“Coincidence is the word we use when we can't see the levers and pulleys.”

The title quote from Emma Bull elegantly sums up the fact that there is no such thing as coincidence. That said, you can lose sleep and scratch your head trying to make sense of some of the seemingly random events that happen in our lives. Yesterday I was given pause in one of the most remarkable expressions of social networking coincidence that I ever expect to experience. Facebook manifested itself in the physical world in a very strange way.

I really enjoy social networking. I love being able to follow the lives of friends and acquaintances without actually having to engage them on a regular basis. I relish the ability to drop a note, add a comment or just keep tabs on the things that interest people in my life. Yesterday David Hiller, an old friend who I had lost touch with years and years ago, friended me on Facebook. As with any new Facebook friend it brought up a host of memories and I was tickled to check out his page and reconnect with a few other friends I had lost along the way.

Imagine my surprise later that same day to stop in to a Baja Fresh in Wayne NJ to see David enjoying a taco lunch. Friended in the morning (after a several year absence) and randomly lunching together hours later? In Wyane NJ?

What odd twist of fate is throwing us back together again? I can't say but I doubt that I will ever experience that level of Facebook serendipity again. There are no coincidences, but I do not see the levers and pulleys behind this pleasant turn of events. The world continues to amaze me.

Global State of Affairs and the DVR

Hey there. I know it's been ages since I've posted but honestly, there really hasn't been much to post about. Everything is just A-OK.

Seriously. I am very concerned about the totalitarianism by exhibited by our government, the overblown response to the swine flu and a host of other issues including the long tentacles of Goldman Sachs, Israel and Pakistan. There is much to blog about.

As one who does enjoy diversions, I do want to state that I really hope that both Chuck and The Sarah Connor Chronicles get renewed next fall. I have a feeling that the economy will still suck, the world will be a scarier place and the NY Yankees will not be playing meaningful games. I hope that NBC and FOX will continue to offer some quality programming for the DVR. Enjoyable shows may not better the human condition but their existence and the technological marvel of the DVR offer a nice quiet get-away any time one.

More to come....

Elijah turns 6. Goes mountainbiking!

So, my son Elijah turned 6 years old this weekend and as part of his birthday present he received a full-suspension 6 speed mountain bike. He had proven to be a fierce rider on his previous bike, a Toys R Us special, and he was eagerly looking forward to the upgrade.

Well, we hit the trails for the first time and I was reminded that there are two types of mountain bikers in the world. Those who have fallen and those who will fall. Eli learned that lesson on his very first day.

Happy Birthday Eli. I love you.

Keep on Bleating

Hey there. I've been reading and hearing a whole lot about the AIG bonuses lately (who hasn't). As a hard working American I share every one's outrage, between you and me those f*ckers don't deserve a cent. But it doesn't matter. As a symbolic gesture or prudent financial move it is totally irrelevant.

This economic melt-down is not about $165 million. It's about The $1 Trillion the administration is committing. It's about the endless bailouts that have no historical precedent for success and will continue to reward mediocrity (or criminality) at our (the taxpayers) expense.

Want to tar and feather Edward Liddy? He's the guy that was appointed to try and help fix this mess for $1 per year (and probably a boat-load of stock, but so what). Make him the scapegoat but we are the sheep.

We continue to bleat on about the bonuses while we continue to ignore the real issues. It's a distraction that is foisted upon us by the major media outlets and the administration. We've had much more national debate about these bonuses than TARP 1, the budget or any of the other pressing matters. We're sheep, and what's worse is that we are easily distracted sheep. I'm not being cavalier about $165 million, it's a lot of money, but it's but a drop in the bucket. The real issues are still out there. Baaaaa.

Thao Nguyen, a ray of sunshine

So I was rereading my last post and realizing how gloomy it is and how it could really be a buzz kill so early in the morning as we make our way towards the weekend. Well, gray skies be damned. The world might be ending but that doesn't mean we can't have a little fun in the process.

