Ryan's Random Ramblings

America Should Read This Book

2008-09-25T10:21:00.001-06:00

Quick Bells Update

2008-08-26T13:49:00.003-06:00

Bro. Waldron, told me at last week's rehearsal that he wants me to play in the Christmas Concert with the Choir and Orchestra in December! So I guess I'm doing OK so far! Still lots to learn though...

Heaven's Bells!

2008-08-13T23:44:00.013-06:00

Call me Moroni. One of my goals after I leave this earthly existence has been to be chosen to play a herald trumpet in an angel herald trumpet band. Yes, I'm serious - why should I restrict myself to earthly goals? I used to hang out with a lot of trumpet players in high school and college, and one of my trumpet playing pals, T.C., got the chance when he was younger to play one of 120 herald trumpets in a huge marching band for some kind of celebration in Washington D.C. I think it was for the anniversary of the Statue of Liberty or something? Anyway, I think that's what put the idea in my head - that combined with that pictures of Christ returning to earth with legions of angels around him that you see inside just about every LDS meetinghouse. Ever since then I've thought that if there are jobs in heaven, that's the job I would be applying for - bass trumpet herald.

Over the last few years I haven't done much with my musical talents. It's been tough to find time for it, with my career, and my family, and church responsibilities. However, recently I decided it was time to get involved with music again, mainly to get some more balance back into my life. I've got a couple of trumpter friends from Lagoon Band and UofU band days, Al and Kevin, who play with the Orchestra on Temple Square here in Salt Lake City. I was contemplating what it would take to get my trombone chops back into shape enough to audition for this group. I was looking at the website and there didn't seem to be any openings at the time for trombone players. I've often thought as well that eventually I'd like to audition for the choir, but it seems the Tabernacle Choir isn't having auditions this year at all. But something else caught my eye - I noticed on the same web site that the "Bells On Temple Square" was having auditions for male ringers. So I decided to audition. Not that I have much experience playing handbells, but the 4 or 5 times I've rung bells with choirs, I've really enjoyed it, and through these limited experiences, I learned a couple of things. The main thing being that the most important criteria for success in ringing bells is the ability to read music and physically play the bells in rhythm - neither of which is as easy as it looks or sounds! Well to make a long story short - my two-week-long audition has turned into a for-the-remainder-of-2008 audition! Brother Waldron, the conductor, seems to think I have enough potential to keep me coming back each week and learning, at least through Christmas, when he will decide if I am good enough to become a permanent member or not. After my first week I told my wife that if I made the group, it would be on potential, not on current ability, because I certainly didn't have enough current ability, so after tonight's rehearsal (audition week 2 of 2), when Brother Waldron said I showed a lot of potential, it was music to my ears! Ringing bells is a blast - I wish I could do it every day - or even practice at home - but you can't exactly take the bells home with you to practice, so I'll have to just mentally practice. I don't know yet if I'll be allowed to play with the group for the Christmas concert - I don't think Bro Waldron was ready to commit to that just yet - and I'm not even sure there's an actual opening - maybe just an opening for a substitute.

Call me Quasimodo. Even though I've played for just two weeks, the bells are already one of my favorite musical instruments. Maybe heaven will have a bell choir too? Maybe they'll let me play heavenly handbells AND heavenly herald trumpets? Oh, wait - first I have to manage to get to heaven somehow...minor detail. I guess I'd better get to work on that! I don't think being a Hell's Angel or playing Hell's Bells would be nearly as fun...

Wynton!

2008-07-14T00:05:00.007-06:00

I saw Wynton Marsalis and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra friday night at the Red Butte Garden Amphitheatre. I went with my wife and my good friend, Cory, who unfortunately was flying solo that night because his wife ended up staying home with a sick baby. The concert was sold out, but nobody seemed to be waiting at the gate to buy one ticket, so unfortunately Cory had to get two tickets-worth of enjoyment out of one set of ears.

Well I must say, Wynton is one cool cat! Every word out of his mouth, and every note out of his instrument just drips with style. Most of the stuff they played was stuff that couldn't even be attempted by 99% of college bands - it was that smokin' hot! The only thing I couldn't figure out is why they only need 3 trombones when every other big band in the world uses at least 4. I guess there weren't 4 good ones in the universe.

