Random_Thoughts | Theodore C. Tanner Jr.

November 4, 2024November 8, 2024 TCTJr Direct Thoughts|General Technology|Human-Performance|Random_Thoughts

How One Of The G.O.A.T.(s) Changed My Life

A mentor is someone who sees more talent and ability within you, than you see in yourself, and helps bring it out of you.
Bob Proctor

**The Religious Tomes Of Digital Audio by Professor Ken Pohlmann**

First, i trust this finds everyone well. All kinds of craziness abound in the world; for those affected by recent events, my condolences. Second, I was compelled to write a blog after some commentary on LinkedIn concerning mentors and people who changed some of our lives.

You can find the discussion here. <- Click

Dear reader this is a very personal blog so bear with me i have told few if any this story. Oftentimes, the Universe speaks, and when it does, listen.

i had the extreme luxury and luck to attend graduate school at The University Of Miami Frost School Of Music, specializing in Music Engineering. Here is a little history copypasta’d from the website:

“The Graduate Music Engineering Technology degree (GMUE) was introduced in 1986 and has consistently placed graduates into high-tech engineering fields that emphasize audio technology, usually in audio software and hardware design engineering and product engineering or development. Our graduates have enjoyed employment at companies specifically aimed at high-tech audio such as Sonos, Amazon Lab126, Avid, Universal Audio, Soundtoys, iZotope, Waves LLC, Smule, Apple, Facebook Reality Labs, Microsoft, Eventide, Bose, Shure, Dolby Laboratories, Roland, Beats by Dr. Dre, Spotify, Harman International, JBL, Analog Devices, Biamp, QSC, Motorola, Texas Instruments, Cirrus Logic, Audio Precision, and many more.

In most cases, applicants to the M.S. in Music Engineering Technology typically hold a bachelor of science degree in electrical engineering, computer engineering, computer science, math, physics, or other hard sciences and are passionate about combining their love of music and engineering. A few hold dual degrees in music and other engineering/technology areas. The Music Engineering Technology program enjoys being part of a world-class, top-ranked School of Music, and students may become licensed to use the new $1.2 million state-of-the-art recording studio if they wish.”

I would rather be blind than deaf.
Handel from “Listening”

In 1987, Oh Dear Reader, i had a “really good job” with GE Medical Systems working in the Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Cat Scan field service organization. Yet i longed for truly understanding the science and perception of how we as humans process sound physically, neuro-scientifically, and mentality, then how we design that product to reproduce the creation of sound to its fullest extent. I loved mixing sound and thought in would be the end all to work at a “mixing desk” manufacturer such as MCI in Fort Lauderdale, used at Criteria Studios, where such groups as The Allman Brothers, etc, were the pinnacle of audio engineering. i was also particularly fascinated with the perception of reverberation and accurate modeling of acoustics. In undergraduate school i did an extracurricular paper on digital audio circa 1985. Where I analyzed analog-to-digital and digital-to-analog recording techniques. The paper discussed the Shannon Limit theorem and the science of sampling a sound to reconstruct it in full digital form. i also discussed how in the future most (or so i surmised) sound would eventually be played on a chip or transmitted with no medium. i also created a fiber optic transmission network to transmit and modify my voice. However the “riff” of the paper compelled me.

Said pedantic paper figure 1.1

One day i was sitting listening to Al Dimeola’s Elegant Gypsy album in Little Havanna, Miami, FL (where i presided not far from Crescent Moon Studios) and reading an article by a human named Professor Ken Pohlmann. The year was 1989. The magazine was Mix Magazine as i “used to be” a recording engineer having graduated from Full Sail Of The Recording Arts and then went on to obtain a BSEET at Devry Institute of Technology. i still kept up on recording and live sound and every once in a while i would mix for someone.

As they say, I am a recovering sound engineer now.

Mentoring is a brain to pick, an ear to listen, and a push in the right direction.
John Crosby

At the end of the article, it said something to the effect:

“Professor Ken Pohlmann is the founder of the prestigious program for the Graduate School Of Music Engineering at the University Of Miami, where he teaches Propeller Heads to create world class digital effects.” Apologies, folks i’m going off memory here, but i specifically remember reading the article and thinking “ok i am going to drive down to Coral Gables all two miles and walk in and ask for Professor Polhmann to accept me into the program.”

i walked in and asked for Professor Pohlmann. The nice woman at the desk said let me see if he is here. She said yes he is and will see me now.

Awe hell game on.

He sat down with me and asked what i could do for you. i still remember i was “dressed” in a tie with braces (suspenders) and full button down shirt with tassle dress shoes (full corporate mode). Yes tassle loafers.

i said “i want you to accept me into your program and when i get out i am going to work for (this) company and build reverberation algorithms.” i showed him the Mix Magazine where he was mentioned and in the back of Mix Magazine was an advertisement for a “startup” audio company called digidesign. i also showed him my paper on Digital Audio Recording and Editing circa 1985.

(NOTE: If you never ask for the biggest piece of cake you never get it. Worse thing he could say was no.)

He was really cool on the response. He said well i appreciate the passion but you need to go through all of the process and gave me all the paperwork take the GRE etc.

i was also acutely aware that i was a mutt compared to the other students where he only accepted two per year out of several high pedigree applicants. Most of the students where from real engineering schools.

i’ll never forget when i called to see if i was accepted. i called and the women said: “Theodore Tanner Jr. right? Oh Yes you can start fall of 1990.”

I RESIGNED from GE right after the phone call.

Fast forward to the year 1992. My friend Toby Dunn and i where sitting in MTC 667 graduate thesis class for Professor Ken Pohlmann.

Toby and i had done all kinds of awesome projects for the two years at UMiami but now we are sitting in the classroom breeze coming in watching the palm trees and chatting about who knows what waiting for the GOAT.

Professor Pohlmann walks in with a stack of books and sits down and says:

“What do you guys want to talk about? This class is about thinking up brilliant ideas and taking them into execution and also publishing your thesis at a conference.”

“Which conference?” i asked?

He said: “The Audio Engineering Society Conference this coming Fall.”

We both laughed. I specifically remember thinking back in the day when I didn’t even understand most of Stereo Review Magazine when I was in high school, and now it reads like Cat In Hat, BUT The AES Conference is THE SUPER BOWL OF AUDIO ENGINEERING?!

He said: “What are you laughing at? If you don’t get the paper accepted and given at the conference, you can’t graduate as it’s most of the grade along with your thesis and discussion here in class.”

“We haven’t even got started on our thesis or even selected a subject.” i said

He then said: “I asked what do you want to talk about and you didn’t say anything.”

He sat there in silence for a while then He then picked up his books and said: ” i don’t have time for this.”

He got up and left.

Toby and I just sat there (this was before the acronym WTF), but that was the look on our faces. WTF?

We sat there for a while and then i got the courage up to go into his office.

i felt like Charlie walking up to Willy Wonka.

“Professor Polhmann? , i said tentatively, ” i think we are ready to talk ideas.”

He came back in sat on the desk and said (and i will never ever forget this….)

“You two are the people that will change this industry and as such you are expected to come up with the ideas that can be executed upon and that is what i expect from you now as that is what will be expected of you in industry.”

Thus, Spake The GOAT. Amen.

We then had an amazing conversation of thesis topics.

Toby presented his paper on noise reduction, which was amazing. I presented my paper on Subband audio coding methods at the AES in New York in 1992, complete with an AES scholarship stipend. I also got to hang out with Jeff Beck and Les Paul at a Toys R Us BASF party, but that is another story.

We then went on to work for digidesign circa 1992. Toby is one of the most amazing signal-processing audio engineers in the industry. He was at Digidesign for 20 years and is now at Universal Audio. He wrote the original noise reduction plugin for Digidesign on Sound Designer and worked on the digital audio engine as well as several start plugins (dynamics, chorus/flange, etc.).

