Month: February 2006 (Page 1 of 2)

Orbiting the sun seemed to take a little longer this year, but the calendar says it clocked the usual 365, and here we are, right back where we started on Megan’s birthday. Seventeen. While shopping yesterday, I considered picking up a copy of “Seventeen,” but she’s way past that. On this day, she’s got maturity as an accessory to go along with her intelligence, beauty and humor. Happy Birthday, my girl.

For fifteenkey’s first birthday, we’ll have some Similac and strained bananas. Mmmmm good. Over the weekend I looked back to find posts that were interesting, important or still humorous to me. Here’s ten of them and one for good luck.

• Got a Minute?
• When I pretend to Touch You, You Pretend to Feel
• Inject Emotion
• Lost Luggage at Starbucks
• “About Five-Hundred Feet”
• Another Ass-Kicking for Cancer
• In the Face of a Lawyer
• Soggy Off-Season
• The Evil Powers of Rock and Roll
• “First prize is a Cadillac Eldorado. Second prize is a set of steak knives. Third prize is you’re fired.”

• 1,000 Words on Kyle’s Birthday…

Lists are cool. It’s always a good feeling to cross stuff off “the list.” Lists are everywhere. There’s the “Top 40,” Letterman’s Top Ten, and Top Five lists from High Fidelity. Protagonist Rob, played by John Cusak has a top five for virtually everything, including “top five dream jobs,” “top five films,” “top five songs about death,” and the ever-popular “top five breakups.” Tar Hut Records once got an Ex-Husbands song into the Americana Top 10. It cost us about $2,000 to get it there and netted the sale of about 3 CD’s. So yeah, lists can be a little overrated, but they are fun. Speaking of fun, even the late astronomer Carl Sagan had a “Top 5” list:

Carl Sagan’s Top 5 List of Most Influential Scientists*

1. Democritus of Abdera (460-370 B.C.) Greek philosopher who developed mechanical model of universe based on the idea that all things are comprised of tiny identical particles.
2. Johannes Kepler (1571-1630) Developed Kepler’s Laws that describe the revolution of planets around the sun.
3. Isaac Newton (1642-1727) Formulated the Law of Universal Gravitation
4. Charles Darwin (1809-1882) Developed theory of evolution
5. Albert Einstein (1879-1955) Famous for his theory of general relativity.

I love lists, so I think I’m going to start a “Top 5” section here. Let’s begin, shall we?

Top Five Best Baseball Movies

1. Bull Durham – Hilarious love triangle in the dusty minor leagues.
Crash Davis (Kevin Costner): “Man that ball got outta here in a hurry. I mean anything travels that far oughta have a damn stewardess on it, don’t you think?”

2. The Natural – #1 if not for the cheesy fireworks ending.
Max Mercy (Robert Duval): “You read my mind.”
Roy Hobbs (Robert Redford): “That takes all of three seconds.”

3. Field of Dreams – Heaven in an Iowa Cornfield
Ray Kinsella (Kevin Costner): So what do you want?
Terence Mann (James Earl Jones): I want them to stop looking to me for answers, begging me to speak again, write again, be a leader. I want them to start thinking for themselves. I want my privacy.
Ray Kinsella: No, I mean, what do you WANT?
[Gestures to the Fenway Park concession stand they’re in front of]
Terence Mann: Oh. Dog and a beer.

4. League of Their Own – Chicks playing baseball under Manager Tom Hanks during WWII. Jimmy Dugan (Hanks): Are you crying? Are you crying? ARE YOU CRYING? There’s no crying, there’s no crying in baseball.

5. The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! – OK, so not really a baseball movie, but the scene with Leslie Nielsen impersonating a major league umpire is priceless.
Jane (Pricilla Presley): I’ve heard police work is dangerous.
Frank (Neilsen): It is. That’s why I carry a big gun.
Jane: Aren’t you afraid it might go off accidentally?
Frank: I used to have that problem.
Jane: What did you do about it?
Frank: I just think about baseball.

