Leonardo Da Vinci’s Resume

Through a Tweet by former Novell executive Nat Friedman I learned of a  most interesting blog post on the above topic.

The Best Story from Sunday (2-7-10)

These stories, shared in the Grandview Ninth Ward today, impressed me.

1.  A retired major league baseball in my ward player participated in a fantasy camp for middle-aged persons who pay $4,000 to spend a week playing baseball, during which they are assigned lockers, wear a uniform, and receive coaching from players who have had major league careers.  One of the attendees told my fellow member of positive attributes of LDS people he has known, the ward member asked if he would like to know more, and now the man and his family are hearing discussions from missionaries from the LDS Church.

2.  A woman was very concerned when her daughter, who has had her driver’s license for only 3 months, on a very snowy day had to drive alone to school by herself for the first time.  The mother, who tends to worry about the safety of her loved ones, prayed for the safety of her daughter.  The daughter called her mother to report she had been in an accident, but all was OK.  The mother drove to the scene of the accident, but the other driver had left.  Shortly thereafter the driver called the mother, apologized, and explained he had not intended to hit her daughter.  The daughter had stopped at a roundabout because a semi-truck had the right of way, but the man behind her was unable to stop because of the icy road conditions.  To avoid a serious collision with the daughter’s car, he chose to sacrifice his car by directing it to instead collide with something along the side of the road, but could not completely avoid hitting the daughter’s car.  The daughter was uninjured, and the mother was very grateful that her prayers had been answered.

3.  A member of our ward ran track and cross country for BYU, and is now a professor in the exercise science department.  Saturday he helped set up the BYU track for a girl whose family made a request through the Make-A-Wish Foundation.  A couple of years ago the girl was unable to complete a 3-mile race held at BYU, and it was at that point that her physical problems were diagnosed, and now she may have only weeks to live.  Saturday the track at BYU was set up as if for an actual track meet, with score boards turned on, the whole works.  The girl’s father pushed his daughter around the track in some sort of a cart, completing the mile run – - that was the “wish” the family had requested on her behalf.  About 500 friends and family members were there to support her.  A member of the family approached my fellow ward member to express gratitude.

4.  In the Deacons Quorum, the lesson focused on the story of Joseph in Egypt.  There are may lessons to be learned from his life.  It is a story worth review again from time to time for his inspiring example.  A chapter from an Old Testament Manual for LDS Institutes of Religion has excellent insights on his life, and in particular I’ve always liked this quote:

“The story of Joseph, the son of Jacob who was called Israel, is a vivid representation of the great truth that ‘all things work together for good to [those] who loved God.’ (See Rom. 8:28 .) Joseph always seemed to do the right thing; but still, more importantly, he did it for the right reason. And how very, very significant that is! Joseph was sold by his own brothers as a slave and was purchased by Potiphar, a captain of the guard of Pharaoh. But even as an indentured servant, Joseph turned every experience and all circumstances, no matter how trying, into something good.

“This ability to turn everything into something good appears to be a godly characteristic. Our Heavenly Father always seems able to do this. Everything, no matter how dire, becomes a victory to the Lord. Joseph, although a slave and wholly undeserving of this fate, nevertheless remained faithful to the Lord and continued to live the commandments and made something very good of his degrading circumstances. People like this cannot be defeated, because they will not give up. They have the correct, positive attitude, and Dale Carnegie’s expression seems to apply: If you feel you have a lemon, you can either complain about how sour it is, or you can make a lemonade. It is all up to you.” (Hartman Rector, Jr., “Live above the Law to Be Free,” Ensign, Jan. 1973, p. 130 .)

The Quasi-Weekly Listener’s Digest (2-4-10)

Below are some things that caught my attention during my recent listening of The Economist (These are from the November 28^th – December 4^th 2009 print edition, the text of which is available at www.economist.com, although full access may be limited to subscribers). More background on these listening activities appears at the bottom of this post.

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“Argentina’s Congress passed a law approving the forced extraction of DNA from people suspected of having been stolen as babies from female prisoners of the 1976-83 military dictatorship, and given to army and police families.” (Politics this week – - Nov 26th 2009 | From The Economist print edition)

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“By choosing two virtual unknowns, with paltry political experience, as the first permanent president of the European Council and as the new EU foreign-policy supremo, Europe’s leaders have made their union look ridiculous.” (Europe’s motley leaders – - Behold, two mediocre mice – - The European Union’s choices for its new top jobs reveal a pitiful lack of global ambition – - Nov 26th 2009 | From The Economist print edition)

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“In film, music, television and books, blockbusters are tightening their grip on audiences and advertisers (see article). The growth of obscure products has come at the expense of things that are merely quite popular. The loser in a world of almost limitless entertainment choice is not the hit, but the near-miss.” (The future of entertainment – - Middle-class struggle – - More than ever, media is diverging into blockbusters and niches—with everything else struggling – - Nov 26th 2009 | From The Economist print edition)

