As you know, 94.9 WHOM’s transmitter sits on the summit of New Hampshire’s Mount Washington, the highest peak in the Northeast. At over 6,200 feet of elevation, it’s easy to understand why 94.9 WHOM is “America’s Superstation”-with the largest land coverage of any FM station in North America.
There are several ways to get to the top. One is by hiking on foot. You will never read a blog from ME describing how I accomplished this.
Not a chance.
The Cog Railroad is another way up. A great way to get to the summit.
The oldest-and most popular way—is to drive the Mt. Washington Auto Road. Until you’ve experienced it (and can slap that “This Car Climbed Mt. Washington” bumper sticker on your car), you cannot fully grasp the gravity (get it?) of the journey. Called the country’s first “man made attraction”, the road opened up to horse and carriage traffic in 1861 (those POOR animals!)
It was on this date in 1899, however, that the first automobile made it to the top! Not a gasoline powered car, but a Stanley Steamer—driven by none other than F.O. Stanley himself, one of the twins who founded the company that produced some 11,000 of these steam-powered cars. Deceptively fast, they often beat larger gas-powered cars in races. In fact, a Stanley Steamer would break the world record for speed in 1906 when it reached 127 mph!
Two videos today-one is a nicely produced trip up the Auto Road by foreign tourists. Luckily for us, they typed the narrative in English as well. The other is a short video on Stanley Steamers-both interesting!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XcwXFwm1ebI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0OtFnnmJtSs
Hearing that the Stanley Steamer didn’t possess BRAKES strikes me as a significant detail when thinking about a Mt. Washington climb. Most definitely needed on the way DOWN, the brakes are a nice little feature to have on those hairpin turns during the way UP as well. Clearly, Mr. Stanley survived the trip both up and down.
I’ll be content to take the Jeep, thank you
If you’d like my blog in your box daily, just let me know: tim.moore@citcomm.com
Monday, August 31, 2009
Friday, August 28, 2009
Hey! It's Dog Swim Time!
As a kid, I always hated “adult swim” at the pool. We had to climb out-and watch the lumbering old people EASE their way into the water. Sometimes, rather LARGE old people who, if they did start to drown, would take an entire team of lifeguards down with them. Plastic bathing caps with gaudy yellow flowers glued on and enough fabric in their bathing suits to cover the infield at Fenway Park.
Then, after “adults”, it was “couples swim”. Then “girls only”. Hey, the summer’s almost OVER! Can I please swim now?
Of course, “dog swim only” takes the cake. At my sister’s pool in Northern Virginia, this occurs right before they close up the pool for the season (good move). After all, who wants to take a dip after a hundred hounds relieve themselves?
Not enough chlorine in the WORLD.
That said, I am an animal lover-and since I can’t imagine CATS diggin’ the swim scene, we’ll have to settle for Fido and Friends.
Check out this video of a similar “dogs only swim”!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTIHamMKdJE
If you’d like my blog in your box daily, just let me know: tim.moore@citcomm.com
Have a terrific weekend!
Then, after “adults”, it was “couples swim”. Then “girls only”. Hey, the summer’s almost OVER! Can I please swim now?
Of course, “dog swim only” takes the cake. At my sister’s pool in Northern Virginia, this occurs right before they close up the pool for the season (good move). After all, who wants to take a dip after a hundred hounds relieve themselves?
Not enough chlorine in the WORLD.
That said, I am an animal lover-and since I can’t imagine CATS diggin’ the swim scene, we’ll have to settle for Fido and Friends.
Check out this video of a similar “dogs only swim”!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTIHamMKdJE
If you’d like my blog in your box daily, just let me know: tim.moore@citcomm.com
Have a terrific weekend!
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Your Pain Is Funny...But Not Mine
What is it about human beings that we find humor in other people’s pain?
Admit it.
You laugh when people fall down, get bonked in the head or take one in the crotch.
Sometimes when it happens to US, we too, will crack up—only after we’ve checked to see there is no blood--or no body parts sticking out at funny (and by funny I mean unusual) angles.
Usually though, we are somewhat angry and offended when, after getting up from a spill, we gaze into the faces of our “friends”, who are too busy peeing in their pants to ask if we’re OK. Sometimes it’s a stilted, “Wow, are you alright” spoken through the gritted teeth of someone who is visibly suppressing laughter. Other times, your “buddies” are now themselves on the floor, rolling around and laughing like hyenas.
“Thanks for your CONCERN!”
The internet and the proliferation of video recording on cell phones, etc. has provided enough footage of people slamming themselves into walls, slipping on ice and generally making painful fools of themselves to keep us “entertained” for hours.
It’s probably a good thing that we don’t get to see the trips to emergency rooms, hospitals and the morgue that come from these clips.
So, just how good are YOU?
Can you watch the following video and not even crack a SMILE?
Betcha you can’t:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdAYwMPFDcs
How did you do?
Perhaps we’ll get our just desserts in the next life (“Table for one in HELL, please!”)
I operate with the ASSUMPTION that all injuries for which I have laughed at above were minor—and that the victim was a good sport.
And the next time I wipe out, my first reaction will be to look around and make DAMN sure no one is filming!
If you’d like my blog in your box daily, just let me know! Tim.moore@citcomm.com
Admit it.
You laugh when people fall down, get bonked in the head or take one in the crotch.
Sometimes when it happens to US, we too, will crack up—only after we’ve checked to see there is no blood--or no body parts sticking out at funny (and by funny I mean unusual) angles.
Usually though, we are somewhat angry and offended when, after getting up from a spill, we gaze into the faces of our “friends”, who are too busy peeing in their pants to ask if we’re OK. Sometimes it’s a stilted, “Wow, are you alright” spoken through the gritted teeth of someone who is visibly suppressing laughter. Other times, your “buddies” are now themselves on the floor, rolling around and laughing like hyenas.
“Thanks for your CONCERN!”
The internet and the proliferation of video recording on cell phones, etc. has provided enough footage of people slamming themselves into walls, slipping on ice and generally making painful fools of themselves to keep us “entertained” for hours.
It’s probably a good thing that we don’t get to see the trips to emergency rooms, hospitals and the morgue that come from these clips.
So, just how good are YOU?
Can you watch the following video and not even crack a SMILE?
Betcha you can’t:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdAYwMPFDcs
How did you do?
Perhaps we’ll get our just desserts in the next life (“Table for one in HELL, please!”)
I operate with the ASSUMPTION that all injuries for which I have laughed at above were minor—and that the victim was a good sport.
And the next time I wipe out, my first reaction will be to look around and make DAMN sure no one is filming!
