December 5, 2022
Good morning! Let’s start by congratulating our youngest son and his newly-betrothed; so VERY happy for them. We are filled with joy — as are they.
- Among my guilty pleasures is watching segments of ESPN’s College Game Day most Saturday mornings throughout the autumn months.
- I know very little about college football, but I enjoy the vibe, the (perceived/ my naive) innocence, the marching bands, the traditions, the pageantry, and the energy.
- Except for 42 Bowl games, the college season is at an end — and, speaking about change, how about the 100+ years of the Rose Bowl as we knew it ending?!
- Still don’t think change will happen?!
- Anyway, College Game Day’s on-air send-off to The Bear, one of the show’s erudite personalities, was unusual in that it openly celebrated this man’s contributions over the last quarter century rather than euphemistically and begrudgingly announcing his career move to a competing network; it was refreshing, real, and rare.
- I will confess to having never eaten a lobster poached in butter, a sort of lobster confit I imagine.
- (Question is, poached in its whole shell or eviscerated first? If it’s a non-eviscerated crustacean, it would be very messy and slippery to eat at a formal soiree!)
- Curiously, Joe didn’t serve the lobsters until 10:30 PM! And, these people further raged and partied-on until 1 AM — some then frantically searching for cabs and ubers.
- By the way, can’t help myself, France was NOT the first to recognize and support the revolutionaries in the United States back in the 1770s… do you know which country was?
- So, we’ve reached the so-called Round of Sixteen in the much-ballyhooed Qatar FIFAs.
- Have you as of yet chosen a favourite for which to cheer?
- The options are dwindling fast; choose wisely.
- Synthesis from tens of millions of pages of advice on aging: Save more — Spend less — Work longer — Have friends — Forgive — Stay healthy.
- We have a somewhat rare, counterintuitive, inverted treasury bond market.
- From an early age — and for more than a half century — I was taught Citizen Kane was the best movie of all time; didn’t know that could ever change.
- But it did, finally, ten years ago (Vertigo) — and now transformative, earthquake-like change has further shaken the movie industry.
- Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (Yes, that’s the title) has come out of nowhere to be named the best movie of all time by the UK’s Sight and Sound, the gold standard of ranking, rating, and critiquing cinema globally. (As informed by the NYT)
- According to Visual Capitalist, video streaming uses nearly half (~49%) of the worldwide bandwidth — and of that, nearly half is used by the You Tubes.
- Of the remaining half, nineteen percent (19%) is used by social media, thirteen percent (13%) for web searches, and seven percent (7%) for messaging; e.g., texts.
- Pickleball’s upswing in popularity has grown by more than 39% over the last three years. (Sports & Industry Fitness Association)
- Prompting some residents in close proximity to the ubiquitous courts to express concerns and complaints… too much noise!
- The noise, oh the noise!
- Watch for it soon, maybe you can invent it: Sound-reducing paddles and/or muted balls.
- The portion of for-sale home listings that mention pickleball rose 86% in 2022 compared to one year earlier. (Zillow)
- Managers exist to maintain the status quo (think McDonalds) whereas leaders exist to imagine that which doesn’t yet exist and to transform those imaginations into action.
- Both are necessary, both are valuable — and a good leader will be unhappy as a manager, whereas a good manager will be very uncomfortable and anxious as a leader.
- Too many decisions, too many unknowns.
- Getting the right people in the right roles at the right time and with excellently-communicated vision and goals is among the imperatives for success.
- Old news, but Vienna continues its multi-year monopoly as Best City in the World.
- Surely there must be a contender somewhere to challenge this dynasty?
- The Economist has this on its masthead: “Published since September 1843 to take part in ‘a severe contest between intelligence, which presses forward, and an unworthy, timid ignorance obstructing our progress.'”
- A bit bold — and perhaps arrogant — but a pretty good mission statement — explaining the WHY of its existence.
- “A (person) who stops advertising to save money is like a (person) who stops a clock to save time.” (Ford)
- As the old adage goes, “That’s no way to run a railroad!”
- For you, my clients and faithful readers, I am enormously grateful you are here; thank you!
