Brad Barrish

The funniest video I’ve seen in a while.

Related: Zach is interviewed in The FADER about the video.

Over the last week I’ve received a lot of advice on leadership and it’s something to which I give a lot of thought. If there’s been a common thread in the words and thoughts, it’s that we need people around us that don’t agree with everything we say. When we surround ourselves with people that have the same viewpoint, we get arrogant and arrogance is not a good quality. We must stay open to new ideas and encourage others to think different than we do. We also have to listen. Instead of thinking about how were going to respond to someone in order to defend our own ideas, we should hear what the other person has to say. I’ll take it one step further and say that in order to lead, you have to be able to put differences aside in order to unite with others to accomplish common goals. One of the biggest reasons our country is in such bad shape is that we don’t have leaders that unite, and if they do, they’re bringing together people with the same ideas that they have. Do you see what I’m getting at? I’m so concerned about our country and my hope is that I’m able to be the change that I wish to see in the world, as Mahatma Gandhi so eloquently suggested. Another quote that comes to mind from Gandhi is “An eye for an eye, and soon the whole world is blind.” Quite appropriate for these times, no?

It’s old news now, but the day of the steam pipe explosion in NYC was a traumatic and scary one for a couple of my co-workers at Control Room NYC HQ. Susan sent an email out to people that evening and with her permission I’m reposting it for you to read. Thank you, Susan.

I had a very scary and unique experience today. It was approaching 6pm at work. I was wrapping up a few things and leaving soon for an evening out. I heard what sounded like thunder, which would have been predictable since we'd had horrendous rain and thunderstorms earlier in the day. But the sound rumbled on longer than thunder would. My friend and co-worker, Pari, and I looked at each other with a concerned look that grew more intense as the seconds went by. At one point I even said to Pari, "I have that bad feeling in the pit of my stomach". She concurred. After a few "what the f's" and approximately 20 seconds, a few other people in our offices popped out, also concerned. We went to a window and saw people running, full-on racing, down the street. Simultaneously, everyone had the same thought - "let's get out of here, NOW!". Leaving computers on, pens clicked on where they lay, folders askew, we grabbed only our personal bags and headed towards the lobby of the 16th floor. Crazy, but instinctively and without discussing it, everyone knew to take the stairs. So down we started. There was already a thin stream of people descending. Not much talking. A few "what happened?" and a few panickers talking out loud or on their cell phones. Pari heard a guy basically saying goodbye to whoever was on the other end of the phone. Pari, in her comfortable ballet flats, raced ahead of me. Every man for him or herself I suppose. (Smiling) I, on the other hand, had worn my 4" platforms today. So I navigated about 3 or 4 flights with them on, everyone passing me by, until I decided to whip them off and rapidly descend the remaining floors barefoot. Amazing the thoughts that go through one's head during something like this. The most humorous was probably the realization that it's really difficult to descend that amount of stories. That my legs were getting a great workout and that maybe I could skip the gym tomorrow morning. The more grave turned to, "so this is what the people felt like at the WTC", or "I know it wasn't our building that exploded, but what if we're next", or "jesus, they said we were going to be attacked again soon, and here it is". Anyway, the central point was to go as fast as I possibly could.

I reached the lobby, finally, and Pari was waiting for me. It was mayhem. We ran out to the street and it was worse. We still had no idea what had happened. People were saying it was a building explosion. Maybe Met Life Building. Maybe Grand Central Station. All within two blocks. Someone else said a building was crumbling. We headed south because we both live in that direction, but also it was away from whatever was happening. People everywhere. Fire and police vehicles everywhere. LOUD. Everyone trying to use their cell phone but once again, no service. I felt lost for a minute, looking everywhere, and Pari grabbed my hand. She started running and pulling me. We ran and ran, hand in hand the whole time, passing other people running, people standing around looking lost, little kids crying, Pari saw a woman crying, covered in dirt. I didn’t see her. After about five blocks I realized I was still holding my shoes and was barefoot. Ew, gross. But running in platforms was simply not an option. At one corner we stopped and looked at the sky behind us. It was a cloudy day so we could barely make out a thick cloud of something billowing about a block past our offices. Shaking with fear and rubbery legs, and without speaking about it, we both had the same thought and continued bolting. Remember the news footage? Yeah, get away from that as quickly as possible.