If you’d like my blog in your box daily, just let me know! Tim.moore@citcomm.com
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Ted Kennedy-A Complex Man Is Gone
I had the great opportunity to work an internship in the Senate offices of Edward M. Kennedy while attending Gonzaga High School in Washington in the early 70’s. The Senator’s death last night after a long battle with brain cancer has sent the memories of that time rushing back into my consciousness.
Some kids at my school worked in soup kitchens, some at homeless shelters-and some, like me, on Capitol Hill. It was the luck of the draw that I got to intern for Teddy.
As much as he is being remembered fondly today, my stint with the Senator was some 37 years ago. Just a couple of years removed from the Chappaquiddick scandal, Senator Kennedy was being treated by some as political kryptonite. His chances for the Democratic nomination in 1972 all but dashed, there was even talk that he would retire.
Of course, all of this was lost on a high school kid who found himself shaking hands with a member of the Kennedy clan, a world-famous (or infamous) family whose stranglehold on the American political culture still endures.
I was nervous, awkward and bumbling I’m sure as I was introduced to the Senator in his expansive office, filled with photos of his brothers and other family members-loaded with mementos of a famous life, alternating between world leaders and shots of sailing off the coast of Hyannis.
Not a huge fan, given his latest scandal, I was nonetheless taken in by his charm, his seemingly genuine manner and easygoing style. Ted Kennedy put me so at ease right away that I found myself “giving him the business” as well. Noting that the “M” initial of his middle name stood for Moore, my last name, he wondered aloud with a wink whether or not we might be related. I said that was OK with me as long as I could use the family compound at Hyannis port while vacationing. Sensing I may have overstepped my bounds, I braced for a bad reaction.
Instead, Teddy laughed out loud-and told me he’d see what he could do! From that point on, our fabricated family relations were sort of a running joke- a way of connecting in the hallways during the several times I ran into him afterwards.
My job in the office was to read and sort through his mail. There were several of us—and we read everything that came to the office.
EVERYTHING.
Didn’t matter if a letter were perfumed and stamped “Personal & Confidential”. I opened and read letters from his then-wife Joan, his kids-everybody—and we all shared the letters that frightened us---and the ones that piqued our curiosity.
The vast majority were really quite boring-issue-oriented letters for pending legislation. Our job was to sort these into bins for future action and response. Health care, urban renewal, crime,---you name it, plus the huge assortment of constituents who needed this or that from their elected representative in Congress.
There were a lot of letters from women.
Most, I assumed, were from crackpots whose Teddy fantasies somehow found their way to a mailbox. There were, however, others whose legitimacy seemed more plausible. Coherent language, details of places and events—and sometimes OTHER details that I’d better not mention here. Suffice it to say that this Kennedy brother really got around-much like his now deceased older siblings.
There were also the death threats.
These also were sorted into a bin, but one that went directly to the FBI and the Secret Service. Less than four years after the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy, there were no chances being taken with the last surviving Kennedy brother.
There is much you can glean from reading another man’s mail-and while I felt uncomfortable about doing so at first, I soon got used to it knowing that:
a) it WAS my job and
b) the Senator was very aware that his staff was reading even the personal stuff.
What I learned about Teddy could probably be extended by DNA to both John and Robert as well. They were all larger-than-life figures. Their triumphs were as big as it gets—and their failings likewise matched the successes in scope and enormity.
Perhaps one of Teddy’s finest moments came in the way he eulogized his fallen brother Bobby in 1969-below is an excerpt:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkhqTlL2pP0
Teddy was no doubt used to being compared to his brothers-and perhaps that was all so unfair over a lifetime, but the similarities are hard to ignore. Teddy was a complex man of enormous appetites. Those flaws of character often got him into trouble-and trouble for a Kennedy (unlike that for most of us) makes headlines.
Still, a long career in the Senate, a resume that includes passionate work on pressing issues that affected the disadvantaged especially--will be the things he'll be remembered for.
And while I still don’t agree with many of his political positions over the years, it is true that Democrats and Republicans alike found him an engaging leader, a person who didn’t let politics affect personal relations—and an effective Senator---whatever your political persuasion. He got things done—and in a world where gridlock is the norm, perhaps this ability to turn stalemate into compromise through personal persuasion will be Teddy’s lasting legacy.
If you’d like my blog in your box daily, just let me know: tim.moore@citcomm.com
Some kids at my school worked in soup kitchens, some at homeless shelters-and some, like me, on Capitol Hill. It was the luck of the draw that I got to intern for Teddy.
As much as he is being remembered fondly today, my stint with the Senator was some 37 years ago. Just a couple of years removed from the Chappaquiddick scandal, Senator Kennedy was being treated by some as political kryptonite. His chances for the Democratic nomination in 1972 all but dashed, there was even talk that he would retire.
Of course, all of this was lost on a high school kid who found himself shaking hands with a member of the Kennedy clan, a world-famous (or infamous) family whose stranglehold on the American political culture still endures.
I was nervous, awkward and bumbling I’m sure as I was introduced to the Senator in his expansive office, filled with photos of his brothers and other family members-loaded with mementos of a famous life, alternating between world leaders and shots of sailing off the coast of Hyannis.
Not a huge fan, given his latest scandal, I was nonetheless taken in by his charm, his seemingly genuine manner and easygoing style. Ted Kennedy put me so at ease right away that I found myself “giving him the business” as well. Noting that the “M” initial of his middle name stood for Moore, my last name, he wondered aloud with a wink whether or not we might be related. I said that was OK with me as long as I could use the family compound at Hyannis port while vacationing. Sensing I may have overstepped my bounds, I braced for a bad reaction.
Instead, Teddy laughed out loud-and told me he’d see what he could do! From that point on, our fabricated family relations were sort of a running joke- a way of connecting in the hallways during the several times I ran into him afterwards.
My job in the office was to read and sort through his mail. There were several of us—and we read everything that came to the office.
EVERYTHING.
Didn’t matter if a letter were perfumed and stamped “Personal & Confidential”. I opened and read letters from his then-wife Joan, his kids-everybody—and we all shared the letters that frightened us---and the ones that piqued our curiosity.
The vast majority were really quite boring-issue-oriented letters for pending legislation. Our job was to sort these into bins for future action and response. Health care, urban renewal, crime,---you name it, plus the huge assortment of constituents who needed this or that from their elected representative in Congress.
There were a lot of letters from women.
Most, I assumed, were from crackpots whose Teddy fantasies somehow found their way to a mailbox. There were, however, others whose legitimacy seemed more plausible. Coherent language, details of places and events—and sometimes OTHER details that I’d better not mention here. Suffice it to say that this Kennedy brother really got around-much like his now deceased older siblings.
There were also the death threats.
