So, Jake, What Do YouThink About This ...

Here is my first principle of foreign policy: good government at home.

~ William Ewart Gladstone ~

Wisdom

We learn wisdom from failure much more than from success. We often discover what will do, by finding out what will not do; and probably he who never made a mistake never made a discovery.

~ Samuel Smiles ~

Follow the Voice of Your Heart ...

Follow the voice of your heart, even if it leads you off the path of timid souls. Do not become hard and embittered, even if life tortures you at times. There is only one thing that counts: to live one's life well and happily...

~ Wilhelm Reich ~

...

Paradoxically, the man who has failed and one who is at the peak of success are in exactly the same position. Each must decide what he will do next, choose the course that will lead him to the future.



~ Jigoro Kano ~

Are you One of Us or One of Them?

If we must all agree, all work together, we're no better than a machine. If an individual can't work in solidarity with his fellows, it's his duty to work alone. His duty and his right. We have been denying people that right. We've been saying, more and more often, you must work with the others, you must accept the rule of the majority. But any rule is tyranny. The duty of the individual is to accept no rule, to be the initiator of his own acts, to be responsible. Only if he does so will the society live, and change, and adapt, and survive. We are not subjects of a State founded upon law, but members of a society founded upon revolution. Revolution is our obligation: our hope of evolution.

~ Ursula K. Le Guin ~ in The Dispossessed

Some Apollo Astronaut Quotes

Here are some images and quotes by Apollo astronauts when contemplating the earth from space.



"Everything that I ever knew - my life, my loved ones, the Navy - everything, the whole world was behind my thumb." –James Lovell



"We went to explore the Moon, and in fact discovered the Earth." –Eugene Cernan

Damned if you ...

Do what you feel in your heart to be right — for you'll be criticized anyway. You'll be "damned if you do, and damned if you don't."

~ Eleanor Roosevelt ~

Oh, My Secret Heart

The most important things are the hardest things to say. They are the things you get ashamed of, because words diminish them — words shrink things that seemed limitless when they were in your head to no more than living size when they're brought out. But it's more than that, isn't it? The most important things lie too close to wherever your secret heart is buried, like landmarks to a treasure your enemies would love to steal away. And you may make revelations that cost you dearly only to have people look at you in a funny way, not understanding what you've said at all, or why you thought it was so important that you almost cried while you were saying it. That's the worst, I think. When the secret stays locked within not for want of a teller, but for want of an understanding ear.

~ Stephen King ~

Getting it Wrong

At the risk of adding insult to injury I give you this link to a clip showing Mike and Ruby getting a sprint start wrong.

Follow this link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXMHoquqsfc.

I am not sure how much was them getting it wrong and how much was the start technology doing the wrong thing at the wrong time.

It takes some serious composure to cope with this stuff at international level.

Reflections on a Strike

The public servants strike that has been going on for the last weeks brings to mind some thoughts regarding strikes and what I believe were the original intentions of strikes as against what seems to have become the intention and manifestation of strikes in South Africa.

To a certain extent this post will be a living work as I formulate and extend my thinking as I have time to review and add to what I write here.

To a large extent the concept of strikes presupposes some kind of a free labour market. In other words workers are not compelled to work and employers are not compelled to employ.

It also does not require that employers employ workers to generate profit from the labour that is performed but does require that the relationship between employers and workers has some kind of financial viability. Deviating to one side of that financial viability is exploitation and to the other side is charity.

My understanding of the original intention of strikes was for workers to withhold their labour in order to demonstrate to their employer the value of that labour. This implies that the workers have a belief in the value that they deliver to their employer that is either not recognised or acknowledged by their employer.

When workers do not deliver enough value to their employer the withdrawal of that labour is not as significant as the workers would like and so their cause is undermined.

There should be no coercion to force others to withhold their labour. In other words no intimidation.

More to come ...

The Usefulness of Poetry

As for the usefulness of poetry, its uses are many. It is the deification of reality. It should make our days holy to us. The poet should speak to all men, for a moment, of that other life of theirs that they have smothered and forgotten.

