My family has a long connection with the Big Hole Valley of Montana. Though my connections is as much folk lore and shared family memory as experience, by grandfather and grandmother both knew the valley well. There is a family story from the valley of my dad having to drive his grandfather back to the house when he was very young because of an accident with a piece of machinery. Proof that the clans that make me up left blood and sweat on the land.
So, it was interesting to read that Donald Rumsfeld has purchased a ranch in the Big Hole. What was more interesting and a nice little Christmas present was the reaction his neighbor.
It makes me miss my native land at this time of year, because on one hand Montana is still small enough that people notice when people move in. However, it's still independent enough to believe that getting along with your neighbors doesn't depend on agreeing on every topic. It's a place where there is room enough for ideas and debate, and a healthy accceptance of the reality that most of the things we argue and fuss over aren't that big of a deal.
The mosquitoes will likely terrorize Rumsfeld for a few weeks, and don?t expect to be able to reach him well on his cell phone. The winter wind will be brutal, and there will be times when it just doesn?t seem like it?s safe to go out. There will also be late summer days when the wheat is golden, and some rancher is still employing a 100 year old "beaver slide". Those will be the things that matter, and for that reason I'm a little jealous and a little homesick this Christmas.
Friday, December 18, 2009
Friday, October 02, 2009
An Open Letter to Tim Pawlenty
Almost everyone that reads David Brooks column today will disagree with it. Those on the left will read it and believe in their heart of hearts that all Republicans are really tiny minded ideologues who couldn’t care less about their neighbors. Those on the right will think that Brooks (as all big media does) fails to see the real Americans that talk radio, tea parties, and town hall meetings represent.
However, in the center of this great disagreement is great truth, and the bottom line on Brooks’ column is that he is right when he states, “The party is leaderless right now because nobody has the guts to step outside the rigid parameters enforced by the radio jocks and create a new party identity.”
There are a lot of conservatives that look at the cast of characters in media and as a good friend of mine says, “I wish they would get off my side.” I’m not wishing Glen Beck or Rush off of the air. They have a place and they can put pressure and raise stories that don’t get raised other places. But picking candidates isn’t their strong point. In order for them to be effective and to break through the media clutter they have to be out at the edges. They have to take risks and they have to fill time.
So, Gov. Pawlenty, I’m imploring not to take the media stuff too seriously on either side. Brooks is right in that getting out and talking to people will be the key. Health care has to be discussed, wars have to be evaluated, not all taxes are bad. The majority understands a president has to govern in that world, not the world that can cling to ideologies and sound bites. I think most of us also realize that we won’t always like your decisions. I don’t agree with you on a couple of big things, but I realize that knowing what specifically I disagree with you about is better than having you promise the moon and not deliver.
There is room for a conservative that tries to make sense somewhere besides the edges. It won’t always be comfortable, but to become that party that embraces disagreements and handles them well would be the real revolution.
However, in the center of this great disagreement is great truth, and the bottom line on Brooks’ column is that he is right when he states, “The party is leaderless right now because nobody has the guts to step outside the rigid parameters enforced by the radio jocks and create a new party identity.”
There are a lot of conservatives that look at the cast of characters in media and as a good friend of mine says, “I wish they would get off my side.” I’m not wishing Glen Beck or Rush off of the air. They have a place and they can put pressure and raise stories that don’t get raised other places. But picking candidates isn’t their strong point. In order for them to be effective and to break through the media clutter they have to be out at the edges. They have to take risks and they have to fill time.
So, Gov. Pawlenty, I’m imploring not to take the media stuff too seriously on either side. Brooks is right in that getting out and talking to people will be the key. Health care has to be discussed, wars have to be evaluated, not all taxes are bad. The majority understands a president has to govern in that world, not the world that can cling to ideologies and sound bites. I think most of us also realize that we won’t always like your decisions. I don’t agree with you on a couple of big things, but I realize that knowing what specifically I disagree with you about is better than having you promise the moon and not deliver.
There is room for a conservative that tries to make sense somewhere besides the edges. It won’t always be comfortable, but to become that party that embraces disagreements and handles them well would be the real revolution.
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Back from vacation
I had a lot of great ideas to blog about when I was on vacation. Yes, for three weeks I drove around, saw fascinating stuff, had interesting conversations, ate good food and in general lived a life worth blogging about, and I didn’t blog once. A day and half into a hard transition back to life in the real world and most of those great ideas are now gone, or at least fuzzy enough that they sound far less brilliant, but maybe that is the point.
For the past three weeks I was pretty disconnected. I didn’t worry about the checkbook (anybody know how I can make a quick $500, legal is preferred), how many emails were waiting for me, what was for dinner on that given night or many of the hundreds of things that make up my day to day existence.
Don’t get me wrong, I love my life. Part of what was really great about the vacation was spending all day everyday with my wife and kids. What I finally did on this vacation that I’m not sure I have done in the past decade or so is relax and in that relaxation, I think my brain worked better.
So, I’m back from vacation with a few lessons learned. The key one is that everybody should take a vacation. For me, I think I have learned that means a vacation from a schedule as well. One of the best things about vacation is that we had very few demands on our time, and we didn’t place any on ourselves either.
I’m sure there are other lessons, and I may get around to writing about them. But for now, I needed to get back on schedule and post a blog.
