First Favorite Song

OK, what was your first ever favorite song on the radio?  The one you just couldn't get enough of, the one you of course went out and bought the 45 single of?...

Mine was "Rock the Casbah" by The Clash.  My real introduction into the world of popular music came in the fall of 1982.  The Red Sox, Bruins, Celtics and Patriots weren't doing it enough for me anymore, and I was still at the time way too shy with girls.  Never a big TV person, I turned to FM radio -- specifically 103.3 WEEI FM Boston.  That was the big Top 40 radio station at that time.  That riveting sounding guitar/piano intro to "Rock the Casbah", Joe Strummer's forceful and energetic voice thrusts -- and that crazy echo chamber at the end of the second verse!  Incidentally, of the two versions of the song that got radio airplay, the one with the echo chamber was the only one I liked.

So thank you is in order to The Clash -- whatever else you were, you were my first stop along the path of a lifelong love and devotion to contemporary music.

The Boomer

This week, one of the first baseball players I followed intently, passed away.  George Scott, aka "The Boomer" died on Sunday in his home of Greenville, MI.  According to Gordon Edes of ESPNBoston.com, he weighed right around 400 lbs. at the time of his death.  Can't say that I'm surprised.

My first knowledge of Scott, actually came before I even knew he was (back) with the Red Sox.  When I began collecting baseball cards around 1976/77, I remember getting his 1977 Topps card in a pack.  Don't know what it's like today, but back then, unless a player got traded or signed as a free agent with another club before around 11/15 in the offseason, that player automatically showed up in the following year's set as a member of the team he played with the previous season.  Scott, although starting his career with the Red Sox, played for five seasons with the Brewers, then was sent back to Boston after the 1976 season in the deal that sent him and Bernie Carbo in exchange for Cecil Cooper.  I did not even know he was with the Red Sox until I went to my first game in May of '77 and saw that he was in the lineup for the us (he doubled and scored a run as a part of a 4-run 9th inning rally, come from behind win for the Sox that day).

Breakfast

I ended up eating such a full breakfast after shachrit services this morning, I'm still no where near hungry for lunch.  Of course, all the water I've been drinking (to soak up all of that salty salmon, I'm sure), has been a big part of the appetite suppressant.

2 days to go til the July 31st trade deadline, and we find the Red Sox in first place in the American League East.  On my way to the beach yesterday, I had the pleasure of listening on satellite radio to them build up a 3-0 lead in the first three innings, on their way to a 5-0 shutout win.  I arrived at the beach, and stayed in the car just long enough to hear the call (on Baltimore's radio station) of Big Papi's two-run shot (part of what turned out to be a 4-hit afternoon for him).

I am the Table Topics Master for tonight's Toastmasters Meeting.  The topic I chose?  Of course, baseball.  Going to get my first look ever at Dodger Stadium in a couple of weeks.

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea

Have finally picked it up and started reading it after all these years.  33 years ago in 6th grade, I got ahold of the abridged children's version of it, and read it for an oral book report.  The next year, I was due to give another oral book report, and reread it (for some reason or other, the teacher never ended up assigning us the report).  So I've always know the basic premise of the story.

Never read through Moby Dick either.  I once picked it up around that same time, got to the part where they caught the whale and served up all the meat of it to the crew, then never returned to it.  Of course, I hadn't read either The Great Gatsby or Catcher in the Rye until about 10 and five years ago respectively.

At some point, I'd also like to check out Paris in the Twentieth Century, the Jules Verne novel that never got published until almost 20 years ago.

Newman

Being a young adult throughout the 90's, I was, of course (despite going through most of it as I am now, sans TV), a huge Seinfeld fan.  My favorite character on the show was none other than..........NEWMAN!! (Hello, NEW-man!!!)  But not stand-alone Newman.  Only when he was interacting in some way with Jerry - and you could just feel the disdain those two had for each other, especially Jerry over Newman...hilarious stuff!

One of my favorite scenes involving those two was in the Kenny Rogers Roaster episode, when Jerry catches Newman smuggling an order of it to Kramer's place after Kramer had sworn off of it because he had become addicted.  When Newman tries to pass off the side order of broccoli in the bag as his own, Jerry calls him out by saying, "you wouldn't eat broccoli if it was deep-fried, then dipped in chocolate!"

That got me to thinking -- what about deep-frying/chocolate dipping, all different sorts of food that many people in general can't stand?...Brussels sprouts?...lima beans?...

