Twitter Addiction

No, this post isn’t about my looming Twitter addiction. It’s about what you can learn from using social networks. One of the people I decided to follow when I started on Twitter recently was John Perry Barlow ( @JohnPerryBarlow)

I mostly know of Barlow through his songwriting work for the Grateful Dead. He was a frequent collaborator with Bob Weir and helped write such classics as Cassidy, Lost Sailor, Saint of Circumstance, Hell in a Bucket, Music Never Stopped and I Need a Miracle. All great, great songs. I also knew that he was a very close friend of John F. Kennedy Jr. What I didn’t know was that he was also a lifelong friend of LSD advocate Timothy Leary and a founding members of the Electronic Frontier Foundation. In short, a fascinating character and someone I was definitely interested in following. Well, I haven’t been disappointed. They say brevity is the soul of wit and Twitter’s 140 character limit puts it to the test. Barlow, well, he’s made for Twitter.

Microsoft responds to Google by announcing it plans to eat itself: It’s releasing a free Web-based version of Office.

About a week ago comes this,

I’m in rehab. Folks say, You’ll admit that? Hell, why not? I was a famous drunk. I won’t mind being a famous alcoholic.

Damn. How about that. He throws it right out there and shares it with his social network. I don’t know why but this really struck me, the openness, the sharing. It was so social when most would try to keep it so private.

The way I see it… If an economy as fucked up as this one can be in recovery, why not me?

I’m sitting between Seattle & Tacoma with my dear pal Creighton King, surrounded by my fellow inmates in our green scrubs.

Rehab is for quitters.

I am heartened by the support of my friends & Twitterers. I went public about this ’cause I will need that support actively.

This is not in keeping with AA doctrine, but I’ve never fully embraced that religion. I associate anonymity with shame.

What came next was a thunderbolt, at least for me.

“One of these days I’m gonna pull myself together, soon as finish tearing myself apart.”

I wrote that line for Brent Mydland, dead 19 years today. A sweet, doomed genius he was, who could only speak in music.

Has it been 19 years since Brent Mydland died? Most of you are scratching your heads. He was an incredibly talented singer and keyboard player who played with the Grateful Dead from 1979 to 1990. I remember it like it was yesterday, exactly where I was and who I was with when I heard the news.

Barlow’s reminder of his death got me thinking about Mydland’s daughters, who were close to my kids ages (6, 5) at the time of his death in 1990. Nineteen years. I wondered how they were doing. Were they married? Have kids of their own? Think of how much he missed in nineteen years. Addiction is like cancer in that most everybody knows somebody who has struggled with it. Some more than others. I’ve known more than one, believe me. What a destructive force addiction is. It is like a hurricane that blows through lives and destroys everything in its path. If you’ve ever watched Intervention on A&E, you know.

Mydland got plucked from relative obscurity to join one of the most popular and profitable bands in the world. He was married with two beautiful little girls. What would drive a man in his position to shoot a speedball? Addiction.

Inevitably I started thinking about my life, my health, my priorities and my kids. I don’t want to miss a thing.

And what got me thinking all these deep thoughts? A guy Tweeting from rehab. Life lessons in 140 characters or less.

Perspective comes from strange places

It is pretty easy to get caught up in the relentless negativity of the current environment. Sometimes we get a Shazam moment when ugly realities interrupt our trivial pursuits. Everyone has a moment or three like this in their lives. A shocking death in the family or a terrible medical diagnosis. We can all relate. These moments instantly rearrange what you thought was important, at least for a little while. I had one of those experiences this week. I’ll be attending two services for 40-year old men in four days. It got me thinking about something my producer Rob had sent me, but I had brushed past it. It turns out that other times that Shazam moment comes at 12:30am on Conan O’Brien.

What is Pundit Review Radio?

Pundit Review Radio is where the old media meets the new. Each week we give voice to the work of the most influential leaders in the new media/citizen journalist revolution. Called “groundbreaking” by Talkers Magazine, this unique show brings the best of the blogs to your radio every Sunday evening from 8-10 pm EST on AM680 WRKO, Boston’s Talk Station.

Heroes welcome for hero pilot

Hero returns home

DANVILLE — Chanting “Sully! Sully!” a crowd of several thousand gathered at a hometown hero celebration in downtown Danville on Saturday to salute US Airways Pilot Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger.

The hero himself said only a few words when he was finally handed the microphone — after a long line of speeches by Danville Mayor Newell Arnerich, Rep. Jerry McNerney, D-Pleasanton, and others.

“It was circumstances that put this experienced crew (in charge) of that plane on that particular day,” Sullenberger, 58, said from a staging area set up on the Town Green. “We were simply doing the jobs we were trained to do.”

For more on the legend of hero pilot Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger, click here.

The legend of hero pilot Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger grows

Meet the very attractive Mrs. Lorrie Sullenberger!

Way to go Chesley!

Here is video of the incredible water landing, it starts at the 2 minute mark,

Miracles are things that cannot be explained. This was no miracle. This was the result of the training, decision making and skill of Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger and the entire crew, as well as the actions of the passangers. This was the result of dozens of people making good decisions under extreme duress. Their courage and decision making are the reason for the happy ending. Calling this a miracle sells it short.

Lt. Col Ralph Peters on Looking For Trouble: Adventures in a Broken World

One of our favorite guests is retired Lt. Col Ralph Peters. He has a fantastic new book out that I highly recommend.

Looking For Trouble: Adventures in a Broken World

As the U.S. Army’s chosen troubleshooter before he took off his uniform to write, Peters saw the greatest international dramas of our times and the personal tragedies they created from a truly unique perspective–and took advantage of every moment _outside of the wire._ The result is startling: the liveliest adventure memoir by an American in decades, a perfect balance of high drama and laugh-out-loud hilarity.

As I told Ralph tonight before the show, I laughed out loud every few pages. This is a fascinating, educational and gripping book, beautifully written.

What is Pundit Review Radio?

Pundit Review Radio is where the old media meets the new. Each week Kevin and Gregg give voice to the work of the most influential leaders in the new media/citizen journalist revolution. Called “groundbreaking” by Talkers Magazine, this unique show brings the best of the blogs to your radio every Sunday evening from 7-10 pm EST on AM680 WRKO, Boston’s Talk Station.

Celtics owner Wyc Grousbeck is already a winner

Long suffering Celtics fans don’t need another reason to root for the Green in the next round against Detroit, but we just got one anyway.

Thanks to Greg Garber on ESPN.com for one of the best articles about priorities and family that you will ever read. What are you waiting for, go read every word.

Hat Tip: BizzyBlog

You think you know someone

Here is some pretty compelling video of CNBC Mad Money host Jim Cramer, who was Eliot Spitzer’s roomate at Harvard, and has been close to the Spitzer’s for 20 years, talking about his reaction to the news,