For the past three weeks I was pretty disconnected. I didn’t worry about the checkbook (anybody know how I can make a quick $500, legal is preferred), how many emails were waiting for me, what was for dinner on that given night or many of the hundreds of things that make up my day to day existence.
Don’t get me wrong, I love my life. Part of what was really great about the vacation was spending all day everyday with my wife and kids. What I finally did on this vacation that I’m not sure I have done in the past decade or so is relax and in that relaxation, I think my brain worked better.
So, I’m back from vacation with a few lessons learned. The key one is that everybody should take a vacation. For me, I think I have learned that means a vacation from a schedule as well. One of the best things about vacation is that we had very few demands on our time, and we didn’t place any on ourselves either.
I’m sure there are other lessons, and I may get around to writing about them. But for now, I needed to get back on schedule and post a blog.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
One more nutty Yellowstone Club story
On Sunday, the New York Times ran the first extensive interview with Edna Blixseth. While I would recommend that anyone interested read the story, I will sum it up here: the story of the Yellowstone Club really is bizarre on a number of levels.
One of the things that did occur to me after reading it was I may have been unduly harsh on members in the piece I wrote for the Montana Standard. Bill Gates may need a place to ski with his kids that doesn’t require security. That says something really sad about the world we live in, but I do see why some individuals may need the privacy. And if the club is as family-friendly as the article states, then maybe the ultra-rich have some problems I glossed over.
Still some things in the story really jumped out at me. Someone out there should really pay me to write a book about this because it has all the makings of a great one:
- The portrait of Edna Blixseth is really interesting. This is essentially a woman scorned story made no less bizarre by the fact that the author points out her current boyfriend is an ex-underwear model who had to sell his Bentley to keep things a float.
- Edna considers gardening a Zen practice, which sounds pretty normal until she adds she does it one hole at a time on her private golf course.
- I really wished I would have had this quote to work with in my piece on the club from a member who wanted to remain unnamed. He said in defending Tim Blixseth, “It’s that aggressiveness that got this thing off the ground, that got the lifts built, that got the forest land away from the government, that got the water rights. As long as it was working in our benefit, everybody thought it was great.” That quote kind of makes my Yellowstone Club as an extractive industry point in a lot fewer words than I used in the Montana Standard.
- The story ends with a description of Edna’s prayer ritual. It is kind of a typical tactic where someone far at the fringe of religious practice is held up as if to say, “See, people that believe in God are the nutty ones.”
Currently there is a song on country music radio that may have one of the great choruses in country music though it is a mediocre song overall. It may be the title of my eventual book about the Yellowstone club, “God is great, beer is good, and people are crazy.”
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Velleity
Nerd alert: when I was in Mr. Mellang’s fourth grade class I used a thesaurus to help me write a short paper. I’m pretty sure I got some of the words horribly wrong, and sometime around college I swore off the thesaurus, but I still take great joy in finding the perfect word whose meaning matches the reality.
At a staff retreat I helped plan last week one of the participants introduced me to the word “velleity.” As defined by the free web dictionary it is “a mere fancy that does not lead to action.” The way it was presented during the meeting is less elegant buy equaling meaningful, “a problem you don’t care enough to do anything about.”
The retreat actually went pretty well. We spoke candidly about what needed to be changed, and challenged (maybe even too much) the status quo and spoke about what could be changed to make the place better. What was particularly good was that it seemed like making the place better wasn’t just to make our lives easier, but was centered more or less around the idea of accomplishing of a mission. So, if the retreat went so well why am I still haunted by the word velleity.
I think I’m haunted because trying to define the velleity is a humbling task. Andy Stanley in his book Visioneering brings forth the idea that every great vision begins as a moral imperative. It is the deep feeling within in us that a particular situation or problem is so unjust that it must be changed and we must be the person to do it.
It’s an important, but humbling question to ask, “What do I care about enough that I’m willing to do something about it?” Part of that question makes a person face up to what they are not willing to do anything part. I have joked for years that I don’t care enough about getting in shape to give up donuts. The unhealthy eating might be a problem, and I may complain, but it’s a clear velleity, because I don’t quit eating donuts.
I have a colleague about my age who was recently diagnosed with cancer. I wonder if I suddenly had to face my mortality in a real way that I would feel the moral imperative to better care of myself in order to be around to care for my family.
There is an organizational application as well, because I think it is clear that the things we don’t care enough about to act on that kill us. It’s the organization that talks about tighter cost controls but never puts them in place that ends up in real trouble. It’s the organization that waits for someday to invest in people that realizes at some point it has lost its best and brightest.
If a person doesn’t care enough to act on a problem, then that fact needs to be acknowledged. People and organizations that are honest enough to ask these tough questions seem to be a few steps ahead.
At a staff retreat I helped plan last week one of the participants introduced me to the word “velleity.” As defined by the free web dictionary it is “a mere fancy that does not lead to action.” The way it was presented during the meeting is less elegant buy equaling meaningful, “a problem you don’t care enough to do anything about.”
The retreat actually went pretty well. We spoke candidly about what needed to be changed, and challenged (maybe even too much) the status quo and spoke about what could be changed to make the place better. What was particularly good was that it seemed like making the place better wasn’t just to make our lives easier, but was centered more or less around the idea of accomplishing of a mission. So, if the retreat went so well why am I still haunted by the word velleity.
