This morning, I learned that "Did you know your building is on fire?" is one of those phrases you don't want to hear while brushing your hair.

Around 8:15 this morning, I was getting ready to leave for work and my cell phone rang. I was a bit puzzled because people don't ususally call me on my cell phone at 8:15 in the morning. And those most likely to do so are my parents, who were soundly asleep I assume, seeing as they are on vacation in LA.

It was my aunt, who asked where I was. I told her I was in my apartment getting ready for work. She then asked me if I knew that there was a fire in my building.

No, I did not!

Sure enough, I open my living room blinds and I see about a dozen fire trucks, ambulances and police cars and I can only see what's south of the building. Hmmm... how did those arrive without me hearing them? I guess when I was in the shower! While I live in a 42 story building, I am only on the 3rd floor. Not all that far from the street below. I certainly should have heard the commotion. I did hear voices and walkie-talkie squawks, but there are often maintenance men on the roof of the parking garage below my window...

I also should have heard fire alarms, I thought. Seeing as I didn't, I'm hoping they are zoned and not broken.

Anyway, seeing as I hadn't heard any alarms or had any firemen pound on my door, I kind of took my time getting out the door. I poured my coffee, put on my shoes, grabbed my bag and gym bag and headed down the stairs. (First time I'm glad I only live on the 3rd floor!)

Once outside, I ran into some friends who live in the building and who'd been outside for a while. They filled me in. Fire in 1609, contained to that unit but the one unit is pretty bad. A couple people had come out in stretchers and been taken away in ambulances. News crews arrived and even a news helicopter hovered nearby.

Satisfied that everything was under control, I had hoped to leave for work, but the street was blocked by the 3 dozen emergency vehicles. Eventually, they cleared out enough that we could leave...

ESPN gives an interesting look inside the process of creating the brand identity for the Charlotte Bobcats, an expansion NBA team which begins play next season. The article lookes at how they selected the team's nickname from a long list of submissions and then selected a color palette and logo design.

When the team's name and logo were initially unveiled last summer, I had discussions with a number of people about the choices. My view, and that of some others I talked with, were a thumbs up with the name. Despite being almost a cliche name in high school and college sports, there are no professional teams in any league with the name.

I think the team also made a good selection with the color palette for the new team by selecting orange and blue. Orange is an under-used color in pro sports, despite its wide use on the college level (Miami, Illinois, Syracuse, Texas, Princeton).

I wasn't so thrilled when I saw the actual logo, however. I was really hoping that with the retro fashion trends -- both in terms of the retro 50's style t-shirts at Abercrombie & Fitch, etc. as well as the 70's and 80's retro jerseys -- that they'd go in that direction for the logo. One of the logo designs in the article shows they at least thought about going in that direction.

Instead they decided to follow most redesigned logos, and go with the overused profile view tapering to a point -- already used by http://www.panthers.com/, St. Louis Rams, New England Patriots, Nashville Predators, Minnesota Wild, etc.