What we laugh at ...

Stevie Ray's Lecture


Saturday Judy and I went to the Minnesota CCFA Education Event in Bloomington. It was an excellent event, with a lot of information on how to handle IBD.

After the featured medical speaker, they brought Stevie Ray on stage. Who would have thought that a comedian would be able to give such a good message. No, he didn't get into "Laughter, the Best Medicine" and other material, but he did mention that. He has studied laughter professionally for years and told us many of the mechanics behind what causes laughter. Now I know why the "Ole and Lena" jokes during the sermons weren't funny. (That's another long story. Ask me sometime when I'm vulnerable.)

If your group is looking for a keynote speaker for your business meeting or convention, I'd recommend this guy. Every point he makes during the lecture is punctuated with funny stories, hilarious examples, and gentle picking on people in the audience. He even gives tips on who to pick out in the audience for a little fun!

I can't do his lecture justice, but I can relate some of the wisdom behind the stories.

Four laws of laughter:

1. Unexpected - There must be surprise. That's why babies laugh so often. Everything is a surprise, even when the spoon falls on the floor.
2. Recognition - Laughter comes easy if you can recognize yourself in the story they're telling.
3. Superiority - You have to laugh at someone! It helps if that person is socially higher than the speaker. Don't make fun of the sick, disabled, downtrodden. It's just not funny.
4. Delight - Happy people can laugh.

Given those laws, there is one more ticket that must be punched before you can garner laughter from someone. You've got to give them a cue that it's OK to laugh. Otherwise, they might think you're telling a sad story! Give them a cue and permission to laugh.

Now, if you're going to tell a joke ... There is the standard formula for that joke.

1. Premise - Set the stage. (Two penguins walk into a bar.)
2. Setup - Tell them what they need to know, but no more. Keep it short. Too much information (Tuesday, or was it Wednesday ... ) can kill a joke. People get tired and distracted sooner than you think. A story that goes over a minute is probably too long.
3. Punch line - This usually involves and exaggeration. Keep this part very tight, nothing extra.
   

If this guy is on the agenda for a conference you're attending ... go.

= = = = Guy

You're an author?

Here's an interesting article that hit home. As I work on my reaction to "The Last Lecture" by Randy Pausch, this NYT article hits my RSS feed.

You're an Author? Me, too!

Apparently there are others in the world thinking like I do.

= = = = Guy

Have we lost our innovation edge?

Innovation Nation
by John Kao

Let me get this off my chest right now. This is not an uplifting book. The subtitle is "How America is losing its innovative edge, why it matters, and what we can do to get it back."

The author cites three major reasons for our loss of the innovation lead.

1. Education ... Since the reaction to Sputnik in 1957, we have let science and mathematics slide out of our schools. We are now paying the price with not enough scientists, engineers and technicians to fill industry's needs.
2. Infrastructure ... The failure to maintain our infrastructure is borrowing from the future to subsidize today's pleasures. Not that we have bridges falling down in the middle of major metropolitan areas or anything like that. Everything from sewers to mobile phones to the Internet seem to be falling behind someone.
3. Research ... There seems to be a shrinking pie of research dollars, both at the government level and in industry. The focus on stock prices and immediate ROI do not allow the bright people to think up the strange things. Who would have thought that Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation would lead to Blu Ray high definition DVDs? We need more of that kind of research.

That's not to say there is no hope. The rest of the book focuses on glimmers of hope, success stories, and possibilities for gaining the lead. I didn't get to that point before losing interest in the book.

One reason for my distraction is the book that came available at the library tonight. The title is a little too compelling for me to resist:

"Why is there something rather than nothing?"
23 Questions from Great Philosophers

The questions include "What is justice?" "Can we really believe what we see?" and twenty one others.

I am intrigued.

I'll let you know how it turns out.

= = = = Guy

Spring has arrived in Southern Minnesota!

Today we spent the afternoon with the grandkids at Oxbow park and zoo. Spring arrived Friday. My measure of real spring is when the worms come out onto the sidewalk in the morning. Friday was it. Saturday morning the bushes in the backyard started budding out in earnest, so as to be visible from the house.

After church the sun came out and the temperatures soared to near seventy. The grass is still short, the bugs aren't out in droves. Pretty much a perfect day. We had to run for the hats and sunglasses.

The kids ran from cage to cage (this is an old fashioned outdoor zoo) looking at the birds and animals. We had to lift them up to see this or that. They wanted to see everything twice.

Across the road from the main part of the zoo are the large animal enclosures. Elk, buffalo and deer. It's on a hillside so the kids were rolling down the slope. By the time they were done they could barely walk or even roll downhill very fast. They were excited and incredibly tired. So tired that we took a rain check on an ice cream stop.

Video of Gabbi rolling ... Forgive the quality, it's a very old cell phone.


