Posted in Blog
Two great comedians died recently. Charlie Callas was known for his rubbery face, stand-up routines and especially for working with Mel Brooks. Mel likes covering all bases of comedy, including physical manifestations and when Marty Feldman died it seemed like Charlie Callas inherited his mantle.
The other, and in my humble opinion more significant loss was David Frye. Frye was an impressionist; he didn’t necessarily try to imitate voices, but to emulate them. Like a cartoon caricature he did not attempt realism, but we all knew who he it was he was portraying. Eventually he settled on political figures, with just enough other celebrities in the mix to make it interesting. Of course this was around the time of Nixon’s Watergate scandal, so the time was indeed right. As the military says, “It was a target rich environment.”
Frye recorded several albums, the first, inspired by “Jesus Christ, Superstar” was naturally titled “Richard Nixon, Superstar.” Another was “Richard Nixon: A Fantasy” with a story line that included Nixon being tried and sentenced to Folsom Prison including the requisite Johnny Cash song parody. At the end of the album, Frye asks in Nixon’s voice, “Pat, am I still president?” to which she replies, “I haven’t checked the morning papers yet, but I think so.”
Watergate was a seminal event for America and probably marked the end of the good old days of the greatest generation. My parents’ generation had fought the “good war” and then built a great economy; no one expected that it could ever end. Watergate was one of the factors that occurred at the point in which our economic superiority began to fade. Coincidence, probably, but the Watergate certainly was a herald of changes to come. On one level we needed to deny that our institutions had failed us. Nixon was no ordinary politician, we wanted to believe, because he was the president. If he stooped to dirty tricks we had to admit how grimy and disgusting politics really must be. On another level we needed to resolve the issue legally, morally and emotionally. The system did work in taking care of the legal aspects. I still question the moral resolution and believe it will require many more years before history can tell us. David Frye was one of those who helped us move on emotionally.
Humans are emotional creatures. Our brains don’t work as well when we’re scared or angry. Emotions are powerful; hormones are much better at providing an instantaneous message to the entire body than neurological signals. We needed an emotional release to allow us to think clearly as to how to move forward. We knew there was an elephant in the room that no one wanted to talk about. Frye gave us the ability to not only see the elephant, but to give it a solid kick.
The pundits were stating the obvious; it was wrong to break into the headquarters of the opposing political party. It was wrong to engage in dirty tricks. Everyone knew that, but how do you reconcile that. Frye’s comedy was one such tool. He attacked the issue in a flanking maneuver rather than a frontal assault. By showing us the absurdity of the situation we could shed the emotion and deal with the issues. On the news it was Walter Cronkite telling us what had happened. On the other hand, though, it wasn’t really David Frye poking fun at the situation, it was David Frye as Spiro Agnew or David Frye as Billy Graham. There was a layer of cushion between us and what he said that made it safe. It’s like seeing a ventriloquist’s act; the dummy can insult you and you don’t take offense because it is a dummy, even though you know it’s really the ventriloquist. That added layer of a dummy or an impression of another’s voice acts as an insulator.
So we laughed, and we moved on and we became a little wiser for it. David Frye was not a major factor in this, but like a pinch of salt, or a dash of pepper sauce, he added to the flavor.
David, you made us laugh. You helped us heal. Thank you.
Posted in Actor, Government, Humor, Politics
I read a story today in which it was claimed that a Russian suicide bomber who planned to kill hundreds on New Year’s Eve died from a premature explosion. Apparently the detonator for the bomb was her cell phone, and a spam message triggered it while she was still home.
Suicide bombers are a foreign concept to Americans. We believe that when an authority figure demands, Stop, or I’ll shoot!” people stop to avoid being shot. When Dirty Harry says, “Go ahead, make my day,” we perceive the threat. Not so with suicide bombers.
Westerners believe and honor those who make the ultimate sacrifice, and in the Christian belief system we’re taught “There is no greater love than this, than to lay down one’s life for a friend.” On the other hand to intentionally destroy one’s self in order to inflict suffering on others is just abhorrent. For these terrorists it’s not the suicide that is the intended outcome; it is the physical destruction of some and the mental anguish and intimidation of countless others. The great deed, in their minds, apparently is that destruction; their own death is just a means to that end. That is why some believe these people are misnamed – they should be called homicide bombers.
We’ve all heard the stories about how some of these extremists believe that they’ll be immediately transported to paradise, met by 72 virgins and such. I have two problems with that concept. First let me clearly state that I claim no expertise in the writings of the Q’ran. I have had Muslim friends tell me that it does not sanction such acts, and that may well be true. Having said that, as a Christian who has studied the Bible, I know that my understanding of it is extremely limited. I suspect that there may be no human who is capable of fully understanding the mind of God. However, I have seen many people point to the Bible and claim that they do comprehend it and the meaning they find is very different from the one I understand. Usually their interpretation involves why a particular person, place, animal or thing is evil and will be damned to eternal torment. I believe that among Muslims there are those who use the Q’ran to justify their personal or political purposes. People who use their scripture to justify hate or to inflict destruction, pain and death worship a different God than I do.
The second issue that I have is that those who advocate and preach martyrdom seem to focus on getting others to do the dying. Great leaders lead from the front. If I was convinced that it was an immediate transfer to eternal happiness, bliss and such I think I’d be the first in line, along with my entire family. One might have doubts about their sincerity.
My personal belief is that there is a God, He is good and He loves us. All of us. Even those who can’t say “Shibboleth,” or look different, or whatever. I also believe that things end up going His way no matter what we do. It does not surprise me that there is good in the most unlikely places and unlikely circumstances can result in hundreds of people being spared; even spam can result in good.
So (in alphabetical order), Peace, Salaam, Shalom.
Posted in Culture, Philosophy, Politics, the Terrorists and you
Twenty five years ago we lost the Space Shuttle Challenger. If you were alive and today older than thirty you probably remember where you were when you first heard about it.
That particular Challenger mission was significant for several reasons. The first was that it had a civilian – a teacher – as part of the crew. This was possible because the confidence level was high enough to open shuttle flights to others besides professional astronauts. I lived in the Akron, Ohio area at the time. It was significant there because Judy Resnick was a local; her science teacher and I were both ham radio operators and spoke regularly. He was more proud of his former student than most parents would be.