Shabbat Shalom

Tokyo Pop

Very excited that I am on slate next month to interview someone who worked as an extra in one of my favorite cult films of the 1980's Tokyo Pop.

Finished Seth Godin's book the other day The Icarus Deception.  I emailed him a question about it yesterday - and got a response!  Basically, I asked whether he thought that it was the scare tactics of Corporate America that kept people in tow, or if just some people are naturally more inclined to be followers rather than leaders.  His answer was that he thought it was both, but it depended on what was the culture (of the organization, I figure is what he was referring to).

Still hard to believe as a somewhat old-school East coast hockey fan, that the Stanley Cup has actually found its way here to Southern California a couple of times over the last several years.

Quality Movement of the 90's

Anyone remember the big quality movement in business that began back in the 90's?  This was basically the precursor of today's Six Sigma (which I admit to knowing almost nothing about).

I was at the forefront of this movement -- and from about 1992-96, pretty much made a short career out of it.  Aside from the fact that once I found out how much the whole thing was involved in numbers, there was something else that happened that exposed its flaw.

In 1995, I remember attending a Service Quality conference being given in Baltimore by the American Society for Quality (then the American Society for Quality Control), of which I was a prominent member and held a chair position for my local chapter.  In it, I attended a seminar given by a woman who had this story:  She was from Connecticut, and lived near a small local hamburger stand that had apparently gained quite a cult following throughout the area and the state, for that manner.  The name of it I remember she said was Pilot Burger.  According to her, the stand just served darn good hamburgers.  She said that when you went there, you were greeted by a sign that said, "If you want it your way, go to Burger King".  Her talk began after this story with her saying, "that's fine for that little hamburger stand out in the middle of nowhere Connecticut.  But, realize this -- they are never going to achieve the mass global appeal of a franchise conglomerate like Burger King."

I don't know about you, but I almost immediately realized the problem with this thinking.  The service quality movement said in effect, it's the customers who determine what is good based on their purchasing preferences.  OK, but if the mass appeal churns out more Burger Kings, that's not good at all for society in the long run.

I could easily continue to write about this for another hour or two.  Any comments?

Inspire Me Culturally Interview with Professional Speaker, Trainer, Author and Productivity Expert Hugh Culver

Another killer interview I conducted last week with keynote speaker and owner of Expert's Enterprise Hugh Culver:

Inspire Me Culturally Interview with Hugh Culver 7/17/2013:

A highly sought after keynote speaker and corporate trainer, Hugh D. Culver is an Ironman Competitor, Mountain Climber, 10 time Marathoner and successful businessman. His powerful keynote presentations and training programs are thoroughly researched, content-rich and delivered with a passion for creating lasting change in audience’s lives.

Hugh’s humor and insights will entertain and educate your audience to the powerful choices that are always available in their work and their lives. His programs focus on Leadership, Motivation and Inspiration, Conflict Management, Time Management, and Personal Leadership in the workplace. Since 1991 Hugh has presented his special blend of street smarts, humor and passion to over 450 organizations, including: Imperial Oil, Royal Bank of Canada, Sun Rype Products, Telus, Red Cross, KPMG as well as three universities and four colleges.

Hugh has an MBA from Simon Fraser University, is a CSP (Certified Speaking Professional, one of 40 in Canada) and CFP (Certified Facilitation Professional, one of 88 in Canada).

OH: What exactly is an “expert community”?

HC: It’s actually quite a new phenomenon.  18 years ago when we first started on it, we didn’t use that term, but rather called it simply “expertise”.  An expert community captures a lot of different people…and an expert is paid by other people so that they can learn how to help and serve their own customer base.

OH: I like when you talk about having a “hungry market”.  The analogy that comes to mind is the one about fish not liking lasagna.  It doesn’t matter how mean a lasagna you make, if that’s what you put on your hook, you’re not going to catch anything.  They prefer worms.  Thoughts?

HC: When people come to me with an idea for their business, there are always 3 questions we need to address:

1)      Is there a need for that product?

2)      Do other people recognize that need?

3)      Are those people hungry for it?

A good example of a need that most people recognize but many are not hungry for is wanting to get in shape.  The need is there, most people recognize that need, but how many are really ready to commit themselves to doing what it takes in order to accomplish that goal?

Another example is someone who wants to write a book.  Where is the proof that people are already buying a book about that topic or something near it?  If you don’t know this piece of information, you’d better find out, and if the answer is yes…where are they buying it?  I met with a friend today who’s a quadriplegic who wants to write a book.  My advice to him was not to write about what it’s like being a quadriplegic, but rather, what’s been his journey since becoming a quadriplegic 10 years ago.  That is what’s going to catch people’s interest. 

