ve even picked out some DVDs for them (mostly discs in the Baby Einstein series: Baby Mozart, Baby Newton and Baby Beethoven). The kids love those DVDs, but we have had a hard time keeping their TV watching to under 30-40 minutes/day (I know, still too much for 17-month olds, but c’est la vie). Click To Read More...

Yesterday I watched in horror as one of my 14-month old sons toddled over to the door to our office, reached up and started jiggling the doorknob. I sat rooted to the spot with Jacob, holding my breath because I knew that the moment he learned how to turn the doorknob to open the door that our lives would be changed forever. I kept calling him to try and distract him so he’d forget about the door (”Joshua let’s read a book….Joshua where’s Mickey Mouse?….Joshua…Joshua…”), I must have sounded pretty desperate.

Thankfully he eventually wandered away from the door…this time. I guess it’s time we figure out how to childproof the doors beyond simply keeping the doors closed. Little brass hooks installed at 5′ should do it…until my kids learn to stand on each others shoulders…

Oh the times they are a scary…

Someone in my family caught a bad cold bug so Joshua and I have been sick since Sunday morning. That kind of achy, stuffy, slimy, sniffling type of cold where it feels like your head is going to explode and you would tear out your sore throat and stomp on it for a few hours if your muscles and joints didn’t ache so much. It’s been awhile since I’ve been sick, so I’ve forgotten how much it really and truly sucks. Click To Read More...

Just wanted to mention that yesterday was Joshua and Jacob’s one year birthday. We celebrated with a little cake, some balloons, some singing, and some picture-taking. We had already let them open their gifts before I had left for San Francisco as we are too impatient. We also stopped over to the neighbors houses (one of them had brought over a cake) to let them know they’re welcome to stop by, hopefully we’ll have one of them over on the weekend. They have a 8-month old son named Johnny.

It’s amazing to think one full year has passed. Last year at this time I was still trying wrap my mind around what had happened the day before and what it meant for the rest of my life. I also remember walking my wife to the hospital bathroom and her being in a lot of pain (the boys were delivered through a scheduled C-section). I also distinctly remember changing Joshua’s diaper for the first time…think “Play-Doh Fun Factory”:

Anyway, boys, if either one of you are reading this, I just want to take this opportunity to say how happy and grateful your mother and I are that you came into our lives. We may be tired right now, but we consider ourselves very blessed.

We had our first family photo today. The following is a post-mortem on that experience. Click To Read More...