Three weeks after my wedding, the smoke and mirrors have cleared and I’m ready to share first-hand experiences and reviews of each of the major wedding vendors I worked with. Obviously, the main points of interest will be quality and cost. If you’re getting married or know somebody getting married, especially if they’re local (Michigan), I hope my positive and negative experiences will help you make more informed decisions. The main categories will be: reception venue, ceremony venue, floral and linens, formal wear, DJ, transportation, photography, and cake. I’ll use a simple numerical rating system in my reviews; five stars representing absolute satisfaction and one star representing the exact opposite.

Let’s dive in, shall we?

Ceremony Venue:
Meadowbrook Hall and Gardens – Pegasus Garden
Price: 3
Quality: 4
Overall: 4

Our wedding ceremony was hosted at the Pegasus Garden, located on the beautiful Meadowbrook estate property. The wedding party had access to the breathtaking Meadowbrook mansion and most of the property for preparations and pictures both before and after the ceremony. The ceremonial walk originated from the mansion and flowed into the Pegasus Garden where the guests were waiting. Without painting a complete picture, the visual setup was absolutely perfect. It is a setup adequate for the rich and famous, without a Hollywood price tag. The service staff was nothing special; the general level of customer support from start to finish was mediocre. Fortunately, I only had my ceremony at Meadowbrook so it never created a problem or a source of any level of stress.

The wedding party arrived at 11:30am, guests at 12:30, ceremony started at 1pm and everybody had to be off the property by 3pm. I believe I spent around $3,000 in total for the ceremony. The price tag was steep for just a ceremony, but I factored in the value of using a multi-million dollar estate and the lasting impression it would have on the overall experience. Not to mention the pictures!

Reception Venue:
Infinity and Ovation Yacht Charters
Price: 2
Quality: 5
Overall: 4

Our wedding reception was hosted aboard the Infinity Yacht, part of the Infinity and Ovation Yacht Charters. Above all else, my priorities and goals for the wedding were to create something memorable and unique. I wanted something different from a traditional hall setting. From this perspective it was an absolute success. Besides getting lucky with beautiful weather all day (both ceremony and reception were held outside), the Infinity yacht was an absolute blast. We traveled from Lake St. Claire to the Ambassador Bridge on the Detroit River and back again. Guests boarded the yacht at 7pm, we departed at 7:30, and returned at 11:30. The level of service provided by Infinity and Ovation from start to finish was top-notch. My account representative, Karen Servatius, was a pleasure to work with and on top of everything from start to finish. She even provided a friendly courtesy call after the wedding to say thank you and evaluate our level of satisfaction. The yacht itself was very clean and well furnished, the service staff was exceptional and the food was top-notch. Though everything comes at a price, they are extremely flexible and more than willing and capable of adjusting to your interests and needs for just about any aspect of your wedding.

Infinity and Ovation markets itself as a quasi-full-service event management company. While this originally sounded great, it eventually established itself as not very cost efficient. They have ‘preferred vendors’ for all the essentials including cake, entertainment, invitations, photography, and floral and linens. Fortunately, these preferred vendors were of solid quality (which I’ll address in individual reviews), but not all is what it seemed. Look for specifics in individual reviews, but in short, there was a 26% fee added to EVERYTHING by Infinity and Ovation for everything outside our package. Not to mention a mandatory 18% (boat/water) tax added to the total cost. By the time the wedding was said and done, the cost by Infinity and Ovation was roughly 40% higher than what was originally anticipated.

If money is not of great concern, I highly recommend considering using Infinity and Ovation. They are not a very cost contentious or cost effective venue for somebody on a tight budget, but the service and quality is top notch from start to finish. Karen and the rest of Infinity and Ovation team, along with some lucky weather, helped me 100% accomplished the goals and priorities I set for my wedding from day one. I gave Infinity and Ovation a four out of five as their service and quality was absolutely top notch but their prices and fees were absurd.

Floral and Linens:
Emerald City Designs
Price: 3
Quality: 5
Overall: 4

Emerald City Designs was a pleasure to work with from start to finish. They are the preferred floral and linen vendor of Infinity and Ovation Yacht Charters. This venture was a breeze with absolutely no complaints beyond the price tag. They offered timely communication and were always on time wherever needed, operating behind the scenes to complete satisfaction. Again, my only complaint was the price tag. Included in our wedding package through Infinity and Ovation was the flowers and linens, but with very tight limitations. The linens were no problem as we didn’t need anything fancy. The package included basic linens and decorations for the tables and chairs. The floral package included the table floral centerpieces and wedding party flowers for the bride, groom, best man, and maid of honor. Flowers for everybody else in the wedding party, and any flowers outside of the standard selection were all extra cost. Any extra cost (which was inevitable as our wedding party was bigger than 4 people) was victim to an additional 26% fee by Infinity and Ovation. I still ended up paying over $1,500 for the floral and linens, even though it was ‘included in the package’. I still give Emerald City Designs a 4/5 as regardless of Infinity and Ovation’s fees, their prices are steep but their quality and service is top notch.

