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| MEME Delivery newsletter: A Slightly Different Perspective.
It's funny how inspiration is always sitting there right under your nose. At times you have to breathe uncomfortably through your mouth because inspiration is actually blocking up your nose holes. Well, I finally got inspired and I hope you're ready for me! JB Welcome to the second issue of MEME Delivery, (striving to be) a quarterly newsletter about business, life, and good stuff in general. Although aimed at people in college and beginning careers MEME Delivery is actually meant for anyone who is excited about lifelong learning and values my perspective (since I am the one who writes it, right?), but you can stop delivery if it isn't for you (details at the very bottom). I hope you'll give it a try. I know that's asking a lot these days, but I promise I'll make it worth your while. From my friend Adam's response email: Have you ever stopped to wonder why migrating geese fly in formation? When they fly in a "V," the flap of each birds' wings creates an aerodynamic lift for the bird flying behind it. They trade off being in the lead. Thus, the flock achieves about 70 percent more flying range than it would have if each goose were to fly alone! That is the spirit behind MEME Deslivery, and I appreciate it when you share stuff back with me. IMPORTANT SUGGESTION for maximum enjoyment: Go retro! Print it out on recycled paper, put a staple in it, and read it while you brush your teeth, or something! ;) ALSO, if you like it, please pass it on for me! (By the way, I did hear back that printing it out is "soooo 20th century, people in the 'real world' use a Bluetooth equipped Sony CLIE NX70V hooked up to the Sony Ericcson T68i to read all of the morning news while walking around, jogging, riding, shopping, in between sipping the morning latte and video conferencing on the built-in video camera and microphone." Well, OK then!)
2. Required Reading: Addicted to War, Why the U.S. Can't Kick Militarism, by Joel Andreas - stuff you know, but are in denial over. Get your War On, by David Rees - OK, now it's time to belly laugh till you cry. Zapp, the Lightning of Empowerment - Like Who Moved My Cheese, but better, I think. Who Moved My Cheese - Come on, just read it! Startup - A Silicon Valley Adventure - If you want to start a company, or pooh pooh anti-trust litigation. 3. In the CD player: SomaFM - Groove Salad Tori Amos - Scarlet's Walk Entertainment Suggestion - Yes, it's worth doing! 4. What's Up With John?
Going to Peru 5. Wish list. Ask and ye just might receive! 1. Current Thought Currents.
Money Matters - getting real, thinking differently, and a new monthly group I'm starting. I finally, finally pulled Rich Dad, Poor Dad by off the shelf. That's what I mean about inspiration plugging up one's nostrils sometimes. It was sitting on the shelf I look at every morning, at exactly eye level, and I just "didn't have time" to read it. I am getting very clear on the fact that the stuff I don't want to deal with is precisely the stuff I ought to deal with. And, the things that challenge me, scare me, or threaten me the most are the hardest things to even see. It's like they're wearing next gen. camouflage. More about that later, but this book is a must read. I read it last night (fell asleep just before 2AM) and finished the last 50 pages this morning first thing when I woke up. It's inpirational. It is a fast, fun, really interesting read. He rambles and repeats himself a lot, but that works because it makes you feel like he's talking to you right out of the pages. I actually felt like he cares. I believe he's sincerely trying to help people out of the "Rat Race." The things he repeats are important concepts, too. There are a lot of things he talks about in this book that you "already know." However, by putting this particular group of things you "already know" in this particular arrangement and by including a few things you might not have known Robert really hands you some powerful ammunition for the game of life. The younger you are the happier you'll be to know this stuff now, if you apply it. "I don't work for money!" Rich Dad says quite often, "Money works for me!" He also takes issue with a lot of the "conventional wisdom" about assets and liabilities saying that, as traditionally figured, people's "net worth" is often "worth less" than they think. Is your home really an asset? As a final note, I just talked with my friend Paul, who read Rich Dad, Poor Dad about six months ago. He said, "It really works! When I read it my financial life was a mess. But, these days I'm putting money away, I know where I stand, money is showing up unexpectedly." It reprogrammed his subconscious. "It's not like it makes you a millionaire overnight, but it gets you ready, which makes all the difference." If you read, or have read RDPD I am getting a group together in the Bay Area to play Cashflow on a monthly basis. Email me directly if you're interested in joining us.
