DOWN ON THE LEVY -- New Orleans is proud of its hurricanes, but locals normally like to experience their liquid effects gastronomically, not sloshing in the tsunami-like swells that have made the Crescent City look more like Venice than the Big Easy. The images being televised of Katrina's devastating affect on the Gulf Coast states is a stark reminder of how fine a line we walk between the pretense of civilization and the wrath of nature.

NEWS FLASH: NIELSEN REPORTS STARTLING PEOPLE-METER FINDINGS -- Nielsen Media Research has "found startling changes in TV viewership over the last year among 18- to 34-year-olds." At least that's how the Nielsen-watchers at ad industry bible Advertising Age interpreted the press release issued last week by Nielsen's PR team.

CHAFED EXECUTIVE OFFICERS -- At a time when the reputation of chief executives seems so crucial to the vitality of corporate leadership, the C-level of the media industry has gotten a D-grade. Asked to rate the attributes of CEOs operating in various parts of the corporate world, the vast majority of respondents to an international survey commissioned by Fast Company magazine deemed the CEOs of media companies to be "ruthless," selfish and generally incompetent.

AMSTERDAM, THE NETHERLANDS - Like a lot of other things, advertising reviews are a lot different over here. Among other things, we dispense with many of the formalities that normally accompany big account pitches in other parts of the world.

CONSIDERABLY LESS THAN NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC -- Every so often, Carat's Rob Frydlewicz produces an unusual map of the United States. It's not one that you're likely to haggle over at Hagstrom, or even rant about at Rand McNally.

BUZZ BOWL -- Over the years, we've been struck by the steadily advancing hype surrounding upcoming ads in the Super Bowl. Now we're noticing some extraordinarily early hype surrounding the hype leading up to the Super Bowl.

M-NESS IS FROM MARS, WRITTEN BY VENUS -- JWT, the ad agency formerly known as J. Walter Thompson, tells the Riff it is embarking on a quest to better understand and leverage one of the world's most important, but frequently misunderstood consumer segments.

MEDIUM COOLER -- When it comes to launching new TV shows, the marketeers at Black Rock have always done a pretty formidable job. While they can't always guarantee the new programs will find an audience and remain on the network's schedule, they can pretty much ensure that they'll get enough buzz to at least get talked about, and most likely sampled.

SOMETHING OLD, SOMETHING NEW, SOMETHING BORROWED, A LITTLE CREDIT LONG OVERDUE -- Last week, ad agency BBDO Detroit and TV jingle producer JSM Music announced they have teamed up for what appears to be an industry first: the simultaneous release of a mainstream retail record and a commercial music video. No, not the simultaneous release of a record and a music video.

IN THE PINK -- First, we have to say that we truly admire the magazine industry's ability to generate awareness on Madison Avenue. Relative to the reach it actually delivers, and given the incredible fragmentation of the print medium, it's amazing to us how much attention magazines get from planners, and how much budget they attract from buyers.