Black Friday: the Power of Myth

I've taken part in Black Friday- sue me, I love a bargain for the kids. Really!

I've always assumed that story about retailers only hitting the black on the holiday shopping extravaganza was true.

I looked it up this year and learned that there are two stories that appear to be true.

Either it is an older 19th century story or the one that sounds truer: Philly cops noticed the bad level of traffic and higher number of shoppers on the day after Thanksgiving in the 1960s. Adding to the pain, an Army-Navy football game made traffic insane.

I'm not sure which story you believed, but did it matter?

The how of the name of the day after Thanksgiving is lost to most people. All that REALLY matters is the fact that retailers kills themselves to offer the best deals on these days leading up to the Christmas holiday.

The power of myth is such that we have taken it in and it is just part of the story we tell. What other stories are told that you know that don't matter where they came from, just that they lead to an end result.

One that gets MILLIONS shopping at midnight?

Slow Death or Rebirth for Myspace?

Are we really watching the slow inevitable death of Myspace? With the integration with Facebook complete and the push towards what appears to be a mobile only function , isn't it time to call this one? One report says that Myspace is making $200 million less this year. They are functionally giving up on Myspace Music , which was always their bread and butter. Without the music tie in, why would people BOTHER with Myspace? I'm talking about it because my wife's band has used every medium known to mankind to promote themselves online and Myspace has been nothing but dead weight from the very beginning. Only bands and their most ardent fans go there. The rest are on Facebook. There is talk of selling Myspace, but who in their right mind would consider it? This will have some interesting implications for bands down the road. Many use Myspace as their de facto website, just pushing their domain name onto the customizable site. Now apparently, Reverbnation , a North Carolin

Check out my appearance on the The Toddcast Podcast

Click and watch the podcast recording of my appearance on the Toddcast Podcast Such a fun time!

New Life

It's weird, sad and slightly freeing. I've been headed towards a completely different life for a lot longer than I even knew. It took me a while to catch up to realize it was happening. Thankfully, I was cognizant enough to see it finally and mostly ready for it. It's amazing when you have the rug completely pulled out from underneath you. The adjustments are jarring. I made mistakes, but like most I learned from them, adapted, and tried my best to do better. The reason you see that truck next to a storage place? That's the sum of my life right now. Never take for granted that you will work hard for something or someone, and it will end up meaning very little. You are guaranteed nothing, owed nothing, promised nothing. Anything and everything can be taken away in a heartbeat. I wrote this to my kids a while back: I tried to be the best father I could be based on what I knew when I knew it and how I could. One of the lessons for your life needs to be: you need to b

Todd Lyden

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