When you spend enough time in traffic, at the mall, walking across crowded streets, attending movies or just sitting in a nearby park...incredibly clear is the picture of how we've evolved into a completely addicted set of feet that can't take its eye off the gifts this digital age shares each day.

At no other time in history have this many people been willing to share conversation without truly speaking a word. We've made it too easy to say something, anything without purpose and or meaning. We communicate to entertain. Who? Me!

Written by Arroe Collins and produced by Jimm Mosher (It's All About) Me is a portrait of what we look like on the streets, in buildings and stuffed padded booths at a fast food joint. We've become so attached to checking emails, Tweets and Face Book entries that it looks as if there's nothing more important than "Me"

I'll never forget being in the studio with Taima who's giant heart was tainted by my love for people watching. I kept telling him, "My goal was to mix The B52's with Nirvana while hosting an edge of modern punk."

He'd look at me and just smile...but before the day was over I was introduced to his daughter thanks 100% in part of a smart phone brimming with photos. Remember when guys didn't carry pictures of their kids? If they did...it was usually stuffed in a wallet and featured more creases than an elephants butt.

The Video

Eating fat won't make you fat any more than eating money will make you rich. Sure, if you stuff enough cold, hard cash down your gullet, your belly will probably stick out like an overfed oil exec. Same with fat

Grab the facts or should I say grab the fat? 

Create a list with 3 things in your life that make you happy.

Here's why it matters:  By taking time to figure out what truly makes you happy, you not only increase the odds you'll feel happy, but that your heart will be healthier, too. Studies show that people are significantly less likely to develop heart disease if they're happy. Plus, by listing what makes you happy, it may encourage you to think about what you can do to keep your happiness in these areas thriving.

Introducing! 

A new and improved mission statement:  Helping your boss score business success without earning an extra dollar!

I ache like bad middle of the night leg cramps each time the flat screen fires off that commercial about a Grandfather having to explain that owning a house like his is no longer connected to the American way.

The greatest success to be achieved in 2012 is having the courage to whisper, “At least I have a job.”

I can’t wait to see that featured in a made for the internet set of Britannica Encyclopedias.   

Where are the part time coaches that once grabbed the uncommon sense of a Little Leaguer and demanded a little fricken hustle?  Where is the voice of my mean as dirt stepfather that took me to the top of the house and said, “Half assing the job means where you currently stand doesn’t require permission to crumble?”

Success! 

I can no longer count on my hands the number of times people have labeled me a jerk because I demand more than just another face in the crowd. 

Success doesn’t just happen.  Success is an applied effort! 

Wait!  This isn’t Twitter.  You’ve already tuned out.

If you feel like your job is darker than dead with no pretty as a picture grave site to plant your final footstep it’s time for an old fashioned leather boot kick upside your lazy booty shaker. 

Desire, dedication, determination, discretion and discipline…

If your career isn’t coming to you in 5-D then you’re no different than an NBA player with a $100 million contract that’s satisfied with catching the occasional scent of a national championship.

Desire is fire.  Motivation isn’t given birth without desire.  Desire is the compass.

Dedication is the most overused misunderstood collection of letters on earth.  Dedication isn’t showing up on time.  Dedication is slamming your nose to the grind stone and carving out a destination.  I don’t believe in talent.  It’s a dreamer’s way of saying I’m better than you.  Prove it.  Sacrifice…

Determination isn’t what made the fat man on The Biggest Loser.  Determination is the hammer that chiseled the less fat guy into becoming a well focused leader.  The goal isn’t having enough gas to get to work.  The goal is the art of expecting to crawl on your fat belly through mud and debris to reach a level of performance that not only inspires but influences the competition to change their way.

Discretion is the decision maker.  An invisible nifty cool built in video camera.  Santa Claus doesn’t know jack about what discretion instantly tells.  The new acceptable is ignoring bad choices.  Wise doesn’t mean old.  Wise is having the guts to look outwardly at the results of his or her actions. 

Discipline shapes structure.  Without it you’ve got chaos.  Goals don’t materialize.  The real deal becomes the next complaint shared as to why you’re unable to lend an open palm to the rebirth of a nation that once seemed unstoppable.

There can be no success without effort.  To expect an extra dollar for one or maybe two deeds done really good during the slowest day of the week makes you weak.  We are the people sculpted from champions and the only thing we’ve got to show for it is the art of laziness.

