i got so much trouble on my mind

20 Things About Me...

noreply@blogger.com (michaelwma) — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 14:01:00 +0000

OK, so I am a year late to this post ... I was cleaning out my email and I found a draft of the 20 things about me that I was responding to on Facebook. It never got published, so for all 2 of you who read this blog and might care, here goes:

1) I am a pretty hardcore ENTJ.

2) Despite a Kantian philosophy education at “that school in Cambridge” I am changing from a rationalist to an empiricist. It bothers me and keeps me up at night.

3) I was pretty active in the New York underground poker scene about 5 years ago. I actually was allowed to play rake-free at the infamous, but now defunct Playstation (While on poker, I believe that the true World Series of Poker should be determined by a game of pot-limit SHOE rotation. The luck-skill ratio in no limit hold’em is just too slanted toward the luck side of the equation. For more on this see, Mason Malmuth’s work.)

4) I am a natural lefty, but I have Chinese parents – so I am a righty. That’s just how Asians roll.

5) I first hit on my wife at a dance she was putting on for Chinatown teens in Phillips Brooks House while she was a camp counselor. I am shameless.

6) She is pretty much the only person that can get me *really mad* -- but that’s because I love her. Consequently, we are huge fans of marriage therapy, and we’d recommend it to anyone. While I don’t know if it “saved” us, it surely has made our lives much better.

7) At this point in my career, I would totally be cool with being Mr. Mom. I love my kids so much that it sometimes paralyzes me. I am saddened by the truism that my boss, Steven, shared with me: “You will never love your parents as much as they love you.” I do believe that that it is a very poignant axiom. It has shaped my views on life and fatherhood immensely.

8) Despite now being a hardcore Democrat, I blindly worked for Martin Hoke’s campaign (a former Republican congressman) in high school. Why? Because everyone else did. It gets me mad that I didn’t have more of a spine to figure out what I believed in high school for issues ranging from politics to religion. I look back sometimes and see myself as such a lemming.

9) I wish I found Unitarian Universalism earlier in my life. It has filled a spiritual void for me in a way that I am better able to understand other religions, and has made my life richer. It is *so* not for everyone, but it totally works for me and makes me a more curious person … and it is nice to find other people who drive Subarus.

10) I wish I found snowboarding earlier in my life. I love being on the snow, but I have feet like a duck (wide/flat) and ski boots are a killer.

11) The two closest moments I have ever come to Heaven is waking up with my whole family in the same bed, and snowboarding on a clear day with nothing but you, a sheet of clean powpow, and an iPod full of tunes.

12) Despite Cleveland being an ex-steel football town that has LeBron James (for now), baseball is my first love as a fan. I was catatonic for a week after the ‘97 series and I still cry at the end of Major League (Harry Doyle: “The Indians win it … oh my god, the Indians win it.”) I don’t even play the damn sport … in fact, I suck at it. Weird.

13) I am conflicted because I love to box, but I am a huge supporter of Peace Games.

14) Despite flying over a million miles (literally), I still stare out of the window like a 7 year old schoolboy every approach into New York with wide-eyed wonderment. No really, how do they do it?

15) I credit my grandfather with my love of music. I will never forget when I was 8, he told me: “If you listen to 1 hour of music every day, you will be a happier person.” I’ve tried to follow that advice ever since.

16) I think the 7^th and 7^th chord are the most powerful sounds in music. They are both universal and diverse – from Count Basie, to Otis Redding, to Led Zeppelin, to the White Stripes. You can’t help but close your eyes and feel the music pull on your heart.

17) I may change this, but I think that Things Fall Apart may be the most perfect hip-hop album ever made.

18) The hardest class I have ever taken: Math 160’s at the U of C where 30 started the class and 6 finished it. I spent 4 hours on the final exam, only wrote 3 pages of proofs in my blue book and scored 28/100 … it was a B+. When I asked Professor Corti if I should go to Honors Analysis … he took a long drag of his clove cigarette, blew it in my face, and said, “Yes … but you will suffer greatly.” The second hardest – Mrs. Juergen’s 11^th grade English honors class. She gave me a D on a paper I wrote about Billy Budd and since then I dare not pick up Melville.

19) I fancy myself a pretty decent cook. My favorite thing is to rummage through random ingredients left in ones fridge/freezer/pantry and thinking what meals I can make out of it. Without this, I am convinced Katherine would have starved in med school.

20) My favorite restaurant in the city is Annisa. I would eat Anita Lo’s dumplings all day if I could afford it financially or physically.

Happy Christina Day

noreply@blogger.com (michaelwma) — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 19:49:00 +0000

I was at WTC today for work ironically, and felt incredibly sad.

Rather than dither on with an unncessarily long post, I will just say, Happy Christina Day.

Be good to each other.

A Sermon (really) on Storytelling

noreply@blogger.com (michaelwma) — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 00:16:00 +0000

Many, including myself, may find it hard to believe that I go to church. Moreover, it may be even more shocking that I gave a service earlier this month. There have been a few people from the society who have asked for the text of the service, so I am putting it up here on the blog.

-------

The Lost Art of Storytelling

Mike Ma

August 9, 2009

First Unitarian Society of Rockland County

Good morning! Since today’s service is about storytelling, I’d like to tell share with you a story told by my barber. Not sure any of you have caught NYT’s One in 8 Million series, but I was shocked to see that my barber, Joe, was featured a few months ago. Have a listen to his story as he tells it.

http://www.nytimes.com/packages/html/nyregion/1-in-8-million/index.html#/joe_manniello

Isn’t that a great story? In about 2 minutes you learn all you need to know about Joe Manniello. For me, his fascinating story transforms the mundane experience of a haircut (in Port Authority of all places!) to the remarkable.

And in a nutshell, that is the power of stories. About 3 years ago I read a book by a guy named Dan Pink called A Whole New Mind. In it, he argues that to be successful today in business or in any other field, you need to be right brain oriented. From there he describes the skills of the right brain – play, empathy, meaning, design, symphony, and my favorite of the lot – story.

Much of what I am going to say is openly plagiarized from his book. I’ve bought his book several times for myself and others. I have hired him in the past as a conference speaker and paid him handsomely, so I will assume that I am welcome to an hour of indulgence to share with you. If you haven’t read it, you should.

So, I’d like to spend the next hour exploring storytelling with you in a few parts. In the first part, I’d like to frame how ubiquitous and universal storytelling is. In the second, I’d like to explore some of the forms of story telling and how they are changing. In the third, if I get there, I’d like to talk about why I think that this is important to us Unitarian Universalists.

I. Story as necessary and universal

As children, and even as parents, we aren’t really taught the value of stories. Rather we are taught to esteem facts as knowledge. That Pi is 3.14592… (whatever). That there are 5280 feet in a yard, that the lake in Walden pond was 100.1 feet deep at its deepest point. I was forced to memorize all these things as they were deemed valuable things for me to know. Stories; however, we view as distraction from this. They daydreamer is considered to lazy, distracted, and unserious about her studies.