The explosion was a heartbreaking occurrence. At the time there was great angst as they tried to understand what went wrong and how something so terrible could have been allowed to happen. Ultimately it was determined that rubber gaskets called O-rings used in the connection of portions of the solid rocket boosters had leaked – not unlike what causes a dripping faucet. How could something so trivial cause such a tragedy?
Philosophically the experts decided that NASA had shifted from an operating perspective of “Prove this bird will fly” to “Prove it won’t.” The O-ring problem had been noticed, but engineers couldn’t prove that the failure would be catastrophic before the launch. How can you “prove” something will happen in the future?
It’s easy to see how we had settled into this comfort zone. The only deaths we had encountered in the space program in the past were with Apollo 1, and that happened on the launch pad during training. Training accidents always seem disconnected from operational ones – besides Apollo 1 had happened nearly 20 years before – a generation both of people and of space craft. Apollo 13 had nearly been lost, but through skill, determination and a little luck, it had been brought back safely. All these things were good reasons to increase our confidence and stoke our disbelief.
But there is an even more significant issue here that often gets ignored. Discovery is by its very nature, dangerous. We’re stepping into uncharted territory in the absolutely most literal sense of the term. Compare it to chemistry – if we mix A + B, we expect a certain outcome. However if we mix hundreds of thousands of chemicals, it’s more difficult to project with certainty what the outcome will be. That’s why chemistry depends upon experiments. Exploring space is the consolidation of millions of variables, including many about which we can only guess because we’ve never experienced them before.
There’s another factor here at least in my opinion. I believe humans are a conquering race. If we’re not busy conquering one another, we need to conquer something and after trekking over all of the solid and semisolid surfaces of the planet, we needed to go somewhere else. Space is the logical choice for two reasons; 1) we can see it and 2) there’s a whole lot of it.
So while we remember the loss of the astronauts of Challenger, and Apollo 1 and Columbia let’s also celebrate the fact that there are always people willing to take that risk. They take the risk not only for themselves but for all of us. Like Columbus, Lewis & Clark, Charles Lindbergh, Amelia Earhart and a host of others these people stand out as a rare breed
We call them heroes.
All writers face certain risks; not terrible risks, but risks nevertheless. It’s not quite like mountain climbing or being a soldier of fortune, but the slings and arrows of other bloggers can be fierce indeed.
There’s the danger of mixing syntax (I had an ice cream, she has an ice cream. Does this mean we had ice cream at separate times? Does this mean we ordered our ice cream together; I wolfed mine down and risked the dreaded brain freeze but she still has hers? Or does this merely mean that I used the wrong words?) There’s the use of too many pronouns (He set the thing next to the larger thing that was there before he brought her over from there.) or not enough (The boy sat down and she realized that it was the boy who was the boy – well you get it.) And worst of all there’s the dreaded misuse of apostrophes (He untied his shoe’s and put them and his sock’s on the shelf by the book’s.)
In my case, the fear I have to manage is the fear of telling the same stories repeatedly. I do that in person, much to my wife’s chagrin, but with the exception of my wife the audience is usually different at each telling. With a blog, the audience may or may not be different – there’s no way to know.
In my case, the fear I have to manage is the fear of telling the same stories repeatedly. I do that in person, much to my wife’s chagrin, but with the exception of my wife the audience is usually different at each telling. With a blog, the audience may or may not be different – there’s no way to know.
Blogs that have thousands of followers often avoid this by frequently using material submitted by others. This is not merely laziness – being featured on the blog of one of the majors may not be like being pursued by Oprah, but is at least like being interviewed by the local news. Well, in some cases, it is like being with Oprah; with the right exposure a writer can find themself in much higher demand. It may not be to write the great American novel, but somebody gets paid to write about 90% of what we all read.
I may not have a high demand for others to write for me, but I am now getting spammed on a semi-regular basis. It’s not the most exciting metric in the world, but it must mean something.
In any case, I believe I accomplished two things her:
“I’d like a large cup of black coffee to go, please.” I told the young lady behind the counter. Without saying anything or even making eye contact she rang up the sale and held her hand out for my cash. She turned her back and began to pour coffee when I heard a voice behind me.
“I see you still prefer doughnut shop coffee to the boutique brand.” My reaction was immediate. To paraphrase Darth Vader, “I feel something, something I haven’t felt since…” The voice could only belong to one individual, and I hadn’t seen him in over a dozen years.
“Bill?” I asked as I turned around, “Bill Roentgen?” He was greyer and a little more wrinkled, but there was no doubt that it was Bill. “I thought you retired to the sunny south,” I stammered, “What are you doing here?”
“I did retire,” replied Bill. “And then I unretired – but not by choice. At first I had a beautiful little place in Florida. You see, I had carefully invested my 401(k) and IRA according to the advice of the most knowledgeable and respected financial counselors. My retirement money was strategically placed in such blue chips as General Motors, Enron, TWA, Eastern Airlines and Lehman Brothers. My nest egg and my retirement did not last nearly as long as I’d hoped. To add insult to injury, when I was forced to sell my retirement home, a former senior executive from AIG bought it for half what I’d paid.”
“So what are you doing now?” I asked.
“I’m back to work, of course,” Bill replied, “as a consultant teaching people about customer service.
“It’s a wide open field,” he continued,” because we’ve forgotten what service is. Big business has modeled itself after the government bureaucracies – we now expect the customer to toe the line and follow the dictates of business. Stand behind the blue line; wait your turn; be quiet. The soup Nazi would be a charmer by today’s standards.”
“But I thought the rule was ‘The customer is always right.’”
“Actually the quote is ‘The customer doesn’t have to be right, he’s the customer’ but those days are gone. They left with polyester leisure suits and disco music; at least I was glad to see the other two go. Companies used to court customers, now they make customers jump through hoops. Look at what the American customer endures for the very privilege of leaving his or her money at a store. It started when customers were expected to pump their own gas; nothing like spending big money on a suit for the big interview only to smell like gasoline when you get there. Next stores eliminated clerks who could help you find what you were looking for. Not only were you on your own, but I swear they began to hide the merchandise so that it took a minor miracle to find it.
“Once you actually do find what you need, stores then expect you to stand in line for the privilege of checking out the merchandise yourself! They can’t even be bothered with taking your money! It is no accident that the female voice that tells you to ‘Please place your purchase in the bagging area’ is so annoying. I saw a video that was smuggled out of a retail company’s corporate headquarters showing senior managers rolling on the floor in laughter when the idea was proposed. They actually auditioned voices with the focus group wired to measure which voice raised the most goose bumps.