An even more subtle example is a woman I’m helping who wants to be a professional organizer.  What I’m doing with her is to help her understand that that’s not a hungry audience.  It’s just too expensive to go and find the few people willing to pay $90/hour to get their closet space organized.  As a speaker too, that’s just not an audience.  What I asked her was, what about clutter?  Her challenge is to get away from talking about physical clutter, and get deeper and talk more about spiritual clutter.  This is why most people have physical clutter in their houses – their mind, spirit and heart are already filled with it.  That is what interests people and makes them hungry for more.

OH: How do you “find” the experts?

HC: A number of things work really well.  Webinars, blog posts, and podcasts work best.  And it’s always best to go to an audience with the most urgent need.

OH: What to you are the main differences between an entrepreneur and a “wantrapreneur”?

HC: An entrepreneur takes the risks without any certainty of their success.  A wantrapreneur may talk about creating things, but they will not take the necessary risks.  I was recently listening to an interview with Jay Baer.  One of the things he said is we need to all get away from being “hunters” and become “farmers”.  He also talked a lot about the need for successful entrepreneurs to get more eyeballs watching them.  One of the things that really helps is if you just enjoy helping people – without expecting something in return.

OH: I’m somebody who loves to find free stuff on the Internet.  What does it take to turn somebody like me, who often will look at an article or hear a podcast, say “oh, that’s interesting”, into a person who’s light gets turned on and says “I see value in that, and I’m willing to pay for it”?

HC: That’s the ultimate question!  What I’ve found consistently is that if I can help someone out – that’s when they become a loyal fan.  If I respond to someone personally when I’m contacted, we find that actually works.  What absolutely do not work are broadcasts.  Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook – they’re not 1x1 contacts.  What I like is texting, emailing…basically any kind of personal contact.  Always be looking for ways to make that type of contact.

OH: One of the things you talk about that really resonates with me is getting “stuff up on your calendar”.  My own personal example today has been preparing for this interview, along with another one I did earlier in the day.  Can you talk about how you get your clients to take this step and execute it?  I’m sure it’s hard for some “free-thinking experts”.

HC: Actually, what we are striving for with our clients is for them to get up to an annual calendar.  If you can get yourself up to making an annual plan on your calendar, you’ll be much more proactive. 

As an example, I know there are nine months out of the year that are best to do business.   If you take those nine months and look at them carefully, you’ll find there are really only 37 open client dates available during that time.  How much time do you think you actually have?  My goal is to get my clients to start thinking of time scarcity and create a sense of urgency – to themselves and to their clients.

OH: One of your ideas I’ve already used to my benefit is the one about dealing with procrastination, and making the reward for getting a task done more worthy than putting it off.  Would you explain it a little further?

HC: It wasn’t my idea, but rather it came from research data conducted at MIT.  It comes down to the response, the execution, and the reward.  A common example of a task rarely ever executed is the person who says “I want to write a book”.  The reward for this person is in the “want”, not in the execution.  The idea is that if I want to change a habit in my life, I need to ask – what is going to be the reward if I do so?

(Note: Hugh explains this concept thoroughly in the following webinar):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53haS_4HRu8&feature=c4-overview-vl&list=PL0L4RrTFH5v9uIwK_6-CBXjxEKnFGJszu

OH: How can people best get ahold of you?

HC: Best way is through my website at http://expertsenterprise.com/

OH: Thanks so much for your time today, Hugh.

HC: Thank you, Ovadia.

Inspire Me Culturally Interview with Best-Selling Author Bob Burg

Check out this amazing interview I conducted last week with best-selling co-author of The Go-Giver and acclaimed speaker Bob Burg:

       
                      

Inspire Me Culturally Interview with Bob Burg 7/17/2013:

Can a subtle shift in focus really make that big of a difference in your business and income? And, when combining this shift in focus with five proven Laws of Success, can your business really become a lot more fun; a lot less stressful; a lot more profitable; and much more beneficial to your clients?

Our guest says, “Absolutely, yes!”

Bob Burg is a sought-after speaker at corporate conventions and for entrepreneurial events. He regularly addresses audiences ranging in size from 50 to 16,000 — sharing the platform with notables including today’s top thought leaders, broadcast personalities, Olympic athletes and political leaders including a former United States President.

Although for years he was best known for his book Endless Referrals, over the past few years it’s his business parable, The Go-Giver (coauthored with John David Mann) that has captured the heart and imagination of his readers.

