And sometimes CEOs are just like that, yknow? Take Steve Ballmer or Philippe Dauman, for example. Months"years"after beginning one of those things that might have seemed like a good idea at the time, theyre still pushing that boulder up the hill.

Philippe Dauman, CEO of Viacom, faces such a Sisyphean task in his lawsuit against Google. First filed just over two years ago, the copyright suit against YouTube has continued to drag on"but Dauman isnt giving up hope! Yes, never mind Googles copyright detection software, or the fact that 57% of copyright takedown notices are bogus, or that YouTube is by far the most popular destination for professional and original video on the Internet (and thus a good place to own and place your content in the first place)"he wants his datgum content off YouTube.

Dauman reports to Business Week (as covered by All Things D) that the billion-dollar lawsuit is still in its discovery phase. (Thats the pretrial part where you collect evidence, in case youre not familiar with it.)

Dauman assures us that there will be a resolution. In case you were wondering. (I guess he means this isnt all just going to fade away like a bad dream.) Meanwhile, Daumans son really enjoys working for Google.

Steve Ballmer, if you havent guessed it already, is still holding out for a hero deal with Yahoo. Yes, looks like its time for the monthly update from Steve"cant you just picture him phoning Bartz at home? She checks the caller ID, sees its him, lets it go to voice mail.

Ballmer takes a deep breath when the line connects, but sighs when he hears the now-familiar greeting. Hi, this is Carol. Tell me why I shouldnt fire you after the beep!

Hi Carol. He rubs a sweaty palm against his jeans. Its me, Steve. Just . . . calling to let you know . . . if you ever wanted to do something . . . you know . . . Im still up for it. kthxbai. And Steve returns to execrating himself, this time for reverting into lolspeak on the phone. Think he can call back and erase that last message to try again?

Okay, so thats not really what he would say. All Thing D (again) reports that hes totally chill about the sitch (thats sitch, short for situation, not a typo where I meant some other word):

Principles first: Whether or not theres a partnership to be had with Yahoo, we think our own innovation its not about Yahoos technology. Its really about getting the pooled volume, because you actually can improve your product faster if you have more users. If you have more advertisers, you can improve the product as well. There are returns to scale. And putting the scale together is valuable.

With that as context, were largely on the same strategy, with or without a partnership with Yahoo. Ive talked with Carol briefly, over the phone. Im sure when its appropriate, well have a chance to sit down and talk. Ive known her for years. Shes straightforward and friendly and when shes ready, well have that type of discussion. Whether a deal gets done or not, who knows. People at our two companies talk all the time.

Like I said, totally chill. And he didnt follow that with So, um, Carol, if youre out there, in case you lost my number, its . . . (but dont you think he wanted to?).

So, whos getting more desperate"Viacom or Microsoft?

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