However, in the days of Google and the internet, facts are of little use or differentiation. You can be a Nobel laureate or a beggar in an internet café and basically have access to the same bit of information. Stories however, are the map that makes sense of fact – and as we get access to more facts I question if we have really ramped our story telling and listening ability to help make sense of all we can avail ourselves to.

Looking back, true learning was tied to story. I got a philosophy degree, and all the great thinkers used story to make their difficult analytical claims. Know Plato’s Allegory of the Cave and you can probably figure out why he thinks the Philosopher King should rule the Republic. Know Descartes’ schizophrenic talk with his Evil Deceiver, and you can trace how he gets to cogito ergo sum.

The use of story didn’t just stay with me during my academic life. In my business, strategy consulting, “hypothesis-driven analysis” is the most vaunted methodology used by McKinsey and Company. While effective, one can really a euphemism for being able to craft a quantitative story about what we think a client should be doing … and most likely, the consultants have come to that conclusion before we started the project. We are just cavemen with powerpoint and excel crafting a story.

Just turn on the TV, or the interwebs and you will see that Story is important. Two economists., Deirdre McLoseky and Ajo Kramer calculate that persuasion, advertising, consulting, etc, accounts for 25% of the US’ GDP. If story is half of those, then Story is worth about $1T to the US economy.

These are not egghead macroeconomics on a page – these have real, local effects. To illustrate, I buy all my wine from Grape D’Vine in Tappan. I strolled in to here after a library visit next door and struck up a chat with Joe Printz, the owner and now a dear friend of mine. “Why did you get in this business?” I asked him. “Mike, I’ve been searching my whole life for the 100 point, $20 bottle of wine.” That was my Jerry Maguire moment, you had me at hello. I have very rarely bought wine anywhere else since.

And it isn’t just business. As many of you know, my wife, Katherine, is a pediatrician, and so we spend a lot of time talking about healthcare these days. I’d hold that story may hold a key to reducing our healthcare costs overall. Let me ask you all a question. How long do you think a doctor lets you talk before she speaks? Guesses?

20 years ago, researchers videotaped doctor-patient encounters, they found doctors interrupted their patients after an average of 21 seconds. When another group did the same thing more recently, there was some improvement guesses? Anyone?

They now interrupted after 23 seconds. Doctors stunk at listening to people’s stories.

During Katherine’s second year, she was forced to take a class in narrative medicine. She read William Carlos Williams, I think, between her pharmacology lectures. The idea was that doctors needed to develop their right brain as well as their left. That listening would improve the quality of care and connection to the patient. That you through story and empathy, a physician could be a more complete healer.

So now instead of “What’s wrong with your stomach?” You will hear questions like “Tell me about your life.” And Columbia is not alone. Today, 3 out of 4 medical schools offer classes in humanities. Belleuve Hospital, in fact, actually publishes its own literary review.

Does it work? So far, the results look encouraging. Dr. Rita Sharon, has been at the center of this narrative medicine movement. To illustrate its efficacy, they developed “parallel charts” where on one chart, they have your regular medical stuff, and on the second, medical students write narratives about their patients and chronicle their own emotions. According to the study, those who did both charts had better interviewing and technical skills than those who did not.

Moreover, stories may make us safer. I was telling my father-in-law about this service. He is chief of police for Amtrak and he was moved by this idea of story as well. We were discussing the recent 60 Minutes piece on the TSA’s onerous screening processes. He only had one major complaint about the TSA, that they only screen for things, and do not interview travelers. He said, “Look people are always going to find a way to beat the scanner, but it’s harder to pull off a lie.” He believes that a story is probably the most important thing in screening a passenger. And that I think that this is true, if you have ever been to Heathrow airport, their immigration officers are some of the very best at that. “Tell me about your consulting firm,” “What firms will you be seeing today?”

So far, I’ve explained how stories can make us richer, healthier, and safer, and you may ask yourself, “So what?” I think I’d be leaving a lot out if I left it to that. Stories are good for the soul. They reach us in an emotional place where we can really understand what is or should be important to us. As E.M. Forster said, “The queen died and the king died” is a fact. “The queen died and the king died of a broken heart,” well, that’s a story.

I’d like to share with you a particularly poignant story that I got a lot from StoryCorps' web site. We will talk a bit more about StoryCorps later, but right now I’d like to focus on the message and lessons being exchanged from mother to daughter, and daughter back to mother.

http://bit.ly/bnk1v

Pretty powerful stuff. With that, I’d like to open this up to the group to share either how stories impact their lives today or if there have been particular stories that have shaped their life.

II. The Form of Stories

Many of you are familiar with the story of Harry Potter. A young orphan boy senses realizes he has magical abilities. He receives a calling to head to Hogwarts School of Magic to become the wizard he is supposed to be. There, he confronts the specters of his parents past and many more and takes his seat as the most powerful wizard ever known. In short, he leaves London, he answers his calling, and returns a man.

Many of you may be familiar with Joseph Conrad’s work, “The Hero with a Thousand Faces.” He argues that all myths that have survived the test of time have the same structure of the monomyth:

Departure – the hero answers the call.

Initiation – the hero answers a series of challenges

Return – the hero returns wiser and stronger to

That this is so pervasive and so widely shared across cultures does strongly indicate that there is some form that pulls on our heart strings in synchronized rhythm. This is the form from Jesus to Neo in the Matrix. From Luke Skywalker, to Sonia Sotomayor.

This form is so widespread and universal, there is an argument to be made that the form of the story is as important as the story itself.

Technology is also changing the form of storytelling. The clip I played for you before was from StoryCorps. Some of you may have heard this on NPR, but for others StoryCorps in short enables every day people tell their stories or interview people close to them. Head downtown to SoHo to the StoryCorp trailer with a loved one, and in an hour, you get a professional copy of your interview copy. Another copy of the story is archived in the Library of Congress as part of an oral history of America.

Technology has democratized storytelling, so it saddens me at times that we are blame technology for making us such bad storytellers and listeners. StoryCorps proves that we no longer need to be Tolstoy or Homer to tell stories. Every single person can do it and it every single person can listen and save their stories for posterity’s sake. What a wonderful asset to storytelling.

About two months ago, we were having a discussion about technology and how it has eroded the attention of our young people where they can no longer spend time reading books. Many members of this society were throwing Facebook and twitter under the bus, and I wanted to keep that moment since I knew I would have my day up here.

As I shared that same day, I think we are all better off to embrace technology ourselves in some form. Let’s try to find the space where we can share and connect with our younger generation’s use of technology – and storytelling is no exception. For instance, Hemmingway purportedly said his best story he ever wrote was only six words long: “For sale: Baby shoes. Never worn.”

I checked. That was 35 characters long, including punctuation, well within Twitter’s limit of 140 characters. Point is, we need to adapt the way we tell stories to other generations today. If we expect them to read Dickens, don’t we have an obligation to check out Facebook?

I’ve tried my hand at this and on my Facebook page, there is my six-word memoir. “Told you, not all philosophers starve.” This was cheeky retort to my very Asian parents who footed the bill of my expensive liberal arts education.