Socialism happens when people give up. 

arroecollins@clearchannel.com

The big pizza makers expect to sell millions of pies this Super Bowl weekend!  Do they know the rules of making an unforgettable pizza that's good for you?  Grab the facts:

Share your favorite way to prepare 1 type of lean protein, such as beans, chicken, or fish

Here's why it matters:  Protein is a critical nutrient that provides the building blocks for our muscles, skin, bones, and blood. It also helps to build and repair tissue in the body. Sources of lean protein offer your body all of the benefits of protein, but with much less saturated fat than red meat like beef, lamb, or pork. By sharing your favorite way to prepare a source of lean protein, you may inspire someone to try something new - and you may pick up some tasty ideas from someone else.

Ayn Rand once said, “The question isn’t who is going to let me; it’s who is going to stop me.” 

Jesse Owens adds to the journey, “We all have dreams.  But in order to make dreams come into reality, it takes an awful lot of determination, dedication, self discipline and effort.” 

I love determination!  I crave great leaders that exude dedication!  I demand quality built ideas with a destiny in mind.  Snap me a digitized photo of business success and I’ll post it on Face Book!  This nation loves parties and the giant sky chasing helium balloons that go with it!

Oh wait!  Um… Let’s nix the bright red, green, silver and monkey shaped pieces of rubber that make kids giggle and adults feel like champions.  The line has been drawn in the windy dried sands off our California shores.  The official separation between the rich and formerly known as the middle class has risen higher than the one we celebrate on Sundays. 

The Almighty ExxonMobil has created a helium shortage.       

During this glorious age of Super and College Bowl parties, celebrated births and marriages, realtor’s hosting an open house and kids demanding free things that float while sitting uncomfortably in grocery store baskets…

ExxonMobil’s decision to shut down a helium making plant in Wyoming this past August rethreads true Americana…

For the love of God!  Has Scrooge accepted a position of decision making at Exxon?  Has the evil big nosed scary man that swiped kids from parents in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang been released from Dick Van Dyke prison? 

Doesn’t ExxonMobil realize a grave mistake of this nature is far worse than Iran having the ability to make nuclear weapons? 

Every person on this planet was given 5 rules before being kicked out of the womb. 

1. Even though it will make someone cry, you can pop another kid’s balloon.
2. When nobodies looking, you can steal a balloon tied to chair.
3. No matter how many times you’re told that balloons kill ducks, you can release a billion balloons in the air and watch them slowly fade away.
4. Every adult and child can squirt helium into their mouth and talk funny but only for five minutes.
5. But you can’t!  Can’t Can’t!  take helium filled balloons away from a clown!  A clown without balloons instantly turns “It” into a painted face even Steven King won’t touch.

During this glorious age of technological advancement combined with company President’s demanding departments to continue generating heartless cutbacks and the price of dinosaur juice to fill the car stealing our paychecks; the United States continues to write no law that protects its citizens from gas producers that have what P.T. Barnum couldn’t reach: The soul. 

Although Mr. Barnum believed there was a sucker in every crowd, his soul told him to do everything humanly possible to guarantee families and kids of all ages to come one come all, come into his three ring circus and be entertained.

What are we getting from ExxonMobil?   

Maybe it’s time for Disney to outsource, “Hello my name is Mike!  I got dog Goofy!  Duck Don and evil Witch.  Very bad Witch.”

Wait!  Before you begin the process of turning black eyed beans and rice into potential helium replacement; ExxonMobil spokesman Charlie Engelmann says normal operations have resumed and supply problems will soon ease.  Plus a new plant will soon be on line in Riley Ridge, Wyoming. 

On line?  That’s like a local business saying, “We’re gonna knock em dead with our new way of doing things but won’t have the web page up for another six months.” 

Whoa!  Don’t go there!  Different blog! 

Sucking in a lung full of Carolina stained air I know my words are worthless.  I’ve wasted tremendous amounts of company time trying to explain why kids are screaming at grocery stores.  It has nothing to do with 7 dollar cartons of ice cream or 6 dollar per pound Granny Smith apples. 

Kids fear the clown…

arroecollins@clearchannel.com 

Not a week goes by that I don't find myself locked in meetings having to explain why hit music can't be heard in radio and television commercials.  I calmly explain, "It shatter's copyright laws which means you will be sued."

It's like saying Super Bowl and NASCAR or Final Four and your Mama's quick fix to clean underwear.  They're copyrighted and lawyers love it when violators try to buck the system. 

Guess who just got busted? 

Rollingstone Magazine reports Survivor, the band behind the Grammy-winning Rocky III theme "Eye of the Tiger," are suing Newt Gingrich for using the tune at his recent campaign rallies. The suit, which was filed in Illinois federal court on behalf of Rude Music Inc – a company owned by the song's co-author, Frank Sullivan – claims that the Republican presidential hopeful used the tune without authorization. Sullivan is demanding an injunction to put a stop to Gingrich's use of "Eye of the Tiger" as entrance music.