I think I’m haunted because trying to define the velleity is a humbling task. Andy Stanley in his book Visioneering brings forth the idea that every great vision begins as a moral imperative. It is the deep feeling within in us that a particular situation or problem is so unjust that it must be changed and we must be the person to do it.
It’s an important, but humbling question to ask, “What do I care about enough that I’m willing to do something about it?” Part of that question makes a person face up to what they are not willing to do anything part. I have joked for years that I don’t care enough about getting in shape to give up donuts. The unhealthy eating might be a problem, and I may complain, but it’s a clear velleity, because I don’t quit eating donuts.
I have a colleague about my age who was recently diagnosed with cancer. I wonder if I suddenly had to face my mortality in a real way that I would feel the moral imperative to better care of myself in order to be around to care for my family.
There is an organizational application as well, because I think it is clear that the things we don’t care enough about to act on that kill us. It’s the organization that talks about tighter cost controls but never puts them in place that ends up in real trouble. It’s the organization that waits for someday to invest in people that realizes at some point it has lost its best and brightest.
If a person doesn’t care enough to act on a problem, then that fact needs to be acknowledged. People and organizations that are honest enough to ask these tough questions seem to be a few steps ahead.
Monday, June 08, 2009
Texting in church!
So after trying to disprove last week that Twitter is sustainable, I had a fascinating experience with integrating technology into communication in a new way on Sunday.
My family doesn’t normally attend Westwood Community Church, but for a variety of reasons we went on Sunday. The pastor, used text messaging during the service. It was really well done. After a short tutorial, he encouraged people to text answers which were put up on the screen in real time. It was really engaging, and no I didn’t even text. My thumbs make me text impaired, but it was still fascinating and the positives far outweighed the negatives of a few folks by me who couldn’t figure out how to get their phones on “silent”.
The up shot is that it reminded me of something about technology and communication that seems to get missed. It is about the message first and the medium second. I know that is a theory not all people subscribe to, but the longer I work, read and think about communication the more I believe it is true.
As communicators, I believe that we need to figure out what the message or the story is first, and then figure out the best way to tell it. This point hit me two weeks ago when I rented the film “The Other Boleyn Girl”. It’s actually a pretty interesting story lost in a pretty bad movie. My estimation is that is because it’s not a movie, it’s a miniseries. There are far too many events and the motivations are too complex to cram into a little under two hours. It is a story that needs nuance and background, and without it you are left asking, “Now why would they do that?” about primary characters.
For what are probably a lot of sound commercial reasons they crammed the story into a movie format. It may make sense commercially, but if you care about the story it doesn’t make any sense.
Sustainability is a big word now for business. I’d apply it to communicators as well saying that commercial considerations may make sense, but the more sustainable option is to care about the message first and the medium second.
My family doesn’t normally attend Westwood Community Church, but for a variety of reasons we went on Sunday. The pastor, used text messaging during the service. It was really well done. After a short tutorial, he encouraged people to text answers which were put up on the screen in real time. It was really engaging, and no I didn’t even text. My thumbs make me text impaired, but it was still fascinating and the positives far outweighed the negatives of a few folks by me who couldn’t figure out how to get their phones on “silent”.
The up shot is that it reminded me of something about technology and communication that seems to get missed. It is about the message first and the medium second. I know that is a theory not all people subscribe to, but the longer I work, read and think about communication the more I believe it is true.
As communicators, I believe that we need to figure out what the message or the story is first, and then figure out the best way to tell it. This point hit me two weeks ago when I rented the film “The Other Boleyn Girl”. It’s actually a pretty interesting story lost in a pretty bad movie. My estimation is that is because it’s not a movie, it’s a miniseries. There are far too many events and the motivations are too complex to cram into a little under two hours. It is a story that needs nuance and background, and without it you are left asking, “Now why would they do that?” about primary characters.
For what are probably a lot of sound commercial reasons they crammed the story into a movie format. It may make sense commercially, but if you care about the story it doesn’t make any sense.
Sustainability is a big word now for business. I’d apply it to communicators as well saying that commercial considerations may make sense, but the more sustainable option is to care about the message first and the medium second.
Friday, June 05, 2009
Tweeting to distraction
Anybody remember “Rico Suave”. Yeah, I do to. It is something that got overplayed, overhyped, and now it’s just embarrassing when it gets stuck in your head and you can’t get it out.
I think the world is eventually going to feel the same way about Twitter. A Sports Illustrated article today talks about how Twitter is changing sports, or at least our relationship as fans with sports stars. While they provide some compelling evidence, Twitter as the hot thing isn’t likely to keep momentum, and there are some lessons to be learned.
Twitter isn’t really sustainable from a user or a reader platform on a mass basis. A short article by Baltimore Sun critic David Zurawik on Nielsen reporting that most users opt out after the first months points this out. For average people, they realize pretty quickly that letting everyone know everything that you are thinking or doing takes a lot of thinking and doing. It violates one of the basic facts of good communication which is that it has to be interesting and most of us just aren’t that interesting on a minute by minute basis. If you need further proof read my blog.
From the perspective of a fan or listener, I will admit that Twitter appears to have more usage, but not across a broad spectrum. There are a group of people that care enough to follow Stewart Cink’s every thought, but the longer that goes on the more that crowd thins to a pretty interesting few. There isn’t a profit motive for Cink and it has the making of creating a strange relationship with fans. For instance, I can’t even imagine my wife wanting hourly updates about my life let alone anyone else.