It shot to #6 on The Wall Street Journal’s Business Bestsellers list just three weeks after its release and reached #9 on BusinessWeek. It’s been translated into 21 languages. It is his fourth book to sell over 250,000 copies.

Bob is an advocate, supporter and defender of the Free Enterprise system, believing that the amount of money one makes is directly proportional to how many people they serve. He is a founding board member of Club 100, a charitable organization focused on helping underprivileged local area youths. A lover of animals, he is a past member of the Board of Directors for Safe Harbor, which is the Humane Society of Jupiter, Florida.

OH: Do the 5 Laws hold across all cultures?  Have you found any cultures more or less accepting of it?

BB: That’s a great question.  What it really boils down to what we are asking is: how different or alike are most people?  What many people advocate is that since markets and cultures around the world are different, it must mean that people are also different.  My experience has been that that’s really not the case.  The Go-Giver principle will work wherever there is a free-market economy.  What the principle says in effect is that it is a shift from an “I” or “me” focus to an “other” focus.

In a market economy, people want to buy from you if they perceive value in what you have to offer them.  To give you an example, two years ago I spoke right outside of Beijing.  There were translators in 12 different languages, and I did a short Q&A session after my talk, which I don’t always get to do.  What I found was that, the people in the audience had all of the same questions, the same answers, the same fears, and the same objections as other people with whom I’ve talked.  Before I spoke to this audience, I had studied the Pimsleur language course in Mandarin.  The first minute of my talk, I gave entirely in Mandarin.  It’s because I wanted to show them respect, and for me that’s Law # 3 [Law of Influence] in essence when you come right down to it.

OH: The last time I read a book on business that touched me at a core level like this was 20 years ago when I was first starting out.  That book was The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, by Stephen Covey, of blessed memory.  Did you ever have the chance to meet Dr. Covey, and do you think any of your ideas were influenced by his teachings?

BB: I actually once shared a platform with Dr. Covey at a conference 10 years ago.  He was the keynote speaker, and I followed him right after.  Unfortunately because he had to leave right afterwards, I never did actually meet him.  However, I have gotten to know his son Stephen M.R. Covey, Jr.  He’s written two excellent books:  The Speed of Trust and Smart Trust.  Dr. Covey’s books and teachings have certainly made it into my writings.

OH: I’m 45, and a bit more seasoned than Joe.  Do the 5 laws apply to me and my age bracket just as readily as they do to Joe’s?

BB: Absolutely, yes.  These laws are so across the board that they would transcend any age.  Look at Ray Kroc.  He was 55 when he found a way of taking the McDonalds brothers’ system and using it to touch the lives of many, many people.

OH: Personally, I think that opponents of a purely capitalist system tend to lose sight of the fact that the system is based not on exploiting the worker, but rather on service – providing exceptional value towards the customer.  Would you say that in essence, that’s what your true message really is?

BB: Yes.  Our message is the message of free markets – which honors the natural inclination of human beings.  Capitalism and free enterprise says that to the degree you provide value is the degree you’ll be rewarded.  That doesn’t work in a centrally-planned, non-market economy.  In a free-market economy, even the poor are better off.  The essence of a free market exchange is that both parties come away from the transaction better off than they were before the transaction, creating a bigger pie for all…unlike a non-market economy with a fixed pie.

The thing is, is that people with an anti-capitalist stance have usually never studied it.  People often mistake cronyism for capitalism.  It really bothers me when people use the term “crony capitalism”.  Crony capitalism means that companies and special interests, through their lobby and donations, have bought whatever it is they want, and that’s not freedom.

OH: I once went on a trip throughout Eastern Europe in 1992.  This was just a few years after the fall of communism.  On my trip, I visited a friend of mine in Hungary who was stationed there in the Peace Corps.  He explained once about how he would give talks to people in the government there about the essence of a market economy, and how profits could benefit everyone.  After a lengthy talk, the people in his audience would simply say – “It all sounds great – but profits are bad”.

BB: That’s what happens when people make their decisions based on emotions and what they’ve been taught all their lives.  In the Talmud, it talks about who is mighty – the one who can control his emotions.  When you make your decisions based on your emotions, you’re being controlled by them.

OH: Ultimately, what do you think is the reason for this book’s huge success and its ringing message?  Do you think we’re in a time period where we’re just ripe for it?

BB: A couple of things happened.  One was that it gave people the permission to be a mensch – to do what’s good and still make money.  All of our upbringing, through negative media stereotypes, taught us all the negative aspects of money. 