Photography:
MG Photography
Price: 3
Quality: 5
Overall: 4

MG Photography is a family business, owned and operated by Mike and Marcy Guimond. They work from their professional home-based studio and overall, offer years of experience. Mike alone has over twenty years of experience in various forms of professional photography. His wife, Marcy, is relatively new and aids Mike, but combined they make a superb team that creates superb pictures. Their level of quality and speed of pre-picture taking communication was very satisfactory. Though, once the pictures were taken, it took them longer than anticipated to return a product or schedule a meeting for picture review. For example, they quoted us two weeks before we could view our wedding pictures from the date of the wedding and it has already been three weeks and we have yet to hear from them.

I suppose that makes me unqualified to give them a proper final review since we don’t have a complete finished product yet. But factoring Mike and Marcy’s deep level of professionalism and dedication come game day, on top of our beautiful engagement pictures, and the overall quality of his studio and previous work, I have absolutely no concerns over the quality of our finished product.

Mike’s level of experience and professionalism comes with a price tag, though. There is nothing inexpensive about their services. Not counting the 26% fee included by Infinity and Ovation, we paid over $3,000 for their services; which included a handful of different sizes prints, a couple picture books, and about 120 pictures in digital format. I might be missing some smaller things, but no matter how you spin in, they’re not cheap or fast. But again, neither is their level of quality. With all things considered, I gave MG Photography a final score of four out of five.

Cake:
Olga’s Creations
Price: 5
Quality: 5
Overall: 5

Olga’s creation, owned and operated by Olga and her husband, was exceptional across the board. Her small team produces top-notch cake and desserts that not only look amazing but taste equally delightful. They are extremely busy and sometimes difficult to get in contact with or schedule a meeting with, but once we sat down and ironed out the details, everything was smooth as ice. The cake was included in our wedding package through Infinity and Ovation, and the small amount of extras ‘beyond the package’ amounted to no more than $150. Even the most elaborate of cakes that go well-beyond the standard package were not overly expensive. All in all, my experience with Olga’s Creations was definitely satisfactory and I would certainly recommend them to anybody else. For all these reasons and more, I gave Olga’s Creation a five out of five.

Formal Wear:
President Tuxedo
Price: 5
Quality: 3
Overall: 3

Like most people living in my part of Michigan, I’ve used President Tuxedo multiple times. It always seems to be a hit or miss experience. I was extremely fortunate (and extremely grateful) to have a hook-up to obtain the formal wear for my groomsmen and myself for free. Normally, a tuxedo rental (like the one I just rented for my friend’s wedding) runs around $160-$180. I’m hesitant to even say anything bad after receiving such a generous money saving gift, though for the sake of remaining subjective, I’ll say it how it was. Besides myself, all of my groomsmen were either missing some part of their outfit, had the wrong piece, or had sizing issues. Given we’re all easy going guys, and with a bit of luck, we made the best of it and everybody else was none the wiser. The level of staff quality and the experience itself was like any typical retail store; you go in, get measured, pay, pick up your tuxedo, use it, and return it the next day. All in all, I gave President Tuxedo a three out of five simply because, outside of my amazing hookup, they were mediocre across the board.

DJ / Entertainment:
Pro DJ Services
Price: 5
Quality: 5
Overall: 5

Pro DJ Services was the preferred vendor by Infinity and Ovation and was completely covered in our wedding package. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but was pleasantly surprised. The company owner, Jason Parent, handled our wedding himself and was professional and pleasant to work with from start to finish. Based on his calm nature and level of professionalism, you could tell that we were not his first rodeo. At one point I was worried that come game day he would not be very energetic or original, but he put all worries to rest. He was fun, interactive, and original. In fact, one of the best and most memorable moments of the entire reception was his idea that he suggested and executed perfectly. We held a couple phone meetings prior to the wedding where we discussed the music selection, rituals, games, and more. He officiated the entire reception from start to finish with great success. He was able to ‘read the crowd’ properly and adjust the music, pace, and tempo accordingly to keep the atmosphere right and guests of all ages involved. For all of this and more, I gave Pro DJ Services a five out of five.

Limo / Transportation:
Lavdas Limousines
Price: 3
Quality: 2
Overall: 2

Transportation for the bridal party was one of the only elements that wasn’t organized and managed by Infinity and Ovation. Similarly, it was pretty much the only element of my wedding that left me dissatisfied. I rented a white stretch Hummer that showed up to the ceremony nearly thirty minutes late. The Hummer itself was very clean and polished on the outside, but was mediocre at best on the inside. In many places, the seats were stained, tattered or slightly torn. The lighting, decorations and accommodations were nothing special for the steep price tag of nearly $900.

