Bob Woodward Lecture

Can't believe it's been an entire month since I posted something...

A friend of mine had an extra ticket to a Bob Woodward lecture at the Kimmel Center this evening. I noticed this event when I walked by the Kimmel Center about a month ago and really wanted to attend. I also noticed that it was sold out at the time, so I didn't give it a passing thought afterwards. The lecture series is set up as a one hour speech followed by 30-minutes of Q&A (audience members can submit questions).

Woodward spoke on many topics. I wish I had taken notes since it's hard to remember everything now. He spoke extensively about Watergate as well about his views on former President George W Bush. The man is clearly not a fan of Bush, and his liberal bias was transparent. He accused Bush of mentally checking out during his last 1-2 years in office and ripped his poor leadership skills. I didn't think he was entirely fair and reached a little to highlight moments of incompetence, but I still agreed with many of his points.

Woodward cracked jokes about many former presidents to lighten the mood (i.e., he could have a three hour interview with Clinton without asking a single question). I was surprised to hear him praise President Ford. He set out to write a book 25 years after Watergate to focus on its legacy. He wanted to revisit Ford's decision to pardon Nixon because he was convinced that it reeked of corruption. After months of investigation and countless interviews with many key players (including Ford), he came to the conclusion that Ford made a genuine and brilliant decision to pardon Nixon so that he could establish his own presidency and escape Nixon's shadow (without a hint of corruption). While it likely contributed to his 1976 election loss to Carter, Woodward believed history has shown that Ford demonstrated profound courage for his decision to pardon Nixon.

I could go on about other stories, but I'll stop after one more. One of the questions Woodward was asked was what he thinks the audience should ask Laura Bush when she speaks at the Kimmel Center in November. Woodward recalled stories about his two brief encounters with Laura Bush. Essentially, Laura Bush is someone who speaks her mind about any topic. Woodward thinks the crowd would be surprised to hear her response if asked what she thinks of the Iraq War.

I am thinking about getting tickets to the 2009-10 speaker series. Tickets are only available as part of a season package, so I cannot pick and choose the speeches I want to see. I still have a couple weeks to decide what I want to do. The 2009-10 speakers are Pervez Musharraf, Jean-Michael Cousteau, Laura Bush, Robert Reich, Mia Farrow, David Brooks, and Greg Mortenson. Musharraf and Bush alone probably make the $300+ cost for the season worthwhile.

Trumpet Heaven

Anyone who had a halfway decent band teacher or trumpet instructor learned early in their playing career that you should listen to the great trumpet players of today to help learn how to play the instrument (i.e., learn about tone, technique, and to hear some kick-ass trumpeting).

The person that we were always told to listen to was Wynton Marsalis, an amazing jazz trumpeter (and much much more). Just about every single one of my friends had seen him live at some point in their lives. I had never taken the time to go see him in the past, though I'm sure I missed several opportunities by not paying attention to the upcoming music concerts in my area.

About a week ago, I was walking to the grocery store. I decided to walk by the Kimmel center to see the upcoming schedule. When I saw that Wynton Marsalis was playing the following Friday with the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, I couldn't believe it. As soon as I knew that there was no Michigan NCAA basketball conflict, I went to the Kimmer center and got tickets for the show (Michigan > awesome trumpeting...just barely)

While the trumpeting was amazing, the one tune that I was most fascinated with was a bass clarinet concerto. Just a bass clarinet and a piano, and it was beautiful. It was throwing babies beautiful (i.e., so beautiful that people throw babies instead of flowers...I think that phrase was something we used in the MMB, but I can't remember). I just found the arrangement of the tune from the concert on iTunes, with the same bass clarinetist. The piece is called 'A Single Petal of a Rose', written by Duke Ellington. It's a piano piece that was arranged for bass clarinetist Joe Temperley. The iTunes recording doesn't have the piano interlude, so it's much shorter than the live version I heard last night. It's still amazing!

Just one of many reasons why I love living in Philadelphia.

Morally Bankrupt

I've been reading a lot about the outrage over the bonuses AIG handed out to their executives using government money. A lot of this money likely went to the same people whose brilliance resulted in a $60 BILLION 4th quarter loss. That's not pay for performance. In fact, I think I want the people that caused those losses to leave the company as quickly as possible. They don't need retention bonuses.

I'm a little conflicted about the outrage. I have a friend who works for a company that recently went into Chapter 11 bankruptcy. About a year ago, he signed an agreement promising him a bonus if he was still at the company one year later. Even though the company has since declared bankruptcy and laid off employees, he still expects to receive his bonus. After all, he probably would have looked for a new job if he didn't have this guarantee since he suspected that bankruptcy was a possibility if the economy slowed down.

I have no idea what his bonus is worth, but I assume it's low 5 figures at best. I don't really have a problem with these 'mid-management' employees receiving these kinds of bonuses (i.e., around $10k), even at companies receiving government support right now. These employees likely would have looked for other jobs long ago without these promised 'retention bonuses', and they are much harder to replace at a company that is sinking. Additionally, they are more likely to feel the pain if the company starts laying off employees.

