My son and his best friend have launched their new blog, MLG Bound, which chronicles their journey towards becoming professional Halo 3 players. We had fun this weekend plugging my laptop into the big screen in the living room and watching the Halo 3 matches from MLG Anaheim. I have to say that even though I stink at Halo myself (I’m happy if I get one kill in a game), I found watching the matches much more exciting than I expected.

I think pro video gaming is a huge growth area. Consider that on any given night, there are over 200,000 people playing Halo 3 on Xbox Live simultaneously. Over 5,000 of those are on the MLG lists. Think there’s a market there? And it’s only getting bigger.

Now to just figure out how to tap into it… any ideas?

My stepson Jesse is constantly coming up with great ideas and sharing them with anyone who will listen. Occasionally they’re both original and brilliant. Sometimes they’re just one or the other. Sometimes they’re…neither.

My son Jordan captured Jesse on video sharing some of his ideas and sort of mashed them all together. Enjoy! (BTW, this was my son’s first solo film for his Media Tech class).

Copy this. Blog this. Tweet this. And most of all, do this yourself.

I’ve already posted about how brilliant and compassionate my son is. If you haven’t already read it, please read People Used to Stand for Something.

Well, he amazed me once again. I was sifting through his photo albums on MySpace and something caught my eye:

Right in there with pictures of skateboarding, dogs, dirty sneakers and other craziness is one powerful image of something my son feels strongly needs to change. He was even clever enough to figure out how to embed powerful music in the comments (Flobots – “Stand Up”).

I asked him if this was something he’d seen someone else do or if he’d come up with it himself. Turns out it was his idea.

An idea that needs to spread.

Can you imagine the power of millions of MySpace, Facebook, Flickr, Bebo, etc., users devoting just a little bit of space to a cause that they believe in? Yes, we need action, but action comes from attitude, and attitude comes from awareness. If we all make the effort to raise awareness with our friends about the things in the world that must change, more action will result.

Please help me spread the meme. It’s simple.

1. Find a powerful image that embodies the cause you’re most passionate about.
2. Create a gallery in your favorite social networking sites and name it “Change It”.
3. Post your image(s). Optionally accompany them with inspiring music and links to sites where people can get more info, donate or volunteer.
4. Make it viral. Include a link to this post in the comments. Here’s a short URL you can use: http://sn.im/ChangeIt
5. Help spread the meme. Blog about it. Tweet about it (use hashtag #ChangeIt). Tell your friends.

Also, feel free to post a link to your Change It gallery in the comments here.

Change it.

For extra credit, can you spot the butterfly?

My son is brilliant, OK? We homeschooled him through middle school, and this is his first year in public school (in the fine arts magnet program majoring in theatre). Last month, he wrote his first actual essay, and I have to say, I was completely blown away. I actually cried, in fact. Let me know what you think. By the way, the last line (don’t look now) was given to him as the “prompt” for this essay, i.e., it had to be included. What would you have come up with?

People Used to Stand for Something
By Jordan Allen

Two men sat across from each other at a table. One of the men was dressed in all white, and appeared as an elderly figure.  They had no surroundings, there was nothing around them except for white.  They sat a while, and eventually, one of them spoke.

(more…)

Sure, I stay up ’til all hours of the night sometimes. But I also don’t usually get started ‘til about 9:30 or 10:00 in the morning and am out of pocket for a couple of hours late afternoon. And I try not to work on Sundays. Here’s why:

perrybelcher: What’s the biggest dream you ever had?

ScottAllen: @perrybelcher Had? To write a great book and become a successful public speaker. Next!

ScottAllen: @perrybelcher Next BIG dream? A home on Lake Austin. Here’s my current pick: http://is.gd/kLw7

ScottAllen: Anyone want to loan me $5M?

artalacarte: @ScottAllen you just need to work harder!

artalacarte: @ScottAllen or smarter!

ScottAllen: @artalacarte Nah…my son’s 14. Time with him >> big house on the lake. I can get the big house any time. Can’t get his childhood back.

artalacarte: @ScottAllen Beautiful! Enjoy it while you can…