Our driver was very nice and accommodating, which unfortunately was not replicated by the mediocre customer support and poor professionalism of the rest of the organization. Our driver forgot to collect the payment in full when she first picked us up and by the time she dropped all of us off at the yacht for boarding and departure, she announced to me that she needed the payment in full, in cash. I did not have the $650 in cash on me, so she had me speak to her boss over the phone, who demanded that I leave the dock and go find an ATM to pull out cash. Rather than tell him to go fly a kite and potentially have the driver lose her job, I had to leave my wedding party, wife and guests and hitch a ride with the valet parking worker to find an ATM to pull out $650 in cash and experience over $20 in ATM fees and nearly be late to my own wedding reception. He was extremely rude and demanding over the phone and refused to take my credit card information as he demanded cash only. I will never again use Lavdas Limousines and I highly suggest anybody considering their services to stay away at all costs.

Did you use any of these vendors and have a similar or different experience? Please share in the comments! Was this article helpful? Again, please share in the comments.

The America Family Association has organized ten powerful economic graphs that put financial facts and figures into visual form. Sometimes you can quote economic statistics to people until you are blue in the face and it won’t do any good, but when those same people see charts and pictures suddenly it all sinks in. As you examine the economic charts below, pay special attention to what has been happening to the U.S. economy over the last 30 or 40 years. All of the economic problems that we are experiencing now have taken decades to develop. The sad fact of the matter is that we have been living in the biggest debt bubble in the history of the world over the last 40 years. All of this debt has purchased a wonderful standard of living for the vast majority of us, but all of this debt has also destroyed the economic future of our children and our grandchildren. Someday future generations will look back on what we have done in absolute horror.

With absolute sincerity to our great nation, my professional recommendation is to be prepared for the worst. Let’s of course go out kicking and screaming and not give up without a fight, but the writing is on the wall. Short of a miraculous recovery that takes, at the minimum, decades to complete (anything is possible), I would start thinking about how to best take care of you and your family for the remainder of your living years and beyond. It involves NOT relying on anybody else but yourself to make sound short and long-term financial decisions. It involves having a backup plan and a backup plan for your backup plan. And heck, if we as a nation get smart and make a true recovery (even if it takes 40 years), you’ll be one step ahead of the competition and able to pass down your financial wisdom and advice to younger generations.

Take a good look at these graphs and allow the information to sink in. Use common sense to determine how this has and will continue to impact your life and build a strategy on how you plan to get active in protecting yourself against the seemingly inevitable economic brink wall.

Federal spending is almost 18 times higher than it was back in 1970. Now Barack Obama has proposed a budget that would increase U.S. government spending to 5.6 trillion dollars in 2021. Just imagine what the following chart would look like if that happens....

he U.S. national debt is currently $14,081,561,324,681.83. It is more than 14 times larger than it was back in 1980. Unfortunately, the national debt continues to grow at breathtaking speed. In fact, the Obama administration is projecting that the federal budget deficit for this year will be an all-time record 1.6 trillion dollars.

The chart is from an official U.S. government report to Congress. As you can see, it is projected that interest on our exploding national debt is absolutely going to spiral out of control if we continue on the path that we are currently on....

The sad truth is that it is not just the U.S. government that has a massive debt problem. U.S. households have also been accumulating debt at a staggering rate. Total U.S. household debt did not pass the 2 trillion dollar mark until the mid-1980s, but now total U.S. household debt is well over 13 trillion dollars.

The total of all debt (government, business and consumer) in the United States is now well over 50 trillion dollars. For the past couple of years this figure has been hovering around a level that is equivalent to approximately 360 percent of GDP. This is a debt bubble that is absolutely unprecedented in U.S. history.

There are about 3 and a half times as many unemployed workers in the United States today as there were when 1970 began. These jobs losses are going to continue as long as we allow our corporations to pay slave labor wages to workers on the other side of the globe. All of the major trends in global trade are very bad for the U.S. middle class. For example, the U.S. trade deficit with China for 2010 was 27 times larger than it was back in 1990.

For most of the post-World War 2 era, when the median duration of unemployment in America reached 10 weeks that was considered a national crisis. Well, today competition for jobs is so intense that the median duration of unemployment is now well over 20 weeks

Since the Federal Reserve was created in 1913, the value of the U.S. dollar has declined by over 95 percent. One of the reasons given for the existence of the Federal Reserve is that the Fed helps control inflation. But that is a huge lie. The truth is that the United States never had consistently rampant inflation until the Federal Reserve took control. In particular, once the U.S. totally went off the gold standard in the 1970s inflation really started escalating out of control.

Now the Federal Reserve says that the solution to our current economic problems is to print even more money out of thin air. The games that the Federal Reserve is playing with our money supply are simply inexcusable. Just look at what the Federal Reserve has done to the monetary base since the beginning of the recession.

The price of oil is now ridiculously high. A high price for oil is very, very bad for the U.S. economy. Our entire economic system is based on being able to use massive quantities of very cheap oil. Unfortunately, that paradigm is starting to break down and the consequences will be very bitter. Back in mid-2008, the price of oil hit an all-time record of $147 a barrel and subsequently the world financial system imploded a few months later. Well, the price of oil is on the march again and that is very bad news for the U.S. economy.

