Author Archives: tedsheadco

The Age Of Disruption….

Age of Disruption…..

Last Friday night Kathy and I attended a performance of “The Age of Disruption” tour given by a Dr.Bill Thomas. He is a gerontologist who is trying to change the nation’s attitude on aging. It was simple but at the same time deceivingly complex show that consisted of just him and a very talented musician. Sadly there were far too few attendees but undaunted he displayed incredible enthusiasm and most of all honesty.

The gist of his proposal is that TRUTH begets happiness. Sounds simple but the subtleties are profound. Through a series of pictures he demonstrated how we kid ourselves in an effort to forestall reality. We are in essence embarrassed by who we are rather than reveling in it. On the purely physical side we dye, tuck, nip, Botox and implant our way into who we think we should be or at least what our culture thinks we should be.

For instance he showed a female teenager with acne. Then he showed a beautifully adorned and made up model. The most startling contrast was their smiles. The young girl had a sparkle and hope for the future. For the model there was a far off disengaged look that seems to say there is no tomorrow. He then displayed picture after picture of young and old in their natural unmade up state. There were blemishes and wrinkles but one slowly became aware of their true beauty.

The message was striking but more the thought it provoked over several days. I have gone from the simple act of looking in the mirror and saying,”This is what we got”, to pondering about this whole concept of truth in our society today.

In the last week we have seen deceit and deception at Wells Fargo. Think of how far we have come from a simple and trusted place to put your money or start your Christmas Club to behemoths that try to extract every last cent out of a consumer. Not a place to borrow for a house or a car but a clearinghouse for monetizing thousands of those lendings to provide investment vehicles for unsuspecting marks. A far cry from Dick Deatly and the Chatham Trust. We used to play tennis together and were great friends. Now the mega bank exec departs with a $200 million Golden Parachute for his misdeeds or at least lack of leadership.

The national stage has brought the farce of “The Donald and Hilary” to the Broadways of our lives. Show after show they bring standing ovations as they parade each other’s dalliances and underhandedness before our very eyes. We are either numb or complicit in our acceptance. Maybe because they are not alone.

Now this is not a treatise on sin and shame. I am guilty as all of you are but I want you to consider for a moment the breadth of our decline. Lying whether large or small is taken for granted. We fabricate and embellish to make ourselves more important. We have plastic surgery on our bodies and our minds. We say we owe it to ourselves and somehow the real us takes a further and further back seat on the bus.

How about the victim? By changing the scenario ever so slightly we become the unsuspecting prey, the screwee so to speak. We twist details to fit our narrative and the more we retell the details the more we are convinced we are right. Fascinating stuff.

We put on acts. We pretend to be who we are not. Whether we are flashy or downtrodden we take on the persona. Fraud is a nasty word but in so many ways is apt. We become legends in our own minds. Deep down we know who we are but that someone becomes more and more submerged. In some crazy notion we think we feel better, but how can you portray x,y or z on the outside if you are suspect to your self?

This all sounds heavy duty and somewhat distasteful but it is not. Going back to that TRUTH thing, just think about it for a minute. It really is freedom and happiness if we use it as a maxim. When we carry the baggage of living a lie it is tough to keep your story straight. You are always concentrating on being who you are not. That ain’t no fun.

Years ago in fighting depression, I had to take that long look at who I was. I had to take inventory and thank God my assets outweighed my liabilities. Not by much but it was step in the right direction. I said to myself,”You know you are really not a bad guy,warts and all”. It set me on a way to be me and quite frankly have a shitload of fun. I am not perfect by any means but I hope you will agree I am real. Beyond happiness it is a sense of freedom and that is very cool.

I spent last evening with a friend who has incurable cancer. He had gotten the word that morning that time was very short. It was beyond poignant at we sat in his hospital room and just talked for a couple of hours. Actually he talked and I just listened. I don’t know if it was unburdening for him but when I left and waved good bye at the door I think he was content, maybe even happy. In a terribly selfish way I drove home feeling very real.

Whether you are getting older or just getting on, I hope you can experience a bit of TRUTH. I hope you can look at your lot whether good or bad and see it just as life and something to be embraced. Look at the world around you as something to be lived and relished not scorned. Not what the world thinks you should be but who really are deep down inside…for better or worse. And when you look deep I hope you can smile. I do…and that is MY Age Of Disruption.

As always
Ted The Great

Factoids.

Bill Thomas uses the acronym MESH. Make sure you MOVE and are up and about mentally as well as physically. EAT well. Have fun but don’t be unreasonable. SLEEP both at night and during the day. Give your body and your psyche a rest. And HEAL.Doctors and drugs don’t heal us. We HEAL ourselves. Not bad.

In 2014 there were 16 million cosmetic procedures performed at a cost of $13 billion dollars. 92% of this was for women, with breast augmentation being the top expenditure. 224,000 of the surgeries were performed on teenagers. 200,000 men had rhinoplasty.

Simply and broadly put, lying occurs when a communicator seeks knowingly and intentionally to mislead others. There is no scientific data on the prevalence of lying. When asked what do people do? They lie of course. Makes perfect sense.

Bill Thomas has coined a phrase, “Eldertopia” which is a stage beyond adulthood.”. Stop pining for what is already gone.
2. Start searching for the person you are meant to become” I like it.

The Complexity of Hate….

I had taped quite a few shows on 9/11 and spent Monday looking at some of them. For so many the emotions are still raw. I knew 21 who perished and for many of you there were a lot more. As I saw the tranquil setting of the twin pools it still could not hide the carnage wrought by these 27 madmen. What caused this incredible hate and how much hate did the victims’ families still have for the hijackers and their beliefs? I can only guess.

Hate is a visceral emotion that is played out in its descriptive words: abhorrence loathing, detestation, abomination, hostility, enmity, animosity, revulsion, disgust, contempt. Man I can get pissed off just mouthing the words. But what is behind it and our reactions? Somehow, some way we have felt injured by another. It could be bodily, monetarily or culturally to name a few. Whether you know it or not you have hurt me deeply. I could feel threatened. I might feel victimized.

Our initial reactions are stoked by rumor,innuendo and ignorance or misinterpretation of the facts. A friend and I were chatting and it seems if we just stopped to consider things it would be so much better but when the accelerator of vitriol is stomped on, the brake of sanity is no where in sight. Seeing red begets irrationality and road rage or any other type of preposterous behavior kicks in.