“If by some miracle there is a clerk to check you out, they do their very best to make everything as inconvenient as possible. Employees are taught to hand the customer the receipt, currency and change all at once. Research has found that this adds at least 15 seconds to each transaction as the customer sorts it out, puts the currency in a wallet, change in a pocket and the receipt in the bag.
Mystery shoppers used to make sure that the clerks were doing a good job; now most of them are there to further lower the expectations of the customers. When you are in line and the person ahead of you waits until the last item is rung up before beginning to look for their wallet or checkbook odds are it’s not a coincidence. It is the continuing effort to train customers to accept less.
“It’s a natural progression, of course, that started with the automated telephone attendants. You know, ‘Press One to be irritated, press two to get totally honked off.’ Once people got used to being treated poorly on the phone it was only a small step for them to expect to be treated just as badly in person.”
“So you’re teaching companies how to provide better service to their customers?” I asked.
“Yes and no,” replied Bill. “It’s a two way street – kind of a ‘who will blink first’ standoff. Yes I do consult with companies, but you know my style. The best way to bring about change requires guerilla warfare.”
The barista handed me my coffee and my change without a word and glared at Bill. I could see Bill read her name tag.
“Hello, Judy,” began Bill and smiled at her. “Would you please fix me a medium hazelnut with cream and artificial sweetener?” he asked. The smile must have been contagious because Judy smiled back.
“Sure,” she replied quickly poured it, added cream and sweetener and then handed it to him. Bill continued to smile, handed her a five dollar bill and took a small sip.
“Great coffee,” said Bill, and picked up his change. He raised the Styrofoam cup slightly, as if offering a toast, and still smiling turned away. His tip was no more than mine, but instead of glaring, Judy was still smiling as we walked over to a table. Bill leaned over toward me.
“I cheated.” he confided, “By being nice, I blinked first.”
Apparently the kids left the door open and my muse left. Fortunately it has an implanted microchip. As soon as I track it down I hope to have something:
a)funny
b) profound
c) pithy (whatever tha means) or
d) intelligent
to share.
Posted in Uncategorized
“No one knows what’s next, but everybody does it.”
George Carlin had a routine in which he postulated that what we all want is just to be “cool.” He said that when we pray our prayer really is, “Please, God, make me a cool guy!” At the time I merely saw this as a funny statement, but today I see that there’s a perception, and a warning in it.
In our desire to be cool, there is the risk of making choices based on how we as individuals will be perceived, rather than on the relative merit of the decision. It is more important that we look generous, smart, wise, attractive or whatever than actually being those things. Appearance is more important than substance. Businesses have been both party to this and beneficiaries of it; why else would so many people wear clothing that has the brand name visible for all to see. More telling is that there is such a market for counterfeits of these items.
“Let me be a cool guy!”
Most of us thankfully have relatively minor skeletons in our closets; no murders, no burglaries or kidnappings. However, we also have an abundance of things that we should have done differently – cutting remarks, bad attitudes and missed opportunities to do something good. Yet when we think of our lives it is not the time that we should have been kind but instead were mean that bites us. Instead it’s the times that we did something that embarrassed us in front of others. We shudder recalling the time that we spilled the glass of water all over the table at the company party, but don’t feel the same about trashing a coworker in the cafeteria. What looks bad is more significant to us those things that actually are bad. By inference, what looks good must take a similar priority.
It’s hard to make decisions. It’s harder to make good decisions and it’s even harder to learn from those decisions we’ve made without focusing on how it looks. The decision itself is more important than what it looks like. So George was right – we all just want to be cool.
The saving grace is that in the same way we can discuss this, we have the ability, if we choose, to look at our decisions and try to factor in real value as opposed to perceived value. It’s not easy, but it is possible. Just think if everyone tried to do this just one time a day; might make for a better world.
I think I’m going to give it a try.
“I put a dollar in a change machine. Nothing changed.”
~ George Carlin
Copyright 2011 SF Nowak – All Rights Reserved
Posted in People, Philosophy
“To invent, you need a good imagination and a pile of junk.”
I saw a comic strip a while back in which the premise was how everyone is trying to be cutting edge with regard to Twitter, texting, etc.; the punch line was that all of these things, the internet, instant communications, etc. were all due to the geeks and the popular people are now falling all over themselves to follow in the footsteps of those they consider the least cool.
Interesting perspective.
It’s interesting that we readily accept the benefits from a good idea, but are less enthused about the work that goes into it. iPods are generally considered cool; in fact they are viewed by some as essential (I like them mainly because they let me start a sentence with a lower case letter.) The iPod is possible because of the ability to store songs in MP3 format. The inspiration for this was apparently an episode of “Star Trek, the Next Generation” during which Data, an android, is attempting to listen to as much music produced by humans as possible. Obviously tons of CDs wouldn’t be available, so how did they store all that music? The question led to the MP3 format.
What about texting? One legend is that originally the bandwidth used for texting was used for cell towers to coordinate which tower had the signal from a particular user. That’s supposedly why it’s limited to 140 bytes – that was the most that would be needed for system housekeeping. Since much of this capacity was unused it could be available for text messaging. By the way, in trying to determine if this story is true, references kept pointing out how this modality had its roots in radiotelegraphy (can you say ham radio?)
Sad to say, most people can’t tell you how an electric oven works, much less a microwave. Some people can’t remove the cellphone from their ear, while others are intrigued as to how so many cellphones can be used at one time. There are those who watch TV or surf the net and those who want to know how the television and the internet work. Some are content to watch “The Simpsons” or “South Park” while others need to figure out how they use computers to animate those shows.
Contrary to popular opinion, inventing is not reserved to giant corporations with huge research and development budgets. It is possible to invent something in the garage that turns out to beneficial and financially successful. As such, I believe there are more Steve Wozniaks out there who are going to come up with something very exciting. If Wilbur & Orville, a couple of bicycle engineers can make powered flight practical, anything is possible. To those people who like to think, tinker and build I say, “Go for it!”
Take your idea, try it. Don’t worry if it fails, it will. Few, if any ideas work out the first time. Learn from each generation of the idea and eventually you’ll succeed.
And, oh by the way, when you succeed, you may be able to hire the high school jock who always put you down to sweep your factory’s floor.