These also were sorted into a bin, but one that went directly to the FBI and the Secret Service. Less than four years after the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy, there were no chances being taken with the last surviving Kennedy brother.
There is much you can glean from reading another man’s mail-and while I felt uncomfortable about doing so at first, I soon got used to it knowing that:
a) it WAS my job and
b) the Senator was very aware that his staff was reading even the personal stuff.
What I learned about Teddy could probably be extended by DNA to both John and Robert as well. They were all larger-than-life figures. Their triumphs were as big as it gets—and their failings likewise matched the successes in scope and enormity.
Perhaps one of Teddy’s finest moments came in the way he eulogized his fallen brother Bobby in 1969-below is an excerpt:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkhqTlL2pP0
Teddy was no doubt used to being compared to his brothers-and perhaps that was all so unfair over a lifetime, but the similarities are hard to ignore. Teddy was a complex man of enormous appetites. Those flaws of character often got him into trouble-and trouble for a Kennedy (unlike that for most of us) makes headlines.
Still, a long career in the Senate, a resume that includes passionate work on pressing issues that affected the disadvantaged especially--will be the things he'll be remembered for.
And while I still don’t agree with many of his political positions over the years, it is true that Democrats and Republicans alike found him an engaging leader, a person who didn’t let politics affect personal relations—and an effective Senator---whatever your political persuasion. He got things done—and in a world where gridlock is the norm, perhaps this ability to turn stalemate into compromise through personal persuasion will be Teddy’s lasting legacy.
If you’d like my blog in your box daily, just let me know: tim.moore@citcomm.com
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Creighton University Gets A Mainer
As soon as my daughter announced her intention to attend Creighton University in Nebraska, her friends and acquaintances –and our friends and co-workers exclaimed, “Omaha?! Are you KIDDING me?”
Nope.
I must admit that Peggy and I both had initial misgivings about the location-and especially the distance—a scant 1,500 miles from Portland, Maine! For me, those fears were largely put to rest in April as I took Christina out to see the campus. Although accepted to a half dozen other schools (mostly on the East coast), she was convinced that Creighton was the place for her. High school placement profiles listed it as her “best fit” several times.
I had to look it up.
National rankings at or near the top in many categories, plus the moniker “The Villanova Of The Midwest” make me think that perhaps Christina was right. Those Jesuits know how to run a school, as I knew from experience in high school at Gonzaga in D.C. After seeing the campus, perhaps Villanova should be called the “ Creighton of the East”.
Christina is a freshman living in Kiewit Hall. An army of upperclassmen were waiting to help us —in fact, they are known nationally for making the dorm move-in an easy thing-below is a video of the 2007 move-in to our daughter’s very building:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4PKJPUIjnU
Upon landing in Omaha, I must concede that I was very pleasantly surprised-by everything. The city is exceedingly clean—and WAY more cosmopolitan than we snobby east-coasters could admit before being shown. In the same way that I had to convince my family in Washington, D.C. that Maine (particularly Portland) was a vibrant and beautiful place when I moved here 27 years ago, my daughter was essentially putting the same sales pitch together for her parents.
When one thinks of Omaha, my guess is that the top 5 responses are:
1) Corn
2) Omaha Steaks
3) Corn
4) Warren Buffett
5) Corn
All of the above are true, but the people in Nebraska are terrific, unbelievably (and noticeably) friendlier than average-and the terrain is not so flat as you would think. In fact, it is hilly enough to take the wind out of an out-of-shape DJ who visited the Omaha Zoo.
I knew that this blog would write itself, but also that I would procrastinate on the TOUGH PART…….LEAVING HER THERE.
Having gone through this before with her older brother, Peggy and I were no strangers to the last embrace, the laundry list of stuff to do (and NOT do!!!) and all those other parental spewings that cause eyes to roll and then glaze over.
Since we’ve know for some time that Christina is no shrinking violet, we were not at all concerned about her meeting new people or being homesick. This is an asset when dropping your daughter off in NEBRASKA. However, we couldn’t help seeing the little girl in diapers who took her first step, rode her bike for the first time or happily shredded wrapping paper in front of over a dozen Christmas trees.
So, basically, what I am saying is this: I was a mess.
Peggy was emotional too.
Christina?
Not so much, but that’s a good thing (“Mom, Dad, you can go now…I’m OK..really”)
We love you honey—and are SO PROUD of you and HAPPY for you too! Your new life adventure starts in Omaha, Nebraska at a terrific school called Creighton University.
If you’d like my blog in your inbox daily, just let me know: tim.moore@citcomm.com
I’ll trade you for a Kleenex.
Nope.
I must admit that Peggy and I both had initial misgivings about the location-and especially the distance—a scant 1,500 miles from Portland, Maine! For me, those fears were largely put to rest in April as I took Christina out to see the campus. Although accepted to a half dozen other schools (mostly on the East coast), she was convinced that Creighton was the place for her. High school placement profiles listed it as her “best fit” several times.
I had to look it up.
National rankings at or near the top in many categories, plus the moniker “The Villanova Of The Midwest” make me think that perhaps Christina was right. Those Jesuits know how to run a school, as I knew from experience in high school at Gonzaga in D.C. After seeing the campus, perhaps Villanova should be called the “ Creighton of the East”.
Christina is a freshman living in Kiewit Hall. An army of upperclassmen were waiting to help us —in fact, they are known nationally for making the dorm move-in an easy thing-below is a video of the 2007 move-in to our daughter’s very building:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4PKJPUIjnU
Upon landing in Omaha, I must concede that I was very pleasantly surprised-by everything. The city is exceedingly clean—and WAY more cosmopolitan than we snobby east-coasters could admit before being shown. In the same way that I had to convince my family in Washington, D.C. that Maine (particularly Portland) was a vibrant and beautiful place when I moved here 27 years ago, my daughter was essentially putting the same sales pitch together for her parents.
When one thinks of Omaha, my guess is that the top 5 responses are:
1) Corn
2) Omaha Steaks
3) Corn
4) Warren Buffett
5) Corn
All of the above are true, but the people in Nebraska are terrific, unbelievably (and noticeably) friendlier than average-and the terrain is not so flat as you would think. In fact, it is hilly enough to take the wind out of an out-of-shape DJ who visited the Omaha Zoo.
I knew that this blog would write itself, but also that I would procrastinate on the TOUGH PART…….LEAVING HER THERE.
Having gone through this before with her older brother, Peggy and I were no strangers to the last embrace, the laundry list of stuff to do (and NOT do!!!) and all those other parental spewings that cause eyes to roll and then glaze over.