Anyway, highly recommended if you get the chance to hear these cats play live.

Speaking of Marsalises, next Saturday, I'm going to see the Police! Yeah, those Police! Sting and everybody! I don't think Branford will be there, but maybe? Can't wait!

Book Review: A Whole New Mind

2008-07-08T17:00:00.008-06:00

Why Right-Brainers Will Rule The Future

Wow! It's been a while since I've posted anything! Well, here's a book review for your reading pleasure. I picked this one up where I pick up a lot of books - at the airport - it's one of the few places I seem to find any "free time".

First, I must admit - I almost didn't buy this book. The subtitle seemed almost laughable. But something caught my eye. Maybe it was the recommendation by Thomas Friedman (author of 'The World is Flat') that I found on the inside cover. But whatever it was, I'm glad I picked it up. I really enjoyed this book, much to my surprise. After all, I'm very left-brained. Why on earth would I want to read a book about how I might not have the skills and aptitudes to rule the future?

I think the biggest reason I liked this book is because it attempts to do something that I like to do a lot - which is try to envision the future. I often look back a few years, or ten or twenty, and say to myself "boy, if I had told the people back then what was going to happen in the future, they wouldn't have believed it!" So when I hear people making crazy claims about the future, don't just write them off without at least giving the ideas some thought. Actually, to be honest, I think about this kind of thing far too much for my own good, whether or not I'm prompted by someone's outrageous predictions.

As I've watched the world flatten over the last 8 years or so, with so many technical and support jobs going overseas, I've pondered often on what the next 20 years would bring. After reading this book, I have a good idea. The author makes the point that any job that can be outsourced will be outsourced. OK, not every job - we'll still have a few call centers in the US of course. But it's surprising to see just how many jobs are being outsourced - and when you look around you, just how many jobs you see that also could be outsourced, given a nice fiber connection across the Pacific (for which we owe a great deal of thanks to the Internet Bubble - if there's one 'good' thing that came from the Internet Bubble, it was dirt-cheap fiber connections across the oceans). So what's next? If my order at the drive-through can be easily taken by an English-speaking Indian, or my brain surgeon can operate on me remotely from Singapore, or my software developers be stationed in Bangkok, what jobs are going to be left over? What jobs CAN'T be easily outsourced? The answer, according to Daniel Pink, is all in your brain. Mainly in your right brain, but that's only because, for most of us, we haven't been using it that much. Oh sure, we all use it a little bit, but not a lot in traditional business settings. He points out that the MFA (Master of Fine Arts) is growing like mad, and goes so far as to call the MFA the "new MBA". He talks about how the new high-paying, onshore jobs will be those that combine technical skill with right-brain skills, in ways that offshore workers can't easily duplicate.

The book is structured in two parts: The first, called "Right Brain Rising", gives the background arguments as to how and why the right brain is becoming more important in modern society. The second part, entitled "Introducing the Six Senses" is a group of short sections about six new senses, or skills, that will be highly needed in the future: Design, Story, Symphony, Empathy, Play, and Meaning. I'll leave it to you to read the details of each, but there are some real gems in here. I highly recommend this book to anyone who cares about their future, and doesn't want to be caught wondering what happened to their fancy, high-paying job in 10 years from now.

It turns out this book isn't so much about how the future will only have artists and painters and dancers running around singing and dramatizing all day, but rather, it's about how your WHOLE MIND will need to be involved, to succeed in the future business world. So it's not that we need to shut off our left brains, but rather, we just need to awaken the other side of our brains, and make sure both sides are working together. The subtitle, therefore, was misleading - it's not the right-brainers that will rule the future, it's the whole-brainers. But I guess the subtitle did what it was supposed to - it caused a negative reaction that made me curious - and I picked up the book and ended up buying it. Pretty good marketing ploy I think - the right-brainers pick up the book because they want someone to tell them they'll rule the world, and the left-brainers pick up the book because of the audacity of the claim that those artsy-fartsy types are going to steal the world out from under them. I hate marketing - it rarely tells the truth. But in this case, that was OK, because the truth was inside the book - so I guess the end justified the means in this case. If only I could say as much for all deceptive marketing schemes...