So, for those of you in communication and marketing I would say that Twitter is a potential time killer without a lot of upside. Sure it can be used for some useful things, but on an individual level the work doesn’t necessarily lead to the benefits one might hope for.
I think the world is eventually going to feel the same way about Twitter. A Sports Illustrated article today talks about how Twitter is changing sports, or at least our relationship as fans with sports stars. While they provide some compelling evidence, Twitter as the hot thing isn’t likely to keep momentum, and there are some lessons to be learned.
Twitter isn’t really sustainable from a user or a reader platform on a mass basis. A short article by Baltimore Sun critic David Zurawik on Nielsen reporting that most users opt out after the first months points this out. For average people, they realize pretty quickly that letting everyone know everything that you are thinking or doing takes a lot of thinking and doing. It violates one of the basic facts of good communication which is that it has to be interesting and most of us just aren’t that interesting on a minute by minute basis. If you need further proof read my blog.
From the perspective of a fan or listener, I will admit that Twitter appears to have more usage, but not across a broad spectrum. There are a group of people that care enough to follow Stewart Cink’s every thought, but the longer that goes on the more that crowd thins to a pretty interesting few. There isn’t a profit motive for Cink and it has the making of creating a strange relationship with fans. For instance, I can’t even imagine my wife wanting hourly updates about my life let alone anyone else.
So, for those of you in communication and marketing I would say that Twitter is a potential time killer without a lot of upside. Sure it can be used for some useful things, but on an individual level the work doesn’t necessarily lead to the benefits one might hope for.
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Until the next Yellowstone Club Lawsuit
There are some very happy moments in my life when I think, “This can’t be real.” At some moments I feel so blessed by who I get to be with, or what I am doing that it seems like too much.
I wonder if the person that wrote the statement for Sam Byrne, managing partner of CrossHarbor felt that way. In the Billings Gazette on Wednesday Byrne is quoted as saying, "We are extremely pleased that the future of the club has been secured and we can now turn our focus to serving the needs of our members and enhancing our world-class private living and recreation community.”
I wonder if he had a smile on his face and thought, “This can’t be real,” because the situation is so insane. The club is still coming out of bankruptcy, there are still contractors and others waiting to get paid but the winning buyer in the auction for the club can focus on delivering fluffier pillows or whatever it takes to engage in world-class private living. I didn’t even realize I didn’t have a world-class private life before I read that statement. Imagine my embarrassment.
There is another interesting statement in the story that really highlights for me why this should be a bigger story and why there should be more discussion. In saying they were satisfied with the settlement a lawyer for club members said they were satisfied because the settlement “. . . will allow the resort to resume full operations and pay almost all of its unsecured creditors.” I’m intrigued by the idea that it will pay almost all of its unsecured creditors. If I read that right, the members are pleased that it is business as usual for them, even if that means that some of the labor that went to creating Shangri-la goes uncompensated.
My Aunt Terry had a good point in an email commenting on the MT Standard piece. She reminded me that even strip mining is obligated to try and make the land whole after they are done. Apparently I was unfair to the strip mining industry and other extractive industries when I compared them to the Yellowstone Club.
I wonder if the person that wrote the statement for Sam Byrne, managing partner of CrossHarbor felt that way. In the Billings Gazette on Wednesday Byrne is quoted as saying, "We are extremely pleased that the future of the club has been secured and we can now turn our focus to serving the needs of our members and enhancing our world-class private living and recreation community.”
I wonder if he had a smile on his face and thought, “This can’t be real,” because the situation is so insane. The club is still coming out of bankruptcy, there are still contractors and others waiting to get paid but the winning buyer in the auction for the club can focus on delivering fluffier pillows or whatever it takes to engage in world-class private living. I didn’t even realize I didn’t have a world-class private life before I read that statement. Imagine my embarrassment.
There is another interesting statement in the story that really highlights for me why this should be a bigger story and why there should be more discussion. In saying they were satisfied with the settlement a lawyer for club members said they were satisfied because the settlement “. . . will allow the resort to resume full operations and pay almost all of its unsecured creditors.” I’m intrigued by the idea that it will pay almost all of its unsecured creditors. If I read that right, the members are pleased that it is business as usual for them, even if that means that some of the labor that went to creating Shangri-la goes uncompensated.
My Aunt Terry had a good point in an email commenting on the MT Standard piece. She reminded me that even strip mining is obligated to try and make the land whole after they are done. Apparently I was unfair to the strip mining industry and other extractive industries when I compared them to the Yellowstone Club.
Monday, May 18, 2009
Good Review
I love the New York Times. I love it in the way only a non-New Yorker with a relatively lower middle class background can. I love it as an object of desire like a Rolls Royce or some other class symbol that I may someday (if I’m very, very lucky) get to ride in, but never own.
Today’s edition was like a lot of days. There were really interesting stories on credit cards, and some things actually came together in my head as the start of a fascinating self reflective essay. However, today I don’t feel particularly self reflective or fascinating, so I’ll point out a book I can’t wait to read.
If the book Lost in the Meritocracy Janet Maslin reviews in the article “Whiz Kid in College, Hold That Attitude!” provides any of the food for thought that the review does, it will be a great read.
I’ll let Maslin’s review speak for itself, but it seems to me that is one of those books that asks really scary questions, because we are all afraid at some level of getting found out. I’m not saying (nor am I divulging any) that we all have deep dark secrets, but it seems to me that my life in my thirties is a constant battle between trying to get a little wiser, and realizing that the depth of my own ignorance.
