I don’t know if I could ever be this harsh to my own children. Every teenager hates his/her parents. It’s a fact.

This video received over 27 million views and was controversial. Some parents were shocked at the “respect through fear” treatment, noting that the daughter might run away with the first guy that gives her attention. Many others said “good,” and that this is what our society needs in whipping our hooligan children back into shape.

While I personally don’t condone this type of discipline, I personally found the video very entertaining as it’s something I and a number of others can relate to.

Kudos to Jon Burg on this Image!

Brilliant!

A man sat at a metro station in Washington DC and started to play the violin; it was a cold January morning. He played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, since it was rush hour, it was calculated that 1,100 people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.

Three minutes went by, and a middle aged man noticed there was musician playing. He slowed his pace, and stopped for a few seconds, and then hurried up to meet his schedule.

A minute later, the violinist received his first dollar tip: a woman threw the money in the till and without stopping, and continued to walk.

A few minutes later, someone leaned against the wall to listen to him, but the man looked at his watch and started to walk again. Clearly he was late for work.

The one who paid the most attention was a 3 year old boy. His mother tagged him along, hurried, but the kid stopped to look at the violinist. Finally, the mother pushed hard, and the child continued to walk, turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. All the parents, without exception, forced them to move on.

In the 45 minutes the musician played, only 6 people stopped and stayed for a while. About 20 gave him money, but continued to walk their normal pace. He collected $32. When he finished playing and silence took over, no one noticed it. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.

No one knew this, but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the most talented musicians in the world. He had just played one of the most intricate pieces ever written, on a violin worth $3.5 million dollars.

Two days before his playing in the subway, Joshua Bell sold out at a theater in Boston where the seats averaged $100.

This is a real story. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste, and priorities of people. The outlines were: in a commonplace environment at an inappropriate hour: Do we perceive beauty? Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize the talent in an unexpected context?

One of the possible conclusions from this experience could be:

If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world playing the best music ever written, how many other things are we missing?

In 1969, Fred Rogers appeared before the United States Senate Subcommittee on Communications. His goal was to support funding for PBS and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, in response to significant proposed cuts by President Nixon.

This is funny!

Frank Howard of the Washington Senators in a 1969 commercial for Nestle Quik. In the advertisement, the opposing catcher rags on him for drinking chocolate milk until Howard, who stands 6-foot-7, hits one deep over the left-field wall. The catcher then asks Howard how long he has been drinking Nestle’s Quik.

“Ever since I was about your size,” Howard tells the diminutive catcher, pinching him on the cheek “like a good boy.”

Classic!

Here’s the link to download it: 1969 Frank Howard Nestle Quik Commercial – YouTube

I started to follow Frank Howard’s career. At 6’8″, he was one of the most feared hitters of his generation, hitting 382 homeruns, which at the time was a lot. It’s a wonder why he’s not in the Hall of Fame.

Monday morning, August 13, 2000. Brighton Beach at West 8th Street. My friend and I, each at the time 17 years old, went to the DMV (Department of Motor Vehicles) to apply for the Learners Permit exam. At the time, getting those 6 points of ID was really difficult. A passport was worth 4 points, but where to get the other 2?  Those points eventually were procured by means of a Social Security card and a Debit card, but it was a whole to-do to get everything together.

In any case, we took the train to Brighton Beach and walked straight to the DMV building which was adjacent to a Police station.

Typical-Brooklyn on Monday morning,  when we walked into the building it was packed to the brim with people, so much so that it was hard to identify lines, let alone which line to take. We decided to either try another day, or another DMV with less people. Needless to say, we left at the nearest exit which led us into a lot with a large fence around it.

I initially thought that we had somehow ended up IN jail, rather than at the subway station. In any case, we finally found the exit and headed towards the subway station. All of a sudden, somebody called out from behind us, “Excuse me sir!” I turned around and asked what was the matter. He asked what we were doing. I replied that we were headed to the train station. He told us to go across the street because Mayor Giuliani was dedicating the street we were walking towards.

Having crossed the street, my friend and I were watching from 60 feet away Rudy Giuliani, in front of a police precinct, dedicate a street to Harry Ryman, an officer slain while off duty 20 years prior. Channel 2 News, Fox 5, Channel 7, etc reporters were all there. I wanted to get closer but all the officers were outside forming a human barricade. Making a couple of attempts and getting caught (it was a miracle that I wasn’t thrown into jail for my  actions since the precinct was right there), I waited until the end of the speech where people were clapping and the human barricade broke into a bunch of random cops shmoozing and drinking coffee. I told my friend that I was trying one last time and he told me that I was nuts (I was)!