Whether you're currently right-brained, left-brained, or a little of both - you'll find this book interesting.

Look Mom! I’m a Blogger!

2007-11-22T07:58:00.001-07:00

My NBA.com blog is live!

http://my.nba.com/forum.jspa?forumID=400032740

Their editor is completely primitive. It's like using Microsoft Notepad. Actually it's worse. If I cut and paste from Notepad into this little NBA editor thingy, it messes up the formatting. It takes HTML, but with a few twists – so you can't just write in an HTML editor and then cut and paste from it either. It's gonna take some getting used to…

But anyway, I'm live! I'm bloggin' like Gilbert Arenas!

I just can't tell if anybody is reading it or not…what do you think? Yeah, you're right, I shouldn't quit my day job. At least not yet…

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

My New Found Fame (Or Infamy???)

2007-11-06T11:47:00.001-07:00

Psst! I've got a secret. I have a new job - sort of. OK, maybe it's just a hobby. Yeah, definitely a hobby, since I still have my day job, and this new thing doesn't exactly pay what you'd call, "cash compensation". But who cares? (Other than my wife and kids?)

The bad news is, it's going to get tougher for me to find time to blog - well, on this site anyway...

The good news is, my readership is going up, up, up!!!!!

OK, I can't help it - I'm gonna spill the beans...here it is!!!

http://my.nba.com/thread.jspa?threadID=300013507

That's right, I auditioned for 8 weeks and was selected to be one of two NBA Fantasy Fan Bloggers on NBA.com this season! Me and some other kid named Trevor. I think he's a kid anyway - you never really know online - he could be an 87 year old grandma posing as a young kid...but he mentioned school being back in session in one of his blogs, so I'm thinking High School or College...

Anyway, I think it's exciting. Even if they aren't paying me. Fame doesn't always equal Fortune, does it? And Fortune sometimes comes later, right? Maybe by the end of the season, all the readers will be demanding I come back for a second season?

Worst case, I'll be slightly more famous than I was before - maybe 0.01 on a scale of 0 to 10, instead of 0.00.

I never thought I was (Tall/Fast/Athletic) enough to work for the NBA?!?! Guess I was wrong!

My new blog will commence in a few days...stay tuned!

Manilow and Colbert?

2007-10-20T23:42:00.000-06:00

Who knew this guy could sing?

You Gotta Really Like Jazz To Like This Guy!

2007-10-13T18:05:00.003-06:00

Michael Brecker, jazz saxophonist and bandleader, was born on March 29, 1949. He died on January 13, 2007, aged 57

RIP Micheal...

Real Jazz, Or How to Tell If Someone Is A Jazz Lover or a Poser

2007-10-13T11:19:00.000-06:00

If you ever want to know if someone likes jazz, don't ask them if they like jazz. Ask them if they like Kenny G. That's all you need to know.

I am a DirecTV subscriber. One of the benefits is you get a bunch of XM music channels. One of my favorites is "Real Jazz". In between sets they sometimes do a quick little promo for the channel. Last night I heard a little promo that said "If you Like Kenny G, this is not your channel...this is Real Jazz"

Kenny G is not Jazz. I don't care if he won a Grammy for Jazz. It's not even remotely Jazz. Kenny G's cacophonous productions are a crime against all Jazz musicians, past, present and future.

Why, you ask?

Pat Metheny (a real jazz artist), has some strong opinions which help to explain why...

Pat Metheny on Kenny G

Question:

"Pat, could you tell us your opinion about Kenny G - it appears you were quoted as being less than enthusiastic about him and his music. I would say that most of the serious music listeners in the world would not find your opinion surprising or unlikely - but you were vocal about it for the first time. You are generally supportive of other musicians it seems."

Pat's Answer:

"Kenny G is not a musician I really had much of an opinion about at all until recently. There was not much about the way he played that interested me one way or the other either live or on records.

I first heard him a number of years ago playing as a sideman with Jeff Lorber when they opened a concert for my band. My impression was that he was someone who had spent a fair amount of time listening to the more pop oriented sax players of that time, like Grover Washington or David Sanborn, but was not really an advanced player, even in that style. He had major rhythmic problems and his harmonic and melodic vocabulary was extremely limited, mostly to pentatonic based and blues-lick derived patterns, and he basically exhibited only a rudimentary understanding of how to function as a professional soloist in an ensemble - Lorber was basically playing him off the bandstand in terms of actual music.