We as a society hate nationalities, religions, genders and colors with equality but the economic basis can’t be overlooked. Whether we are a billionaire or a pauper we feel we are owed. One side wants to keep and the other wants to get at all cost. We are judged by what we have and this becomes envy on one hand and disdain on the other. We would hope human empathy would even this out but that seems to have failed. The lesser look to government as the solution to their ills and the greater think it is the source of our discontent.

We hate because of our fears. We don’t know or want to grasp another point of view. It is a threat to our way of life. It shakes or Sea of Tranquility. We are afraid of outsiders and that is indigenous. There is security in the herd whether it is in a gated community or a ghetto gang. If we don’t interact we will never know what it feels like to be on the other side. The rich feel they are under siege and the poor feel nothing but hopelessness because there is no practical way out. Newcomers either way are distrusted….and the beat goes on.

There is a lot of hurt in this world. In a purely practical sense there is no way to alleviate everybody’s pain. You would go nuts if you tried to solve each and every problem. I have given up trying to save the world. I have decided to just do small parts of it. But even then, there are roadblocks in the way.

As is exemplified in our current political process we can use hate to our advantage. The cognoscenti of politics understand the process very well. Short on facts and knowing just what buttons to push, they know the emotion of a rally or a well constructed ad will get people whipped up to rival any lynch mob. Casual and not so casual comments by the opponent are taken out of context and spun to their dismay. We wonder why there are no spontaneous moments? Everything is orchestrated and every one stays on message.

Hate sells air time. Whether it is the highly partisan FOX or CNBC or the more subtle and in some ways more insidious bias of CNN you want to watch or listen to YOUR station. Everyone is fair and balanced! Right, and I have some swamp land to sell you. Are we naive by not realizing we are so manipulated? I guess it is easier not to delve and that is the most discouraging part. The only way we can make any progress is to question and contemplate alternatives. Yet we have built walls so thick I really don’t know if they are penetrable.

Look at our world today. Syria is a insult to our humanity. Cities are blown up, people are gassed, and we vow to eradicate one side or the other. Ditto so many other places both here and abroad. Then after the annihilation we vow to rebuild. I guess their reconstruction comes under infrastructure spending and of course that will be great for their and our economy. Your and my emails are littered with pithy comments from one side or the other. They are trying to get me pissed off and of course to hate. When you hate you send money or listen to your own choir. And that drives movements and ratings. Isn’t that special?

I hate and I hate myself for it. Sometimes I am not big enough to let it die. I have had petty spats or long held grudges. I take cheap shots and push buttons. I have been bullied and have probably bullied too. I guess I am alone. Not a one of you has had the same churning in your gut when you recall a raw deal or catch sight of someone that is not exactly near and dear to your heart. You are peace on earth personified. I only wish I had your virtue.

9/11 was the result of some people who had it in for the United States…. Jews, Christians, blacks and whites. They were equal opportunity terrorists. That in turn spurred us to invade Afghanistan and of course Iraq because of WMDs. Since we were there, might as well get them all. That ignited the Arab Spring and Syria. Libya? Yemen? Why not? There is enough hate in everyone’s heart to keep this going for a long time. Can someone please tell me if we accomplished anything except to boost defense stocks.

This has got to stop. As I spent the last few days studying hate in depth I realized its absolute lunacy and futility. Kumbaya is a long way off but we better start taking steps in the right direction. Start in our homes, our churches, our clubs, our businesses.Next time someone tries to bait you just tell them to shut up. Hate is terribly complex but it is cancerous too. I don’t want to die just yet.

As always
Ted the Great

Factoids

Rush Limbaugh, Chris Matthews, Rachel Maddow, Don Imus and Howard Stern to name a few have made a living by riling up the troops. News as such is no longer reporting but chock a block with editorial comment going one side or the other.

Babies do not have prejudice and hate. It is taught around the dinner table and among friends, business associates or our mode of information. How much of your feelings are the result of first hand interaction or was it passed down? Have you engaged blacks, Muslims, Jews, whites, feminists, Democrats, Republicans, or illegals firsthand or just what you have heard?

Hate and love are the two strongest emotions humans can experience. Scientists have discovered that the hate circuit includes parts of the brain called the putamen and the insula, found in the sub-cortex. These same neural pathways are used in the feelings of love and affection. Imagine if you saw someone you loved madly right next to someone you abhorred. Oi Vey!

God is Irrelevant

The lines have been drawn. Symptomatic of our worldwide effort to be one up on any being or credo, we see the groundswell of secularism rising up against those that perpetuate a fools theory of religion. Doesn’t matter if you are Christian or Jew,Muslim or Hindu, you are by your actions an idiot. Creationism vs evolutionary theory is not even a contest in the Super Bowl of thought. They may be right and then again they might be wrong.

Religion has been a part of our collective society for millenia. Whether it was golden calves, the God of Abraham or Allah we have been soothed and sometimes chastened by the thought of a Superior Being. It has been debated and studied by the likes of Socrates, Plato, Thomas Acquinas, Karl Marx et alia. There is not enough space nor talent for this writer to engage in deep discussion other than my observation of current events and an attempt to find meaning.

Pew Research is hot on the trail of polling and finding what seems to be a lessening of the desire of the populace to flock to cathedrals and chapels of any sort. “Nones” are those that ascribe to no particular affiliation but still believe. The atheists and agnostics seem to be increasing at a steady pace. I have often wondered if their “coming out” is the result of a new way of thinking or something they have really thought all along but were afraid to speak about? Anti establishment thinking has taken hold in so many venues that traditional thinking is becoming passe everywhere.

I personally believe in God  although I don’t quite have that Trinity down pat so  I am willing to engage in a totally frivolous exercise called faith. I like going to mass not because I have to but it is really quite enjoyable to spend an hour or so singing and praying with a bunch of like minded people. We happened to have a vibrant community and some pretty neat clergy who give you something to think about. The fire and brimstone gig has left the building if you haven’t been there in awhile. At least at our house of worship. I can’t speak for the others.

The thought of a God and a Judgement Day does keep me in line.But to be honest on the surface hedonism and materialism sounds great. Eat drink and be merry for tomorrow we die. You mean as long as I do this stuff and don’t get caught I can put my head on the pillow at night without any guilt? Not exactly. You can dull your conscience but it is always there lurking in the background. But what is that thing?