My belief is that most people really are good people who like to feel they are making a difference.  And most people will try to sell only what it is they truly believe in.  This book said: you can be a good human being…and still be successful in business.  It’s told in a story form, but there really is nothing new in what’s being told.  In an economy such as the one we’ve been in, now is the time to find ways of creating more value – and that’s not intuitive – it’s even a little counterintuitive to what we’ve been taught.

The other reason the book hit hard was that a lot of people were already doing what’s discussed in it when the book came out.  When it first came out, I heard from countless people (and a lot of them were good leaders), was that they were already applying the principles described in the book when they started their businesses, though they hadn’t yet read it.

OH: Briefly define the difference between a Go-Giver, a Go-Getter, and a Go-Taker.

BB: A Go-Giver understands the shift of focus from “I” or “me” to “you” or “other” and follows the 5 Laws of Stratospheric Success.  A Go-Getter (which is also a good thing) takes action.  A Go-Taker is very “I” or “me” focused; feels entitled to take, take, take; and is not focused on providing value.

Adam Grant, whose interview with me you can hear on my blog site at http://www.burg.com/2013/04/give-and-take-an-interview-with-adam-grant/, wrote an excellent book called Give and Take.  In it, he discusses – along with several other important concepts – the difference between a successful giver (what we would call a Go-Giver) and an unsuccessful one.  He did a terrific job!

OH: Tell us if you would a little about what you term “Elements of Value”, and how these can help anyone determine their true value, especially if they have less than normal self-esteem, which can become rampant in a downtrodden economy such as this.

BB: There are actually two concepts here.  The first, Elements of Value, are the ways to communicate the value you provide. 

But before that, we need to talk about Embracing Your Value – which means understanding what you personally bring to the table, as well as your products.  The 5 ways we talk about doing that are:

1)      Excellence – There is no substitute for doing things well with excellence.  It could even include such things as cleanliness.

2)      Consistency – This is key because often people have good intentions, but are inconsistent in their follow-through.

3)      Attention – It means asking questions, or as Dr. Covey put it: “Seeking First to Understand”.

4)      Empathy – The interesting thing about empathy is that people are all different, and you cannot always truly put yourself in their shoes because you have not experienced anything like what they have.  But, even if you don’t understand what they’re feeling, you can still understand that they are feeling something (good, bad, etc.). 

 

In my new book Adversaries to Allies, coming out in October, I tell a story about how I recently had to go to a blood lab, and was waiting in the waiting room.  An angry woman went up to the lady at the front desk and said “You lost my test results, which is why I’m back here.  If this ever happens again, I’m through with this place.”  The woman at the front desk said to her in a cold, polite voice: “Please take a seat and we’ll be right with you”.  All the patient needed at that moment was a little empathy – somebody to say, “I understand, and I’m so sorry about this”.

 

5)      Appreciation – people do need to feel appreciated.  It’s that simple.

When we talk about Elements of Value, you are looking to find out the needs of your clients – and oftentimes they are a lot different than what you think they are.  As Debra Davenport says in the book, “what does it mean to provide value?”  You have to determine what are in fact, your values.

OH: Of the 5 laws, the one that resonated for me personally is the Law of Authenticity.  Could we get the Cliff Notes version of Debra Davenport’s story, and what it takes to be your true, authentic, genuine self, which is not an easy thing for most people?

BB: Debra had never been in formal sales before.  She learned that as important as the skills are, regardless of your field (just as in order to be a doctor you need a particular skill set, so the same goes for sales), it’s all for naught if you don’t come at it from your true authentic core.  Gandhi once said that the definition of integrity is when everything in your life is in alignment.  Authentic people know that they need to continue to learn and to improve themselves.  As the sages of the Talmud said, “who is the wise person?  The one who learns from everyone.”

OH: Law 5 – The Law or Receptivity.  What is the importance of focusing on giving, but allowing yourself to receive?

BB: All the giving is great, but like breathing, you have to breathe in, and breathe out.  If you don’t do both you’re going to create a blockage.

OH: Bob, thank you so much for your time today.  Look forward to seeing you next time you are in the Los Angeles area.

BB: Thank you.

Frustration

If you were a head coach in football, tell me if there might be anything you would find more frustrating than this:

Imagine you've got a multi-talented quarterback.  This guy's got the tools and the potential to be the next Tom Brady.  Yet, he's got a problem.  You see, this guy seems to have a knack for inevitably taking your offense all the way down to the 1-yard line of the opposing team - just a hair's breadth from scoring a touchdown.  Yet inevitably, once he has brought you there, it seems he never fails to then drop back and throw a pass right into the hands of one of the defensive players for an opposite field interception touchdown.