Since we’ve know for some time that Christina is no shrinking violet, we were not at all concerned about her meeting new people or being homesick. This is an asset when dropping your daughter off in NEBRASKA. However, we couldn’t help seeing the little girl in diapers who took her first step, rode her bike for the first time or happily shredded wrapping paper in front of over a dozen Christmas trees.
So, basically, what I am saying is this: I was a mess.
Peggy was emotional too.
Christina?
Not so much, but that’s a good thing (“Mom, Dad, you can go now…I’m OK..really”)
We love you honey—and are SO PROUD of you and HAPPY for you too! Your new life adventure starts in Omaha, Nebraska at a terrific school called Creighton University.
If you’d like my blog in your inbox daily, just let me know: tim.moore@citcomm.com
I’ll trade you for a Kleenex.
Friday, August 14, 2009
The Worst Dancers Ever
I am learning that serious discussion on this blog takes a definite backseat to humor-and this being a beautiful Friday in August, who has the patience to read (let alone WRITE) something heavy and serious?
Not me. And probably not you, either.
My best responses have been to the Worst Best Man Ever (yesterday) and the Worst Music Video Ever (some time ago)
In our continuing quest to entertain, I give you the Worst Dancers Ever! Check out this video-a performance at some kind of Christian gathering. With absolutely NO intent to make fun of the message (or mission) of these committed participants, my advice would still be to stand still and read the Bible rather than what you will see here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UHtwOzdkNjA
Every time I see this, I laugh. Something about how UNCOOL they look, but how confident they are that COOLNESS is literally OOZING from every pore of their bodies.
If you can beat this one with a video you’ve found-I am open to featuring it in a future blog!
Have a great weekend-and I will be taking a week off next week. Talk to ya on the flipside! If you would like my blog in your e-mail box daily (after I return) just let me know: tim.moore@citcomm.com
Not me. And probably not you, either.
My best responses have been to the Worst Best Man Ever (yesterday) and the Worst Music Video Ever (some time ago)
In our continuing quest to entertain, I give you the Worst Dancers Ever! Check out this video-a performance at some kind of Christian gathering. With absolutely NO intent to make fun of the message (or mission) of these committed participants, my advice would still be to stand still and read the Bible rather than what you will see here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UHtwOzdkNjA
Every time I see this, I laugh. Something about how UNCOOL they look, but how confident they are that COOLNESS is literally OOZING from every pore of their bodies.
If you can beat this one with a video you’ve found-I am open to featuring it in a future blog!
Have a great weekend-and I will be taking a week off next week. Talk to ya on the flipside! If you would like my blog in your e-mail box daily (after I return) just let me know: tim.moore@citcomm.com
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Worst Best man Ever
Yesterday’s blog was two things:
1) LONG
2) SERIOUS
It’s hard to discuss health care in a funny or brief way.
So today,I plan to keep things:
1) SHORT
2) FUNNY
Enjoy the following video clip of the World’s Worst best man. Key that phrase into You Tube’s search engine and you will come up with some horrid speeches at various receptions---and then there is THIS.
Can’t be topped, very funny-and something that will never be forgotten by anyone in attendance:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ga-ULeG09QY
If you are the offending party…WHAT CAN YOU POSSIBLY SAY?
“Hey, sorry ‘bout that!”
My guess is this poor fellow never made it to the reception-and if he did-and it was in the same location, he was probably tossed into the drink as well!
Put my blog in your e-mail box weekdays for free by letting me know you’d like to subscribe: tim.moore@citcomm.com
For better or worse, til death do us part.
1) LONG
2) SERIOUS
It’s hard to discuss health care in a funny or brief way.
So today,I plan to keep things:
1) SHORT
2) FUNNY
Enjoy the following video clip of the World’s Worst best man. Key that phrase into You Tube’s search engine and you will come up with some horrid speeches at various receptions---and then there is THIS.
Can’t be topped, very funny-and something that will never be forgotten by anyone in attendance:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ga-ULeG09QY
If you are the offending party…WHAT CAN YOU POSSIBLY SAY?
“Hey, sorry ‘bout that!”
My guess is this poor fellow never made it to the reception-and if he did-and it was in the same location, he was probably tossed into the drink as well!
Put my blog in your e-mail box weekdays for free by letting me know you’d like to subscribe: tim.moore@citcomm.com
For better or worse, til death do us part.
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Tim Moore's Simple Health Care Solution
So, everyone is talking about it (and some are SCREAMING about it)
The “it”, of course, is health care-and as emotions rise, so too does the rhetoric on both sides (are there only two?)
Everyone has a solution-and I am no different.
First, I should disclose that my knowledge of the health care industry is on a par with my knowledge of, say, MOLECULAR PHYSICS. Anyone not intimately involved with the health insurance business or hospital administration (about 99% of the U.S. population) that tells you THEY know what they are talking about is either:
a) lying
b) crazy
c) delusional
d) all of the above
Now that we have that established, it seems to me that the health care problem is one of simple math—albeit on a massive scale. First of all, we are ALL paying for the uninsured via sky high costs, passed along to us by an insurance industry all too willing to look the other way as health care providers give us a financial enema.
One of my employees needed to call an ambulance after having chest pains. The emergency team arrived, worked on him outside of One City Center-and then transported him to the hospital for tests. He spent the night in the hospital.
The bill? Almost $10,000! Yes, TEN THOUSAND DOLLARS! $1,300 of which was the less-than-one-mile trip via ambulance.
ARE YOU KIDDING ME?
Call me a dummy, but can we please create a price range for goods and services-WITH PLENTY OF PROFIT built in (to create incentive) without GOUGING?
I applaud the President’s efforts-if only to bring to the forefront the horrid mess that our health care system is. Opponents tossing out scare tactic language like “socialized medicine” are having their intended effect-frightening people into a position of defending a status quo that even they don’t like at all-and may soon not be able to pay for.
When the CEO of a health insurance company has his bonus based on denial of claims, he is essentially robbing the system of premium dollars meant to pay for health care-NOT for padding the profits of the companies who are holding all of the cards.
Let’s try this:
1) Create a value (cost) for each and every medical procedure/test/material expended in the administration of health care. Its value must incorporate the true cost of manufacture or amortization of medical equipment or value of services based on REASONABLE expectations in a free-market economy where competition MIGHT exist (which it doesn’t now-at least not at the consumer level)
2) Multiply these items/procedures/tests/services values by the number of them performed in the United States in a one year period.
3) Take this number and increase it by 50%-the expected reasonable increase in medical demand if all Americans were insured (and were thus not inhibited about seeking health care as cost would not be an issue)
4) The figure you are left with is the TRUE COST OF HEALTH CARE FOR ONE YEAR FOR ALL AMERICANS. If a panel of experts feel that a 50% increase in demand/costs are either aggressive or conservative, let them adjust the figure upward or downward accordingly.