If you look at the legal system worldwide most laws have seven of the Ten Commandments as their basis. Pondering as I do does this mean the world was profligate before Moses went up on the mountain to get his first lesson in religion and got a couple of tablets to boot? Was that the beginning of morality or is it ingrained in us? Now we get into the dicey part about Adam and Eve and original sin and I have probably lost most of you in my delving. But I do think ethics is part of our makeup no matter how hard we try to deny it.

I was on a long drive yesterday and I listened to a program on transplants. Not the immigrants wending their way to pot friendly  Colorado but the organ type. We have graduated from hearts to lungs to hands to penises. Praise Jesus, there is still hope. As I listened there seems to be no boundaries and the fervor of the surgeon was dare I say religious. Now one can ask if he was truly out to help his fellow man or if perhaps his ego was so driven that he now approached being godlike? Interesting question.

This was right alongside another broadcast where a highly successful Hollywood producer was expounding on the value of money. He blithely stated that a bunch of shekels made it possible for him to not have to do anything distasteful for the rest of his life. He didn’t have to talk to anyone, go anywhere or participate in society in any way unless it was in his best interest to do so. He was set or so he thought.

Getting back to God thing, Karl Marx considered religion to be “the opiate of the masses”. That may have validity as we wander through life as the more we have the less we worship. We are too busy and things are going so well what the hell would I ask for in my prayers? A family tragedy or a 9/11 might spark my interest but I can wait until that happens. People in Damascus or in a refugee camp in Turkey? Now they have a reason to pray. I don’t want to jam up the communication portal to God with my trivial pleadings. Let the others do that.

By my own admission I am a lousy prayer. I do not study the Bible at length even though it is the best selling book throughout the world year after year. I have this ridiculously simple view of “Do Unto Others.” My Faith is in God. My Hope is that I can make the world a better place. My Charity is that I am going to help you if you are down. I am not trying to convert anyone to religion per se but maybe a thing called spirituality. Go somewhere out of the ordinary for an hour once a week and think about something other than ourselves. Get really whacko and bring the ones you love with you. Come on in the water is fine.

Artificial Intelligence and breakthroughs in medicine and whiz bang theory may refute all I believe in. That’s fine. I have a pluralist rather than homogenous mentality. You do your thing and I will do mine. Is God irrelevant? What would our world be like without order and morality? Whether God is a being or just a concept I think we would be in trouble without. As a matter of fact I think we are getting our first glimpses and I can’t say  I like what I see.

As always
Ted The Great

Factoids:
In Catholicism there are patron saints for nearly everything including beekeepers (Saint Ambrose), headaches (Saint Bibiana), coffee (Saint Drogo) and hopeless cases(Saint Jude).That last one is mine.

About 50 Bibles are sold every minute. It is the world’s best-selling book. Some 1 billion copies of Bibles have been sold.It is also the most shoplifted book. Go figure.

We meditate, do Yoga, consult Gurus and seek Nirvana. I wonder if there is simpler way to accomplish that?

Who Am I ?…..

Perusing my normal news fare I saw a breakdown of the latest poll for choice of president of these United States. Breakdown is probably the operative word for our present predicament. I noted the number of cross sections that were taken. Sort of an MRI of our politthink. I found it interesting how they can derive all these conclusions pertaining to hundreds of millions of us from a sample of a few thousand but then again what do I know?

I continued to muse on what particular silo I was being placed. That should be easy. I am a white,male,Catholic,former Navy,Vietnam Veteran,Boomer,college grad,married with kids(none at home) former Easterner now Westerner, Independent,cancer survivor,homeowner, golfer,grandparent,blogger,world traveler, volunteer, activist, conservationist (but not tree hugging),cigar smoking,red wine drinking, whack job of a writer. Did I get it all? And you thought you had me all figured out.

We have this constant urge to put people in categories so we can figure out who is with us and agin us. Really stems from early caveman survival where there was security in numbers. At least the caveman part still exists. Now we want to know who stands for what? You have to have not only a belief system but that has to be fairly well defined and you are not allowed to deviate more than a couple of degrees either side of center. This creates groups and a nasty thing called Group Think.

The phrase was coined in the mid 70’s and accounts for a good portion of our commercial and social interaction. In the office every sycophant smiles and nods approvingly at the boss’s brilliance though inside they think he is a bona fide a__hole and a stupid one at that. Disagreement of any sort is sure fire suicide so you grin and bear it. That’s all fine but it gets a little iffy when this dude or dudette is driving the bus off a cliff. C’est la vie.

Socially speaking you have to play on the right side. Liberal or conservative is the first dividing line and any dialogue or lack thereof proceeds from there. Tut tut and tsk tsk will greet any wayward thought. “You know TTG we don’t talk that way around here.Where did you ever come up with that line of thinking?” And life goes on blithely in Happy Valley and all live happily ever after.

This is fine and probably only 5% of you will get what I am trying to say. That is not from any BS feeling of superiority but just the way things work out. We crave our comfort zones. Ostracism and rejection suck so bad we will do everything we can to be part of the group even if we feel differently from time to time. Bury that crazy thought. If things are going just fine then the system works. But kids, I don’t think in a lot of ways it does.

We have incredibly complex problems in government, business and society. Terrorism, globalization, the debt, tax reform, inequality, racism,infrastructure and crazy diseases just to name a few. The Donald says to the Black community, “Try me. I can’t be any worse.” Does anyone in their right mind think this is a prudent course of action? But then please don’t tell me Hilary’s bag of tricks is anything more than an amalgamation of shopworn ideas from political hacks. Do you think an 80 year old John McCain going for his 6th term is going to light fires and inspire millennials?

I have been doing a lot of work on this whole thing of aging. How many of my generation are put out to pasture even if some of those leas have greens and tee boxes? What incredible reservoirs of experience and wisdom we all have in everything from corporate governance to construction to child rearing. Can’t we somehow put that to use?

I have been consulting with a group called helloindigo.com They are a group of retired healthcare executives who have seen the challenges and the opportunities for my peers….old farts. You have the ability by working with them to find out what your passions are and pursue them no matter how off the wall or unattainable they may seem. Once they help you get to the point of discovery they provide you with resources to achieve that goal. Sounds fair enough. I have spoken to 10 or more friends who I think it might work for. They all listened attentively and said they would think about it. Unfortunately I don’t think any have pursued it.

