E.J. Svoboda

Arguably the greatest tenor saxophonist of his generation, Michael Brecker inspired saxophonists since he arrived on the musical scene.  From his early work with Dreams to his work with his brother Randy in the Brecker Brothers to his solo work it is hard to argue with the technical prowess that he had.  He redefined the way tenor sax was played.  Many consider his playing and techniques to be a continuation of the path that John Coltrane blazed.  I have always felt that such an opinion fails to appreciate Brecker for who he was.

Take some time and watch him on youtube or go out and buy one of his CD’s.

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My year end 401k statement arrived the other day. This prompted me to do my yearly review of the performance of the 401k and the performance of individual funds. This prompted a review of my wife’s program as well. In a few years I will add another five percent to bonds and take five percent away from small or mid size caps. I like large caps because they tend to be less volatile over the long haul. As always, everyone should invest as much as possible in a company sponsored fund and they should seek out financial advice from a professional.

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There are times when it’s just so nice to put on some Baroque music and come back to the center of thought.  Especially after dealing with particularly unreasonable or ill informed people.  I find the pace of the music helps bring down those stress hormones so we can move on and get back on track tackling the most appropriate next actions on the project list.

Today I’m enjoying some Henry Purcell.

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I picked this up recently in one of my tech magazines:

Real Authority comes from:
Character – The intention to do the right thing – something that’s particularly important to subordinates.

Competence – Knowing how to do the right thing – not to be confused with technical prowess.

Influence – The ability to deliver and execute the right thing, derived from a web of strong, interdependent relationships based on trust.

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It’s been years since I have ventured out on my bike to ride when the temperature is in the 30’s.  Today I did and I now remember why I stopped doing it.

It was cold.  My face froze and my lungs hurt.  I need a face mask of some kind to protect my face before heading out again in these temperatures.  It was the most painful 17 minutes on the bike in a long time.

The main reason I went out is that it’s not a lot of fun to ride the bike in the trainer.  I also wanted to take out my old Schwinn World Tour since we recently upgraded the brakes.  The single pivot brakes just don’t stop a bike unless you run kool stop pads.  It was just as cheap to buy dual pivots as it was to buy pads so I bought new brakes.

I also wanted to try out the new drive train since I upgraded the bike to all Shimano 600.  Really nice.  Smooth and quiet.  I might even put the index shifters on soon.

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Momofuku Ando died.  He created Ramen Noodles.  All present and past college students should observe a moment of silence.

http://finance.myway.com/jsp/nw/nwdt_rt.jsp?section=news&feed=ap&src=601&news_id=ap-d8mfo3s80&date=20070106

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I just finished reading Keith Olbermann’s book “The Worst Person In The World”.  If you like the show or have a sense of humor you will like the book.  Apparently it was such a great gift idea for Christmas for me that two people gave copies to me!

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I was watching TV before going into the office today and heard an interesting discussion on losing weight.  The basic idea was that you can build new habits slowly in four day increments.  For example, one could exercise on their bike for four days straight for 15 minutes and then start to build up from there.  The key seems to be doing something four days in a row and accepting it as part of your routine.  Neil Fiore covers some of the same ground in his new book “Awaken Your Strongest Self”.

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Chinese food two days in a row!

Here’s today’s fortune:

“You have an ability to sense and know higher truth”.

This should send shivers down the spines of some of my friends.

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Simplicity of character is the natural result of profound thought.

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