During the time I was in sales, my boss used to always say, "If you're going to lose, do it quickly".  My inclination (besides finding out what the heck is wrong with his psyche) is to tell that QB, listen -- if you were going to do that, why couldn't you have just done it back at our 20-yard line where we first started the drive?  Get it over with, get the bad pass out of your system, and let's move on.  Why in the world did you have to put us through all that anticipation and heartache?...

Sunday Beach Day Not Looking Good

Still have way too much to get done this afternoon before Shabbat, and going to a wedding Sunday evening...not looking like I'm going to get to everything I wanted to before candle lighting.

Favorite Airports:

Boston Logan
JFK
Ben Gurion
SFO
Phoenix Sky Harbor
Anchorage (the old one, don't know what the newly renovated one is like)
Chicago Midway

Shabbat Shalom and a good weekend to all --

Old Japanese Proverb

Fall seven times, get up eight.

Not that I like looking back so often, but it sure would have been nice to have a store like Trader Joe's when I was growing up. [(free advertisement, TJ -- you're welcome...:)]

A friend of mine in Israel (an American from New Jersey), when I explained to him my stories about some of the challenges I had growing up being an immigrant with immigrant parents, trying to fit in to small-town Massachusetts, answered this way:

"I can just imagine what it must have been like for you growing up in a place like New England, always having to validate yourself - when you even weren't sure what exactly the hell you were.  I imagine it was probably very similar to growing up black."

He was right.

Ta'eem Grill for lunch!  (one more free advertisement which I do not mind at all giving out.)

Long Day

Well, today was certainly like a Monday all over for me.  On the bright side, I completed two interviews today with two very engaging business entrepreneurs.  Details to follow.

I was never a fan of toro sushi.  Granted, it's the most expensive of all the tuna types -- I've just found it to be a little too oily for my taste.  Kind of like an upgraded sardine packed in oil and served on sushi rice.  Not to me worth the 10 bucks for two nigiri pieces...

Now we know, if the Sox can get into the Fall Classic, they've got home field wrapped up!

Tisha B'Av

Five hours to go for this fast.  And no, they don't get any easier with experience...

At least we've got the MLB All-Star game coming on a little later.  I remember watching my first All-Star game in 1978.  Those were the days when it seemed the American League (as a Red Sox fan, my defacto team), could not buy, beg, borrow, or steal a victory in the All-Star game.  It wasn't until the blowout win in Chicago in 1983 that things began to turn around, and 1978 was my first taste of the NL's dominance at that time of the Mid-Summer Classic.

The MVP of that game was Steve Garvey of the Dodgers.  Goose Gossage, who of course went on to break my heart in much worse ways later on that season, got rocked in this game.  I don't remember a whole lot else about the game, except Howard Cosell rambling on during the pre-game about how the American League was already in a lot of trouble because Reggie Jackson, Thurman Munson and Carl Yastrzemski all had chosen not to play in the game despite being selected.

Amish Streak

I have what I like to call my Amish streak.  Despite my all my years in the high-tech world and my time spent during the heart of the dot-com rush in Silicon Valley, I'm just not into electronic toys.  I do not own a TV (by choice).  I have no Internet on my cell phone.  I still use what basically amounts to a wireless DSL speed line on my home connection.  And you know what?  I'm perfectly fine with all of that.  I don't need a Crackberry or an Iphone to organize my day.  My Franklin Day Planner system on paper, which I've been using now for almost 20 years, suits me just fine.  No land line telephone either.  And what's nice for me about observing Shabbat is once a week for a full day + 1 hour period, I don't even have to deal with any of the gadgets I do happen to have.  I can just shut everything down for that entire period.  Oh, and I still willfully take out borrowed physical books from the local library.

My Years in San Francisco

Last night, Tim Lincecum of the San Francisco Giants threw a no-hitter against the Padres in San Diego.  I have heard a couple of times on the radio, the final out call by Duane Kuiper on KNBR radio San Francisco.  Suffice to say, whenever I hear one of Kuip's calls now, I think back to all the years I spent in the City by the Bay.  For the record, I was there from 96-04, and then again from 07-08...all totaled, just about 10 years.