Maybe it is erroneous for me to draw a conclusion without extensive investigation but it seems to me, for them that would be stepping out of the mold. It would be taking a chance. Yet today we are so conditioned to draw inside the lines we don’t realize the real cool things going on inside of us.

I have this crazy thought that inside of us is a kernel that is just dying to bust out. Whether you are 10 or 100 you have spent your life keeping it in check and throwing wet blankets on it. It is really what makes you,YOU! It is what you are good at. It is a thing that I would call your personal genius. What an absolute tragedy if we went to our grave without even giving it a try. My friendly mortician, the Body Snatcher told me last week he sees that aftermath all too often.

I apologize if I am on a kick and probably somewhat repetitive.I know a lot of you are perfectly happy with your pastimes. I don’t want to take that away. I guess I have personally opened up the vault and found a little bit of magic and Damn is it fun! I want to add about 20 more phrases to who I am and I want to help you do the same no matter how young or how old you are. Sorry, it is my tragic flaw. Actually it’s my passion.

As always
Ted The Great

Factoids:

The Baby Boomer generation is some 75 million people. Just 5% would be 3,750,000 bundles of energy and talent living out their dreams and making this big blue marble a better place.

helloindigo.com is a fledgling business trying to find its way. They are looking for a hundred or so who are willing to take a chance on finding their soul. I have no business interest with them other than that great thing called, Intellectual Curiosity.

Media paints the older generation as a period of decline. All sorts of stereotypes show feeble and frail. The new set of elders are vibrant and enthusiastic. They have taken care of themselves for the most part. The tragic part is a lot of them will not have enough money. The challenge is to get them in productive work.

My buddy, Jane Anhold has found her passion and it is golf. She should be in single digits on her handicap next year Right on.

Right Before Our Very Eyes…

For the last two weeks we have been treated to unique insights into human nature via the Olympics. In addition to “the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat” there are all sorts of vignettes that could be applicable to many parts of our society. I love to watch the race or event but I also relish in some of the sidebars. People just being people. Not so much stars but people just like you and me. Human!

On the fields of competition some take it well and others fail miserably. Look I understand what happens when you have trained for years for this very moment and you fall short. You play woulda, coulda, shoulda for hours in your head as you toss and turn at night. But it is not a fatal disease ( for most) and sooner or later you heal. Yet you hurt and you fire back sometimes in not quite the best fashion. Given the state of media you can’t escape the glare and man do you wish you could take back that rant or the international sign of distress in the middle of your hand. Don’t we all.

Ryan Lochte probably showed us at our worst. First he was a drunk superstar.Then he lied to cover his tracks. And then he lied about the lie. And then he couldn’t bring himself to make a full blown apology but equivocated. It is kind of like the Donald on the Khans and Hilary on emails. Oh and can anyone forget when Slick Willy Clnton looked America in the eye and said with a straight face that he did not have sex with that woman? Then on a roll he continued to say, “It depends on what the definition of is is?” You can’t make this stuff up.

The young lady who was the goalie on the American soccer team told us that Sweden cheated or at least did not play to the spirit of the game.Methinks they were just beat by a smarter team. Many of the big names did not show up under the guise of not wanting to get the Zika virus.But there were others for whom this one time chance to compete was not to be so quickly abandoned. They would eventually go back home to oblivion and not multi million dollar contracts. Their future is probably in a factory or office but they had that one moment on stage and that was enough for a lifetime.

Leading up to the games we were exposed to cheating via steroids and other banned substances of all sorts by athletes and even entire nations. There were probably payoffs from top to bottom to get the games in the first place. Of course the officials were shocked and indignant and claimed no knowledge. Very much akin to Volkswagen’s, bank’s and big insurance company’s protestations when they are caught redhanded. We will pay billion dollar fines without admitting any wrongdoing. It is what we do.

I was blown away by the beauty portrayed by the panoramic shots of the Copacabana Beach at various times of the day. The views from Christ the Redeemer and the favelas slums were in stark contrast to one another and then again maybe they weren’t. All God’s children. There we all are, warts and all. The pretty facades being displayed and the rotting innards kept from view. If we all just close our eyes maybe it will all go away.

As I looked at the beach I of course got my water fix of sorts. I couldn’t help but think of the wonderful seascapes Kathy and I have visited over the years.Those waves lap and crash ashore in Brazil just as they do on millions of miles of coastlines throughout the globe. Funny how some are barren and even forlorn while others command astronomical prices as they are home to the swells and fahionistas. The shacks of the Philippines are right up there with the high rises of Monaco or South Beach. The view is still the same. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

The closing ceremony was intriguing as the story was told of all the different regions of the host country. The black women in hoop dresses were festive but also a grim reminder that slavery was not just “Made In The USA” but a horrible footnote to the history of the southern hemisphere as well. Yet you couldn’t help but think that this was a world in many ways that we will never get to know. Villages in the Amazon, undiscovered tribes and scenery that would knock you for loop if we ever know how to get there. Most of us will never see it it for its pure beauty and culture. It makes me wonder why we want to go to Mars?

The Olympics are a lot like “America’s Got Talent.” If you ever watch the show you are amazed by people who normally for the want of an audition would never have their incredible talents discovered. Your jaw drops when a singer belts out a soulful ballad or performs a routine that astounds you. Just as you see some unknown from a country you have never heard of break from the pack to stun the foregone winner and roaring crowd. I always love the underdog.

It will be four years until the next summer Olympics. The venues are now locked and shut. The flame is extinguished. The streets won’t be swept anymore. The show is over. There might be a new bus or two but the glitz will fade and people will move on. The locals will have deserved pride and some fat cats will have their wallets well padded. That is not said with a sense of regret but of resignation. For better or worse that is the way the world turns. Just like the Cubs, hope springs eternal but reality keeps biting you in the ass. Such is life.

As always
Ted The Great

Factoids:

Some Olympics cost astronomical amounts of money. The 2008 Beijing games cost $44billion but made $1bill in profit. The Sochi winter games cost the Russia over $51 billion and there was no way they made money but you will never know. They are a value or a waste depending on new infrastructure or increased tourism. Either way it is out of control.

Unlike many other countries, the United States federal government doesn’t fund Olympic programs, though some athletes get special funding from their national governing bodies. For example, USA Swimming reportedly provides approximately $3,000 to national team members of its top 16 ranked athletes. But other aspiring athletes are actually unemployed and need to be supported by their families—and some families have even gone bankrupt trying to support their son’s or daughter’s Olympic dreams.The 2016 U.S. Olympic Team was comprised of 558 athletes (264 men, 294 women) in 24 sports.

