goolsbee.org, serving useless content from an undisclosed location since 1997
That’s the Glace brothers, in an XK 140 MC FHC (IIRC… heh, sorry couldn’t resist that temptation) in the 2001 Forza Amelia Vintage Rally. Yours truly is in the foreground, enjoying my first ever ride in a 300sl as we depart Amelia Island for St. Augustine.
Somehow Highway 1A1 up the east coast lacks a certain je ne sai quois, of the equivalent routes here on the west coast. Go figure.
OK, so the sharp-eyed among you may have noticed a bit of a shake-up in the blogroll.
I’ve removed a couple of links. Bill Dickson’s server died, so he’s gone 404. I also removed Peter Lalor, since he actually died last October. I figured it was time to retire his link. Not that I’ll forget him or anything, just that his website is for all intents and purposes static. On that note I was staring at my iChat buddy list today and realized I have three dead people on it. 2006 was a hard one for me in that respect as I lost three good people. I don’t know why I chose today to remove them from my binary interfaces… it just happened. Oh well.
Anyway, I added some other links. Other friends, other websites I read, etc. Car stuff of course. Some datacenter links too. I read this stuff every day as it is the industry I live and work in. Some of you may find it interesting… or not. Just more stuff that when concatenated is chuck goolsbee.
I don’t recall who steered me towards this movie, but I watched it last night. It was a “not bad” flick, well worth the slot in my netflix queue.It contained a quote that sums up well my issue with “Reasoned Discourse, or the lack therof.
“It doesn’t matter whether you’re selling Jesus or Buddha or civil rights or ‘How to Make Money in Real Estate With No Money Down.’ That doesn’t make you a human being; it makes you a marketing rep. If you want to talk to somebody honestly, as a human being, ask him about his kids. Find out what his dreams are – just to find out, for no other reason. Because as soon as you lay your hands on a conversation to steer it, it’s not a conversation anymore; it’s a pitch. And you’re not a human being; you’re a marketing rep.”
Bingo. People are wary, and have grown quite weary, of being sold to. It isn’t that they are interested in your ideas, so much as SELLING theirs.
eBay Motors: Jaguar : XK 120 (item 250102645237 end time Apr-14-07 16:41:35 PDT)
We made reserve! It’s gonna sell.
My dad is thrilled.
My friend Shaun Redmond sent me these pics today. He’s going to be my co-driver for the 2007 GTTSR, and he’s also got an old Volvo P1800 that he’s in the midst of a complete resto. Go have a look and check the progress.
RatcliffeBlog—Mitch’s Open Notebook: Vonnegut turns the last page….
I just now learned via Mitch’s blog that Kurt Vonnegut has died. Very sad.
His gentle humor inspired me as a young adult. My son Chris has become as voracious a reader as I was at his age. I’m compelled now to create a care-package of Vonnegut books to send to him in Chile. That is probably the best thing I could do to honor Vonnegut’s memory.
I actually had the pleasure of attending a lecture by Vonnegut, ironically at Texas Tech when I was a student there. He was wonderfully entertaining and very informative. He spoke as well as he wrote. There are several passages from his books which are firmly lodged in my imagination, particularly from Deadeye Dick, Slaughterhouse Five, and Galapagos. They spring into my thoughts constantly and make me smile, or ponder.
Goodbye Mr. Vonnegut.
Little known fact about me: I graduated from Texas Tech University in 1985.
I attended Tech specifically to study under a professor by the name of Frank Cheatham. Frank taught Design in a method that can only be described as “brutally efficient.” I have a lot of respect for Frank. He was a VERY difficult (but excellent) man to learn from, as he demanded that students *think*, and develop the conceptual skills required, not just the technical ones that are taught in most design programs. Frank had a strong will and ironically those that RESISTED him actually did better in the long run. I was one of those resistors. If you were weak willed, you would basically just do what he implied and your work reflected “Frank” rather than “you.” This meant that you would be unready to stand alone in an intellectual and conceptual way in an industry that was based entirely on intellectual concepts Your ability to promote and defend your ideas became your measure of success.
I argued with Frank a LOT. But it served me well. To illustrate his “brutality” the best example is just number of students. I started the program with approximately 95 other aspiring students, FOUR of us graduated. I’m sure every student experienced the “you should change your major” speech from Frank Cheatham. When it came it felt like a devastating attack on your core values, but in reality it was a challenge for you to defend them. Google tells me that Frank Cheatham died in 2003.
Anyway, I enjoyed my time at Texas Tech, but I do not have any particular fondness for the institution itself. It was merely the broker between myself and the source of my *actual* education, which came from Frank and other faculty there, such as James D. Howze. I met some great peers there too, and still stay in touch with a few other Tech alumni from time to time*… but I have no real affiliation/affection for Texas Tech, or Lubbock. It was just a place I spent four years, got an education, and left.
Texas Tech does have some Ninja-elite Alumni finders though, because they never fail to track me down… no matter where I move. It isn’t like I let them know when I move. I have never sent them a dime, at least after my last semester there in 1985! But they track me down and send me newsletters, credit card offers, invitations to football games, etc. They even found me when I was in the UK!
They’re a 2nd tier University, with a serious inferiority complex, driven by history and location. Every state has one of those, such as the cow college here in my home state. They just try harder because of it. Of course in some situations effort will never get you to rise above your true limitations. Like black roots on a bad hair dye job, the reality peeks out around the shiny polish applied over everything.
I received a communication from the Texas Tech Alumni today… an email newsletter. In it, was this verbatim series of headlines:
CNN Spotlights Recovery Program
Business School Ranked 3rd in Big 12
Meat Evaluation Team Wins National Title
Experience Gourmet in Lubbock
Sigh. What can I say?
* If you were in my class in Design Communications, or shared space in the first floor, short wing of Clement Hall between 82 and 85 let me know!