Luckily, there are much better examples of six-word memoirs and stories out there. Some are compiled in an aptly titled book, “Not Quite What I Was Planning.” Some favorites I had were Steven Colbert’s “Well, I thought it was funny.” Or Amy Sohn’s, “Gave commencement address. Became sex columnist.” An anonymous one made me laugh. “Premenstrual syndrome again. Hide the Nutella.”

While I can’t make everyone twitter, I’d like to see if you would explore a six word memoir or story with us. Let’s try to expand our storytelling muscles a bit here.

III. UU Implications

There’s rarely a service that goes by that we don’t ask the question, “How do you describe Unitarian Universalism?”

I am here because of a successful story. But it isn’t an elegant one. Two good friends of mine said that they started visiting a UU congregation in Boston where they live. I asked what it is like. They told me a story: “It’s a bunch of recovering Catholics and Jews who care about people and drive Subarus. You’d love it.”

With that, I am here with you a full year and a half later.

Other descriptions I’ve enjoyed as well. Rev. Jef who was with us in May shared that he described it to dying cancer patients and their families as “Believing in up to one god, and everyone gets in.” (You could rewrite that to a six word story “Maybe God. But everyone gets in.”).

We have no Bible, no Koran, no Torah, we don’t even have a little red book. We have the Library of Congress-like mishmash of spiritual excerpts, not exactly a rallying body of text. All we have is our stories.

In my very first meeting as a member in June, I was exposed to the idea of trying to grow this society and perhaps leave this building. While this is all fine and good, any idea of expansion without a cohesive story I fear will be quite futile. If we care about growing this society, it will be the work for a while to define what the story is. Not just for UUs, but for this particular society and our mission in context of the community here in Rockland County.

I’d like to open it to the floor to see if anyone has had good experience of telling the UU story.

IV. Closing

I will leave aside our megalomaniacal delusions of grandeur a second. I’ve explained challenges to our growth, but I’d like to share with you why I stay and come as often as I can. Mostly, because I enjoy hearing your stories. They enrich my life, and I believe make me a better person. So thank you for sharing your stories with me – I hope you continue to do so here and with all who touch your life.

Thank you as well for listening to mine.

Told You, Not All Philosophers Starve: Liz Coleman's views on Liberal Education

noreply@blogger.com (michaelwma) — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 04:13:00 +0000

The title of this post is my six word memior of my life to date. It is a tounge in cheek rejoinder to my parents who thought I was nuts to drop Biology to become a Philosophy major.

It runs in contrast to many of the conversations I have been having with my cousins and younger people who have their whole life mapped out in high school straight through to the degree that they are going to get to the job they hope to have. They are just "executing the plan."

Similarly, I have many personal friends who are quite successful in life who may understand all the nuances of purchasing commodities pricing and how it affects basic materials valuations, but may care or know little about healthcare reform.

This talk makes me sad.

Luckily, Liz Coleman, president of Bennington College, makes an incredibly compelling argument that we need to recast our view of liberal arts education at the TED conference earlier this year. She argues that it as a waystation to professional expertise, but rather a practicum to undertand how to connect to the civic good.

It evoked the feelings from my Orientation Week at the University of Chicago more than 15 years ago. There is a relatively odd tradition -- the Aims of Education Address during Orientation Week. Imagine the first or second night of a realtively socially awkward, and inebriated week. Nine hundred first-years, are carted into Rockefeller Chapel where we had to listen to some guy use the death of Socrates as the backdrop of why we were here and what the point of a truly liberal education was.

While the details of the talk escape me and I recollect hating have to have summer reading, I am thankful that this idea was impressed upon me so early in college. It was the first of many indellible marks on my life that came from my schooling: I was taught that education was there to make you a good citizen. To teach you to think for yourself as a human being. To inspire you to belive that you are not a nameless cog. To admonish you if you every become one, or think you are one.

There's hope, and I don't think you'll starve by commiting yourself (not too late as adults) and your loved ones to a liberal education.

This is worth a few minutes to listen to what the lady has to say.

St. John in London - My first real restaurant review

noreply@blogger.com (michaelwma) — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 00:15:00 +0000

So, I never do the food porn/restaurant review thing, but I was eating alone tonight and I had to keep myself occupied. So tonight, I kept tasting notes at the legendary St. John in Smithfield, touted as the #16 Best Restaurant in the World.

I am bummed to report that it failed those expectations by a solid margin.

Here is what I thought:

Ambiance/Scence -- The first thing you notice is the smell. It envelopes you, a well- pampered pig bathing in butter. Decorwise, St. John is the epitome of a "Clean, Well-Lit Place" -- in fact, I could see Hemmingway's short story being set there . It bathes in austerity -- the walls are white, The floor is gray, and you aren't sure if the white-clad servers are servers or were just butchering a pig in the back before saying hello. There is no art to speak of. Chairs are hard and uncomfortable. Tables are covered in butcher paper, as if to indict you as an accomplice to murdering meat.

Service -- is competent and perfunctory, but certainly nothing special. The place was continually busy, but my server's actions made her intentions clear -- she was there to put meat on the table, not even expeditiously. I agreed with this review that said it was "friendly, but slightly awkward."

Food -- OK, so here we go ... on to the show.

Appetizer -- Bone Marrow and Parsley Salad

I loved this dish. amittedly, I am biased since I have been dreaming about this since I saw it featured on A Cook's Tour. I think that this could be the appetizer to my last meal. I mean, so simple. Bone marrow? Just oven roast for 25 minutes and spread over perfectly toasted bread. So delicious, so elegant. The richness of this with the bitter parsley and the salty capers in the salad was just a wonderful combination of textures and tastes.

My only (minor) criticism is that you really have to watch how much of the sea salt and the parsley salad you add to the bread since it can get really too salty quickly. Ration it properly!

Main -- Middlewhite and Chard w/ side of Sprout Tops

First, let me say I love pork fat. I think it's wonderful. However, this peice of meat needed instructions. You needed to eat the pig in radians out from the center such that you get a piece of succulent lean meat with a piece of fat. In my hunger I accidentally ate an enormous peice of fat by itself, which just ruined the rest of my meal on a texture and taste basis. I learned the hard way. The bits of meat that I did get once I learned to layer my bites were wonderfully cooked, but again underseasoned.

In addition, the chard was overcooked and had a slightly burnt taste to the carmelization (too high heat?) while the Sprout Tops were basically an afterthought -- unevenly cooked with varying degrees of softness and bitterness and also underseasoned.

Not a good showing overall.

Dessert -- Apple Sorbet and Polish Vodka

Many of you may be asking, "Why would you ever order something like this? I mean, what are you some sort of daisy?" That's a fair question. My answer is that a) I felt the pork fat coming out of my pores after the entree and b) I thought the apple would go nicely with the pig taste in my mouth.

Wrong. The sorbet just doesn't stand up to the chilled vodka. I eneded up shooting the vodka (hey you can take the boy out of Cleveland, but ...) and then enjoying the sorbet, which was wonderful. Nice layers of cinammon and ginger to accent the apple, but not enough to save the dish.

