Thursday, November 30, 2017

Looking Back

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Bonds. James Bonds.

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A recent conversation sparked a quest to determine who played James Bond and in which order.

I had forgotten a few of them but was surprised to learn that seven actors have had the role. (The second was a complete shock and may even be said to be a technicality. All of us can name Sean Connery.]

Here are the details. I'll list the names below in small print but before bouncing down to the answers, see if you can name the seven in order of their first appearance. 


1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.




[Sean Connery; David Niven; George Lazenby; Roger Moore; Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan; and Daniel Craig.]




First Paragraph

Antonio. In sooth I know not why I am so sad. 
It wearies me, you say it wearies you; 
But how I caught it, found it, or came by it,
What stuff 'tis made of, whereof it is born,
I am to learn;
And such a want-wit sadness makes of me
That I have much ado to know myself.

From The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare

To Understand the Spirit of the Times

A satellite view of the United States lighting up at night


If a space alien were to land and ask what could be studied to understand the current culture of the United States, among other things I'd recommend reading three novels by Tom Wolfe:
  • "The Bonfire of the Vanities"
  • "A Man in Full"
  • "Back to Blood"
[And to avoid the terrible film that was made of the first book.]

[Photo by NASA at Unsplash]

Quick Look

The trailer for "Disclosure."

Great Book Titles

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Quote of the Day

Tolerance is only complacence when it makes no distinction between right and wrong.

- Sarah Patton Boyle

Wednesday, November 29, 2017

Music Break

Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers: "Listen to Her Heart."

Crank it up.

In the Background

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Great Writers and Their Typewriters

Here's a post by FutureLawyer that is both interesting and revealing. 

Late at night, near the beaches of south Florida, when the parrots are snoozing and all of his smartwatches are charging, an attorney dons a Timex and heads for a remote room where a typewriter awaits.

Quick Look

The trailer for "Cloud Atlas."

Aargh: Office 365

The French should re-open the Devil's Island penal colony so the people responsible for Office 365 Outlook can be sent there.

Illustrators in Advertisements



Art Contrarian has the story.

Harassment Allegations Update

Garrison Keillor?

Quick Look

The trailer for "Sherlock Holmes."

The Gift of Reading

Old antique books in wooden shelves at the library

Wally Bock thanks Irwin Hoffman, Walter J. Black, and his parents for bringing reading into his life.

I can identify with his story. My parents stressed reading simply by having a lot of books in the house. Our encyclopedia set was so old that the entry on Adolf Hitler indicated that he was still alive but at least we had an encyclopedia along with non-fiction books and novels. 

My mother loved, memorized, and wrote poetry. My father was more inclined to read nonfiction although I recall a conversation with him where it was evident that he was a secret reader of Shakespeare.

An 8th grade teacher of mine - Mrs. Beluzzi - also increased the scope of my reading by loaning novels to me. The Book of the Month Club's history series for young readers was another inspiration.

One ally of the financially-strapped at that time was the Modern Library books. I still have editions that were purchased many years ago. It's nice to see that Modern Library is still around.

One odd item: Although I probably read more than the average person there is a constant awareness of the huge amount that remains to be read and studied.

Read Wally Bock's post. You may see yourself in it.

[Photo by Roman Kraft at Unsplash]

Harassment Allegations Update

NBC fired Matt Lauer.

When Routine Matters are Not Routine


There are truly routine matters which are anticipated and can be handled with a minimal amount of effort and then there are matters that are cloaked as routine but which consume so much time they can more accurately be described as special or customized.

If someone else has mislabeled them that can be irritating but often we are the culprit. We mentally labeled an item as routine and failed to recognize its intricacies.

It's a small example of how our use of words can be a form of self-deception.

[Photo by Alexander Milo at Unsplash]

The Twitter Fast

I said the other day that I've decided to go without Twitter until January 1, 2018. [Some of my blog posts automatically go to Twitter but that doesn't count.]

