ChristopherWentz: October 2006

The Visa Moments of Life

Relishing the Warmth

Four more days before I return to Colorado. Mission 1: further develop my model of a non-profit sport development foundation, to be named AE Sport Development. Mission 2: Ride myself into a hole of fatigue, so when I return to the arctic of Colorado I have a week to acclimatize.

"Do you listen or wait to talk?"

It's an interesting question, posed by Mia Wallace (Uma Thurman, Pulp Fiction). The answer reaveals more about your capacity to learn, listen, and appreciate your companions than you might think. If you think you can improve you might try following up statements of others with a question, or asking them to elaborate on their beliefs. The gradient of possibilities (and the hope to elevate my communication with others) keeps the thought present much more than I would have thought the first tie I heard it posed.

A chuckle for you.


It's funniest penalty kick i've ever seen! (Not really, but Google suggested I write that.)

Holding a Clinic

As referred to in many sports and professions, "holding a clinic", is the act of demonstrating excellence in a certain field while the demonstrator's peers are transformed to pupils.

I relish a good clinic; no matter my place in the story. I was witness to Lance Armstrong's clinics in preparation from 1999-2005. Before him came Michael Jordan, and before him Billie Jean King, Flo-Jo, Benjamin Franklin, and Peter (The Great, Russia).

This week we look at a modern corporation holding a clinic. Apple Computer Inc.

Software: smaller in scope, but seamless. With a 10-15% market share, you simply have to be smooth. With most applications designed in-house, everything just works.
Time spent trying to get the quick-start bar on my new XP equipped desktop to re-appear: 170 minutes.
Time spent over four years on maintenance on '02 iBook: ~112 minutes.
Protective apps on XP machine: Spyware Doctor, Ad-Aware, Mcafee, & Zone Alarm.
Protective apps on iBook: Built-in Firewall.
Interesting observation: Both Apples were plug-n-play with Nikon Camera, HP printer, and Microsoft Mouse. XP didn't even recognize its own brand of mouse without driver disk.

Hard evidence:

IBM tries hard- I think they do the best job of making their products small, clean, and powerful. This is the best they can muster for a DVD drive equipped machine.

How hard is this? Do they even try?

The iPod: The device that became an icon; the icon that sets the standard. The question is not "do you have an iPod?"- it's "What kind of iPod do you have?

-75% MP3 Player market share.
-60 million iPods sold worldwide

Apple's product, while always advancing, is not twice as good as their competition. Their marketing has saturated the consumer's association of iPod with modernism, music, design, and requisite technology.
Most Americans: A) Choose an iPod when searching for a player because we assume it's the industry standard.
B) Want an iPod because we believe it's the social norm.
C) End up with an iPod even if there is a better product because we fear not being cool.

Ironically, a good reason for not buying an iPod is the same reason for buying an Apple computer- to be different and support the underdog.

Bravo Apple- by understanding psychology you have held a clinic. Southpark says you may interchange "Held a Clinic" with "You Got Served".

Getty Center Villa

John Paul Getty Endowed the Getty Foundation with 5% of his fortune, which is enough money for the foundation to operate comfortably. Located in Los Angeles and Malibu, the Getty Center and Getty Villa provide amazing displays of art and architecture at no cost to the visiting public. The foundation's goal is to make the arts accessible to all the public. Prime example: They pick up the trip's transportation tab for many low-income schools every year.