Bright-Eyed

The spark of curiosity that exists in high schoolers is beautiful. Today was the first meeting of the Entrepreneurship class I teach at my old Brooklyn High School. This is the class' second year and I look forward to a large and curious group of kids to mold in my own image. Although I may scare some of them with my intensity and supreme sense of humor.

Speaking of images, here is a picture of me in the spanking new high tech Nike gear I bought for trapeze class. Click for the larger version. What you can't see is that the space-age shirt has built-in mittens. Very cool and very smooth.



Anyway, I am trying to focus the class on plenty of discussions and presentations. My hope is to instill some basic concepts of good business and entrepreneurship, as well as skills that come in handy throughout life. These skills include negotiation, public speaking and removal of the words "um" and "uh" from the vocabulary.

Have a great weekend, catch ya in the air! Still another two trapeze classes before they close for the season.

Nukes, Nukes, Nukes

Just watch a marathon of three nuclear-powered DVDs: Deterrence (1999), The China Syndrome (1979) and Three Days of the Condor (1975). Each film has to do with the threat and power of nuclear power.

Deterrence is a quaint, small, interesting film that I don't think ever made it to the big screen. The President, in 2008, is caught inside a Colorado diner during a snow storm and must threaten Uday Hussein (the new ruler of Iraq) with nuclear war if he doesn't immediately retreat from Kuwait, which he just invaded like his father did. By the end of the movie both the US and Iraq have launched nuclear missiles. I won't give away the ending. The movie is interesting because it is set entirely in the diner. No other sets are used. Definitely a cool film that has flown right under the radar regardless of its current themes.

The China Syndrome shows us what an accident at a nuclear power plant may look like - and the cover-up that could follow. Interestingly, it was release just days before the accident at Three Mile Island. Starring a young Michael Douglass (as a camera man) alongside Jane Fonda and Jack Lemon, the film is a must-see for its depiction of the battle between fear and the public's right to know.

Three Days of the Condor is a quick film about a lowly CIA book reader (Robert Redford) discovering a major cover-up within the agency. He has three days to survive before the climactic ending... one of the quickest cut-to-ending I've ever seen in a movie. The viewer is definitely left with lingering feeling... left to ponder the possibilities.

Next up... All the President's Men and then a slew of comedies. I can't handle any more 70's pics.

Michelle Parma, former Road Rules Europe castmember, died in a car crash over the weekend. Here's the article from MTV.com.

I made some great friends during my time in Finland over the summer. One of them, a reporter, asked me for my take on how Americans get along with Canadians. She was writing a story on how the Finns dislike the Swedes and wanted a comparison between Americans and Canadians. Well, today I got the newspaper with her story in the mail and here is the excerpt I appear in:

Rakkain Vihollinen
Monilla mailla on keskenaan samanlaista leikillista kilpailua kuin suomalaisilla ja ruotsalaisilla.

Yhdysvaltalainen nettifirman johtaja Jacob Swirtz: "Mita tahansa urheilulajia meikalaiset pelaavatkaan Kanadan kansaa, ottelut taytyy ehdottomasti voittaa." Mutta: "muuten me pidamme heita vahemman kehittyneina kuin itseamme, oileastaan vahan tyhmempinakin."

Exactly! Anyone have anything to add to what I said? By the way, I hope to get the English translation from my friends in Finland very soon and will make that available here.

In a completely non-trapeze related story, I am happy to tell all you beautiful AOL users that the latest version of the software, 8.0, is no longer using pop-up advertising. AOL execs claim this will cost the company $30 million in lost revenue but hope to make it up with revenue streams more in line with the company's philosophy. This is, of course, a good thing, but nevertheless begs the question - why even deliver one pop-up ad? Why not brainstorm from the very beginning better methods of ad delivery and revenue? Why wait till you've annoyed millions of people to admit there must be a better way to balance the needs of advertisers and users. Without one there wouldn't be the other and the medium has got to balance both delicately. In the UK, they're still figuring this out (AOL UK is not getting rid of pop-ups).

TV is interesting because the programming has to attract lots of people and if the ads are annoying people switch channels. Online pop-ups don't make people switch but they do annoy the hell out of users. If TV's programming is crap no one watches. I wouldn't stop watching a show because of the ads that ran during its commercial time. But I would, and am, very much against any website or company that annoys people with pop-ups. I think there's an interesting comparison to be made.

Sadly, I can't think too much more because I am now recovering from my second trip to Trapeze School. Interestingly though I was much less scared this time around. Each hop off of the platform makes the next easier. I was able to concentrate more on letting go, enjoying the moment and trying to get my routine down - instead of concentrating on the fear. I know it is a hackneyed term but here I go anyway-

If I can do trapeze, anyone can do trapeze. No one could be more scared than I was. Yet I didn't get over it so much as it got over me and was simply no longer an issue. Once overcoming that hump the sport became a lot more fun as I was able to relish every moment and really think about my movements.

That's all.