Update: I miss reading some people on Twitter but a plus - and this is a big plus - is the time that is saved. By New Year's Day I'll know if I really should go back or if time would be better spent on such life-enhancing activities as Esperanto and banjo lessons.

Quick Look

The trailer for "The Howling."

Great Book Titles

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Quote of the Day

Let's not get too full of ourselves. Let's leave space for God to come into the room.

- Quincy Jones

Tuesday, November 28, 2017

Get Out of That Chair

Jerry Lee Lewis is still moving and grooving. He uses a cane but put him in front of a piano and look at what happens.

[HT: Rick Miller]

Jacobson on The Bard

A brief monologue on Shakespeare by novelist Howard Jacobson.

The Incomparable Nicholas Bate

Many thanks to Nicholas Bate for his kindness and for the insight and inspiration that bring so many of us to his blog every single day.

Complexity


One climber making it to the top surrounded by clouds and snowy mountains

Plans and messages that are complicated possess a burden which may destroy any chance of success. If you have an idea that is complicated, watch out. It does necessarily need to be abandoned but it deserves scrutiny.

When we fall in love with an idea, it is easy to overlook just how complicated it may appear to others and how complicated it may in fact be. Our minds can easily glide over the swamps and ravines in order to imagine the view from the mountain top. 

Complexity can spark fear and resistance because it is harder to understand. When that happens people sense that they lack control. If you cannot provide a simple explanation of an idea or proposal, it may be that the audience members are not the only ones who do not have a grasp of the subject.


[Photo by Wynand van Poortvliet at Unsplash]

Quick Look

The trailer for "The Getting of Wisdom."

Great Book Titles

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Quote of the Day

No bird soars too high, if he soars with his own wings.

- William Blake

Monday, November 27, 2017

Christmas Decorations

Well, the decorations are up inside the White House but the Wade household probably won't begin decorating until this weekend.

This account of the Christmas traditions of various First Families is interesting. I didn't know of Theodore Roosevelt's aversion to Christmas trees but had heard how Franklin Roosevelt would read A Christmas Carol to his family on Christmas Eve.

My guess is that FDR condensed it a bit.

Musical Flash Back

Steve Allen introduces Henry Mancini who leads an extraordinary band performing the theme song from "Peter Gunn."

In the Background

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Truly outstanding.

First Paragraph

I'd never heard of Gordon Sandalwood until he walked up to my booth at State Bar & Grill and slid into the seat across from me.

- From Web of Deceit by Renee Pawlish

Bravery, Faith, and Perseverance

Ray Visotski at Mitigating Chaos has two extraordinary posts on what it's like for an older applicant to look for a job.

Be sure to read both parts. It will be very familiar to those who've been told they are "overqualified" for a position.

And yes, it has a happy ending.

Quick Look

The trailer for "Pieces of April."

Tradition!

Colored cookies with frosting in the middle, sitting in a bowl.

Regional and ethnic traditions can be fascinating. I had never heard of a "cookie table" at weddings until this column by Salena Zito but it sounds like a great idea.

[HT: Instapundit]


[Photo by Brigitte Tohm at Unsplash]

Monday is as Fresh and Colorful as a Frog or a New Index Card



Frog pondering the week

I have four important things to do today. Two can be done fairly quickly (a bold statement) and two will take some time.

A fifth project will also be worked on today but it probably won't be completed until Wednesday.

And that's not counting some B-level items that can be done in-between the bursts of activity on the others.

The bursts of activity will be on the front of my index card. The "in-betweens" will be on the reverse side.

Also on the front: What not to do.


[Photo by David Clode at Unsplash]

Quick Look

The trailer for "Mao's Last Dancer."

Great Book Titles

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Quote of the Day

We must all suffer one of two things: the pain of discipline or the pain of regret.

- Jim Rohn

Sunday, November 26, 2017

Saturday, November 25, 2017

Quick Look

The trailer for "Marshall."

A Visit to a Used Bookstore

The bottom of five weathered books stacked horizontally next to each other

There's a family-run used bookstore in the neighborhood north of the canal. The books are always well-organized and you can tell much effort is dedicated to keeping them so and the prices are more than reasonable. 