But he did show a knack for connecting to the basest impulses of the large crowd by deploying his two or three most effective licks (holding long notes and playing fast runs - never mind that there were lots of harmonic clams in them) at the key moments to elicit a powerful crowd reaction (over and over again). The other main thing I noticed was that he also, as he does to this day, played horribly out of tune - consistently sharp.

Of course, I am aware of what he has played since, the success it has had, and the controversy that has surrounded him among musicians and serious listeners. This controversy seems to be largely fueled by the fact that he sells an enormous amount of records while not being anywhere near a really great player in relation to the standards that have been set on his instrument over the past sixty or seventy years. And honestly, there is no small amount of envy involved from musicians who see one of their fellow players doing so well financially, especially when so many of them who are far superior as improvisors and musicians in general have trouble just making a living. There must be hundreds, if not thousands of sax players around the world who are simply better improvising musicians than Kenny G on his chosen instruments. It would really surprise me if even he disagreed with that statement.

Having said that, it has gotten me to thinking lately why so many jazz musicians (myself included, given the right "bait" of a question, as I will explain later) and audiences have gone so far as to say that what he is playing is not even jazz at all. Stepping back for a minute, if we examine the way he plays, especially if one can remove the actual improvising from the often mundane background environment that it is delivered in, we see that his saxophone style is in fact clearly in the tradition of the kind of playing that most reasonably objective listeners WOULD normally quantify as being jazz. It's just that as jazz or even as music in a general sense, with these standards in mind, it is simply not up to the level of playing that we historically associate with professional improvising musicians. So, lately I have been advocating that we go ahead and just include it under the word jazz - since pretty much of the rest of the world OUTSIDE of the jazz community does anyway - and let the chips fall where they may.

And after all, why he should be judged by any other standard, why he should be exempt from that that all other serious musicians on his instrument are judged by if they attempt to use their abilities in an improvisational context playing with a rhythm section as he does? He SHOULD be compared to John Coltrane or Wayne Shorter, for instance, on his abilities (or lack thereof) to play the soprano saxophone and his success (or lack thereof) at finding a way to deploy that instrument in an ensemble in order to accurately gauge his abilities and put them in the context of his instrument's legacy and potential.

As a composer of even eighth note based music, he SHOULD be compared to Herbie Hancock, Horace Silver or even Grover Washington. Suffice it to say, on all above counts, at this point in his development, he wouldn't fare well.

But, like I said at the top, this relatively benign view was all "until recently".

Not long ago, Kenny G put out a recording where he overdubbed himself on top of a 30+ year old Louis Armstrong record, the track "What a Wonderful World". With this single move, Kenny G became one of the few people on earth I can say that I really can't use at all - as a man, for his incredible arrogance to even consider such a thing, and as a musician, for presuming to share the stage with the single most important figure in our music.

This type of musical necrophilia - the technique of overdubbing on the preexisting tracks of already dead performers - was weird when Natalie Cole did it with her dad on "Unforgettable" a few years ago, but it was her dad. When Tony Bennett did it with Billie Holiday it was bizarre, but we are talking about two of the greatest singers of the 20th century who were on roughly the same level of artistic accomplishment. When Larry Coryell presumed to overdub himself on top of a Wes Montgomery track, I lost a lot of the respect that I ever had for him - and I have to seriously question the fact that I did have respect for someone who could turn out to have such unbelievably bad taste and be that disrespectful to one of my personal heroes.

But when Kenny G decided that it was appropriate for him to defile the music of the man who is probably the greatest jazz musician that has ever lived by spewing his lame-ass, jive, pseudo bluesy, out-of-tune, noodling, wimped out, *screwed* up playing all over one of the great Louis's tracks (even one of his lesser ones), he did something that I would not have imagined possible. He, in one move, through his unbelievably pretentious and calloused musical decision to embark on this most cynical of musical paths, *crapped* all over the graves of all the musicians past and present who have risked their lives by going out there on the road for years and years developing their own music inspired by the standards of grace that Louis Armstrong brought to every single note he played over an amazing lifetime as a musician. By disrespecting Louis, his legacy and by default, everyone who has ever tried to do something positive with improvised music and what it can be, Kenny G has created a new low point in modern culture - something that we all should be totally embarrassed about - and afraid of. We ignore this, "let it slide", at our own peril.