Excerpt from 1985 Neophyte paper 1.2 and 1.3

Side Note: One cool thing i got to personally tell Al Dimeola and Steve Vai that i assisted in creating some of the original protools and sounder designer plugins and APIs while listening to Elegant Gypsy and Passion Grace and Warfare. One of them is the same album I mentioned at the beginning of this blog. Also, if you not familiar, both are the GOATs of guitar.

Oh, and one more thing—I worked at Criteria Studios for a while and got to mix on the MCI console in Studio C, which was used to record several famous albums, which was a full-circle aspect for me professionally.

Then, later on, in 1993, another mentor, Phil Ramone, called me (yes that phil, he called me his 8th child…) while I was working on Protron Plugin at the amazing company called Crystal River Engineering, founded by Scott Foster. Scott Foster originated interpolated Head Related Transfer Function six degrees of freedom spatial audio for Jaron Laniers VPL Research and Dr. Beth Wenzel at Nasa Ames Research Lab and essentially started full localized spatial audio. Phil called me to come down to Crescent Moon Studios (Gloria Estafan and The Miami Sound Machine) and listen to the Duets Album he was mixing. He wanted me to analyze the reverb tails going through the defunct ATT Disq system versus a Neve IV console. He used three EMT reverbs (left, center, right) feedback to each other. i knew this previously and used this technique in the original Dveb.

To anyone reading this, find your passion and execute those brilliant ideas. Find the right mentor who will push you beyond anything you ever thought possible.

i am lucky enough to have had several mentors in my life. However, it all started with someone taking a chance on me.

Toby if you are out there hope you and sue and the family are well.

To the GOAT, Professor Ken Pohlmann. Thank you for that day. Without it i would not be where i am without that happening and i cannot thank you enough for taking a chance on me when i knew damn good and well i didnt have the resume or pedigree to ever compete at the scholastic level. However, I do hope I have made up for the deficiencies since that time.

Be safe.

Until Then,

#iwshyouwater (thunders in mentawis with a yacht)

@tctjr

Muzak To Blog By: Bach: Goldberg Variations, BWV 988 (The 1955 & 1981 Recordings). Dear Reader tread lightly within the aural halls there are several caves you can go into here with his interpretations. Enjoy. For those that know you know.

September 11, 2023September 11, 2023 TCTJr Direct Thoughts|Human-Performance|I_Wish_You_Water|Random_Thoughts

¿Por qué haces apnea? (Why Do You Freedive?) and 9/11

Me Manifesting And Searching (photo by @clay.motus.liquidum)

I need the sea because it teaches me. I don’t know if I learn music or awareness, if it’s a single wave or its vast existence, or only its harsh voice or its shining suggestion of fishes and ships. The fact is that until I fall asleep, in some magnetic way I move in
the university of the waves.
~ Pablo Neruda

First i trust everyone is safe. Second today is a day that will live forever in most minds as a day that i call ‘When Belief Systems Run Amuck (WBSRA)”.

To those who lost loves ones on 9.11 my condolences. To those who are permanently scarred may peace eventually see its’ way unto and into you.

It is not random that one of my dear friends “JH” is relocating this very week to Charleston, SC. He was in the North tower on the 87th floor when the “WBSRA” occurred.

He is a great human. We are going to have a blast when he gets here.

Recently more than ever humans around me have been talking more and more about “stuff” they do besides “working” and inevitably as we are discussing these outside work endeavors someone mentions that i freedive.

Clay T. Talley Rappelling Underwater (photo Tanner Peterson @depthwishfreediving)

It goes something like this:

Human: Ted freedives.

Everyone: ( looking at me like i have obtained the classified UAP documents from the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO)…)

Me: Yup.

Human: Wow really?

Me: (thinking… No i just lie about stuff like that…) Why Yes i do.

Me and @clay.motus.liquidum (photo courtesy of @depthwishfreediving)

Human: Have you seen “Deepest Breath” On Netflix?

Me: While i do not watch hardly any TV i did view it and yes it was amazing. The people in that video are the best of the best in the world and i have met one or two of them and have been coached and critiqued by some of them. i’m no where in their league.

Human: So really is it one breath? There must be some trick? How long can you hold your breath? How deep do you go?

Me: Yes, No, about 4:00+ minutes and i have broken 100ft . None of it really matters as the folks who are great, i pale in comparison, but it is a starting point. It is also not a contest with others. While there are competitions the only competitor is you and the water.

Me coming up from looking at the sand somewhere (photo courtesy of @depthwishfreediving)

Human: What is it like?

Me: It is truth. If there is a truth to life it is closer to living with the exception at least for me, what i find in surfing. Although the two are very different, the results, from to time, are the same. Complete un-adulterated FLOW STATE. The free fall is very close to getting a full tube ride. It is all enveloping it is not like meditating as some people think it is, although, there is a somnambulistic component to the free fall.

Clay Talley and Jacob Talley the day Jacob was certified (photo courtesy of @depthwishfreediving)

Human: What is freefall?

Me: That is after you get down to about 14 meters which is around 45 feet that is 3 atmospheres of pressure you start getting pulled down the elevator shaft as i call it. You can feel the water rushing by you and the sounds rushing, depending on if your hooked to a line or just letting your hand brush the dive line. Then as you go deeper it gets more enveloping.

Me: See your Mammalian Dive Reflect kicks in, your MDR, the master switch as it were. The sensors are still in our face. This is why it feels so nice to splash water on your face or take a shower. All those negative ions getting you balanced into BlueMind. There is much we have forgotten as a race. There is an excellent book called BlueMind i highly recommend.

Me, Thomas Tanner (@itstomfoolery) and My Nephew, Ty Tanner (@tytanner_) the day they got certified

(photo courtesy of @depthwishfreediving)

Human: Yea but how can you hold your breath that long?

Me: Practice. Actually it all happened in one weekend at Performance Freediving Institute (PFI). Me and my waterman commrade Clay Talley went down on a Friday and took a class after we read a book called “One Breath” and got turned onto a song called “Waves” by Bahamas. We have been training with weights in the pool for about 15 years for surfing then this freediving wonderland rabbit hole came along. We could easily get you to over a 2:30 breath hold in one day. Nothing prepared us for what was to come.

Human: I don’t see how that is possible.

Me: Well, i suppose with an attitude like that nothing is possible, but at least we gave it the benefit of the doubt and when we got certified. It was really intense due to several factors that i would have to explain later. However by far my certification was in one of the top experiences of my life and about as close to a religious experience as one could get.

My Son Thomas Tanner getting certified with Tanner Peterson Lower Left (photo courtesy of @tctjr)

Then then THE question:

Human: Why do you do it?

Me: Do what? Freedive?

Human: Yes.

This, Oh Dear Reader is where we start getting to the essence of the blog. Hope Y’all are still tuned-in to the channel.

To every sailor the gods have given a comrade
While one sleeps the other keeps watch on the bridge
When one doubts the other gives him his faith
When one falls the other discovers the oasis of ice for both of them
When my comrade loses faith I laugh confidently
When my comrade sleeps I keep watch for him
When my comrade falls I fight on for the both of us
Because to every sailor the gods have given a comrade
~ Blood Axis

Me: Well it is complicated. One of my best friends died freediving. He was one of the few people who really knew me and and happened to be the best coding computer scientist i have ever met, as well as an expert Waterman.

Me wondering what the Puppies are Thinking. (photo courtesy @clay.motus.luquidum)

Human: Oh i had no idea i am so sorry.

Me: Oh please no need for condolences. i’ll never get over it but that is a different issue. That said to answer your question i got into it because i wanted to understand how one of the smartest most fit watermen i have ever met came to his demise doing what he loved. i had to know or at least try to understand what Steven was searching for given i knew him so well.

It’s not tragic to die doing something you love.
~ Mark Foo

Me: See i kinda blew it off years ago when he kept talking about freediving and how incredible it was and in fact the last thing he said to me was he was really happy. That is really all i cared about to be honest. However it still nagged at me about there was a facet of “The Water” i hadn’t addressed.