I wander about looking for some Thomas Wolfe but he's not there (perhaps he went home again) and so I search for a volume of James Thurber stories that I overlooked on the last visit. I've been telling myself that the Thurber wouldn't last because it was a great edition and yet there it is. I add it to some Dickens and "Stories I Tell to My Friends" by Dwight Eisenhower. The Eisenhower memoir may be one which I gave to the store years ago. It won't be the first time I've repurchased one of my books. You let one go and then you ask, "How could I have done that?"

Some writers are hard to find in used bookstores while others pack the shelves. My general strategy is to give special weight to books that are harder to find or which may just slip my mind. I violate that so often it can hardly be a strategy and yet it is an easy call to pick up a good book by an obscure author over a famous book by a literary superstar. The latter will always be around and won't be forgotten.

"The Wonderful Country" by Tom Lea is a wonderful book. I bought it for the second time a few months ago. I loaned my first copy to an old friend who lives on, and often across, the Mexican border and I haven't the heart to ask for it back. I'll read it again. It's one of those hard-to-find volumes.

On a shelf near the exit was a copy of Olivia Manning's "The Levant Trilogy." It looked lonely. If they'd had a copy of "The Balkan Trilogy" then both would have been snared. I believe they are the two best novels to come out of World War II and it is a crime that Olivia Manning isn't a household name. She's stunningly good.

They'll be on my Christmas list.


[Photo by Synd Wachs at Unsplash]

First Paragraph

She chose a seat in the back of the bus so as not to draw attention to herself, a girl just shy of sixteen who could have fit the description on any one of a hundred missing person posters: 5 FEET 7 INCHES, BROWN HAIR, BROWN EYES, LAST SEEN WEARING JEANS AND NAVY SWEATSHIRT. A girl with nails bitten to the quick and a silver stud in her nose, an army-green backpack wedged between her grubby sneakers. It contained a change of clothes, forty dollars in crumpled fives and ones, a pack of Winston Lights, and keys to an apartment on Flatbush Avenue, where at that moment a man lay in a pool of blood.

- From Stranger in Paradise by Eileen Goudge

Great Book Titles

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Quick Look

The trailer for "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri."

Quote of the Day

The best part of health is fine disposition.

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Friday, November 24, 2017

First Paragraph

As no lady or gentleman, with any claims to polite breeding, can possibly sympathise with the Chuzzlewit Family without being first assured of the extreme antiquity of the race, it is a great satisfaction to know that it undoubtedly descended in a direct line from Adam and Eve; and was, in the very earliest times, closely connected with the agricultural interest. If it should ever be urged by grudging and malicious persons, that a Chuzzlewit, in any period of the family history, displayed an overweening amount of family pride, surely the weakness will be considered not only pardonable but laudable, when the immense superiority of the house to the rest of mankind, in respect of this its ancient origin, is taken into account.

- From Martin Chuzzlewit by Charles Dickens

First CD of Christmas Season

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Presentation Skills

. . . At the invitation of the Italian department, the great poet Eugenio Montale came to town and sat in the Senior Common Room of Magdalene to be interviewed by the head of the department, Professor Limentani. The room was jammed with members and students of the Italian department plus a couple of hundred others who had all forced their way in to pay homage. Starved of oxygen, Montale sat there under his distinguished cap of silver hair being asked several questions by Professor Limentani. The Prof spoke in a voice that might have just been audible to anyone with an ear-trumpet who had been sitting in his lap. Tired after a long journey, Montale must have thought that to whisper at great length to a huge room full of strangers was an English national custom, like riding to hounds. He whispered too. About two hundred and fifty people all dying of nitrogen narcosis were in there for an hour struggling silently for position so that they could watch two Italian men of advanced years moving their lips. Not for the first time, the extent to which an academic organization could bungle a big event made me wonder if undergraduates got sufficient credit for the extra curricular things they accomplished.