“I haven’t failed, I’ve found 10,000 ways that don’t work”
~ Thomas Alva Edison
Copyright 2011 SF Nowak – All Rights Reserved
Posted in People, Philosophy, Technology
“We have the best government that money can buy.”
~ Mark Twain
It’s hard to believe but when I read the morning newspaper I got a little perturbed with our new Congress. I know what you’re thinking – how unlikely. After all, this is a NEW Congress, obviously different as well as improved over the old Congress. We just had an election, and promises were made, so how could I get peeved so early in the New(!) Improved(!) Congress’ life.
Healthcare.
As one who has over 30 years’ experience in healthcare I know it has significant problems. The reforms that were passed have some bureaucratic errors that frustrate me and just about everyone else. Surveys report that when people are asked about healthcare reform they claim they’re against it. However when asked about eliminating penalties for pre-existing conditions or coverage for children until age 26 they say they’re for it.
Ask the average citizen if they like dieting – they’ll say no. Ask them if they want to be healthier or thinner and they’ll say yes.
Ask any 3rd grader if they should have more math or more recess and they’ll say more recess.
So according to this morning’s news the House of Representatives is focusing on repealing the reform legislation as its ultimate priority. They are spending their precious time on this when EVERYONE KNOWS IT’S TOTALLY BOGUS. It’s political theater since; a) if passed by the House, its chances of passage by the Senate are nil and; b) even if the Senate would concur, it will be vetoed.
The economy is in the dumper, we need to create jobs, we’re still at war and Afghanistan and Congress is spending its time doing something that they know is a total and complete waste of time?
While it’s true that in the giant scheme of things we are probably better off whenever Congress isn’t doing things. However, shouldn’t they at least LOOK like they’re trying to help?
“We have a mandate from the people,” they may claim. “We must stand by our principles.” Sorry. If members of Congress want to engage in theatrics they should join the community theater back home. Besides, they might actually really get to know some of their constituents if they did.
My personal advice for the members of Congress – Find something you can fix that will make the American people better off than they are and concentrate on that.
Sorry. I’m going to take my soapbox and leave quietly now.
“If we do have the best government money can buy, I certainly hope somebody saved the receipt.”
~ SF Nowak
Copyright 2011 SF Nowak – All Rights Reserved
Posted in Government, Healthcare, Politics
Some days I know exactly what I plan on writing about and can’t wait to have time to sit down at the computer. Other days I find myself clueless (ignore the laughing – those are the friends who know how clueless I really am.) Today is one of the latter, so you may find yourself following a stream of consciousness, or merely a ramble.
I’ve heard that once aspiring writers become working writers they would rather do just about anything than write. I remember reading an article when I was young in which a newspaper columnist was explaining this phenomenon. He described the many stall tactics available to writers. He liked coffee since it inevitably leads to restroom trips, kind of a two-for-one stall. He described in great detail how he could get distracted by his typewriter and would use a paperclip to clean out the type heads and which letters required the most work. Those not familiar with typewriters please do not look for sympathy from me today.
To me writing is pretty much like sitting down with friends, not one-on-one, but as a group that gathers to talk about almost anything. As such, sometimes I have important things that I can’t wait to tell the group. Other days I don’t and can’t wait to hear what others have to say. Fortunately, even with a young blog such as this and with a small audience I have friends like Sam, Rick and a few others who have helped turn this into a discussion. I appreciate that.
So today was one in which I enjoyed everybody’s company without having anything valuable to share, except time.
Thank you for agreeing to the interview. I know you don’t wish to have your identity revealed to my readers, so what should I call you?
“My first name is fine.”
Okay, Henry…
“Henri’, emphasizing the French pronunciation, if you please.”
Of course, Henri. I guess the new first question I have is why Henri? I’ve known you since we were kids and the nuns back at St. Bernadette’s grade school called you Henry.
“Once you enter the serious restaurant business, most people have two choices – selecting a French name or an Italian one. I figured that I tend to irritate people more than blow up at them so a French name was better. Of course a lot of people just go for the ethnic theme, but the big money isn’t in Mexican, Chinese, Soul Food or Family Dining, it has always been in Continental Cuisine.”
And how do you define Continental Cuisine?
“Some people claim it’s whenever the entre includes at least a half stick of butter in its preparation. Me, I define it as any cooking style in which main selections start at $50.”
So it’s strictly a business orientation.
“Absolutely! If I had the talent to sell widgets, I’d sell widgets, My talent is in food, so that’s what I sell. My father told me, ‘In this world you trade time for money, so why not make the best trade you can?’ There’s a lot of wisdom in that.”
While I understand the lesson you learned from your father, the fact remains that your restaurants are very popular.
“There’s no shortcut to providing great food and a setting in which people can and will, hell almost feel obligated to enjoy themselves. But there are lots of places that do that. I make the customer feel that when they dine with me, it’s the experience that defines it, even if the food is outstanding. However, I’m in the business – the BUSINESS and I am going to make the very best deal I can. I want the customer to happily part with more money at my restaurants than they would anywhere else.”
So it’s all about money?
“When you’ve got the best product. Yes.”
So, tell me how you get to be the most profitable restaurateur in the industry.
“Like any other business effort, you do a lot of research. Find out what works in other industries that can be adapted to your own. Obviously the oil cartels are successful, but the feds don’t like all the restaurant owners getting together and agreeing on prices. We looked at every industry that had even a mild resemblance to our business. It was a lot of hard work. We even looked at historical trends in the food business. You know, sometimes the old ways, if given a rest can be resurrected with great success.”
Can you give me an example?
“Years ago we would give two versions of the menu. The man’s had prices while the woman’s did not. We claimed it was for courtesy, but it generally added 20% to the total bill. Women’s Lib killed that when we couldn’t tell in advance who was going to be paying. I really miss those days.”
So what business model are you trying now?
“The best model we could copy was from the diamond cartel. You know, diamonds aren’t really that rare, but the cartel has infused them with a mystique so that engaged couples don’t view them as a luxury item but as an essential. The sales people point out how a diamond is an investment – you ever see a woman make a profit on hocking her engagement ring? What a great line! They don’t have to fix prices – they just tell everyone that a ring should cost 2 months’ salary. This sets the perception that if a guy doesn’t spend that much he’s a tightwad and doesn’t really love the girl. I love it!”
So how does this work for you.
