Brad Barrish

A while back my 23" Apple Cinema Display started acting funny and I thought I was going to have to get a new monitor, which I couldn’t really afford. I looked around online and saw several things about people replacing the inverter to fix the behavior. Someone recommended lcdpart.com, so I found out which one I needed and placed the order. I got the new inverter today and when I got home from work, I took the monitor apart, followed Krishna’s awesome instructions. When I got to the part where you plug the connectors into the new board, I noticed that there were a couple of obvious defects in the board. I took some photos and wrote the company an email. Hopefully they’ll get back to me tomorrow and overnight a replacement. It’s always such a bummer when you get excited about a fun project and you have to wait to finish it up.

I cannot wait for Bandwagon to launch. 500+GB of music all online. It’s gonna cost me to upload though, that’s for sure.

While I typing the last post, I kept thinking about the conversation that Brother and I had with dad. No one else was home. Dad had woken up from a nap and called us over to his bedside. His teeth had brown on them and his lips were very chapped. He asked us to help him die and then apologized for asking us. I kept seeing dad’s mouth, smelling his breath and hearing him say those words. I leaned my head back and started gasping for air like I was going to cry. I wanted to so badly. My eyes welled up a little and then whatever sadness I had went back down and I lost the opportunity. What is going on?! Why can’t I just cry?!!

While I typing the last post, I kept thinking about the conversation that Brother and I had with dad. No one else was home. Dad had woken up from a nap and called us over to his bedside. His teeth had brown on them and his lips were very chapped. He asked us to help him die and then apologized for asking us. I kept seeing dad’s mouth, smelling his breath and hearing him say those words. I leaned my head back and started gasping for air like I was going to cry. I wanted to so badly. My eyes welled up a little and then whatever sadness I had went back down and I lost the opportunity. What is going on?! Why can’t I just cry?!!

Mom called and said that she, Brother and Sister had all talked to the reporter already. Apparently they were doing a feature on dad and she wanted to make sure I was given the opportunity to talk to the reporter. I didn’t have a pen with me. I was standing in the middle of one of those huge stores focused on organizing everything in your life. I told her to have Brother or Sister text me the number and I would give the reporter a call. Moments later, a text came in. I love technology.

I finally made it out of the store and called mom back to see if I needed to call this reporter now. She said he was trying to wrap it up tonight, as far as she knew and it would probably be good if I spoke to him soon. I called him and got an answering machine. As I was leaving a message, he picked up.

“Hello?” I said.

“Hi, sorry about that. I sometimes screen my calls.”

“That’s ok. I’m the other son. My mom said I should call you about the article you’re writing.”

“Yeah. Thank you for calling. I just wanted to ask you a few questions. Do you have some time?”

“Yeah, now’s a good time.”

I hadn’t talked about dad much except to tell a few people that he had passed away. I spoke proudly about him and his life. At one point the reporter said something like “It sounds like you’re dad was a real entertainer,” which I found very weird, and somewhat disheartening. Where would he have gotten such and idea? I corrected him politely.

“I wouldn’t say entertainer as much as I would say he was very social. Not a socialite or anything like that. He just really enjoyed people. He was accepting of everyone and he made time for you.”

The reporter brought up something about how dad was more afraid of what would happen to us after he was gone than what was going to happen to him. And that was true. I don’t think my dad was ever really afraid of dying. We talked for a few minutes more and I could feel my voice cracking. I was telling him about what I said in the eulogy. It was the part about how we can honor him by living our lives a little differently. Talking about it made me feel like I was going to cry, but I didn’t. It could have been that I was in a public place, but I should have just let it out. It’s building up in me and I’m feeling emotionally constipated.

Mom called and said that she, Brother and Sister had all talked to the reporter already. Apparently they were doing a feature on dad and she wanted to make sure I was given the opportunity to talk to the reporter. I didn’t have a pen with me. I was standing in the middle of one of those huge stores focused on organizing everything in your life. I told her to have Brother or Sister text me the number and I would give the reporter a call. Moments later, a text came in. I love technology.

I finally made it out of the store and called mom back to see if I needed to call this reporter now. She said he was trying to wrap it up tonight, as far as she knew and it would probably be good if I spoke to him soon. I called him and got an answering machine. As I was leaving a message, he picked up.

“Hello?” I said.

“Hi, sorry about that. I sometimes screen my calls.”

“That’s ok. I’m the other son. My mom said I should call you about the article you’re writing.”

“Yeah. Thank you for calling. I just wanted to ask you a few questions. Do you have some time?”

“Yeah, now’s a good time.”

I hadn’t talked about dad much except to tell a few people that he had passed away. I spoke proudly about him and his life. At one point the reporter said something like “It sounds like you’re dad was a real entertainer,” which I found very weird, and somewhat disheartening. Where would he have gotten such and idea? I corrected him politely.