In sum: A Respectful Meh

So in all, I treat it as a pilgrimage to the place that started the hole nose to tail movement, which I can respect and get with. However, it was too uneven in food and service to even given a mention in the best restaurants at which I have ever eaten. Glad I went, but never will repeat, especially at 66 quid for the meal.

Learning About My Own Learning: A Hearty Thank You to Rita Koklauner

noreply@blogger.com (michaelwma) — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 04:09:00 +0000

Usually, a facebook reconnect involves getting in touch with friends, but I had a recent friend who was able to reconnect me with ... well, me. At least my learning.

A distant friend that I vaguely remember, Chris Sanyk, wrote an incredibly detailed account of what it was like at Forest Elementary School in North Olmsted, Ohio. Through his words, I realize how lucky I was to receive the education that I did as a first and second grader. I really am so truly lucky.

I don't know how Chris remembered everything with such vivid detail, but it created an internal awakening of a time many years ago. He came from another school and described what we had described in the first time at Forest:

Our teacher, Mrs. Koklauner, was a nice old gray-haired grandma type, and had a very calm and wise air about her. On one of the first days of classes, we set up the rules for the class. At Pine, we had had a list of a dozen or fifteen rules such as "always raise your hand and wait to be called on before talking" and "don't chew gum" "don't fight" etc. Instead of making us memorize a bunch of dumb rules like that, we held a class discussion and worked out our own moral/ethical principles which we all agreed we should abide by. Our classroom had only three rules: Respect yourself, respect others, and respect that which does not belong to you.

Compared to the way things were at Forest school, Pine was a like a petty military dictatorship, and Forest virtually a Utopia. As students, even the youngest of us, we governed ourselves as we saw fit. If we felt that we needed permission for something, we asked for it. Those of us who were more independent were accorded that bit of self-authority that we needed. If absolutely necessary, we sometimes might have to get permission to do something retroactively. Requirements were only made of us in terms of doing our work, being prepared when our study groups had their meetings, and conducting ourselves in a manner which enabled everyone to get along and do what they needed to get done.

And this part made me laugh:

"Mike Ma was my chess playing nemesis. Out of all the kids in the class who played chess regularly, he was the only one who I could never seem to beat. Other than that, we didn't really do much. He was a year younger than me, and I think moved away or something because after I went to third grade I don't remember hearing anything about him."

A few things I take from this:
1. I am reaffirmed in the fact that I am sending Sean to a Montessori School. I basically think what I was doing was a Montessori school on steroids now.

2. Traditional classrooms suck. I moved away from North Olmsted to Westlake. My new school system didn't know what to do with a 3rd grade kid who was doing 6th grade math and 5th grade english ... so they just made me repeat everything. I remember being bored from 3rd grade to high school, with the exception of all four years of honors english at Westlake. I think perhaps this is where my intellectual impatience stems from ... so many years of being bored.

3. Thank your teachers now ... today. Yesterday. This stroll down memory lane promted me to google stalk Mrs. Koklauner, but unfortunately, all I found was that she passed just 11 months ago. Damn.

For entrepreneurs, it's a new, old day

noreply@blogger.com (michaelwma) — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 13:40:00 +0000

While I woke up this morning with a large helping of disbelief, wonderment, and tears at what I saw last night, I now find myself sitting at my desk. It's like any other morning. I am here to do work. To help build a great company.

For entrepreneurs, it is indeed a new, old day.

For entrepreneurs, be you red or blue, I bet your day, today, looks a lot like mine. Trying to figure out your cash flow or secure capital. Retaining your customers. Keeping your troops motivated.

I was reminded of this flying back from Las Vegas last week and the man sitting next to me saw the image of McCain on my laptop as I was watching his appearance on Meet the Press. He interrupted me with a light tap on the shoulder. With misplaced trust, he asked me with a clear Texas drawl, "He doesn't have a chance, does he?"

"I don't think so. But you really never know," I replied.

From there, we began to trade stories of building businesses. We had totally different businesses (me in consulting and hi-tech, him in marinas and boats), and I am convinced we shared vastly different political views.

However, we shared shockingly similar stories about how we were both down on luck at times with our backs against the wall. How it affected your self-esteem. How it affected our family lives. How we cared about winning, more than money. How business was the best game we ever played.

Like the ongoing war between skiers and snowboarders, I realize that for entrepreneurs, the differences are, writ large, petty. That we may have different views of the mountain, but we both love the mountain.

As I wrote on the kasina blog and to quote the new president-elect, we are not as divided as our politics suggest.

Time to get the lead out, entrepreneurs.

Go.

Why I Like David Brooks

noreply@blogger.com (michaelwma) — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 02:36:00 +0000

My college roommate Sam has asked me why I like David Brooks. His comment to my last post was this:

But I can't believe that Brooks is your idol. My dad said this about him the other day: "All his columns are the same. They go right...then left...then right...then left...then RIGHT!!!" Picture my dad moving his hands back and forth and shouting on that last one. You should do another post on why he's your idol.

First, Sam's dad is a very prominent academic. And I mean very with a capital VERY ... so let me tread lightly. For my money, if David Brooks has written something, I almost always think that it's worth 10 minutes of my time. As far as his politcs go, he is to the right of me, but I will always read his columns ... people don't have to be Keith Olbermann for me to like them.

Hell, I read the Drudge Report.

Back to Brooks, and why...

1. He places a premium on ideas -- In his columns, I can see the internal discourse that is happening. While I may end up a partisan, I do not go there unreflectively. A lot of my thoughts and feelings are developed through dialogue, and that to me, is a good thing. I go to him to satisfy that philosopher in me, and I am happy about that.

For instance, you can look at this column "The Class War Before Palin," and you can see how while he values the intellectual inquiry more than the output.

On a non-partisan issue, I thought his post on China, "Harmony and the Dream," was one of the most insightful pieces on China that I have ever read.

2. He does take stands -- I mean ... read "Hoping It's Biden." or "Why Experience Matters". for instance, he writes:

I would have more sympathy for this view [of the everyman in public office] if I hadn’t just lived through the last eight years. For if the Bush administration was anything, it was the anti-establishment attitude put into executive practice.

3. You don't know where he's going ... and he's insightful without being preachy - Contrary to Sam's dad's views, I don't think he is so predictable. He can do 1) and 2) and do it in an accesible way for everyone. He makes me laugh and think at the same time. See "Suprise Me Most":

The candidates probably won’t take this kind of advice. But remember: Weirdness wins. Surprise me most.

I have no problem with people being centrists. These are hard issues that people are calling, and there is an internal dialogue that needs to be asked for a thorough examination. For me, he is the intellectual conscience of democratic liberty. If you want to follow what I think you can check me out on del.icio.us.

Or to say another way, I think of David Brooks on my shoulder whispering, "Yeah you all can vote, but you have to really think to earn it ... let me help."

That's worth 10 minutes for me. I mean, who's better?

