Friday Reflections

Now Pitching:Tradition. Now Batting:Modernization.

POINT TO PONDER

We are not makers of history. We are made by history. 

                            -Martin Luther King, Jr. 

STORY LINE by David Hightower

A sad but inevitable fact of life is that things change over time.  For better or worse, things evolve. This adage is so true that it even applies to America’s greatest pastime, baseball.  

    On a recent trip to Boston we had the pleasure of touring Fenway Park, home of the world-famous Red Sox (and the Green Mon-stah!).  Unfortunately the Sox were out of town so we didn’t get to enjoy a game.  But we did learn about the amazing history and tradition of a club like the Red Sox and a stadium like Fenway Park.

    While Fenway appears old and battered from the outside, the inside is alive with rich tradition and stories of legends past.  Even as someone who doesn’t care for the Red Sox (and their unlimited budget), I couldn’t help but feel nostalgic as I listened to story after story about the history of the park.  From the Fisk Foul Pole in left field to the Peski Pole in right, to the only ladder in baseball actually in play (once the source of the only “ground-rule triple” in baseball), Fenway oozed the stuff of legends.

    Now it’s true that from a comfort or architectural standpoint Fenway doesn’t even come close to comparing with modern parks like AT&T Park or (the new) Yankee Stadium.  The luxuries offered at these parks speak volumes about how the game has evolved over time to place more emphasis on the fans; namely, providing the most modern facilities with the best amenities.  I mean, who doesn’t want a hot tub and pool in the middle of the outfield bleachers…. or that amazing ahi tuna wrap with the chipotle aioli during the 7th inning stretch.

    On one hand I love the fact that stadiums have evolved into more than just a baseball experience.  But the question is, has it come at a price? Have we sacrificed a little of that history in the name of “newer and better”?  Neither AT&T Park, nor (the new) Yankee stadium have experienced 100 years of baseball played within the walls, or have legends about the only red seat in a park with all green seats (the longest home run ever hit at Fenway - Ted Williams - 505 feet - 1946).  Are these legends simply stories from our yesteryear, or are they a part of the clubs foundation?

    And while there is always room for legends to be made at the newer ball parks, it is true that you leave a little piece of your heart in that old stadium that you saw hundreds of games played in.

    But hey, I guess that’s just life evolving!

 

REFLECTION

Every seat, every pole, and every place in the park had a story to tell. History isn't something that is just learned, it is something you can feel. Keep your eyes, ears, and minds open and it can still affect your life in the present. 

 

Just Give Me the Facts!

POINT TO PONDER

There are no facts, only interpretations.

                    ~ Friedrich Nietzsche

 

REFLECTION by Rajiv Shah

facts - something that actually exists; reality; truth 

interpretations - to give or provide the meaning of; explain; explicate; elucidate

    Can a fact ever be divorced from the interpretation of that fact? Or does the truth always lie somewhere in between, where each person's truth is different from the other? Perhaps, it is not the truth that matters but how we use it to get what we individually need? 

 

STORY LINE

Have you ever seen Rashomon? If not, check it out (click the photo above for a link to the complete film), not only because it's one Akira Kurasowa's great films but because the film seems to attempt to answer this very question posed by Friedrich Nietzsche. Warning: the following reflection contains spoilers for the film. 

    The film centers around the rape of a wife and the subsequent murder of her husband. The film recounts what happened from four different points of view: the bandit that supposedly raped the wife, the wife herself, the now deceased husband (told through a medium), and a woodcutter who witnessed the rape and kept the dagger that was used to murder the husband.  

    The film takes us into the court hearing of the murder to determine what really happened. The facts at that point were that all the said people were involved in some way, a man was dead, and a dagger had been used to kill him.

    According to the badit, he seduced the woman after tying her husband to a tree. Filled with shame, the wife pleaded that he fight her husband in a duel so as not to dishonor her. After fighting valiantly, he claims to have emerged the victor and the wife ran away. When asked about the dagger, he claims he forgot all about it and made a mistake leaving such a valuable piece at the scene. 

    The wife's story claims that she was not seduced but raped. After which the bandit left her in shame with her husband. Her husband, full of loathing and contempt refused to look or acknowledge her. She took the dagger and begged her husband to kill her to save her from shame. She claims to have passed out from shock and awoke to find the dagger in the body of her dead husband. 

    Through a medium the husband's story is told. According to this version the husband claims that his wife was raped and agreed to escape with the bandit on his journey only if he would agree to kill her husband before they left. The bandit, horrified, asked the husband whether he should kill his cold hearted wife or let her go. She runs away and the husband kills himself. 

    The woodcutter's story is the only one coming from a person not directly involved in the events. The woodcutter did see the rape and the murder. But how things transpired were not exactly as anyone had said. According to his account, the bandit did rape the wife. After begging her to leave her husband and marry him, the wife freed her husband who was too ashamed to defend her honor. The wife chastised both claiming they were not real men and that real men would fight for her. Pushed to fight, the men fought not valiantly - as the bandit had claimed - but pitifully with the bandit finally knocking the husband to the ground after a lucky blow. The husband begged for his life as his wife fled. Roiled with conflict, the bandit finally killed the husband. This version isn't without doubt either as the woodcutter is then accused of tailoring his story to hide the fact that he was indeed the one that had stolen the dagger and didn't want to get caught. 

*Watch the complete film above if you're curious to the outcome of the film*

 

 

Tradition without Intelligence is Not Worth Having.

*title of this FR is from T.S. Eliot*

POINT TO PONDER

Tradition becomes our security, and when the mind is secure it is in decay.

                                                    -Jiddu Krishnamurti

STORY LINE (Retold by Dipankar Bose)

Years ago, in Russia, a czar came upon a lonely sentry standing at attention in a secluded corner of the palace garden.

    "What are you guarding," asked the czar.

    "I don't know. The captain ordered me to this post," the sentry replied.

    The czar called the captain. His answer, "Written regulations specify a guard was to be assigned to that area."

    The czar ordered a search to find out why. The archives finally yielded the reason. Years before, Catherine the Great had planted a rose bush in that corner. She ordered a sentry to protect it for that evening. One hundred years later, sentries were still guarding the now barren spot.

The Power Curve

POINT TO PONDER

"...things have a momentum, and at a certain point you can't really tell whether you have created the momentum or it's creating you."

                                                   

                                                                        -Annie Lennox

STORY LINE

Thank you Mark Dennen for contributing to Friday Reflections last week and referencing The Power Curve. And thank you to Micro CEO, a reader, who posted the following in response to Mark’s comment about The Power Curve, attaching a reference link which I found very enlightening and worth sharing:

“One of life's under-regarded principles is called being Behind the Power Curve (or "on the back side of the power curve"). The analogy comes from aviation, and is illustrated in this graph, which all would do well to understand:….More in the link that follows……

http://sifter.org/~simon/journal/20100718.h.html

 

REFLECTION

How do you see the Power Curve applied to your work and in your life? How can we utilize the principle of the Power Curve to our advantage?