Source: http://www.afa.net/Blogs/BlogPost.aspx?id=2147503555

There is hardly a day that transpires when I don’t think about you. As I know you wanted, your family has pushed forward. Needless to say, life without you has often been a challenge. Everybody you left behind has and continues to experience obstacles and blessings that we wish you were around to share. Your wife went back to school, found a career and ultimately started dating again. Christina has gotten married and given birth to your first grandson, Lucas Lee Mitchell. Your youngest, Anna, has grown into a beautiful young woman while she continues to find her place in the world.

As for myself, I was left to figure out how to become the man you always wanted me to be. Since you left, I’ve experienced life on my own, built up my business, and found the woman of my dreams. While doing so, I’ve always attempted to not lose track of the priorities most important in my life. I am pleased to say that I am doing my best and optimistic that if you were still around, you would be proud. Then again, I know you’ve looked after your family from above and have been with us everyday through the sweet and sour. Silently guiding us through lives greatest struggles and accomplishments; but unable to bask in the rewards and disappointments in the way I sincerely wish was possible.

I know without a shred of doubt in my heart that there were times when you’ve been around to protect us or express your love. We all have our unique stories of dreams, encounters and unquestionable examples of your love after life to relish for years to come. Of course I always welcome more contact and miss the first months and years when you would visit more often. Sometimes I need to stare at old pictures and videos just to feel closer to you, or to hear your voice. But the observation that I’m always aging while the pictures and videos of us together remain ageless manages to remind me of exactly how much has changed. Furthermore, I can’t help but imagine what life would be like today if you were still around.

Regardless of what has transpired in the past seven years, I can assure you that I will continue to do my best. There is much room for improvement but I will not give up. You’ve created a loving and intelligent family and I promise to honor all that you’ve provided me and bestow the same love and respect to my current and future family. And when the eventual day comes when we stand face to face once again, I’ll know I made you proud.

Happy 55th birthday, Dad! I love you!

Those of you who know me best are aware that I’ve always been rather unconventional in my thinking and decision making. Don’t let that statement lead you to believe that I’m irrational, fallacious or aberrant. Quite the contrary, I take pride in my reason and logic; and it comes from both practice and life experiences. Fortunately, there is no need to defend myself as this is one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.

Since the beginning of my dating career, I’ve been around the block a few times. Not in the nympho or hustler sense; simply that I’ve dated my share of girls in a relatively short period of time. A full spectrum of ladies to give me plenty of hands-on experience to figure out what I’m ultimately looking for in a wife. Some were clearly of unsound mind while others, though awesome in their own way, were just not the one for me. I also made my share of fledgling mistakes along the way.

Backtracking a bit, since my teenage years, I could always picture myself getting married at an early age. Like our parents’ generation and earlier when most couples got married and had their first child before they were even of legal drinking age. Thankfully, for me and Valerie, this was not the case. In many ways, I’ve always been emotionally mature and responsible for my age. Heck, half of the girls I dated were older than me as I’ve always struggled with the stereotypical female drama and immaturity of young blood. But I thank my lucky stars that I’ve had the past several years to fully enjoy the bachelor life and evolve into the man I am today. Looking back, I might not have been ready for such a commitment even if I did find Valerie years ago.

Valerie's Black Diamond Engagement Ring! Yes, I realize I put it on the wrong hand. First time jitters!

The story of how Valerie and I met is quite interesting; but I’ll save that for dinner table conversation… or at least a future post. The ultimate point of this post is to make our grand announcement to the world. Some of you already knew while most of you did not! I also have an agenda of my own. Today is Valerie’s birthday; so this is also my opportunity to not only share my wonderful news with the world but wish my beautiful fiancé a happy birthday and offer her a public gift. I would like to share with all of you some of the reasons why Valerie is both the love of my life and absolutely perfect for me.

1. Values. It didn’t take long (at all) for our relationship to progress. We’ve nearly always been on the same page and in agreement with our core values. This made and continues to make it easy to talk about important issues. It also makes it easy to set common goals and life benchmarks as individuals and as a couple.

2. Morals. Most of our thoughts and beliefs on sensitive worldly issues line up rather well. Even with different personalities and cultural upbringings, we find ourselves in agreement and mutual understanding to the things we find most important. Fundamental principles of right conduct rather than legalities and acting based on sound mind and character line up extremely well.

3. Intelligence. Valerie is extremely intelligent in all the right ways. Practical intelligence, emotional intelligence, and good old fashioned book smarts… she has it all.

4. Beauty and health. Valerie is absolutely and unequivocally beautiful both inside and out. She is not only sexy on the outside, but takes care of herself on the inside. No smoking or excessive drinking, healthy eating habits, and a strong interest in prevention through knowledge and action.

