divineguitar

Ev Williams said ’10 years of hard work will make you look like an overnight success.’  I agree and must add, as an army buddy says, ‘fight the tank.’

When a tank rolls into the equation, it must be taken out.  Battlefield psychology has proven this time and time again, and the people who reap genuine rewards are the ones fighting the tank.  One can take out some foot soldiers, destroy communication, or argue about which hill to take.  Meanwhile there are people thinking of clever ways to fight the tank, despite the odds.

For some reason it reminds me of my days in Shiner Texas, riding with the top down, enjoying the latest tunes I could get my hands on (before the digital revolution), consuming all I could get my hands on, giving everything a test spin.  Fast forward to now and there is simply too much information to consume, too many CD’s to listen to, intoxicated by possibility as Hugh would say.

If music be a tank, in Shiner I didn’t know what a tank really was.  Now, if music be a tank, I know a lot about them and know many varieties of both.  When both naive and seasoned, the battle with the tank rages on, and I’d say the stories and perspective are there to prove it.

The other night I sat down at the pub with two buddies, and we were literally exchanging war stories, not the scampering from bullets stories, but nonetheless interesting and unique experiences.  Makes me think that once the mind is expanded like that, its hard to go back to the previous state of mind.  You really didn’t know it all, you really didn’t have perspective.

Who solves these challenges of national transcendence?  Right now there are a bunch of foot soldiers romping around the globe, but not too many ‘intellicrats’ that know how to do this stuff well.  Everything is local local local until something bad happens.

Creating the global village requires taking that tank gun and tying it into a knot.  Randomness like Charlie Wilson’s War will still happen to fund ideological campaigns, but as stated, the endgame must be meticulously planned, then sustained for a long, long time.

In today’s environment crammed full of global possibility, the tank on the battlefield is reconciling governments and military while enhancing the ability of the good deed doer.  Once you’ve played in that game, its hard to go back to the sidelines, but life be willing, I’ll be on a the beach with hammock sooner than later.

I’ve got very little left to prove to myself, now just fighting the make the world a more civilized place.

In regards to gatekeepers as they pertain to academia, one has to provide the appropriate keys in order to continue learning.  I was required to produce a self-recommendation letter for continuing education.  My current boss calls the resume your ‘love me wall,’ I find these letters to be a much more humbling and harder to write.  In writing the letter and producing the subsequent wordle, I find that I use ‘also’ too much, and I also have some abstract goals by design.  One doesn’t want to be the slave, but one shouldn’t want to be the master either.  I’ll be hanging out on the foundation for an extended period of time.

Brick laying, what a perfect analogy, something I’ve said in many meetings, ‘before you can have the Taj Mahal, you need bricks.  The next 16 months I won’t have a life, but I’ll get a shiny gold brick which I aptly add to the toolbox.

Self-Recommendation

This letter is to serve as my formal self-recommendation letter for the entrance into the University of Pittsburgh EMBA program in Prague for 2011-2012 calendar years.

The beginning of 2011 finds me in a unique role as a Business Process Engineer in Stuttgart, Germany. I am a full time employee of Barling Bay, an Alaskan Native Company (ANC) supporting the Knowledge Management Office (KMO) for the United States European Command. The traditional challenges of company management abound, such as writing contracts, growing the team, adhering to service level agreements, and leveraging human resources. From a customer support perspective, the office of knowledge management’s mantra is to get the right information to the right people at the right time so the subject matter experts in the appropriate disciplines can make informed decisions concerning events that have geopolitical implications. In order to keep up with massive quantity of information, our team remains a largely autonomous group that works with all the business units to identify and improve systemic challenges.