Finally, at approximately 15 blocks from the area, we stopped at a mani/pedi place so that I could buy some flip-flops. At that point my feet could not possibly get dirtier, but I didn¹t’ want to step on something and cut them. And anyway, ew, gross. We reached Madison Square Park where seemingly the people there had no clue what was happening 15 blocks north. Kids were playing on the swingsets, people were leisurely walking their dogs. We sat on a bench to catch our breath and try to reach some family. This is when we started getting glimpses of reports that there was a steampipe explosion. Christ, all this for that? We continued walking south and stopped at a bistro for a drink and a bite to eat and talked about how lucky we were today. But also about the fact that this is now the reality of our lives and the world we live in. It was our instinct to leave the building immediately, to take the stairs, to run far away. To reach out to family and let them know we were okay.

I just wanted to share this with you to remind everyone that we really do need to live for every day.

I’m not known for my strong math skills, but I can do simple addition.

Bush’s new executive order + Bush’s plan to eliminate the $420 million federal subsidy for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting + “new” Bin Laden footage trying to scare people + regenerated al-Qaeda + Bush invoking executive privilege to block testimony from former White House aids + Cheney thinking he is not part of the executive branch = some really fucked up shit.

This has got to be one of the weirdest things I’ve ever seen and I can’t stop watching it. And yeah, these are real Philippino prisoners.

Audrey and I were at Giants Stadium for Live Earth and she was working the press and celebs like nobody’s business. I’ll be posting a full wrap-up of my experience at the show as soon as I get a chance to finish writing it. I started on the plane back to LA, but haven’t really had a moment to write.

While I was in Chicago last month for the Mandy Moore show, we had a couple of reporters there doing stories about Control Room. Nick Jacobovitz, our Senior Producer, and I were interviewed by both reporters. One of the stories finally ran, but unfortunately we weren’t quoted in the article. It’s a good read though and clearly this guy was impressed.

I’m in the process of going through over 400 photos and writing a wrap-up, but until then check out a few of the highlights. Live Earth was one of the most incredible experiences of my life. Make sure you check out the shows online at liveearth.msn.com.

It’s pissing out. Thunder, lightning… The whole shebang. Good thing it let up for a bit so Roger Waters could get his soundcheck in. He was the only one soundchecking this evening. There I was, inside Giants Stadium with a handful of other people, watching Roger go through his set. A private show, if you will. I’m probably not even supposed to be talking about it, but “Another Brick In The Wall” sounded amazing, especially with the kids choir. The graphics on the stage, everyone looking at one another with the same thought in their head, ‘How incredibly cool is this?!’

I had to call someone.

“Jonas, it’s Brad. I’m standing…30 feet away from Roger Waters in an empty Giants Stadium”

“Awesome”

You can hear him playing the bass line for “Money.”

“Do you hear that??”

“Yeah, that’s cool.”

Even though he only said a few words, I could tell he was excited for me. And that’s all I really wanted. I kinda wish I could have brought him with me. Some day. Dad would have probably enjoyed it too.

Tomorrow starts the madness. I’ll be working for 24 hours straight before I actually get a break. According to email I received, 4am - 9am is my shift. I guess that leaves me with a few hours of sleep tomorrow. It’s gonna be work, but adrenaline is rushing through me and it’s one of the most exciting things I’ve ever worked on in my life. As I was watching Roger, with chills on my arms, I was thinking about how incredible my life is. I’m so grateful for all of it and I’ve done some awesome stuff, especially in the last few years. Gorillaz in Manchester and now Live Earth… Just wow.