5) Work up an insurance premium structure that is inclusive for ALL AMERICANS given the TOTAL COST of HEALTH CARE in #4 above. This premium structure should allow for a healthy margin for risk-taking insurance companies and should also include a sliding scale for cost of living adjustments (COLA). Increases should be tied to inflation or a true increase in the cost of manufacturing an item or delivering a procedure. The problem is NOT the total cost of health care. It is the disproportionate distribution of these costs. They are being borne by insured consumers-subsidizing those who are not using (and this is key) a COST STRUCTURE which is a MYSTERY. Why does a bed pan made of plastic cost $35? Its intrinsic cost is less than a dollar-yet the price can be anything-because we have no control.
6) Discounts for non-smokers, healthy lifestyles, etc could be incorporated into the system as incentive for people to save on health care costs by adopting healthy lifestyles. Thus, premiums could be more affordable if we make changes in our habits that promote health. Our current system chases the horse after it has already left the barn. How about a system that rewards HEALTH?
Who loses in this scenario?
Well, insurance companies make less in profit. Medical facilities like hospitals also earn less, but their costs are covered. Fraud is prohibitively retarded by exposing the complete chain of costs from supplier to consumer. So far, I see no one shedding a tear.
People choose their doctor, their procedures, their hospital. Insurance companies compete for business based on their efficiencies, much like car insurance. People are REQUIRED to carry auto insurance, but the government doesn’t dictate the company you use or the service bonuses you may elect to. All that is “dictated” is the MINIMUM coverage (which for health care should include catastrophic)-just as auto liability minimums have had a positive effect for drivers injured by previously uninsured motorists.
100% coverage.
100% accountability.
100% choice for consumers.
Am I missing anything here?
Don’t tell me that government shouldn’t “interfere” with the free market system.
Rubbish.
If our recent economic near melt-down taught us anything, it is this:
Capitalism without regulation is simply not an option. The same profit motives that created “derivatives” and shaky mortgages not backed by equity demonstrate that an industry left to itself will serve its own self interest-and if it fails, the U.S. Government will bail it out. The Securities and Exchange Commission exists to protect investors. The FDA exists to protect consumers from companies that would bring their products to market without sufficient safety testing. The FAA exists to serve travelers and institute minimum safety requirements. There would not have been a NEED for an Environmental Protection Agency if “free market capitalists” factored in social responsibility. The fact is that they didn’t. They polluted the air and water. Financial institutions polluted our economic system. And the health care industry has corrupted our access to affordable, quality health care.
Just as the SEC will impose new safeguards to prevent a recurrence of predatory lending (with the enthusiastic support of Americans everywhere), Uncle Sam will eventually have to reign in the companies who control access and cost for health care.
Let the debate begin! The ONLY thing I am opposed to is the RUSH of Congress to get SOMETHING passed. A bad bill may be worse than none at all. And no one knows how better to screw things up than lawmakers, working on emotions and political pressures rather than common sense.
Mid-term elections will affect the process-and the quality of whatever emerges from Congress, which is sad. I am hopeful, however, that progress will be made. There is simply too much at stake.
No videos today…this thing was long enough. If you’d like my blog in your box, let me know: tim.moore@citcomm.com
Here’s to your health!
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Shopping As A Sport
I talked to my nine-year old son this morning, happily on his way to the store with his older sister.
He was excited to go shopping, the subtext being that he expected to receive something from the trip. A small toy, a new pair of crocs, certainly something to eat. What kid wouldn’t want to go on such an excursion?
My worry is that no matter how innocent any isolated trip may be, there is a pattern—and a message—that I don’t want my kids to have ingrained in them. Namely, it is the notion that happiness is derived from THINGS. The best way to deal with boredom is to buy something.
I have noticed that “going shopping” has graduated from being a utilitarian endeavor (“I’m OUT of this, so I need to get THAT”) into a social experience and activity where the pursuit of “stuff” has merged with excess free time to create what for many people is a hobby or pastime.
“When the going gets tough, the tough go shopping” is a funny statement, but perhaps all too true. “Shop-aholics” are common in our culture—and the idea that spending money for materials goods may alleviate stress or provide a temporary “high” has some evidence of being fairly accurate. Of course, it is all an illusion. The thought that our innermost needs can be satisfied by THINGS is a pathetic statement of our culture-one that glorifies consumption and encourages comparison of different people based on their possessions. We need a more spiritual approach to affluence and the definition of success.
The Mall of America opened on this date in 1992 in Bloomington, Minnesota. So big that a roller coaster entertains folks inside and so varied that it has become a VACATION DESTINATION!!! Over 40 MILLION people visit each year!
Below is a short video “tour” of the Mall of America:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0WCMzxgz0k
I too, enjoy shopping-and I like buying things as much as the next guy. I don’t mean to imply that I am somehow immune from the tendencies to fixate on inanimate objects. It’s the idea of seeing this behavior in my children that drives me to ask—“Am I that bad too?”
Focusing on family, on people and human needs OUTSIDE our own is perhaps the most effective-and productive way to break the cycle of chasing things for the sake of acquisition alone.
If you’d like my blog in your box, just let me know: tim.moore@citcomm.com
It’s free-no shopping required!
He was excited to go shopping, the subtext being that he expected to receive something from the trip. A small toy, a new pair of crocs, certainly something to eat. What kid wouldn’t want to go on such an excursion?
My worry is that no matter how innocent any isolated trip may be, there is a pattern—and a message—that I don’t want my kids to have ingrained in them. Namely, it is the notion that happiness is derived from THINGS. The best way to deal with boredom is to buy something.
I have noticed that “going shopping” has graduated from being a utilitarian endeavor (“I’m OUT of this, so I need to get THAT”) into a social experience and activity where the pursuit of “stuff” has merged with excess free time to create what for many people is a hobby or pastime.
“When the going gets tough, the tough go shopping” is a funny statement, but perhaps all too true. “Shop-aholics” are common in our culture—and the idea that spending money for materials goods may alleviate stress or provide a temporary “high” has some evidence of being fairly accurate. Of course, it is all an illusion. The thought that our innermost needs can be satisfied by THINGS is a pathetic statement of our culture-one that glorifies consumption and encourages comparison of different people based on their possessions. We need a more spiritual approach to affluence and the definition of success.
The Mall of America opened on this date in 1992 in Bloomington, Minnesota. So big that a roller coaster entertains folks inside and so varied that it has become a VACATION DESTINATION!!! Over 40 MILLION people visit each year!