On a typical day, there are several constituents present at the bargaining table, all with different agendas. This includes high level bureaucrats representing Washington DC, The United Nations, North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and a host of other countries intent on keeping the peace, military officers involved in campaigns in the Middle East and Africa, and corporations delivering goods and services to support these agendas. While these institutions think in terms of a hierarchical network, the nature of the disciplines and principles we bring to the table are that of building and exploiting expert networks. In a highly political atmosphere, the key challenge in the organization is to teach these constituents that hierarchical networks and expert networks can work together to enhance desired outcomes while bringing utilitarian solutions to light.

My finest achievements and greatest disappoints were evident over the course of a year, starting in the spring of 2009. I was presented an opportunity to work in the United States Embassy compound in Baghdad, Iraq. The decision to go was extremely difficult. A trusted friend said, “You will see a firsthand account of the 3rd world and their challenges, much of the developed world thinks about for 10 minutes, then back to business as usual.” In a nutshell, what I saw was a mixed bag of hope and despair. On a particular day, a heavy dust storm hit the city making life outside unbearable, nevertheless, the dedicated group of young Iraqi professionals still queued outside the embassy in their suits and ties waiting for an interview, hoping to be in the top 1% to be chosen for a working visa. In regards to finest achievements, by taking that leap of faith despite the risk and hardship, I’m able to see this portion of the world and understand the difficulty in reconciling these governments and markets to the developed world. I’m intrigued as what’s to why these disparities exist, and curious as to what we can do to reconcile them. A year in a developing country opened my eyes to 3rd world challenges rather than the 1st world challenges of that which we’re accustomed. With every challenge comes opportunity, I wish I had the option to see this sooner.

While living in Texas, I volunteered for the Austin Music Foundation. This non-profit organization’s mission statement was to educate musicians on how to navigate the music industry. Over the years, the foundation coordinated with professions affiliated with the music industry and packaged this knowledge into programs provided as a service to artists, who would rather focus on their trade and not on business elements. By working with these artists, a mutually beneficial balance was achieved in that we looked out for their interest from a business standpoint, and we, along with society at large could enjoy the fruits of their labors.

Being an autonomous agent working largely with information across all business units, my wish from the EMBA program is to gain a strategic understanding of how the individual business units function and also how they work together. I’m hoping that my company and the customers we support will also benefit from the knowledge and insight learned. The global aspect of the program is also an attraction. As the world gets flatter in terms of markets, communications, and human and physical capital, I’m excited to get perspective on the stories and challenges that lie outside the United States. Finally, I’m hoping the program will provide a strategic framework to utilize if the right entrepreneurial opportunity comes along.

I believe that intelligence is not only a discipline, but also an experience. Professional and personal aspirations will lead me to unique opportunities as they arise, based on decisions like attending the EMBA program that broaden my horizons. Professionally, I want to be influential, not only by mastering the strategies and mechanics of the business world, but also by bringing good judgment and attitude to the objectives at hand. Personally, I want to have the courage and conviction to follow my intuition, be flexible, and seek out stimulating conversation.

Buzzword Bingo

Often times I’m sitting at a bar having a beer or two here, looking at the locals, wondering what’s on their mind…In Texas I’d usually just ask, here it’s a mystery.

In many ways the struggle for purpose as an expat takes unique paths.  Music has always gave me purpose, and like a diligent groupie, my purpose becomes one of the ants in the audience.

Jamiroquai hits the Porsche Arena next week, followed by a stint in London for various purposes and also to catch a gig at the Barfly in Camden and perhaps Kylie Minogue…a bit cheesy, but I never claimed to be a cool guy.  The next week is a magical trip down memory lane that takes the form of Pete Doherty in Munich on Friday night and Belle and Sebastian in Vienna on Saturday.  If I had I dime for each time I listened to their tunes, I’d be like Mr. Deeds and buy everyone in Shiner, Texas a red corvette.

I have friends that I can talk about eating, drinking, how my day went and the like in German, and politics and existentialism in English….but I hate not being able to carry on a conversation of substance in the native tongue, till I can, I’ll always be an auslander.  One day it’ll happen, I’ll be fluent, till then I’ll go crazy but I’ll always have the music.