His callous disregard for the larger issues of what this crass gesture implies is exacerbated by the fact that the only reason he possibly have for doing something this inherently wrong (on both human and musical terms) was for the record sales and the money it would bring.

Since that record came out - in protest, as insignificant as it may be, I encourage everyone to boycott Kenny G recordings, concerts and anything he is associated with. If asked about Kenny G, I will diss him and his music with the same passion that is in evidence in this little essay.

Normally, I feel that musicians all have a hard enough time, regardless of their level, just trying to play good and don't really benefit from public criticism, particularly from their fellow players. but, this is different.

There ARE some things that are sacred - and amongst any musician that has ever attempted to address jazz at even the most basic of levels, Louis Armstrong and his music is hallowed ground. To ignore this trespass is to agree that NOTHING any musician has attempted to do with their life in music has any intrinsic value - and I refuse to do that."

AMEN.

Scotland and London and Paris, Oh My!

2007-10-08T17:30:00.001-06:00

I finally got out to see a little bit of the world last month! Yes, it's sad but true, it took me 35 years to get overseas! So now I can't use my favorite line when playing that party game "I've Never..."

I went on vacation for 10 days with my lovely wife Kim, to Scotland and London.

First of all, I must say, if you want to avoid jetlag - I've got one word for you: Melatonin! This stuff is amazing! Kim and I each took one pill after each flight, at bedtime at our destination, and experienced zero jetlag in either direction! Amazing...really you should try it.

Kim served a mission in Scotland from '94-'96, and the #1 item on my "Honey Do" list for the last 11 years has been "Ryan, take me back to Scotland some day?!" Well last month I accomplished Honey Do #1. I've only got 738 more to go...

Scotland was really cool. Kim had several friends there from her mission, and they all remembered her and said she hadn't changed a bit!

We stayed in B&Bs every night. It was a lot of fun. Much better (and cheaper) than it would have been in a hotel, I'm sure. After checking into our first B&B, we met up with Liz and Nancy, both from the Bo'ness area. This area had the most difficult accent - I only caught about 60% of what was being said, and I think even Kim was struggling at times to keep up, even though she'd spent a lot of time there! Liz and Nancy both came along with us to see some castles in the Edinburgh area. ..

Edinburgh Castle

Liz and Nancy didn't go in the castles with us, because Liz absolutely HATES castles! But she was a good sport - they sat in the car, and wandered around the grounds while Kim and I spent a solid hour or two at each one. Doune Castle is where some of "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" was filmed. Remember the "outrageous French accent" guy, throwing insults and livestock from the battlements??? And the 'Trojan Bunny'? That's Doune castle. They had just had a Monty Python party the week before there, which we missed, but they had some Coconuts shells left over at the gift shop, so of course I bought a pair! And of course I sent them home by attaching them to two unladen European swallows...

Doune Castle - "Shall I Taunt You a Second Time?"

Recently Restored Great Hall at Stirling Castle

A Visit From Herbie at Stirling Castle!!!

We thought the castles were cool (you just don't get 1000 year old buildings in America). We spent about 3 days in the Edinburgh area, where we practiced driving our rented (by luck free upgrade - yeah!) Audi A4 on the wrong side of the road, err...I mean, the left side. We saw a bunch of stuff in the Edinburgh area, including the Firth of Forth bridge, the William Wallace Monument, Linlythgoe Palace, the Royal Mile, Chapel Rosslyn, etc....

Firth of Forth Bridge - First Steel Construction Bridge in World

William Wallace Monument

William Wallace Sword - Too Big For Mel Gibson!
They say Wallace must have been about 6'7" to wield this sword...

246 Spiral Steps To The Top!

Piper Doon! We Have A Piper Doon!

Chapel Rosslyn - True Resting Place of the Holy Grail???

