Surprise Opening Act

I went to a show with Jeremy Enigk the former lead singer of Sunny Day Real Estate (very well known in the Seattle music scene). The show was really good. I really like it when artists who have gone solo are still willing to throw in a few songs from their previous projects from which they gained most of their original fans. When my friend Brock and I were entering the club I noticed the opening act listed was fronted by a guy I went to elementary school with, we talked a little after his set. Funny little coincidence, made the whole show a little more interesting, you never know who and when you are going to run in to people.

Bostonia

My friend Dave Gleave and I were in Boston on July 3rd. You can definitely see a lot of stuff in a day in Boston. The liberty trail downtown takes you through many historical and revolutionary war era sites. The weather was a very smooth 71 degrees with some breeze, nice. Bunker Hill had a huge monument, and I was taken back by the pervasivity of churches, Bostons Puritanical roots are abundantly evident today. In Cambridge people were nice and the Harvard campus very well maintained. Boston seemed like a very clean city with very clean public transportation (bus and rail)

Romney in New York!

I volunteered for two Romney campaign fundraisers today downtown at the Intercontinental Hotel in Downtown on 48th and Lexington (close to Grand Central). The first event was primarily big doners featuring a photo with Gov. Romney for donors of the maximum $2300 legally allowed to the Romney Campaign. I stood at one of the main entrances directing people to wait in line for a photo with Gov. Romney. Mitt does exude strong charisma and ere of optimism particularly evident as experienced businessmen wore grins of joy as they exited their photo with Mitt. In his 5-10 opening speech (sprinkled with some thoughtful humor) he sounded very confident.

I handled the microphone for the brief Q&A with the big donors. The questions were well informed and incited interesting and fairly in depth response about topics such as China in the 21st century, Culture Preservation and of course immigration. Romney advocated increased spending for by the federal government beyond $1 Billion, and in a few comments he was supportive of improving marketing our country and its people to the rest of the world. He also gave strong emphasis to getting the best people to work on projects who would most likely disagree and argue to arrive at the best possible outcome.

I was fascinated in his remark that people expect constant campaigning to be wearisome and exhausting for incessant meetings and speeches (his 8th meeting that day), he said he is energized from all the people he meets and when he gets to the hotel late he reads for a couple hours to wind down- (I've had similar thoughts in my limited campaigning experiences in college). That nightly routine is believable listening to his citing of various books and articles in his speech often with a sensitive disclaimer "not sure if you happened to have read this...". He made some good case points (success stories such as the 2002 Olympics and Healthcare in Massachussets) for his campaign and demonstrated a wide breadth of knowledge.

On a side note the food was superb. I ate so much fresh tasting jumbo shrimp and mini open faced salami sandwhiches with cheese it took care of dinner and most of breakfast!

One Shot!

I won a great game of chess over the weekend. Although it took me awhile to put the king into checkmate so I ended up wiping out nearly all the pieces of the opponent. The funniest part was my opponent made a silly mistake that would forfeit the king and then I asked if she was sure about her move, and she then looked at the board more carefully and took some more time and then made a move that would still allow her to lose her Queen!!

Sometimes when you get a chance to correct a mistake, you only get one shot!

Phila DC

I went to Philadelphia and DC last week. First time in Philly, lots of cool history since it was the biggest city in the revoltionary war period. This picture is me behind constitution hall where the constitution of signed. I stayed in Fairfax county which is a pretty pleasant and relaxing place in my opinion. I really just loved being away from the city for a bit and being surrounded by trees. For me the trees and all the outdoor stuff really just gets the imagination going in very exhilerating ways.

But I probably speak for most in saying that toll roads have got to go.

Geographic Predictors

Ok- another potentially cool idea- ready for thesis writing. What if you could "Predict the locations of the next technological innovations and breakthroughs?". It's so fascinating if you think that Sillicon valley is home to so many innovative companies (Google + Apple just to name a couple of recent hyberbolic examples of what many associate with innovation) and also some of the best weather in the country (warm, sunny, mild coastal climate).