As we wait for chemistry and physics to help us define the way forward, as we sway with the growth and energy curves, Ben Folds with Nick Hornby push the psychological and sociological curves ahead.

Belinda, not much for the average listen, but a wealth if insight and sadness to the keen ear.

Quirky little things I put a significant amount of thought to…..when you’re driving a new vehicle off the lot, what’s the first tunes you’re going to play…Things like that sorta get emblazoned in the noggin’. I had to go with the theme that fits my life best here in Europe and blare Roxette’s new one Charm School. Seems like my music life of late has been planning epic adventures like, “which stadium do I want to see Roxette in, where do I want to see Bon Jovi this summer, there’s a music festival in Budapest, Roger Waters in Russia, should I stay or should I go?,” Tried and true ‘indie’ artists like Ben Folds, Belle and Sebastian and Pete Doherty add some sanity to my otherwise hipster tone def existence in the Eurozone.

I hear friend testamonies from SXSW, and many times I get jealous, especially when bands like ‘The Head and the Heart’ are playing…I’d love to see them, soak up some sun while having some beer and BBQ. 8-10 years ago this was the case. Now that Miller Light and twitter have taken over SXSW, what you have is a text book case of the tragedy of the commons, where people push through the free show barricades.

Many ways I guess its reflective of what’s been going on in life, job, career, throw out micro and replace with marco.  The perspective changes as you add more dimensions, it doesn’t fit into the bar anymore, where there is tight coupling — It’s stadium rock, macro-music that carries the tunes.

I miss the micro days, I thought they were more challanging, nowadays its merely a guessing game while floating on the hurricane.

Fascinating things are happening in MENA, we know there are bad leaders all over the place, question is what’s better, what fills vacumes?  Throw on top of that economics and technology, the builders and the destroyers…..now that’s some great pub talk.

What's Next

Many things come to mind would be an understatement for:

1: Ben Folds
2: Prague

Cluttered through the history of these ramblings these two forces have been recurring items.

Just seeing this wonderful man belt out angst ridden pop ballads and gut wrenching said songs makes my heart scream with joy and wallow in sorrow from song to song the mood changes.

No telling how many times I’ve blogged about this concert experience, and still it’s memorizing.  Just how many people do you know that can play a keytar behind the back?

Jammin

This is the real deal, all you posers go home

Real Deal

Prague in short, a city of brilliance, a city of mixed emotion for me, a city the merits all sorts of discovery over time.  Nevertheless, the views all over the city are majestic.

Prague

And when was the last time any form of government in the modern era put money and thought into aesthetic?  Something tells me we’ve seen the last of the ancient wonders, i.e. bridges, amazing churches, etc, etc built — So we need to cherish, respect and protect amazing things like the Charles Bridge.

Charles Bridge

Last but not least I tip my hat to those who’ve recently lost a job….life barrels on like a runaway train.

As the days go on while being on the payroll of the paranoid, I keep thinking back to a quote by Joseph Nye, “It’s not whose army wins; it’s also whose story wins.”  Meanwhile, as Senator Elect Gary Johnson says:

Remarkable things are happening across the globe. People are taking to the streets to demand change – change from repressive governments that have, for too long, prevented average citizens from fulfilling their hopes, aspirations and basic human rights. Once again, we are seeing that history is made by those who are willing to value their liberty above all else.

But while these events in the Middle East are remarkable, I think it’s most significant that the United States is not pulling the strings. Despite the billions of dollars we spend to maintain a massive military presence in the region, we are but spectators to history in the making.

That’s right. Our aircraft carriers and bases in the Middle East aren’t shaping events – not should they. But our deficits and monetary policies are undoubtedly playing a role. The lesson, of course, is that we aren’t any good to anyone in the world, and certainly no good to ourselves, if we don’t balance the budget, put our economy on a path to real strength.