- From May Week Was In June by Clive James

Quick Look

The trailer for "Breaking Glass." 

"The experience is shattering."

Perhaps, but the trailer is painful.

Car Style as Art



Car Style Critic has the details.

True


"There is no exception to the rule that every rule has an exception."

- James Thurber


[Photo by Dustin Lee at Unsplash]

Pre-New Year's Resolutions



The new year approaches. Instead of assembling a list of resolutions for 2018, how about setting some goals to be completed before the end of 2017?

We still have time for some remarkable stuff.

Watch this space.

"Red Lines, Banalities, and Grumpy Middle Aged Men"


Here is a reason why so many of us read David Kanigan's excellent blog.

Being a punctuality freak, I especially enjoyed this post.


[Photo by Tristan Gassert at Unsplash]

A Twitter of a Test


Tweet Tweet

On Thanksgiving I decided to boycott Twitter until January 1, 2018.

It is just an experiment to see if Twitter avoidance makes any noticeable change in my life.

If the change is significantly positive, then the boycott will continue.


[Photo by Francisco Moreno at Unsplash]

Quote of the Day

Gray skies are just clouds passing over.

- Duke Ellington

Thursday, November 23, 2017

Distracted by Tinsel?

We are getting close to the Festivus season.

Be prepared to air your grievances.

Some Music for Thanksgiving



Start with some Arriaga and then some Handel.


[Photo by Annie Spratt at Unsplash]

Happy Thanksgiving!



"Countless Victorian-era engravings notwithstanding, the Pilgrims did not spend the day sitting around a long table draped with a white linen cloth, clasping each other's hands in prayer as a few curious Indians looked on. Instead of an English affair, the First Thanksgiving soon became an overwhelmingly Native celebration when Massasoit and a hundred Pokanokets (more than twice the entire English population of Plymouth) arrived at the settlement with five freshly killed deer. Even if all the Pilgrims' furniture was brought out into the sunshine, most of the celebration stood, squatted, or sat on the ground as they clustered around outdoor fires, where the deer and birds turned on wooden spits and where portages - stews into which varieties of meats and vegetables were thrown - simmered invitingly."

- From Mayflower by Nathaniel Philbrick


[Photo by Ruth Caron at Unsplash]

Quote of the Day

We are all in the same boat in a stormy sea, and we owe each other a terrible loyalty.

- G. K. Chesterton

Wednesday, November 22, 2017

Quick Look

The trailer for "Sibling Rivalry."

Wild Turkey

Here's a short film by Matthew McConaughey about an extraordinary American business.

Thanksgiving's Pie Choices


It is strange how pie dominates the dessert menu at Thanksgiving.

Cake, which in many respects is far superior, is rarely seen unless it is cheesecake, which is really a pie with a false passport. 

Of course, pie has powerful advocates and the only dessert debate on Thanksgiving is over which type of pie should be served. [The cake lobby has to be satisfied with its dominance of the birthday market. Whoever heard of a birthday pie?]

An old friend of mine recently declared a strong preference for strawberry rhubarb pie, a choice which has made me question his sanity and our friendship. Pumpkin, of course, is a safe and noble choice as is pecan but more exotic options are gaining in popularity. French Silk, a chocolate pie, is always nice to have on hand lest the chocolate addicts suffer withdrawal and I suspect many a silent cake-lover snares a slice.

Which ones am I missing?


[Photo by Donna at Unsplash]

Quick Look

The trailer for "Doomsday."

So bad, it's bad.

"Over the River and Through the Woods"

Sung by students at the Foote School.

Great job.

Perspective and Wisdom

Looking down a massive spiral staircase while people climb up in the Vatican Museums

Amid the craziness of the work week, pay a visit to The Sovereign Professional.


[Photo by Jonathan Singer at Unsplash]

Lenny Bruce, Brandeis, and Being Uncomfortable

I didn’t go to college. I went to the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Clown College, but that was just a trade school for fools. When I was 18, I chose to eat fire, juggle, do magic, make jokes, and ruin my voice forever rather than pursue a higher education.

