Playing Hookie

I have my own business and can take days off as I see fit but I still feel wrong playing hookie midweek. But 2 fat runs into skiing fresh cordoroy at Mount Snow alongside my favorite political junkie and the guilt melts away with the warm temps. What a day to escape the office! Bob's been out over 15 times already this year, this was my first. And, like riding a bicycle, the technique and execution comes naturally. Every year, I enjoy this sport a little more than the previous. The boots seem to fit better, the bindings are easier to lock, my confidence and performance improves and my appreciation for living in the Northeast multiplies. After 30 years of skiing you'd think the sport would be done offering thrills and spills but given the calibre of company I'm with (Bob's an ace) the day flys faster than a high-speed quad. "In my younger days" says Bob "my buddies and I would pretend to crash into one another at the bottom of a diamond run to picks up 'chicks'. Girls loved nursing us back together," he says with a mischievous grin. Yes, my ski partner Bob, was quite the cad (in his youth and now); a constant source of belly-aching chuckles from naughty stories to politically incorrect observations. Truly one of the last diehard Democrats with a special gift for debate and discussion. And his newest pair of parabolics aren't so bad either.

Happiness = $10,000

"Growth no longer makes most people wealthier, but instead generates inequality and insecurity. Growth is bumping up against physical limits so profound - like climate change and peak oil- that trying to expand the economy may be not just impossible but also dangerous. And perhaps most surprisingly, growth no longer makes us happier." Shortly after reading this paragragh from an article called "Reversal of Fortune" in this month's Mother Jones, the Dow/Nasdaq took a huge tumble today. Might have others been reading what I was reading? I hope so because the old axium, money does not buy happiness, is true. Old school economists John Maynard Keynes and Adam Smith forgot to address that one.

The decline in the happiness index is not just confined to the U.S. but in several countries where the income per capita has dramatically increased, the rates of alcoholism, suicide and depression have gone up as well. Having money is like the freezing point of water or the number of drinks someone can have before they reach the intoxication limit: There's a finite cash flow than yields happiness but anything over that has the reverse effect. Having a couple glasses of wine with dinner makes me feel good but more than that and I'm sick. Why shouldn't the same logic apply to money? Researchers claim that once peoples basic needs are met, nobody gets much happier over $10,000. And even a sampling of Forbes magazine's "richest Americans" have identical happiness scores with that of the Pennylvania Amish. Remarkable.

Gross inequalities are taking their toll not only on happiness but also on the environment. Getting rich means buying 3 new Ford Expeditions, building another McMansion and buying up prime real estate on the coast of Florida for your yacht and jetskis. Again, the by-product being an increase in carbon dioxide levels. Unless an affluent person is responsible enough to know their excesses are better spent on helping others out of poverty, it's no wonder were in a global warming crisis. There's so much more to the article but until I'm through with a read by Yale political science professor Robert E. Lane called "The Loss of happiness in Market Democracies", I'll step off my soapbox rants until next time. Thanks for reading!

Purrs and Paws

Work is steady these days and nothing short of varied. Last Monday, the RR show sent me hopping around the Adirondacks to interview the fascinating and enigmatic people that Rach grew up with. The most memorable being a restaurant owner by the name of George who sinks all his profits into a cat shelter out back. This is no ordinary cat shelter. 4 big log cabins have been transformed to house over 250 cats in the winter and in access of 500 in the summer. George and his small team of vets scour the North Country plucking out cats on the verge of being euthenized and bring them here. Cats of all sorts. Some have serious physical impairments while others require constant emotional attention. A relative of former Jewish holocaust survivors, George shares an unusual kinship with all things caged and goes to great length to protect, nurture, care and adopt out his pets. He's a rare individual with a special gift for empathising with furry creatures. Many might find his mission crazy and absurd but his shelter is cleaner, safer and better maintained than most households I know. He's also a big educator in the community for spaying and neutering cats. For more information on how you can adopt a kitty or help George, check out Purrs and Paws.

Comets, Supernovae, and Galaxies

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) in Troy, New York is one of the best technology-based schools in the nation for learning about biotechnology, information technology, and nanotechnology. It was recently recognized as one of 25 schools to be given the elite “New Ivy” status. Last night, Mutti and me took a spin over to the Hirsch Observatory. Inside, a newly redesigned telescope and observatory, modeled after some of the greatest in the country, was on display for the community to enjoy. The 65-year-old observatory was one of the first telescopes that some world-renowned astronomers ever used. I was hoping to see a nebula or two or perhaps a a few galaxies and planets but, unfortuately, even the craters on the moon and the rings around Saturn were obstructed by a low pressure system. Drats. Next time I'll make sure to check the Web site to see if the evening’s skies will be clear enough for a good viewing.