By the way, I think this is also really important to include here. Did you know that 1% of the United States Population has more personal net worth than the entire bottom 95%. In 1980 CEOs were paid the average of 42 times the average pay of their workers. Today? CEOs are paid an average of 419 times the average pay of their workers. Is that ok with you? Even if you were one of them, would that really feel ok with you? Even people like Bill Gates Sr. is upset: http://www.responsiblewealth.org/. And, one of the reasons that Robert Kiyosaki teaches people how to think like rich people is because this disparity concerns even him. "Great civilizations collapsed when the gap between the haves and the have-nots was too great. America is on the same course, proving once again that history repeats itself, because we do not learn from history. We only memorize historical dates and names, not the lesson."
In the spirit of tending my own garden I am committing to healing myself and thereby healing the world. More on that below.
You're not alone if you have some cleaning up to do. Did you know the amount by which total U.S. personal debt in 2002 exceeded total disposable income? $628,000,000,000 (that's six hundred twenty eight Billion dollars!) Addiction? War? Healing the World? The War in Iraq had me spontaneously bursting into tears for weeks. It prompted a lot of serious, partisan and non-partisan thought on my part. What I have to say is difficult. It messes with your most cherished denials, but it's really important, don't leave me, ok? I find myself torn between believing that we have by far the best system in the world, yet also believing that it is based on unsustainable foundations in many ways. I believe our system makes leaders more accountable, events more transparent, and we citizens more powerful than just about any other. However, I also believe that, more than once, this fantastic system of ours has been misused and misguided - to the incredible detriment of the world. My father is a retired Marine Corps. Captain and one of the finest, truly admirable people I know. He fought in Viet Nam. He hates Lyndon Johnson with a vehemence that I can only understate as intense. In 1965 he was called away from our home in Hawaii (I was too young to really remember much) and got on a ship which went west, on its way to San Francisco. (Are you paying attention? I said WEST, from Hawaii, to San Francisco.) If that seems weird to you, imagine being on that boat as Lyndon Johnson spoke on the radio and told the citizens of United States that "not one drop of our boys blood will be spilled on foreign soil." It also seemed weird to those boys that "San Francisco" looked a lot more like the River Hue in Viet Nam. They were the first ship up that river and to say the least, blood was spilled on all sides from that point. I remember prying stories out of my father about that war. I will never forget what he said when I asked him, still too young to understand the feelings I must be churning for him, whether he thought the war was "right" or not. "Son," he said, fixing my eyes with his eagle-like gaze, "the longer I was over there the more I realized the people we were trying to 'liberate' didn't really care who was in charge. As long as they had their family, their water buffalo and their rice paddy to work they just wanted to be left in peace." Since I know my father so well I know why he went to war. He went, risked life and limb, and was eventually wounded protecting this country and the wonderful concept of freedom we all hold so dear. I know a lot of people in the military, or recently out, who are wonderful, good hearted people. My heart goes out to every one of our soldiers anywhere in world, and particularly to those in areas where they are desirable targets. I believe that, on one level, the military serves an honorable and necessary purpose. However, as Pink Floyd sings: "Forward! he cried, from the rear, and the front ranks died." The leaders of our country have, time and again, used false pretenses to get us into war. The jury is still out on the current administration, perhaps (http://www.truthout.org/). But, there is no question the Gulf of Tonkin incident was a fabrication and led to the Viet Nam War. There is no question that the US nodded to Saddam Hussein that it would be ok to invade Kuwait in 1991. That he was stupid enough to actually do it is another matter. And, how much do you know about the Korean War? I am not preaching, I am still very conflicted myself. But, if you are brave enough to face your denial you'll realize that something is truly wrong with our wonderful system and President Dwight Eisenhower pointed it out way back in 1961. "Our military organization today bears little relation to that known by any of my