Brazil has 4,655 miles (7,491 km) of coastline, making it the longest continuous coastline in the world. It is the fifth largest country by landmass and sixth in population at 202 million.The Amazon rainforest is the world’s largest, containing one fifth of the world’s freshwater reserves and producing one third of the earth’s oxygen. About 60% of the Amazon lies in Brazil.aThe Amazon rainforest is the world’s largest, containing one fifth of the world’s freshwater reserves and producing one third of the earth’s oxygen. About 60% of the Amazon lies in Brazil.a

Still Crazy…

After nonstop viewing of the IMAX screen representing the mosaic of our so called life I have to take a break. My son Scott, his wife Dionne and their two boys are visiting form London. Talk about out of the frying pan into the fire. I am referred to as the Padge which is short for Padre. Consider it a fact that these two and our five other grandkids are incredibly special to Kathy and me.

Eleven year old Harper once exclaimed to me that I was the craziest grandpa anyone could have. I asked her if this was good? She replied,”Are you kidding? I love it.” Out of the mouths of babes. Unfortunately for most of you this is not a persona I adopt it as a normal state of affairs. If I am not creating some sort of mayhem I feel I am not doing my job.

Now many of you may take exception and look askance at a 71 year old acting, dare I say, childishly. Think what you will, I will hold out that until you are outrageous you haven’t lived. There is a bit of impishness involved but when I am me I could never feel more alive. And therein is causing me to ponder. Is it really that difficult? Or even better is it something we all aspire to in our Walter Middy minds?

With the kids here we decided to use a gift we had purchased at a charitable event…a ride to get ice cream on a 60 year old Denver Fire Engine. A retired fireman named Dan showed up in front of my daughter’s house in a gleamingly restored Ward La France pumper, outfitted with benches in the back. We climbed aboard and rang the bell, turned on the lights and of course gave a quick blast of the seen. So much for quiet residential streets.

Danny took the long way around to the Little Man Ice Cream place on the West side of Denver. Seizing the moment I could not resist as we roared through the canyons of downtown. I stood up with my Titlest floppy hat protecting my bald pate and started waving and shouting hello to all the tourists and worker bees in the Mile High City. My 12 year old grandson wanted to hide but there was nowhere to be found. He later admitted that the first few blocks were gruesome but he knew Padge was not to be denied. In the end he thought it was pretty cool. Another disciple!

Some responded including a couple of pretty girls. They were probably far sighted. But on a glorious summer afternoon maybe we brought a bit of laughter to just a few Denverites. I greet people warmly on the street, at the gym, at the club and even in church.That is what I am all about.

To put it bluntly I do not take myself or for that matter anyone else very very seriously. If you do you become very conscious of faults and foibles. You worry about how you look and how people will react to you. Did I phrase my thoughts just perfectly or was there room to be criticized? It just doesn’t matter. No matter what you say or do you cannot take it back. In the long run who is going to remember in two weeks, a month or a year?

I love practical jokes. One of the best ever was back in my Wall Street days. A buddy of mine had a neighbor who of course knew all there was to know about anything. He had purchased a VW Beetle when they first came out. They didn’t have a gas gauge but a lever near the accelerator to turn when your tank ran low. Simple and efficient.

The neighbor bragged and bragged about mileage to the point of absurdity. My compadre decided to start adding gas to his neighbor’s tank on a regular basis. Voila, this egomaniac thought he was getting over 150 miles to the gallon. He boasted to the neighborhood and was driving the dealer’s maintenance department crazy with his rants. This went on for awhile and then my friend started removing gas via syphon. You can just imagine our mark was now getting 10 miles to the gallon. Need I say more. Couldn’t happen to a nicer guy.

Point being, life can be a lot of fun if you give it a chance. I am irreverent. I love to catch people, especially self indulgent ones off guard. We are all of the same cloth. If you think you are especially gifted or smart consider the fact that we are in the Lucky Sperm Club. We could be living in a hut in Somalia or have a penthouse unit in Aleppo, Syria. Chinks in the armor are healthy. You don’t want to be carrying all that weight around. We all put our pants on one leg at a time…even Hilary. Somebody has got to burn that pea green pants suit.

Someone described me yesterday as a disrupter and I was flattered. Status quo is boring. Seems we spend our lives climbing ladders. Executives, sports figures, performers and clergy. If they all look the same and progression is preordained what good is that? We are all at a cocktail party. Do we want to engage each and everyone to find out how the other one ticks or do we just throw air kisses and look over their shoulder to see who we want to talk to instead of this mere peon? Think about that some time.

Well Ta Ta for now and let’s get together soon. I will have your people call my people. Let’s set our sights on six or twelve months from now. Kind of busy until then. Still crazy after all these years. And loving it !

As always
Ted The Great

Factoids:
Too random for that.

One Upsmanship…

Watching the Olympics has been a blast for me. I am blown away not only by the sheer physical talents but also the demeanor which seems to be almost childlike. Of course Bob Costas wants to attach deep philosophical significance to every move. Personally I like Vince Scully. If someone hits a dramatic home run he just says nothing and lets the roar of the crowd do the talking. In this case let the athletes and adoring parents fill the gaps.

The kids have kids and spouses and significant others. The swells and glitterati seem to be backstage in the Green Room. I hope they don’t get called to the set. The young’uns are doing just fine. Simone Biles at 4’8” is beyond incredible. Beyond her performances is a wonderful character underneath. There is friendship so deep among teammates you just wish you could bottle it. But somehow I don’t think that is our way.

I ruminate often about this thing called competition. We chant USA. USA and that is fine but what about the kid from Peru in lane 8 that no one knows. Maybe she or he has spent endless hours in the pool or gym floor only to come in DFL.( For the uninitiated in sports that is Dead F—ing Last). Is there virtue and consolation in that? It depends on whose eyes you are seeing it through.

Now don’t think I am going soft in my old age. I still love to win a $2 Nassau at golf but I wonder if we have gone over the top. There is such a fine line between all out effort and victory and yet we are so prismed to think the only outcome is winning. If you don’t, you are a loser, plain and simple. Sports, politics, business and perhaps even marriage are a fight for supremacy. The only real competition you don’t want to lose at is war but I still think that is highly overrated.