Solo Superiority

A few weeks ago, a newspaper writer for the"Spotlight" magazine asked if he could interview me for a story. The story included local reaction from two single gals to a recent study showing more women living without spouses than ever before. The numbers jumped in 2005 from 35% to 51% since 1949. I didn't quite have the time to devote to a full-fledged interview but the writer got off a few shots at the house and of my business anyway. Surprise, surprise, I'm on the front page. To the writer's credit, he did a nice job weaving in what little I volunteered and had time for. It's a good thing he didn't ask me my opinion on having children in this day and age! There would have been some serious editing going on before publication if I launched into my adoption speech. Since it doesn't appear to be on the Spotlight website yet, I included a few links to the JPG versions I scanned in. Here now are Page 1 and Page 2.

Something Wicked This Way Comes

There's a wicked stomach flu ripping through the nation right now. I just read more about it online tonight. I caught it this past Saturday night and spend all day Sunday struggling between porcelein, pillows and a looming editing project. I couldn't believe how fast the norovirus knocked me off my feet and how long it will continue to linger in my system; up to three weeks. I thought it was food posioning but the symptoms of this contagious gastroenteritis are exactly what I suffered from: vomiting, diarrhea, stomach cramps, headaches and low fever. Health officials from California to New York say that in recent weeks they have seen two to three times more cases than in years past. One doctor said that "When you're ill, you're really ill...people can vomit 20 times a day." I can relate to that. For more information on prevention, check out the CDC website.

Locomotive Secrets

Anyone with a hint of curiosity usually pulls over to admire it's striking aesthetics and forgotten history. At least 30 lines of parallel train tracks fixed with hundreds of industrial railroad cars, sitting idle or abandoned, turns an otherwise polluted wasteland into an artists canvas. It's a haven for photographers and train buffs alike. I also believe it's one of largest active switchest stations in the world, and being in upstate New York it dates back some 200 years. Yesterday, I was fortunate enough to spend the afternoon shooting a training video on it's frosty grounds. This is a shot of the Locomotive Inspection Facility at the CSX Selkirk Yard where locomotives go for quarterly inspections. I shot under, over and along side this mammoth beast. Grease, tar and black soot coated my tripod while in the pit but the vantage point made for amazing footage. The project is due on Sunday so I'm scrambling to get it done - guess my weekend of skiing will just have to wait.

Blizzard from Hell

Boy, did I ever blog too soon! 14 inches and counting and yours truly had to work in this slop all day. Here is how my day unfolded:

8am - Kicking and screaming I'm unable to start my electric snow blower.
9am - Resort to shoveling out 2 lane driveway while obnoxious city plows dump more at the foot of my driveway.
10am - Driving 20mph I arrive at my destination; SUNY Albany College to shoot a PSA for Governor Eliot Spitzer.
11pm - Drag 300 pounds of equipment through 2 feet of snow, up 2 flights of stairs, down a long hallway and set up.
12pm - Oh SHIT! I forgot my lithium batteries to power the camera!
1pm - Back to my home office still fighting blizzard conditions and unplowed roads.
2pm- Get stuck 3 times on SUNY campus. Must get out of the car and hand dig myself out. Nobody around to help.
3pm- Students refuse to leave their dorms because of the weather. A heavy dose of guilt by cell phone provokes a few.
4pm - Finish shooting. Pack up and prepare my car.
4:30pm - Beg a custodian to help carry my 100 pound Arri Light Kit as well as 2 hired hands to plow me a path to get to my car.
5:00pm - Dreading coming home to a driveway that needs shoveling again....but, alas, my very favorite neighbor and his power blower have done it for me.

Thank God for wonderful neighbors!

The No'easter Not Nor'easter

It's 4am and I'm listening to city plows cutting back and forth between streets from my bedroom window. "My word, it sounds like an airport runway out there. I wonder if the meteorologists were right this time?" I think to myself. Might this be the big Nor'easter everyone predicted would dump over 2 feet of snow? Were the schools in the area wise in canceling classes and activities a day early? If it's truly a featherbed out there, I know what I'll be doing this weekend - a whole lot of skiing: Adirondack-style. I pop out from under the covers, bend the window blind back and peer into the white abyss. The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow, gives the lustre of mid-day to objects below. When, what to my wondering eyes should appear, certainly not the Nor'easter everyone feared! I run downstowns to confirm with the ruler that no less than 2, at most 3 inches blanket the ground. This is hardly the driving storm of the year that had media crews, weather experts and politicians forewarned chaos until 11pm last night. What a joke! It's a No'easter not a Nor'easter. Fouled again thanks to global warming and misinformed, miscalculated and mispredicted scientists. Back to bed.

Spring Fever for Earth Day

I'm planning an environmentally conscious party for this Spring and just got some great tips from an article in today's New York Times. The concept of more socially responsible gatherings, even all-green weddings, is finally gaining popularity. From organic flowers and food to compostable plates, utensils and tablecloths; some eco-savvy brides are demanding weddings that are all about the planet rather than themselves. These rennaissance women are my heros! I'm always trying to make purchasing decisions based on environmental concerns: from wind energy to telephone bills that help fight global warming to energy-saving light bulbs and planting trees, these basic alternatives are exploding into sustainable choices like never before. When I finally get around to having my party you can be assured of soy-based candles, hormone-free milk, locally-grown vegetables and meats and a vegan alternative menu. I'm aiming for 100 percent reclaimed, recycled, ecologically responsible partying, including naturally produced alcohol from fermented fallen apples. And for all those who drive hybrids or carpool together to get to my suburbian nightmare, an extra special gift awaits them!