Turbo Capitalism — what can you say, Benanke is inflating oppressive dictators out of a job, maybe Neil Hannon says it best, “money makes the world go round and round and down the drain“, or better yet, Lawrence Lessig has a creative and objective look at what happens to a Democracy when the people are replaced by the funders.

As the world sorts itself out, I’m very much the optimist — there will be winners and loser, the ones that come out on top will be asking the right questions and working towards the answers.

One thing that ol’ Ben Kweller instilled in my thoughts was the statement ‘I want to see everything TWICE!’  I was lucky enough to step foot in Vienna the second time around, 11 years later, what a heck of a ride since the first round.  It’s been so fun, inspiring and humbling.

I wanted to take the same picture as posed for 11 years ago, however, my old timers disease couldn’t remember the exact location and framework, so close enough is close enough.  The city is beyond words.

Vienna, bitter cold circa 2011

Backpacking Adventure on shoestring budget circa Y2K

Initial thoughts: In the land of technology, abundance and automation…how is it relevant anymore to name drop ‘the founding fathers’ and what they’d do about the political climate?  Did they realize we’d all have iPhones?  How did we go from Cato the Elder to the clowns we now have on TV?  What about reconciling the scriptures with modern technology?  It’s hard to put the blame on one little thing these days, but looking at the erosion systemically is sickening.

This one is for the absolute free market uber alles fanboys out there — Boiling the free market system down to its nuts and bolts, you have the need to maximize shareholder wealth, you can do it two ways, increase market share, penetration, etc, etc, etc or you can cut costs.  Meanwhile you have a monetary policy that adheres to two things: one, filling their own pockets and buying their yachts, and two, appease populous demands for more credit and also provide absorbent salaries for white collar work.

Now that growth in the free world is down to a trickle (after all, the market did what it was supposed to do), what do we do to keep those balance sheets propped up?

Two things recently happened that make me grimace. 1) I succumbed to temptation and bought a personal meat lovers pizza hut pizza, and I must say the experience was terrible.  Scant meat, and what I was eating sure didn’t seem like it was even meat. (COST CUTTING) — I recall in the late 80′s early 90′s that was a good experience.  (We won’t even get into the Taco Bell ‘meat’ is 65% ‘not meat’) 2) I head in to little America here in the form of our Post Exchange to buy a pair of pants — WHY?  Instead of all the great places around?  I have it emblazoned in my head, ‘I GO BECAUSE THINGS ARE CHEAPER HERE’, and I realize my attitude is that of something influenced by a cost cutting initiative.  But the old adage rings true, ‘YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR’, and another gentleman looking at ‘Flat Front Chinos’ said, ‘man, I just want a nice quality set of slacks, why do they make these things so cheap these days?  When I first got to Italy, a grimaced at spending the 100 euro for a pair of Sonny Bono dress shoes.  Well, my shoes got to Germany much later than me, so I buy a 45 dollar pair of ‘Dockers’ shoes, only to hear them squeaking two days later, only to find them virtually destroyed within a few weeks, meanwhile the Sonny’s are still plowing through the snow, rain, long walks.

Dignity is lost in cost cutting, it’s a race to the bottom, and in the race, the normal man doesn’t stand a chance, b/c their psychology isn’t programmed to handle such grimy circumstances.  Big Mac’s for all, the cheap outfit on the mannequin, and I can buy more, or fancier gadgets.

Meanwhile normal people aren’t doing anything wrong, other than following the worlds fashions, playing in the constructs that are created by civilization.

The constructs here in the old world are much different, although history oozes out of everything, the dialogue is that of ‘whats beyond,’……I see very few Chicken McNuggets and sweaters that get messed up after the first time you wash them.  I see happier (less stressed) and more appreciative people……Coincidence, I think not, –I’d like to think this is largely by design.