Dressed in a dark navy polo shirt, jeans, and a baseball cap, I made my way to the front, a few feet from the podium where Giuliani was about to finish his speech. He eventually finished, stepped down from the podium and briskly walked the opposite direction with his 5-6 secret service officers to his car. I followed him and just as about he was to make a sharp left turn into a lot where his limo presumably was, I called out to him, “Hey, Mayor Giuliani!” the secret service agents all turned around to see a 17 year old kid who had the youthful appearance of a 12 year old, ready to kill. Then Giuliani turned around, visibly annoyed. I stuck out my hand to shake and he shook it, and with a politician’s smile, saying “how are you?” He turned around again and I called out, asking for his autograph. He asked me if I had a pen and I said I didn’t. “Sorry,” he said, “I can’t help you out.”

Looking back, there was absolutely no material evidence that any of this ever happened save for my word. I didn’t have a camera, digital cameras were not in use, and cellphones, let alone smart phones, weren’t widespread yet to take pictures. Looking back, we lived in the dinosaur age in terms of technological advances. Heck, the Twin Towers were still around! Needless to say, there was nothing to document what happened.

This story is what remains.

Note: as proof of the event, I found a letter from the Mayor’s office here: http://www.nyc.gov/html/om/html/2000b/pr314-00.html

“Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani joined First Deputy Police Commissioner Patrick E. Kelleher today as he renamed West 8th Street between Surf and Neptune Avenues in Brooklyn after Police Officer Harry R. Ryman who was killed 20 years ago today in an off-duty shoot out. At the time of his death, Officer Ryman was assigned to the 60th Precinct in Brooklyn.

On August 14, 1980, Officer Ryman, assigned to the 60th Precinct’s Anti-Crime Unit, was shot and killed while off-duty as he attempted to prevent three males from breaking into a parked car outside of his apartment. Officer Ryman confronted the suspects, and upon identifying himself as a police officer, was shot and fatally wounded. Officer Ryman was able to return fire, and wounded one of his assailants.

“I am honored to rename West 8th Street between Surf and Neptune Avenues in Brooklyn, ‘Police Officer Harry R. Ryman Place’”, Mayor Giuliani said. “In the twenty years since his death, his family, friends and fellow officers have honored his memory by emulating him and the example he set. Harry Ryman was a dedicated police officer who heeded the call of duty 24 hours a day. Today is New York City’s turn to pay this tribute to Officer Ryman so that he is never forgotten.”

“We dedicate this street so that every rookie officer who comes to the 60th Precinct will read the name Police Officer Harry Ryman before they even walk through the door, and will find the inspiration they need to follow his example of honor and commitment,” said Deputy Commissioner Kelleher. “We dedicate this street so that the citizens of this neighborhood and of this City will have a permanent and visible reminder of a true hero, who demonstrated to all of us that courage and a sense of duty are not qualities that you hang up with your uniform at the end of the day. And we dedicate this street to let the family of Harry Ryman know that this City recognizes the awful sacrifice that he was called to make, that you were called to make, and that you continue to make for the people of this City.”

Prior to joining the New York City Police Department, Harry Ryman served in the United States Navy. His five children, Nora, Janet, Margaret, Harry, and Edward attended today’s ceremony. His wife, Dorothy, passed away in 1999.”

This can be downloaded here: giuliani-ryman

Reprinted from owenstrachen.com. This story was from August 2010, but is still mind-blowing.

This is a truly incredible story; I got it from my buddy Doug Hankins. An Australian woman was told by doctors that one of the two twins she had just prematurely birthed at 27 weeks was dead after they tried for 20 minutes to help him breathe, to no avail.

Instead of letting tiny Jamie go, the woman–Kate Ogg–took her son, placed him on her chest “skin-to-skin” (called “kangaroo care” by the Aussies) and hugged and talked to him for two hours. She didn’t really think he would live, but she wanted to hold him close. Incredibly, according to Ogg, he started gasping for air just five minutes after she started stroking him and giving him breast milk. The doctors informed Ogg that his movement was likely “just a reflex,” but she kept going, nurturing him and touching him. Eventually, he opened his eyes, though even then, his parents thought he would not live. But his mother, tenaciously nurturing her tiny boy, refused to let him die.

This story is over a year old, but I missed it back in the day, and it’s worth passing on. I’m more inclined toward intellectual blogging than your standard Today Show fodder, but this one stirred me. There is such power in a mother’s love for her children, though biblical and traditional motherhood is under attack in our day. Too often, the intangible blessings a mother gives her children through constant care and attention are devalued. Human-interest stories like this one show us how important such work is. This woman literally brought her child back to life.

Few mothers will experience such drama, but every committed mother blesses her children in untold ways, especially when they reject the culture of death and embrace the culture of life. This fallen world makes it hard for us to prize life; witness the obstacles Kate Ogg encountered in trying to coax her son to life. Medical professionals–doctors!–who seemingly would be disposed to do all they could to lead Jamie to life, gave up on him and even seemed to dissuade her from trying to revive him.