I'd like to highly recommend "We Brave Bee Stings and All" the sophomore effort of Thao Nguyen and her band the Get Down Stay Down. I don't listen to a whole lot of bouncy music but this album has replaced Vampire Weekend as my happy album of choice for the moment.

From the opening song Beat this album grabbed me. There is something about Thao's voice and the spartan but effective music that is really compelling. My favorites songs are Big Kids Table and Swimming Pool but I would suggest you figure it out on your own. (You can get a free listen by clicking here.) This is a great album from start to finish and one that puts a smile on my face at every listen. Like most great albums the more I listen to it, the more I love it and I hope you might too.

It’s The End of the World As We Know it…

…and I’m feeling a bit queasy.

So, I’m driving into work the other day (bad for the environment, good for mental health) and I’m flipping around the am dial. I ought to be listening to music but I feel oddly compelled by these troubling times to absorb news and commentary, both economic and political. (Kind of like Richard Dreyfuss building "Devils Tower" out of mashed potatoes in Close Encounters but not quite that obsessive.) Like a rubbernecker on the highway I am drawn to the wreckage of our economy and its unforeseen impacts on the fabric of our existence. And somewhere near Kearny NJ it hit me. Viscerally. The world as we know it is over.

Of course there will be a recovery (as everything economic is cyclical) but things will never be the same. The foundations of system are changing, our trust in government and regulatory institutions is shaken beyond repair and our standing in the international community is undergoing a seismic shift. Holy crap, tomorrow might a brand new day, but unlike the past couple of decades it will not necessarily be a continuation of yesterday. Things are changing at breakneck speed and the rules by which we govern ourselves are being rewritten in the middle of the game.

It isn’t everyday that you get to experience a feeling like this and it’s quite unnerving. It dawns on you that the things you firmly believed in just aren’t true anymore. It wouldn’t have been any less disturbing to watch everything around me start floating into the sky and realizing that gravity didn’t exist. It truly is the end of the world as we knew it.

Now, ‘end of the world’ is a loaded phrase. 2012 has been predicted as the end of the world by the Mayan, Hopi and Nostradamus. Evangelicals (who have been wrong before) are calling it the beginning of the Apocalypse. Is it “THE END”, like OMG! Or simply the turning of the wheel to a new age? I don’t know. I’m not even prepared to say that this brave new world is necessarily going to be worse than the previous one, but I know now it is going to be different. It’ll be so different that we are going to have to change our basic understanding of the world, our roles and the keys to success for ourselves and our children. It’s daunting, but the task starts with awareness and my eyes have been opened.

"The Peasants are Revolting"

"That's right, they stink on ice." - Mel Brooks

Stimulus and bailouts. Like mullets, baby-on-board signs, chia pets and snuggies they appear out of nowhere to imbed itself themselves our national consciousness. Stimulus and bailouts. I hear about them when I wake up and I am lulled to sleep by the discussion of them.

If you’re partial to moveon.org, stimulus is music to your ears. A friend of mine posted a link outlining 10 things you might not know about the stimulus plan. You can check it out for yourself here.

I’m not a big fan of moveon.org or believe that we can spend our way out of a problem we spent our way into( a quick look in the history books shows the New Deal did not end the great depression.) I also believe in smaller governments, not bigger ones which places me squarely at odds with this administration’s policies.

Regardless of your political persuasion, income bracket or level of concern we are all American taxpayers. Just when are we going to get fed up with the government and say in a loud voice ‘Enough!’ When do the peasants rise up?

There is a lot of chatter in California for a tax revolt and the chorus is sure to grow larger and more national. Rick Santelli made the call for modern day Tea Parties on CNBC. The US government, republican and democrat administrations alike, have pretty poor records for responsible spending and management. Now we're just printing money at historic levels. If you can’t spend the money responsibly than maybe we shouldn’t give you the money at all. I’m not an agitator, just curious, how bad does everything have to get before 2009 starts looking like 1769? These are strange times indeed.