Prediction: The Right Brained Person Will Win Tonight's Debate

noreply@blogger.com (michaelwma) — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 17:00:00 +0000

I actually don't know who it will be tonight, but I had a feeling who it has been.

During last week's second debate, I posted on Facebook that I was shocked how often I felt McCain focused on saying "I" a lot, and how much Obama focused on "you."

I wanted to check this, and did a quick word count on the 2nd debate transcript and here is the breakdown:

	I	You
Obama	127	107
McCain	153	106

This is a very narrow test, but it confirms my gut feeling and I think the larger political critique of McCain's seeming disconnected with voters, especially in a town hall meeting.

This was supported by my columnist idol, David Brooks, surely no liberal, who explained this about Obama's right brained empathic abilities:

And the other thing that does separate Obama from just a pure intellectual: he has tremendous powers of social perception. And this is why he's a politician, not an academic. A couple of years ago, I was writing columns attacking the Republican congress for spending too much money. And I throw in a few sentences attacking the Democrats to make myself feel better. And one morning I get an email from Obama saying, 'David, if you wanna attack us, fine, but you're only throwing in those sentences to make yourself feel better.' And it was a perfect description of what was going through my mind. And everybody who knows Obama all have these stories to tell about his capacity for social perception.

Casting my personal politics aside (I am admittedly in the bag for "That One"), I would caution against the idea that the financial crisis has moved this debate and election is really about hard core left-brained pocketbook policy ideas.

I would say this has always been much more about the right brained abilities. I hope my author idol/BFF, Dan Pink, would agree.

I actually don't care what the New York Times says, that's what I am watching for tonight, regardless of who "wins."

Scraping through the New Yorker veneer

noreply@blogger.com (michaelwma) — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 19:56:00 +0000

When I lived in the West Village, I once knocked over a small, elderly lady in a grocery store. I turned the corner from the pasta aisle to the oil aisle and then my very large 25 lb. backpack hit knocked her over mid-turn.

Obviously, she was irate and I remember the following line, "How can you walk like that? That's like another person in there!"

I looked at her and said, "Ma'am, I am sorry. But it looks like you are going to live."

She looked at me blankly at first. And then burst in to enormous laughter. And then I joined in. I saw her later at the seafood counter, and we shared another good laugh.

It was definitely a New York moment -- one that I will never forget.

* * * * *

I was watching the Daily Show and I was reminded how much I would really like to take issue with the people that people are rude. Watch this clip of Sarah Vowell of NPR fame. (sorry for the crappy embedding)

I realized that I felt the same way.

I too went to public schools.

I too grew up in, well not Wasilla, but in Ohio.

I too came to New York grudgingly. In short, my wife made me, or it was curtains for our relationship.

I too believed that the city was dirty, people are rude, and its cost prohibitive to have fun.

But now I am in that latter camp that Sarah mentioned, I don't understand why every dumps on New Yorkers as a bunch of arugula-eating elitists.

I think that it's just that most think that New Yorkers are rude, and I'd like to dispell that.

What my fellow Midwesterners need to realize that New Yorkers live in a paradoxical quandary of space. Basically, we have none to ourselves. So, we all have defense mechanisms .... they can be sunglasses, our iPods, or sometimes a just pretending we are talking on our cell phone.

But it is just a veneer. We don't have space of our own, so we have a natural inclination to defend. However, you can imagine one thing that New Yorkers are good at as another consequence is that we are great at sharing. I mean, how else are you going to pack 8 million people into a city (oh and by the way, make it the safest big city in America, so sayeth the FBI)?

Of course, we could reach out, and I personally do my part to try and help lost tourist souls midtown. We need to be more proactive in that end, and we are working on that.

But in the meanwhile, please don't be afraid to approach us, or ask us for help. We are some of the best sharers in the world. Yes we have our quirks, but who doesn't.

My encouragement to everyone is to just scrape through the New Yorker veneer. On the subway, in Times Square, at Ground Zero-- ask us a question. I think you too, might be suprised.

Internet Snakes on a Plane

noreply@blogger.com (michaelwma) — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 11:47:00 +0000

(I admit the title has nothing to do with the post ... I've been wanting to say it for a while)

Currently flying to San Francisco, and I am heartened by the fact that I have finally been able to get wireless access on a place, and it is pretty decent via GoGo.

Bandwidth results from Speakeasy ...
Download Speed: 2792 kbps (349 KB/sec transfer rate)
Upload Speed: 216 kbps (27 KB/sec transfer rate)

Let's see how it impacts productivity ... could be up or down ...

Rest Well, Robert Hughes

noreply@blogger.com (michaelwma) — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 22:04:00 +0000

Cross-posted from the kasina blog

It is with a heavy, sad heart that I am writing to inform friends of kasina that Robert Hughes has passed. We knew him as Robert Larson-Hughes, as he was a Principal of the firm and also has served on our Board of Advisors after he left us in 2005.

Anyone who has been to our office should feel his presence. In addition to a number of other things I'd like to talk about below, he designed our office space.

Larry Cecil of Van Kampen paid us one of the best compliments that makes me think of Robert. Larry said, "This is exactly what I thought kasina's offices would look like."

Of course. It was designed by my friend, Robert Hughes.

In his short tenure with us, he left an indelible mark on our firm and me personally. I credit him with a lot of what I know about consulting and business. He challenged me on improving our process across the board for our clients. I still can hear him repeat one of his favorite Robert-isms, "All we sell is a process. So it better be good."

However, if I limited his credits to that I would be doing him a great disservice.

He taught me the value of surrounding yourself with a vibrant, passionate community. He was previously Steven's boss at McGladrey and came to work for his former employee because he thought Steven would stimulate him the most. He didn't need the money. He wanted to be in New York for personal reasons and wanted to be challenged. He thought we were the best fit. I don't know of many people whose pride would take such a back seat to his commitment to passion, learning, and community.

As I mentioned earlier, he also impressed on us the value of physical space. An MIT-trained architect, Robert graced us with his ingenious eye. If you have been here, you will realize that he placed a premium on community and elegant simplicity. He was a noncomformist who was savvy enough to conform when appropriate. He was a master of working with what was there and making it better.

All the things I love about kasina in our office. All Robert.

As you may see, I always sensed a kindred connection with him and it was solidified when he chose to move to Vermont after leaving us, not more than a few miles from me. It afforded me the luxury of seeing him more often than most others here at kasina. For that, I am grateful.

Robert, we will miss you.

Please hug your loved ones extra hard tonight. I know I will.

The Best Block at Home Plate Ever

noreply@blogger.com (michaelwma) — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 12:48:00 +0000

If you love baseball, and if you love kids, you have to love Adam Bender.

What's more, if your eyes don't well up ... hmm ... perhaps you need to get that lump of coal you call a heart looked at

Gnar Wars!

noreply@blogger.com (michaelwma) — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 12:51:00 +0000

I must be going batty because this summer weather is making me daydream about riding. So much so that I have watched Gnar Wars more times that I care to admit.

shralp! reports that it took two days to shoot and about a month for the editing, but none of this makes me as happy as the fact that I can report that Darth Isri rides goofy!