Below is a short video “tour” of the Mall of America:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0WCMzxgz0k
I too, enjoy shopping-and I like buying things as much as the next guy. I don’t mean to imply that I am somehow immune from the tendencies to fixate on inanimate objects. It’s the idea of seeing this behavior in my children that drives me to ask—“Am I that bad too?”
Focusing on family, on people and human needs OUTSIDE our own is perhaps the most effective-and productive way to break the cycle of chasing things for the sake of acquisition alone.
If you’d like my blog in your box, just let me know: tim.moore@citcomm.com
It’s free-no shopping required!
Monday, August 10, 2009
Smile...You're On Candid Camera!
There are cultures around the world that believe photographs essentially “steal” your soul by capturing the image on paper. As such, people in these cultures are loathe to having their picture taken.
Then there’s me.
I don’t really care if someone snaps my mug. I don’t believe that my soul is “captured”. It’s just that there are people who are photogenic-and then there are those, like me, who look like an ape after the cage door slammed on their foot. Kind of a deer-in-the-headlights thing, but with some measure of pain included.
This is not about handsome or not. I know that I haven’t been mistaken for Brad Pitt at any time in my life. It’s more about “affecting a look” for the lens. For me, the smile is plastic-and often (especially in bright sunlight or if there is anticipated flash) I have my eyes half closed.
Very attractive.
Add in red-eye and you have the complete “perfect storm” of photographic hell. Looking “natural” and “posing” are polar opposites in my world.
Some people always look good-completely natural-in front of the camera. I look like a doofus. Enter Alan Funt.
The only thing better than photographing people who are not professional models-is to FILM them without their knowledge making fools of themselves. Top it off by showing it to a national audience and you have “Candid Camera”-the original “catch them unaware” TV show, hosted by the aforementioned Mr. Funt. Going through life with that last name may have contributed to his sadistically funny affection towards making other people look like idiots. This was the guy in high school who snapped the wet towel in the locker room, endearing himself to one and all, I’m sure.
“Candid Camera” debuted on this date in 1948, running until 1950—and then again from 1960-1967. Here’s a vintage clip-you have to click the link as embedding has been disabled:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCpx0yHK7g0
I would be such a great candidate-for being unsuspecting—and looking goofy!
If you’d like my blog in your box, just let me know: tim.moore@citcomm.com
Just leave your camera at home!
Then there’s me.
I don’t really care if someone snaps my mug. I don’t believe that my soul is “captured”. It’s just that there are people who are photogenic-and then there are those, like me, who look like an ape after the cage door slammed on their foot. Kind of a deer-in-the-headlights thing, but with some measure of pain included.
This is not about handsome or not. I know that I haven’t been mistaken for Brad Pitt at any time in my life. It’s more about “affecting a look” for the lens. For me, the smile is plastic-and often (especially in bright sunlight or if there is anticipated flash) I have my eyes half closed.
Very attractive.
Add in red-eye and you have the complete “perfect storm” of photographic hell. Looking “natural” and “posing” are polar opposites in my world.
Some people always look good-completely natural-in front of the camera. I look like a doofus. Enter Alan Funt.
The only thing better than photographing people who are not professional models-is to FILM them without their knowledge making fools of themselves. Top it off by showing it to a national audience and you have “Candid Camera”-the original “catch them unaware” TV show, hosted by the aforementioned Mr. Funt. Going through life with that last name may have contributed to his sadistically funny affection towards making other people look like idiots. This was the guy in high school who snapped the wet towel in the locker room, endearing himself to one and all, I’m sure.
“Candid Camera” debuted on this date in 1948, running until 1950—and then again from 1960-1967. Here’s a vintage clip-you have to click the link as embedding has been disabled:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCpx0yHK7g0
I would be such a great candidate-for being unsuspecting—and looking goofy!
If you’d like my blog in your box, just let me know: tim.moore@citcomm.com
Just leave your camera at home!
Friday, August 7, 2009
Scared Of Heights? Remember This One?
Mention the World Trade Center Twin Towers and most people will think only of their demise on September 11, 2001. If you had brought them up in conversation on this day 35 years ago, chances are you would be discussing what EVERYONE was-namely, that some nut-job walked a TIGHTROPE strung between the two structures!
It’s hard to imagine why anyone would wake up one day and say, “Hey! I’ve got an idea! Why don’t I walk a wire strung 1,350 feet above busy streets and risk death with no net!”
That was the essential thinking of one Philip Petit (whose last name obviously also denotes his brain size). Using some kind of crossbow device, he shot a wire from one Tower to the next-and then did his thing, snarling traffic below on August 7, 1974 as disbelieving onlookers gawked at the spectacle of an idiot risking his life.
I don’t know if Petit had a family, but I find it hard to imagine being so cavalier-when ONE wrong move (not to mention a strong gust of wind) would send you to certain death-and perhaps kill someone else below on the street.
Of course, I am glad he didn’t die, but had he, I must admit I would feel little sympathy for a man who took it upon himself to be a splat stain. I frankly don’t know why Evil Kneival (sp?) tried to jump the Grand Canyon in a rocket-or the thousands of bonehead attempts to do this or that-for headlines and glory.
Check out the video below-CBS News reporting on the incident-with a young Roger Mudd doing the anchoring duties:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAVj2IVC9ko
Now if THAT didn’t give you goose bumps, then maybe you are a candidate to perform the next death-defying high-rise stunt. Just do the favor of letting me know ahead of time so I won’t be walking below you during the attempt! If you’d like my blog in you box daily, let me know: tim.moore@citcomm.com
It’s hard to imagine why anyone would wake up one day and say, “Hey! I’ve got an idea! Why don’t I walk a wire strung 1,350 feet above busy streets and risk death with no net!”
That was the essential thinking of one Philip Petit (whose last name obviously also denotes his brain size). Using some kind of crossbow device, he shot a wire from one Tower to the next-and then did his thing, snarling traffic below on August 7, 1974 as disbelieving onlookers gawked at the spectacle of an idiot risking his life.
I don’t know if Petit had a family, but I find it hard to imagine being so cavalier-when ONE wrong move (not to mention a strong gust of wind) would send you to certain death-and perhaps kill someone else below on the street.
Of course, I am glad he didn’t die, but had he, I must admit I would feel little sympathy for a man who took it upon himself to be a splat stain. I frankly don’t know why Evil Kneival (sp?) tried to jump the Grand Canyon in a rocket-or the thousands of bonehead attempts to do this or that-for headlines and glory.
Check out the video below-CBS News reporting on the incident-with a young Roger Mudd doing the anchoring duties:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAVj2IVC9ko
Now if THAT didn’t give you goose bumps, then maybe you are a candidate to perform the next death-defying high-rise stunt. Just do the favor of letting me know ahead of time so I won’t be walking below you during the attempt! If you’d like my blog in you box daily, let me know: tim.moore@citcomm.com
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Paul McCartney At Fenway Park
If you said it was a “religious experience”, there would be those who would cry “blasphemy!”