5. Love and friendship. This is perhaps the most exciting part of the whole adventure. Most everything else was already established as individuals before we came together as a couple. Values, morals, health, beauty, intelligence, etc. – made it extremely easy for us to fall in love. But it is the always growing friendship and love that burns the candle brighter with time. Best of all, the differences we do have often complement one another.

I purposely kept my reasons broad and without specific examples because, frankly, the specifics are for us to share and hold private. Our relationship is also constantly evolving and taking shape. But the evolution and ultimate shape is still defined by the same reasons I provided above. Besides being an ideal wife and future mother of my children, she is becoming a stronger friend, companion and partner in crime with each passing day. Valerie continues to surprise me with how utterly amazing she truly is.

My life as a bachelor might be over… but hey, I had a good run. Now my life truly begins. Happy Birthday, Valerie! I love you!

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According to TechCrunch, Twitter has at least $1B valuation, despite it not having made a single dollar in revenue yet. Some other articles claim that twitter is worth at least $1.7 Billion, and others have claimed even higher numbers. However, I am a firm believer that twitter is virtually worthless and its valuation is completely based on a faulty system where investment companies overvalue users.

First in doing an analysis of twitter, we need a good look at the actual users. According to Compete.com in December of 2010, 26M people used/visited twitter. Compared to Facebook’s 142M, it’s a small number but really nothing to sneeze at. This number is however important, because using this we can get an approximate value of each user. If we were to believe the evaluaton of $1B, each user would be worth approximately $38 to the company in its evaluation.

Twitter Unique Visitors

If we were going to translate this into advertising impressions (instead of clicks) which is the currency of the display economy, there are some very, very interesting numbers. If the value of those page impressions with advertising is an average of a very liberal estimate of %.50 cpm we come up with a very disturbing number of $52,000 in revenue per day. On a yearly basis, that is only $18M a year in revenue. If we are going to say they are making $1CPM in advertising that is still only $36 M a year in revenue. At $2CPM, which is being extremely, extremely nice to twitter, that is $72M a year in advertising revenue.

What’s even more problematic about twitter is the lack of growth the company has had in the last year. Remember while facebook has grown almost 10% in the last year, the twitter growth rate has been close to Zero. At the same time as mentioned above, with no growth, the page views per user has decreased substantially, meaning that those users are not as engaged as they were when they first signed up. Obviously there is some churn rate, some people leaving and some people being added, but these numbers should raise some questions.

Twitter vs Facebook Pageviews per User

These numbers are disturbing, but they interest me even more combined with a very disturbing number. According to most reports, the average churn rate of twitter users who come to twitter, and then fail to return is in the 60% range. That means 6 out of 10 users never use twitter again, according to all reports for the last two years.

This stat is extremely important because it addresses an acquisition cost that needs to be addressed, especially those who are familiar with performance based acquisition marketing. If the average twitter user is worth $38, but the churn rate is 60%, then what exactly is the cost of acquiring new sign ups? I actually don’t know how to calculate this, but I do know that for less than $1, I can acquire new users for almost any product using a variety of techniques. I don’t know how many of those people will stay with the company, but I’m sure that it’s much higher than 1 out of 38, which is the acquisition rate at $38 per user. Assuming that even 25% of users continue to use my “new product” the acquisition rate is only $4.00 per user. That means that I would only need $104M to get enough users to be a $1B valuation company, based on the twitter values and a 25% retention rate.

The other problems involved with twitter are that 12% of its traffic comes directly from Facebook on a daily basis. I’m not sure if those are actually users who are registered with twitter, or just people who click on a tweet posted on Facebook – I’m sure it’s a mix. If any of the consistency of twitter visitors is from that, then there is another issue with twitter that I think everyone else knows: it’s highly dependent on Facebook, and if Facebook develops a competitor and bans twitter, what then? Add that almost 10% of the traffic also comes from Google, then we have some serious questions about a company that 22% of its daily traffic comes from two main sources.

The twitter evaluation of $1B or even more is plain ridiculous. While there is value as a tech product that could be sold to Google or Facebook, the actually value of those users is pretty thin. There is no product there except the tweets which themselves are rendered useless in any world that Facebook takes over that function – and most likely will. Twitter doesn’t really have a product except as a simple message transport system, and anyone can copy that. My crystal ball says that either Twitter gets sold, or if it doesn’t, it will disappear within the next 12 months. Remember, even Myspace is still twice as large as twitter and it was only bought for $580M.

The cultural differences are indeed unique and a pleasant experience for anybody with a sense of adventure or an urge for self-enlightenment. The different traditions, beliefs, habits, and general way of life is what makes culture so exciting! Heck, for a fraction of the cost you can get much of the same experience by traveling to different cities throughout the US which are populated and culturally represented by the majority nationality. But just like Mom’s homemade cooking, nothing quite comes close to the real thing.