Loving 'Lovin' Spoonful'

The Lovin' Spoonful had two really good years; 1965 and '66. During that time favorites like "Do You Believe In Magic", "You Didn't Have To Be So Nice", "Daydream", and "Summer ln The City" secured the bands place in rocking-roll history. Fast forward 35 plus years and Lead Singer John Sebastian is still sounding as good today as back then. He stopped by the PBS studios tonight to play a little acoustic and harmonica for our live national membership drive broadcast. It's that time of year again and just like last, musicians, celebrities, writers and comedians are invited to push their CD releases and documentaries through the 'peoples channel'. Living next to Woodstock is always a bonus because a nice eclectic mix of world-class artists always volunteer. Sebastian was great. Laid back, friendly, unassuming and still brainy-looking as ever wearing small rim glasses and custom suspenders. His unique brand of good time music infected the phone operators as well as the camera techs and we left the studio whistling...

"Do you believe in magic in a young girl's heart
How the music can free her, whenever it starts
And it's magic, if the music is groovy..."

Early Valentines Day Blues

Gail Rosenblum of the McClatchy Newspapers (a Tribune-owned company) has a great article in todays paper called "No ring on her finger, and no end to scrutiny". It's a wonderful article about the ranks of single women reshaping the real estate, healthcare, travel, car buying and financial planning sectors of America. The statistics are controversial but it's been determined that about 48% of all women, 18 and older, live without spouses. Some of this is due to divorce and death of a partner but therapists like Terrence Real write that "Twentieth-century women have radically changed, and men, by and large, have not". That caused a good laugh from a scorned friend of mine going through marriage misery. Myself, I find it bolsters the way I feel about strong women like Maureen Dowd. She said it best in a Washington Post article from a few years back "I'm not one of these people who put my professional life first and suddenly look up and don't have a personal life. I always put my personal life first. I just don't always have a personal life to put first." Today's article cuts to the heart of why that is for Dowd, my many single gal friends as well as myself.

To Boston and Back

Nothings worse that being part of a focus group on a Monday morning. It's like jury duty but no way out of it. If your not sure what a focus group is it's a collection of people who are paid very little moola to express candid opinions about a service or product. Respondents sit in a 2-way room answering questions from a 3rd party moderator while the product or service's team of techs, engineers and staff jot down valuable feedback. It's kind-of like asking a test audience to watch a premier showing before it's public theater release and then deciding if it needs re-editing, re-shooting or re-marketing. In any event, for a creative shooter like myself it's quite possibly more dull than videotaping wet paint dry. And today's focus group discussion was held in Boston, a haul and a half from Albany. Unlike driving to NYC, radio stations along the Mass Pike are filled with non-commercial college stations playing old favorites. A little Snow Crash and Keane mixed with Journey and The Kinks. That, at least, helped wash away a little of the lingering minutia of the day.

"The Thought Project"

The week wraps up with some prolific thoughts from a genius friend of mine in Jackson, MS. For 30 years (or longer) he's been scribbling epiphanies, ideas, quotes and excerpts on tiny scraps of paper and storing them for the day he writes a book. That day is now. This September Lucian Dixon will try to publish his voluminous works in a revolutionary book he's calling "The Thought Project". His ideas are extensions of great writers and thinkers like Thomas Jefferson, Charlie Chaplin, Harry Browne, Lord Buddha, Fritz Perls, Nietzsche, Albert Ellis, John Lilly, John Lennon and even Bob Dylan. "It will be packed" says Lucian, "I have a lot of thoughts about success and failure, what emotions are, how what makes a difference in our lives is how we actually use our time."  

Graduate of Princeton University, Lucian is a voracious reader and active producer of several German film documentaries. He's traveled the world over and can, impressively, speak or to some extent understand about 10 languages. Because of Lucian I've been introduced to Egyptian poetry and Anais Nin, Burmese photography, dream analysis, U Thant (Secretary-General of the UN from 1961 to 1971 and a vocal critic of the Vietnam War), the Rocky Mountain Institute website, Incan tree measurement, German philosophy and of course, tons of tips on light and film techniques.

"The Thought Project" will be a semi-organized grab-bag because, says Lucian, "the world is random so the way we need to deal with things is random."

Lucian hopes the book entices more than a few people to toss their idiot boxes into the nearest body of water as well as inspires people to live consciously, think about their decisions and take responsibility for consequences. He aims to reintroduce the concept of clear thinking to the world - basic cause-and-effect stuff. When the book hits #1 for 10 consecutive weeks on the New York Times Best Seller list, lets hope Lucian flys north to personally autograph some copies. In the meantime, look for Lucian when he launches his new website in a few weeks.