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Exceeding Our Competence

Image by NASA Goddard Photo and Video via Flickr

Technology Thursday

The disaster in the Gulf has been riveting - in a truly horrifying way. It shows us that our reach exceeds our grasp, insofar as we undertake activities that have catastrophic (albeit--hopefully--rare) failure modes that we don't know how to cope with. The risks we are willing to take, in other words, exceed our risk mitigation and disaster management capabilities. As the toxic oil and gas continues to gush into the Gulf (at the rate, some suggest, of one Exxon Valdez very 2-3 days; some suggest much less and there's controversy over the calculation, regardless), most of us can only sit and watch, stunned, as images of encroaching devastation approach vital coastlines.

After 9/11, the singer-songwriter Bob Hillman wrote a song about the World Trade Center attacks and the towers falling. In it, he sang about being far away and watching the same image over and over on the television:

The Soundtracks of Our Lives

Sharing Saturday  

One of my kids' favorite songs has a chorus that goes like this:

I can't hear my parents call
Though they call out loud and clear
They can shout until they're hoarse
It will never reach my ears
If they're shouting' in the summer
If they're screaming' in the fall
Any season, any reason
I can't hear my parents call 

© Si Kahn

It's a delightfully funny song written by the wonderful activist and folk singer Si Kahn. I have some of Si's music for adults, all of which I find moving and inspiring, and my kids have long loved listening to his songs for children, which are fun and silly but also loving and family-centric. 

I recently took Si's CD out to have in the car, and my 10-year-old and eight-year-old have been eagerly devouring it, along with our favorite car music of all, the great soundtrack from the Curious George movie by singer Jack Johnson.

That is, they are listening to this Mom-sanctioned music when they're not listening to 99.5, a contemporary hip hop and rap station that my teenager prefers.  Needless to say, I far prefer the music and lyrics of the folk singer and the monkey.

Jogging Tech

Image by Lyn Millett via Flickr

Technology Thursday

We all look for motivation to exercise wherever we can find it. I wrote a long post over at my blog the other day about my recent foray into the Couch to 5K running program. There are several things I'm using to keep myself motivated, not least talking about it publicly in places like Twitter, Facebook, my own blog, and now here! But one of the things that is helping a lot is technology.

First, of course, is the music.

I've found a couple of great podcasts that people created just for this particular running program. The one I'm using is Steve Boyett's PodRunner First Day to 5K podcast. He's made a bunch of mixes that provide audio cues to indicate that it's time to switching from running to walking or back again. He also changes the beats per minute as appropriate as an additional hint as to whether to be jogging or walking. It's music that I would probably have never come across otherwise, too, so that's been fun.

Second, is data collection. I installed the NikePod software on my iPhone, bought a sensor for my shoe, and have been collecting the data on each session and having it transmitted to the NikePlus website where I can jot down notes about my runs and see how today's run compared to yesterday's or last week's. One very amusing thing I discovered: If you set a personal best for the mile (as far as the NikePod is concerned), Lance Armstrong's voice will sound in your ear and congratulate you.

The Boss and Me (Or the Mom and the Magic)

Work Wednesday

You work nine to five and somehow you survive till the night.

Bruce Springsteen, Night, Born to Run (1975)

I spent Monday at work simply surviving until nightfall. Not because I was having a bad day. (It was filled with phone calls and meetings but was far from fraught.) Not because I needed to regain some balance after our Halloween weekend mayhem. And not because I wanted to connect with my kids.

No, I couldn't wait to call it a day because I had floor tickets for Bruce that night. Bruce! Bruce Springsteen! (Do I really need to hyperlink to his bio?) The Boss! 

Since I've achieved married with children status, I've only rarely gone to concerts - child-oriented gigs excluded. And most of those have been classical or jazz. Somehow, in the mix of events we deem "babysitter-worthy," rock concerts just haven't rated. But when my boss bought Springsteen tickets for his Spanish wife, I knew I just had to go see Bruce and the E Street Band this time. (After all, Bruce just turned 60 in September!) My husband wasn't wild about going, but a good Jersey Girl-friend was.

Beforehand, I thought that I would relive memories of my first Springsteen concert more than 20 years ago.  And I did - a little bit. 

But Monday night's concert wound up being more about now than then. 

Travel, via Music Festivals...

Travel Tuesday  

 

Music, music everywhere, such a feast to behold!

 

Following on from last week's post, maybe traveling via eating is not your thing, but music... ah, now you're playing my song! I love a music festival. Every year, last weekend in March, a gaggle of mothers (only) from Daughter's primary school head off to the Apollo Bay Music Festival (that's us on the right). We all get in the "love bus" (one of the mother's VW Caravelle) and head off down the coast for 2-3 days of music, marquees and mischief. We've been doing it now for years. It's certainly one social event that is hotly anticipated.

 

What's made me think of it this week is that the "early bird" ticket invitation has just landed in my inbox. They're not wasting any time!

 

The beauty about going to a music festival is many fold. Not only are they colorful and noisy and local and toe tapping, they introduce you to acts from all over the world that you may never have had the pleasure (or not) to be exposed to. Many an artist will use it as a good reason to visit a place/country, to spread their love and sell a few CDs. For locals, it's a great way to showcase what they do also.

 

Coming up in October are a plethora of music festivals; just Google them and you'll see. Or even better, not got any local? Why not organize your own? Start the inaugural world music festival in your hometown and get the drum rolling... what a contribution you will be making.