predecessors in peace time, or indeed by the fighting men of World War II or Korea. Until the latest of our world conflicts, the United States had no armaments industry. American makers of plowshares could, with time and as required, make swords as well. But now we can no longer risk emergency improvisation of national defense; we have been compelled to create a permanent armaments industry of vast proportions. Added to this, three and a half million men and women are directly engaged in the defense establishment. We annually spend on military security more than the net income of all United State corporations. This conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is new in the American experience. The total influence-economic, political, even spiritual-is felt in every city, every state house, every office of the Federal government. We recognize the imperative need for this development. Yet we must not fail to comprehend its grave implications. Our toil, resources and livelihood are all involved; so is the very structure of our society. In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist. [color for emphasis] We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together." http://www.eisenhower.utexas.edu/farewell.htm Dick Cheney, our current Vice-President, was the Secretary of Defense for the last Bush Administration, after which he was named the CEO of Halliburton, Inc. the world's biggest oil services firm (think: sells pans and Levis to the gold-miners, gets rich either way) with a huge stake in the Middle East. Halliburton was undeniably a large beneficiary of the Gulf war. Halliburton is also a large military contractor which makes billions of dollars building military bases and providing battlefield services. Under Cheney Halliburton's government contracts increased sharply, Cheney was amply rewarded and ended up as Hlliburton's largest individual stockholder - with a $45 Million dollar stake. Cheney was also invited to sit on the boards of TRW and EDS, two more HUGE war contractors while his wife, Lynn, joined the board of Lockheed-Martin (who was awarded the biggest plum in the history of war contracts - the deal to manufacture the next generation of fighter jets - when Cheney returned to office this time). OK, I mean, isn't there some sort of "conflict of interest" here? I am just asking. Of course, since GE (General Electric, a humongous war contractor) owns NBC and since CBS is owned by Viacom (which owns everything these days it seems) and since ABC is owned by Disney and CNN is owned by AOL/Time Warner, whose boards of directors all sit on the boards of weapons manufacturers and other war contractors, etc. this isn't really front page news... Try this one on for size: since 1948 the U.S. has spent more than $15 Trillion to build up our military.That is more than the value of all the factories, machinery, roads, bridges, water and sewage sytems, airports, railroads, power plants, office buildings, shopping centers, schools, hospitals, houses, etc. in the United States, put together. Wow. Gee. (No, GE ;) Did you know that our military budget is now 36% of TOTAL global military spending and that we spend more than the next 25 countries combined? Did you notice the peace dividend there for a minute? Well, that's over. Anyway, it's too much for this newsletter all at once. But, don't just turn it off. It's far too important. Introspection - It makes such a difference, why don't you have time for it? I got a lot of feedback on the book "Culture Jam," mentioned in the last newsletter. Not all of it was good, and I agree that there is a negativity and an anger to it that I don't always resonate with. I do, however, really, really, really believe in the "turn off your TV" message. I pretty much hate TV, so that wasn't an issue for me. But, it helped point out something to me that I have been realizing for a while: I keep myself too busy to think, too focused on what is at hand to spend enough time introspecting about where I am, what I want, what I am doing and what it all means. For our whole lives we've heard that question, "What does it all mean?" and it has come to seem like a joke to even contemplate it. Well, maybe it's my life stage that is making me value introspection so much, but it's definitely an extremely worthwhile lesson that you can come to earlier than I did. As I said, the war with Iraq really freaked me out, I have to admit. But, that led to a lot of serious thinking and some new directions, spiritually and otherwise, that I am really excited about. I have been taking the time to slow down in my daily life. I have been seeing myself as being just as important as my work and other's demands on my time. I have been thinking about my childhood, what pushes my buttons, what makes me tick and it's pretty