…….One Purple Heartbeat

As the fight song goes:

“V-I-K-I-N-G-S, Skol Vikings, Let’s Go!”

For
the past 47 years, the Minnesota Vikings have epitomized winning. The
Men in Purple have always been near the top of the division standings.
Only four NFL teams have played in more Super Bowls, and one the Dallas
Cowboys, have more playoff appearances.
Although the Vikings
did not prevail in Super Bowls IV, VIII, IX, and XI, few NFL teams can
say they’ve provided their fans with more pleasure, more thrills or
more edge-of-your-seat excitement than the Vikings.
Sure, part
of being a Vikings fan is having the ability to feel comfortable on
football’s emotional roller coaster, but if you’re a Vikings fan, you
can’t ever say you’ve been bored.
In fact, from the moment they first took the field, the Vikings began providing their fans with unforgettable moments.
In
their opening game on September 17 1961, the Vikings gave their
followers a little taste of what the next 47 years would be like. After
a slow start rookie quarterback Fran Tarkenton jumped off the bench and
began working his magic. Tarkenton threw four touchdown passes and ran
for another as he led the Vikes to a 37-13 victory over the Chicago
Bears.
In 1986, exactly 25 years later, Tarkenton would become
the first Vikings player to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of
Fame in Canton, Ohio.
In 1967, the Vikings brought in a new
head coach. Bud Grant, a Minnesotan who had been leading the Canadian
Football League’s Winnipeg Blue Bombers to glory, arrived in the T win
Cities and turned the struggling Vikings into an instant winner. Just
two years after Grant arrived, the Vikes began an incredible streak of
11 division titles in 13 seasons.
The Vikings won the NFL
championship in 1969 and NFC titles in 1973, ‘74 and ‘76. From Ahmad
Rashad to Cris Carter, from Jim Marshall to Randall McDaniel and from
Matt Blair to John Randle, the Vikings have been among the most
exciting teams ever to strap on the pads.

Now I am here….

I hope this reaches you. I read your letter to your wife or ex-wife and it touched me deeply even though you shared allot more with her that I have in my 2 1/2 years of marriage it still hurts. Below is some background info, if you are available i do hope to get your advice thank you so much.

21-year-old wife left me after an affair with Swiss guy, is into party mode?
I have asked about ten questions regarding this. I want to move on but yet I still want my wife to come to her senses of what she did.Short background info, we are both 21 known each other for 4 years and married for 2 1/2. Always were very close, worked together lived together etc. Since I was fired from her mothers dental office 2 months ago we became distant and my relationship with her mom wasnt all too good. Her and her friend took a trip to Vegas a month ago and she cheated on me with a Swiss jackass guy and actually took 2 more trips there in 2 weeks and a third he bought her an airplane ticket to San Diego. It is an emotional affair but now she is in a state of “emotional happiness” which I am sure will be short. The guy has gone back to Switzerland but she looks forward to his emails and told me of another trip to Vegas during December.She has moved out of the home we purchased 5 months ago and into her moms big house. She has the support of her mom and only once did she
break down apologizing. I havent kept contact with her in the last 5 days and it has been so hard for me. As stupid as this sounds I have a forgiving heart and asked her if we could go to counselling but she does not think things could go back to the way they were. Everyone knows of her infidelity and my family is saddened and her mom just seems to be fueling her insanity. My question and the advice I am seeking from anyone that has gone through this is, Should I take out her clothes and belongings that she hasnt taken from our house and put them in the garage for her to take? I have been staying at my parents house and working out a lot to keep busy and now i need friends more than ever. I am starting to build up my confidence and have had a lot of compliments but still, i am scared to not find anyone. Her reasons were that she didnt want to settle and all of this bs but she was inconsiderate for my feelings. As I try to let go I want her to want me as silly as this sounds. She
occasionally texts me to get her tv unplugged and if i have dropped my classes at the university. The last time we saw each other was 6 days ago when I made her sign some papers stating that everything inside the house was mine, she did and we had sex…dumb move i know but i wanted to. She texted me this morning saying that we need to get a divorce before I leave on my trip to Colombia this Friday but I bet this is a lengthy process. Should I keep ignoring and write a letter expressing that this is for the best of us and that I agree with the break up/divorce? She probably thinks that I am miserable without her as I did try so hard to convince her to not take another trip to Vegas in the beginning. She will be signing the house to my name but I havent had a job in 2 months and have just been blessed to be making money selling things on Craigslist. I want to keep my house but I am afraid that since my job status is unemployed that they will take it from me and i do not want this. I
know this is long and if you have taken your time to read up to this point I am so grateful. In the end I believe things could be worked on but I dont want to push her away. What is the best strategy? Her confidence seems to be up all of the sudden and she has changed her look. I know I am a great guy, a hard worker and I really love myself and am just scared of never finding that connection I shared with her because i am still deeply in love with her. Thank you for any advice please elaborate as best as possible and pray for this 21-year-old couple.