However, when you're talking about $1M + bonuses that some of the AIG senior leaders received for their incompetence after years of making millions by leveraging their balance sheets to death, it's morally despicable.

The problem is, people follow the money in the private sector. As soon as the AIG gravy train dries up, their leaders will leave for bigger paying jobs at other poorly run companies and leave the government to clean up their ~200 billion AIG mess that they created.

In the end, I think Congress is just posturing about this whole AIG disaster. I don't think they'll actually follow through and pass any sort of excise tax, but they will publicly humiliate as many people as possible. I also hope they don't follow through with their tax threat. I'm not comfortable with the government using the tax code as a punitive measure to make up for their failure as the lead investor in a private company. It's a horrible precedent and will probably have unintended consequences if passed. The government should have just let AIG go into chapter 11 bankruptcy and allow for an orderly breakup of the company, regardless of the jobs lost in the process. That's why Chapter 11 protection exists.

I'm glad I don't own AIG stock. The government may not let them go financially bankrupt, but these executives are still morally bankrupt.

I have a What-ity?

When most people are looking for a new doctor or dentist, they simply ask their friends for a recommendation. While I acknowledge that this is a horrible way to pick a dentist, it did not help me at all. All of my friends are either in the DHMO (different network of dentists), or they travel out to the 'burbs to see the family dentist.

I decided to do the next best thing. Knowing that Penn has a good dental school, I searched our dental provider network for a dentist who is in Center City with a degree from Penn Dental School sometime between 1980 and 1990. Bonus points to anyone with a Jewish name. I'm horrible.

I found a dentist that fit the bill. I called the office to schedule my six-monthly cleaning in March. Unfortunately, they require that I come in for a 90-minute appointment for a comprehensive dental examination with the dentist before they will take me as a patient.

I thought this was a great, albeit inconvenient idea. Since I have such great teeth, I never spend more than about 2 minutes with the dentist every six months. This was a good opportunity for a thorough exam.

I went in for this comprehensive exam. I was surprised to see that there were three people in the office. The dentist, one hygienist, and one technician. The hygienist was doubling as the receptionist. However, I was very impressed with the dentist. He even had these nifty cameras that he used to take close up pictures of my teeth and show them to me on the television in the exam room.

The dentist said I had a very boring mouth, which is a good thing. He complimented my x-rays. Then he looked closely at one of the pictures of a molar on the television. Then he started probing around that tooth. Then he had me look at the picture. I HAD A CAVITY!!!! The dentist said on a scale of 1-10 where 1 is the least severe and 10 is the most severe cavity, this one registered a 0.5. It didn't even show up on the x-ray. He said that he could probably even fill the cavity without Novocaine since it was such a small hole and such a quick job, though I have no intention of letting a dentist drill my tooth without drugs.

I still don't understand. I saw the little hole on the television, but I have not had a cavity since 1988. It just was not possible. My teeth are great. Should I believe this guy? It's not like he can put a hole in my tooth and 'create a cavity'.

I asked how long he thought that cavity was there. The dentist said that it was so small that it probably formed recently, but it was also so discreet and tiny that it could have been missed in the past if it had been around for a while.

I'm always skeptical about a dentist that tells you that you need work done the first time you see them. However, if this guy is scamming me, he fooled me good today. Not that I think he would really scam me for ~$100.

Despite the horrific outcome, it was the most thorough dental exam I've ever had. Now I'm scheduled for a cleaning and a filling next month.

So sad :(

I've Converted

Ok - so the subject line is somewhat misleading. It's not what you think.

My brother and his family visited me in Philadelphia this past weekend. I wanted them to have a true Philadelphia experience while they were here. On Sunday morning, we walked over to the Italian Market at 9th and Washington. For those of you who don't know the Italian Market, Rocky ran through there during the big training scene in the first Rocky movie.

While we were all the way down there in South Philly, we decided to go get cheesesteaks. Not only did I want to share this true Philly experience, but I had yet to have a cheesesteak since I moved here in December. PhillyPhanatic always talked up Pat's as the best cheesesteak place in town. Based on his guidance, I had never ordered a cheesesteak from any other one of the major places in the city. Pat's was indeed 'king'.

Well, the doorman at my apartment complex is a huge fan of Geno's. He explained to all of us what he thought of each of the places (Pat's, Geno's, Jim's, and Tony Luke's)

Given the doorman's strong endorsement for Geno's, we decided to have a taste test. We ordered two cheesesteaks from Geno's and two from Pat's for the four of us to split (baby Eli was unable to participate yet, so we didn't need to worry about a fifth cheesesteak).

The difference was easy to recognize. Geno's puts less meat on the cheesesteak, but the meat is so much tastier. Pat's loads on the beef, but it's dry and tougher to chew, and it was also cut in smaller pieces. I prefer tasty beef over more beef, so Geno's was the winner. The more surprising result from the taste test was that I prefer my steak with cheese whiz. I wasn't a fan of it in the past, but there is no other way to order a cheesesteak.

Still need to try Jim's and Tony Luke's sometime (maybe when Mouse visits this month????). For now, I'm a Geno's fan.