So through a very seemingly random occurrence which to me wasn’t random at all i ran across the book “One Breath” which was a story of the death of one of the greatest freedivers of all time. So we (me and my commrade Clay Talley) finally got around to getting down so to speak and since then it has been a continual Alice in Wonderland – Down The Rabbit Hole. Besides the fact that you burn about 800-1000 calories an hour freediving it only teaches you more about yourself. It is indeed a fractal situation – the more complex – the more complex – the more simple – the more simple.

Me ascending and hanging out in Bonaire with Carlos Coste

(photo courtesy of @carloscoste1 of @blueclassroom and @freediveeexplorations)

Ted, Its all in Your Mind, Get me? Understand What I am saying?!
~ Cole Heitt

Me: Its really a super performant sport. All of the people that i have met have been physicists, composers, lawyers, bankers, technical folks and many have walked away from those careers in full pursuit of freediving. Everyone is very open, welcoming and focused. There is little to no overhead with some of the crap that you get with other sports endeavors, it is very binary. As an aside i personally want to dive with Sperm Whales.

Human: Yes but what about your friend?

Me: Well if i could have a discussion with him first i would punch him for being stupid then i would hug him, tell him i love him and say lets go for a freedive and this time i’ll be up and you be down.

Clay Talley Searching For Clay T. Talley

Me: Feel free to come down and get in the pool or we can take you down and get certified.

Human: Really?

Me: Of course and you can’t blame me for what will happen afterward.

To everyone that has ever asked me this is why i freedive. I needed to understand why and it has turned into a mirror for me.

On September 11, 2005, Steven Swenson took his last breath. However i know he was happy in fact the happiest i have ever heard him.

Recently his favorite musician past away, Jimmy Buffett. Steven’s favorite song was Son of A Son of A Sailor. He also liked “That is What Living Is to Me” and “One Particular Harbor”. I would like to think they are sharing sailing stories with each other with wind in their hair and water in their shoes.

Do me a favor if you knew him go listen to any of those songs and if you didn’t know him go listen and raise a glass to the ocean. i would also greatly appreciate it.

Mickey Talley @mich.888 Pushing Past Her Own Thoughts (photo courtesy @clay.motus.liquidum)

So there you have it folks.

Until Then,

#iwishyouwater <- Me and Present Crew Getting After it @iwishyouwater

@tctjr

Music To Blog By: The version of “Little Wing/ Third Stone: From The Sun off SRV archives and some Jimmy Buffett. The Tuck and Patti version of Castles Made of Sand / Little Wing is amazing as well.

Note: With Much Love to Roma, Lief and Gage.

What Is Love?

Love is a complex and multifaceted emotion that is often defined differently depending on cultural, social, and individual perspectives. At its core, love typically involves strong feelings of affection, caring, and attachment towards another person, often accompanied by a desire for intimacy, closeness, and mutual support.

Love can take many different forms, including romantic love, familial love, platonic love, and self-love. It can also involve a range of different experiences, such as joy, happiness, excitement, passion, and sometimes even pain and heartbreak.

Ultimately, love is a powerful and transformative force that can have a profound impact on our lives, shaping our relationships, beliefs, and sense of self.
~ ChatGPT

First Oh Dear Reader, i trust you are safe. Second, we are taking a slight detour into squishy, non-exact, messy, and truly complicated land: Emotions. This comes on the heels of Snake_Byte[14] Coding In Philosophical Frameworks. Also if you haven’t seen the news, the Cognitive Computing Arms Race with Large Language Models is in full swing. Boy Howdy Do We Love Us Some Anthropomorphism! ( i personally think its funny the parlor trick of auto-typing makes ChatGPT and all the other ones appear human to most. )

Turns out there is a class at Stanford on Computational Philosophy which is in the same realm as what i would love to discuss however slightly obtuse. It is a good read.

If we can compute Philosophical frameworks, could we or do we need to compute emotions in the future?

It was not random i started with the terseness of Stoicism. As this philosophy trends towards being objective in your emotions, akin to a more recent philosophy, “Objectivism.” We can quantify the aspects thereof. Or at least we think we can quantify them to some extent.

We know from a physiological standpoint that bodily metrics and chemicals can be measured for systematic responses to emotions. Dopamine, Vasopressin, Oxytocin, Serotonin, heart rate, sweat level, skin clamminess, and eye dilation are just a few measurable considerations.

However what does it mean?

Let’s take some bookend emotions: Love, Hate, Fear.

Some consider Fear to be the only true emotion. Flight or Fight. i’m also positive we can duplicate this in a machine or at least make it plausible to appear the machine is scared. (Also, it will make humans “feel” better one day but that is for a different discussion and different blog.)

Being that Spring Is In The Air let us choose LOVE.

There are so many types and kinds of Love.

Love of a Mother to a child
The Love you have for your pets
The Love of eating a doughnut.

i’m not referring to these types i am referencing:

You are the Love of My Life Companionship – Love

Books, signs, poetry, and yes, humans’ most deplorable creation War has been created over Love of Another. It is genuinely innate in the Human_Condition.

People acting a fool, if you will. You have seen it many times, and maybe (hopefully) you have done it.

As the famous song says, “What does love have to do with IT? What is love but some secondhand emotion?”. Great questioning Tina. We love you.

Have you ever been in The Love? How do you know that person Loves YOU?

i asked one of my progeny that question:

Me: “Do i Love you?”

Them: “Yes.”

Me” “How do you know?”

Them: “Dad i just know.”

This is not to be confused with infatuation, which is in and of itself an extremely intense feeling usually associated with a physically idealized version of the receiving person. Infatuation is initially overwhelming but then quickly fades. Love, on the other hand, appears to be a much deeper, almost seemingly “infinite forever-giving” emotion.

i was wondering how many times “Love” has been mentioned over the years. Below is a plot thereof:

i thought the drop in the 1980’s was interesting. If anyone was around in the United States in the 80’s that was the period of certain illegal chemicals, neon, 80’s metal and madonna. The Me Generation.

So what has happened in this area with using technology of Love? Well we scan our noggin:

**From The Journal of Frontiers in Human Neuroscience**

When I take you in my arms gathered forever. Sometimes it feels like a dream. Sometimes it feels like a dream; to be with you.
~ Feels Like A Dream Lyrics

Research has shown that certain brain regions are activated when a person is in love or experiencing strong feelings of affection, including the insula, anterior cingulate cortex, and striatum. These regions are associated with reward, motivation, and emotional processing. Brain scans have also revealed that the levels of certain neurotransmitters, like dopamine and oxytocin, can change in response to being in love. So while there is no one-size-fits-all image of someone in love, there are certain brain patterns and chemical changes that can be detected in those experiencing the emotion.

Furthermore on the chemical brain related activity research has shown that during the early stages of romantic love, there is a decrease and increase in serotonin levels in the brain^[1]. Serotonin can have direct affects on anxiety, insomnia and depression. For men there is a decrease and for women and increase in serotonin. Strangely this is similar to what is observed in individuals with obsessive-compulsive disorder, suggesting that the intense focus and preoccupation with the loved one may be related to changes in serotonin levels. Additionally, it has been found that long-term couples who remain in love have higher levels of serotonin than those who have fallen out of love. This suggests that serotonin may play a role in maintaining long-term relationships.

Our study provides the first evidence of love-related alterations in the underlying architecture of the brain, and the results shed new light on the mechanisms of romantic love.
~ Professor Xiaochu Zhang

So if there are (and there are injectable adjuncts to all of these chemicals) that can be augmented and tailored with specific dosages, this led me to ask the questions:

can we compute a model of Love?
can we fool the brain into thinking it is in Love?
do we want to augment the brain so we feel like we are in Love?
Do we want to make Love a thing of the past with future tech?
The list could go on…..

Did my heart love till now? Forswear it, sight / For I ne’er saw true beauty till this night.
~ That Romeo Guy

When people meet, go on a date, shack up, get hitched or get married, i have heard it said:

“You will grow to love them.”
“Well, the person doesn’t really have the attributes i am looking for in a mate, but i can adapt.”
“They share the same interest as you!”
“They can cook or fix stuff for you!”