Time: Wednesday September 23, 2009 at 7:19 pm

My Response:

Hello XXXXX,

Sorry it took so long to get back to you, been pretty busy, but your email has been sitting in my in box and wanted to make sure I could give it some attention when I read it.  Your situation and how it played out is scarily similar to mine.  All I can say is that time heals all pain.  Like you, even though she had moved on her heart, I still wanted to make it work.  But once they have crossed that line, it’s so hard for things to go back.  The good news is you are young and eventually you will move on.  I would like to ask your permission to post this on the blog, as I think it will help people dealing with their own relationship problems.  I will of course remove all personal info, and names.  Either way, I hope things are better for you now.

Thanks again for letter, and don’t forget life is an adventure, don’t sweat the small stuff, and surround yourself with people who truly want to be in your life.

Chris Donley

Hi Chris,

Thank you so much for the reply. Things have been a little better for me since I decided to do the No Contact at all. I am on day 12 and am currently taking a little vacation in Colombia. My wife has sent me several texts ranging from ¨”i had a dream about you that is why im thinking about you” “i hope you are doing well” “tell me how you are doing!”. It doesnt make sense what she is doing but only if this woman would come to her senses and grow up, I think I could get past all of this but then again it will be hard. I sto`pped letting her play with my feelings and Im sure she misses me but I am not going to sit and wait for her selfish behavior. I know its going to hit me when I come back home to Texas and im going to feel lonely again but i have been keeping busy and that has worked some. I think I should play it off a little longer and wait to see her real intentions. I really love her and it hurts so much but as more time goes by I am feeling better and know that i can make it without her in my life. Chris go ahead and post this I need all of the advice I can get.   Thanks!

Phil Ivey

November 7th 2007

When it comes to advice about poker, my attitude is very simple: seek it out, absorb it, but while you’re at the table, forget it.

I’m a firm believer in learning the game by playing the game. I’m not saying there aren’t a lot of great resources around to help players improve their games or that poker books and tutorials don’t have their place. They do. However, the problem I see with people who rely on these kinds of aids is that they end up playing poker like someone else or – even worse – like everyone else.

One of the things that makes poker great is that it’s a game where there’s really no right or wrong way to play. Every player has their own approach to the game and the key, in my opinion, is to take the things you learn from other players and incorporate them into a style of play that works for you.

There are some players who take a very mathematical approach to the game, and for them, it works. They study the odds and make decisions based on whether they think they’re getting the right price to commit their chips to a pot. It’s a solid way to play, but the fact is, it’s not the right approach for everyone. What’s more, even the best of these players will tell you that math only takes you so far.

Calculating the odds can certainly help you decide whether you’re making a smart move, but it doesn’t take into account who you’re playing against. There are many times when you can do all of the math you want and your decision still comes down to intangibles and a feeling about your opponent or the situation you’re facing. Does this guy have a hand? Can I push him off the pot? Am I getting myself into trouble here? Even if the odds say you should play, your gut may be telling you something else, and that’s something you can only develop by playing.