~ Edith Sitwell ~

How sad it is that we do indeed forget or lose touch with vital aspects of who and what we are unless we consciously strive to retain that contact. And how fortunate we are that there are people who are inspired to create works that, if we allow them, prompt us to explore those hidden or lost areas of ourselves.

Hear Hear

To prevent government from becoming corrupt and tyrannous, its organization and methods should be as simple as possible, its functions be restricted to those necessary to the common welfare, and in all its parts it should be kept as close to the people and as directly within their control as may be.

~ Henry George ~

Stevie Ray Vaughan

Shortly before 1:00 am on the morning of 27th August 1990 a helicopter carrying Stevie Ray Vaughan, Eric Clapton’s agent, Bobby Brooks, tour manager, Colin Smythe, bodyguard, Nigel Browne, and pilot, Jeff Browne crashed into a hillside near Alpine Valley Music Theater in East Troy, Wisconsin.



One of the greatest blues musicians we have seen died as his career was getting into stride.

For more on this tragic event read this.

See the SRV site here.

Ambiguity

Ambiguity of language is philosophy's main source of problems. That is why it is of the utmost importance to examine attentively the very words we use.

~ Giuseppe Peano ~

Kidz Power Launch

A toast to all those people who engage in good causes.

A friend of mine launched an initiative with the Teddy Bear Clinic this weekend. Here is her story.

Yes Indeed!!!!!

Television has done much for psychiatry by spreading information about it, as well as contributing to the need for it.

~ Alfred Hitchcock ~

Ignorance

Nothing limits intelligence more than ignorance; nothing fosters ignorance more than one's own opinions; nothing strengthens opinions more than refusing to look at reality.

~ Sheri S. Tepper ~

Yup ...

It is lack of confidence, more than anything else, that kills a civilisation. We can destroy ourselves by cynicism and disillusion, just as effectively as by bombs.

~ Kenneth Clark ~

Hmmmmm

There must be understanding between the artist and the people. In the best ages of art that has always been the case. Genius can probably run on ahead and seek out new ways. But the good artists who follow after genius — and I count myself among these — have to restore the lost connection once more.

~ Käthe Kollwitz~

Gustav Mahler

Gustav Mahler was born on this day in 1860.



I remember him here as a tribute to the role he played in transitioning classical classical music into modern classical music.

Inspiration

Inspiration is not the exclusive privilege of poets or artists. There is, there has been, there will always be a certain group of people whom inspiration visits. It's made up of all those who've consciously chosen their calling and do their job with love and imagination. It may include doctors, teachers, gardeners — I could list a hundred more professions. Their work becomes one continuous adventure as long as they manage to keep discovering new challenges in it. Difficulties and setbacks never quell their curiosity. A swarm of new questions emerges from every problem that they solve. Whatever inspiration is, it's born from a continuous "I don't know."

~ Wisława Szymborska ~

Which Are You?

I am confirmed in my division of human energies. Ambitious people climb, but faithful people build.
~ Julia Ward Howe ~

Юрий Гагарин

I honour Yuri Gagarin who on the 12th of April 1961 became the first person to travel in 'outer space' and orbit the earth in the spacecraft Vostok 1.

One of my unfulfilled dreams is to visit the cosmodrome at Baikunur. I have been to Kazakhstan but never had the opportunity to go there.

I tried to load some pics but am having some strange problem with loading images which I have not been able to resolve.

It Works

Last night I did the power connected tests on my amp. All tests went well and all values were in range so I connected my guitar and played through the amp.

It works. Huge relief and huge excitement.

My first amp project works first time!

I did the testing at my work table with the speaker simply lying on the table.

I now need to put the amp into my 'prototyping' cabinet for the interim.

I have the wood, light Meranti, for the final cabinet for this amplifier. My friend John who is an avid woodworker has agreed to help me make the cabinet using his equipment. This will probably only happen at the end of this month or early(ish) next month after I come back from the SA Schools canoeing championships.