It seems as I hurtle past my middle thirties, what I have largely figured out is the things that I’m not as good at as I thought. I reminds me a of a story a former boss once told me.
She was picking up her seventh grade son from playing football one night, and as they were talking he said, “You know Mom, I don’t think we will all get to play professional football when are older.”
It was a funny moment, but fascinating that was the moment in which this particular kid figured out the playground fantasy was just that, fantasy.
So, I’m not unhappy. Heck, I’m probably happier now than I have been in a long time, but I’m looking forward to reading this book. Because I think I’m starting to figure out that we may not all write the great American novel someday.
Today’s edition was like a lot of days. There were really interesting stories on credit cards, and some things actually came together in my head as the start of a fascinating self reflective essay. However, today I don’t feel particularly self reflective or fascinating, so I’ll point out a book I can’t wait to read.
If the book Lost in the Meritocracy Janet Maslin reviews in the article “Whiz Kid in College, Hold That Attitude!” provides any of the food for thought that the review does, it will be a great read.
I’ll let Maslin’s review speak for itself, but it seems to me that is one of those books that asks really scary questions, because we are all afraid at some level of getting found out. I’m not saying (nor am I divulging any) that we all have deep dark secrets, but it seems to me that my life in my thirties is a constant battle between trying to get a little wiser, and realizing that the depth of my own ignorance.
It seems as I hurtle past my middle thirties, what I have largely figured out is the things that I’m not as good at as I thought. I reminds me a of a story a former boss once told me.
She was picking up her seventh grade son from playing football one night, and as they were talking he said, “You know Mom, I don’t think we will all get to play professional football when are older.”
It was a funny moment, but fascinating that was the moment in which this particular kid figured out the playground fantasy was just that, fantasy.
So, I’m not unhappy. Heck, I’m probably happier now than I have been in a long time, but I’m looking forward to reading this book. Because I think I’m starting to figure out that we may not all write the great American novel someday.
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Strange Links
In the Thursday, May 14, 2009 issue of the Billings Gazette there were two stories about 200 miles apart that show the diversity of Montana pretty well. I have been following the Yellowstone Club story for some time, and the story “Auction of Yellowstone Club waits on negotiations” details the latest developments in this debacle. While the article talks of taking the bankers to the proverbial woodshed, I don’t see many real consequences for anybody involved here. The golf course at the club is greening up, the Blixseths are still rich, and Swiss banking still isn’t a bad business to be in. I’m guessing I wouldn’t mind staying in Montana for a few weeks on the dime of a Swiss bank even if I did have to be scolded by a judge every few days. It sounds like a timeshare presentation to me.
Just over 200 miles down the road they are trying to fill a prison and make a few bucks in Hardin. I’m not sure this was ever a good idea, but it is an ironic twist that in some places a house in Montana will cost you several million and just down the road they will pay you to send prisoners. The article “Al-Jazeera joins parade of media drawn to empty prison”. I coached a team for a few years that used to play in Hardin, and going to school in Billings I spent plenty of time out in that area. The bottom line is, it’s pretty hard to scrape together a living in that area of the state.
It’s the juxtaposition that gets me. A state that attracts the ultra-rich, and some lesser wealthy people who think it’s a great place to retire, it’s a pretty terrible place to try and carve out a modest middle-income career. While the jobless rate in Montana is low by national standards, so are the wages. I suspect that the low jobless rate has a lot to do with the fact that so many people have moved on.
Redistribution isn’t the answer, but there must be a balancing act that would work better. At any rate, there should at least be a place to have the conversation where people realize that these two separate headlines are related by two hundred miles of interstate if nothing else.
Just over 200 miles down the road they are trying to fill a prison and make a few bucks in Hardin. I’m not sure this was ever a good idea, but it is an ironic twist that in some places a house in Montana will cost you several million and just down the road they will pay you to send prisoners. The article “Al-Jazeera joins parade of media drawn to empty prison”. I coached a team for a few years that used to play in Hardin, and going to school in Billings I spent plenty of time out in that area. The bottom line is, it’s pretty hard to scrape together a living in that area of the state.
It’s the juxtaposition that gets me. A state that attracts the ultra-rich, and some lesser wealthy people who think it’s a great place to retire, it’s a pretty terrible place to try and carve out a modest middle-income career. While the jobless rate in Montana is low by national standards, so are the wages. I suspect that the low jobless rate has a lot to do with the fact that so many people have moved on.
Redistribution isn’t the answer, but there must be a balancing act that would work better. At any rate, there should at least be a place to have the conversation where people realize that these two separate headlines are related by two hundred miles of interstate if nothing else.
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Yellowstone Clubber
Today an opinion piece I wrote on the Yellowstone Club for the Montana Standard appears. I’m pleased with the way it turned out, and pleased that the editor thought it was thought provoking which should be the goal of sharing and opinion.
I’m surprised that there hasn’t been more coverage of this case nationally. It could be that in an environment where a ponzi scheme has to be in the billions before it is considered serious that this kind of story just isn’t big enough. The New York Times published an interesting overview of the club, “Club Med for the Millionaire Set” in March of 2006.
It is striking to read that article in light of current economic realities. The kind of celebration of wealth described in that article seems to have fallen out of favor, but represents pretty well the feeling about real estate throughout the early 2000’s when our houses represented our riches. In neighborhoods like the Yellowstone Club I doubt that has changed much, but it is no longer as fashionable to flaunt wealth.
