DogBalls Blog

Goodbye Grandpa

Earlier this evening we lost the patriarch of our family, Floyd Levin, quite un-expectantly at the age of 84. He passed away without warning at home with his wife of 65 years, Lucille (they were married at just 19.)

A great husband, father, grand-father and most recently very proud great-grandfather to Sydney ... he will be greatly missed by all family and friends.

Floyd was also a great jazz historian and his personal interactions with many Jazz greats including Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Barney Bigard, Benny Bigard and Artie Shaw to name just a few fueled his passion for this musical genre. His book won the praise from many.

He will be most missed by Lucille, my grandmother, and loving wife of 65 years. We take comfort in knowing that he did not suffer from illness or tragic accident...it was simply his time. A shock to us all but... a reminder to live your life to its fullest each and every day.

Grandpa was an inspiration to me and will live on in everlasting memory.

UPDATE: His obituary in the LA Daily News can be found here.

UPDATE #2: His funeral services will take place Friday, February 2, 2007 at 3:00PM at Mount Sinai in Hollywood Hills, CA

UPDATE #3: The LA Daily News ran a second editorial-driven obituary here.

UPDATE #4: Hat-tip to Dan Del Fiorentino for his post and video on my Grandfather's passing.

UPDATE #5: Dennis McClellan, with input from Dan Del Fiorentino, wrote a wonderful piece about Grandpa in the Los Angeles Times.

Wallstrip continues to amuse and amaze

It's been awhile since I last pimped out Wallstrip for their clever writing...but this one deserves some pimpin' ... SNL has nothing on this new "Dick in a box" parody ... bonus... learn about Jack in the Box's stock-price. Howard...keep motivating that great creative team! :)

P.S. I think you should keep Lindsay in Phoenix... too much good material and besides... a quick flight away from California for your Yahoo! story. ;-)

What's in a name?

Due to Robert Scoble's recent blog post (rant) on A-list blogger's not linking to his blog [link], I stumbled upon a previous interview he did with Edward Saenz, principal of Gravity Branding, the folks responsible for brand-names such as: WiFi, Toyota's line of trucks and Expedia.com. It's an interesting interview from his home-office where he explains the process involved and the challenges he faces selling the "short-list" to his clients. The analogy he uses is clever... like asking parents to allow an outsider to name their child.

When dogballsblog.com gets more than 1,000 visitors per day... I'll need Gravity Branding to help with re-branding. ;-)

Very informative interview Mr. Scoble...I link thee! :)

mybloglog gets 'linkedin' w/ flickr

  MyBlogLog 
  Originally uploaded by Mat.tw.

Hat-tip to Graywolf for the find... You can now link your mybloglog and flickr accounts. Click here to see my profile and add your own flickr photos to your mybloglog account.

Call me an early-adopter...I already listed my flickr account as one of "my websites" on mybloglog. Unfortunately, you cannot install the mybloglog widget on your flickr pages (yet) so you cannot view visitor information... stay tuned for more integration. This oughta be fun!

Out of the office

  Night and Day 
  Originally uploaded by beatnikside.

I came home from the Affiliate Summit in Las Vegas with a terrrrible cold. [I think someone spiked my water...no...I'm serious.]

I've spent the last two days in bed and I'm beginning to think nyQuil is the root of all evil.

I've quit it cold-turkey and hope to be back on the road to recovery shortly. While I was out the team from mybloglog visited the Burbank campus and I missed out on all the fun. Sorry YDN boys... next time, I'll be there. [Glad you had a chance to see my cube though.]

Feeling (slightly) better...

Gambling on the Weather

  Turn Around NOW! 
  Originally uploaded by kreego.

TechCrunch reports today on a solution for the two days (before and after the MLB all-star game) where there are no professional sporting events to wager on.

Weatherbill offers you the ability to gamble on the weather. You think it won't rain in Los Angeles next week. $130 will pay you $100 per day it rains more than 0.10 inches per day. It's really billed as an insurance policy against your weather-dependent business but I think it has many other practical applications (not counting your online gamblers) like out-door weddings..."Don't cry my lovely bride...we're getting PAID!!!!" ;-)

Weatherbill hasn't disclosed the amount of first round funding they've received but does have an impressive list of investors including: del.icio.us founder Joshua Schachter, Skype founder Niklas Zennstrom and Howard Morgan. It was founded by former Googler David Friedberg.

What's next? The on-time arrival status of incoming JFK flights? (That's already been done.)

Best and Worst Dressed (in Vegas)

  Hugh Hefner Sky Villa 
  Originally uploaded by mil8.

Tremendous hat-tip to fellow typepad blogger, Clay, for his write-up of a 'what's hot' and 'what's not' list of Vegas spots in various categories by Vegas Tripping.

The "Trippies" offer 'best-in-class' and 'worst-in-class' in three main themes (joints, casinos and other_stuff) with categories including: rooms, buffet, room-service, slots, and poker rooms. The more eclectic categories include: casino carpet (The Wynn wins for its "short pile, smushy cush and for overall bounce.") Who knew!?

The big loser (in just about every category including overall) is Circus Circus. Under the heading, "There's no such thing as bad PR", they should be happy for being named "Worst" in just about every category . Who knew Circus Circus was even still open for business (or that they had a poker room?!)

And the winner in most categories... The Wynn (despite their damaged Picasso.)

As you know, I''m a Palms fan and I think (sadly) O'Shea's now ranks last but tell me...what do *you* think is the best and worst overall casino in Las Vegas?

Five-Hundred Twenty-Five Thousand Six-Hundred Minutes

Cut down to a mere 20:19 video... Sydney Ashton Levin turns one today... And they say, "They grow up so fast!" Cupcakes and a trip to the Zoo for Sydney. It's been a wonderful year for the whole family. Sydney probably won't remember much of it but I'm sure she'll watch this video a *couple* of times... I hope ... because the edit caused a *few* gray hairs. (I want an Apple to go along with the iPhone I now covet.)

Music Credit: Dido (but just a little at the beginning as an inside joke*), Chirs Pierce, Nick Drake, Five for Fighting and Green Day. [I held back the impulse to include Team America's rendition of "Montage." ;-)

* My trip to Scotland in 2005 produced a video highlight reel that included Dido's 'Thank You' as images of the St. Andrews Old Course appear on screen. Five months later... Sydney's birth and you guessed it... More Dido... as we're wheeling out of the hospital with our brand-new baby girl. (I caught some heat for that from golfing buddies and Stacey alike.) For the record, I love Sydney more than golf [exhibit A.] ;-)

iLike

Steve Jobs' keynote at Macworld started off with a whimper... Apple TV and the market yawned. Thirty minutes into his presentation, the big news hit... the iPhone and the stock took off.

I can't wait to get my hands on one of them... What about you?

Apple Store: "Pardon our dust"

Minutes before Steve Jobs' keynote...the apple store is moving inventory into place.