As if that weren't enough ... Here's another video ...


One more, high quality video from Judy's camera:


Judy and I are more than ready for a glass of wine and a lengthy sit. There are some steaks in the fridge, coals in the grille, and time for it all.

Enjoy!

What rules you?

At Home in the World

A Rule of Life for the Rest of Us

Margaret Guenther

Religion and spirituality have perplexed me ever since high school when questions started popping into my head. Judy and I have looked in many places to find spiritual satisfaction. One recent detour in this direction has been an investigation into a local Benedictine Way group. We joined the group long after they found their own rhythm for the meetings and understanding of the Rule of St. Benedict. Part of the agenda for each meeting was a study of Margaret Guenther's book, At Home in the World.

The book is a fast and friendly read. Margaret is a wonderful combination of grandmother and priest. What could be better for someone on a quest? Who can't ask grandma what the deal is?

Loosely based on the Rule of St. Benedict, Margaret reminisces about her long and successful life, finding the lessons that have general application to most of us. An example that hit home for me is the sometimes oppressive solitude of an airport concourse, crowded with hundreds of people after a flight cancellation. Powerless. Herded. Alone. Alone in the crowd. This can be a productive time, a time for meditation, reflection, people watching, letter writing, or phone calls to a friend or family member who needs a call. Many of her life lessons are along these lines. There is goodness everywhere, at any time. It is our job to find that goodness and happiness.

What to do with this fast and friendly read about how to find happiness and satisfaction in life? What is the goodness I found in the book?

There are a couple of famous rules for monastic behaviour. The Rule of St. Benedict is probably the most familiar. But what about the rest of us? Are there rules for us? Margaret gives us a starting point. I take it as a starting point.

After thinking about this book for some time, it occurs to me that I have lived by many rules for years. The rules have come to me from books, parents, friends, magazines ... just about everywhere. A couple of them are ..

• Look them in the eye. If you can't remember their eye color you haven't connected.
• I can control the Now, not yesterday or tomorrow.
• Now that you've shared that, what would you like me to do when I get back to my desk?
  

So what? I'm back at my desk, having decided that a rule is not necessarily bad. How many rules have I been living under? Three dozen came to mind yesterday when I came home from the Benedictine group meeting. More pop into my head today.

And what do they mean? Why do I need to look someone in the eye? What does it mean to remember their eye color? My left brain keeps asking the right, just like a six year old child. "Why?"

This is starting to feel like another New Year's resolution, similar to the resolution to start this blog on what books I've read. Watch this space. More is boiling just under the surface.

And what's the next book? It could be The Third Jesus or Innovation Nation. We'll see how the spirit moves me. You have a vote, too.

Thirty Five Years

If you know me, you know I've been with IBM for almost thirty five years. A lot has changed since my first day in 1973. Walking through the manufacturing floor then was a marvelous task, so many people doing things you could understand! Now the floor is inhabited by people moving boxes from here to there and doing something with them.

The itJungle web site has a well written history of IBM that parallels my time here. I've worked on many of the projects mentioned. Pacific (System/38) was the first big project I was on, followed by Silver Lake and AS/400.

It's been a lot of fun.

= = = = Guy

Direct link to the article: http://www.itjungle.com/tfh/tfh040708-story05.html

Now for a little R&R

Here's a cute YouTube clip. Some days I feel like the big guy in this movie.




= = = = Guy

Life is good

Before going on the business trip to Nashville, Judy took me to Celtic Women at the Mayo Civic Center here in Rochester. It was beautiful. They put on a great, energetic show. That was Wednesday evening. Then Saturday it was the Grand Ole Opry. Another very well done and very professional show.

That was last week. This weekend Judy and I took the weekend off for a much needed time away. We had not simply gone away for years. The cares for Louie, Jim and Lucy simply took precedence over R&R time. This was our first foray into vacationing.

Just like the prior weekend, music played a major part of the time. On Friday night we went to the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts in St. Paul. The McNight Theater was playing Blues in the Night. The performance was knock your socks off excellent. We thoroughly enjoyed both the music and the venue. It's a very personal space, close to the stage.

This morning we got up early to go to church. The son of a friend goes to Central Lutheran, next to the convention center in downtown Minneapolis. More fabulous music. Two selections from Handel's Messiah and a rocking Bach postlude, Praeludium in G Major on their 108 rank pipe organ. The instrument had just been rebuilt and it was fantastic. They are hosting several recitals this summer, including an American Guild of Organists event. One of those recitals may make it onto our calendar.

The rest of the weekend was wonderful. No end to good food. Nice conversation. A beautiful hotel. Great places to shop. A wonderful museum with an exhibit of Russian Impressionism. And much more to do on our next visit.

Life is good. Very good.