I need your help: I am hoping to develop this opinion piece and some other work into a longer magazine (or hopefully) book length project. If you have an opinion, first hand experience with the Yellowstone Club, its contractors, or its members please email me at chatohaze@yahoo.com or post to the blog. If you post I will delete any posts that are offensive or advocate violence. I might be wrong and if I am, I’d like to know. I also know there are some core issues here that are bigger than the club.
I’m surprised that there hasn’t been more coverage of this case nationally. It could be that in an environment where a ponzi scheme has to be in the billions before it is considered serious that this kind of story just isn’t big enough. The New York Times published an interesting overview of the club, “Club Med for the Millionaire Set” in March of 2006.
It is striking to read that article in light of current economic realities. The kind of celebration of wealth described in that article seems to have fallen out of favor, but represents pretty well the feeling about real estate throughout the early 2000’s when our houses represented our riches. In neighborhoods like the Yellowstone Club I doubt that has changed much, but it is no longer as fashionable to flaunt wealth.
I need your help: I am hoping to develop this opinion piece and some other work into a longer magazine (or hopefully) book length project. If you have an opinion, first hand experience with the Yellowstone Club, its contractors, or its members please email me at chatohaze@yahoo.com or post to the blog. If you post I will delete any posts that are offensive or advocate violence. I might be wrong and if I am, I’d like to know. I also know there are some core issues here that are bigger than the club.
Monday, May 11, 2009
Graduation Speeches
This weekend was graduation at the School of Law, so it was a long week. It made me appreciate the fact that we do not work 6 day work weeks anymore. By the end of the day on Saturday I was wiped out.
However, the events of the weekend have kicked off a pretty good discussion of what it takes to be a good graduation speaker. I'm tempted to go with the easy two part definition of my friend Dave. They are two pretty easy points, don't be offensive and be brief. It seems to me that doing anything else is like showing up the bride on her wedding day. Everybody is there to see the graduate not you. Unless you are attending at protesting at Notre Dame this year would anybody really be there if it weren't for the graduate. I promise this, if you invite me to speak at your graduation I will be gracious enough to realize that I'm just the warm up act. The success of the day has far more to do with little Jimmy or Susie crossing the stage than any particular pearls of wisdom I have. There are probably more guidelines to truy great graduation speeches, but it occurs to me those are a good place to start.
The New York Times has a story today about the resolution of the court case in Libby and grace and asbestos. This one has been going on for a lot of years and is sad all the way around. I have recently been looking into the Exxon Valdez spill for a magazine article I’m working on and this has a similar ring but gets much less attention because there are no stunning pictures of oil covered birds. The tragedy is just as great, and is another example of how justice is lost in the legal process. (Thanks to my buddy Phil H. for getting me onto this story).
However, the events of the weekend have kicked off a pretty good discussion of what it takes to be a good graduation speaker. I'm tempted to go with the easy two part definition of my friend Dave. They are two pretty easy points, don't be offensive and be brief. It seems to me that doing anything else is like showing up the bride on her wedding day. Everybody is there to see the graduate not you. Unless you are attending at protesting at Notre Dame this year would anybody really be there if it weren't for the graduate. I promise this, if you invite me to speak at your graduation I will be gracious enough to realize that I'm just the warm up act. The success of the day has far more to do with little Jimmy or Susie crossing the stage than any particular pearls of wisdom I have. There are probably more guidelines to truy great graduation speeches, but it occurs to me those are a good place to start.
The New York Times has a story today about the resolution of the court case in Libby and grace and asbestos. This one has been going on for a lot of years and is sad all the way around. I have recently been looking into the Exxon Valdez spill for a magazine article I’m working on and this has a similar ring but gets much less attention because there are no stunning pictures of oil covered birds. The tragedy is just as great, and is another example of how justice is lost in the legal process. (Thanks to my buddy Phil H. for getting me onto this story).
Thursday, May 07, 2009
The Trap of Tactics
I was a few paragraphs into “How David Beats Goliath” before I looked up at the author and recognized Malcom Gladwell’s name. The article is classic Gladwell, throwing a lot of seemingly unrelated ideas into a story with a strong central narrative and creating a mind bending milkshake.
It’s a great read, especially for those of us that love the game of basketball on a philosophical level. More importantly for that, as I sat at the computer last night reading it, it helped me come to terms with what I thought had been a meeting gone wrong.
The short story is that I had gathered a group, and started to talk about the plan. I had thought through the tactics and how to best push things along. Heck, I even had a Excel spreadsheet and a homework assignment.
The meeting went badly, because everyone kind of ignored that part of it. They wanted to know about the strategy. They wanted to know about the conclusions I had made in my head, and why we were doing what we were doing.
I had looked at the landscape of the organization and made a lot of decisions based on just getting the project done, and I jumped right there with the group. The problem is that I didn’t bring them along. I didn’t engage their thinking, and their perceptions of what needed to be done and who needed to do it.
What reading Gladwell (and a great phone call from a friend) helped me realize was that it is the way of thinking that matters. I didn’t the groups agreement on how to think about this project, and I didn’t respect how they viewed the problems this project would solve. So, when I jumped in with tactics they jumped back. They wanted answers to a lot of questions I didn’t have.
