First Blog

Dear all, Right now, I'm listening to Mozart's Piano Concerto #18, KV 456, just one more example of this great genius' contributions to music.  As I listen, I ask, I always ask, if there is anything I've done that measures up to this or any other concerto, or for that matter any other work composed by Mozart. As usual, I come up with a resounding "No."  This brings me to a life's recurrent theme, and that is how great is the genius of Mozart that even my best of whatever I've done pales next to even his most mediocre work.  (In fact, nothing of Mozart is mediocre.)  Mozart provides for me the ultimate humility of creativity.   It demonstrates we, as a race, are capable of reaches simply beyond our own understanding. Make no doubt, this applies in philosophy, in physics, in mathematics, in psychology, and in almost anything of meritorious effort.    I am diminished by but enhanced by Mozart.  Don't get me started on Bach or Beethoven, both com

Mostly this note applies to American football and hockey - and a little to basketball.  This issue at hand is roughness, and indeed (very) unnecessary roughness. By way of background, in soccer the "Yellow Card" is applied to cite an egregious foul against an opponent.  This puts the offender on notice that one more such violation is a second yellow card and thus a red card implying ejection from  the game.  Thus the recipient of said card must be most cautious about future fouls.  The procedure works, and it works well.  The concomitant sanction is that the red card recipient is barred from at least the next game.  There are only rare second yellow card violations, and the game, though rough, is a lot cleaner than it could be.  Mind you, soccer is a sport of both skill and strength, of many bumps and bruises, of serious injuries despite possible sanctions. Note, for athletes, playing the game is not just important, it is the only thing there is!! In America football, t

Reruns in Our Lives vs. Originality Always begin with a few quotes. “Insist upon yourself.   Be original.” -  Ralph Waldo Emerson “If you’re not prepared to be wrong, you’ll never come up with anything original.” - Sir Ken Robinson “All good things that exist are the fruits of originality.” - John Stuart Mills These quotes, taken from a milk carton, were likely put there to inspire or maybe to fill a little space.   They sustain all we celebrate originality -thoeretically.   Yet, many of not most of us take great effort to avoid originality, preferring to live our life as a rerun.      We prefer to repeat old habits, to travel on familiar paths, and to change little from our well worn ways.     For kids, everyday is full of “newness.”   They are seeing, exploring, and learning all the time – much of it is new.   Their world is so very much different from ours.      In fact, the expression we love to use, “I feel like a kid again,” seems to hearken back thos

Note.   Just a few days ago... "A  pilot claims he saw an unmanned aircraft hovering dangerously close to a passenger jet above New York—prompting safety fears as well as an FBI investigation."  Though this may be nothing more than a toy in the air, it does signal a rather deep concern by Americans about drone intrusion in their lives.  Is airborne surveillance really here?    (See: http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2013/03/05/fbi_investigating_pilot_report_of_drone_sighting_by_jfk_airport.html) ____________________________________________________ Drones are a tool of the modern age.  They have benefits.  They have faults.  They have become the secret agents of the past whose role was to observe and thwart, as needed.  They are a modern technology with which no governmental leader has a real, life-long experience.  They are new.    Indeed, their scope of use is evolving as the minutes tick. Types.   Some drones are outfitted to only monitor the country-side and

Suicide Coming Home Many years ago, a friend hung himself in his basement.  I was a pall-bearer at his funeral. I was shocked I was so asked.  I did this.  I did not understand why a good-looking fellow, intelligent, kindly, and true could do such a thing. He did. I do not.  His family suffered greatly.  Yet he left no issue.   Thankfully. To my mind Country singer Mindy McCready, 37, showed us the very height of personal selfishness by committing suicide.  By giving birth to two offspring, she accepted the responsibility to raise her newborn and six-year old son.  She abrogated it spectacularly.  (As did the father a month ago.)  Though she may have suffered depression for any number of reasons, she has little sympathy from me for leaving behind a legacy that is now lost, is now parent-less, and may drift into problems of their own in the future.    There is shame and heartbreak in all this, but blame should be administered in full dose to Mindy.  Shooting the dog?  This i

The time has come for an open Olympics.  This means any athlete can use any physical assists available for his/her event.  The limit must be at using machines to make the assist.  For example, bicycles cannot be used in a foot race.  However flippers can be used for swimming, and spring steel shoe extensions can be used for running - as currently used by amputees.  To some extent this is already in place.  For running and swimming, special suits are allowed to diminish friction.  For all sports the shoe is critical and used to the highest technological level available. For bobsledding, skiing, skating, and other such sport, the level of technology of equipment is important, to the point that competitors of decades earlier could not compete.   For pole vaulters, the use of fiberglass and maybe even carbon-fiber poles seems OK; they give a further spring-shot effect to gain height.  This is technology at work! You may suggest that volley-ball players might mount springs on their shoe

Seven Ways You Figure Things Out and Solve Problems The human brain is a marvelous organ.   It is designed for but one thing: survival of the body.   And survival means solving a non ending stream of problems. Ever thought about how you figure things out? Your marvelous brain has it covered. Indeed, you use six separate systems to make conclusions, resolve questions, problem solve, and just about everything else. Using the acronym BRAIPIE, we describe them in this order. The order and priority a person uses one or another of these systems varies from person to person, from religion to religion, from fine arts to science. Beliefs/Faith - You have a set of beliefs and a state of faith, both of which which function as guideposts on how to view problems and resolve difficulties. These are your strongest system, and can override all other considerations. The two overlap so much, it isn't really possible to distinguish them. The first is the second, and the second is the first. Ra