interesting. Not only is it interesting to find out what is going on deep inside yourself, but it really helps make life better day by day. If you've read Voltaire's Candide you may remember that in the end our protagonist decides to tend his own garden. "If everyone just tended their own garden" the world would be wonderful. You hear it in the bible, as well. The whole story about the mote in your neighbor's eye when there is a sty in your own. The point is: I decided to tend my own garden, more than ever. To that end I have been introspecting intensely and I have begun practicing Astanga Yoga (at a great place called SF Astanga Yoga: http://www.sfayoga.com/). It is both a great physical workout, and a real spiritual practice. I dedicate my practice to healing myself and thereby healing the world. I resisted Yoga for a long time, but I have come to believe that it is essentially a way to reset the factory defaults of your body and mind (which is a good thing since I believe we come from the factory in great condition!). Poses, breathing, stretching. It sounds so mundane, but I feel like it is healing both my body and my spirit. You just have to try it for a while (at least 3 times a week) to get the point. Wrapped up in my feelings about all this is a recent study by a team at The University of Wisconsin-Madison that "scanned the brains of people who had been practising Buddhists for several years, looking particularly at areas important for emotion, mood and temperament. They found that the left side - the "happiness centre" - was consistently highly active in Buddhists." Meditation is one of the key factors, they believe. Admittedly it's not Yoga, per se, but the meditation aspect seems right to me. http://www.spotlight-online.de/CoCoCMS/generator/viewDocument.php?doc=7706 Trans Fats - Check this out, live longer. Along with healing your spirit there is a lot to heal about our bodies. I mean, let's face it. When tobacco company RJ Reynolds also owns Nabisco, and Phillip Morris, now called Altria (how altruistic of them to change their name!) owns Kraft foods, how can you possibly trust their food products to be healthy? You CAN'T! They know all about high sales, high profit, addiction, and people's willingness to turn a blind eye to damaging themselves if it feels (tastes) good. I would be willing to bet that the tobacco/food company has interlocking directorates (members on each others' boards) with a lot of the pharmaceutical companies that make the medications to fix the ailments cigarettes, cookies, crackers and other addicting, highly marketed products cause. X-files? No, reality? Yes! Trans Fats are artificial fats. You'll find them on food labels as partially-hydrogenated, hydrogenated, or fractionated vegetable oils. There is no safe consumption level. They are implicated in exacerbating or causing everything from diabetes, heart disease, ADHD, many types of cancer, obesity and many other ills. The FDA has finally, after years of delaying due to intense food industry lobbying, made companies list Trans Fat on their labels. This is already leading to a reduction in their use! Did you hear about the Oreo lawsuit? In the process of writing this I found interesting site: http://www.tobacco.org. Click on "A Kid's Tobacco Day." Did you know that if you asked all ages of both genders to rate Joe Camel on a "cool" scale that 9-12 year old boys would be the ones who rank him higher than any other demographic group would? Do you think that is a coincidence? I am in marketing and I can tell you for sure: It Is Not. By the way, from the 'weird feeling in your stomach' department: I just found a bottle of Kraft, Fat Free Garlic Ranch dressing from the year 2000 in my fridge (not mine, no, I didn't eat any and I have no idea why it was still in there). On its little neck label it says: Dinnertime Conversation Starters... #9 What is the nicest thing anyone has done for you? #22 If you could be any animal you want, what would you be? I mean, it's cool to help families talk, but that's a weird feeling in my stomach. Easter Island - Who me? Possibly the most clearly loved book suggestion in the last MEME Delivery was Guns, Germs and Steel, by Jared Diamond. (Ishmael was a close second.) I recently had a chance to see Jared Diamond speak, and I was definitely not disappointed! I even stood in line to get a signed book, not a typical John thing to do. He is the real deal: a classic "absent minded professor" type. Completely brilliant in his area and completely oblivious to unimportant stuff like clothing style and mussed up hairdo. It was truly exhilirating to just listen to him speak. I also got a chance to ask him a question during which I told him I felt like a genius while merely reading his book and talking about it at cocktail