Just a few days ago, Gingrich was hit with a separate cease and desist notice ordering him to stop using the Heavy's "How You Like Me Now?" on the campaign trail.

Gingrich is hardly the first Republican politician to be sued for using a hit song in a campaign rally. In recent years, Tom Petty and Katrina and the Waves sent Michele Bachmann a cease-and-desist letter last year, David Byrne sued Florida ex-governor Charlie Crist for using the Talking Heads song "Road to Nowhere," Don Henley filed papers against California senate candidate Chuck DeVore for using "Boys of Summer" and Jackson Browne filed a suit against John McCain for his use of "Running on Empty." None of these suits ever went to trial, and most were either settled or the politician agreed to drop the song.

Long long ago in a land called the 1990's former Beatle Ringo Starr kept his music alive by touring the world with an All Star Band.  As much as fans took it serious is how loose life was behind the curtain.

During his last performance in Charlotte my wifes family connection to Eagles guitarist Timothy B opened a playland that I had never seen before.  Joe Walsh laughing out of control while playing ping pong with Todd Rundgren, a Green Room that truly wasn't green and a rubbing of the shoulders with the Beatle that always came across goofy and yet when you looked into his eyes it made every antic completely alright. 

When I heard Russell Brand met up with the Hall of Famer...the first thing I grabbed was a connection to Rollilngstone Magazine. 

Ringo Starr will never write a book about his life, he insisted during a “Town Hall” broadcast live yesterday on SiriusXM from the Troubadour in West Hollywood, Calif. “I’ve been asked to write an autobiography of myself, but they really only want those eight years,” he said with a laugh, referring to his time in the Beatles. “And I say, ‘But there are 10 volumes before we get to that, and 20 afterwards.’” 

The afternoon broadcast had Starr trading wisecracks and surreal repartee with host and inquisitor Russell Brand, who sat onstage next to the legendary drummer with a crazed grin, welcoming him to Los Angeles. “As you know, I was born in South Central,” said the British Brand, wearing a leather jacket and long scarf. “Unfortunately, I’m a Crip and Ringo’s a Blood.”

The occasion was this week’s release of Starr’s new album, Ringo 2012, as an intimate crowd of satellite radio listeners read from prepared questions. One fan noted that Monday was the 43rd anniversary of the Beatles' famous rooftop concert in London – the band's final live public performance. “Is it, really?” Starr replied, caught by surprise.

Starr said he had just one disappointment with that historic 1969 concert, documented by a camera crew for the film Let It Be: “The police came to stop us, and I was on the roof: ‘Come on, drag me off!’ It would be so dramatic, and the damn cop wouldn’t drag me off!”         

He announced plans for a U.S. tour in 2012 and answered questions on his life and music, including the source of his influential drumming style, which owes something to being born left-handed while his grandmother -- “the voodoo queen of Liverpool” -- forced him to write with his right. He remains a lefty in everything else.            

Starr frequently flashed a peace sign and repeated his personal greeting:  “Peace and love, peace and love.” Dressed in a black suit, his black hair and beard cropped short, Starr said, “It’s up to you. I’m always doing it.”            

Brand then held up his fingers and said, “Actually, Ringo, you did insist that if I didn’t put my two fingers like that, you would break them.”            

“I did say that in a peace and love way,” Starr deadpanned.           

Asked how he felt about the digital revolution, as listeners choose to download individual songs instead of full albums, Starr said, “It’s a different time, and I’m afraid to say that’s what I do. If you made a record, I’d probably pick out tracks that I like and download that. That’s just how it is. We have to go with that because it’s changed.           

“I love the modern technology now. I was a little opposed to it –‘Oh, in my day, we used to have a donkey turning the wheel, and two guys chewing tape to make it soft,’” Starr joked, but also proudly noted the vinyl version of his new album.           

When one fan rambled a little too long, Brand declared: ‘You’re the worst audience member since John Wilkes Booth.”           

Starr also was joined by producer and “moderator” Don Was for some final questions, and then a four-piece band for a quick set of solo and Beatles tunes, beginning with the 1971 hit “It Don’t Come Easy.” He stepped behind a drumkit to play and sing the Beatles’ “I Wanna to Be Your Man.” His friend (and in-law) Joe Walsh stepped onstage for some fiery guitar during “Wings,” an old Starr tune re-recorded for the new album, then closed with the Beatles’ “With A Little Help From My Friends” and Buck Owens' “Act Naturally.”            

“I don’t want to go back anywhere,” Starr said when asked where in his past he’d revisit or change. “I want to deal with what’s in front of me now to the best of my abilities, and sometimes that’s not very good. But a lot of the days it is really great.”