Relying too much on other peoples’ advice can actually make it harder to develop this kind of reading ability because it tends to clutter up your head. You get so focused on thinking about odds, probabilities and strategies that you forget that you’re playing against someone else and that you have to try and figure out what he or she is doing. Are they scared? Will they fold to pressure? Are they a maniac? In my opinion, these are the important things to keep in mind during a hand.

It’s been said before, but it bears repeating. Poker isn’t about the cards; it’s about the players and the situations. Winning players understand that sometimes you have to take chances. Sometimes they work and other times they don’t. Whether you win the hand or not, you have to make the play that you believe is best.

At the end of a hand or a session, go back and study the things you did well and be honest with yourself about where you made mistakes. Don’t, however, overanalyze how you could have played a hand differently because this can negatively impact how you approach your next hand or session. Identify your mistakes, learn from them, and move on. Just because some play or move didn’t work the way you wanted doesn’t mean you were wrong to try it. As I said before, there are just some things that you have to learn by playing.

So here’s my advice. Read this tip. Read other tips and poker books. Talk to your friends. Absorb as much information as you can. But at the end of the day you have to trust your instincts and play your own game – not someone else’s.

In a surprise move, Redbox has announced that they will start offering a movie streaming service later this month. In keeping with its current pricing structure, the cost to stream a movie will be just $1, and customers will be able to choose from any movie in the Redbox library, including new releases.

Since details were a little sparse on the new service, I decided to contact Redbox and see if they would like to share any more information with us and the Inside Redbox community. I was able to get a hold of April, a New Product Manager at the Redbox corporate office, and she had a few more details for us.

The first thing I asked April was what made Redbox decide to get into the streaming business. She said that they have seen the success Netflix has had with their service, and wanted to provide something similar for their customers. “We figured the $1 price point was working well already, so we decided to stick with that,” she said. “We think it is the best value anywhere, and we know consumers appreciate good value, especially in today’s economic climate.”

I have to agree with her, Netflix has done well with their service, so it only makes sense for Redbox to get into the game. Plus, $1 is a great value, and has already been working well for them. While it is different from the Netflix unlimited service, there are also no monthly fees to deal with, so you only pay for what you watch. A lot like pay-per-view from your cable/satellite service, only cheaper.

Next, I asked her exactly how they were going to make this happen. Netflix has partnered with several set-top box makers, and also streams movies directly from its website. Will Redbox do the same?

“Redbox will leverage the network we already have,” she said. “This way, there will be no need for our customers to buy a set-top box or use unreliable software on the website that doesn’t work for everyone. So, we decided that we will stream movies directly to our more than 13,000 Redbox kiosks already in place.”

I told her that it sounded very interesting, but how exactly would it work?

“It is quite simple really”, April told me. “Right now when a customer visits one of our kiosks and selects a movie, there is an ‘Add to Cart’ button. We will simply add a ‘Watch Now’ button, and after the customer swipes their card, the movie will begin playing immediately.”

But would Redbox customers really like this? What about bad weather? Long lines?

“We think our customers will love this new service,” she said, “and have already tested it out in a few areas with good results. While many of our kiosks are located outdoors, our customers are generally very smart and dress appropriately. A coat and gloves in the winter and a water bottle in the summer is all most will need, and they will likely already have that with them. If not, perhaps the store where their Redbox is located will be able to supply them with what they need, providing an additional revenue stream for our partners.

“As for long lines, that is rarely a problem. Our customers are already used to waiting 10-15 minutes to rent/return a movie, so another hour or so should not be a problem. Plus, they will be able to watch whatever movie the customer is streaming. It’s a lot like going to the drive-in for free, and you can’t beat free. If they really don’t want to wait, they can simply goto another Redbox kiosk, which is probably close by since we have so many of them.”