Today, I’m ready to take a little different tack and look at the problem and try to come up with new solutions, rather than just dive in with tactics. I think that is the challenge for most us in almost all parts of our life. We are rewarded for completed tasks, but much of the time it is the thinking, analysis, and problem solving that truly leads to innovation and ultimately makes our lives more fulfilling.
I can’t think of an area of life where this doesn’t apply. Even in my relationship with Christ, I can go about the tasks of teaching a Sunday School class or writing a tithing check, but Christ is clearly more interested in our thinking our or intent in those things. At work, I can go about the tactics, but what is personally rewarding and best for the organization is that I think about the problems in a long view which solves them in the long term, not just the short term. In my family, I can focus on getting everyone where they need to go without stopping to ask if we are going to the right places.
It’s a great read, especially for those of us that love the game of basketball on a philosophical level. More importantly for that, as I sat at the computer last night reading it, it helped me come to terms with what I thought had been a meeting gone wrong.
The short story is that I had gathered a group, and started to talk about the plan. I had thought through the tactics and how to best push things along. Heck, I even had a Excel spreadsheet and a homework assignment.
The meeting went badly, because everyone kind of ignored that part of it. They wanted to know about the strategy. They wanted to know about the conclusions I had made in my head, and why we were doing what we were doing.
I had looked at the landscape of the organization and made a lot of decisions based on just getting the project done, and I jumped right there with the group. The problem is that I didn’t bring them along. I didn’t engage their thinking, and their perceptions of what needed to be done and who needed to do it.
What reading Gladwell (and a great phone call from a friend) helped me realize was that it is the way of thinking that matters. I didn’t the groups agreement on how to think about this project, and I didn’t respect how they viewed the problems this project would solve. So, when I jumped in with tactics they jumped back. They wanted answers to a lot of questions I didn’t have.
Today, I’m ready to take a little different tack and look at the problem and try to come up with new solutions, rather than just dive in with tactics. I think that is the challenge for most us in almost all parts of our life. We are rewarded for completed tasks, but much of the time it is the thinking, analysis, and problem solving that truly leads to innovation and ultimately makes our lives more fulfilling.
I can’t think of an area of life where this doesn’t apply. Even in my relationship with Christ, I can go about the tasks of teaching a Sunday School class or writing a tithing check, but Christ is clearly more interested in our thinking our or intent in those things. At work, I can go about the tactics, but what is personally rewarding and best for the organization is that I think about the problems in a long view which solves them in the long term, not just the short term. In my family, I can focus on getting everyone where they need to go without stopping to ask if we are going to the right places.
Tuesday, May 05, 2009
Quiet concerned
I keep pointing to this story, because it’s fascinating to me, but I might be the only one. Maybe it says more about me than it does anything else, but I’m still astounded by the latest revelations in the Yellowstone Club debacle.
Today, Edna Blixseth says that she opposed a $375 million loan. What exactly does that conversation sound like? It’s so mind boggling I can’t even imagine. The Montana Standard runs this quote, “’I was quite concerned with us getting a loan of that amount of money,’ she [Edna Blixseth] said of the 2005 transaction engineered by her then- husband, Tim.”
Quite concerned? My wife is quite concerned when I eat too much red meat or decide to play basketball with twenty year olds. Financially, I am quiet concerned that we might need to purchase a new vacuum or that the brakes in the suburban are going out. Anything over a few hundred dollars and I’m quiet concerned. Yet, in this article people are talking about $200 million dollars that went into a personal account like this is a fairly normal occurrence.
I don’t know the Blixseths, I only know a little about the neighborhood they purchased. It’s been a bad deal for everybody involved. The Yellowstone Club is like a cancer growing in the valley. In general I’m not even against rich people, but at some point this case highlights that we seem to have lost perspective when it comes to greed, gluttony and obscenity. Wealth like that in the face of so much need is nothing if not obscene.
If you need a laugh from the same paper read Bill Foley’s column today. If that’s not a Butte column I don’t know what is. A lot of times I disagree with Foley and I have accused him of being the worst columnist in Montana, but the longer I’m out of Montana the more I enjoy reading his stuff because there is something so “Butte” about it. Reading today’s took me back to a seat at a table in the Vu Villa drinking a beer and watching a kid in a letterman’s jacket walk up to the bar and walk out with a case. Different times.
Today, Edna Blixseth says that she opposed a $375 million loan. What exactly does that conversation sound like? It’s so mind boggling I can’t even imagine. The Montana Standard runs this quote, “’I was quite concerned with us getting a loan of that amount of money,’ she [Edna Blixseth] said of the 2005 transaction engineered by her then- husband, Tim.”
Quite concerned? My wife is quite concerned when I eat too much red meat or decide to play basketball with twenty year olds. Financially, I am quiet concerned that we might need to purchase a new vacuum or that the brakes in the suburban are going out. Anything over a few hundred dollars and I’m quiet concerned. Yet, in this article people are talking about $200 million dollars that went into a personal account like this is a fairly normal occurrence.
I don’t know the Blixseths, I only know a little about the neighborhood they purchased. It’s been a bad deal for everybody involved. The Yellowstone Club is like a cancer growing in the valley. In general I’m not even against rich people, but at some point this case highlights that we seem to have lost perspective when it comes to greed, gluttony and obscenity. Wealth like that in the face of so much need is nothing if not obscene.