Why would we want to change or have that person change? Are social norms so strong that there are unwritten rules that we as a so-called society must follow, With a hard rule of it must be two consenting adults in a relationship, what is it of anyone’s business? Do most want to do what they feel they should do? Do we want a best friend to watch the big game with or play golf? Why not a companion that you can dance with now and when your old and just look at each other? To idealized? Oh life gets in the way. i see it is hard and you have stuff to do – yep i get it. Then is Love that important? If not then what is?

Love in a relationship is it needed?

How do you know when you’re really in Love? Do violins play when you’re touching the one your Lovin?
~ The Tubes

Most often, love is due to their connection with their partner. This connection can be emotional, physical, spiritual, or intellectual (or hopefully all of them). People may also fall in love or grow into love because they appreciate their partner’s qualities or values, such as kindness, honesty, or intelligence. Sometimes, people are drawn to others who are different from themselves because they find them intriguing or exciting.

This room is bare
This night is cold
We’re far apart, and I’m growing old
But while we live
We’ll meet again
So then, my love
We may whisper once more
It’s you I adore
~ Palabras de Amor from Queen

Other factors that contribute to love include shared experiences, common interests, and mutual respect. When people feel like they’re a team with their partner and can rely on them, it can deepen their love. Additionally, physical attraction and chemistry can significantly influence romantic love.

However, what if it is all of these with the same partner? Isn’t that what you truly desire? ALL THE THINGS! To truly know that there is one – what would you do to have that person show up on your porch?

This is what i believe we need to understand as we trend toward a world of distributed disconnected artificial intelligence.

In one kiss, you’ll know all I haven’t said.
~ Pablo Neruda^[3]

Even post the pandemic, we see people hug and kiss less. There is less physicality which as we all know for most, a hug feels good for both and releases several proof-positive chemicals. i would tend to think at some point you want to rub against your significant other instead of smooching in cyberspace or sleeping in separate beds.

Is Love now an algorithm? i know in the age of match.com and tinder this appears to be monday morning quarterbacking but at least i believe there is something more to it than a list of attributes. In fact one of the startups i worked at started with the premise, “What are the three main questions you ask someone on a blind date?” Here they are:

What is your favorite travel spot?
What is your favorite wine (assuming one drinks)
What type of music do you like?

From a cognitive standpoint the most difficult one was music recommendations. This by the way Oh Dear Reader was circa 2001 before Pandora, Shazam or any other music recommendation system. We based it on a cognitive model of music perception and cognitive psychology of inter-relations^[2].

If we already know the future and can match it aren’t we living in a world of no surprises? What happens to that special glance? That special smile or touch or a good morning hug? That true everlasting one that loves you for you and only you not because your father mother or your in-laws approved. (If course it has been said you marry the family not the person. )

i am sure by now you have heard of the term Twin Flame. This is different than a soul mate. A Twin Flame is a mirror of oneself, a yin-yang type entity. The biggest distinction between a twin flame and any other type of soul mate is that twin flames are two halves of the same whole. A soul mate, on the other hand, can be thought of as someone cut from the same cloth as you. There’s a deep familiarity, and you feel very close, but you aren’t the same soul.

i wonder if we can compute and create a Twin Flame Agent of oneself?

i’m not sure i want to work on those future algorithms folks. Some things i want to be a mystery^[4].

i’d love to hear some stories, comments, and possibly even rants as this is some very esoteric area we have paddled into so to speak. i’d love to know if you have the love of your life, twin flame or a tinder swipe of the night, i hope you just know.

Until Then,

#iwshyouwater <- alexy molchanov sets a new world record in Bonaire. i was just in the same spot freediving.

Muzak To Blog By: All The Love Songs by Queen. i miss you Freddy and recently brian may was knighted.

References:

[1] Scans Say Its True Love Link

[2] For the record, i tried the system, and no one liked strict cathedral organ works.

[3] Pablo Neruda is the most prolific poet when it comes to love and beaches i have ever read. there is a connection there.

[4] In blade runner, harrison ford knows full well racheal is a replicant yet he Loves her. Question is – Is He? That would be a twin flame. robot love.

Execution Is Everything

Even if we crash and burn and loose everthing the experience is worth ten times the cost.
~ S. Jobs

As always, Oh Dear Readers, i trust this finds you safe. Second, to those affected by the SVB situation – Godspeed.

Third, i was inspired to write a blog on “Doing versus Thinking,” and then i decided on the title “Execution Is Everything”. This statement happens to be located at the top of my LinkedIn Profile.

The impetus for this blog came from a recent conversation where an executive who told me, “I made the fundamental mistake of falling in love with the idea and quickly realized that ideas are cheap, it is the team that matters.”

i’ve written about the very issue on several occasions. In Three T’s of a Startup to Elite Computing, i have explicitly stated ideas are cheap, a dime a dozen. Tim Ferris, in the amazing book “Tools Of Titans,” interviews James Altuchur, and he does this exercise every day:

This is taken directly from the book in his words, but condensed for space, here are some examples of the types of lists James makes:

10 olds ideas I can make new
10 ridiculous things I would invent (e.g., the smart toilet)
10 books I can write (The Choose Yourself Guide to an Alternative Education, etc).
10 business ideas for Google/Amazon/Twitter/etc.
10 people I can send ideas to
10 podcast ideas or videos I can shoot (e.g., Lunch with James, a video podcast where I just have lunch with people over Skype and we chat)
10 industries where I can remove the middleman
10 things I disagree with that everyone else assumes is religion (college, home ownership, voting, doctors, etc.)
10 ways to take old posts of mine and make books out of them
10 people I want to be friends with (then figure out the first step to contact them)
10 things I learned yesterday
10 things I can do differently today
10 ways I can save time
10 things I learned from X, where X is someone I’ve recently spoken with or read a book by or about. I’ve written posts on this about the Beatles, Mick Jagger, Steve Jobs, Charles Bukowski, the Dalaï Lama, Superman, Freakonomics, etc.
10 things I’m interested in getting better at (and then 10 ways I can get better at each one)
10 things I was interested in as a kid that might be fun to explore now (like, maybe I can write that “Son of Dr. Strange” comic I’ve always been planning. And now I need 10 plot ideas.)
10 ways I might try to solve a problem I have. This has saved me with the IRS countless times. Unfortunately, the Department is Motor Vehicles is impervious to my superpowers

Is your brain tired of just “thinking” about doing those gymnastics?

i cannot tell you how many people have come to me and said “hey I have an idea!” Great, so do you and countless others. What is your plan of making it a reality? What is your maniacal passion every day to get this thing off the ground and make money?

The statement “Oh I/We thought about that 3 years ago” is not a qualifier for anything except that fact you thought it and didn’t execute on said idea. You know why?

Creating software from an idea that runs 24/7 is still rather difficult. In fact VERY DIFFICULT.

“Oh We THOUGHT about that <insert number of days or years ago here>. i call the above commentary “THOUGHTING”. Somehow the THOUGHT is manifested from Ideas2Bank? If that is a process, i’d love to see the burndown chart on that one. No Oh Dear Readers, THOUGHTING is about as useful as that overly complex PowerPoint that gets edited ad nauseam, and people confuse the “slideware” with “software”. The only code that matters is this:

Code that is written with the smallest OPEX and Highest Margins thereby increasing Revenue Per Employee unless you choose to put it in open source for a wonderful plethora of reasons or you are providing a philanthropic service.

When it comes to creating software, “Execution is everything.” gets tossed around just like the phrase “It Just Works” as a requirement. At its core, this phrase means that the ability to bring an idea to life through effective implementation is what separates successful software from failed experiments.