parties. That elicited a big round of "me too!" laughter from the audience. One of the main points he talked about, which I found truly amazing once he'd pointed it out, is that environmental degradation and political chaos go hand in hand in the world. If you were to ask a completely non-politically-savvy ecologist where the world hot spots of environmental degradation are he'd say Afghanistan, Liberia, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Somalia, the former Yugoslavia, Zaire, Iraq and so on. Then, if you were to ask a completely ecologically-unaware-politician (uh...) where the world's political hotspots are he'd say Afghanistan, Liberia, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Somalia, the former Yugoslavia, Zaire, Iraq, and so on. Coincidence? I think not. Here is a quote and a link to an article from 1995, which anticipates the book he is currently working on, about Easter Island. "In just a few centuries, the people of Easter Island wiped out their forest, drove their plants and animals to extinction, and saw their complex society spiral into chaos and cannibalism. Are we about to follow their lead?" http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/24/042.html Again, tend your garden. 2. Required Reading Addicted to War, Why the U.S. Can't Kick Militarism, by Joel Andreas - stuff you know, but are in denial over. Well, I guess I don't need to continue my rant from above. But, I will say one more time. This is hard stuff to deal with. It is hard stuff to face. It is hard to believe that the world could be so out of order in this way, but it's impossible to think it is not. This book is thoroughly documented with easy to use citations. I encourage you to read it. I cried when I finished it. I am not a pacifist, I remember the story about the yogic tribes that got all loving and peaceful in Southeast Asia and then got eaten up like cherries when the meanies from the north came riding down on them. But, as Albert Einstein said, "We cannot simultaneously prevent and prepare for war." What's it going to be? Are you willing to engage this thought, even? You will not exactly be happy to read this book, but you'll be glad you did. Get your War On, by David Rees - OK, so I don't come across as all doom and gloom, now it's time to belly laugh till you cry. This is a printed collection of the Internet cartoon series which I picked up at the airport one day. I seemed like one of those crazy, giggling people on the plane the whole way home. "Oh yeah, Operation Eduring Freedom is in the House!" You will laugh, you'll cry, you'll wonder "why all the swear words," but you'll have to admit it works and the points it makes are so powerful. I recommend buying a physical copy. It's great to have around to toss at friends who are visiting and need an ironic laugh and the proceeds go to mine detection and removal. As a sidenote - Did you know that DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency - creators of the Internet, too, by the interesting way) is working on a new project called a self healing minefield? Sounds like it would hang out aggressively and protect for a while and then, at a predetermined time, it would chill out, stop working and "heal" itself. Right? Nope, it actually repositions mines automatically to make up for any that explode. Remaining mines actually hop into the holes left by the exploded mines. Self healing minefield. Uh-huh. It makes me feel pretty conflicted again. Obviously I want our military might to be overwhelming, but I want that might used correctly. That is the rub. Anyway, have a belly laugh... http://www.getyourwaron.com Zapp, the Lightning of Empowerment, by William C. Byham - Like Who Moved My Cheese, but better, I think. This is a must read. Back in the old Dot Com days when I was one of the co-founders of BIGWORDS.com I got a taste of what it's like to try to organize, lead, keep happy, hold together and motivate a big group of disparate individuals and keep them focused on the goals that brought us all together. It's hard as hell. It's fun as hell, too. In the middle of what often felt like dismal and overwhelmingly complex, long and difficult days I found this fantastic little book. It did such a great job of crystallizing what I was trying to do, and teaching me how to do it better, that I bought a copy for everybody that managed anybody at BIGWORDS and begged them to please read it and apply what they learned. Several people had already read it and told me they re-read it on a yearly basis, or more often. It doesn't take very long to read, either. It makes you feel silly at first, but when you're finished you know you've just read something totally worthwhile and you vow to read it again, soon, and to implement what you've learned. I loved this book. I highly