search tools

fellow planner, Mikey, sent our planning group a couple tools to track trends and visual searches. i am a fan of Trendpedia's comparison function, but was blown away when I visited Searchme Visual Search.

nice tools.

here's what was found when i entered "interwoven threads." (pardon the fellow Barkley-blogger publicity)

new tunes. judge please.

Scarlett Johannson, Falling Down. (yes, i read Perez Hilton. throw a stone, i dare you. it was the only site i found with the song's video (which i like).)
Death Cab for Cutie, I Will Posses Your Heart. update: just found this song too.
Coldplay, Violet Hill.

"weird, why's that girl from Lost in Translation singing in public?" I don't know, but she sort of rocks in a weird, "i-recorded-covers-and-am-rich-and-able-to-do-what-i-want" way. seriously, cameo by David Bowie? i don't hate it.

Death Cab: you have to wait approximately 15 minutes to have the first verse begin. by that time, you might have forgotten what is playing or maybe mistook the song for an audio lesson in bass tab. but it's good. a departure. i am looking forward to the rest of the album before i judge. i give them credit for evolving. "Cath." is the other song posted above. it's very much in the older DCFC mold. i guess it furthers my point on evolution. i am excited to see the River Market show coming up.

and Coldplay, they have an innovative "we're-giving-our-first-'tune'-away-for-free" model, which is so completely innovative, I don't know why more bands don't adopt....it's fine. not wonderful, not bad. the first 30 seconds are better than the rest of the song.

footnote: i started plaing DCFC's new song when i began writing this post, and they verse JUST started. it was like a surprise. "Hey! It's Death Cab!"

would love to hear your thoughts.

Planet Fresh launch!

one of the perks of working at Barkley is the tapped kegs. oh, and then there's the new green initiative that launched on this earth day. most of all, it's the forward thinking and entrepreneurial spirit that many of our coworkers take on.

it's 1:16 and my Ozark team is kicking some serious ass on a presentation we'll surely give with minimal sleep. and as jump drives are being loaded and i'm waiting for new images, i surfed my bloglines to find a great recap of Barkley's green launch by Risley (back on U.S. soil).

really sorry i missed the roll out today, but our group will be home on Thursday, just in time for the green team's party on the rooftop deck. that'll be fun.

kudos to Susan Shank and many other green-thinking partners for dreaming, innovating and making our space and company better stewards of our surroundings.

ok...time for more coffee and some Keynote magic.

blurring the lines

i'm headed to a little Ozark retreat with some folks from Barkley today to blur the lines. Barkley started sending a smattering of its employees - from all disciplines - to the Ozarks a few years ago. each time collaboration is king and ideas come from everywhere to address specific "assignments" launched on day one and presented on day four.

i didn't get a chance to go when I was previously at Barkley, so i'm absolutely stoked to head out today. this is just one of a number of efforts Barkley offers to inspire its employees and keep fresh thinking front of mind. can't wait.

according to Ozark legend (now would be the time to cue the Deliverance music), we work and play pretty darn hard - not sure i'll have a chance to update WoolardSpeak while there. but i'm sure i'll have some thoughts to share once i return.

Risley has a good recap from his time in the MoSouth here.

the one that got away

the Fallon Planning blog points toward a new Craigslist-like service that is focused on NYC subway crushes that were cut short by the inevitable lack of courage or closing door. Subway Crush lets users post a note to the one that got away. as a midwest dude who relies on four and two wheels only, the thought of commuting and traveling by subway/train has always been romantic. it goes with my theory that everyone steps onto an airplane hoping to have their lives changed at 30,000ft. there's a collision of intention and random, schedule and serendipity that occurs in public transportation.

anyway, i like this social-network-meets-want-ad style. i think the increase in people habitually checking such a localized forum will spread into other arenas. as with most things organic, i wonder how brands might adopt this model.

this post also allowed me to use one of my favorite New Yorker covers.

