Waxing Philosophic

My night with Bob Dylan

jguttman — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 16:12:46 +0000

It was a beautiful spring night at the Prospect Park Bandshell and my chance to see Bob Dylan, thanks to a tip-off earlier this summer to the advance sales password on Ticketmaster.com. A woman I met in line during the show summed it up best when she told me, “I don’t care how badly he sings, I’ll love the show no matter what.” I think she pretty much summarized how the majority of people there felt. Gersh had a great review and write-up of the show this morning on The Brooklyn Paper, and he appears to be more of a Dylan aficionado than me. There were definitely two Dylans in attendance last night. His new songs were upbeat and melodic. His older hits were sung hum-drum and monotone. I wondered if he intentionally made an effort to sing them differently, just to mix it up after 40 years. Based on the enthusiasm with which he performed the newer stuff, I find it hard to believe that “he can’t sing anymore” as Gersh and others explained. He can still sing, but chooses not to, not coincidentally on all the songs with which you want to sing along. This left me feeling frustrated, a frustration that I think I shared with many others there last night. Some of his hits were barely recognizable, were it not for the fans who forcibly sang along to the traditional melody, which he fought off tooth and nail. That same woman who I met in line also told me that “Dylan never gives his fans everything they want.” Apparently, he thrives on the push/pull relationship, perhaps a relic of his 60s and 70s coming of age years. Either way, I had a great time and it was a thrill to see Bob Dylan live. No matter how badly he sang, I would have had a great time. Unfortunately, the mess of garbage left by fans after the show (pictured here) was disappointing to me, particularly on a night that we all came to see an artist who stands for socially responsible action.

Why I haven’t bought an IPhone - and still won’t

jguttman — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 21:29:39 +0000

I’ve been hearing pleanty of hubub about the new iPhone from friends and the media over the past few weeks - in some cases the same people representing both. The new iPhone’s launch was only slightly less eventful as the original. Back then, my dad called early on the Friday to let me know he was waiting in line and to ask if I wanted one. Interestingly, he reported that the line was 3x as long this past Friday, when he returned to the same AT&T store. Back then, I took the bait and bought one….how could I pass up such a gracious offer. I played with it for two weeks (mostly in the first few days) before selling it on eBay to a guy in Switzerland at a 20% premium. I sold it back then because I disliked the form factor, the keyboard, the battery life, the email functionality and most of all, because I had no complaints with my blackberry and my current email/calendar/contacts setup (this hasn’t always been the case). I had high hopes for the second rev, but early reports are unencouraging. Users I spoke to claimed that battery life has, in fact, decreased. It’s true there is a more powerful battery in the phone, but the 3G circuitry and chip drains battery life faster and net-net, the new phone dies sooner. This is a non-starter for me. My blackberry almost always lasts a full day, even when on the road under the most extreme circumstances. Tony’s iPhone frequently requires multiple recharges during a day, a situation that leaves him searching for outlets in restaurants, and one that would frustrate me. The other feature I had hoped for was a rotating keyboard so that typing long emails would be made easier. Everyone was calling for this initially so I’m surprised Apple didn’t follow through. Anyway, I’m even more comforted by my recent purchase of RIMM two weeks back. The blackberry is a solid product and one that I believe has a good life ahead of it.

The Mental Game

admin — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 23:39:14 +0000

So much of what determines success is the mental game. Having the confidence and self-encouragement to get the job done, under whatever circumstances present themselves. It’s the same in business, sports, relationships….it’s all the same set of mental tools. I recently heard of a woman who picked up tennis as a 3.0/3.5-level player and won the state championship two years later, through primarily focusing on mental exercises and, to a lesser extent, on-court practice. Last week, I played a league tennis match against a focused opponent of lesser skill. In both sets, I was leading early (2-0 in the first, 4-1 in the second), but he managed to claw his way back in. I ultimately lost in a tie-breaker (6-3, 5-7, 10-7) and played decently, but couldn’t help but think it was the mental game that dictated my outcome (or lack thereof). I immediately thought of this Nike Golf commercial, with Early Woods’ narration. Tiger has incredible raw physical skill, but so do each of the other top 100 PGA golfers. What really separates Tiger from the pack is his mental game. Mike Donald lost the 1990 US Open to Hale Irwin on the 19th hole of a playoff when Irwin sank a miraculous 70-foot putt. Donald virtually disappeared from professional golf soon after, while Irwin became the dominant senior tour player. The mental game has as much, if not more, to do with winning and losing a match, a negotiation, a sale as the raw physical circumstances.

Voice your support for NY State recognition of same sex marriage

jguttman — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 01:16:11 +0000

Someone forward me this today and it’s worth reading (and doing!)

New York Governor David Paterson has opened a phone line to determine
how much support there is for his directive to recognize same-sex
marriages from other states and countries. The call is simple and takes
about 5 seconds. Here’s all you have to do:

Call: 1-518-474-8390

Here’s what happens:

Person on the Other End of the Phone: "Executive Chamber, may I help
you?"