Read the rest of Penn Jillette's USA Today essay here.

Great Book Titles

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Quick Look

The trailer for "Memoirs of a Geisha."

Quote of the Day

Our culture is in the grip of more than a few disturbing habits. Among them: defining people by their mistakes, hating our ideological enemies, and adopting grandiose ideas about our own importance. We treat people in the public eye as if their decision to put themselves on television or share their ideas online meant that we no longer have an obligation to treat them humanely. After all, if they want better treatment, all they have to do is change jobs.

- David French

Tuesday, November 21, 2017

Song of the Day

Dwight Yoakam: "Good Time Charlie's Got the Blues."

Art Break: Roubtzoff


Art Contrarian looks at the work of Alexandre Roubtzoff.

Dramatic Footage

The Weather Channel planned to cover the implosion of the Georgia Dome.

But their planning only went so far.

First Paragraph

In 1937, a British literary critic named Cyril Connolly sat down to write a book around an unusual question: How does an author create something that lasts for ten years? Connolly's view was that the mark of literary greatness lay in standing the test of time. With the specter of world war looming on the horizon, the idea of anything surviving in an uncertain future had a kind of poignancy and meaning to it.

- From Perennial Seller: The Art of Making and Marketing Work That Lasts by Ryan Holiday

Most Agreeable

An open book on a glossy wooden surface near a window

The Hammock Papers reveals the most agreeable way of ignoring life.


[Photo by Ilya Ilyukhin at Unsplash]

Got Harassment Prevention Training?

An elegant conference room with two whiteboards, black tables and white chairs

Given the surge of publicity regarding harassment cases, there is increased interest in my Harassment Prevention workshop as well as my briefings on tactful communication. 

If you would like information on these programs, email me at michael@execupunditconsulting.com. 

I've taught workshops in 48 states and Puerto Rico and am more than willing to come to your location.

Your team will get practical information that is easy to understand and which can be put to immediate use.

Remember the adage: "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."


[Photo by Breather at Unsplash]

Quick Look

The trailer for "Sense and Sensibility."

Great Book Titles

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Quote of the Day

When we yell at our car or our coffee machine, it's fine because they're just mechanical appliances. So when we yell at a website or a company, we forget that it's not an appliance but a person that's affected.

- Derek Sivers

Monday, November 20, 2017

Health Food Update



The Pioneer Woman shows how to make her favorite turkey brine

If you are not familiar with the process, read her vivid description.

First Paragraph

Engel's knees hurt. This was the first time he'd been inside a church in twelve years, and he wasn't used to it any more. He'd come in here, all unknowing, and the first thing he knew he was on his knees on this hard wooden plank, and pretty soon the kneecaps had started burning, and then shooting pains had developed up and down the legs, and by now he was almost sure something was broken down there and he'd never walk again.

- From The Busy Body by Donald E. Westlake

Found on the Internet

"Don't bother. Didn't like it."

- The entire review of a Donald Westlake novel. [I promptly bought the novel.]

Quick Look

The trailer for "Game Night."

Lost in the What Ifs

A sunlight shining down on an autumn evening over a forest path

Inc.: Wanda Thibodeaux gets advice from an unexpected source on how to reduce worry.


[Photo by Johannes Plenio at Unsplash]

A Civilizational Nervous Breakdown?

Glenn Harlan Reynolds on overcoming the effects of social media.

Do we look into the abyss?

Mayflower Courage



. . . By sailing to the New World, they hoped to re-create the English village life they so dearly missed while remaining beyond the meddlesome reach of King James and his bishops.

It was a stunningly audacious proposition. With the exception of Jamestown, all other attempts to establish a permanent English settlement on the North American continent had so far failed. And Jamestown, founded in 1607, could hardly be counted a success. During the first year, 70 of 108 settlers had died. The following winter came the "starving time," when 440 of the 500 settlers were buried in just six months. As it turned out, the most lethal days in Jamestown were yet to come. Between 1619 and 1622, the Virginia Company would send close to 3,600 settlers to the colony; over that three-year period, 3,000 would die.