Check the lift scene, it's priceless.

Little Russ is dead, I cry inside

noreply@blogger.com (michaelwma) — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 22:23:00 +0000

God, if you exist,

Please double check all your facts,

Russert is coming.

My udder olma matter

noreply@blogger.com (michaelwma) — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 18:03:00 +0000

Ironic. While I was pondering the merits of Harvard "education,"my other alma mater made national news. Westlake High School (Josten's actually) printed the word "educaiton" on its diplomas this year.

It's easy to make fun of this, and the local media has had a field day. I'd like to say that I received a first rate education at Westlake -- and in particular the English department.

I recall my first paper I ever wrote in college was on the Iliad, and it was graded by Jamie Redfield, pretty much the world's leading Classics scholar. He wrote, "Mr. Ma, this is probably the best paper in the stack." (I still have the paper.)

I fully attribute this to my teachers -- Mss. Wilder, Gordon, Jurgens, and Montain. I had them in that order, and the were all fantastic teachers that frankly kicked my ass. (Ms. Jurgens, I will never forget the D on my exam of Billy Budd.)

Thanks for that, Westlake. I don't care what they write about you.

That [Harvard] kid in the corner, ten years later

noreply@blogger.com (michaelwma) — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 18:22:00 +0000

I've spent the last 2 days processing my 10th year reunion weekend. I've been thinking that there is some major thought or epiphany here, as I have felt something digging at my soul -- a pebble that just won't go away.

After a lot of introspection, I realized here is what it is: I liked Harvard.

I know I see the disappointment in your face (“All that buildup for that?”) But it has taken me ten years to the day to get the words out of my mouth. Many of you may be asking, "WTF? Nice, blogger boy, you liked Harvard ... thanks for the update." But let me share a couple things with you that may at least mildly alter your vantage point.

1. I’ve previously been pretty critical of Ivy education – … and particularly Harvard, which really mailed it in with regard to undergrad education during my time (they have changed a lot of these things). No time abroad. No real dedication to science and mathematics. Big group lecture hall lectures supported by graduate students with questionable teaching skill. A hilarious excuse for academic counseling. The list goes on and on.

2. I’m Midwestern – It’s hard for me to say that I went to Harvard openly. "I went to school in Boston" is the typical response from me. And after a decade of practicing and perfecting the onedownsmanship of my undergraduate education, you begin to believe that it wasn't anything special, or that great of a place.

3. I saw the worst parts of Harvard politics far too early, far too young -- I was embroiled in one of the worst possible political battles that you can imagine where the University threatened to kick my student organization off campus. I was angry at a lot of people and the stakes were really high ... 10,000 clients in Boston and Cambridge were supported by 1700 volunteers running 72 social service and justice programs with a $5M budget. This battle between my fellow students and countless Harvard deans and professors cost me a lot sleep, friendships, health, and my grades ... the least of which was my love for the University which suffered an extraordinary toll during this time of my life. I felt that no 21-year old should have to do bear that burden. To this day, I am still a little bitter about the whole thing and partially blame Harvard for these causalities.

4. I always felt like I was an outsider -- I was a transfer student from the U of C. I went to public school (or as we say on facebook ... I Went To A Public School ... Bitch). I had to live in pre-randomization, aesthetically imposing, jock-dorm of Mather House while not being an athlete. No, I didn't stick a pat of butter on the Union. No, I didn't live in the Yard. No, you don't recognize me from FUP -- that was some other Asian kid. I still feel like “that kid in the corner.”

But this past weekend, I got pretty damn nostalgic. I realized I went to school at a pretty amazing with some pretty freakin’ amazing people. What Harvard did well, was find interesting people and if you put them together in a place (even with bad infrastructure and support), that great things will happen.

In every conversation that I had with my classmates, I found very few if any people who weren’t passionate about what they were doing. Very few were mailing it in, watching the clock. It didn’t matter if they were banking, teaching, acting, community organizing around world health, or running a major league baseball team (one is, btw). No matter where they were, or what they were doing … pretty much everyone was engaged.

You have to give it up to the people in the Admissions office. For them to get it right 10 years later is pretty impressive. Hell, headhunters get paid if they are able to keep people for 1 year. Harvard Admissions has a longer track record on something far more important than someone keeping a job. It’s about keeping passion.

So for that I give credit, where credit is due. My wounds have healed. Ten years later, I can really say that I liked Harvard without gagging.

What can I say, I’m growing.

My son to Dems: Couldn't we share?

noreply@blogger.com (michaelwma) — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 14:35:00 +0000

Sean is nearly three, and has started giving me advice. This past Sunday, I spilled a glass of wine at dinner and he said, “It’s OK, everyone makes mistakes sometimes.”

Another thing he says from time to time, “It’s good to take turns, Daddy. I am a good sharer.”

As I sit exasperated by this prolonged, dirge-like slog we call the Democratic primary, I wonder if we could ever apply that advice to this election.

If you really wanted a message for change, imagine this: Hillary and Barack said something like:

“We are going to share. We are going to flip for it and whoever wins this year will run top of the ticket, and then we are going to switch in the next election. Yes, we know this is not normal, but we feel we can rise above this because it is in the best interest of our country and party. We are going to change the idea of ‘I win, you lose.’ That’s just not how we are going to roll in 2008. We believe we can share nicely and hope you all support us in that.” (big group hug follows)

I am not naïve enough to believe that this would ever happen in a million years, but I am so sick of this election that I can’t even stomach Meet the Press anymore. Forgive me, I am delirious.

If they wanted my son’s theoretical vote, both candidates would have to up their game. This fact makes me happy and sad at the same time.

Practice begins ...

noreply@blogger.com (michaelwma) — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 22:50:00 +0000

"Practice begins the first time that your guest gets it right."

This was a tip I got from my examiner, when I got my American Association of Snowboard Instructors Level I certification a couple weeks ago.

This little tip has permeated a lot in my life. Be it with my co-workers, my clients (both the ones with the snowboards, and the other ones with the powerpoints), and even my family.

We are so quick and eager to "progress" sometime, we forget how much practice true mastery requires. If it is 10,000 hours, as Maclom Gladwell suggests, what role do we have as teachers in getting our students there? Is it peppering them with 10,000 new concepts at 1 an hour or is it giving them enough for them to begin to play with concepts themselves?

Probably the latter, which is why practice begins the first time you/your student/peer/managee gets it right.

Think about it.

The Apple Experience: "Meh"

noreply@blogger.com (michaelwma) — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 14:28:00 +0000

I finally got on the Apple bandwagon. Especially after my good friend Jake gave it such a big rating. I was given an old school flat panel iMac from back in the diz-ay. I forced myself for two weeks to use it exclusively while working on it from home.

It wasn't that great. I mean, it's OK, but I wasn't doing cartwheels or anything. I couldn't install the Leopard DVD (why make the DVD dual-layer?), it isn't compatible with our VPN, and the Office integration left much to be desired (can't see comments in ppt). It also still crashed more than a couple times, despite what Applemaniacs attest and there have been 2 "security patches" to my version of OS X. So, it can't be supremely safe, can it? I mean, someone is out there hacking it.