Hello and welcome to the NinjaVideo manifesto. This one is a bit different from the rest, in that I’m the only
person on the line. I’m Phara by the way – just in case you didn’t know, or you’re new to the NinjaVideo
podcasts – and I’ll be doing this one solo.
This is partially scripted, partially free thought. And I’m going to try and keep it as light-hearted as I can,
but at the end of the day this is probably the most serious podcast we’ve ever done.
This is our Mission Statement; it doesn’t really get much clearer than that.
We decided in light of our recent traffic spikes with the start of the fall season and the havoc it wreaked
with our system that maybe it was about time to explain who and what we are as an entity.
I think it’s become quite obvious that NinjaVideo is a bit of a monster to run, and a lot of you are probably
curious as to why we do it. So for this podcast I’m not only speaking to you as Phara but also as the voice
of the administrators, the moderators, the entire NinjaVideo community, and in a way as one of the
representatives of the on-line video world, and perhaps through this you’ll gain a better understanding of
why people like us spend such a giant amount of time doing what we do.
By the way, I take the title of representative of the on-line video world very loosely, nobody put me in this
position. I’m not quite sure if I want to be in it, but it’s a reality and though this might open me and my
website to a bit of unwanted scrutiny it’s something that we as a community felt needed to be done.
So, that’s me, that is Ninja.
And let me now explain who this is for.
This is for everyone.
To everyone that’s ever watched a video on-line, to anyone that’s ever viewed a clip on YouTube, to every
uploader and downloader, to those within the scene and the peer-to-peer, to the bootleggers that have
gotten locked up for selling their warez on the street corner, to the cammers that risk their freedom every
single night in movie theaters. That’s one side of it.
This is also for the other side. We’re doing this all encompassing. This is for the lawyers sending out
notices; this is to movie producers and studio heads; to all the scriptwriters and the actors.
This is for everyone.
I’m not going to go too much into what we do, as I think if you’re listening to this, you most likely know. But
in a sentence or two:
We are a high quality video site (probably the best one out there, and I say this as a user of my own site
and not just as the Admin). We provide TV primarily, as well as a significant documentary section, new
movie releases and sporting events in addition to a few other things. We’re loved by millions, but we’re
hated by quite a few, and as to how we started, most of us at the top were already members of this on-line
video community, and we just saw an emphasis on quality lacking, so we came together to create the
highest quality site on-line.
That said, let me explain a little bit about Ninja Main.
We’re realists. We know what brings people to NinjaVideo – Ninja Main in particular – it is zero hour
releases on TV and movies. But while they’re here they can learn – from our documentaries to the depth of
our forum we are a classroom in so many ways, as well as an outlet for your general entertainment. We
did this very consciously.
We could have a third of the videos that we do on the Mainsite and be equally as successful but we chose
not to. We wanted to educate. We wanted to be different from every other site out there by establishing a
community that revolves around the Mainsite.
Our community has its own rules and hierarchy but it’s one where people can shed the superficialities of
the physical world and discuss everything from good TV, to good music, to land reform in China, to recent
and upcoming elections. And they can do this with complete freedom – as long as it’s done in a respectful
manner. People have dedicated enormous chunks of their lives to creating this home of ours online and if
one was to skim through my boards they would see it in it’s full glory every day.
Though it may be argued that we – as an entity – are the ultimate leech for what we take from the film and
the TV industry, my community and those that helped build it are anything but. This is not an anonymous
place of fake thank-you’s and ignorant requests, but the closest that the Internet has ever come to an
extended family. There’s really no way for me to explain it and do it justice, but I suspect that if you were
to register and to lurk the boards for a few days you would understand what I was saying quite clearly.
So with all that being said, let’s get to some of the central points of this podcast:
Why do sites like NinjaVideo exist?
Why do people like us prefer this online world to theaters so much at a time?
What is our take on studios and Hollywood and the businesses that we are so closely tied to, but not quite
friendly with?
I’m just going to speak a bit broadly here and go into what is probably the whole point of this, the meat of
this.