So Why?

Are people who invent and create stuff magnetically drawn to certain creative poles ? Really what is most interesting is what are the other politcal, cultural, business and legal (to name several) conditions in certain areas. For so many thousands of years China came of with so many inventions before modernized equivalent came to fruition in other parts of the globe. Something has to be different in more than just the climate.

Some countries produce way more patents every year than others. And what if historical data (economic, educational, scientific was used to extrapolate and predict what areas of the world most closely resemble those which have in the past fostered so much growth in new ideas, inventions, innovations. Using varied forecasting techniques predictions could be made on where money should be invested years before its too late too make 'lots' of money.

Taking a broader perspective you could attempt to predict where the next dictator or bloody riot would take place. You could also predict which Universities will pump out the best graduates each year by automatically updating the most current campus information and not simply what some tradition tells employers where to hire. I realize various attempts have been made with different types of outcome predictors- but compiling this information on a global scale constantly updated would be amazing. I think I should talked to some programmers, economists, and scientists from across the fields- this would be incredible.

Easy Friends

Since being at the United Nations in January, meeting people has been, well... let's say interesting. People always conciously or not calculate how much how time effort or thought they wish to devote towards a new aquientance they meet through a friend, at a party, social gathering or randomly on the street. In New York for most young college educated people the questioning goes something like:

1) Where are you from?
2) How long have you been here? and
3) What do you do?

This is the clincher for many in deciding whether than can really relate to this person, or have any interest at all with further association.
I've noticed that certain places seem to get people excited and they really seem to care about knowing you as more than a forgotten name, based simply off of whether what you do is exciting, lucrative, or otherwise intersting to them.
I've noticed the U.N more often than not fits the bill of prestigous and intriguing place for many people, and people want to be your friend.

JetBlue CEO voted out

I have basically loved the whole concept of JetBlue since the first time I flew on a commercial airline in 1995- 5 years before JetBlue made their first flight-. I always thought service could be more meaningful and the whole experience of flying should be fun. In Fall of 2003 I found out about JetBlue from a news special I saw in Business class, I was totally taken back. There was a certain excitement and enthusiasm about the flying with great service, nice seats and T.V's all standardized for a low cost. It was like the airline I had been imagining should exist.

Behind most of what JetBlue is today are many great planners, advertisers, and people who implemented the venture, but the most significant portion of what created JetBlue is the founder and now former CEO David Neeleman. His whole persona and track record convinced investors this idea would fly, and it has been largely very successful since its inception.

It's amazing how big ideas come to fruition. It makes you wonder what you are really capable of, and more importantly gives some inspiration to find out.

Pears are GREAT

Yesterday I bought some of the best pears I have ever tasted. So soft and juicy- with just the right 'pear taste'. Ripe pears are so good- It's really a shame that only a few species of pears are actually edible. I highly recommend pears.

True Reality

We live in reality. Or atleast the one 'we think' we are in. There is a varying but constant distance between:

1) The true reality

2) The reality we are cognizant of

3) The reality we hope for

and finally

4) The reality that will be

Friction generates as the differences among these four definitions of reality emerge.

The largest type of internal conflicts occur I believe when the true reality (1) collides (sometimes crashes) into the reality we have knowledge of and are cognizant (2) which may drastically alter (or shatter) the reality we hope for. We may feel so secure in what we know (2), and the real danger is when we arrogantly assume that our reality (2) is true reality (1). If we don't give place in our mind for more than what we know, we can hardly improve the reality we hope for(3), and limit our personal influence on true reality (1) and the reality that will be (4).

The most soul rattling occurance of these clashes occur between number 3 and 4 realities when the reality we hope for is extinguished by reality of what must unavoidably be.

For example most people hope to be healthy and live a relatively long and happy life. This can be shattered from discovering a health ailment or terminal illness or cancer in the younger portion of life.

So this really, really is reality, really.