Now, understand...I do not regret for one moment all the time I spent there.  I truly spent a lot of enjoyable years there during the young adult period of my life.  And San Francisco is an absolutely great place for a secularist person in their late 20's and early 30's.

What happened was I think I just outgrew it.  The Bay Area is a terrific adult playground.  But in the end, I just was no longer interested in any of the arrested development the place offers to those who seek it.

Salina

One of my more interesting travel experiences within the US was when I first moved out here to California from the East coast in 1996.  I packed up my Buick Skylark, and drove from Washington, D.C. all the way to Berkeley.  Along the way, I stopped in Huntington, WV; St. Louis; Salina, KS; Colorado Springs; Denver; Salt Lake City; and (not wanting to, but the car broke down) Toole, UT.

Will never forget my experience eating breakfast at a diner in Salina the morning before heading to my next stop in Colorado.  I walk into the diner -- it's packed with fat trucker types, all smoking away.  The pancakes I ordered at the counter were larger than the plate they were on.  And as I was leaving after finishing (I'm a good eater, but even I couldn't finish those pancakes), I heard a conversation from one of the booths of truckers.  "'So-and-so' had a heart attack..."

No kidding!

Shabbat Shalom

North Korea

For over 20 years now, I've had an interest-bordering-on-obsession with North Korea.  Since my early 20's, it seems I cannot ever get enough information, and am always on the lookout for interesting books and articles on the DPRK.

Why such an interest?  Simple, North Korea is George Orwell's 1984 come to life.  I even once read a travel piece on North Korea which stated that that book, more than any other one, is the right one to pick up and read in preparation for a trip there.

Mind you, I have never visited, nor would have any desire to give that place a cent of my money.  The closest I would ever come would be on a trip to South Korea and a visit to Panmunjon.

My interest first got sparked when I was working for American Express' Global Assist travel emergency call center.  During down times, I used to read some of the travel advisories put out by the US State Department.  When I got to the one on North Korea, I learned for the first time that the US officially does not recognize the government of North Korea (don't know whether this ever actually changed), and strongly condemned any and all travel to there by private US citizens.  I realized for the first time what strange and weird place it must be.

I wasn't wrong.

Political Influence

Ever experience what happens when a high level political decision begins to have grassroots effects on your community?  I remember one of these very distinctly growing up.

Back in the late 70's and early 80's in Massachusetts, there was a big political push to increase the available number of job opportunities for special education teachers.  How do I know this?  Well, for one reason, I, despite being renowned as a pretty smart kid, was - by a number of school authorities - placed in the basket of "special needs".

Now, I remember one night, being in bed with my radio turned on.  It was late, I had just finished listening to either a Red Sox or Bruins game; or perhaps it was Glenn Ordway's sports talk show.  After the program, a local late night political talk show came on.  Now mind you, this is 30 years ago and long before talk media became what it is today.  But on the show, the host was going on a rant of how the political decision to increase the number of jobs for special ed teachers was screwing up community after community in the Boston area.  He noted that in the town of Weymouth, a whopping 40% of all public school students were categorized as having "special needs".  What he finally said, and I still remember him saying it quite vividly, is..."these measures are not in one bit helping out the communities.  The psychological analyses, the core evaluations...they're merely creating jobs for special education teachers!"

Increased Appetite

One thing about getting up early every morning and going running is it definitely increases your appetite during the earlier part of the day.  Here we are just after 11AM, I downed an apple 20 minutes ago, and am already thinking about my next snack that will carry me over until lunch time.

Enjoying very much at the moment an interview being given on eventualmillionaire.com, a website and business run by Jaime Tardy.  I first learned about Jaime while listening to the "Goldstein on Gelt" program on israelnationalradio.com.  She had on there for a while a brief recurring tip spot, and I highly, highly recommend her site to any budding or veteran entrepreneur.  Her most recent interview is with James Altucher -- again, highly recommended (no she did not pay me for this shoutout!)

Have a great Tuesday (whenever I say that, I suspect I'll always remember the book Tuesday's with Morrie).

Office Space

If you watch Office Space (or I'm sure any other movie) enough times, you begin to detect certain nuances you might not catch in the first two or three views.  One I remember clearly is the first time I noticed what Michael Bolton was doing in the Chachki's scene near the beginning of the movie.  Notice that the entire time him, Peter and Samir are in there, he never once picks up his cup of coffee and drinks it.  No, he spends the entire time just tearing sugar packets and dumping the sugar into his cup!