Pondering further it seems that it is really a struggle between dominant and subjected people. We always want to be the leader, the conquerer. Four of a kind when someone is showing a full house. If you are not the lead dog the view is always the same. We don’t take the victory in stride but want to jam it down the vanquished throat.Akin to the gladiator standing over the fallen hero or animal to the wild huzzahs of the coliseum. Oh baby, am I cool or what? Really?

We do it in even more subtle ways. We hate deficiency or handicap of any sort. Sorry for your malady or loss but it makes me better than you. We will even try to categorize individuals into groups or dare I say stereotypes. All blacks are lazy while I work my ass off. Women? Ha! They should be home, barefoot and pregnant and leave the heavy lifting to us. They have no place in business. A Harvard or Stamford education will beat St Olaf’s every time. Every step of the way I have put you in your place.

Think this is nuts? Think again. If I have the latest Ferrari or Porsche then I am better than you. My big house towers over yours and even if it does not, it has more goodies inside like a full court gym for my kids. Mine is bigger than yours takes on all sorts of new implications. Is it primal or an acquired taste? I dunno. We all want to do well. We all want to use our God given talents. But we always want to keep score somehow even if only mentally.

Is it me or are we blocking out a lot of life’s joy by our obsessions? I think we fret as much about losing as winning. Okay you did not make the shot at the buzzer or you fell off the beam. You missed the three foot putt for a win or you lost a big deal in business. You are apoplectic, depressed,suicidal and self loathing. You kick the dog and break furniture if you or your team loses….and that is in the first hour or so. Over days that loss gets in your gut so bad you become visceral at the thought.

We have become so enamored with outcomes that we totally ignore the process. I am not so foolish to think we don’t undergo pain and the inevitable reruns in our brain as we toss and turn in bed at night. But how did you get up at the plate to start with? There was some sort of selection process where you proved yourself worthy to be considered. If you nuke a five iron over the green don’t curse that you used he wrong club but revel in the fact you hit the crap out of that little white ball.

What if instead of a brief encounter with winning or losing this is your lot by virtue of your place in society? A kid in the barrio or ghetto is forever taught they are less. Women have eternally fought for their place from suffrage to the board room. You don’t speak my language? You are low life Mexican even though you may be from Spain or Costa Rica. All the little things that make me superior and you inferior.Have to feel good about me.

In your eyes you are right and I am wrong. Nice bottle of wine TTG but I have one better in my cellar. Your kid is cute but mine is handsome. Let me tell you how to do things the right way. The only problem is you will never be satisfied. You will be on edge to make sure things are just perfect. People, places and things all have a pecking order and your spot is at the top. You think it is fun. I think it is sad.

Compete but enjoy. I am not espousing participation trophies for all but get a grip. The odds your kid is going to make it into pro sports are slim and none. It doesn’t make them bad. It captures the essence of humanity.
One up? Very rarely is it forever. Life has its twists and turns and that is what makes it a beautiful and beguiling thing.

As always
Ted The Great

Factoids:

Leo Durocher coined the phrase,”Show me a good loser and I will show you a loser”.

Mark Twain said,”We are all perfect. Just at different things”

Jim Carrie,”Behind every great man is a woman rolling her eyes”.

“People who think they know everything are a great annoyance to those of us who do.” Isaac Asimov.

‘If you embrace the winner take all philosophy then it makes working with others impossible” Unknown.

“If you score a touchdown don’t showboat. Make it look like you have been there before” Lou Holtz

“I never did say that you can’t be a nice guy and win. I said that if I was playing third base and my mother rounded third with the winning run, I’d trip her up.” Leo Durocher

The Best We Got?

Saturday night I spent the early evening and well into the night with several old and new friends at the Black Lake Lodge in the mountains of Colorado. This little Eden lies two or three miles off the main road. Before you turn off down that byway is the Master Bait and Tackle shop if you come unprepared but I not being true fisherman decided to pass up this chance of a lifetime. As you wander further and further into the forest primeval any vestige of civilization slips away with each weather torn rut in the road.

The good old Lesbaru took its place among the pickups and high end SUV’s in the lot. Any evidence of wealth or position was left in the trash barrel at the front door. Everyone is a good old boy no matter where you call home. I greeted everyone and this place immediately felt as comfortable as a pair of old loafers.Throughout the evening the conversation was devoid of politics. A true accomplishment. To be terribly trite we just sucked in the mountain air and of course more than enough Irish Whiskey to go with the card playing. We had escaped.

The next day on the ride down to home I made the terrible mistake of turning on the news. The Donald was taking on a Gold Medal family and the Dems were decrying the Russian invasion of their inner sanctum. I winced at Trump making one gaffe after another and having no sense of decorum. I listened in disbelief that the spin meisters had created a diversion for the exit of Madame Wasserman Schultz by the looming presence of Putin and Co. Forget the giant headlines that the ruling class was out to screw Bernie out of the nomination at every turn. And all these fools want to lead our country for another four years?

By Monday night I could not summon the courage liquid or otherwise to watch my beloved PBS Evening News. Where else to go? Charlie Rose, of course. I have saved a gazillion of them for a time just like this. The first one to catch my eye was one with David McCullough, historian extraordinaire. Actually it was a compilation of several interviews. He verbally weaves as good a story as he writes. It all centered around the Declaration of Independence and the war with the British. As he told of courage and mistakes and true grit of a rag tag band of rebels I could not help but think wistfully about where we are today. Do we even come close to having a Washington, Madison, Jefferson or Adams? Incredible and oh so sad where we are by comparison.

The next was an interview with Tom Friedman who along with David Brooks are two of my most favorite reads on the body politic. Tom is coming out with a new book in November and he presented a wonderful teaser that was particular by its overview of the world. He split the world into orderly and chaotic nations. The latter were the Sudans, Syrias, Libyas Yemens et alia of the planet. There was little or no government present and these were seedbeds of violence and atrocities.

The rebels had no life per se and therefore nothing to lose. They could not be intimidated and took what they wanted whether it be spoils of war or human beings. The populace seeing no hope took off for points unknown preferring a treacherous journey to sure death or enslavement. Ergo the basis of our current migration problem.The only possible solution for these God forsaken people were the orderly nations but the welcome mat not only wore thin but was pulled inside before long. Millions of people trying to survive and the best they have are wind blown tents on arid and barren landscape without sanitation or water.