Next we headed up north, to see the #1 tourist attraction in Scotland. Can you guess? It's Ness! Loch Ness that is! Home of Nessie, mystery of the deep. But before we got to Loch Ness, we made a stop at Highland Audi to get a new wiper arm for our rental car, to replace the one that was about to fall off. Thanks to my newly acquired Garmin Nuvi GPS, we found the Audi place, no trouble! I love that thing! It will even talk to you - in about 30 different languages! And 5 or 6 different English accents - your choice! Well worth the investment: "Enter roundabout, then take the fourth exit..." Much easier than dealing with paper maps...and if you mess up and take the wrong exit, it doesn't get mad, it just says "recalculating...in 0.3 miles, turn right on A12"...very cool use of technology!

Garmin nuvi - Never Leave Home Without It!

So we got to Loch Ness, and hopped on a boat, for a little 60 minute tour of the lake. I took a few snapshots, but haven't found Nessie in any of them yet...can you see her????

"Loch Ness...Big Enough to Hold Every Human Being on Earth Three Times Over, and Still Have Enough Room Left Over For a Few Mysteries..."

Then Kim caught a rainbow, which is always fun...

My Bonny, Blue-E'yed Lassie...

We next drove down the west coast, through the Highlands, which was the funnest driving experience I think I've ever had - racing down a gentle slope, winding back and forth through mistly, lush, green hills, with rock and waterfalls springing forth out of nowhere. We were hoping to get to the Eilean Donan castle in time to take a few photos, on our way to our B&B that night on the Isle of Skye...and we couldn't have timed it better! We rounded a corner, and lo and behold, there was Eilean Donan, in all of it's Medieval Glory (with modern artificial lighting, of course!)

Eilean Donan Castle - Makes Even a Bad Photographer Look Good!

We stopped to take a few photos and take in the scenery, then made our way to Skye.

Castle Ruins - Isle Of Skye, Scotland

Spent the night on Skye, then some time touring Eilean Donan in the daytime, then headed down to our next destination: Dumfries. This was an area where Kim lived for several months. We knocked unannounced on the Jameses home, a couple Kim lived with on her mission for a few months (we didn't have their address or phone number, but managed to find their new house anyway - it's a small farm town - real small...) They were very happy for the surprise visit, and we spent a few hours talking to them, and even got treated to spaghetti dinner! Not exactly Scottish fare, but we'd had plenty of Scottish fare already, so it was a welcome change...

We then hopped in the car and went to see a couple more of Kim's friends from the mission. They all remembered her, and every one of them still had mementos that Kim had left behind - pretty incredible after 11 years! Unfortunately we were having such a great time, we forgot to get our camera out and take some photos...I guess our memories will have to suffice.

The next morning, we headed down to Preston, to attend the temple there, and another friend from Kim's mission, Kathy Dunachie, who works at the temple visitor housing facilities. We spent the afternoon and evening there.

Preston, England Temple

In the morning, we headed down to our next destination, Stratford-Upon-Avon, the birthplace of Shakespeare.

Stratford-Upon-Avon, Warwickshire, UK

We spent a relaxing afternoon checking out the touristy spots, and soaking in the atmosphere. We went to a play that night, a performance of 12th Night by the Royal Shakespeare Company, and were pleasantly surprised to see that American actor John Lithgow was starring in the play!

Malvolio - John Lithgow

Lithgoe played the snooty, yellow-stockinged (cross-gartered) Malvolio, and absolutely stole the show! At one point in the performance, Malvolio throws a ring on the ground, to return it to a man who was wooing his employer. The ring bounced right off the stage, and landed next to a lady's foot in the front row. Without missing a beat, Lithgow improvised a way to retrieve the ring, without breaking character (flicking his head at the lady who grabbed it off the ground), and carried on with the scene:

MALVOLIO Come, sir, you peevishly threw it to her; and her will is, it should be so returned: (throws ring) if it be worth stooping for, there it lies in your eye; if not, be it his that finds it.

(at this point Lithgoe threw a not-so-subtle glance at the lady who had 'found' it in the first row...)

The kind of scene you only get in a live setting. It was magic! Despite the overt statements the director was trying to make about homosexuality and cross-dressing (he cast 4 characters in opposite-genders, and the written program was filled with gay-friendly articles about Twelfth Night and whether Shakespeare was making some sort of a statement...) the play was very well done, and Lithgoe's performance alone was worth the price of admission.