When did the American pastime of going to the movies become a luxury? Honestly– when? When did
family night at the movies start costing fifty dollars without popcorn? As a wise moderator of mine once
said, “When did leisure get taken hostage?”
Look around you… the world is in crisis, economic as well as social. Why was one of the few escapes
available to us as a society taken out of the layman’s reach? I want to point something out. Your
numbers– they’re so wrong. You break record numbers every season. $200 million opening weekends.
Every year, those at the top of your business get richer and richer. And we, your loyal fans, pay more and
more to view two hours of regurgitated plot. You say that piracy is killing you. But do you honestly think
that the thousand people who watched a movie online would be the same thousand that would go to the
theaters if that option were taken from them?
Your Statistics Are Lies.
If nothing else, it is through Internet word of mouth that so many otherwise obscure films succeed.
I’d like to ask you a question sometimes. Perhaps I’m being naive, but honestly, why can an actor be paid
$20 million for a movie? Why are there doctors out there paying off student loans for fifty years, but
someone who essentially “lies” for a living makes millions? And this is for the entire entertainment
industry. Sports players are very much included in this, mainstream musicians…
And if the comparison to doctors is a bit off, why do you make so much more than your writers? Why was
there a writers’ strike last year that halted TV production for the first time in years when someone like
Jennifer Aniston or Jerry Seinfeld was making a million dollars per episode for a twenty-two minute
sitcom?
And why – and this is probably more important – Why have we as a society accepted this? Why do we race
to newsstands for glorified tabloids mimicking news? Why is CNN reporting on Britney Spears rather than
the Congo? Why am I supposed to care that Angelina Jolie had or adopted another child? Why (this is so
upsetting) why are we so obsessed with this disgusting celebrity culture where someone like Paris Hilton is
a heroine and children don’t know who Mahatma Gandhi is? Why in a world where for the first time true
knowledge is accessible to us via a few keystrokes are test scores plummeting? Please explain to me why
college in the United States is utterly unaffordable. This pains me. This pains me so much.
My generation, we’re a generation of cynics, apathetic to all around us, indifferent to all around us. But
when did being those things mean that we had to become ignorant? When did that happen? There are
times when I find myself bewildered at my own inability to feel compassion but at the same time I’m
plagued by these overarching ideals.
I care not for the man standing next to me, but I sob for humanity. I weep for these ideals that I feel are
being lost. I fail at paying my own rent on time, but I can stare aghast at someone who doesn’t know
there’s a conflict between Israel and Palestine, or that there’s still war going on in the world.
There are giant issues out there. Enormous issues that are so much greater than generic media
consumption. Issues requiring attention far greater, far more attention in general than I could ever bring to
it. And yet I see millions being spent squashing a minority like mine. One that at its core espouses the
kind of groupthink necessary to enact change. One made of leaders that want to reach out across the
world and help each other – even if its via something so small as uploading a newscast, or even a TV
show.
But we’re labeled pirates. We’re called thieves. We’re raided and arrested and we’re forced to hide behind
aliases while we weave and we bob through these grey areas of laws not yet written. We’re this
amorphous Internet scum looking to rob your industry. Right? We are so far from.
You… YOU have done this. You… The studios with your inflated budgets and your ridiculous salaries.
You have fed the mob insignificant tidbits about celebrity antics in order for them to pay out their retirement
funds in popcorn prices. But not all amongst this mob are sheep.
There are those that refuse to cater to such condescending pandering. And at heart that’s what it is. It’s
condescending. It’s patronizing. It’s insulting to us as a generation. Sites like NinjaVideo force innovation
upon you. This entire community does. The record profits that you have been making prove that people
still go to the movies. Ad spots starting a $250,000 for thirty seconds prove that people still watch TV.
How will you keep your audience? Why should they pay you any longer when it is clear that you care
nothing for them? Will you continue to repackage the same story lines? Will you continue to shun
independence? Will you continue to force us to read publicist drivel on high school dropouts with the
Mickey Mouse club on their resumes? Honestly, it’s time to stop.
Just stop.
Reincarnate yourselves. Utilize us. Don’t shut us down. Make a stand. You’ve made your money. Why