But this post really isn’t about the positive differences between the United States and Russia. It isn’t about the differences at all but rather the similarities; and as a true blooded American, the sort of similarities that I’m fearful of.

Most of the similarities are subtle and still in their infancy, but I assure you, they do exist. And perhaps the worst part about the whole ordeal is that it’s happening right in-front of us and there is little being done about it. The ‘Divided States of America’ is such a culturally and emotionally diverse country that it is near impossible to get either side of the emotional and political spectrum to collaborate with one another. And everybody in the middle (the moderates) either does not care or are too afraid or docile to fight for what they believe in. I understand a lot of emotionally powerful statements were just made, so please stick with me before lighting the torches and jumping on the offensive or defensive bandwagon.

Economically, Russia is about 50 years behind the United States. Just to paint a quick picture: most families do not own a vehicle, the public transportation is beat up and run down, buses are packed shoulder to shoulder with patrons, average income is much lower, families and individuals do not dine out, far fewer personal possessions, conveniences and luxuries, and going for a walk or a good conversation is the national pastime.

Politically, Russia is about 50 years ahead of the United States. Let me rephrase that statement: politically, Russia is about 50 years ahead of the current political path of the United States.

The evidence is so painfully evident that I could make my entire case based on facts without spouting a single emotional comment. I will continue to try my best to always list the facts first and my personal opinions second. The line often gets blurred when dealing with such an emotional topic; but I assure you that with America’s current political landscape, I am neither a republican nor democrat. I support a few progressive agendas and am more than welcome to hear the thoughts and opinions of those different than my own. All in all, I would consider myself a Constitutionalist.

Back to the topic at hand: How can Russia be economically 50 years behind the United States but at the same time be politically 50 years ahead? The simplest answer would be the most obvious; that the two are directly related. I think it would be helpful if I first explained the political landscape of Russia and the direct economic results.

As you’ve probably guessed, the Russian government controls just about every major aspect of their citizens’ lives and responsibilities. The only logical explanation a government would want you to believe is that people are unable to make good decisions for themselves so the government must make them for you. To paint a picture of what I’m talking about: the banks, heating and gas, education, medical, transportation, career income, retirement, etc – are all primarily controlled by the Russian government. Entrepreneur is a word that doesn’t exist; you can hardly build your own destiny without the power of bribery or political corruption at your side. It would be an equal lie to suggest that there are absolutely no benefits to having an all knowing and controlling government take care of all the most important variables of your life. After all, you get a free education and your health care is taken care of… just to name a few. But what are you really forfeiting in exchange for such securities? To properly answer this question, we simply need to look at the United States as it is today.

The United States is in the midst of the greatest economical, political and social change that any living American has ever experienced. The oldest generation experienced the Great Depression, the Baby Boomers experienced the cultural revolution, and today’s generation is getting a full serving of all the above and more. The debate of whether the United States should remain an English speaking Christian nation, united under God is a battle already on the brink of defeat. Some would argue otherwise, but the evidence is already beyond doubt. Children in school no longer state the pledge of allegiance before the school day starts and our government is actually debating on whether or not ‘in God we trust’ should be removed from our currency. Barack Obama refused to wear a flag pin during the primary’s, and when asked why, answered that it represented “a substitute” for “true patriotism.” Heck, we can barely say ‘Merry Christmas’ anymore without fear of offending. The list of politically correct tip-toeing is virtually endless.

Americans are fighting a great national debate over the power, scope and reach of the government established by the Constitution. The debate was sparked by the current administration’s bold push for government expansion – a massive fiscal stimulus, Obamacare, financial regulation and various attempts at controlling the energy economy. This engendered a popular reaction, identified with the Tea Party but in reality far more widespread, calling for a more restrictive vision of government more consistent with the Founders’ intent (C. Krauthammer, Washington Post). But there is still a great number of Americans, perhaps still the majority vote, that believe and trust in Obama’s agenda, bigger government, and exchanging freedoms for securities.

It is in the existing administrations best interest to keep feeding and supporting the desperate and less fortunate with welfare, bridge cards, and other forms of economic support at the expense of others. As more people fall victim to the government weight to keep you down and unmotivated to get back up, you exchange your constitutional freedoms one small step at a time. They get more voters and as a result, more power. The more people the government can keep submissive and dependent, the more power they receive to take away your freedoms and power of decision.

Ask yourself the tough questions: Do I want ‘free’ healthcare, dental, education, etc? What am I willing to give up in exchange for these? Are you willing to get a free masters or doctorate degree in exchange for earning $600 a month? Are you willing to walk to work, school, grocery store, pharmacy, restaurants, café, relatives, etc – in exchange for free health care? Are you willing to have free dental in exchange for government funded retirements? Are you willing to give up your big screen TV, electronics, toys, luxuries and several conveniences for the security that the government can provide you? Are you interesting in having your children dream about living in other countries for a chance at a better life?