We are reminded that we who fight for the dignity of human life in myriad forms are up against principalities and powers of darkness (Eph. 6:12). We are also reminded that God and righteousness are stronger still.

I don’t think that many of the news media made this connection, but this is an almost perfect illustration of Ezekiel 16:1-14, one of my favorite biblical passages. The Lord is speaking to his wayward children in this passage (represented by the city of Jerusalem), reminding them of how he first loved them and how they have strayed from him. Here is what he says of their origins (vv 4-6):

And as for your birth, on the day you were born your cord was not cut, nor were you washed with water to cleanse you, nor rubbed with salt, nor wrapped in swaddling cloths. No eye pitied you, to do any of these things to you out of compassion for you, but you were cast out on the open field, for you were abhorred, on the day that you were born. “And when I passed by you and saw you wallowing in your blood, I said to you in your blood, ‘Live!’ I said to you in your blood, ‘Live!’

As with his chosen people then, so with his people now. The Lord has found us, loved us back to life, and renewed us through his gospel. Kate Ogg’s story gives us a powerful glimpse of the kind of tenacious love that God has lavished upon us. He has refused to let us die. He has refused to let us cry, with no one to hear, in the wilderness.

God has said to us “Live!,” and now we can. The aforementioned story is a marvel, but it pales in light of the greater work of our adoptive father.

Recently the Texas Rangers purchased the rights to just negotiate with Yu Darvish of the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters for 50.7 Million dollars, which goes straight to the team that owns him. Personally from seeing the way he pitches plus his Japan stats, I think he will thrive no matter where he pitches. That said, here are some interesting tidbits:

1. People confuse the name Nippon Ham Fighters as being those that fight with pieces of ham. Actually that’s not true. On ESPN’s blog it makes clear how the naming convention goes. Unlike in the US where the prefixes are named after the cities where people play, i.e. the New York Yankees of New York, in Japan all teams are owned by corporations marketing a product.

Thus you have, in addition to Nippon Ham (which sells meat products), the Yomiuri Giants (named for the media giant), the Seibu Lions (a department store and railway company), the Chiba Lotte Marines (a candy company) and the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles (who bear the name of an Internet shopping company and play in the unfortunately named Kleenex Stadium). While winning is great, a team’s primary function is to advertise the company.

Can anyone start saying, “now pitching for the Hershey’s Chocolate Bar Yankees…..?”

2. It’s no surprise that the Texas Rangers won the bid. A team capable of paying Alex Rodriguez a quarter billion dollars in 2003 is capable of spending lots of money. Heck, everything is just bigger in Texas.

3. While I mentioned that Yu Darvish will thrive no matter where he pitches, it will be interesting to see how he pitches in different climates. Texas heat is gruelling, which makes for a vastly different experience than what he’s used to. In Japan everyone plays in domes, so the temperatures and weather are consistent.

That’s all for now.

The teacher said, “Let’s begin by reviewing some American History. Who said ‘Give me Liberty , or give me Death’?”

She saw a sea of blank faces, except for Little Akio, a bright foreign exchange student from Japan , who had his hand up: ‘Patrick Henry, 1775′ he said.

‘Very good!’ Who said, ‘Government of the People, by the People, for the People, shall not perish from the Earth?’

Again, no response except from Little Akio: ‘Abraham Lincoln, 1863′.

‘Excellent!’, said the teacher continuing, ‘let’s try one a bit more difficult…’

Who said, ‘Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country?’

Once again, Akio’s was the only hand in the air and he said: ‘John F. Kennedy, 1961′.

The teacher snapped at the class, ‘Class, you should be ashamed of yourselves, Little Akio isn’t from this country and he knows more about our history than you do.’

She heard a loud whisper: ‘F_ _ k the Japs,’.

‘Who said that? I want to know right now!’ she angrily demanded.

Little Akio put his hand up, ‘General MacArthur, 1945.’

At that point, a student in the back said, ‘I’m gonna puke.’

The teacher glares around and asks, ‘All right!!! Now who said that!?’

Again, Little Akio says, ‘George Bush to the Japanese Prime Minister, 1991.’

Now furious, another student yells, ‘Oh yeah? Suck this!’

Little Akio jumps out of his chair waving his hand and shouts to the teacher, ‘Bill Clinton, to Monica Lewinsky, 1997!’

Now with almost mob hysteria someone said, ‘You little shit. If you say anything else, I’ll kill you.’

Little Akio frantically yells at the top of his voice, ‘Michael Jackson to the children testifying against him, 2004.’

The teacher fainted. As the class gathered around the teacher on the floor, someone said, ‘Oh shit, We’re screwed!’

Little Akio said quietly, ‘The American people, November 4, 2008.’