I thought Molly Wood at CNET's Buzz Report summed it up best with this most recent report ... go to 2:10 for the bit about "Apple Is Like My Bad Boyfriend"

Unlike Molly, the I have no love for dorky guy either either. Been using a floater laptop with Vista on it. It still sucks, even with SP1. I now realize why there are so many linux heads out there ... I think I am going install Ubuntu or gOS on my next machine.

Verizon Fi-NO-OS: A running commentary in futility

noreply@blogger.com (michaelwma) — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 17:00:00 +0000

... in Jack Bauer voice ... *This blog post is being written to you in real time for the events depicted on January 3. I am currently on hold with various groups responsible for installing Verizon's FiOS service.*

I would like to share with you easily the worst customer experience I have ever encountered--and for me that is saying something.

Say hello to Verizon FiOS everyone! I was lured by the free LCD TV offer (or $200 in Best Buy gift certificate) offer for signing up with new service. However, I am realizing that it is not worth it.

Let me recount this for you on a date by date basis:

Dec 4 - I call and have an order placed at 9PM ET. I receive the following email at 1AM a few hours later.

from volconsumer@verizon.com
to xxxxxx
date Dec 5, 2007 1:35 AM
subject Fios Consumer Order Summary
mailed-by verizon.com

hide details 12/5/07

Reply

Dear Mike,

Congratulations! Your home is about to be upgraded to the power of Verizon FiOS. Soon you'll be able to download purchased music in a flash, watch flawless streaming video and get the edge in online gaming with FiOS Internet Service. . And, with FiOS TV you will get a 100% digital picture*, room shaking sound, that allows you to watch a recorded show in one room while someone else uses the same DVR in another room.

Here is a summary of your FiOS order:

o Scheduled Installation Date -- 12-17-2007
o Scheduled Technician Arrival Window -- 13:00-17:00(Hrs)EST

Dec 6 - I receive the following email asking for further information ... I think it's ridiculous, but I do it anyway, especially since I am a Verizon customer in Vermont. They should know who I fricking am already!

from ecenter@verizon.com
to ,
date Dec 9, 2007 4:49 AM
subject Re:Verizon.com Tracking Number 21980659 Billing Telephone Number 8xxxx FINAL NOTICE [#17669312]
mailed-by verizon.com

hide details 12/9/07

Reply

Verizon.com Tracking Number: 21980659
Billing Telephone Number: xxxxx

Thank you for submitting your order for new telephone service with Verizon.com. To complete your application for new service, Verizon needs to ensure we are establishing service for the authorized party. In order to confirm your identity, it will be necessary for you to provide one (1) photo and one (1) non-photo identification or three (3) forms of non-photo identifications. Please note additional requirements may apply, such as deposit, advanced payment or toll credit limit. If we are not in receipt of the required information within 24 hours, telephone service may not be connected on the due date previously provided to you on our website.

Please choose from the following lists:
http://www22.verizon.com/customerhelp/Data/Verizon/Templatesets/consumer/pdf/Valid_Forms_of_ID.pdf

You may fax or mail your identification.

Faxing Instructions: Please lighten and enlarge your photo copies prior to faxing. The fax telephone number is (800) 688-0427. Please complete and include the fax cover sheet with your order information when faxing identification, by clicking on this link. http://www22.verizon.com/customerhelp/Data/Verizon/Templatesets/consumer/pdf/Fax_Cover.pdf You will be notified via email that your identification has been processed and approved. If you do not hear from us within 24 hours, please contact the welcome center at (877) 912-6500.

Mailing Instructions: Please mail a Xeroxed copy of your identification. Please make sure the copy is legible, and print, complete and include the cover sheet http://www22.verizon.com/customerhelp/Data/Verizon/Templatesets/consumer/pdf/Fax_Cover.pdf with your order information. Your documents should be mailed to:
Verizon Welcome Center
408 Leon Sullivan Way, 1st Floor
Charleston, WV 25301

Please wait 3 to 5 business days after mailing your documents and you will be notified via email that your identification has been processed and approved.

Dec 17 - Installation day -- I get a call saying that they can't come because they didn't receive my information

Dec 18 AM - I resend information. See here for the fax cover sheet.

Dec 18 PM - I speak with Julie in the Service Center at 888-553-1555 at 3PM and she can't figure out why there is a problem. She returns my call via voicemail at 5:36PM and said that she had to "refer the order" and will be back to me the next day

Dec 19 - January 1 - I go on vacation. Julie never calls me back

Jan 2 - I resend the fax with my ID ... again, just for good measure.

Jan 2 PM -- I am on hold for an hour and finally get through to the sales and billing office to reschedule. They send me to the "Welcome Center" (read: Unwelcome center) to verify my information ... that is the same information that a) I faxed to them 3 times and b) that they should have already had since I am a VZ customer!). Apparently, because I was already Verizon customer, that was the source of the problem. OF COURSE! Nothing like those returning customers here to mess up your business!

Then they have to transfer me from the Welcome Center back to Sales and Billing to schedule the appointment. I ask for other numbers in case I get hung up on and I was given 866-326-7937.

And then I get hung up on in the transfer. Seriously.

Jan 2 PM part 2 - I call back at that 7937 to the VZ customer service center and on hold for another hour. I have to leave for home and can't wait anymore.

Jan 3 -- Today I come resolved to make sure to document all my names and times. I place my first call at 10:35 AM. After a 41 minute hold time, I finally get to someone who "doesn't cover New York." He is very nice (heretofore Nice Guy), but has to transfer me to a person (who is a Jerk) who says "there is no order for you, and you have to go to the Welcome Center." In fact, the two VZ people were talking to each other and Nice Guy tries to explain to Jerk what happened, and Jerk cuts off Nice Guy and just hits the transfer button. I lose Nice Guy in the transition.

I get transfered to the Welcome Center and speak with a Mrs. Hall at 11:28 AM. She said, "I see no reason why you are here since there are three order numbers that are 'identified and approved' (14202534, 14202951, 14203124) I have no idea why I am at the Welcome Center."
She has to transfer me back to Sales and Billing department.

11:48 I get transfered to "Michelle" who says that she "doesn't do FiOS, but she does all other sales and billing information. I get transfered again.

12:07 - I get transfered to a Mr. Vee who can't find any of my old orders, despite giving my numbers and has to start another order from scratch. I finally get one done at 12:34 PM and theoretically someone is coming next Friday to install the service. Order #N1****98!

*end realtime blogging*

This was incredibly unreal. In total, this order will have taken:
- over 45 days of calendar time (and it still isn't guaranteed to be installed yet.
- over 8 hours of talk/hold time
- 5 orders placed (1 in 12/5, the 3 on 1/2, and 1 on 1/3).
- 3 hangups in VZ transfers
- 3 faxes of very personal information
- about 12 transfers between e-Center, Sales and Billing and the ... my favorite ... "Welcome Center"

In all honesty, it wasn't worth it. It still isn't. I really just completed the exercise to see how bad it could really be. It was amazingly the worst customer experience ever, and unless they are trolling blogs, I doubt anything will come of it. I will send this off to VZ and post back with any "results."