I can say with confidence that we still live in the greatest nation in the world. The United States is certainly past its peak greatness and by all measures, on the decline. But that is only the result of the American people allowing such atrocities to happen. It is certainly not beyond repair, though; with time, things can be reversed. Despite your political or emotional stance, you simply need to ask yourself the tough questions. What does your freedom mean to you? What are you willing to do about it?

Any good blogger knows that one of the keys to success with blogging is to keep it short and sweet. Today’s average internet reader does not want to read a long novel but a short, well-paced and to the point blog. So despite by ability to ramble on for thousands of words, I’ll attempt to summarize the past two years of my life without breaking your attention span.

Like most everyone, my life is categorized through professional and personal developments. Personal includes, well, everything that doesn’t have to do with my professional life. Even though the two often blend together; the past two years have been a rapid blur of professional successes and disappointments, lots of dating, self-realizations, some new toys, new friends, family additions, finding the love of my life, and all the little day to day happenings that makes my life unique from every individual who has and whoever will read this post.

Professionally, I’ve experienced the biggest change in my young career since I became an online entrepreneur over 14 years ago. I’ve sold my media properties (websites) and have focused all of my efforts to online advertising. This was a huge, life-changing experience for me. The past decade has been spent working on my ‘media network’ which has evolved through various faces and sizes over that period of time. Truth be told, selling the websites was an emotional and financial double-edge sword that I’m sure I’ll think about and reflect upon for countless years to come. This story is better told in greater detail (which you can look forward to in another dedicated blog post), but the end result is it has brought me closer to financial responsibility and reward than I’ve ever been. I’ve been able to dedicate all of my time into growing Advanced Media and thus far, the results have been superb. 2010 has financially been a record breaking year for Advanced Media; trumping the previous record year of 2007. I’m quite proud of this considering I faced financial disappointment in 2008 and 2009.

Though I certainly didn’t accomplish my big lofty goals with the acquisition of my websites, I’ve gained enough positive and negative experiences that would impress even a seasoned entrepreneur. And given that I’ve got the best years of my working life ahead of me, I’m confident and optimistic of the future. Needless to say, 2011 should be a very interesting year for Advanced Media.

The Entrepreneurs Organization has been and continues to be a professional blessing. EO is a dynamic, global network of more than 7,500 business owners in 38 countries and a catalyst that enables entrepreneurs to learn and grow from each other. Over the past two years, I became more integrated into the Detroit chapter and even became a board member for the EO Accelerator program. I’ve also been fortunate enough to be highly regarded by my fellow entrepreneurs in my field of expertise to lead and facilitate presentations and discussions. In the past two years, I’ve also been a guest speaker and presenter at Oakland University and on Michigan Entrepreneur TV, where I’ve spoken about my positive and negative professional experiences.

While the last two years of my professional continuance has been a gradual uphill climb, my personal life has been much more of a roller coaster ride. Through all the highlights and lowlights, I still feel this is still the most under-developed half of my life. I invest a great deal of time and energy into positive thinking and personal development. Over the past two years I’ve attended various seminars, discussions with seasoned life mentors, read the books, sessions of self-reflections, goal-setting, healthy eating, exercise, etc. All of these and more have contributed to the growth of my emotional health and maturity. Despite all of these highlights I still face a steady stream of lowlights. Like anybody else, life gives me curve-balls that I don’t understand or knowingly deserve.

As the new generation is born the old must die. This realization has been best felt in the past two years as I’ve recently become an uncle. Many of my cousins and friends are also getting engaged, married and experiencing procreation of their own. This of course means the exact opposite; the last two years have resulted in more deaths and life-changing illnesses from loved ones than any other period of time in recent memory. Makes me think twice about how well I’m spending my time here on Earth. Luckily, I have amazing friends and family to enjoy all the blunders and treasures with.

Numerous questions of life, love and faith that continue to go unanswered. As the old saying goes; the more I learn them more I realize how little I actually know. All of my logical thinking and emotional maturity is sometimes a double-edge sword in a world gone crazy and full of nonsense. There are so many positive and negative distractions in life that it is not only difficult to (sometimes) differentiate from the two but figure out which you want more!

All in all, the struggles and rewards of my personal life can mirror those of most everybody else. The specifics might be different but the thoughts and emotions experienced and the lessons learned are quite the same. I am expecting that all of my efforts will have a cumulative effect and be best rewarded in another 20, 30, or forty years. The thought of spending my later years without as many of the unanswered questions and sailing on auto-pilot and enjoying the ride seems like a wonderful reward.

Time to get back to life! Enjoy the pictures from the past two years.

Kombo joins the GameZone Network of gaming sites

November 23, 2010 – GameZone, a leading online gaming publication, has announced today the purchase of Kombo.com.

After seven years as an independent gaming publication, Kombo has officially joined the GameZone Network alongside MMOTree.com and GluedGaming.com as it heads in a distinct direction towards gaming culture, lifestyle and fan service.