recommend it, and I am not alone in that. Whether you're at the beginning of your career, or well on the way to retirement, this book has lessons that apply any time you have to manage, or even just deal with, people. Who Moved My Cheese, by Spencer Johnson - Come on, just read it! Everyone else has. ;) This is another book like Zapp. It's even shorter, is even more of a fairy tale sort of book and everyone that has read it seems to just love it. I did, too. It makes a great point for both business and life. It is definitely one of those cultural phenomenons that you have to check out. It makes a timeless point that is very timely. Startup - A Silicon Valley Adventure, by Jerry Kaplan - If you want to start a company, or pooh pooh anti-trust litigation. This is one great book. It is a true story that reads like a suspense thriller and that involves Silicon Valley players you've heard of, including the richest man in the world, and Mitch Kapor, too! This book was called one of the ten best business books of 1995 by Business Week, but the lessons it provides are even more relevant today. I loved this book. I didn't like everything it taught me, but the lessons are important, especially if you want to succeed with a startup. Of course, you can find the best prices on the Web at http://www.bigwords.com/?=JB 3. In the CD player SomaFM - Groove Salad OK, it's not exactly in the CD player (I don't use that very much anymore!) this is a fantastic Internet station that plays some very chill, very well chosen, non repetitive ambient grooves. The problem with a lot of stations like this is that you can't leave them on all day and all night 'cause they repeat too often. Not this one. And no commercials, either! I PayPal'd them $20. I couldn't help it. My Senior Citizen business partner even thinks it's cool (but then, he's been called "age adjusted, the coolest guy on earth."). Try it. I am not the only Groove Salad addict around! As I write this on Sunday afternoon there are 10245 listeners connected... http://www.somafm.com/ Tori Amos - Scarlet's Walk I don't know Tori Amos personally, although I suspect that she would be someone I would really like talking with. I do know the "public" Tori Amos, though, and I LOVE her. Back in the mid '90's I went to see Tori play at the Greek in LA. I knew her music and I liked it, but I was completely unprepared for the performance I would see. She is not someone who just sits there, plays the piano, and sings. She is dynamic in the extreme. Even if she is merely using the angle of her hips and the power of her eyes, she enraptures her audience. I don't know what happened, but somewhere during Beauty Queen into Love Song the floodgates opened. Her voice, the words, her lilting inflections... it just reached inside, caressed my soul, and the tears started flowing. I cried so hard the entire front of my white t-shirt went see-through. I was drenched all the way to my belt line. Tears well up as I write this, just remembering it. Recently, I had the rare chance to see her at the Expression Center's Meyer Sound Performance Hall with about 150 other people. As luck would have it I got to sit pretty much in the middle of the front row and every time Tori turned to sing to the audience it felt like she was singing directly to me. I'll tell you what, she is not only physically good looking, but the spirit that animates her flesh is so beautiful that I was fairly stunned the whole time. I find it embarrassing to be star struck, but this was something different and way beyond that. I just hoped I didn't look as much like a deer in the headlights as I felt like I did. After the performance I ran out to buy (yes, buy, not Kazaa) her newest album: Scarlet's Walk. (I recommend the limited edition with the DVD included...) It is a fantastic album. I like every song on it. Go listen to it! Entertainment Suggestion - Dark Side of the Rainbow, or DSoTR - Yes, it's worth doing! My friend Dani suggested I mention the "Dark Side of the Rainbow," and I agree. A number of years ago I foisted this on our Digital Dinner group. We all had some cocktails cued up Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon CD while watching The Wizard of Oz. What you do is "watch" the movie but "listen" to Dark Side of the Moon, so Pink Floyd becomes the soundtrack. Below is one of many websites dedicated to this phenomenon. Click on set-up and don't read too much beyond how to do it so you don't ruin it. We did the third roar. For me it's similar to harmonics, or the self similarity of the Universe. To recap: Yes, I have done it. Yes, you should try it. Yes, if you want to make it a party, that would be a good idea! ;) http://www.synchronicityarkive.com/dsotr.php 4. What's Up With John? Going to Peru, A Poem or Two, Burning Man, coming