(I use that term loosely).

I am a little less pretentious than Chuck Klosterman

noreply@blogger.com (michaelwma) — Sat, 22 Dec 2007 19:38:00 +0000

Legendary rock critic (and one time Ohioan!) ... Chuck Klosterman wrote a noteworthy piece on music in last month's Esquire that I was lucky enough to peruse on a flight from JFK-LAX.

In "Me, On Shuffle" he describes the manner in which he answers the question "What kind of music do you like?" At first blush, he gives a music nerd, Lester Bangs type of response ...

"Music that sounds like the opening fourteen seconds of Humble Pie's 'I Don't Need No Doctor,' as performed live on their 1971 album Performance: Rockin' the Fillmore."

He continues with a similar musical gross anatomy less on of a few of his favorite things. Most of the blogosphere has flamed him for the piece, but not this dude. Na-uh - no way. It was one of the fricking most brilliant pieces that I have read on music.

The 5 of you who read this blog regularly know I love albums, and I am no fan of the single serving, 99 cents a track culture. So why do I condone such a fine analysis of music that minces tracks down to their basic elements?

The answer is because you have to think about music. I owe it to the artists. And frankly, they owe it to me to make something worthwhile listening to.

Why? Basically, I feel blessed by music. That it it is one of the few things in life that truly makes it worth living. To hear people searching for one catchy track that everyone has is, in my view, a blasphemy. And those who make that kind of music, well ... hmmm ... I dont think they are charlatans ... but more like the makers of Yellow Tail. (Go ahead ... crack it open, and I dunno, go watch CSI or something.)

It is a really interesting exercise that was fun to do yourself ... here are a couple things in my "kinds of music I like" repertoire (sorry, no links, I don't have any interns for IGSMTOMM to rip samples.)

Jeff Buckley's hushing croon on "Hallelujah" ... just the thought of the song gives me goosebumps.
The last 25 seconds of "White Room" where Ginger Baker goes nuts on the drums.
Hearing Jay Z spit ... "Sensitive thugs, y'all need hugs" in "Heart of the City" was a milestone for me that he was going to be something entirely different
The build up to the first 45 seconds of Justice's "D.A.N.C.E"
The opening 25 seconds of Pharoahe Monch's "Desire" with violin riffs introducing a heavy track, and heavier vocals
The melodically unfinished, a capella end to Corinne Bailey Rae's "Just Like a Star"
I mentally sing the the big, bold, brassy chorus to "Take the A Train" almost every I ride the A, as it was the first jazz song that I got to play (well) on my trombone.
Otis Redding's raspy high notes in the last chorus of "That's How My Strong My Love Is"
The visually stunning opening guitar riff to Red Hot Chili Peppers' "Snow."
Hearing Billy Corgan repeat "... and she knows" in different inflections in "Rhinoceros"
The "OW!" at the beginning and "We'll kick your asses" at the end of "Get What You Give" by the sadly short-lived New Radicals
The horn section in "Into the Mystic"
The third verse to Common's "I Used To Love H.E.R."
Black Thought vociferously skatting on "Essawywhaman"
Any Maynard Furgeson high note that lasts what I feel is a few asphyxiating days.

Klosterman wasn't able to find a common theme in his picks and I didn't think I could either. Not until I tried to find where I got that CSI line I used above and found my previous post, "Dying a little through your iPod."

That was it. In an odd way, I think I hear all my artists die a little in their performance of these tracks. I swear I did the list and an now am writing this after the fact. I was afraid I would just become some easy PlatinumBlue statistic and some indy record exec could figure me out, but I think that there is hope.

So now my answer is to what kind of music you like is "Music where I hear the artist die a little" ... (all respects to Frank Sinatra who is rumored to have said of Judy Garland, "Every time she sings, she dies a little.")

OK, that's morose, but I think you get where I am coming from. I will work on it, but I hope that also sound a little less pretentious than Chuck Klosterman. Just a a bit.

I'd love to hear some faves of others out there and see if you can make anything hang together.

Shoes. Bag. Laptop - A Better Way to SimpliFLY

noreply@blogger.com (michaelwma) — Fri, 23 Nov 2007 11:30:00 +0000

This is the mantra that I remember when I enter airport security. Now, say it to yourself:

Shoes.
Bag.
Laptop.

The TSA's new SimpliFLY campaign is a ri-donkulous effort to get people to pack a) neatly, and b) one layer of neatly folded clothes alternating with a layer of neatly coiled electronics. BWAHAHAHAHAAHA.

I feel I have some road warrior cred (1.5MM miles, though I am a small fry compared to others), and let me offer a more pragmatic and useful tip. When choosing what to put through the machine first, let me offer this as a faster way to get through the line.

Shoes - shoes go in the first bin. Here you put your jacket or other clothing as well.
Bag(s) - whatever rollerboard, briefcase or backpack you are carrying. Put this second. I stash my belt, cell, watch key, change, and wallet in my bag as well. Much better than just throwing it in a bin. (Don't be that guy digging his nickel collection of out of the bin. Not cool.)
Laptop - Your laptop should be last. If you are traveling overnight, put your plastic baggie of CVS goodies next to it here.

When you are through (don't forget your boarding pass!):

Throw shoes on ground. Place feet inside, and don't bother tying until you are clear, if you can help it. Put jacket on, if brought.
Open bag to accept laptop and CVS baggie.
Insert laptop and baggie.
Scurry to a place to tie your shoes and redress yourself to desired comfort.

Everyone will thank you for being out of there sooner. I certainly will.

Shoes. Bag. Laptop.

Now go write that 50 times.

The iPod - I told you so

noreply@blogger.com (michaelwma) — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 12:46:00 +0000

And while we are speaking about iTunes, let me say something about the new iPod Classic. I had to buy a new one since my car was broken into a couple of weeks ago and now there is a thug in Hartford that is well outfitted with music.

Well, my silver lining (quite literally, since the silver 80GB model is deliciously thin) has been the new iPod. There have been several improvements to the UI that yours truly advocated for. Two years ago, I complained about the difficulty to shuffle and they have finally fixed it.

From the "Now Playing" screen ... just click the center wheel a few times and then you get this screen.

At the botton you see the suffle icon with buttons "Off, Songs, Albums."

Finally! Woohoo!

The Album

noreply@blogger.com (michaelwma) — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 12:36:00 +0000

I was so refreshed by Jermaine Dupri's recent article on The Huffington Post about a topic near or dear to my heart -- the album. All 5 regular readers of IGSMTOMM know I rarely bite off other blogs, but it was just too pithy to pass up.

Specifically, his title "A good album is more than just a collection of singles" gets right at a topic I talked about in January of this year., "Is it really the best album of the year?"

Any music fan and registered iTunes user should read it.