In case you’ve been following the Agency.com debacle, you should know: They’ve withdrawn from the pitch process for the Subway account.

In case you haven’t, catch up on the story over here.

When you check out Agency’s damage-control microsite, take a closer look at some of the commentary being made. I particularly like this blog entry from Leo Burnett Canada, which contains the following quote:

“Good internet marketing is more than just creating Web sites and campaigns, it is also the ability to monitor and evaluate what’s being discussed about your brand and then respond to, feed or facilitate those discussions.”

Bingo!

Those lab rats at Google are at it again. Check out Google Trends.

When the question is, “Who’s using the Web in a smart way?” one of the answers clearly has to be Stephen Colbert and the folks over at The Colbert Report.

The latest: Colbert has issued a “green screen challenge” — he performed about a half-minute of Star Wars-style light sabre action on a green screen. The goal? To pepper YouTube (and his own site) with a bunch of user-generated content.

It’s working: Check out Colbert Nation for the first batch of the best videos thus far. Over here on YouTube is a clip from Colbert’s show where you can see how the content is being integrated into the broadcast.

Good stuff.

Jack Kirby would have been 89 years old today. Like Sinatra on record or Hitchcock on film, Kirby in print is a wonder to behold, the expression of an instantly recognizable and singular talent.

You can read a lot about this creative giant over on Mark Evanier’s excellent blog. After that, visit the Jack Kirby Museum & Research Center.

My wife was running some errands yesterday. She went into a TJ Maxx. They had Christmas stuff displayed.

Christmas stuff in August. August. It’s August! Look at the calendar, people, it’s August!

Ahh! Ahhhhhh! Ahhhhhhhhhhh!