up! Going to Peru It's official, I am finally going to Peru. It is like a mirror image of Northern or Central California, less crowded, and it's peak season (Winter) there now. Since I am goofy (stop laughing in agreement, ;) that means I surf with my right foot forward) I am backside. That means I have my back to the wave face on most of the primo waves in California. That's ok, but it's definitely more difficult, especially at my stage. Since the predominant swell direction in California is from the north most of the waves along the CA coast break from north to south; they're rights. I like lefts, better. Peru has them, in spades! Since it's less developed there are still lots of uncrowded, really long, unspoiled, big lefts down there. I am praying this will be a real chance for me to get a whole bunch of really long rides and improve my actual surfing abilities. I will be doing several articles for the premier San Francisco surf site, http://www.surfpulse.com, and I have managed to hook up with Oscar Morantes. Oscar is the most well known surf guide in Peru, from what I can tell, and he's agreed to show me around and help me with my articles. Go ahead and try this one out loud: What a stoker! You'll love hearing yourself say it. It's gotta sound just like those turtles (who are very cool) in "Finding Nemo" (another Pixar home run). Yeah! What a stoker! As you can guess, any and all advice, connections, suggestions, monetary help (I accept PayPal! ;) positive thoughts and prayers are welcome! I'm taking a digital camera, so there will be photos! A Poem or Two I recently reconnected with my poetic self when I found some floppys from way back in the day that had a lot of my poetry on them. In honor of Woody Allen's fantastic movie Love and Death (pee your pants funny, by the way!) I've included two poems. The Mango That We Shared, and Captain, This Tombstone is Growing (which is about one of my father's experiences in Viet Nam). Like this whole newsletter, they're copyright John Bates, but feel free to forward them with attribution, should you want to forward them. Also, please do me a favor and read them out loud. Read the mango one like you really mean it, and read the Tombstone one like you were there. :)
The Mango That We Shared I was just sitting with my fingers dripping and my mind wandered to you And the mango that we shared I cannot help but smile When I see you walk or when I hear you talk or when I think of you looking at me I am just sitting and my mind is dripping with images of you Your long and fragrant hair soft shoulders strong and bare and warmed by the sun That shines when you walk and shines when you talk and when I think of you smiling at me I was just sitting with my fingers dripping from the mango that we shared.
It takes up all my courage to believe I'm not insane but I swear to god it's growing, sir. All right Marine, maintain if you say the tombstone's growing I believe you, it's O.K. Captain, hunch right down here in the mud that is my bed look through the throaty darkness at the tombstone up ahead I swear to you it's growing in this place that smells of death
As I sat there in the darkness by this youth as old as stone and stared out through the barbed wire at the graveyard full of bones I thought about the living as we die so all alone
And yes, the stone was growing I didn't wonder why when so many of my close friends had fallen, bled and died in this war that has no honor like its leaders, up on high
So I called out to the sniper put his scope up to my eye and looked out at the graveyard there before me, like a lie and saw behind the tombstone a patient, wizened spy
I gave the sniper's gun back Do your duty, son, I said He squeezed the trigger, breathless and another one lay dead but the tombstone had grown taller as he'd twitched, and grinned, and bled
My latest venture is http://www.GoldstarEvents.com. Dick, my business partner, and I have taken the NorCal region (Goldstar is already cranking in SoCal). We hook you up with great performing arts events, like dance, comedy, plays, and the like, for half price or better. We are able to do that because we work with the HR department at large corporations to provide our service as a free, no hassle perk. HR benefits people LOVE us. We get special deals for our big companies, but anyone who is signed up for our newsletter gets a list of great events every Tuesday. Sometimes, if we get a last minute great opportunity we'll send out an "alert." We NEVER share or sell our list and you only hear from us about things in your chosen vicinities and areas of interest. I would be very appreciative and honored if you would sign up. I am working really hard to bring great things to the table and your sign up helps me a lot! I promise you'll be really glad you signed up.