It’s no wonder much of the world hates “Americans.” So much of what they see is pretty ugly, and the pettiness of some US athletes at the concluding Turin Winter Olympic Games is no exception. Just last night U.S. aerials skier Jeret “Speedy” Peterson was sent to his room back home after he grew beer muscles and got into a fight police had to break up in pre-dawn Turin.

Winner of the gold in “just being a jerk,” Chad Hedrick won a gold, silver and bronze in speedskating, but probably could have done better if not for having to drag his gigantic freakin ego around the ice. His feud with 1,000 meter gold medalist, and teammate Shani Davis tarnish the medals he did win. He couldn’t find it in himself to congratulate Davis after the 1,000 meters, saying “Once Shani beat me, I didn’t care if I got a bronze. I’m here to win. It’s all or nothing.” Oh, Hedrick did come away with another win, a new nickname for his self-promoting, boorish behavior: “the Paris Hilton of speedskating.”

Mike Modano pissed and moaned about not getting the puck and having to make his own flight arrangements, then skipped a final meeting with his US Olympic teammates after they got bounced the night before. Mad Mikey added, “A lot of guys have been there for many years, and maybe we need some new blood in there to run things a little differently”. “It’s probably time some things changed.” Good idea, Mike. Buh-bye.

Let’s see… Lindsey Jacobellis was speeding unchallenged toward the gold in women’s snowboardcross when she showboated the final jump and landed on her ass. Switzerland’s Tanja Frieden blew by the prone American to claim the sport’s first women’s Olympic gold medal.

Hey, I can’t forget Johnny Weir in diva figure skating. He blamed his sorry assed performance on missing a bus and on his missing “aura.” Hey Johnny, maybe next time you can just shut up and skate.

Fortunately it wasn’t all bad. US speedskater Joey Cheek won gold and silver and will donate his $40,000 in medal bonuses to help impoverished children around the world. He’ll carry the US flag in the closing ceremonies.

Contrary to what I wrote Saturday, it seems we don’t have enough time in today’s hyper business environment to think on much of anything. It is very rare today to find the time to consciously think. I recall a conversation a couple years ago with my pal Norm about how we had lost the time to talk and collaborate on business issues; to connect and learn from each others perspectives. We have much less time today. Norm is one of the smartest guys I know, but it seems I never have the time to have a conversation with him. We’re too busy. John Old, knowledge manager at Texaco, comments on the phenomena, “It’s hard to share knowledge if you don’t have enough time to reflect on what you know or what you need to learn. Most companies have squeezed almost all of the reflection time out of their business processes.”

I do trust my instincts, but some of my best ideas come at time when I’m just, um, thinking. At the gym with blood rushing through the brain. In the car with no music or talk radio. In the shower… Yeah, creepy perhaps, but there’s no distraction in there but the soothing sound of running water. A little research turned up this article from the September 2004 HR Magazine. Here’s an excerpt:

“Managers often come back from development programs energized, not from what they learned in the classes–all those lectures and case studies–but from what they learned from their colleagues at coffee breaks and after hours. What an awful waste of opportunity. Why can’t the class time be as energizing as the time out of class, we asked ourselves, and we found the answer–significantly–in reflection.”

It’s worth the read. Hopefully it’ll make you stop and think.

I finally got around to refreshing the playlist on my 60 minute MP3 player for the gym. Included in the list is a sample of the Pernice Brothers live “Nobody’s Watching/Nobody’s Listening.” This band has produced some of the most beautifully lush pop sounds I’ve ever heard (link to their stuff on Amazon below). On this record though, they plug in and rock.

1. Sweet Illusions – Ryan Adams
2. Indian Summer Takedown – Varnaline
3. Meet Me on the Ledge – Varnaline
4. Land of Hopes and Dreams – Bruce
5. Darkness on the Edge of Town – Bruce
6. Money City Maniacs – Sloan
7. I’ll Be Comin’ Around – Bottle Rockets
8. I’ve Been Dying – Bottle Rockets
9. Backstreets – Bruce
10. Flaming Wreck (Live) – Pernice Brothers
11. Going Under – Evanescence
12. All Used Up – Sloan
13. If It Feels Good Do It – Sloan

I’ve been whining incessantly to anyone who’ll listen, but not here until now. See, CBS broke up with “Love Monkey.” The show was smartly written with great musical references and sports analogies, plus the dialogue had a snappy, well timed pace. The NYC visuals were also very cool, including one memorable shot of the building from Physical Graffiti.