The dynamic range between average and the best is 2:1. In software it is 50:1 maybe 100:1 very few things in life are like this. I’ve built a lot of my sucess on finding these truly gifted people.
~ S. Jobs

In order to understand why execution is so critical in software development, it’s helpful first to consider what we mean by “execution.” Simply put, execution refers to the process of taking an idea or concept and turning it into a functional, usable product. This involves everything from coding to testing, debugging to deployment, and ongoing maintenance and improvement.

When we say that execution is everything in software development, what we’re really saying is that the idea behind a piece of software is only as good as the ability of its creators to make it work in the real world. No matter how innovative or promising an idea may seem on paper, it’s ultimately worthless if it can’t be brought to life in a way that users find valuable and useful.

You can fail at something you dislike just as easily as something you like so why not choose what you like?
~ J. Carey

This is where execution comes in. In order to turn an idea into a successful software product, developers need to be able to navigate a complex web of technical challenges, creative problem-solving, and user feedback. They need to be able to write code that is clean, efficient, and scalable. They need to be able to test that code thoroughly, both before and after deployment. And they need to be able to iterate quickly and respond to user feedback in order to improve and refine the product continually.

The important thing is to dare to dream big, then take action to make it come true.
~ J. Girard

All of these factors require a high degree of skill, discipline, and attention to detail. They also require the ability to work well under pressure, collaborate effectively with other team members, and stay focused on the ultimate goal of creating a successful product.

The importance of execution is perhaps most evident when we consider the many examples of software projects that failed despite having what seemed like strong ideas behind them. From buggy, unreliable apps to complex software systems that never quite delivered on their promises, there are countless examples of software that fell short due to poor execution.

On the other hand, some of the most successful software products in history owe much of their success to strong execution. Whether we’re talking about the user-friendly interface of the iPhone or the robust functionality of Paypal’s Protocols, these products succeeded not just because of their innovative ideas but because of the skill and dedication of the teams behind them.

The only sin is mediocrity^[1].
~ M. Graham

In the end, the lesson is clear: when it comes to software development, execution really is everything. No matter how brilliant your idea may be, it’s the ability to turn that idea into a functional, usable product that ultimately determines whether your software will succeed or fail. By focusing on the fundamentals of coding, testing, and iterating, developers can ensure that their software is executed to the highest possible standard, giving it the best chance of success in an ever-changing digital landscape.

So go take that idea and turn it into a Remarkable Viable Product, not a Minimum Viable Product! Who likes Minimum? (thanks R.D.)

Be Passionate! Go DO! Go Create!

Go Live Your Personal Legend!

A great video stitching of discussions from Steve Jobs on execution, and passion – click here-> The Major Thinkers Steve Jobs

Until then,

#iwishyouwater <- yours truly hitting around 31 meters (~100ft) on #onebreath

@tctjr

Muzak To Blog By: Todd Hannigan “Caldwell County.”

[1] The only sin is mediocrity is not true if there were a real Sin it should be Stupidity but the quote fits well in the narrative.

September 11, 2022September 15, 2022 TCTJr Human-Performance|Random_Thoughts|Thoughts_On_TIme

It Is An Honor To Say “GoodBye”.

No one ever told me that grief felt so like fear.
C.S. Lewis

First, i hope everyone is safe, especially on this day when belief systems ran completely amok. Second, this day also holds a place for me that i will not go into but if you are a good internet sleuth you can figure it out.

Today i did something i have never done nor did i think i could do because of several factors. However into the breach once more and low and behold i pulled it off. The man with me is an expert at this activity and gave me some pointers as to how to perform the said activity. As i was saying goodbye to the man who is one of the closest people in my life we volitionally hugged each other and shook hands a certain way.

On this day i reflected on an Uber ride that i had years ago where a man picked me up. We started talking as it was a pretty good drive from SFO to the Marines’ Memorial Club & Hotel where i was speaking.

There are places I’ll remember
All my life though some have changed
Some forever, not for better
Some have gone and some remain

All these places have their moments
With lovers and friends I still can recall
Some are dead and some are living
In my life I’ve loved them all

The driver as it turns out was a former senior salesperson at salesforce. As i always say you never know what someone has been through so don’t judge them by how they make a living. We discussed most of the “-isms” and then he said, “Mr Ted i found comfort in the christian bible. Have you read it?” i said i have read it three times and i prefer the old testament. i asked him why? he said it helped him through the hard times of his life. He was talking about his family in past tense and i was very sensitive to prying to much into his business. i asked him what type of hardships. He said his family lived during the years of Pol Pot and the Cambodian genocide and his family were all murdered. i really didnt know what to say except “My Condolences”. He said, “Thank you Mr Ted. i have found peace and remember it is an honor to say goodbye to someone and to always make it count as you never know when you will see them again. As a matter of fact i do not tell people Goodbye i say i love you or be safe.”

We arrived at the Marine Hotel. We got out of the car and he said , “Mr Ted it has been an honor speaking with you i hope you enjoy your life. Be Safe Mr Ted.”

That left an indelible imprint on my mind.

Though I know I’ll never lose affection
For people and things that went before
I know I’ll often stop and think about them
In my life I love you more

On 9.11 – Today many lost loved ones. Grief, as Mr Lewis states, is very much like fear except you cannot Un-Grieve. You can be unafraid. Grief, as it turns out, is never-ending. There is no invertible transformation that makes you not grieve.

We have been so programmed to buck it up – suck it up, buttercup that everything tries to gloss over the loss. Whether a human or a family pet, it is ok to grieve. There are people and animals in my life that i will never recover from losing and for the longest time i beat myself up for not bucking up buttercup.

Further contemplating this i believe Grief is fractal. Zoom in on a fractal it evolves and changes yet holds the same shape ad infinitum¹.

Grief as it turns out appears at least to me to be closely aligned. The more you peel it back the more complex it gets.

Does time heal Grief? Not really. It is the memory that fades. Ergo other memories fade as a function of our leaky memory system.

We deal with healing in different ways. The Uber driver found solace in a religious text, others workout, some self-medicate, others try to replace the human or animal.

We want it to go away.

i say we should acknowledge the pain of grief and realize it and let it happen then further acknowledge that the next person or animal who is essential to you, use the opportunity and find strength in telling them “Be Safe, See ya Real Soon, or i love you more.” However above all, if you cherish that friend or loved one, it is an honor to tell them upon them walking out the door. Let them know it.

Until Then,

#iwishyouwater. <- Laird Hamilton on a Paddle board

@tctjr

Muzak To Blog By: A band called Papir.

[1] The Mandelbrot set is the set of complex numbers c for which the function

$f_{c}=z^2+c$

does not diverge to infinity when iterated from

$z=0$

August 26, 2022August 27, 2022 TCTJr Human-Performance|Random_Thoughts|Thoughts_On_TIme

What Are You Good At?

The thing that you are most comfortable with that you do the best.
Steve Vai

First as always i hope everyone is safe. Second this blog is out of band so to speak. This question was posited to me during a technical discussion with some great folks whom i had just met and we were discussing re-tooling and scaling enterprise systems.

Completely almost non-sequitur this executive asked:

Q: What do you think you are good at?

There isnt too many times when i am personally caught off gaurd but i stopped and replied “Well that is a great question. So good in fact i am going to write a blog if you dont mind. “

Which then got me to thinking:

Q: If you really truly love what you are doing is it really work?

Not at all.

This goes along with several of the blogs i have done in the past concerning – What Is IT You Truly Want?

So without any hubris or narcissism as far as i know or have been told what i am good at is the following:

Evidently, i have an uncanny ability to see what needs to be built with the right team and at a pretty good time or within a certain timeframe.

The other thing i am supposedly good at is getting people aligned and excited around a common vision to execute said code base or system(s).

i also take the title CTO very seriously. i do pride myself on keeping up with technology. i attempt to find out what works and what does not work. Mathematics and Software completely and unequivocally enthrall me. i am always either reading a book, paper or blog on a technical subject. i don’t really keep up with the normal outside world. So i can’t really comment on sports, movies, or the daily news. Ergo i don’t go around chasing fads however many times you do have to create net new warez. i tend to go deep on technical subjects before i bring them into an organization.