It is difficult to make any comments on the sound of the amp as it is not in a cabinet and I need to experiment with the controls but my quick first impression is that there are definitely usable sounds available.

I have some interim pictures which are not posted because I get some strange problems trying to load the pics. I have had too much on my plate recently to try and troubleshoot this issue but when I do and have resolved the issue I will post the pics.

Leg of Lamb

Once upon a time there was a young married couple who were deeply in love ...

One day the young man arrived home to a glorious aroma as he entered their home. "What is that?" he asked his wife.

"Shush now. Don't worry about it now." She replied. "Just go and get comfortable and you will find out soon enough."

And so they enjoyed a delicious meal of roast leg of lamb.

As he was savouring the meal the young man asked his wife "Where did you learn to cook lamb like that?"

"It's a family recipe. It has gone from one generation to the next."

"Wow," he said "it tastes absolutely fantastic. By the way, why did you cut the bone and fold it back like that?"

"Oh, that's just how my mom used to do it. I don't know why. I was a little girl and learnt from my mom as I grew up." she said.

Some time later they were visiting with the young woman's parents. "Mom, you know the leg of lamb we do. Why do you cut the bone and fold it back?"

"That's just the way I learnt it from your Nana." Her mother replied. "That's the way I've always done it."

Some time after that the young couple happened to visit the young lady's grandmother and she asked her 'Nana' the same question.

"My dear," she chuckled "do you remember the old coal stove at the farm. Well its oven was just so-o-o small."

So is there a moral to this tale?

I do believe there is and that is to watch out for the 'legs of lamb' in our lives.

Don't be afraid to question why something is done in a certain way. "That's the way it has always been done." is never a good enough reason by itself. That is the kind of thinking that hinders mankind from progressing.

If there is a good reason why something is done in a particular way and you can't think of a better way and a better reason then, by all means, continue doing it that way.

If you can think of a better way and a good reason for doing something a different way then do it. That is the kind of thinking that helps mankind to progress.

Amp Progress

This pic shows the pots and chicken head knobs have been placed in the chassis.



Chicken head knobs are way cool!

And this pic shows roughly half the components tacked onto the turret board.

I will tack them on and then get our bass player who has an electronics background to double check me before I finish the soldering.



I need him to double check me because it is so long since I worked with electronics that I started out getting my resistor multipliers wrong and then got paranoid and double or triple checked myself. But just like proofreading you can only check yourself so many times before your subconscious starts ignoring stuff it has seen before.

So far I am enjoying this project immensely. I love being absorbed in this kind of thing.

Jake and His Thugs

Another incident with Jacob Zuma's VIP Protection Unit ...

This time manhandling a journalist who wanted to take a picture of Zuma's entourage and then forcing the journalist to erase his pictures from his camera.

Why is this significant?

Because this behaviour is symptomatic of a number of much more significant issues.

Firstly, it demonstrates a very low tolerance for behaviour and activity that should be normal in a normal society. Consider the over-reaction to the Gesture by the UCT student. He could not have known for sure that Zuma was in one of the vehicles or even that it was a presidential entourage. So how could the student have been insulting a specific person, i.e. the president, when he could not have known for sure that the president was in the entourage?

Next, together with the first point there appears to be a growing paranoia amongst the ANC upper echelons that makes them increasingly intolerant of anything that may even imply criticism.

Things get sicker still ... I get a distinct impression that there is a distinct aspect of keeping up with the Jones in who has the biggest, meanest bodyguards. A kind of p****** contest between comrades.

Then Jacob Zuma and others take no public moral stance on the behaviour of these thugs, which implicitly condones their behaviour. And so they continue to behave abominably and even escalate their intolerant and arrogant behaviour.

Spare a thought, though, for these amped thugs ... the days of boredom ... no terrorist attempts to assassinate our good buddy Jake, not even rotten tomatoes get thrown at him ... So what's a thug to do to pass the time ...

Finally Happening ...

After quite a long time and quite a few detours I finally got the components for my guitar amp this weekend.



