Today is the day to celebrate Earth Hour . I guess it's a "celebration" or perhaps it would be considered some form of 21st century grass roots activism. Perhaps it's symbolic of the impact of carbon emissions on our environment.
The task? At 8:30 pm, turn off your lights for one hour. The thought? Turning off the lights shows the world that climate change is important. By symbolically reducing your carbon footprint for an hour, you are expressing your belief in the need for change - for responsible energy use and for diminishing the effects on the environment. It makes a "statement" about global warming.
In 2008, 50 million people worldwide switched off their lights. We were witness to such global landmarks as the Golden Gate Bridge (San Francisco), the Colosseum (Rome), the Sydney Opera House and the Coca Cola billboard in Times Square (New York) all standing in darkness.
So that's the part that makes sense to most people. But there are some that even consider it symbolic for another reason - the renunciation of industrial civilization. Doesn't that seem a bit extreme?
Well, perhaps not.
There is something about this that is simply worth sharing.
It's not often that I find a passage that I share here verbatim. But every so often, something, somewhere, rings true - and I think this definitely qualifies.
Quincy Jones was the keynote speaker at SXSW in Austin this year. Although I was not in the hall to witness this live, it is most certainly something that bears repeating. At the end of his address, he shared the following words with the crowd as they stood and joined hands and repeated them together:
"On this day ...
I will mend a quarrel.
I will search out a forgotten friend.
I will dismiss a suspicion and replace it with a trust.
I will rather say, "I'm sorry I did" than "I wish I had" ...
It's 15 feet to the basket, 19 feet to the baseline. The distance never changes.The shot remains the same - over and over again.
Some call it a "free throw" ... a "foul shot" ... others call it a "charity shot". Over the course of a basketball lifetime, you will shoot thousands of them. You've been doing it since you were old enough (and strong enough) to do so. And the mechanics haven't changed since you started playing the game.
One ball, one smooth motion, one release, one arc, one swish. Just 15 feet ... over ... and over ... and over ... just you and the ball and the hoop ...
Surely, after a few thousand repetitions, with some coaching, you could learn to drain a minimum of 70 to 80% of them. That doesn't sound at all unreasonable. Purely examining the shot as a motor task alone, I could easily envision 80% being reasonable.
At least that's what you'd think.
We debate the issue of creationism and evolution ... then we debate the issue of whether either (or both) of these should be taught in school ...
We debate the issue of sex education in school ... and should we educate students regarding abstinence or safety (or both) ...
And now, we have another "debate" - between Pope Benedict XVI and the Cochrane Collaboration.
I guess I don't need to tell you who the Pope is - that goes without saying. As for the Cochrane Collaboration , let's just go to their website for who they are:
As I read the ongoing drama (and outrage) about AIG , it all makes me think of pro sports. Let's just insert "pro football" as an example.I know, it seems like a strange association - AIG and pro football - but perhaps they could take note of some of the business practices that seem to be "acceptable" in the world of pro sports. It might just help solve the problem.
If this was a pro football team:
- we would expect a win-loss record that puts us into the playoffs, and we would pay for the employees (namely, coach and players and support staff) to get it done. Of course, that would be within any salary cap that is applicable.
- many players and coaches presumably have a performance bonus in their contracts - for example, a bonus if the team makes the playoffs, or if the player attains certain performance criteria (number of catches, number of tackles, etc).
- the fans think nothing of demanding a winning record, and also think nothing of removing [insert here - coach/player/water boy] if they aren't "delivering the goods" (or the water).
- and when the aforementioned coach/player/water boy has his contract terminated abruptly, and he doesn't get his performance bonuses, we as fans really don't seem to care. It's accepted practice, isn't it?
- if we expand this to college sports, how many college coaches think nothing of "jumping ship" when a better offer comes around, thereby not fulfilling their contract requirements - and nobody seems to care then either.
So here's where the irony begins.
I will admit - the math geek in me found this interesting.
Today - March 14 - is Pi Day. And imagine this - it has been recognized by the U.S. Congress as such (our tax dollars hard at work, I am sure). I guess it's like a "Hallmark Day" for math enthusiasts.
So for those who need a reminder, the mathematical constant pi is the ratio of the circumference of a circle to it's diameter.
For true geeks, the number is 3.1415926535 ...
... and yes, to this day I still remember pi to all those decimal points - no Wikipedia reminder required. No, I have no idea why that is permanently etched into the deepest recesses of my cortex. I suspect it's because math (and science) were the classes that got me through high school. If you want a reminder of how to calculate it, you can always throw frozen hot dogs - among other options, of course.
Officially, there is a Pi Day and, wait, a Pi Second - 3/14 at 1:59:26 ... and yes, people do celebrate this!
But wait, there's more ...
It's one of those phenomena that makes me wonder about what goes on inside our brains when left unattended. Let's call it the "mental jukebox". Surely this is something that everyone experiences. It really can't just be me ... really, it can't.
I would swear that there is a jukebox in my mind - and it seems there are times that I have absolutely no control over it. Before you think that I have lost my mind, let me explain.
I have always been a music lover. More often than not, there is some kind of tune, melody, guitar riff, or song running through my head. I know for certain that the roots of this go back a long time. I can remember it being a bit of a joke with my friends in high school. When they were all busy singing the lyrics to a lame '80s tune, I was probably recollecting the guitar solo - note for note.
You have to admit, there was a lot of good rock music in the '70s and '80s ... with a lot of great guitar riffs!! I could whistle them note for note - I know, strange skill indeed. But cut me some slack - it was high school (ok ok I can still do that to this day, but I digress).
Allan Besselink, PT, DPT, Ph.D., Dip.MDT has a unique voice in the world of sports, education, and health care. Read more about Allan here.