Really after thinking about all of this is it useful? After thinking more about it i really cannot say at this time. Maybe it’s an occupational hazard nowadays. However, it is what i maybe think i am good at so to speak.

However, i can assure you that holding that mirror up to yourself and looking deep into it is an exercise we should all do on a daily basis. As the famous song lyric goes “Chickity-check yo’ self before you wreck yo’ self”.

So finding out what you are really good at and strengthening that creates a self-perpetuating system. It has been said You Are Your Best Charity. If you truly enjoy what you are doing then it really isn’t work is it? This allows you to concentrate on what you are good at and then in turn Amplifying_Others^TM.

Find Your Passion At All Costs.

Become the system You are creating.

Then IT will naturally happen.

I posted this video of Steve Vai a long time ago in another blog and in another life. i ran across it while taking a break at 2:30 AM EST working on a very serious bug with a company i co-founded. It paused me. i always come back to it. While this is supposedly a master class with Steve Vai he never talks about guitar technique but 1rather how to be successful (really at anything).

Possibly the only thing that i think is more amazing than creating software is music creation. Here is Mr. Steve Vai doing what he does best. Do yourself a favor, watch and listen. i’ll hopefully be seeing him soon in Charleston, SC.

Vai Virtuosity

Would love some comments and feedback on this blog. While it is short i have to tell you it was difficult to type those couple of sentences.

Until Then,

#iwishyouwater <- Will Trubridge 60M Freedive in 60 seconds

@tctjr

Muzak To Blog By: Steve Vai.

August 19, 2022August 19, 2022 TCTJr Computing_History|General Technology|Human-Performance|Random_Thoughts

What Is Your KulChure?

We are organized like a startup. We are the biggest startup on the planet.
S. Jobs

First, i hope everyone is safe. Second, this blog is about something everyone seems to be asking me about and talking about, but no one seems to be able to execute the concept much like interoperability in #HealthIT. Third, it is long-form content so in most cases tl;dr.

CULTURE.

Let us look to Miriam-Websters OnLine Dictionary for a definition – shall we?

cul·ture <ˈ kəl-chər>

a: the customary beliefs, social forms, and material traits of a racial, religious, or social group also : the characteristic features of everyday existence (such as diversions or a way of life) shared by people in a place or time ; popular culture, Southern culture

b: the set of shared attitudes, values, goals, and practices that characterizes an institution or organization a corporate culture focused on the bottom line

c: the set of values, conventions, or social practices associated with a particular field, activity, or societal characteristic studying the effect of computers on print culture

d: the integrated pattern of human knowledge, belief, and behavior that depends upon the capacity for learning and transmitting knowledge to succeeding generations

a: enlightenment and excellence of taste acquired by intellectual and aesthetic training

b: acquaintance with and taste in fine arts, humanities, and broad aspects of science as distinguished from vocational and technical skills; a person of culture

3: the act or process of cultivating living material (such as bacteria or viruses) in prepared nutrient media also : a product of such cultivation

4: CULTIVATION, TILLAGE

5: the act of developing the intellectual and moral faculties especially by education

6: expert care and training; beauty culture

Wow, This sounds complicated. Which one to leave in and which one to leave out?

Add to this complexity the fact that creating and executing production software is almost an insurmountable task. i have said for years software creation is one of the most significant human endeavors of all time. i also believe related to these concerns the interplay between comfort and solutions. Most if not all humans desire solutions however as far as i can tell solutions are never comfortable. Solutions involve change most humans are homeostatic. Juxtapose this against the fact that humans love comfort. So what do you do?

So why does it seem like everyone is talking about kəl-chər? i consider this to be like Fight Club. 1st rule of kəl-chər is you don’t talk about culture. It should be an implicit aspect of your organization. Build or Re-Build it at a first principles engineering practice. Perform root cause analysis of the behaviors within the company. If it does in fact need to be re-built start with you and your leadership. Turn the mirror on you first. Understand that you must lead by example. Merit Not Inherit.

i’ve recently been asked how you change and align culture. Well here are my recommendations and it comes down to TRUST at ALL levels of the company.

Create an I³ Lab: Innovation, Incubation, Intrapreneurship:

Innovation without code is just ideas and everyone has them. Ideas are cheap. Incubation without product market fit is a dead code base. Intrapreneurship is the spirit of a system that encourages employees to think and act like individual entrepreneurs and empowers them to take action, embrace risk, and make decisions as if they had founded the company themselves. Innovate – create the idea – Incubate – create the Maximum Viable Product (not minimum) – Intrapreneurship – spin out the Maximum Viable Product. As an aside Minimum Viable Product sounds like you bailed out making the best you possibly could in the moment. Take that Maximum Viable product and roll it into a business vertical and go to market strategy – then spin the wheel again.

I think it’s very important to have a feedback loop, where you’re constantly thinking about what you’ve done and how you could be doing it better.
E. Musk

Value The Most Important Asset – Your People

Managing high-performance humans is a difficult task because most high-performance humans do not like to be managed they love to be led. Lead them by example. Value them and compensate them accordingly. Knowledge workers love achievement and goals. Lead them into the impossible, gravitate toward dizzying heights, and be there for them. Be completely transparent and communicate. Software is always broken. If anyone states differently they are not telling the truth. There is always refactoring, retargeting, more code coverage and nascent bugs. Let them realize you realize that however let them know that if they do make a mistake escalate immediately. Under no circumstances can you tolerate surprises. Give them the framework with OKRs and KPIs that let them communicate openly, efficiently and effectively and most important transparently. Great teams will turn pencils into Mount Blanc Fountain Pens. Let them do what they do best and reward them!

Process Doesn’t Make A Culture

Nor does it make great products. Many focus on some software process. Apple used and as far as i know still uses strict waterfall. As far as i am concerned, we are now trending towards a Holacracy type of environment which is a self-organizing environment. However, this only can be achieved with the proper folks that appreciate the friction of creating great products from the best ideas. The Process of evolving from an idea to a product is magic. You learn you evolve; you grow your passion for and into the product as it becomes itself the team that built the product. Your idea and passion are inherent in that shipping software (or hardware).

What do you want me to do
To do for you to see you through?
The Grateful Dead

Empower Your People

Provide your people the ability to manage themselves and have autonomy. Set them free. Trust them to make the decisions that will drive the company and projects into world-class endeavors. Take a chance with them, Let a new college graduate push some code to production. Let a new sales associate push a deal with a customer. Let your new marketing person design an area on the company site. Allow them to evolve grow and be a part of the Great Endeavor. Put them in charge and provide the framework for autonomy to make decisions and when they deliver – award them not with something ephemeral but volitional. Money and Stock work wonders. Empower. Align. Evolve.

Provide and Articulate a Common Vision

Provide a vision of the company or project. Two sentences that everyone understands. Most people who are empowered and given the frameworks to create within know what to do in these circumstances. Articulate the vision and gain common alignment across the organization or project. That is leadership that high performance teams desire. Take this alignment then map it into the OKRs and KPIs then in turn pick a process and let everyone know how this aligns to the vision. Create the environment that every line of code maps to that vision. Show commitment on this vision.

Give FeedBack

Communicate. Communicate. Communicate. Collaborate. Collaborate. Collaborate. Till you puke. i cannot emphasize this enough. You must be prepared everyday to manically interact with your teams and have the hard friction filled uncomfortable discussions. You want to keep the top performers let them know where they stand, how they stand and why they stand in the rankings and how they are contributing to the vision. Again attempt to create coder-metrics across your organization or project that exemplifies this performance. Interact with your most important asset your people. Over communicate. We have the ability to reach everyone at anytime, email, zoom, slack, granite tablet where once used to message. Write the message and give feedback. Better yet go take a walk with them. Have 1:1s. Listen to your people receptively and without bias and judgment about their concerns, passions, what scares them, what makes them happy, their joys, goals, and aspirations so they feel validated and understood. Solicit feedback, shut up and listen.