If you need a laugh from the same paper read Bill Foley’s column today. If that’s not a Butte column I don’t know what is. A lot of times I disagree with Foley and I have accused him of being the worst columnist in Montana, but the longer I’m out of Montana the more I enjoy reading his stuff because there is something so “Butte” about it. Reading today’s took me back to a seat at a table in the Vu Villa drinking a beer and watching a kid in a letterman’s jacket walk up to the bar and walk out with a case. Different times.
Monday, May 04, 2009
Fish in New York Times
Today’s New York Times includes a link to the blog opinion piece by Stanley Fish called God Talk. I am a fan of Fish, and often have some piece of his in a pile on my desk waiting to be read, or waiting to be filed for reference in some currently unknown project.
What strikes me most today about the academy and the discussion on religion is how false much of it rings. Today’s discussion by Fish reminded me of a professional conference I once attended where they brought in a debate team for after lunch entertainment.
This was five years ago before much of the debate about gay marriage was settled, so as a topic it seemed provocative. However, the debate ended up being a debate over civil union versus marriage. It wasn’t much of a debate, because those that had given the topic had already decided that one of the two was the right answer.
Now I realize that collegiate debate doesn’t have a lot to do with the fleshing out of ideas, rather it’s about scoring points and judges. However, I think it is still and interesting example of where the institution of higher education gets many of these debates wrong.
Despite how you feel about gay marriage or any other hot button issue, the debate has to happen over the real conflict. The conflict is whether or not gay marriage is an option. The debate is pretty robust and over some key foundational concepts of what it means to be human, religious faith, psychology, law and a host of other disciplines. To start the debate somewhere other than at the core just doesn’t do much good. It alienates the University from those truly seeking answers.
I think Fish has some good thoughts in this piece, and I hope the debate about God and the meaning of life at Universities and elsewhere picks up steam and grows deeper. The answers to these questions shape every discipline.
What strikes me most today about the academy and the discussion on religion is how false much of it rings. Today’s discussion by Fish reminded me of a professional conference I once attended where they brought in a debate team for after lunch entertainment.
This was five years ago before much of the debate about gay marriage was settled, so as a topic it seemed provocative. However, the debate ended up being a debate over civil union versus marriage. It wasn’t much of a debate, because those that had given the topic had already decided that one of the two was the right answer.
Now I realize that collegiate debate doesn’t have a lot to do with the fleshing out of ideas, rather it’s about scoring points and judges. However, I think it is still and interesting example of where the institution of higher education gets many of these debates wrong.
Despite how you feel about gay marriage or any other hot button issue, the debate has to happen over the real conflict. The conflict is whether or not gay marriage is an option. The debate is pretty robust and over some key foundational concepts of what it means to be human, religious faith, psychology, law and a host of other disciplines. To start the debate somewhere other than at the core just doesn’t do much good. It alienates the University from those truly seeking answers.
I think Fish has some good thoughts in this piece, and I hope the debate about God and the meaning of life at Universities and elsewhere picks up steam and grows deeper. The answers to these questions shape every discipline.
Friday, May 01, 2009
More Yellowstone Club debacle
Were it not for the swine flu, Justice Souter’s retirement, and Chrysler headed to the big auto mart in the sky, the drama playing out in Bozeman, Montana would be getting national play. It has all the greed, conflict, and drama you could ask for and now the latest pictures have added a Hollywood actor to the mix. Of course, he’s just the latest celebrity to the mix.
Today in the Bozeman Chronicle, and the Billings Gazette are interesting stories about the ongoing saga of the Yellowstone Club. I have been interested in this story for awhile and wrote this opinion piece for our magazine awhile ago.
What seems to be missing about the most recent stories, and is missing from much of the coverage of this kind of story is the question of justice. It’s interesting for me to think about the fact that I currently own a home, or co-own it with the bank and they are really worried in this economy about me paying it off because I am among those that are “upside-down” due to changing market conditions. It’s my home, I’m going to pay it off. Yet somehow, on paper it made sense to someone to loan Blixseth $200 million. That $200 million pays for a lot of homes like mine.
Today in the Bozeman Chronicle, and the Billings Gazette are interesting stories about the ongoing saga of the Yellowstone Club. I have been interested in this story for awhile and wrote this opinion piece for our magazine awhile ago.
What seems to be missing about the most recent stories, and is missing from much of the coverage of this kind of story is the question of justice. It’s interesting for me to think about the fact that I currently own a home, or co-own it with the bank and they are really worried in this economy about me paying it off because I am among those that are “upside-down” due to changing market conditions. It’s my home, I’m going to pay it off. Yet somehow, on paper it made sense to someone to loan Blixseth $200 million. That $200 million pays for a lot of homes like mine.
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Swine flu or greed, which will get us first
Two articles I have written lately have come to be of additional interest as events around the world and in Montana have unfolded. I managed to use the Yellowstone Club as an example of a world gone wrong this winter. Today, the Missoulian continues to update the story that defies all reason.
On another note, for an article about bioterrorism I did a lot of work with pandemic flu documents. Knowing what I know from that experience I am both more concerned about pandemic in general, but less concerned about the swine flu thus far. Then again, I am going to Costco tonight to stock up.
On another note, for an article about bioterrorism I did a lot of work with pandemic flu documents. Knowing what I know from that experience I am both more concerned about pandemic in general, but less concerned about the swine flu thus far. Then again, I am going to Costco tonight to stock up.
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