The most shocking part is that the destination nations including our own were blindsided by events. The billions we all have spent on spy agencies rendered us clueless. This all came crashing home to me. Our world is changing at warp speed from terrorism to technology. We have Moore’s Law that doubles computer capability every two years or so. We have climate change that is raging out of control regardless of the cause. We have changing views on morality and ethics. And yes whether we like it or not globalization is woven into every thread on our fabric of life. Do you think there is any chance we can turn back clock and take a timeout to get our act together?

As Friedman concluded and in a way McCullough fantasized we have not the mental acuity nor the flexibility in our political systems to meet the challenges. The cognoscenti are in technology and sadly they are the only ones right now who can see the future.Both of our political parties are hopelessly concentrating on the short term of the next elections. There is not a statesman or woman in the lot who is willing to do what is appropriate and evident for fear of upsetting the party hacks or their electorate. We need the gumption of our forefathers who probably went against the tide and pursued independence even though failure meant a trip to the gallows. I think we need a totally different third or fourth party to break this infantile gridlock.

We have a gigantic debt problem. Healthcare is a runaway train. Entitlements have got to be revised. The tax code borders on absurd. We need jobs but the reality is there are just not enough high paying jobs to go around. Our infrastructure needs serious work from roads to sewers. We should have serious discussion on these and more but all we have is catfighting,backrooms and well rehearsed scripts. Kids, this is the best we got and it should embarrass each and every one of us. I know it bugs me to death

As always
Ted The Great

Factoids:

Washington and his troops were beaten badly in the Battle of Brooklyn. Their retreat across the East River was aided by a fog that mysteriously hovered on the Brooklyn side alone. The British fleet could not pursue because of an eerie wind that prevented them from intercepting the Colonial troops. Our guys further retreated to New Jersey to spend the winter of their discontent. Some marched without shoes and suffered dysentery. In one last gasp they crossed the Delaware and defeated the Hessians at Trenton and then at Princeton. This all out push saved the war and the early colonies. And the rest is history.

We take years and billions of dollars to run for national and local offices. Most countries in the civilized world accomplish this in 6-8 weeks. We have approximately 100 days to go until Election Day. I am buying stock in liquor companies and drug companies that make anti depressants.

Over decades we through the CIA and other clandestine organizations have tried to influence elections and regimes though our world. With a straight face we say we are shocked at Russia’s interference.

Excitedly I told my friend about the Friedman interview and how he should watch it. He vigorously shook his head no and said he wanted no part of that “Liberal Asshole”. That was encouraging. If you go to Charlie Rose.com it is S25 ep139. It runs about 40 minutes.

He Got To Me….

He Got To Me…

There is a wily Irishman who pops up every now and then in my subconscious. He is Fr Pat Dolan, our pastor at Most Precious Blood. This young guy is talented in a bunch of ways. He sings like a lark, plays the piano, writes a lot of the music for our masses and most importantly always gives homily that leaves you thinking. This week he really got to me.

He spoke of prayer and what it should or should not be. On the surface it is a way to communicate with some higher being or in my case God. In your case that might be Wall Street or Neiman Marcus but let’s just say it is a way of asking for something or saying thanks. Of course we have Hail Mary plays and we all have said,”God if you get me out of this I will never do it again!” The word prayer comes from the Latin, precari which is to beg or entreat.

The most interesting aspect is if you pray you express humility. I don’t have all the answers and I need help. In my case God doesn’t especially need me but I need him. In Pat’s homily he ended with the idea that maybe we should pray not so much for ourselves but for each other. There is a novel thought in today’s world. For the first time in recorded history of the Catholic Church the assembly gave our beloved preacher a hearty round of applause as he finished. Well deserved.

His words resonated more than usual. He touched something in me and I reacted. But what was that mysterious force? We call it emotion and it got me to thinking and I started doing research. It seems emotion has been a source of conjecture going back to Aristotle. What causes those deep feelings that can be pure joy or absolute anger or fear? It is instinctual.

Over the course of our lives we develop pattern recognition. We can’t treat every instance as new and so we delve into our memories, belief systems and biases to net a response to an event. It may glance off of us as irrelevant or it may smack you right in the face. When it hits us we have a physiological reaction. We frown or smile, wince or welcome and it happens without us thinking about it. Where do you think Emoticons came from? We take some sort of action by seeking avoidance or saying we want more. This in turn generates a feeling of displeasure or pleasure. Over time those feelings may create a mood and some may call it our disposition or even personality.

We all react to the same exact situation in different ways. You see love and I see fear in handling a rattlesnake. I like public speaking and it may petrify you. Because of our survival mode, the feelings of joy and laughter are the hardest to get to. We throw up road blocks of panic and loathing just to make sure it is not an adverse occurrence. Over time that may be dangerous to us both physically and mentally. Buddhists will tell you if you can shut out all negative thinking and let the good times roll that is the essence of life.

Some of us repress emotions as a standard of behavior generated by our family or religion or nationality. The Chinese over millennia have felt that excessive emotion causes damage to our body parts. Man, am I in trouble! Given a severe trauma our bodies shut down and emotional response and that is what we call shock. That is healthy and a way of dealing with things. But if we shut down too long we lose contact with the real world. People do that by overeating, by being overly obsessive or having nothing but superficial conversations. If we strangle and recess our emotions we are putting down life itself.

Finally we have to take ownership of our emotions. We are the ones doing the driving. Other people don’t piss you off. You let the situation piss you off. This or that person or situation has ruined my life. No, you have ruined your life. For the umpteenth time you hear me saying that the only one to blame for their lot in life is you. You bought the bad investment. You married your unbearable spouse. Every thing good or bad in your life is the result of decision you made. Nobody can force you to do anything.

Advertising today is meant to hit your emotions in the sweet spot. They know just what it takes to move you from disinterested to insatiably desirous of the last gimmick or fad. The political contests have focus groups and all sorts of psychological studies to tell them what works and what doesn’t. With the hyper development of the internet, ads can be tailored to you specifically. It is what helped Obama win reelection. Romney’s Republicans did not have a clue. Unfortunately for them they still don’t.

Whether it is some pol making a speech or your favorite sibling get your goat, they know how to push your buttons. They can create a siren’t call in an inviting ad or they can rile you up to the point of incoherence in your penultimate outburst. Cranial veins bulging and fists clenched they have you right where they want you. At least until you figure out the ruse and get control of yourself. Sounds simple on paper but it doesn’t always work that way.