You: "I want to voice my support for Governor Paterson’s same-sex
marriage directive."

POTOEOTP: "OK, what’s your zip code?"

You: "11231 (or whatever it is)."

POTOEOTP: "OK, thanks, goodbye." —

My Thoughts on Tim Russert….

jguttman — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 07:39:27 +0000

Like most people I spoke to, I was moved by the news of Tim Russert’s death. I became an avid fan of Meet the Press, just within the past year, and began recording it religiously and looked forward to watching the episodes Sunday nights, especially as the political season blossomed. Tim Russert was the uncontested best political journalist of the day and probably the single-best television journalist on the air. I will truly miss his insight, commentary and unmatched ability to ask the difficult questions directly without mincing words.

Watching numerous shows and commentary about his life over the past few days, what strikes me as most unique about the man was his disposition and approach to work, life, family and faith. His preparation and commitment to journalistic excellence and being the very best at his profession are clear, but he did it with a casual, hearty and just fun thread weaved throughout the experience. He often referred to people affectionately as "brother", whether they were much older or much younger. He was masterful at delivering lines, often witty and clever, as his recent appearance on Conan O’brien showed. Despite his success, it was pretty clear that his family always came first and he spoke affectionately about his father, son and wife often. It turns out he was a deeply religious man as well, during a time in which religiosity has fallen out of favor. One of my favorite quotes from the coverage of his death was by Jon Meacham, who in a Newsweek article, described Russert’s personal appeal for him to debate Christopher Hitchens. "You gotta come down and defend the faith, Brother," Russert said. Meacham had an old rule that he would never debate Hitchens about anything as he
is one of the great intellects and wits of the age and there as no
chance he could ever win, so he protested. Russert won him over by saying "It’s the faith, Brother," he said. "I can’t do it—I’m the moderator. But it’ll be great."

I’m realizing that Tim Russert was an truly inspirational figure for me. He achieved greatness on so many levels that I value….in his profession, as a father, as a son, as a husband, as a friend. He was the leading journalist of our time and yet the topics he chose for his two books were his father and father/son relationships. And despite being a somewhat public personality, he achieved his greatness kinda quietly. That’s a rare accomplishment for anybody, but should be an inspiration for us all.

Below is a clip of Bruce’s personal tribute at the memorial service today and Luke Russert’s beautiful eulogy to his father….

Cell phones bad for your health?

jguttman — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 21:31:12 +0000

I’ve been preaching this for a long time. A few years ago, I compiled a folder full of studies on damage inflicted by cell phones. Now, it’s getting mainstream media attention. CNN devoted an entire Larry King to the topic two weeks ago. This article (and forthcoming scientific study) sound ominous. Those 4 years of I-Banking with that old school Nokia glued to my ear may come back to haunt me, in more ways than I realized….

Cancer and Technology: Top 10 Highest-Radiation Cell Phones

Memorial day thoughts….

jguttman — Tue, 27 May 2008 06:34:57 +0000

Andy Rooney, brilliant as usual, sharing his thoughts on Memorial Day this year…

DC in May….some thoughts

jguttman — Mon, 19 May 2008 18:09:57 +0000

Alleyways and nooks of Capital Hill are charming. Wonderful and diverse neighborhood. I love it.
Site lines from Lincoln to WW2 to Washington Memorials are stunning. Well done.
Cold war era signage and graphics around federal buildings downtown need updated. They’re dated both visually and politically, though not surprising given current administration’s foreign policy outlook.

Famous for a day….

jguttman — Wed, 14 May 2008 19:14:00 +0000

This chart graphs the traffic on Sphere’s blog in April. As you can see, traffic chugs along fairly consistently at 150-300 visits per day, then spikes to more than 3,000 the day of our acquisition, which was covered by various high profile blogs and mainstream publishers. What’s funny is that the influx of traffic only lasts two days before returning to previous levels. In fact, over the past week, traffic has dipped down in the 100-150 range, which is lower than normal. Perhaps, our ruby slippers are wearing thin:) It just goes to show that fame is often fickle and short-lived….

User generated photos picking up steam on Bergen Carroll

jguttman — Wed, 14 May 2008 01:54:53 +0000

When I put together Bergen Carroll a year or so ago, I setup a feature whereby readers could showcase their photos in a "featured photo" section by tagging them Bergen Carroll on Flickr. For the better part of 12 months, nobody noticed and the only photos rotating through the system were ones I uploaded myself. Then, something happened and people figured it out, possibly prompted by a few Flickr messages sent to neighborhood residents. Over the past two months, 80 neighborhood photos have been tagged Bergen Carroll on Flickr by 3-4 different photographers. I love that this feature has been noticed and is being used as intended. It shows that adoption can sometimes take time (and can require patience) before usage grows. Though having that patience is often a necessity if you believe a product has real growth potential. Another six months without adoption and I may have taken the feature down…..