We spent that night in Stratford, then made our way into London the next morning. Thankfully, it was a Saturday, so not too many people around the city, and no need to pay the "congestion fee" that everybody has to pay that drives into the heart of the city on weekdays. It's something like 8 pounds a day - or $16 USD, which is the same cost as two one-way subway tickets.

King's Cross Station. Luckily, Our Son Jordan Warned Us Not To Attempt Entering Platform 9 3/4, Pointing Out That We Were Inexperienced Muggles, And Would Surely Fail...

Speaking of subway tickets, London is really expensive! Maybe it was just the weak dollar, but everything was about twice as expensive as it seemed it should have been. The subway was 4 pounds one way, or $8. In Paris it was about 1.1 Euro, or $1.50. We really enjoyed London, but if I lived there I'd need a signficant pay raise! We only had about 24 hours to spend in London, so we did a quick whirlwind tour involving a bus and a boat, but did manage to visit a few places like the Tower Bridge, and the London Eye.

Tower Bridge

Look Kids! Big Ben, Parliament!

British Airways 'London Eye' Ride - We Took A Rid At Dusk
Incredible Views From Up There!

Big Ben at Dusk

I think Kim's favorite part of London though, was probably Westminster Bridge. Not because of the bridge, but because of the street vendor selling custom-made bent-metal thingys - she bought one for each of our kids for 4 pounds apiece. The guy made all three in under 5 minutes! At that rate he was making $300 USD per hour (or $600k / year!) That's assuming he can keep that rate up for 8 hours a day of course, which is unlikely...but he did have a pretty good crowd of buyers gathered round...

Magic Metal-Bending Westminster Bridge Dude...

Some Bendy Metal + A Pair of Needle-Nose Pliers = $600k / year...Not a Bad Gig!

Reuters Plaza, Canary Wharf Business District, London

Anyway, at this point I had to say goodbye to Kim and send her home to the kids so I could continue with my business trip in London and Paris the next week, but we had a great time, and I think Kim might even go to another play with me someday now!

There's a lot we didn't get to see. We focused mainly on Scotland this time. We'll have to go back and do London right next time... and/or Paris.

We missed our kids, but they didn't miss us much. They do hug us a lot more now though...I think they're a little worried I'll disappear for 16 days again...

Here's a few shots from Paris, which I didn't do properly, since I only had three working days there, and not much free time...

European "Smart Car" - In America, it's called a "Speed Bump"

The Louvre!

Venus Di Milo

Arc de Triomphe

Eiffel Tower at Night (with rotating giant inflated Rugby ball in the middle)

Who Knew Jazz Was So Big In Paris?
So Many Jazz Clubs, So Little Time...

"The Office" - Must See TV!

2007-08-27T18:08:00.000-06:00

Don't you love "The Office"?

Here are a few reasons why I do:

Jim – Sure, on the surface he seems like one of the more boring people on the show. But he reminds us there’s usually at least one sane person at work to be friends with. If you don't see yourself at all in Jim, you might have some character traits to work on. If you don't see a Jim in your office, you might want to look for another job...

Pam – [ See Jim- especially if you are a girl...]

Dwight – Love him. There are lots of programmers that remind me of him to various degrees. Myself included...

Michael – OK, so he’s WAY over the top. But I love him because he really shows just how bad management can be, and if you aren't a manager yet, and haven't figured this out, Michael gives us real-world managers hope – when I'm having a bad day, I always think "I’m not as bad as Michael, right, so maybe I’m doing OK at this management thing!? Could be worse! :)"

Andy - Andy rocks. Because he's completely transparent (to everyone except for Michael at least!) I actually really enjoy Andy’s singing – that guy is pretty good if you listen to him! It takes a good singer to really sing 'badly', and I'll bet Andy is a very good singer in real life...Plus, who doesn’t like a total suck-up, as long as they aren’t threatening to steal your ‘assistant [to the] regional manager’ position!

Angela – Uptight Angela is FREAKING AWESOME! Every office needs an Angela (and usually has one!) And every dorky guy needs an Angela in their life, to love them (almost) unconditionally.

