Saturday, March 12, 2005

The Cunning Realist

The Cunning Realist is a Blog that is not to be missed.

Very interesting perspective especially on Social Security.

Bono - Providing Awareness to Something that is embarrassing

I've been trying to watch this interview of Bono from the TED awards. I only got through the first bit due to some technical problems. Hopefully it works for you.

I appreciate his comments about race. That we (Americans and Europeans) have written off Africa and if the things that were going on in Africa were happening in Paris or New York the response would be totally different. I agree. Agreeing with this challenges me to look at my own thoughts and opinions about Africa. I don't like all of what I have to confront in my thinking. I can see how I fit into the "written off Africa" group think and it's not so nice a thing to become aware of.

10 reasons to write your own blog

There has been a fair amount of press about people that have gotten fired because of the things that they have written or posted in their blog. I know that I've talked about this in the past and have cautioned people about thinking about this before posting in their blog. I'm not saying that I'm changing my mind on that but I think this post from Tim Bray - Ten Reasons Why Blogging is Good For Your Career provides a list of great reasons why blogging is good for you and your career.

Swimming Clips

I haven't had too many posts on this blog about triathlon but for any of you that are interested in swimming these little video clips are interesting to watch. These are some of the best swimmers in the world and the camera angles are quite good. If you've ever seen a video clip of yourself swimming you may be impressed by the power and grace on display in these clips.

If you've ever done a triathlon or are thinking about one check out the Clif Bar clip/ad about training for the swim leg. I don't really think it's an accurate depiction of what race day is like but it's pretty funny.

Monday, March 07, 2005

Blogs for all!

One of my friends just started her own blog. Check it out here.

J, I hope you don't mind the reference!

One of the coolest things I've seen on the web in a long time!

I don't know a lot about John Coltrane but this little video is so cool! I love how it builds and then comes to conclusion with the song. Make sure you have your sound turned on and enjoy.

Tim Bray is the person that pointed me to this video. I like his comments about the video "Watching it, I feel like someone installed a window in the side of Coltrane’s head and I’m looking in."

Sunday, March 06, 2005

If America Is Richer, Why Are Its Families So Much Less Secure?

This series of articles by the LA Times about the financial realities (meaning risk) that individuals and families are facing in the 21st century is very long (and repetitive in places) but I think is well worth a read. It's amazing how quickly financial situations can change for people and this is appropriate reading as the President and congress are in the middle of the Social Security muddle (I can't call it a debate).

http://www.latimes.com/business/specials/la-newdeal-cover.special

Quote: The World is an Enigma

Umberto Eco

"I have come to believe that the whole world is an enigma, a harmless enigma that is made terrible by our own mad attempt to interpret it as though it had an underlying truth."

When I read this I had the sense of a memory of some movie or book that tries to make this same claim. I think imagining this possibility is a useful mental exercise to help us see beyond our current circumstances. It's very easy to create all sorts of meaning and "underlying truth" that is simply a fictional design of our own mind.

Quote: Our Own Mistakes

Donald Foster

"No one who cannot rejoice in the discovery of his own mistakes deserves to be called a scholar."

This is a little nugget that is so very easy to forget.