- From Mayflower: A Story of Courage, Community, and War by Nathaniel Philbrick



[Photo by David Kovalenko at Unsplash]

Great Book Titles

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Quick Look

The trailer for "The New World."

Quote of the Day

Gratitude is the heart's memory.

- French proverb

Sunday, November 19, 2017

10 Rules for Thanksgiving

I wrote this post several years ago and it is now an Execupundit tradition:

  1. Thou shalt not discuss politics at the dinner. There is next to no chance that you'll convert anyone and any hard feelings that are generated may last long after the pumpkin pie is finished. Why spoil a good meal?

  2. Thou shalt limit discussion of The Big Game. This is mainly directed at the men who choose to argue plays, records, and coaches while their wives stare longingly at the silverware. The sharp silverware.

  3. Thou shalt say nice things about every dish. Including the bizarre one with Jello and marshmallows.

  4. Thou shalt be especially kind to anyone who may feel left out. Some Thanksgiving guests are tag-alongs or, as we say in the business world, "new to the organization." Make a point of drawing them in.

  5. Thou shalt be wary of gossip. After all, do you know what they say when you leave the room? Remember the old saying: All of the brothers are valiant and all of the sisters are virtuous.

  6. Thou shalt not hog the white or dark meat. We know you're on Atkins but that's no excuse.

  7. Thou shalt think mightily before going back for seconds. Especially if that means waddling back for seconds.

  8. Thou shalt not get drunk. Strong drink improves neither your wit nor your discretion. Give everyone else a gift by remaining sober.

  9. Thou shalt be cheerful. This is not a therapy session. This is not the moment to recount all of the mistakes in your life or to get back at Uncle Bo for the wisecrack he made at your high school graduation. This is a time for Rule #10.

  10. Thou shalt be thankful. You're above ground and functioning in an extraordinary place at an extraordinary time. Many people paid a very heavy price (and I'm not talking about groceries) to give you this day. Take some time to think of them and to express gratitude to your friends and relatives. Above all, give special thanks to the divine power who blesses you in innumerable ways.

Find Something Beautiful Today

Orange sand and rock formations in a desert landscape



[Photo by Helene Blanquet at Unsplash]

Saturday, November 18, 2017

Quick Look

The trailer for "Ghost World."

First Paragraph

Perhaps I had better begin by explaining that I think of myself as a composer of music and not as a writer about music. This distinction may not seem important to you, especially when I admit to having published several books on the subject. But to me the distinction is paramount because I know that if I were a writer I would be bubbling over with word-ideas about the art I practice, instead of which my mind - and not my mind only but my whole physical being - vibrates to the stimulus of sound waves produced by instruments sounding alone or together. Why this is so I cannot tell you, but I can assure you it is so. Remembering then that I am primarily a composer and not a writer, I shall examine my subject mostly from the composer's standpoint in order to share with others, in so far as that is possible, the varied pleasures to be derived from experiencing music as an art.

- From Copland On Music by Aaron Copland

Skills of a Parent



See the complete story at Cultural Offering.

Well played.

She Should Wear "Crocs" to the Next Meeting

Based on this story alone, I am already favorably impressed by the new editor-in-chief at Vanity Fair.

Quick Look

The trailer for "Mudbound."

Advice for Life


From 2013: Ink Tank provides some memorable pieces of advice.



[Photo by Almos Bechtold at Unsplash]

Finding the Problem



It begins with a tour of an imaginary room. Scattered about the room are Problems A through Z. 


The initial topic of discussion may be Problem A because it appears to require prompt action but, as details emerge, Problems Q and Z, who'd been relegated to a corner, rise and begin to demand attention. 

And as they get closer, Problem A doesn't look that bad.


[Photo by Breather at Unsplash]

Quick Look

The trailer for "Manifesto."

Highly Recommended

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Quote of the Day

Never cut what you can untie.