Stanley – Definitely need at least one or two minorities around when you have a blatantly offensive, repeat-offending branch manager! Stanley also fills quite nicely the old ‘punch-clock-get-paycheck’ mentality of a lot of office workers.

Oscar – Token gay guy. A MUST-HAVE for any Politically Incorrect manager to have around, in addition to the other minority classes.

Kevin – Ewww! Well, every office has a weird, balding, overweight perv. Well, he’s pretty much harmless I guess. At least he provides some variety. Plus who would Oscar high-five and hang out with Kevin wasn’t there?

Creed – Now this guy is just openly perverted, while being covertly dishonest, and lazy. Gotta have a couple of Creeds in every office, dont' you?

Ryan – "The Temp". Love him because he was Michael’s whipping boy, who has 'never made a sale'. We had our first Temp this summer, and it’s funny how hard it is to get people to not refer to him as ‘The Temp’. I especially love when Ryan takes Michael to his business class…this is CLASSIC Michael! If you haven't seen this episode, you MUST! Update: Ryan is now the Boss! Michael's boss, that is. I predict he'll be fired by the end of the season...

Kelly – We all have to have at least one (but not more than 2) perky girly-girl(s) at the office (even if she isn’t blonde). Actually 2 is the preferred number, so they have somebody to talk to about Chick-Flicks and teenage gossip. You need at least one though, just to remind you how glad you are that you aren’t dating one. Just pray you aren’t the Temp that she emotionally latches onto (see Ryan).

Toby – What would any office be without the friendly HR manager to cringe at every off-color comment, and file away the daily complaints about Jim, filed by Dwight? And why doesn’t Toby get Michael fired? He must have a whole closet full of files on Michael. This is the big mystery of the show.

Jan – Oh yes, Jan, that’s why Michael hasn’t been fired yet. Now I remember. Kind of hard to get fired when you are dating your boss… Poor, lonely Jan. Why can’t she find a nice, normal guy?

Roy – The knucklehead that always seems to be dating the only normal girl in the office, but doesn’t deserve her. What does she see in him?

Book Review: Blink - The Power of Thinking Without Thinking, by Malcolm Gladwell

2007-08-22T01:30:00.001-06:00

I was nearly finished with "The Tipping Point" when I got off the plane at SeaTac a few days ago while on a business trip, and spotted another book entitled "Blink" by the same author, Malcolm Gladwell, in one of the Hudson Newsstands at the airport. I spent all of about 10 seconds making my decision to buy it, which is unusual for me, and as it turned out, very ironic in this case, since this is what the book was all about ... snap decisions.

I quickly finished up "The Tipping Point" later that evening, and then dove right into the new book. It's a very easy read, and I just finished it a few days ago. I'm a pretty slow reader, so I impress myself when I actually finish a book in less than a month! I really enjoyed it, which is why I wanted to write a quick post about it. Blink is about the ability of the human mind to 'thinslice', which essentially means to quickly assess a new situation, person, or object with the subconscious mind. Gladwell discusses this ability in a number of interesting ways, and with a number of different anecdotes. The point of the book, I think, is that sometimes our first impressions, instincts, gut feelings, or thinslices are very valuable, and often are more useful and accurate than a more detailed, careful analysis by our conscious mind. There are many instances of this phenomenon that happen every day in our lives. On the contrary, however, there are times when this ability to thinslice actually can be a detriment - sometimes that initial impression or gut feel we get from a new person or new situation is dead wrong. So how do we deal with these two extremes? Near the end of the book, Gladwell makes an effort at explaining how one might do this, but I don't want to spoil the entire book for you, so you'll just have to read it for yourself. But here's a teaser: in the first four chapters, he covers: "marriage, World War Two code-breaking, ancient Greek sculpture, New Jersey's best car dealer, Tom Hanks, speed-dating, medical malpractice, how to hit a topspin forehand, and what you can learn from someone by looking around their bedroom." How are all of these things related...sound intriguing? If so, this book will be right up your alley...

Maybe my next post will be a thrilling discourse about how I apply this knowledge to hiring good programmers. Stay tuned!

Kids

2007-08-16T02:14:00.001-06:00