“Our marketing materials, menus and wait staff all imply that if each entre doesn’t cost the equivalent of 2 hours pay, the host or hostess is cheap. All of the other menu items – the appetizers, desserts, etc. can be set at about half that price. Once you establish the upscale perception, drinks can be priced – well let’s just say that in more than a few cases the price of a single drink actually pays our cost for the entire bottle.”
And you feel good about this?
“Good? Everybody loves it”
Well, Henry, I mean Henri’ this has been an education in itself.
“Glad I could help. Here, have a chocolate chip cookie. Enjoy – I guarantee it costs more than that watch you’re wearing.”
When did we get on the profit at all cost track?
SPOILER ALERT: THOSE OF YOU WHO KNOW ME WELL HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR ME TO WORK AMATEUR RADIO INTO THE BLOG. BEWARE! WE’RE GETTING CLOSER!
Once knowledge was viewed as something to be shared; perhaps not by the masses but at least among the cognizanti within the field. Mathematicians shared their discoveries with other mathematicians. Physicists shared among themselves and so on. The driving force was to allow others to prove a theorem by repeating the experiment and reproducing the same results. If everyone who mixes baking soda and vinegar makes a fizzy mess, it’s safe to say that this will always happen. On the other hand if one scientist claims to have achieved nuclear fusion at room temperature and others can’t reproduce the same results, there’s a flaw somewhere. If one person proposes a way to build a new and better type of type of battery another can take the battery to a further level if they know what has already been done. Each person who shares in the process adds to the accumulation of knowledge on the subject. Shared knowledge is seen as an asset with value to many. Let’s call this additive thinking.
At some point people began to engage in restrictive thinking. When someone discovered something new and exciting, instead of sharing that knowledge they immediately take great pains to protect that knowledge and keep anyone else from using it without permission and usually payment. They may patent the idea or copyright it or they may declare it a trade secret. In any case, the knowledge is seen as an asset with value primarily to only a small number of people. By taking aggressive efforts to safeguard it they have effectively removed other potential beneficiaries. Let’s call this subtractive thinking.
Now I have nothing against patents and copyrights. I copyright the material I write. If you use it or link to it in your blog I expect someone to say that I wrote it. If you add to it, refute it or whatever, the discourse continues and I believe we’re all a little better for it. I was taught back in college that the reason for patents wasn’t just to protect the inventor but to afford sufficient inducement for the inventor to make his invention available to others by being able to sell it. This was presented as a way to benefit society as a whole as well as the inventor. This was why, we were taught, that patents expired after 20 years. The inventor has his reward but doesn’t have an eternal monopoly; after 20 years others can make competing products thereby lowering prices and continuing to benefit society at large.
However, clever people soon attempted to bypass this logic. If I patent a red widget, maybe I can try to patent the same widget again if I paint it blue and lay it on its side. This seems absurd to even the most simplistic analyses. However, in pharmaceuticals, companies have assembled the same chemical configuration in a mirror image and presented it for patent when the original expired.
I have to wonder if these observations are associated with the reduction in the number of engineers America produces and the increase in the number of attorneys. If the primary function is viewed as protecting knowledge from unauthorized use the better jobs would be associated with providing that protection.
Fortunately all is not lost. There are pockets of thinkers in various fields who can and do buck this trend. One very successful area is in the computer language called LINUX. AT&T developed a language in the late 1960’s called UNIX that was very good for allowing files and functions to be shared (an oversimplification) and it was dearly loved by the scientific types. Since it was corporate property users needed to purchase a license to have access to it. The license price was set based on corporate usage with technical support included. This would have been a prohibitive price for most individuals (think of the cost of an industrial version of any home appliance.)
Linus Torvalds was a software engineer who decided that a similar language should be available to individuals for personal and hobby use. He started to write a program that acted like UNIX but which he called LINUX. He didn’t get as far as he wanted, so he threw the doors open to other software designers and attracted participation by the best and the brightest in the computer sciences. For about 20 years people have used LINUX, developers have improved it and it continues to grow both among individuals and even in corporate usage. Torvalds acts as the editor, of sorts, and determines which features can be added, etc. Like Windows® it has a graphical interface, surfs the internet, does e-mail and office functions. The major difference is that it is free. (If you have a business that uses LINUX and you want technical support, you can buy versions that come with such support services. However, for most hobbyists, LINUX does pretty much of what you want it to do without help. If one needs help there are forums in which more experienced users help newer folks; another additive environment.)
Amateur Radio is another area that traditionally has been a technology sharing environment. I say traditionally because there have been some material changes. Once the emphasis was on building hardware for use in the hobby but as components have shrunk so that they can be lost with a sneeze this has changed. Mainly there has been a recalibration from hardware to software, operating modality, etc. Yes, I’ll be writing more about this soon.
The point is that by nature we like to share things. Knowledge is one of the coolest things to share, and by doing so we all benefit. Why is celebrity so attractive? Because we believe the celebrity is sharing something with all of us. Every one of us would enjoy being recognized for doing something that affects others in some way. I believe that additive thinking is just one example of this.
Tomorrow, share a thought that you think someone else can improve upon and just see what happens. If they steal it, at the least you now your thoughts have value.
“THERE are a lot of nice people out there who think good thoughts — why not share them?”
Posted in Culture, People, Philosophy, Technology
“Life is like a beautiful melody, only the lyrics are messed up.”
~ Life quotes.
In the comedy “Music & Lyrics” Hugh Grant’s character takes it for granted that the music is the most important part of a song. Drew Barrymore’s character looks at the music as merely an appetizer with the lyrics being the main course. I suspect that this is one of those areas in which males focus one way and females another. I know in my case, it is the melody, the harmony, the counterpoint and all that captures me. There are some songs that I’ve listened to for years for which my interpretation of the lyrics has been terribly wrong. When I find out what the lyrics actually are, I’m generally unfazed. However, if I’m trying to play a piece and get a wrong chord, I work at it, Google it or whatever it takes to find out how it’s supposed to be played.
Oh there are some forms of music in which the lyrics are important. Musicals are a great example since the lyrics carry the story. Opera is a terrible example since no one is expected to understand the lyrics except by reading the translation above the stage. Monastic chant, particularly Gregorian might be another example since there is basically only one very simple tune ever used.