Last night I checked that everything arrived and started putting it together. I am forcing myself to not rush even though I am really excited that it is finally happening. I want to do it right and savour the experience.

And here for all the skeptics is proof of progress ...

They Did It ...

The National Party did it, Mad Bob and his cronies did it and continue doing it ... so don't be surprised when you recognise how Jake and JuJu and the rest of the ANC are now doing it to us ...

I believe there are more instances of the abridgement of the freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations.

~ James Madison ~

Chopin Turns 200

In honour of Chopin's 200th birthday here is a quote from him ...

Simplicity is the final achievement. After one has played a vast quantity of notes and more notes, it is simplicity that emerges as the crowning reward of art.

State of the Nation

Jacob Zuma, in his state of the nation address last week declared that 2010 will be a year of action.

IT IS ABOUT TIME.

The people who have sufficient passion for the truth to give the truth a chance to prevail, if it runs counter to their bias, are in a minority. How important is this "minority?" It is difficult to say at this point, for, at the present time their influence on governmental decisions is not perceptible.

~ Leó Szilárd ~

20 Years

Today is the 20th anniversary of the release of Nelson Mandela from 27 years of imprisonment.

This was a crucial turning point in the history of our country. In the time leading up to Nelson Mandela's release South Africa was coming ever closer to disaster. Forces were gathering that could rip this country to shreds.

This was a focal point, a momentous occasion, brought about by brave actions by many people in many different roles in many different shades of the political spectrum



Here is a quote from his address on that historic day

I stand here before you not as a prophet but as a humble servant of you, the people. Your tireless and heroic sacrifices have made it possible for me to be here today.

Twenty years on it is worth asking what is the legacy of that period?

Has this country achieved the potential that was released with the release of Mandela?

Mandela called himself a humble servant of the people. How many people in our current government are worthy of such a description?

How many people in our current government are tirelessly making sacrifices for the benefit of the people of this country ...



Whoops! How did that sneak in here?

Can this be what Nelson Mandela and so many others paid such a price for?

Five Balls

Imagine life as a game in which you are juggling some five balls in the air. You name them - Work, Family, Health, Friends and Spirit and you're keeping all of these in the Air.

You will soon understand that work is a rubber ball. If you drop it, it will bounce back.

But the other four Balls - Family, Health, Friends and Spirit - are made of glass. If you drop one of these; they will be irrevocably scuffed, marked, nicked, damaged or even shattered. They will never be the same. You must understand that and strive for it.

30 Second Speech by Bryan Dyson (CEO of Coca Cola)

"The Birthplace of Rock'n'Roll"

Take a look at musicradar's photographic tribute to Sun Studios and Sam Phillips.

Other Beginnings

Slowly but surely I have been getting some 50something guys together to make a band.

We certainly don't have expectations of being the next big thing. The main thing is to socialise more or less once a week and have some fun together with music the glue that holds it together. Sometimes our practices are as much chatting as playing. As long as we're enjoying ourselves!

So far we are (left to right) Bill on Bass, Peter (me) on rhythm guitar, Mike vocals and guitar and Ilidio on rhythm and lead guitar. The masculine leaning is not intentional we are interested in anyone in the right age group who will fit in.

We're still looking for a drummer.

Learning Cycle

Any athlete who is going remain truly competitive for their entire athletic career must always be open to learning and improving themself in whatever ways necessary during their career.

In my experience it is valuable for a coach and and an athlete to understand the learning cycle for an athlete to progress and continue learning and improving. Once someone understands the learning cycle, the dynamics involved in moving through the cycle, where resistance to learning and change comes from and how and why to overcome resistance the more likely that person is to continually improve as an athlete or as a coach or simply as a human being.

The stages in the learning cycle present both obstacles to improvement and opportunities for improvement. A coach needs to understand how each athlete responds or reacts to the obstacles or the opportunities in each stage and how to leverage an athlete's personality to minimise those obstacles and maximise those opportunities.