don’t you make your statement now? Now that the networks and the MPAA stand together, why don’t you
embrace the Internet? And I know that you have too a degree, but it’s lacking. Sorely lacking. Why not let
those well-versed in this scene help. You must set aside the status quo. For it is being set aside for you.
Your screeners are being leaked by your own insiders. Let me repeat that for you:
Your screeners are being leaked by your own insiders.
Embrace the peer to peer. Embrace the crowd at your door that would help you acclimate to today’s
technological revolution before they blast through your bureaucratic ineptitude. Your very own structuring
inhibits your growth. You have generations at the top that know nothing of this new world and cannot
grasp the fluidity of the Internet and its rapid-fire growth. Your industry is an industry made up of
connections and cronyism and casting couches.
This is the time ripe for change. Be that change.
Once upon a time, visual media was heralded for the positive impacts it made upon society. Once upon a
time a cold war was destroyed at the hands of reporters who showed millions that life was different outside
the communist bloc. Once upon a time I cared to listen to what CNN had to say to me. Once upon a time,
copyright law favored the small, and not the hidden vaults underneath a 500-acre studio. And isn’t that the
ugliest part, honestly… that your writers are forced into the cold with picket signs, while these glorified
Barbie and Ken dolls prance around the world for more money than most countries make in a year.
Please, please understand this anger. You must. It’s enough. You have become complacent through
your success. You have taken an industry barely one hundred years old and destroyed its public integrity.
You have made fools of us and forced a discontent that is exponentially swelling through the ranks of the
computer literate.
You and only you opened the door for NinjaVideo. Sites like mine are a direct manifestation of your
apathy. You can’t hold entertainment hostage any more. You can’t hold news hostage.
If Rupert Murdoch wants to play FOX news on five different channels, then I’ll build an Al Jazeera category
and give it love on Ninja Main. If a documentary maker is saddened that his work will only be seen by a
few thousand via a public broadcasting channel, then I’ll give him an audience millions strong.
If you want to take advantage of the fact that the youth of my generation, some of them adults now, are
lazy, we will make that youth a force to be reckoned with and give them a home on-line to gather and think.
And that’s it. That is the point of all this, of NinjaVideo in particular. I truly, truly hope that this did not
come off as a rant. I guess what I want, what we all want, is to be left alone. I don’t want to go to jail… or
court. None of us do. And if we can’t be accepted, how about we’re acknowledged? Not as pirates but as
a generation you can learn from. Work with us. Learn from us.
This is what we do. It’s part of who we are. Instead of sending a takedown notice, how about sending an
introductory letter? Conference with us about what the evolution of this game should be about, because I
assure you – whether or not you ever take NinjaVideo down, there will be more of us. This game can’t be
stopped: so how about it’s understood?
We’re a community, made up of millions. We come from every country, every walk of life, and every
economic level. And we’re smart. We’re young. We’re articulate. And we’re your audience.
But we’re tired, and we can fight back.
And this is by no means a challenge; it’s just the reality.
Can I afford lawyers? No. Not at all. But will there be a hundred people to take my place if I step down?
Yes… believe me there will be.
So if the moves towards peace could ever be made between our worlds then I would suggest that you take
us, NinjaVideo, up on such a reconciliation. We’re grown, we’re educated, and we – more than most – are
willing to listen. Perhaps if you are one of those lawyers or studio heads or actors, and for some odd
reason you’re listening to this right now, take a moment before you pick up that phone and truly think about
what I said.
There is an opportunity here that has never been laid out before.
This has been the NinjaVideo Manifesto and it’s time to wrap this thing up.
We’re your future. We’re here and we’re strong and we’re not moving.
I’ll leave you all with a quote. I tried searching for a few choice ones on piracy and I found myself much
more attracted to the ones I found on revolution:
Samuel Adams once said:
“It does not require a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority keen to set brushfires in
people’s minds.”
We have lit that flame and it can’t be put out. Will you help us harness its power, or will you let us all burn
with you alongside?
Thank you for listening to the NinjaVideo Manifesto.

This has been Phara, with all of NinjaVideo behind me.

Is it just me or are Fruit Roll-Ups not nearly as good as they use to be?

Later.