Kombo grew from humble roots to its official establishment in the year 2003 as then named Advanced Media, Inc. What initially began as a Sega Dreamcast-dedicated fan site run by a teen-aged Ken Cauley eventually evolved into an ever-expanding hub for coverage of a myriad of gaming consoles in a partnership with Sean O’Neill. Officially transitioning several fan sites into what became known as Advanced Media Network, the company covered a vast breadth of the gaming culture from handhelds to consoles and even anime.
Early 2008 marked the acquisition of yet another expanse of game coverage with a rebranding of AMN Games to the modern-day Kombo.com, including participating in media-exclusive events such as the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), Game Developer Conference (GDC), Tokyo Game Show (TGS), etc., while monitoring the industry’s development.

Now, moving into a whole new direction with new ownership and leadership, Kombo is set to make a name for itself within the GameZone Network as they take full advantage of their highly-intuitive video platform that was created in association with Intergi Entertainment, the number one gaming ad-representation network according to comScore, and continue to build towards providing their audience with the inside look at gaming culture and lifestyle.

Based out of Deerfield Beach, Florida, GameZone’s database of +6,500 reviews is the third largest on the net and will continue to expand to be one of the richest in the industry in collaboration with Kombo. Led by GameZone Network Editorial Content Director Dakota Grabowski, a 9-year-veteran, and Media Content Manager Brian Rowe, GameZone isn’t going anywhere with a +2,000 lead on competitor websites and its attention spent on covering every title release.

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About GameZone
Founded in 1994, GameZone has continually been a hotspot for the latest downloads, reviews, original video content, news and editorial content on video games. As one of the first gaming websites on the Internet, the company is a premiere publication with third largest review database in the world. For more information, please visit http://www.gamezone.com.

About Kombo
Established in 2003, Kombo began as a fan site and evolved several times to stay in tune with the industry trends. Today, it stands serve as a fan service to those who dedicate their lives to gaming with a close look at the culture and lifestyle of the industry. For more information, please visit http://www.kombo.com.

About Intergi Entertainment
The top digital outlet for reaching video game and entertainment enthusiasts online, Intergi Entertainment represents a number leading high profile clients in the gaming world. The company specializes in specially tailored and integrated advertising campaigns, including banner ads, takeovers, and in-game opportunities. For more information, please visit http://www.intergi.com.

About MMOTree
An upstart company in 2010, MMOTree is geared towards covering any and all things on the massively-multiplayer online genre. For more information, please visit http://www.mmotree.com.

About GluedGaming
GluedGaming.com, a free online portal for all your flash gaming needs, was founded in 2009.
Providing the newest online flash games for visitors to play of all different genres, GluedGaming is updated daily with the best free games on the Internet. All games are hosted on the site, and visitors will never find any annoying pop up or pop under ads. For more information, please visit http://www.gluedgaming.com.

He thought, ‘I’ve got to do it today. It’s been a productive one. Just a couple more things to accomplish.’

‘Let’s talk about our holiday plans. It’s time for me to start organizing,’ she thought.

He thought, ‘I’ll be done soon. You’ll still be around. We’ll get to talk.’

‘I’m leaving in half an hour. Work early today. Hope you’ll get done before I head out,’ she thought.

He thought, ‘I’m arriving to spend magnificent winter holidays with you. What else could you possibly want?’

‘Look at me. Tell me I’m very pretty today,’ she thought.

He thought, ‘I’ll see you tomorrow or the day after. Not the end of the world you’re leaving already.’

‘You’ll probably be out until late tomorrow, get home tired and be excited for bed. You got much more social and far busier with work than when we first met. Good thing time goes much faster this way,’ she thought.

He thought, ‘I talk to you more than to anyone else.’

‘Still miss you,’ she thought.

He said, ‘I love you.’

‘I love you,’ she said.

‘Can’t wait to give you a hug and a kiss,’ they thought.

‘Three weeks,’ the calendar showed.

Imagine you’re on a plane flying over a beautiful deciduous forest. Today, on December 5^th, it’s covered with sparkling white snow. You can see occasional evergreen trees too. They’ll soon be decorated for Christmas.

From the height of the bird’s flight you can’t notice that some of the branches are broken, there’re traces of a few campfires and some rubbish the people from the past left behind, some of the streams are cluttered with stones and fallen leaves.

Taking a closer look you realize that it’s just a matter of time and patience to collect the broken branches, cut down the dead trees, take the rubbish away and clean the streams.

Even though you’ve perfected your forest there’ll always appear new problems to work on. The wind will keep breaking the trees. The time itself won’t be merciful to some of them. The forest will fall asleep every autumn and rejuvenate itself every spring. It’ll never stay the same.

Maybe there’s no point in trying to take care of every cluttered spring or lightning-struck tree? Is there any sense in getting sad about every single trifle straining your forces to get rid of it?

Protect your forest from massive fires. Keep destructive people away. But do not get your energy scattered on little insignificant things.

Remember that your life is an exciting adventurous forest, not a boring perfectly trimmed park.