There are a number of "learning cycles" the one I will focus on here involves the following four stages:
- Unconsciously Incompetent
- Consciously Incompetent
- Consciously Competent
- Unconsciously Competent

Unconsciously Incompetent - I don't know or I am not aware of what I don't know or can't do.

In this stage the athlete is not aware of what they are not doing or what they are doing incorrectly.

It is a state of sometimes blissful ignorance. Sometimes the athlete may actually be incredibly frustrated because they are working really hard and not getting the desired results.

Unless an athlete develops an attitude of wanting to know what they can change or improve they can limit themselves enormously by remaining unaware of the areas where they can change or improve.

Consciously Incompetent - I know or I am aware of what I don't know or can't do.

This stage can be immensely challenging. It requires an athlete to acknowledge something they are currently incompetent at.

Fragile egos can block development at this stage by refusing to acknowledge incompetence. There are societal and peer pressures to pretend that we know it all and that we have no 'weaknesses' and that to acknowledge incompetence in an area is to be weak or inadequate as a person. The opposite is true as it takes courage, self-belief and self-love to acknowledge our own incompetence and to accept that we are less than perfect.

An athlete can improve when they frame their thinking something along these lines:

If there is nothing that I am incompetent at then there is nothing I can work on to improve so I will never get any better than I am now.
I need to welcome recognising those things that I am incompetent at because they hold the opportunities for me to improve.

Consciously Competent - I know or I am aware of what I know or can do

In this stage the athlete knows what they need to do but it is a constant challenge to do it. They need to consciously concentrate on the thing they are trying to do.

It often does not feel natural. They need to fight old habits, move out of comfort zones, build new habits, exercise sometimes extreme patience, become self-aware and positively self critical and self-correcting. Sometimes an athlete has to put pride aside and take steps back to be able to move forward again.

Repetition, repetition, repetition.

Self-disicipline, self-disicipline, self-discipline.

What is new can feel so "wrong". That feeling is actually a reaction to the unfamiliar. Sub-consciously most of us consider things that feel unfamiliar as wrong and so we fight the new and unfamiliar. Another reframing is needed here to understand that what is unfamiliar is not necessarily wrong. The new new thing feels unfamiliar because the old habit wants to be obeyed.

Here is one of the greates lies I have ever heard in coaching: "Practice makes perfect."

This cliche is trotted out time and again, the lie perpetuates and the athletes suffer. Here is what should be said:

Practice makes permanent. Imperfect practice makes imperfect. Perfect practice makes perfect.

Unconsciously Competent - I don't know or I am not aware of what I know or what I am doing correctly

This is the stage we strive for, where the athlete does a particluar thing correctly without being consciously aware of doing it correctly. The hours of repetitive practice, correction and self-correction are paying off. The correct technique is performed without the athlete having to consciously instruct themself to do it correctly. The mind is now free to do other things while this aspect of the athelete's skill set is performed effectively.

And so the athlete and coach look for further opportunities to apply this learning cycle and work on gaining additional improvements.

Any coach worth their salt should also always be searching for ways to apply the learning cycle to themself to be able to continually progress and continually increase their value to their athletes.

All In One - Eye and Ear Candy

Why post these?





Just because ...





Beauty should be appreciated

Tube Amp Project - In the Beginning

This is first manifestation of my tube guitar amplifier project.



The components and speaker should be arriving in the course of February. Living in South Africa we are at the wrong end of expensive shipping pipelines.

As this project is intended to provide the basis for learning and experimentation with tube amps the cabinet has a definite separation of the speaker and amplifier compartments.

Initially the amp will be 5watt single ended and the speaker 10 inch. The amp compartment allows easy access to the amplifier and the speaker compartment will accept a 12 inch speaker.

The cabinet is made of 20mm South African pine. This is a pretty soft wood and probably not the best wood for a cabinet. It is cheap and easy to work quickly with. As the amp develops and I feel I have a decent cabinet design I will then get higher quality wood and work it more carefully and accurately.

More posts as the project progresses.