People, in the coming months in addition to our normal panoply of everyday messages we are going to be barraged by every element of marketing. The candidates which I think both are incredibly suspect will be presented as the second coming. I hope you are strong enough and individualistic enough to shun convention and avoid an emotional response. And in the words of Fr Pat I think we ought pray for all of us.

As always
Ted The Great

Factoids;

Emotions typically occur in social settings and during interpersonal transactions. Thus, in many cases emotions may be best understood as interactions between people, rather than simply as one individual’s response to a particular stimulus

Thoughts and behavior come from either a place of love, or a place of fear.  Anxiety, anger, control, sadness, depression, inadequacy, confusion, hurt, lonely, guilt, shame, these are all fear-based emotions.  Emotions such as joy, happiness, caring, trust, compassion, truth, contentment, satisfaction, these are love-based emotions.

Fr. Pat had to perform a wedding last Friday afternoon and then conduct a memorial service that night for a 14 year old boy who was killed on his bike by an 81 year old woman. On Saturday was the young man’s funeral followed by another wedding. What do you think were his range of emotions?

License Plates and Racism…

License Plates and Racism…

Racism is one of those words that can be defined in any number of different ways. No matter how we always decide that we are not a racist. Everyone else is. Even if you are not you might want to read on. Not being trivial or insensitive, but I thought I would take TTG Airlines up to 30,000 feet for a look.

The crazy part is that this little thorn in our side has been around for millennia. Man(and woman to a lesser degree) have always tried to compartmentalize things and people. As the world has grown, those silos have become larger in size and more numerous. In Biblical times there were the real Jews and the fakes. Pharisees, gentiles, goyems, you name it. And they despised each other looking around the temple square in disgust at the unwashed masses and shrugging their prayer shawls in contempt.

We have always strove to make ourselves the higher caste in wealth and intelligence. Enter the Dark Ages when monarchies and the Catholic Church vied to be king of the hill. While the bishops and Popes were claiming to be anointed by God, the royalty was establishing bloodlines to make sure there was no spoiling of the family tree with illegitimates. Muslims had the Shiites who claimed a pure birthright and the Sunnis who were the unworthies.

The Baltic states thought less of the Mediterraneans and the Iberian peninsula was beyond inferior.Hitler proved that the concept of the super race was still alive and well and killed six million Jews to make sure things stayed intact. I am not being frivolous or disrespectful but left to his own designs man has always come up with some conflated theory on why he or his own are superior.

We have continually labeled people white, yellow, red and brown but the one that really sticks out literally is a black person.Now when we picked sides there was little if any doubt who the bad guys were.Blacks won every time. We even go so far as to ascribe blackness to evil,satanic rituals, the underworld and the beta noire in filmdom. We have developed a culture of blackness that encompasses slavery, brute force, criminals and diminished mental capacity. All because they are black and that is wrong. I am not saying we are all not guilty to some extent but it still doesn’t make it right.

When a child is born it does not know color. Racism is not inherent. It is a learned habit from one’s environment and most of all from our parents and family. We hear appellations and attitudes. We look up to kin folk for guidance. We idolize them and look for attribution. If they say it is so, it has to be the truth. And we continue this through life because we want to be accepted and thought well of.We are followers not free thinkers. Sooner or later it makes perfect sense no matter what and please don’t confuse my beliefs with facts.

We keep score. We rank things and people as inferior or superior. The Catholic Church and many others are racist because the hierarchy are holy and chosen by God and you are the lowly. If you are in my group I love you and if you are counter then I hate you. It is as simple as that. It is said if you lived with the enemy for 30 days you might get to like him and understand his or her point of view. That enemy could be a black or a transgender or a Muslim or a Jew from New York City. God forbid we might learn something or render one of our long held tenets fallacious or at least on shaky ground.

We have a lot of foreigners here in Colorado. You can tell by their license plates. Arkansas has to be the land of Rubes and hicks. Texans are obnoxious because all they do is brag. California? Got to be a weirdo of some sort. Isn’t it the land of fruits and nuts? Florida guarantees you are old. New York or New Jersey? Need I say more. Just listen to me with my stereotypes, prejudices and discrimination. And I consider myself a thinking man. My hair shirt is still in the closet but I am starting to feel uncomfortable in my ivory tower.

There was a PBS special, America in Black and Blue. It portrayed an eloquent young black man who said he didn’t choose to be black. He was born that way. He said right from the get go he was held to a different standard. He had to be twice as smart to just get in the door.He didn’t feel it was fair and I think he is right. He was not shaking his fist in rage but pleading his case in incredible poignancy. It really slapped me in the face. Not unlike hearing from a cop who comes upon a crime scene and is scared shitless because he does not know what he is up against. Man, do I have to rethink this.

Going back to that baby thing we should look at our fellow inhabitants of the world with a bit of childlike innocence. Don’t pick someone out with preconceived notions but with a sense of who are you and what do we have in common? Racism like so many other things is not inherited trait but a learned behavior. As such it can be unlearned or are we so stubborn as to not even give it a chance? Like alcoholism or drug abuse it takes a depth of despair and a long look in the mirror to finally admit we have a problem. Are we there yet?

As always
Ted The Great.

Factoids:

Crime statistics are really baffling. Of cop killings 50% of the victims are white and 26% are black. Black and Hispanic officers are are three times more likely to shoot a perp than white officers are. The rate of violent crime in black areas is much higher than in black areas so one would think the opposite would be true.

Since the War on Drugs has zeroed in on use, the stats show black and white usage of all sorts to be equal at around 28% combining all types of drugs. Yet the blacks are arrested at three times the rate of whites and represent 59% of those in prison on drug offenses. One must wonder if every man or woman were stopped on a given evening if those arrest rates might be skewed entirely differently?

In my research I stumbled upon some quotes by Edward R Murrow. Somehow they just seemed appropriate.

“Everyone is a prisoner of his own experiences. No one can eliminate prejudices–just recognize them.”

“A great many people think they are thinking when they are really rearranging their prejudices.”

“A nation of sheep will beget a government of wolves.”

“When the politicians complain that TV turns the proceedings into a circus, it should be made clear that the circus was already there, and that TV has merely demonstrated that not all the performers are well trained.”

PAX until next time.