Brad Barrish

There was an amazing video that someone passed along to me. It obviously hit a nerve and was very touching. If you haven’t seen Randy Pausch’s final lecture, watch it now. The NY Times has a nice write up. My heart goes out to his family and friends. 47 is way too young.

There was an amazing video that someone passed along to me. It obviously hit a nerve and was very touching. If you haven’t seen Randy Pausch’s final lecture, watch it now. The NY Times has a nice write up. My heart goes out to his family and friends. 47 is way too young.

This site has been neglected for almost a year now. So much has happened and I think about my dad every day. This evening I started crying because of this incredible site called Days With My Father. I miss my dad every day and every time I see a son playing with his father, I get a big lump in my throat that takes a few minutes to get rid of. Dad would have been an incredible old man, to say the least. I have to think, were it not for the cancer, he would have lived to be 110.

This site has been neglected for almost a year now. So much has happened and I think about my dad every day. This evening I started crying because of this incredible site called Days With My Father. I miss my dad every day and every time I see a son playing with his father, I get a big lump in my throat that takes a few minutes to get rid of. Dad would have been an incredible old man, to say the least. I have to think, were it not for the cancer, he would have lived to be 110.

It’s exciting being at a startup again. It’s even more exciting being involved with the web again. Just before I took off for a holiday break in December, I had dinner with my friends Scott and Anne. Scott had just left AOL to head up the new music department at Buzznet and he wanted me to come over to head up music industry relations. I had been at Control Room (f.k.a. Network LIVE) for almost 3 years. I was one of the original employees and took tremendous pride in what Control Room had become. Scott was presenting me with an awesome opportunity to really step out on my own, work with him on building something from the ground up and I was really excited about the prospect. After some back and forth, I accepted the position, resigned from Control Room and this past Monday, started working at Buzznet as Head of Music Industry Relations.

The week flew by. It was an exciting first week of getting acquainted with the culture at Buzznet, how things worked, what things weren’t working, looking at comps of the new layout for the site, sitting in on a few meetings, getting to know people, trying to remember names, showing people qik, Yahoo! Live, setting up promotions for bands on Buzznet, catching up with label people and lots of other stuff. One of the great things about working at a startup is that your job title doesn’t necessarily reflect what you do. You do 3, 4 or maybe five different jobs and it’s fun. I look forward to going to work in the morning and I’m fortunate to have been able to say that for the past few years of my life. It feels good to be excited about work and starting something new is always fun.

As the sun comes up in the morning, it will be the 1-year anniversary of my dad’s death. I have so many thoughts swimming around in my head. I can’t even believe it’s been a year, but I draw incredible strength from the fact that I’ve made it through the last year. It’s been a rough one. I was reading back through the blog entries I made during the final weeks of my dad’s life, amazed at how they made all the emotion rush back into me. There’s not a single day that goes by that I don’t miss him intensely. My life just isn’t the same. How could it be? I do try and live my life a certain way that honors him. I promised myself that I would and I will continue to do so. Wherever you are, Dad, I love you. May your memory continue on in the minds and lives of the people who loved you.

Next Tuesday, I will be casting my vote for Barack Obama. Over the course of the campaign season Obama has demonstrated that he is the only choice if we want to change the direction of America, change the international opinion of America and bring hope back to a country that has spent the last 8 or more years going down the wrong path. I find him to be extremely inspirational, spiritual without coming across as a religious nut and someone who represents my core values. 

Regardless of who you like as a candidate, please take the time to vote. It’s a privilege that we often take for granted in this country.

A friend of a friend made this gorgeous and strangely(?) inspirational video.

I ordered a pair of Nike Dunk High Pro SB Bruts, but the order somehow got cancelled because they didn’t have my size. I’ve moved on and picked up a pair of the new SB Blazer Low, in black of course.

Today is Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day in the U.S. Some of us have the day off from work, but it’s not a day off. It’s a day on. We must take this as an opportunity, if for nothing else, as a day to reflect on peace, humanism and compassion. Most years I go to a celebration of Dr. King’s life, but I’m laid out with a nasty flu today so I looked around online for transcripts to some of his speeches, particularly the ones that the media didn’t cover, and there are quite a few. There’s a good article on fair.org that explains why, which makes for an interesting read. It mentions Dr. King’s speech entitled, “Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence.” It’s amazing (or not) how applicable this speech is to today’s state of the world. Take the time to read and/or listen to him give the speech and enjoy your day on.