Music’s mathematical nature makes it so most people can tell when a song is played correctly or incorrectly, even if they’ve never heard it before. On the other hand, lyrics may or may not have meaning. John Lennon was reputed to write some songs with words intended to have no meaning just so he could see what the reaction was. (On the other hand, when he asked his son about a picture he had drawn that day in kindergarten, Julian told him that it was “Lucy in the sky with diamonds.” John knew that had to become a song; sadly Lucy Vodden, Julian’s classmate and inspiration for the song died of complications from lupus in 2009.)
In many songs with well written lyrics, the presentation is such that it’s difficult to know what he singer is actually saying. Classic rock like “Inna Godda Davida” or “Blinded by the Light” were creatively mumbled; I won’t attempt to offer examples for hip-hop or similar current offerings. You can mumble lyrics or replace them completely by “Scat.” The most famous scat, of course, is Frank Sinatra’s “Scooby-dooby-doo” from “Strangers in the Night.” Yes, Virginia, that was the inspiration for naming the cartoon dog.
Other lyrics are there apparently just to give the musicians something else to do. The classic example of this is “I want to rock and roll all night and party every day.” I guess the heavy metal instrumentation, kabuki makeup, strange costumes and fireworks weren’t quite enough.
To me, much of life follows a similar vein. The words don’t make sense, but the underlying music keeps it all tied together. You don’t try to figure it out, but allow it to influence your perception and moods. You know when the chords are right and you know when something is being played wrong. Thinking of life as music helps me get through it.
Besides, it has a great beat and you can dance to it.
| “One difference between poetry and lyrics is that lyrics sort of fade into the background. They fade on the page and live on the stage when set to music.” |
| ~ Stephen Sondheim quotes |
Posted in Music, Philosophy
Short blog, again….
I spent today working on getting my paperwork together for my retirement from the Navy Reserve. I’ve spent the last 5 ½ years on active duty so I kind of forgot that I’m only a part time Sailor. This tends to complicate the process even more than it already is.
During my time today I worked with a lot of nice people, but the productivity was hampered by the countless layers of rules and regulations. I heard lots of reasons why things can’t be done, although as I move up the chain I later find that they actually can be done. I guess it’s like magic; only the truly great magicians can perform the most amazing illusions.
As a Supply Corps Officer I am quite used to significant requirements. From day one of training we had it impressed on us that no one wanted to break the rules and end up in Fort Leavenworth, KS – the military’s premier prison. In our case we were strongly advised to NEVER learn the answers, but instead to “punch the pub.” This expression means that the smart individual looks up the procedure in the frequently updated federal publication; to put it more directly, whatever you learned the last time you faced this question will have changed by the next time you face it. Better to consult the reference than be wrong.
Back to my efforts of today. I finally got all of the right documents to the right people. One lady I spoke with on the phone is actually making things happen (if I weren’t married, I might be tempted to fall in love, sight unseen.) The others focused their efforts on explaining – very nicely – why various things couldn’t/wouldn’t/didn’t happen.
Why am I boring you with all this? Because I am torn. As someone whose civilian background is in healthcare I have always hated the fact that not everyone can get the healthcare they need. Hospitals will usually provide what is needed, but preventative or follow up care is limited to those with good insurance plans, and those with good insurance are becoming fewer. From my perspective healthcare shouldn’t be a problem. As a more-or-less conservative I’ve heard the conservative arguments – it’s not a right; we have the best system in the world, etc. However, I’m only accepting comments from those who have worked in an Emergency Department and seen a seriously ill 7 year old with no insurance at 2:00 AM. I have a fundamental problem with telling the mother or father that the child will get basic treatment and then have to tough it out. Similarly, I have the same problem explaining to a child why Mommy or Daddy can’t get better because they don’t have enough money.
The ugly fact, and it is ugly, is that to make healthcare work we are going to have to squeeze one or more layers of profit out of it. There are profits for the manufacturers of equipment, supplies and drugs. Hospitals don’t make “profits” but they try to have money for the next technology or bricks & mortar. The ability to earn a good wage attracts highly talented people to become physicians and other health providers. The people who collect money from companies and pay for health services make a profit but don’t add a lot of value to the equation. The easiest way to squeeze out profits would be to have the government manage payments like they do for Medicare, Medicaid, the Public Health Service and the Veterans Administration.
Unfortunately, after facing all the well-meaning folks today hamstrung by the federal bureaucracy, I have problems with that idea.
However, I have faith that someone will figure this out.
Copyright 2011 SF Nowak – All Rights Reserved
Posted in Business, Government, Healthcare, Military
“How You Doin’?”
~ Joey Tribbiani on “Friends”
When I am greeted with “How are you?” I often reply with “Vertical and above ground.” It’s a fairly non-committal answer, since I neither claim this is good or bad. If anyone requires additional information, I point out that being vertical and above ground is a good start and/or a pre-requisite for just about anything else. I offer this response because usually when people ask one another how they are they have no intent of listening to the answer.
Intelligent questions should be answered. Unfortunately, there are many questions that do not meet the intelligent criteria. But for fun let’s look at non-question questions.
Some questions presuppose an answer, such as;
“Are you going to eat that?”
“Did you hear what Rush Limbaugh said today?” (The answer can vary wildly depending upon the political views of the participants.)
“Do you know how fast you were going?” and the one I hear most often…
“You’re not really planning on wearing that, are you?”
Then there are questions that should never be asked and never, ever answered.
“Does this make me look fat?”
“What’s your sign?”
“Is it okay if mother spends a few weeks visiting with us?” and the all-time scariest one;
“What channel is Jerry Springer on?”
The problem is that there is a lack of good interaction in which intelligent questions are asked with the intent of getting an intelligent answer. Scientists were once very good at this. Dr. Fleming, when he found a spot on the petri dish where the microbes stopped growing asked “Why did that happen?” and discovered penicillin. Wilhelm Conrad von Roentgen saw crystals glowing every time he energized a Crookes-Hittorf tube and asked “What is this?” and discovered the X-Ray.
Today’s questions seem somewhat less profound.
“If people think I put my kid in a balloon, can I get a reality show on TV?”
“If I crash a party at the White House, can I get a reality show on TV?” and of course;
“When I get out of jail, if I go to rehab, can I get a reality show on TV?”
Often instead of “Why?” people ask “How come?” as in “How come Sally gets away with always coming back late from lunch?” “How come?” translates to “I absolutely do not want you to give me an explanation, I’m just pointing out how things are so unfair!”
