*had to post this picture twice.
Yesterday was Labor Day, which is a holiday that I don't have much of an affinity for. Some may argue that it's great because it's still technically summer and there's college football on the television, fall is in the air, etc. but all I can think of when I hear 'Labor Day' is when adults around me as a youngster would say we had to be at school the Wednesday after - not fun.
As an adult, it's more ambivalence I feel towards the day - especially in California, as there isn't as much distinction between seasons compared to New England. If anything, the weather improves in San Francisco around this time. What's the point of saying all of this? I'm not exactly sure... but for whatever reason I was getting into some deep reflection upon this day yesterday, and what was supposed to be a light hearted, fun, more or less silly post where I acknowledge my team in a borderline pejorative manner as seen in the graphic above did not seem apropos of the given circumstance. It no longer made sense to poke fun at the good, simple laborers who make this media empire all possible - the Young Emilio's of the world disappearing for weeks on end, the TI's of the world blogging their picks for the weekend, the Producer Reese's of the world editing in Vegas Pro and re-rendering videos 3-5 times to make them as grainy as humanly possible, and even the B-Riders of the world - demanding new 6 figure contracts after writing two blogs.
This is what I had written originally:
Labor Day... the one time a year to celebrate the good, hard-working laborers who make this great country prosperous. Today is for the TIs of the world taking his dog for walks in the East Bay and blowing his salary on gambling winnings on the weekends... the Producer Reese's of the world living his good, simple life in the heartland of this great state hauling lumber.... the B-Riders living and dying with each play of his beloved BC Eagles, only to have his heart ripped out, broken, put back in his chest, and ripped out again. Today is YOUR day. Every other day is for the leadership class, the mogul class, the donor class... but on the first Monday in September, we are here to salute you. So I hope Young Emilio is out doing some shopping and finding discounts at Target like only he can, I hope Young Ezy is out with one of his babes in Indonesia, I hope JSandy is out doing some blue blood things before I am working for him in 4 years, and I hope Boehr is sipping on a nice Modelo in his room at the La Quinta Inn down in San Angelo. Back to work tomorrow, but for today - Vive La Proletariat!
Some of us are just born with a different gear... a different feel for the moment. Some may call these people magnanimous, some may call them heroes, but at the end of the day, these leaders want to be good, simple folks just like the rest of the bunch. Show up - do their jobs - ignore the noise - control what they can control. So that is what I would like to do today - celebrate our team in our first massively successful year of business in which Dan has definitely not drained all of his time, energy, and money over the last 12 months in what some have called a fruitless endeavor in which Dan has predominantly stared at walls, yelled at Producer Reese, and completed significant amounts of whiteboard 'ideation':
Tony Bautista - if you got stopped with the camera on the way into OSL 2022, we would not be here right now. Remember that time you said you said you knew the Giants well because you wanted to be our Giants reporter but couldn't name their manager? That was classic.
David Olvera - thank you for the encouragement before I destroyed my knee before OTM was even a thing - how about that time you stole my hard drive and took it down to Tijuana, Mexico? That was great.
Ezy - Our Devnest 2.0, we would not have a website without you. Especially after Devnest 1.0 was absolutely terrible and wasted months of our time. Credit to me for the vision, design, flow, and ideas, credit to you for the execution and ease of use on the back end. If anybody is in the market for some web design, check out ravenvirtual.com or whatever the hell his domain is. I still owe you for the second installation of your Ezy hosting package, how about Danny Dials making you one of the richest and most high status men in all of Indonesia by doing business with San Francisco? That's awesome.
Quincy/Boehr - Need you your teams to do well so we can have you on radio starting next week. How about that time Boehr spilled the story of his future wife's 48 Hours: Mystery investigation on OneTake Radio, said it was fine, and then called me at 1:00 AM and said I need to take it down immediately? That was classic.
Young Emilio - Credit to you for going through the many battles, hope we have more on the horizon. How about that time you said you were going to try and get hired by a larger organization at the Arizona Bowl last year when I got us down on the field? That was legendary.
Producer Reese - Stay golden, credit to you for the mullet, and the amount of improvement you've made in the last year is pretty astounding. Credit to me for the leadership and guidance. How about that time you used to send me fat invoices for work you didn't do at all and then used to come to HQ at 6:00 AM after staying up all night in your nocturnal phase and then wouldn't do any work all day so I would yell at you some more? That was all-time.
TacoMagic - Excited to hear and see your upcoming takes, blogs, and bets this football season. How about that time we were supposed to go to Tijuana for the Final 4 but then you bailed and Producer Reese and I decided to go to San Diego and you said UConn sucked and was going to lose the whole time but then they won even though you were constantly criticizing me for not watching or knowing basketball or sports in general? That was awesome. You are off to a hot start, god bless you.
Yoel - You changed the way that we now do teasers and how we thought about our video production process - you are a G. Hoping for more projects on the way that are more character focused content. Any political rallies by you upcoming in SoCal?
B-Rider - You Marlboro Street Legend, look at how much of a big dog this guy has become in the last couple of years. How about that time we were playing football up at Riverdale and Vic recovered a fumble and started running the other way for what should have been an easy touchdown but his baggy shorts fell down and then he tripped and gave the ball back? That was a great play.
J-Sandy - Credit to you for diving right into the deep end of the pool at Dolores Hill Bomb - think we've got a lot of good content to produce going forward. How about that time you bailed on filming two weeks in a row for PizzaFest and for Rock the Gates and Producer Reese had to come in and cover for you? Veteran move.
Some look at an orchestra and think the conductor has the easiest job - he doesn't play in instrument, he doesn't have to sing, he just waves the stick around and gets the interview with the pretty girl on Channel 5 News in Boston (shoutout Keith Lockhart from the Boston Pops). And maybe those folks are right... and to those people, I say god bless you, and I salute you. Happy Labor Day. I will continue to, as my friend Tavis Ino puts it, 'live out his [my]dream of exploiting talent for millions of dollars while they [I] don't receive fair pay or equity...' That's what leadership is all about.
Social Media