What all of this comes down to what i call – Amplifying_Others_^TM. This is easier said than done. Personally, i believe that you need to commit even to the point of possibly finding them a better fit for a position at another company. This goes back to understanding what truly drives the only asset there is in technology the people. Always Be Listening, Always Be Networking, and Always Be Recruiting.

This brings up the next big question for your company – How do you attract the best right talent? Hmmmm… that might be another blog. Let me know your thought on these matters in the comments.

Until Then,

#IWishYouWater <- Psycho Session In Mentawis

@tctjr

Music To Blog By:

American Beauty by The Grateful Dead. Box of Rain and Ripple are amazing. Also if you haven’t heard Jane’s Addiction’s cover of Ripple check it out. i am not a Dead fan but the lyrics on some of these songs are monumental.

References (click for purchase link):

The Psychology of Computer Programming

Mythical Man Month

The Essence of Software: Why Concepts Matter for Great Design

April 10, 2022April 10, 2022 TCTJr Complexity_Theory|Human-Performance|Random_Thoughts

Ordo Ab Chao – Or Embrace Uncertainty

Masonic Motto: Ordo Ab Chao — Eternal Golden Braid

Only he who undertakes dizzying ventures is authentically human. A single chain of peaks links Prometheus with Siegfried.
~ Jean Mabire

Hello all first as always i hope everyone is safe. Second, i have not been able to write as much as i would have liked, life happens. More on that in later blogs this year.

Now to the current installment. i do not write about specific work topics at all however i am making an exception here as it pertains to the title of the blog. W.R.T. (with respect to) the title this is not some FreeMason diatribe so you can take off the tinfoil hats and stick with me, please dear reader.

If you saw this news Fransisco Partners of San Francisco, California purchased IBM, Watson Health of which i am currently the Global CTO and Chief Architect. Personally, i am extremely excited about this situation as it appears others were as well considering the number of inbound texts, emails, calls that i received. i truly appreciated all of the correspondence. It is an amazing opportunity with an amazing firm that understands the health technology industry with many well-placed investments.

Why does this pertain to the blog subject line? Change causes randomization, randomization can cause chaos. All of it yields Uncertainty. It also is an indicator of Entropy. I wrote a blog some time ago on Randomness.

One of my favorite equations and possible my favorite equation is one Entropy:

This is the original one based on Bolztman’s derivation:

$S = k_\mathrm{B} \ln W$

However, me being an information science type person i prefer the entropy of a channel made famous by one of my heroes Claude Shannon:

$E = -1/N*\sum_{i}^{N}(p_{i})log(p_{i})$

(Note: As 𝑁→∞ this gives an entropy which is solely related to the distribution shape and does not depend on 𝑁.)

Entropy (/ˈentrəpē/) is a measure of a thermodynamic quantity representing the unavailability of a system’s thermal energy for conversion into mechanical work, often interpreted as the degree of disorder or randomness in the system or lack of order or predictability; gradual decline into disorder ergo our current subject of this blog.

Many people want to think or be told that it will be A-OK. Or OK. Being a word nerd I looked up the etymology of both A-OK and OK. Here is what i found:

The expression A-Okay:

Means everything is fine. A-Okay is a space-age expression. It was used in 1961 during the flight of astronaut Alan Shepard. He was the first American to be launched into space. His flight ended when his spacecraft landed in the ocean, as planned. Shepard reported: “Everything is A-Okay.”

However, some experts say the expression did not begin with the space age. One story says it was first used during the early days of the telephone to tell an operator that a message had been received.

Then there is OK (Okay):

The gesture was popularized in the United States in 1840 as a symbol to support then Presidential candidate Martin Van Buren. This was because Van Buren’s nickname, Old Kinderhook, derived from his hometown of Kinderhook, NY, had the initials O. K. i had no idea.

There are also fun ways to say okay. Some people say okey-dokey or okey-doke. Now with text, we have kk in some cases. i have even heard people say I’m doing “hunky dory”. This American-coined adjective has been around since the 1860s, from the now-obsolete hunkey, “all right,” which stems from the New York slang hunk, “in a safe position,” and the Dutch root honk or “home.” So basically you’re fine at home. (It is also a great album by David Bowie).

So even if you not OK, there are situations where we engage in some physical activity or mental endeavor where most want to know when “the end or finish line is near.” “OMG when is this going to END?!” However, one important factor that i have personally found when the distance is unknown and the end is unknown is when you truly find out who You are on this Earth. Sometimes the process is in the putting. Going way past what you thought possible is where the magic happens.

Uncertainty is the basis for which we live. Technically if you think about it we live next to an exploding star in an ever-expanding universe.

As a comparison here is a chart of Alan Chamberlin of JPL/Caltech. The subject matter is near-earth asteroids. Interestingly enough the objects were not previously known and thus there was no early warning. We knew when we knew. Take your time and let this chart sink into the old wetware.

This list does not include any of the hundreds of objects that collided with Earth, which were not discovered in advance, but were recorded by sensors designed to detect the detonation of nuclear devices. Of the objects so detected, 78 had impact energy greater than that of a 1-kiloton device (equivalent to 1000 tons of TNT), including 11 which had impact energy greater than that of a 10-kiloton device i.e. comparable to the atomic bombs used in the Second World War.

Why am i posting these statistics? Entropy until we know a universe that runs in reverse time or loops time it is ever increasing thus randomness and uncertainty writ large are always increasing.

So what does one do? Well we can only truly deal with what we can control. Anything exterior to that is superfluous in our thought patterns or should be extraneous and superfluous.

I wrote a related blog entitled “What Is It You Want?” which posited a different view. First, you need to decide what you want and if you are unable to decide what you want there is a good chance that what you don’t want is a more known entity.

Envision the worst thing that could happen. Fired from your job? Bankrupt? No. Try Grief. True loss as in the death of a loved one (including animals). Someone that will never ever return. Finality. We have all been there with someone.

In the same psychological realm True Loss can also be the other side of an “Aha!” moment. For instance, let’s say you have been working for months possibly years on something creative or an idea and suddenly in an ephemeral flash of lucidity you finally arrive at the ideation incarnate and grasp the totality of understanding. At that moment on the other side, you can no longer duplicate that feeling. It is gone. True Loss. For some that do not have family or friends, this is equivalent. Even for those that have family, friends and beloved animals, this is equivalent.

Yet we want to think in absolutes that someone somewhere will make it “OK”.

I say unto you: one must still have chaos in oneself to be able to give birth to a dancing star. I say unto you: you still have chaos in yourselves.
Zarathustra

Well as we say here in The South. “It’s OK until It Aint.” The only remedy is preparation but not analysis to paralysis. Train and train well.

The only other remedy is just GO and DO and move and make it happen. Only move in the direction of what YOU desire and want – it will make a huge difference.

The most intelligent humans, like the strongest, find their happiness where others find only disaster: in the labyrinth, in being hard with themselves and others, in effort, their delight is self mastery; in them asceticism becomes second nature, a necessity, an instinct. They regard a difficult task as a privilege; it is to them a recreation to play with burdens that would crush all others.
R.A.C.

Humans are designed via the evolutionary process to work under stress. i believe we operate better when we are under the gun, under a deadline, reaching for goals, or striving for whatever it is that drives Us. Some prefer the sameness that comes with a 9-5 job. For me personally, i like to obtain order out of chaos.

So whenever you find yourself worried about what May-Be-Happening think instead of what IS-To-Be and make it happen. Alan Watts famously discussed the issue with no surprises in life is you know how everything turns out and if that is the case then that is living in the past.

Until Then,

#iwishyouwater <- Mavericks in Half Moon Bay doing its thing 3.22

@tcjr

Muzak To Blog By: Jeff Buckley’s Album “You and I”. Huge that this was all demos. Astounding talent left us to soon. He took a night swim in the Mississippi River and hit by a paddwheel boat. Random? Entropy? Safe? His autopsy showed no drugs or alchohol in a body.