The chickens eventually come home to roost in the realm of irresponsibility, when it happens dignity takes a major hit, they’ll hedge, deflect and get pissed off, yet people will be too proud to put constructive thought into the institutions that protect them from themselves.  What a paradox, game over.

**I guess this came out a bit more cynical than initially intended**

Passing By

There comes a time when a man has to have personal dialogue with himself.  A time to seek spirituality, inner peace, and what’s right and wrong.  There’s a time when thoughts trump actions, and actions speak louder than words, a time to reflect, a time to be curious, a time to let your emotion run wild.  When the web was a bit thinner’, this writeup would have been more crass, abrasive and ‘funny’, nowadays I have to be civilized however :-/

AND, there’s a time to buy a car.  The paradox of choice has always killed me when this time comes.  I used to be very practical, I’d say to a friend, ‘why do I need a new car?’, and he said ‘b/c you’ll feel good every time you get in it.’ — Can’t argue with that aspect, although it’s been so long since I’ve had a ‘nice’ car, the feeling has fleeted, and as Aerosmith says “When you don’t look back I guess the feelings start to fade away.”

That being said, I narrowed the search down to 3, then to one –

2nd Runner Up, The Porsche “Millenium” Edition — Wow, such a fine piece of machinery, built here in Stuttgart.  These things have a flavor that is hard to compare, so many mods / customizations / paint that changes color based on the mood, a dream, a car that celebrates man’s ever so temporary triumph over nature.  Although it made the short list, up-keeping this pet monster would be tough and my only pass-time would be “Zen and the Art of Porsche Maintenance”

Porsche Millenium Edition

2nd Runner Up, The BMW M3 Hardtop Convertible – Think your neighbor has a fast car?  If it’s not an M3, and he didn’t pay a couple 100 grand for it, there’s no comparison.  The technology in the car and the drive makes it seem like everyone on the road is a bad driver, but really you’re the one that becomes a bad driver.  Passing up this deal, not because I don’t want to ride top down on the autobahn with 17 speakers jamming some Bon Jovi, taking a midlife crisis hit early.  The meek 16mpg on a good day would eat me alive.  When they make it run on wind and solar, I’m going to get it.  Twin turbo V8, you haunt my dreams.

BMW M3 Convertible

The Winner – The BMW 116d – If you think about things long enough, practically takes the inevitable seat at the table, but if you’re eating porridge, you want it to have strawberries, brown sugar and other things to add spice.  In this particular case, I read a review that called the car a ‘breadwagon,’ and most certainly I will report how many delicious Bavarian Pretzels I can fit in the boot and back seat.  Most people who own say, damn I don’t know if I love the design or hate it — me, I think it’s ahead of its time, just as the Edsel, but people have evolved, hence there’s a market for them….seems as every 10th car is one of these.

See, I spew all this blather about being a global citizen and having an affinity to the environmentally conscious, its truly hard to tell that this 2 liter diesel engine pretty much has won ‘green car of the year’ for the last 2 or 3 years with old fashion precision and no gimmicks.  at 65 mpg and a 13 gallon tank, I won’t feel bad when I make that road trip to Moscow.

BMW 116d

If the bread wagon holds the pretzels and porridge, the strawberries and such is the classy interior, sure to keep me occupied and on the right road while commuting to Prague.  The inside is like a leather jacket, no bling, but cool lookin’

BMW 116d Interior

Throw a ‘sport package’ in the deal, along with some leather seats, and 8 months and 20,000km and someone else paying the 40% depreciation for getting the new car, I have zero buyer’s remorse…..and as Chris Rock would say, “I roll with the Altimas”, so the next time I pull up to Jay-Z at the stop light and I see his fancy car, I know that I have 200,000 more in the bank than him.  I can relate, HIGH FIVE CHRIS!!!!

So thus ends the pursuit, I hear these engines don’t even get broke in till 80,000km or so, if that be the case, my time here in Europe I’ll put more miles under my feet (I mean tires) than Marco Polo.