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“After meeting human-rights activists, Mr Medvedev ordered an investigation into Mr Magnitsky’s death and into conditions in Russian detention centres. Prison doctors or wardens may be punished. But Mr Medvedev is unlikely to stop the hostage-taking, corporate raids by state agencies, rent-seeking and corruption that have become part of a system. It is a system that began in 2000 under President Vladimir Putin, when Vladimir Gusinsky, a media tycoon, was hounded out of the country. It kept a pregnant Yukos lawyer and the firm’s fatally ill manager in prison in a vain effort to make them testify against their old boss, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who is now on trial once more. And it is the main obstacle to Russia’s modernisation.” (Russian modernisation – - Dmitry Medvedev’s building project – - The Russian president talks up modernisation, but to little purpose – - Nov 26th 2009 | MOSCOW | From The Economist print edition)

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“There is nothing in the e-mails so far to suggest that the authors do not believe in man-made global warming and are making the whole thing up, as some have been claiming. A more serious concern is that they believe in global warming too much, and that their commitment to the cause leads them to tolerate poor scientific practice, to close themselves off from criticism, and to deny reasonable requests for data.” (Climate change – - Mail-strom – - Leaked e-mails do not show climate scientists at their best – - Nov 26th 2009 | From The Economist print edition)

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“His pivotal place both in smokejumping’s worst disaster, and its tough beginnings, made him a living symbol of the programme. Every year, he proudly presented the jump pins and certificates to the freshman smokejumpers at his old base in Missoula. He was a legend to them, even if the stories of his jumps—`silk stories’, as jumpers call them—tended to begin with a cuss, and a crash, and himself dangling from a tree.” (Earl Cooley – - Earl Cooley, smokejumper, died on November 9th, aged 98 – - Nov 26th 2009 | From The Economist print edition)

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NOTE ABOUT MY LISTENING ACTIVITIES: I listen to The Economist each week by downloading mp3 files available to subscribers, then using a cheap mp3 player while running, working out at the gym, commuting, or doing chores. There are about 8 hours of audio per week, sometimes more when The Economist has a special edition or includes a supplement, such as their quaterly technology update. By noting certain items I heard I reinforce my memory of them, and this written record will help me be able to refer to them in the future. And, if these things appeal to you, the entire articles, or the entire edition of the “newspaper,” may be of interest to you. If you go to www.economist.com, you’ll find a tab toward the upper left of the homepage that will take you to “this week’s print edition,” from which you may also find “previous print editions.” (Don’t go to www.theeconomist.com, unless you want to see a website put up by some fan of Alan Greenspan)

Buried Treasure

In many of my posts I simply point readers to things that I find interesting, including things that others have written. When I link to another site, often an article in a publication, I can later know how many times per day someone clicks on that link.  I don’t know the identity of the reader, only that someone clicked.  Recently, someone helped me rediscover an article that I first read many years ago.  I posted a link to the article.  No one has clicked on that link.  I had so many links in that post that I imagine a reader would conclude they simply cannot take time to follow all the links, so they click on none of them.  I had taken a veritable treasure and, in effect, buried it.

Spencer W. Kimball passed away on November 5, 1985.  In the late 1970s his son Edward co-authored his biography.  The recently “rediscovered” article begins with this note:

“On 8 January 1985 John stopped in at my office.  ]ohn Whiting is a short man, slight of build and balding, now retired. I had not seen him for many years, but I recognized him immediately.  When I was in my teens and the family car needed gas or repairs, my instructions were always to `Take it to johnny’s.’ Because Johnny Whiting’s service station was near our home, I saw nothing particularly unusual in the instruction, but I was vaguely aware of a loyalty between my father and the service station operator that ran both ways.  When Johnny said in my office, `l’d like to tell you some things about your father that you may not know,’ I welcomed him and turned on the tape recorder. After listening, I understood much better the origin and depth of that relationship. Here, almost verbatim, is the transcript of Johnny Whiting’s story. It reads well aloud. – - Edward L. Kimball”

In the article, John Whiting reveals how his relationship with President Kimball began late one cold winter night when he received a phone call from someone whose car would not start, and who had not been able to get anyone else to help him.  The story unfolds from there.  Some day when you have a few moments, read “Spencer W. Kimball and the Service Station Guy.“  I am confident you’ll conclude it was time well spent.

The New Shanghai Circus

Tonight I saw the The Shanghai Circus perform at BYU’s de Jong Concert Hall.  The BYU website includes this description of the group:

“A beautifully orchestrated presentation of Chinese circus acts dating back to the harvest festivals of 2000 years ago, this contemporary performance is enhanced by powerful and enchanting choreography, lighting, scenery, and music. People of all ages will be enthralled by contortionists, acrobats, and comedians performing feats of incredible skill and imagination. If it’s humanly possible—and even if it’s not!—Shanghai’s acrobats, jugglers and contortionists do it with spectacular flair.”