I’ve been thinking about waves lately. Waves as a concept, waves as a constant, waves as the continuity that ties so many things that don’t seem related together. This is one of those columns that might not make a lot of sense, but I hope you can bear with me. It’s a dark fall day outside, deep under the clouds that sprinkle a little bit of rain down on us. Our hemisphere is tilting away from the sun and we all know from experience what’s coming. It’s one of those daze.
Monthly Archives: October 2009
Skills
It’s one thing to preach the values of keeping your eyes open and your mind awake to the endless possibilities of the world. It’s often quite another to learn how to do this. As a father, I’m constantly aware my duty to not only teach my children but teach them how to keep learning every moment that life happening around them. I’ve decided that there are a few simple things in their lives which will exercise their intuition in a way that opens up their intellect to the possibilities of the world.
Lighter than Air
When I read that Rush Limbaugh fell for a hoax that was said to be a college thesis by President Obama, I immediately thought of the old joke. What’s the difference between Rush Limbaugh and the Hindenburg? One is a flaming Nazi gasbag, and the other is a dirigible. This doesn’t come to mind just to diss the MahaRushie, though. It ties everything back to the best hoax we’ve had lately, the sage of Balloon Boy (aka Crawlspace Boy) Falcon Heene. The two events share more than being a hoax because they are both more about the victims of the hoax and exactly what they believe – or want to believe.
Reboot
It happens all the time. You are working away, doing absolutely nothing wrong, but deep inside the system there is an unseen flaw. Everything starts to bog down, and eventually you see it’s come to a screeching halt. The only choice you have is to reboot, a three-fingered salute done with either a flourish or a quiet sigh of desperation. You’ve all been there at some point on a computer, but it can also happen with elaborate planning processes.
The time has come to reboot the Central Corridor in Saint Paul.
Scene, Unseen
What we know about our past is often heavily filtered through something like “conventional wisdom”. Certain “great men” are raised up as heroes while others are confined to the footnotes of history. The names that we hear often get credit for far more than they deserve as they ossify into myths, people who are bigger than life. That’s been changing lately as we study history as the actions of people who were simply doing their best. It’s especially evident in the growing body of performances of ancient music that showcase “minor” composers – those who made up the scene that made it all happen.
Barataria - The work of Erik Hare 