I propose that for the rest of the week everyone should pay close attention to the good questions and not only answer them intelligently but sincerely thank the person for their intelligent and well phrase queries. As for the dumb questions, if something appropriate doesn’t immediately come to mind, put on your best sympathetic facial expression and merely comment. “I can’t believe you just asked that.”
Could make for an interesting week.
“I’m glad you asked that question.”
~ Richard M. Nixon at press conference
Copyright 2011 SF Nowak – All Rights Reserved
Posted in Communications, People
“Once upon a time…”
~ Unknown
It’s been one of those busy days, and I believe that every brain cell is tapped out. So, sad to say, today’s blog will be even farther down the interesting and witty scale, if you can believe that. It’s days like this that a good story would soothe my mind. Book or movie, it doesn’t matter.
Speaking of stories, in his blog Whatever today John Scalzi mentioned that Tor.com is running a contest on the best science fiction in the past 10 years. If you’re a science fiction fan, may be worth a trip to Tor’s website. I have it on good authority that there will be no hanging chads and the Supreme Court will not be involved, although individual justices may participate, but not in any official capacity.
That’s as much as the brain cells can contribute. By the way, don’t forget that there is an open invitation to submit something to this blog. Something as in anything. Could be an original post, something from elsewhere such as another blog, book or magazine (with credit, of course) or just an idea.
I’m off to try to rescue whichever brain cells are left.
“The real character of a man is found out by his amusements.”
~ Joshua Reynolds
Copyright 2011 SF Nowak – All Rights Reserved
“No one is too big to be courteous, but some are too little”
~ Unknown
My son asked me if I thought people were more courteous now or if over time people have gotten less civil. It really is an interesting question. Once manners were taught to the upper class and emphasized less for others. In the military the officers were gentlemen. It wasn’t that being an officer made you a gentleman; in most cases only those who came from the upper crust were permitted to be officers. Such trivialities as military knowledge or experience took a distant second place to breeding and social position. Today, however, everyone can be educated with regard to matters of civility, although the rules have loosened and become more pragmatic. We use far fewer pieces of silverware today and don’t need to keep track of the pickle fork or grape sheers, but everyone is pretty much aware of common courtesy. Some could therefore argue that we are more courteous today (extra forks and extraneous silverware aside.)
On the other hand, terms and phrases meant strictly to shock are used routinely. Such verbal tirades would have been unthinkable in the past. The “f-bomb” is used far more with intention than an inadvertent slip. However, it is important to mention that inadvertent slips can’t occur with words that are never used. Then there are words whose derisiveness was denied by its users. The “N-word” was once used disparagingly by whites as a way of hindering respect to blacks. Today it is used by people of various colors to continue to draw a dividing line that can and should be fading if not erased. It’s hard to believe that 40 years ago comedians like Richard Pryor used the “N-word” to mock its divisiveness with both effectiveness and wit, I might add. I believe that Richie believed he was sweeping the word into the scrap heap. Unfortunately, it didn’t stay there.
I was in the Navy. Some say that California shows us what will happen five years from now. Sometimes I think the military is taking that role in many ways. Bases are switching to geothermal heat; urinals that don’t require water flushing are replacing standard fixtures and biofuel blends are beginning to power military craft. However the biggest changes I see are in the people. Mixed marriages are extremely common. What do I mean by mixed marriages? About any two people with different backgrounds you could envision. In the future, gays and lesbians will probably point to the acceptance of gays in the military as a major milestone. Don’t believe me – wait until everything is finalized, then wait 5 years. If I’m wrong, let me know.
And what does that have to do with courtesy? In the military there are two things that are a way of life. The first is education and the second is courtesy. Every enlisted Sailor in my department for my last assignment was working toward a one educational degree or another. Some came into the Navy to be able to afford to go to college; some came for other reasons and then realized that they had a golden opportunity. Most took college classes while on active duty and some continued under their GI Bill after discharge. Others left the Navy with the degrees (and experience) needed to start a great civilian career. In any case, I saw folks who came in as kids become well educated adults with skills that the Navy could use and that would benefit these people for the rest of their lives.
Courtesy was just as important. Those who have never served might have a stilted view of military courtesy. Saluting, for example is often misunderstood. Saluting is a sign between members of the military among themselves. It is as unconscionable to not return a salute as to fail to salute. Saluting is believed to hearken to the days of knights when they would raise the visor of the helmet to show their face and to show there was no weapon in their hand – a sign of camaraderie. Others believe it is the first part of tipping the hat as a sign of greeting – a gentleman’s greeting to a lady or another gentleman. In any case, it is only shared among those eligible. A military member who has been convicted of a crime and is serving prison time is prohibited from saluting since he is no longer a member in good standing.
It’s the other courtesies that are more important and make such a difference. An officer should always address an enlisted member above E-3 by their rank. Officers and enlisted alike address the senior enlisted as Chief, Senior Chief or Master Chief. The courtesy is to acknowledge that these people have earned their place. Officers learn quickly that the Chief is far more likely to know how to solve a particular problem than the officer. Good officers and good chiefs work together; they are not interchangeable but together they create the core of an effective team.
So to answer my son’s question; I believe that those who are more educated and know they need to work together with others are more courteous than they were in the past. This courtesy becomes part of them in all parts of their life. Those who do not understand how they fit in with others are less likely to be courteous.
However, all of us need to remember that like anything subject to entropy, we must keep working to be courteous lest it devolve into chaos.
“I believe the ability to think is blessed. If you can think about a situation, you can deal with it. The big struggle is to keep your head clear enough to think.”
~ Richard Pryor
Copyright 2011 SF Nowak – All Rights reserved
“There is no delight in owning anything unshared.”
~ Seneca (Roman Philosopher mid-1st century AD)
There was no blog yesterday because I lost control of the computers – all of them. As you know, I have children, so that’s enough said. Now I could complain, and I will a little because, well because we’re conditioned to point out all of the things that don’t go our way. Could be the influence of the media – particularly television; could just be a way to start a conversation. In any case, I have control of at least one computer now, so it’s back to the blog.
As you may have seen I changed the format of the blog. The previous was WordPress’s 2010 default. I kind of liked it, but thought I’d try something different. Let me know what you think. At the very least, if you don’t like the new format or just don’t like change it will give you something to complain about (see above.)