- Joseph Joubert

Friday, November 17, 2017

Quick Look

The trailer for "Lady Bird."

On Relationships


Anderson Layman's Blog has an observation by Eric Barker on the importance of relationships.

It is too easy to get wrapped up in moving from project to project and miss the relationships behind the projects. 

Some circumstances are extraordinary. I recall working in a job that largely dealt with investigations. With the clarity of hindsight, I can now see that we were in the organization but not of it. Due to a need to maintain objectivity, we couldn't socialize with people from other departments as much as one normally would. Due to the lack of a clear internal career track, it was the sort of work which probably should have been outsourced. 

As it stood, we were always visitors at a party who were expected to put in an appearance, then leave.


[Photo by Nitish Meena at Unsplash]

Thanksgiving Approaches



"You get married, a child is born or not born, in the middle of the night there is a knocking at the door, on the way home through the park you see a man feeding pigeons, all the tests come in negative and the doctor gives you back your life again: incident follows incident helter-skelter leading apparently nowhere, but then once in a while there is the suggestion of purpose, meaning, direction, the suggestion of plot, the suggestion that, however clumsily, your life is trying to tell you something, take you somewhere."

- Frederick Buechner, Listening to Your Life



[Photo by Ksenia Makagonova at Unsplash]

The Adversarial Culture

Go back and look at some of the current affairs interview programs from the Fifties and Sixties and examine the tone. No shouting or screaming. If there were any assertions that the other side was evil then they were certainly rare.

Once those programs got away from a level of discourse that is healthy for the whole and instead adopted one which seeks only to score, in a highly adversarial manner, points for one side, we entered a new realm.

And has the social media culture made the situation better or worse?

Great Book Titles

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Quick Look

The trailer for "Trash."

Quote of the Day

Journalism is about covering important stories. With a pillow, until they stop moving.

- David Burge

Thursday, November 16, 2017

Found on the Internet

An eloquent dissent:

"Then your a moran."

Toast and Bunga Bunga

Roy Moore and  Al Franken are probably finished but in Italy we may be seeing the return of Mr. Bunga Bunga.

Quick Look

The trailer for "Brighton Beach Memoirs."

Enjoying the Fall Colors

Snowmanflorida

Disclaimer: Not a photo of FutureLawyer

It's not even Thanksgiving but FutureLawyer - Our Man on the Beach in South Florida - is already getting in the mood.

"Your Ultimate Guide to Luxury Bus Travel"

Wanderu

As airports become crazier and more of a hassle, the idea of a riding in an ultra-comfortable bus becomes far more attractive. [Thinking of all the reading you could do and the scenery you could notice.]

Wanderu is a site with information on various luxury bus lines. 

Since train connections aren't what they used to be, a nice bus might be just the ticket.

Art Break: Marsh


Art Contrarian analyzes Reginald Marsh's "Wonderland Circus, Sideshow: Coney Island."

Underwhelmed

Does the 2019 Corvette ZR1 even look like a Corvette?

When Prime Time Had Morality Tales

Image result for gunsmoke poster amazon

The TV westerns of the Fifties and Sixties were morality tales. They had clear distinctions between good and evil and the good usually if not always won. Here's a partial list:

Bat Masterson, Bonanza, Broken Arrow, Boots and Saddles, Cheyenne, The Cisco Kid, Death Valley Days, Gunsmoke, Have Gun Will Travel, High Chapparal, Wyatt Earp, Maverick, Rawhide, The Rebel, The Rifleman, Rin Tin Tin, Tales of Wells Fargo, Texas John Slaughter, Wagon Train, and Wanted Dead or Alive.

Were many of them hokey? Sure. Did they gloss over things? Absolutely. [Miss Kitty's occupation in Gunsmoke was left unexplored.] But I think we lost something valuable when many of those programs left the air.

As Michael Kelly, the late, great, editor of The Atlantic put it, at one point we went from being square to being cool.

Quick Look

The trailer for "The Commuter."

Great Book Titles

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