OK…so maybe it wasn’t a divine moment, but to integrate being inside Fenway Park (in right Center Field, actually) with seeing a Beatle perform live as I had the chance to last night-was as close to an out-of –this-world event as I may ever be part of!
I saw Sir Paul at the Fleet (now TD Banknorth Garden) a few years ago. Being my first time-and in an enclosed arena where sound bounces off the walls, it may have been better from a sheer concert perspective. However, an outdoor show under the moon and stars on a beautiful August night in Boston is hard to top! Add fireworks during “Live And Let Die” and you have the whole package!
I credit The Beatles for me being in the business I am in. Perhaps I could not sing or play the way they did, but from my earliest age, I wanted to be CLOSE to it, CONNECTED to it. Playing their music on the radio was enough. Being in the broadcasting business has allowed me to go to so many shows and MEET so many famous people.
I have yet to meet a Beatle. Of course, that possibility is sadly down to two-and I actually had a chance to meet Ringo in Los Angeles several years ago, but circumstances arose that kept me from shaking the hand of one of the Fab Four. I am at peace with the notion that meeting Paul is likely NOT going to happen.
Besides, what to you say to a living legend who has seen and heard it all? “I love your music?” How about, “I’m a big fan of yours!” You get the point. Seeing his impact on my life , I would probably be reduced to a babbling blob of goo.
It’s just as well-I might have a heart attack if I were faced with the opportunity.
Below is a video clip from Paul McCartney’s show last night at Fenway. As the Sox were losing to Tampa Bay, we were groovin’ to Paul on our own Field Of Dreams:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yaN2reqftZ0
If you’d like my blog in your box, let know: tim.moore@citcomm.com
OK…so maybe it wasn’t a divine moment, but to integrate being inside Fenway Park (in right Center Field, actually) with seeing a Beatle perform live as I had the chance to last night-was as close to an out-of –this-world event as I may ever be part of!
I saw Sir Paul at the Fleet (now TD Banknorth Garden) a few years ago. Being my first time-and in an enclosed arena where sound bounces off the walls, it may have been better from a sheer concert perspective. However, an outdoor show under the moon and stars on a beautiful August night in Boston is hard to top! Add fireworks during “Live And Let Die” and you have the whole package!
I credit The Beatles for me being in the business I am in. Perhaps I could not sing or play the way they did, but from my earliest age, I wanted to be CLOSE to it, CONNECTED to it. Playing their music on the radio was enough. Being in the broadcasting business has allowed me to go to so many shows and MEET so many famous people.
I have yet to meet a Beatle. Of course, that possibility is sadly down to two-and I actually had a chance to meet Ringo in Los Angeles several years ago, but circumstances arose that kept me from shaking the hand of one of the Fab Four. I am at peace with the notion that meeting Paul is likely NOT going to happen.
Besides, what to you say to a living legend who has seen and heard it all? “I love your music?” How about, “I’m a big fan of yours!” You get the point. Seeing his impact on my life , I would probably be reduced to a babbling blob of goo.
It’s just as well-I might have a heart attack if I were faced with the opportunity.
Below is a video clip from Paul McCartney’s show last night at Fenway. As the Sox were losing to Tampa Bay, we were groovin’ to Paul on our own Field Of Dreams:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yaN2reqftZ0
If you’d like my blog in your box, let know: tim.moore@citcomm.com
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Marilyn Monroe Legend Lives On
What is it about Marilyn Monroe that still enthralls us? Certainly her beauty was a factor, but there have been many beautiful starlets who haven’t come close to the near idolization that Monroe commanded-and still does.
She was found dead on this date in 1962. Forty-seven years later, her death (and life) is still shrouded in mystery. Although her demise was ruled a “probable suicide”, the fact that she was nude, with a telephone is one hand when found seems to lend more intrigue to the case.
Perhaps the fact that she was a tragic figure made her interesting to America. A decent actress perhaps, but not critically acclaimed, her marriages to playwright Arthur Miller and baseball legend Joe DiMaggio gave her a “bigger than life” persona that never translated to personal happiness.
By 1961, she was under the constant care of a psychiatrist for depression. In recent decades, there have been several conspiracy theories about her death. One contends that she was murdered by John and/or Robert Kennedy, with both of whom she allegedly had love affairs.
Check out this two-part video on the death of Marilyn Monroe:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EiYSwUhCnx0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fX3_hmePsw
The bottom line is that we will probably never REALLY know what happened. The tragedy is that a young and beautiful woman who seemingly had everything a person could want: looks, fame, fortune and more—could be so unhappy.
Perhaps there is a lesson for all of us “regular people”-that striving to achieve these empty goals won’t fulfill us-that our sense of self-worth and contribution need to come from within-and not the external symbols that we tend to associate with “success”.
If you’d like my blog in your box, let me know: tim.moore@citcomm.com
She was found dead on this date in 1962. Forty-seven years later, her death (and life) is still shrouded in mystery. Although her demise was ruled a “probable suicide”, the fact that she was nude, with a telephone is one hand when found seems to lend more intrigue to the case.
Perhaps the fact that she was a tragic figure made her interesting to America. A decent actress perhaps, but not critically acclaimed, her marriages to playwright Arthur Miller and baseball legend Joe DiMaggio gave her a “bigger than life” persona that never translated to personal happiness.
By 1961, she was under the constant care of a psychiatrist for depression. In recent decades, there have been several conspiracy theories about her death. One contends that she was murdered by John and/or Robert Kennedy, with both of whom she allegedly had love affairs.
Check out this two-part video on the death of Marilyn Monroe:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EiYSwUhCnx0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fX3_hmePsw
The bottom line is that we will probably never REALLY know what happened. The tragedy is that a young and beautiful woman who seemingly had everything a person could want: looks, fame, fortune and more—could be so unhappy.
Perhaps there is a lesson for all of us “regular people”-that striving to achieve these empty goals won’t fulfill us-that our sense of self-worth and contribution need to come from within-and not the external symbols that we tend to associate with “success”.
If you’d like my blog in your box, let me know: tim.moore@citcomm.com
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Anne Frank And Family Captured
I had the good fortune to travel to Europe when I was 12 years old. We visited London, Paris, spent most of our time in Ireland (the home of our ancestors)-and Amsterdam.
While in The Netherlands (which I was still calling “Holland” while trying to find a pair of wooden shoes to fit my pre-teen feet), my parents took my sister and I to the house in Amsterdam where Anne Frank and her family were holed up-trying to avoid the Nazis.