“I wouldn’t say entertainer as much as I would say he was very social. Not a socialite or anything like that. He just really enjoyed people. He was accepting of everyone and he made time for you.”

The reporter brought up something about how dad was more afraid of what would happen to us after he was gone than what was going to happen to him. And that was true. I don’t think my dad was ever really afraid of dying. We talked for a few minutes more and I could feel my voice cracking. I was telling him about what I said in the eulogy. It was the part about how we can honor him by living our lives a little differently. Talking about it made me feel like I was going to cry, but I didn’t. It could have been that I was in a public place, but I should have just let it out. It’s building up in me and I’m feeling emotionally constipated.

I went to bed without setting an alarm last night, even though I knew I had to get up. I had an obligation that I just skipped out on without telling anyone about it. I felt bad for a minute or two, but I got over that pretty quick. ‘They’ll understand,’ I told myself. They don’t even know if I’m in town or not. But here I am feeling bad about it. And I don’t feel bad for taking care of myself, but I feel bad about letting someone down. I’m taking advantage of the fact that dad died. I’m using it as an excuse. Is that what people do? Is that part of the grieving process?

I laid in bed this morning with images of the family sitting and standing around his bed. I remember how hard I cried, clinching my fists until my nails nearly broke the skin of my palms. I remember seeing my dad unconscious. I remember the effects of the ammonia buildup in his brain. I was going through all of the imagry in my head and not one tear streamed down my face. What do I have to do to believe he’s actually gone? When will become apparent? I want to speak to him. I have that urge. I KNOW he’s gone, but there’s some defense mechanism at work inside me. It won’t let me feel it.

I was out last night with a friend who also lost their father. And all I could think about was asking him if he went through these same emotions. I don’t feel like a robot until I start thinking about my dad. I can have a good time, but then it hit me… I was watching something on TV and I remember feeling sad for a brief moment. Then it went away. It got pushed down just like my sadness did when I was taking care of dad. How long is this going to last. It’s like someone’s lacing my water with Zoloft or something. I want to feel again. I want to bawl my eyes out.

I went to bed without setting an alarm last night, even though I knew I had to get up. I had an obligation that I just skipped out on without telling anyone about it. I felt bad for a minute or two, but I got over that pretty quick. ‘They’ll understand,’ I told myself. They don’t even know if I’m in town or not. But here I am feeling bad about it. And I don’t feel bad for taking care of myself, but I feel bad about letting someone down. I’m taking advantage of the fact that dad died. I’m using it as an excuse. Is that what people do? Is that part of the grieving process?

I laid in bed this morning with images of the family sitting and standing around his bed. I remember how hard I cried, clinching my fists until my nails nearly broke the skin of my palms. I remember seeing my dad unconscious. I remember the effects of the ammonia buildup in his brain. I was going through all of the imagry in my head and not one tear streamed down my face. What do I have to do to believe he’s actually gone? When will become apparent? I want to speak to him. I have that urge. I KNOW he’s gone, but there’s some defense mechanism at work inside me. It won’t let me feel it.

I was out last night with a friend who also lost their father. And all I could think about was asking him if he went through these same emotions. I don’t feel like a robot until I start thinking about my dad. I can have a good time, but then it hit me… I was watching something on TV and I remember feeling sad for a brief moment. Then it went away. It got pushed down just like my sadness did when I was taking care of dad. How long is this going to last. It’s like someone’s lacing my water with Zoloft or something. I want to feel again. I want to bawl my eyes out.

Some of you may know that I work for a company called Control Room. This morning our CEO, Kevin Wall, along with Al Gore, Pharrell Williams and Cameron Diaz held a press conference to discuss the campaign and the concert that will happen this summer. It’s about to get very busy. The press release is below, but you can find a bunch of articles on the net. Audrey was at the event. Her company Aude will be making some really nice shirts for the celebs to wear.

Al Gore, Kevin Wall, Pharrell, Cameron Diaz Launch Unprecedented Campaign, Concert to Combat Climate Crisis

‘Live Earth’ Concerts in All 7 Continents to Reach Global Audience of Over 2 Billion

LOS ANGELES, Feb. 15 /PRNewswire/ – Detailing a historic effort to engage billions of people across the globe, Kevin Wall, Al Gore, Pharrell Williams, Cameron Diaz, and the MSN Network today launched Save Our Selves (SOS) - The Campaign for a Climate in Crisis. The announcement was made at the California Science Center.

SOS is designed to trigger a global movement to combat our climate crisis. It will reach people in every corner of the planet through television, film, radio, the Internet and Live Earth, a 24-hour concert on 7/7/07 across all 7 continents that will bring together more than 100 of the world’s top musical acts. Live Earth alone will engage an audience of more than 2 billion people through concert attendance and broadcasts. MSN has partnered with SOS to use its reach to make the Live Earth concerts available across the globe. The Live Earth audience, and the proceeds from the concerts, will create the foundation for a new, multi-year global effort to combat the climate crisis led by The Alliance for Climate Protection and its Chair, Vice President Al Gore. SOS was founded by Kevin Wall, who won an Emmy as Worldwide Executive Producer of Live 8.