When Facebook Goes Too Far

I think Facebook is a wonderful website. It's a great way to keep in touch with friends without having to find the time to call or write as often. Of course it's also a way to 'stalk' those people that you knew from a long time ago, but don't talk to anymore.

Well, I think Facebook is starting to become too mainstream. Just recently, the mothers of two of my good friends in high school joined Facebook and friended me. Of course I'm going to accept the friend request, but it's days like today when I am incredibly relieved that my mom uses dial up internet and would never think of joining Facebook. Unfortunately, the mothers of said friends might convince her to try anyway. I'm apprehensive of being Facebook friends with the mothers of friends, even though one of the mothers is referenced in item #5 of my most recent post.

If I had not been so neurotic about what I allowed on my Facebook site, I would probably have considered saying no to those friendship requests!

In summary, parents do not belong on Facebook! The end. :)

Those 25 Things

I was a little bored over the last few nights and started reading the lame '25 Things' notes on facebook that my friends created.

Slowly, I made the transition from 'Those idiots', to 'I would never do that', to 'I wonder what 25 random facts I could come up with', to typing out those 25 random facts as they came to me. About a week later, I had 25 facts.

However, I don't think I'll put this up in a public place such as Facebook. Instead, I leave them here for the 5 of you that still read this. Enjoy!

1) My mom made me take tap dance when I was six years old. I may never forgive her for it, but for some reason I have not destroyed the evidence.

2) Whatever dance moves I learned at age six have long since gone away.

3) I saw people playing street hockey in a Washington DC park a couple weeks ago and was reminded about how much I miss the daily after school street hockey game with the kids on Litchfield Drive.

4) Because of our unique method for taking attendance in sixth grade homeroom, I can still recite the last name of all thirty people in the class in alphabetical order in about ten seconds.

5) In high school I used to lecture my friend’s parents about how they were too strict with their son. Now I try to visit those same parents whenever I find myself back in Plymouth.

6) I once got pulled over for speeding with my mom, dad, and grandfather in the car. Thankfully, the cop let my terrified 17-year-old self off with a warning. Despite my persistent lead-foot issues (and no radar detector), I still have never received a speeding ticket.

7) I think video games went downhill after Tecmo Super Bowl, with the possible exception of Mario Kart.

8) I gave up playing Tetris cold turkey because I kept seeing rotating Tetris pieces and had trouble sleeping.

9) I am proud of my band geekiness. My time with the Michigan Marching Band was unforgettable and I would do it again in an instant if I wouldn’t be that creepy 28-year old guy in the band.

10) I’ve only played the trumpet once since college, yet I think that’s one more time than most others.

11) I was once joking with a friend from Michigan about the “wall space” story from college when I decided to google stalk the girl involved. I was humbled when I found out that she passed away.

12) While I might not have been the only one to do so, I found the article in the St. Cloud, MN newspaper on the internet where the infamous Molly called Michigan fans ‘horrible people’ and sent it to the sports staff at the Michigan Daily the day before the infamous ‘Molly’ NCAA regional hockey game at Yost Arena in 2002. When I saw the quotes from that article printed in the Daily the morning of the big game, I knew that night was going to be special.

13) I can quote almost any episode from the Simpsons until the show and I grew apart in the 2000s.

14) One of the worst traits I picked up from one of my parents was the tendency to be ridiculously frugal. I have been battling this ‘demon’ ever since I graduated from college and got a real job.

15) I hate to think what would have happened if I wasn’t accepted at Michigan. I never bothered to apply anywhere else.

16) I will never drink coffee. It’s not a matter of health or because I have a lot of energy in the morning. It’s my stubbornness and desire to be unique.

17) Speaking of unique, I bought a Subaru Impreza back in 2002 because I didn’t want to be another person in CT driving a Honda or Toyota.

18) I felt like I let my hometown down when I bought that foreign car. However, Ford and GM make horrible small cars, so I’m over the guilt.

19) I read the Detroit News and Detroit Free Press online every day, yet I have never read the Philadelphia Inquirer.

20) I miss Hockey Night in Canada and think that CBC should expand into US markets.

21) I wish I did a better job keeping in touch with my closest friends from high school and college.

22) I adapt to my surroundings. It’s called soda.

23) If I had to take any of the actuarial exams over again tomorrow, I would fail.

24) I want to travel to Israel within the next five years.

25) I have very good instincts. I just don’t act on them well.

Another One Bites the Dust

So yet another MLB superstar was caught using steroids. Alex Rodriguez was busted for being a fraud in addition to a narcissistic choker over the weekend when he was exposed for failing a drug test.

That A-Rod was busted does not surprise me. What is driving me crazy today is listening to A-Rod confess his sins. He wants us to believe that he has finally grown up and feels sorry for his stupid, childish, and naive past.

Bullshit. Does he really think we are all so gullible? A-Rod is desperately trying to play this story in such a way that he does not damage his own legacy. It's too late for that.

I don't believe a word A-Rod says about his actions (limited to 2001-03) and his intentions (live up to his contract). I turned off his interview on Sportscenter this evening after only two minutes. I think I would have thrown up if I had to listen to any more of this crap.

While I am not a huge baseball fan, I am going to enjoy watching A-Rod get abused and heckled at home and on the road.