At the time, I had certainly heard of Anne Frank-knew about the diary she kept-but I hadn’t read it—and, like most people, I suppose, was woefully under informed about the Holocaust.
Although much of my trip has faded in the nearly 40 years since I was there, the trip to the Anne Frank house has remained with me. Seeing the bookcase give way to a secret passage to the attic still gives me chills.
It was on this date in 1944 that the Nazi Gestapo, acting on a tip from a Dutch informer-captured Anne and her family. After two YEARS in hiding, they were sent to a concentration camp, where Anne and nearly all the others perished. For some reason, the diary was not confiscated-and its survival gave voice to the victims of the Holocaust following it being published in 1947. Her father Otto was a survivor—and felt that her story should be shared with the world. An instant bestseller, it has been translated into 50 languages.
Below is a short video clip of the place where Anne Frank lived for two years in hiding:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8EL6lR_7X0
It is difficult to imagine the emotions of those people, day after day living in terror-having to remain completely silent for hours on end during the day when the building was occupied. Imagine what it must have been like to be discovered after all that time in seclusion!
Anne made her last diary entry on August 1, 1944. Three days later, it was all over. Shipped to Auschwitz concentration camp—and then to Bergen-Belsen. Anne and her sister Margot caught typhus in the deplorable conditions and died in early March 1945. She would never know that the words she penned in hiding would be read and remembered by millions of people the world over.
I know there are people who believe the Holocaust never occurred. Whether out of sheer ignorance in the face of indisputable evidence-or disbelief that human beings could inflict such horror on others is immaterial. It happened-and Anne Frank was one of the few who could articulate the experience –through the eyes of a young person whose life was suddenly turned upside down—because of her ethnicity.
As a Catholic Irishman, I will never know the feelings, the depth of understanding that the Jewish people have borne. I can understand, however, the simple story of a young girl who grew into womanhood in an attic in Amsterdam.
While in The Netherlands (which I was still calling “Holland” while trying to find a pair of wooden shoes to fit my pre-teen feet), my parents took my sister and I to the house in Amsterdam where Anne Frank and her family were holed up-trying to avoid the Nazis.
At the time, I had certainly heard of Anne Frank-knew about the diary she kept-but I hadn’t read it—and, like most people, I suppose, was woefully under informed about the Holocaust.
Although much of my trip has faded in the nearly 40 years since I was there, the trip to the Anne Frank house has remained with me. Seeing the bookcase give way to a secret passage to the attic still gives me chills.
It was on this date in 1944 that the Nazi Gestapo, acting on a tip from a Dutch informer-captured Anne and her family. After two YEARS in hiding, they were sent to a concentration camp, where Anne and nearly all the others perished. For some reason, the diary was not confiscated-and its survival gave voice to the victims of the Holocaust following it being published in 1947. Her father Otto was a survivor—and felt that her story should be shared with the world. An instant bestseller, it has been translated into 50 languages.
Below is a short video clip of the place where Anne Frank lived for two years in hiding:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8EL6lR_7X0
It is difficult to imagine the emotions of those people, day after day living in terror-having to remain completely silent for hours on end during the day when the building was occupied. Imagine what it must have been like to be discovered after all that time in seclusion!
Anne made her last diary entry on August 1, 1944. Three days later, it was all over. Shipped to Auschwitz concentration camp—and then to Bergen-Belsen. Anne and her sister Margot caught typhus in the deplorable conditions and died in early March 1945. She would never know that the words she penned in hiding would be read and remembered by millions of people the world over.
I know there are people who believe the Holocaust never occurred. Whether out of sheer ignorance in the face of indisputable evidence-or disbelief that human beings could inflict such horror on others is immaterial. It happened-and Anne Frank was one of the few who could articulate the experience –through the eyes of a young person whose life was suddenly turned upside down—because of her ethnicity.
As a Catholic Irishman, I will never know the feelings, the depth of understanding that the Jewish people have borne. I can understand, however, the simple story of a young girl who grew into womanhood in an attic in Amsterdam.
Monday, August 3, 2009
The Wedding Dance Seen Around The World
Only in our YouTube age could the “private” celebration of a rather unconventional entrance to a wedding EXPLODE into a worldwide phenomenon.
I had HEARD about the “dancing wedding” as it was called around offices nationwide. Before I got the chance to search for it on YouTube, I saw a reenactment on-of all places-- The Today Show! NBC, always at the cutting edge for the web-made-mass-appeal, invited the bride, groom and entire wedding party to perform the same entrance on the program. Smart.
This, of course, prompted me to finally link to the original video on the web. Very entertaining-although you can tell that some of the older guests are not entirely impressed with the less-than-traditional approach to a church wedding.
What do you think?
Personally, I say, “Hey, it’s THEIR wedding! Let them do what makes them happy!” Of course, both bride and groom need to agree. Imagine if, say, just the groom and his attendants did the chicken dance down the aisle to a surprised and horrified bride hoping for a solemn start to wedlock! Not a good way to launch the ol’ nuptials, if you ask me!
If you haven’t seen the video, here it is:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-94JhLEiN0
My guess is that these two people have a happy adventure waiting for them. A sense of humor is always an asset, but ESPECIALLY in a marriage. We should check in with them 10 years from now to see if they are still together. But then again, NBC and “The Today Show” have probably already thought of that!
If you’d like my blog in your inbox daily, let me know!
Tim.moore@citcomm.com
I had HEARD about the “dancing wedding” as it was called around offices nationwide. Before I got the chance to search for it on YouTube, I saw a reenactment on-of all places-- The Today Show! NBC, always at the cutting edge for the web-made-mass-appeal, invited the bride, groom and entire wedding party to perform the same entrance on the program. Smart.
This, of course, prompted me to finally link to the original video on the web. Very entertaining-although you can tell that some of the older guests are not entirely impressed with the less-than-traditional approach to a church wedding.
What do you think?
Personally, I say, “Hey, it’s THEIR wedding! Let them do what makes them happy!” Of course, both bride and groom need to agree. Imagine if, say, just the groom and his attendants did the chicken dance down the aisle to a surprised and horrified bride hoping for a solemn start to wedlock! Not a good way to launch the ol’ nuptials, if you ask me!
If you haven’t seen the video, here it is:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-94JhLEiN0
My guess is that these two people have a happy adventure waiting for them. A sense of humor is always an asset, but ESPECIALLY in a marriage. We should check in with them 10 years from now to see if they are still together. But then again, NBC and “The Today Show” have probably already thought of that!
If you’d like my blog in your inbox daily, let me know!
Tim.moore@citcomm.com
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