“Our climate crisis is the paramount challenge facing humanity. SOS is more than a global distress call. SOS will give the world the tools we need to answer that call with meaningful action. The most important part of SOS is how individuals, corporations, and governments respond,” Wall said. “Our climate crisis affects everyone, everywhere, and that’s who SOS is aimed at. Only a global response can conquer our climate crisis. SOS asks all people to Save Our Selves because only we can.”

“In order to solve the Climate Crisis, we have to reach billions of people. We are launching SOS and Live Earth to begin a process of communication that will mobilize people all over the world to take action,” Gore said. “The Climate Crisis will only be stopped by an unprecedented and sustained global movement. We hope to jump-start that movement right here, right now, and take it to a new level on July 7, 2007.”

“At MSN, we have the worldwide audience and the technology stage to help unite a global community around SOS and Live Earth,” said Joanne Bradford, corporate vice president and chief media officer of MSN. “Anyone around the world with an Internet connection will be able to come to MSN to view not just the concert events, but also an extensive collection of interactive media that will entertain, educate, inspire and ultimately drive change.”

Wall announced 25 of the 100 top musical acts that have answered SOS’s call and are performing at Live Earth. SOS is also engaging other celebrities, CEOs, athletes, academics and government leaders to engage their constituencies. Please see below for that list of 25 artists.

“More than 100 artists are performing at Live Earth and they’re all headliners. That’s what it takes to engage billions of people. We’re not just engaging fans of the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Snoop Dogg, or the Foo Fighters and Faith Hill. We’re engaging them and everyone in between,” Wall said. “We’ve been overwhelmed by the response from the artist community and are feverishly working out the logistics for all of the bands that want to be involved. Today we are announcing just the first 25 and will soon be announcing even more headliners who, for contractual reasons, cannot be announced today.”

The campaign’s identity is based on SOS, the international Morse code distress signal: three dots, followed by three dashes, followed by three dots. SOS is the most urgent, universal message we have, and SOS will use that signal as a continuous distress call to prompt individuals, corporations and governments around the world to respond to our climate crisis with action.

“SOS is creating an unmatched communications platform to take on an unparalleled crisis,” Wall said. “Our message must saturate the globe if we’re to succeed, and we will. In the US, we’re partnering with NBC-Universal and its networks. On satellite radio, we have SIRIUS and XM. In the UK, we’re partnering with the BBC. In Japan, we have a historic partnership with two broadcast partners. We have already secured television, Internet and wireless coverage in 120 countries, and the rest are soon to come.”

Wall announced that Live Earth concerts will take place in Brazil, Shanghai, Japan, Johannesburg, London, Sydney, and the Eastern United States.

Live Earth will be broadcast worldwide on MSN, which was the first sponsor to answer SOS’s call. MSN is one of the world’s most popular Internet destinations, and as such will allow the SOS campaign to have a global reach. MSN has services in over 42 markets and 21 languages, and more than 465 million people around the world visit MSN each month. Beginning today, people can go to http://liveearth.msn.com/ and begin participating in the global movement, and on 7/7/07, to watch the Live Earth concerts.

Live Earth is being produced by Control Room, of which Kevin Wall is the CEO. Control Room has produced and distributed more than 60 concerts since its founding a year and a half ago featuring Beyonce, Madonna, Green Day, Dave Matthews Band, Keith Urban, James Blunt, Snoop Dogg and the Rolling Stones, among others. Its multi-partner network provides a global reach for live offerings through broadband, television, digital movie theatres and mobile phones throughout the U.S. and the world.

Live Earth will implement a new Green Event Standard that will become the model for carbon neutral concerts and other live events in the future. The Green Event Standard is being developed in partnership with the U.S. Green Building Commission to create a way for venues to be LEED-approved.

Concerts on all 7 continents

Shanghai Sydney Johannesburg London Brazil TBD Japan TBD United States TBD TBD 100+ artists

Current and legendary artists across all genres performing multiple hits.

Announced today: Pharrell Duran Duran Red Hot Chili Peppers Snow Patrol Foo Fighters John Legend Snoop Dogg Black Eyed Peas Lenny Kravitz Akon Bon Jovi Enrique Iglesias Paolo Nutini Fall Out Boy Sheryl Crow Mana AFI Keane Melissa Etheridge Kelly Clarkson John Mayer Korn Damien Rice Faith Hill w/ Tim McGraw Corrine Bailey Rae Bloc Party

Dad’s best friend’s son has his own pickle company that’s absolutely fascinating. Take a look at this video of him. Thanks Gary.