It’s ironic that the show, like the music central to its storyline, was critically praised, but lacked the raw audience numbers to be considered successful. “Wife Swap” lives and “Love Monkey” dies. Sadly, people with gray matter don’t matter to networks driven by ratings that they need to fuel their ad revenues.

Rumors on the web are that the Monkey may not be dead yet, and is being shopped to the WB. Unfortunately, I can’t see the show working with their young demographic. How about Bravo? If you actually saw and liked the show, you can sign an online petition (for whatever that’s worth) to keep it alive. I hope somebody picks it up. Until then I’ll keep watching that final DVR’d episode every Tuesday at 10:00.

A recent study reported in London’s Guardian suggests over thinking leads to bad decisions, and that our most important choices may be better left to our raw instincts. The issue seems to be that our minds can only focus on a few things at once, and when we obsess over a decision, the few areas we focus on may be unduly weighted one way or the other.

Obviously, important considerations require some thought, but the reflection needs to be objective. In “Blink,” author Malcolm Gladwell’s research on numerous cases of decision making, shows that in many instances of complex decision making, less input is better than more, as long as the input is balanced.

I also think that anxiety over decisions involving personal risk contributes to bad decisions or indecision, simply because the anxiety over the decision becomes associated with the subject of the decision itself. Of course, then there’s fear…

Oh, and “Honey Don’t Think” is a great little tune by Grant Lee Buffalo from their record, “Mighty Joe Moon.”

I’ve hesitated in criticizing on the veep over his gun going off prematurely. C’mon, it happens to the best of us. I just don’t want to pile on Dick. I do have a few questions, though. Was this poor guy who got blasted a Democrat? Ever? Does he look anything like Hilary Clinton from behind? Does he bear any resemblance to Teddy Kennedy? How do you not see when innocents are in the line of fire? Oh, Dick Cheney. Nevermind.

In other news…
Megan went with Super-Cinnamon toasted with butter chased by a Gatorade Rain Berry flavored water, sport, whatever, drink. She had a good day…

I received some feedback on my Hallmark Day celebration. Now, I’m a glass half-full kinda guy, so “dark” and “depressing” really hurt. Now I’m all sad ‘n stuff…

It’s 7:07am and Megan is up! My guess is that she’s really digging her ipod Nano, since she had it surgically attached. She also equipped her bedroom with her PC speakers and subwoofer so she can crank the tunes while she flings clean clothes on and off in search of just the right look for any particular day. She’s got pretty diverse taste in music, but most mornings the monotonous thump of hip-hop bangs down the door. This morning’s first selection was “My Favorite Mistake,” by Lance Armstrong’s ex-chick. I wonder if he’s hers? Anyway, either the music we play has a real effect on how we feel or how we feel effects the music we play. In High Fidelity, Rob, played by John Cusak, ponders, “What came first, the music or the misery? People worry about kids playing with guns, or watching violent videos, that some sort of culture of violence will take them over. Nobody worries about kids listening to thousands, literally thousands of songs about heartbreak, rejection, pain, misery and loss. Did I listen to pop music because I was miserable? Or was I miserable because I listened to pop music?” Will Megan’s day be different today based on hearing Sheryl Crow instead of Em? A telltale sign will be her bagel selection… Super-Cinnamon with butter or Plain with scallion-bacon cream cheese? We’ll see. At least this morning she’s up in time to get one.

Today’s Boston Globe has an article on a rock poster exhibit at the MFA. The show focuses on the psychedelic art from the late 60’s San Francisco music scene. One collector suggests the level of creativity during the period had something to do with LSD. Hmmm…

I own this poster from the late 90’s San Francisco music scene. The show was at the historic Fillmore and documents the July night I froze my ass off in the freakish summer bay weather waiting in line to see Son Volt and discover Varnaline. It’s cool. It’s art. Of course not on the same artistic level as my KISS poster from a few years earlier…