Another thing that always bothered me (until I figured it out!) is this: in the scene where Peter's sleeping in on Saturday and ignoring all of Lumbergh's messages, he finally does get up, the phone rings, and it's Ann on the other line.  She wants to know why he's not at work like he's supposed to be.  Question -- although we can gather that he probably told her in between the time he leaves the office on Friday and they go to see the therapist, he was being forced to work on Saturday...why's she calling him at home if she thinks he's at work?  The altruistic side of me would say she wanted to let him know about something, decided not to disturb him at work, and was just going to leave him a message on his answering machine.  But, as events show, Ann's not exactly the sensitive type. 

My theory's that Lumbergh, after his 17 attempts at reaching Peter, finally tried to find out what happened to him by calling Ann.  And how pray tell would he happen to have Peter's girlfriend's phone number?...

"Oh, and one more thing........I'VE BEEN CHEATING ON YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

:)

List of My Favorite Cities Lived In and/or Visited

Boston
Haifa
San Francisco
Los Angeles
Washington, D.C.
Prague
Tokyo
Osaka
Kyoto
Amsterdam
Antwerp
Paris
Budapest
Honolulu
Toronto
Montreal
Philadelphia
Guadalajara
London
Dublin
Galway

List of Major League Ballparks I've Attended:

Oriole Park at Camden Yards (Baltimore)
Fenway Park (Boston)
Progressive Field (Cleveland)
Angels Stadium (Anaheim)
McAfee Coliseum (Oakland)
Wrigley Field (Chicago)
Olympic Stadium (Montreal)
Shea Stadium (New York)
RFK Stadium (Washington, D.C.)
Nationals Park (Washington, D.C.)
Chase Field (Phoenix)
Turner Field (Atlanta)
Candlestick Park (San Francisco)
AT&T Park (San Francisco)

Have also been to games in Japan (Koshien Stadium) and The Netherlands (Amsterdam)

Why Did I Become Conservative?

A question I'm sure that has been on several of my friends' minds over the past 10 years.  Let's put it simply -- as George Bernard Shaw once said, "Anybody who's not a conservative at 40 hasn't got a brain.  And anyone who's not a liberal at 20 hasn't got a heart."

Also, again to put it simply...missing by 20 minutes being at the epicenter of a suicide bombing attack while living in Israel tends to change your perspective on things just a little.

Inspire Me Culturally

www.inspiremeculturally.com is now registered under me as a domain name.  Next comes the task of building out the website.

The Red Sox swept the Padres this week.  Games were on 1090AM San Diego.  Padres are up there with the Cubs, the Indians, the Rangers, the Nationals/Expos, the Brewers and the Mariners as the most championship-starved teams in baseball.

Argo

Finally rented and saw Argo last night.  Probably the most intriguing thing I found about it was something it brought to light.  Back then, even the thought by nearly all Americans that we could be so deeply hated/despised by another people was completely foreign.  "What, people in other countries hate us?  What the heck are you talking about?  We're America -- the great friend and protector, out to rid the world of evil Communism and like-minded doers of evil."

Again, this movie did what I thought was an incredible job of bringing to light how at the time, we as a people just could not even fathom the thought of such a deep-rooted hatred of America, her values, and her ideals.  The Iran hostage crisis to me, spelled the end of the American World War II hangover.

And yes, I thought it was overall a great movie that deserved all of the accolades it has received.

Acceptance of Vices

Every place, it seems, has its own acceptance of a certain vice.  Growing up in Massachusetts, I think the socially accepted vice was real hard-core drinking.  In Washington, DC, it is nerdy social ineptitude.  In San Francisco, it's marijuana use.  In Israel, it was smoking.  And here in Los Angeles, I think it is unfortunately, the use of any controlled substance. 

I witnessed the behavior yesterday of someone who was obviously under the influence of something.  And I realized just how socially acceptable it seems to be here.  San Francisco was different.  There, of course, all kinds of drugs were (and still are) done.  But the only one that was socially acceptable was pot.  Here, it is a different scenario, unfortunately.

Entrepreneurship

When you're an entrepreneur, there really just don't seem to be enough hours in the day.  I mean really, where does the time go?  I have been up since about 5:40 this morning, and the last six hours seem to have just flown by.

I tried reading How to Win Friends and Influence People, but to be quite honest, I feel as if I've been reading at least shadows of it for 20 years now.  Granted, that book was truly the first of its kind.  But after 20 pages, I decided that I didn't think I was going to learn anything new from it that I've not already been exposed to in my management/leadership career.

The KG/Pierce era is almost officially over.  At least we got one title out of it.