Burning Man - Coming Up! I will be at Burning Man again this year. I know I am bringing some friends from Holland who are perfect 'Burners,' but I don't know much beyond that. I am open to suggestions if you've got a camp, wanna join us, or just want to say: "HEY!" If you don't know what I am talking about go to http://www.burningman.com - a temporary, contemporary art museum in the desert of Nevada with a week long opening party. And, if you want a cool website, book, DVD, experience visit http://www.desertdrama.com.
5. Wish list. HR Benefits Managers for http://www.GoldstarEvents.com. I am wishing for people who need the services of Hotwax (the site stinks right now, check out http://www.twpinc.com for our most recent e-commerce back end implementation (we didn't design the front end look and feel, just the dynamic, powerful, database driven back end). I am also looking for people in need of MEME Dispersal Unit: Your Cultural Catalyst for Brand Advocacy. New Site: http://www.MEMEdispersal.com
More campus consultants. We're constantly growing and looking for talented, in the know, opinion leaders at major campuses all over the US. If you, or someone you know, is a student and is interested, get in touch with me by sending an email to:
I want to be a Campus Consultant!
What do you need? Let me know! I would love to be able to help you! That wraps up the second installment of Meme Delivery. I hope you enjoyed it and I wish you a wonderful summer! Please forward this to friends, if you think they'd enjoy it.
Finally, I welcome your feedback about the newsletter at
MEME Feedback
+++ John Bates has a wonderful dog named Milo, loves to surf, and is the President of MEME Dispersal Unit, a memetic marketing group with the ability to co-create and disseminate great marketing messages. Meme Delivery newsletter is intended to deliver worthwhile ideas, books, music, and generally life enhancing information. Someday there may be some cool sponsors, but that will enhance it, not ruin it. More about John Bates Having achieved near ubiquity in the wired world John has over 15 years of technology, networking and communications experience. An Internet veteran since 1987, John began his career installing and managing complex computer networks for the University of California at Los Angeles. Prior to founding his Memetic Consulting firm, MEME Dispersal Unit, John was a co-founder and the Chief Evangelist for BIGWORDS.com. There, John ran the full startup gamut initially raising funding while overseeing PR and Marketing. After setting up and handing off the customer service depart John crafted and led the college and guerilla marketing charge, which put BIGWORDS far ahead of their closest competitors for a fraction of the marketing budget. Before founding BIGWORDS John was the Director of Business Development and the Technology Evangelist for Skunk Technologies, a Santa Monica based Java distributed-object developer. Previous to that, he was Director of Online Services for Virtual Vegas, the first online entertainment Web site in the dot-com domain. John also co-founded RadioNet, the first radio show with a home page. He has lectured all over the world at conferences, symposia and in classrooms and has written about digital culture for many magazines ranging from Wired to Surfer. John graduated Summa Cum Laude from the UCLA Honors Collegium. Appropriately enough, John came to LA and his current career by circuitous way of his rock band. At the tender age of 20 John left Salt Lake City for LA with his band. They slept in their cars, went hungry at first, and finally achieved a modicum of success. (Find them on mp3.com! SLC Urge and Reptilian Space Dogs, you'll laugh really hard.) But, you still had never heard of them until today. Copyright 2003, John Bates Let the waters settle You will see moon and stars Mirrored in your being --Rumi
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