Can a grown man actually get excited by making a trip to a sports stadium? Or maybe the question is "Should a grown man get excited by making a trip to a sports stadium?" Today we find out as the family and I go to Red Bull Arena for our first match. This is the culmination of quite a long period of longing for Soccer to take it's place in the New York Sports Firmament. 

For me, it dates back to the late 70s when I would watch the Cosmos play before a sold out crowd at Giants Stadium on TV. As the lone soccer fan in the family (heck, the lone soccer fan in my town, maybe) I never did make it out to the Stadium to see them in person.

Then came the long dry spell after the fold of the NASL. Oh, I think there were a few indoor soccer games at Nassau Coliseum and as much World Cup as I could take in via TV, but until the Internet and Fox Soccer Channel, soccer as a pro sport faded into the background for me.

Now, I'm a season ticket holder in the best soccer stadium in America. I've been there twice already -- to pick out my seats and to get a great tour of the place by New York Red Bull Seth Stammler -- but tonight is the first match. And a sellout to boot. As I take it all in, I'll be sure to think about those memories of watching Shep, Georgio and Franz on our grainy 18" TV. 

I've written in the past about the excellent Gel Conference put on by Mark Hurst and his Good Experience Crew. It is, hands down, the most fun, edifying and different conference you will go to in any given year. About two years ago (wow, two years already?), I went to Gel for the second time and one of the speakers made such an impression on me that I have been speaking about this talk for -- basically -- 24 months.

This 20 minute talk by Marc Salem, the "Mentalist", was entertaining, mind-boggling and unbelievable, all at the same time. In much the same way it is difficult to describe the overall Gel Conference in a quick elevator pitch, it's also impossible to fully describe what Marc Salem can do.

Now, finally, I don't have to describe it anymore, because the kind folks at Gel (thanks, Mark!) have posted a video of the full 20 minute talk on their site. I know you see a ton of links to videos posted every day that are "must see", so you're thinking, "Yeah, yeah, whatever." Please, though, at least bookmark this one for later viewing. After all, would I have come out of blog retirement to post this, if I didn't think it was truly outstanding?

Check it out, and think about attending the upcoming Gel in the Spring. I still think it's better than 95.4% of all other conferences.

Is this thing on?

I'm struggling finding time to post here. I've got a one or two other side projects going on (one involving fielding a soccer team of twelve 9-year olds, otherwise known as herding cats) that are just sucking up all "have a thought, develop a thought, post cogently" time.

So, I'm trying to communicate what few thoughts I have on Twitter for now. Quicker method, less time, interesting model. Not sure how long that will hold, but in the absence of posts here, feel free to follow me at twitter.com/stevehoff

I'm sure I'll come back here when things calm down a bit. I do like the longer form of posting....

In theater, when an actor turns to the audience and goes all "meta" by acknowledging their presence and talking to them, it's called "breaking the fourth wall". Although many websites take this approach in their writing (Fake Steve Jobs, for instance is fake, but we know it and so does he, etc.), you rarely see this done through interface design.

Here's a great example (via Mark Hurst's Good Experience), from a Dutch retailer called HEMA. Just let the page load, then wait for it. Creative, funny and cool.

What kind of man not only takes the time to note that the latest Jonas Brothers video is incredibly identical to a classic Bon Jovi video, but then also chooses to post that observation publicly (Complete with embedded YouTube videos for full documentation)?

The kind of man with two young daughters. ;-) I can't say I blame him. I've often sat on the couch comparing Drake & Josh episodes to the Odd Couple.

Go on over to I Think This World is Perfect and check it out. Check the other posts out too -- it's one of my favorite reads.

I've written glowingly about Chuck Klosterman's writing before (Was that really in 2003? Almost five years ago? What happened to all that time??). Here's an article by Klosterman that shouldn't be missed about the Patriots, Perfection, and what happens if they lose. Man, I wish I could write like this.

I get a giggle from this every day.