a tale of two marathons

the alarm went off at 4:30 a.m. this morning after i'd had only two or three hours of sleep (after celebrating the Kansas victory over North Carolina). an hour later, 12 folks from our usual running group and a few great additions arrived at Kansas City's Boulevard Brewery to embark on a 43 mile relay to Lawrence's Free State Brewery. also in attendance was my mother who for the next nine hours would be supporting my dad with a menu of foods, and Hammer products. here's where the story gets good: dad ran the entire length of the race. by himself.

we'd organized the teams in the hope that some of us could accompany dad on each of the 10 course legs. well, that plan was shot to heck - in a good way - and most of us did multiple legs ensuring that dad was never out on the course alone. big props to the folks running today for such an amazing amount of support.

so that's tale one. dad runs an ultra-marathon for the first time, six minutes under his goal time of 9 hours.

tale two involves yours truly (it's my blog) and starts with my lacking amount of rest and ends with dad busting out an 8:54 ultra after cutting minutes off his final five mile splits, cutting his measured 11-12-minute-mile pace and hitting the last leg hard at 8-9 minutes.

i knew i wanted to finish the race alongside my dad. i also knew i wanted to get in as many legs as possible. all mileage totaled, i ended up running 26 miles today and feel pretty dang good this evening (thank you, Fat Tire). i had no intention of hitting a marathon distance, and even less intention of trying to pace dad in the last leg as he kept knocking up the speed, completely full of juice even after 40 miles of hills, rough gravel and schizophrenic weather.

to say i finished the race exhausted is an understatement matched only by the amount of pride i felt to be able to run more than half of today's race with my dad. this man is a beast in Brooks.

the last leg of this race was one of the best sporting moments in which i've participated. getting my dad to his goal isn't something i take lightly and my nerves were almost as exhausted as my legs as i paced and pushed and in the end, tried to keep up with him to the finish.

moreover, my mom's support of not just my dad, but our entire crew, was astounding. she is the matriarch of our running group and she's so very appreciated.

here are some pictures. i'm sure my dad will post a recap on his blog soon. the day was full, tiring and a real friggin' blast. congrats, dad.

so that's the tale of two marathons. one, my dad's, was a well-trained-for ultra. mine, i'll call accidental, but more enjoyable than any 26 miler i've done to date.

pre-race

the first leg (needed some headlamps)

the scene at each leg station (note Ma Woolard's attire - she was a beacon of sustenance from yards away)

the ultimate soigneur (and Casey waits for scraps)

last leg on the never-ending levee trail
finisher. i don't think he's sweating.

back to the ship

after a couple years away, i'm going back to Barkley. i accepted a job in brand planning, and i'm very excited about the opportunities, colleagues and clients that i'll soon join. i'll be in denver this week to hit the ground running. i'm sure i'll have more to share. in the meantime, here's a taste of where i'm headed.

well there goes my Facebook album

PSFK alerts the masses of a new warning label possibly appearing on Photoshopped images in magazines. this news comes when Photoshop has launched an online version of its software for the amateur fiddler to use in (bulking up biceps) editing images.

the above image, for instance, shows a Photoshopped image. look hard, but i think the difference is the background color. if the before and after - and the opportunity to understand there was some doctoring - didn't exist, i'd have just assumed the red background had always been present. thank you, transparency in photography!

the good news is, if a Photoshopped image, such as the catalog pic below, would have a warning label, i wouldn't have assumed Thing from Addams Family was now a fashion accessory.

a new blog to follow

turns out it is harder to get my father to blog than it has been to encourage clients. many of us that run with my dad have suggested he journal his training, race experiences and thoughts that go in and out of his head as he logs miles in preparation for marathons and now ultras.

well, he caved. and we sat at a coffee shop in Lawrence this past weekend and went over links, picture uploads and keyword strategies until he sort of nodded like he got it. and got it he did. check out Miles With Mickey to follow his views training, nutrition and life.