November 11, 2021November 11, 2021 TCTJr Human-Performance|Random_Thoughts|Thoughts_On_TIme

What Is It You WANT?

Hey, it’s not your and its not mine
Hey, I’m just here to share your time
Don’t you pay those spinning wheels no mind
~ Tedeschi Trucks Band

First, i trust this finds everyone safe.

Second, as we head into the holiday season i was thoughting about an interview question i always ask people:

“What is it you want?”

i usually get either contorted faces or a blank stare. No i didn’t ask you to write a Markov chain algorithm to predict the next meme cryptocurrency or describe the differences between NATS or Kafka distributed processing systems or where do you want to be in five years type of questions.

Let me repeat:

“What is it you want?”

i usually have to prompt folks.

“Ok, like you want a G5 Gulfstream or an island? How about a puppy?”

“You want to be a writer? A painter, a musician, or a teacher?”

Invariably when they answer they want to be doing “something else” as the above profession if money were no object, i always respond, “Then why are you interviewing here? Go do what you just said you wanted to do in the first place.”

Unless you think you want a puppy or a plane. However, there is an unending number of ways to be compensated for your passion. You can have your proverbial cake and eat it as well.

This usually gets people pretty animated.

Then i ask:

‘Which would you rather be? Famous or Rich?”

Blanks stares.

You see most people truly don’t think about what they deeply truly desire and want in life.

So i am going to be taking the rest of the year in my non-copious free time to thought about and reflect on what i truly want and desire.

The reason i am using thoughting is that most if not all have thought about this very issue with no answers.

It’s very interesting at least from what i can tell in western civilization we are not taught to think about what we want when most if not all of what drives us is obtaining something.

Then i have a third question:

“Which is worse a lie or greed?”

None of these questions are as difficult as the first. However the last one i have people who i have hired in the past who have discussed this question with me for decades.

Most people are petrified of success. What do you do when you get everything you want?

Charlie don’t forget what happeneed to the man who suddenly got everything he always wanted… He lived Happily Ever After!
~ Willy Wonka

You have to reassess what you want – yet again.

Maybe you don’t really know what you want? It appears most folks just want predictability and control. Well if you could have that isn’t that living in the past because you already know what is going to happen? Just a thought as it were. Maybe you don’t like surprises. Then again the wonder of life is the unexpected.

Or maybe they want power. Power over what exactly?

So go give it some thought. In the meantime here is a great piece by Alan Watts. He even mentions a Klien Bottle which amazingly someone sent me one which i greatly cherish.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ohb6hPZpqc0

As always would love to see some comments on the posts.

Until then,

#iwishyouwater

tctjr

Muzak To Blog By: Tedeschi Trucks Band

April 9, 2021April 10, 2021 TCTJr General Technology|Human-Performance|Random_Thoughts

Review: Zappa (The Official Documentary)

Art is making something out of nothing, and selling it.
Frank zappa

First i hope everyone is safe.

Second i’ll am writing about something off my usual beaten path and that is a movie review. Yes once in a while i watch ye ole “boob tube” as they used to call it back in the day.

This movie is a special movie to me as it is about the life of Frank Zappa the rock and roll guitar player, the composer, the artist, the movie maker, the recoding engineer, the American representative to Czechoslovakia, (or Czecho-Slovakia) and most importantly a man who fervently fought for free speech. Mainly at least for me it is a testament to someone who was constantly creating and recording that creation as well as documenting and saving those creations. While i’ve been into Zappa since a teenager i really started trying to understand the magnitude whilst in graduate school at the University of Miami where i was lucky enough to engineer and work with a group called the Zappa Ensemble. The musicianship and complexity blew my mind and it was hilarious all at the same time! It finally clicked!

Kerry Mcnabb and Frank Zappa getting physical in the mixing process (photo courtesy Magnolia Pictures)

Alex Winter was the main creative force behind Zappa with Frank Zappa’s oldest son Ahment Zappa producing.

Zappa Trailer:

One of my greatest enjoyments is being part of making or being in deep active listening of this thing human’s call music and Frank Zappa to me is one of the greatest composers of the 20th century of which this movie showcases. His ability to meld performance, musician ship and lyrical satire i believe will never be seen again in my time or possibly anyones time.

lf you’re going to deal with reality, you’re going to have to make one big discovery: Reality is something that belongs to you as an individual. If you wanna grow up, which most people don’t, the thing to do is take responsibility for your own reality and deal with it on your own terms. Don’t expect that because you pay some money to somebody else or take a pledge or join a club or run down the street or wear a special bunch of clothes or play a certain sport or even drink Perrier water, it’s going to take care of everything for you.
Frank Zappa

The movie deeply focuses on the extreme drive Zappa had to create and duplicate the sound that he heard in his head transferring it from paper to little dots of which we call musical notation then taking it to the studio and attempting to reproduce it as accurately as possible to the sound being heard inside his head. The recording process to me is truly astounding. It’s what i term “a perceptual to parameterization to physical transform”. He was self taught in all aspects of his creative pursuits of which he was what i consider to be an ultimate autodidactic.

This movie starts off with Frank’s last guitar performance then cuts to him in his Vault of recordings and VHS tapes identifying original master recordings. I was awestruck.

You’ve got to be digging it while it’s happening ’cause it just might be a one shot deal.
Frank Zappa

Through my research on the film i found out that alex Winter was Bill in the “Bill and Ted” films although i have no idea what those are as i haven’t seen them only heard about them. Evidently he has been making documentaries for a decade. He approached Zappa’s widow Gail (the film is dedicated to her as she died in 2015) for permission on the project. The result is a a cacophony of a life lived loud with constant feeding the disease of composition and creativity.

Winter was given complete access to the Zappa family archives which as i mention above was called The Vault. There are many shots of The Vault which is a treasure trove of both audio and video recordings all shapes sizes and formats.

There is also a ton of footage of his family and how he grew up. Initially his family completely opposed him getting involved with music and Zappa also notes that they were extremely poor. They also note Zappa was interested chemistry at an early age and tried to blow his school up.

The illusion of freedom will continue as long as it’s profitable to continue the illusion. At the point where the illusion becomes too expensive to maintain, they will just take down the scenery, they will pull back the curtains, they will move the tables and chairs out of the way and you will see the brick wall at the back of the theater.
Frank Zappa

There is a great section of Frank “On The Hill” testifying before the senate during the PMRC hearings on album and music lyrics which he definitely as i do consider censorship. The movie then details his pursuit of anything that looks or smells like censorship. If it weren’t for him doing this at every turn i believe things would be very different even a much a it is now. Then i wonder, today in this environment, he probably couldn’t publish a lot of the music he wrote.

The salient point i was reminded of in this movie is don’t waste your time go make a dent in this thing we call life and create at all costs even if no one – not one person – views, listens or uses the creation at least one person will and that will be the person of You.

Never compromise and always choose quality over quantity and remember give “them” a good laugh. They might not get the joke but at least you can laugh.

Why do you necessarily have to be wrong just because a few million people think you are?
Frank Zappa

To give you an idea of the sheer output and dedication to the art while alive Zappa released 62 albums. Since 1994, the Zappa Family Trust has released 54 posthumous albums as of July 2020, making a total of 116 albums/album sets.

This dear reader should remind you of one aspect of your life: Find your passion and dwell on it deeply, daily, hourly, minute by precious minute.

Personally i hope The Vault is all mined, uncovered, reformatted and converted so that the world knows about the volume and creativity.

If you think that Zappa was all about raunchy lyrics, complex poly rhythms and symphonies most ensembles and orchestras couldn’t play i urge you to listen to this song that ends the documentary. The documentary ends with amazing shots of his house and uses a live version that is recorded in 1978 as the back drop. Below are several versions including the studio version from Joe’s Garage album because the comments by the “Central Scrutinizer” are hilarious and are juxtaposed against what i consider to be one of the most amazing pieces of guitar work ever recorded. The sadness and lamenting of the piece is deafening. However at the same time as someone who i have met in the land of suspicious coincidence said it is intoxicating.