But back to the kids taking over the computers (you knew I wasn’t done with that, didn’t you?) While it may throw me off for a bit, I sometimes marvel at such things. My son was using the office with a friend to work on a school project. I like that kids today are exposed to technology tools for their studies. After all, there‘s only so much you can (or should) do with construction paper and glue. In this case, Adam was doing a history project using Microsoft MovieMaker. I’d never worked with that tool before, so I had to learn a bit as well when he asked me questions. However, among him, me and his classmate, we figured (almost) everything out. Naturally I liked the fact that he was using a new technology tool for history. By now you know that I love history and anything that makes the subject more exciting to our kids is a good thing in my book.
More importantly, though, is the fact that it allows, or maybe forces sharing and interaction among my kids and me. It’s not that I try to avoid them in any way, but sometimes they’re busy with their interests and I’m busy with mine; inadvertently we lose chances to share. Yesterday was one of those days that we ended up sharing without an option, and that works just fine.
I’ve always believed that anything we have in this life is merely on loan to us. The only real fun is in sharing it with other people. Imagine that you had a beautiful home, or maybe a yacht but you could never let anyone else see it or visit you there. It wouldn’t be much fun. Hence my belief. With the possible exceptions of Wall Street Bankers and their cohorts, we humans are built to share.
Of course, sharing is not always the altruistic practice we adults envision. Look back at your days in high school, particularly science class. Kids are not afraid to share, particularly the fascinating things they experience. Of course in those days it was sharing a particularly disgusting view of the critter you were dissecting. Better still was waving the test tube under someone else’s nose. “Ewww! Smell this – it’s gross!”
So, you might as well give in and go share something with someone. You can’t avoid it, so make it as much fun as possible. As for me, I’m going to go cook some burgers in the grill and share them with the family.
“It’s not hard to find appropriate quotes, but it is sometimes hard to determine what quote would be appropriate.”
~ SF Nowak
Copyright 2011 SF Nowak – All Rights Reserved
Posted in Blog, Family, Philosophy
“You must write for children the same way you write for adults, only better”
My daughter Kathryn (age 10) and I wrote this together (and she picked the title.) I’ll let the piece speak for itself.
I have a very special family – a little strange at times, but special nevertheless.
However, perhaps I should introduce myself before I go talking about others. I’m Ralph, or at least that’s what I’m known as around here. My mother named me “Lord Moon Barker, Car Chaser, Stick Fetcher,” but she’s the only one who ever called me that. As names go, it is kind of a mouthful, so Ralph works just fine.
I’ll never forget the day that I met my family. There they were, wandering around the Animal Shelter looking lost and confused. I could see that they needed help, what with the way they stopped and stared at the Golden Retriever. Don’t get me wrong, some of my best friends are Golden Retrievers, but let one squirrel come into sight and every other thought in their brain just disappears. These poor people were obviously in over their heads and who knows what they might do. It’s a wonder they didn’t decide to take a cat home!
I took pity on them, I mean what dog wouldn’t. I stood up and did my world famous two-fisted paw wave and I was able to grab their attention. Once they noticed me, I knew I had them right in the center of my paw. First thing I did was to get them to them calm down and stop looking at every creature with four legs. It took forever – I mean ten or fifteen minutes! I knew there was only one dog who could take care of this family, and that dog was me.
Naturally we had to stop and fill out all kinds of paperwork. Everything requires paperwork these days, so as soon as we got home and they put some newspaper on the floor I showed them how I feel about paperwork! They must agree, because they rolled up that newspaper and put another one right down in its place!
I took a few days to look around and check out the new home, but after that it was down to business. I’ve been taking care of the family ever since. It’s a good job, but very busy at times, although always interesting. The Brewsters are a good family, but some of the things they do can be quite surprising, at least to this dog.
Let’s start with Sarah. I guess you could say she’s my favorite since she lets me sleep in her bed. She only uses the top part, so I get the end down below her feet. It’s a little cramped, but I don’t mind – besides, I let her have the pillow all to herself. Every once in a while she kicks. She must be dreaming about chasing rabbits or something.
One day she walked into the kitchen and told her mother, “I want to get a bunk bed!” I was NOT happy! How in the world would in I sneak up under her covers in the middle of the night, lick her toes, and scare the dog biscuits out of her? Not to mention the fact that she ignores her alarm when it goes off. I’m the one who has to look her square in the face and whine until she finally crawls ever so slowly out of bed. Fortunately her mother wasn’t too excited with the idea either.
“Now, Sarah,” Mom said, “You have a perfectly good bed already. A bunk bed would be expensive, not to mention new sheets and blankets.”
“But it would be so great for sleepovers, and I could sleep on the top bunk. It would be just too cool.”
“We’ll see,” said Mom. When she says “We’ll see,” it doesn’t mean “No,” but it’s a long way from “Yes.” However, Sarah seemed happy enough with that answer. I knew it was only a matter of time until she started asking her mother again. A matter of very short time. This dog needed to get the situation under control and quickly.
That night as Sarah got ready for bed, I waited in the living room while she got ready for bed. I didn’t have to see what she was doing, since I’m a dog, after all. I cocked an ear so I could hear her running the bath water. I could easily smell the toothpaste when she brushed her teeth, and then I heard her head for bed. It took only a couple of minutes before she realized I wasn’t waiting for her in the bedroom.
“Ralph!” she called. I waited until she called me three times before I walked slowly into her room. Instead of jumping on the bed I went alongside the bed and put my chin on her mattress. I gave her puppy eyes. I don’t mind telling you that no dog can give puppy eyes like I do. I mean it was the whole treatment, ears down, everything.
“What’s wrong, Ralph? She asked. I just sat there. Sometimes silence is the best way to communicate. “Why don’t you get up here on the bed and go to sleep like you always do?” I still just sat there and tried to look as sad as I could. After a minute or two I could see her eyes flicker with understanding.
“Oh my!” she said. “If I got a bunk bed and slept on the top bunk, you wouldn’t be able to climb up the ladder and sleep on my bed! Well we can’t have that!” She leaned over and put both her arms around me.
“I guess I can’t get a bunk bed unless you learn to climb a ladder,” she said. Hmmph! Like that would ever happen! If she had gotten the bunk bed instead of climbing the ladder, I would have left her a little surprise at the bottom for her to find in the morning – if you know what I mean.
I hate to be so strict with Sarah, but I just had to put a stop to such nonsense as quickly as I could. After all, when you love your family you need to make sure that they do what is best for them. It’s my job!
“If you tell me, it’s an essay. If you show me, it’s a story.”
Copyright 2011 SF Nowak – All Rights Reserved
