“A city with public art is a city that thinks and feels” (nnpaf.org) – The statement says a lot!  When you walk down a city street or visit a city park and see a unique piece or artwork or sculpture on display what do you think?  How does it make you feel?  But more importantly, what if it hadn’t been there at all?

Again, from the NNPAF -- “The impact of public art on a community is priceless and immeasurable and once experienced it only appreciates. Public art has the power to energize our public spaces, arouse our thinking, and transform the places where we live, work, and play into more welcoming and beautiful environments that invite interaction. Public art can make strangers talk, children ask questions, and calm a hurried life. It enhances the quality of life by encouraging a heightened sense of place and by introducing people to works of art that can touch them and generations to come.”

Public art can take on the form of monuments, statues or sculpture, but certainly are not limited to these.  I have seen benches shaped like musical instruments located in front of concert halls, and fountains and man made streams through busy urban areas.  In this day an age we also have technology becoming art…  In this video people visit a website, make their designs for the light show and then they are displayed for all to enjoy. Interactive Public Art what a great concept! (This is another Jon Rawlinson video – this is Vectorial Elevation in Vancouver for the Olympics)

www.youtube.com/watch?v=vskx5X6swQg

I am a firm believer that municipalities and governments should encourage and perhaps in some cases even require that projects include a budget for public art.  Think of your community and some of the things on display…now go out and enjoy them.  Take a walk!

There is just something calming, soothing, mysterious, peaceful, and awesome about the underwater world.  People are given opportunities to experience through film / tv / video (IMAX or as in the example above YouTube) but there is just something about being immersed in the experience.  It would offer a great education opportunity for people of all ages, it could provide a great research facility, it could be an additional tourist attraction for the tourism and convention bureau, it could be a great volunteer opportunity, it could be a retreat from the hectic day to day activities.   Is the old Y building the right place?  Probably not but it shouldn’t hinder the grass roots movement to bring this reality to the Spokane area.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7deClndzQw

The above video of the 2nd largest aquarium in the world (in Japan) is one that I found to be absolutely awesome to watch…(Shot by Jon Rawlinson) I launch it in full screen pretty regularly and noticed that it is now on the Facebook page for the Spokane Aquarium.  I love how the people are just little silhouettes and how we really are miniscule and just a small component of what is LIFE on this planet.

What are your thoughts on and aquarium in Spokane?  Would you support it?

www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOhf3OvRXKg

The American Idols have been busy…  Today I heard for the first time (give me a break I’ve been on vacation and with no teens in the house I didn’t see the Teen Choice awards) David Archuleta’s Crush.  I’ve included the You Tube and the lyrics below for your enjoyment.   It seems to be true to his style of music… at least the style that I enjoyed from him the most when he was on the show.

I have also read that this song has made its debut on the Billboard Top 100.  Talk about whirlwind.  It hasn’t been that long since the show ended and the artists are already hitting the charts big! Remember Time of My Life – by David Cook is already at something close to 300,000+ sold.  I wish them all the best of luck… Take a walk over to the iTunes store and buy their songs! 

One of my favorites from YouTube and last.fm is We Walk in a Fog… It has an interesting lyric to think about -- perhaps wedding music -- and the a cappella is nice, smooth, and just plain ol’ pleasant to listen to.

We Walk in a Fog

We walk in a fog that forever surrounds us
and hark to the sounds of the moonlit nights
We tread on a treacherous moss that confounds us
and darkness of dusk human hearts does blight.

But two lonely hearts when join in singing
and calling each other in night’s confine,
two shadows entwining and lovingly clinging -
oh wouldn’t, oh wouldn’t that be divine!

This is the version I found on YouTube

www.youtube.com/watch?v=14VVW-QiXbM

I also found it on last.fm (this is from the album and much more professional) -- http://www.last.fm/music/Rajaton/_/We+Walk+In+A+Fog

Through the course of the movie, these hospital roommates, become friends.  Friends that learn they must face the fact that they are dying and perhaps some not so “joyful” other things in their lives.  

The concept of the “bucket list” -- the list of all the things you want to do before you “kick the bucket” --  is one that Carter (Freeman) shares with Cole (Nicholson) as a college philosophy professor’s exercise to his students.  I seem to recall a similar exercise and my results were actually pretty similar to what Carter remembers.   Money, family, happiness… they are all things that as a college freshman I thought were a long time in coming.  Now on the right side of middle age, my college bucket list is important and certainly has relevance to what and who I am today but I think with life experience there are a lot of other things I think I would add to that list.  Cole and Carter create the list and head off on this world adventure to see and do all the things they wish they could have in their life.  

There is an interesting side plot that I think the movie really glossed over rather poorly.   Carter is a married man and when he finds out he is terminal he makes a choice to spend a portion of his remaining days away from his wife and family doing the things that he wants to do.  I find the way the movie handled this to be very “light” as opposed to how it might play out in real life.

The power of the movie for me was not in the humor, or the very poorly done visits to some of the wonders of the world.  (You would think the digital additions of the pyramids, the Taj Mahal, the Great Wall of China, or the African Safari would have been better done.)  The power lies in the message.  If you know that you only have a specific amount of time to live what are the things that you would do in your life… what would be your “bucket list”?   Do you have relationships that need mending?  Places to see?  Experiences that you would like to capture?  Are there mistakes you made that need to be corrected?  When the eulogy is given…what’s going to be said?

While I wouldn’t call the movie “life changing” it is definitely one that I am not disappointed that I shelled out the bucks to view and I will purchase it when it comes out on DVD.  Definitely a thumbs up and a movie that I would wholeheartedly recommend.  

And I can’t help but ask… What’s on your “bucket list”?

I’ll start…   I want to learn to play the piano! 

Maybe we should all start Living Like We Were Dying?   

www.youtube.com/watch?v=TNWg5DlWVa8

www.youtube.com/watch?v=QdT4wfQO8d4

I’ve heard many different things being compared to herding cats…  Project Management is Like Herding Cats, Managing Programmers is Like Herding Cats, Leadership is Like Herding Cats, Teaching is Like Herding Cats, Getting My Family Together is Like Herding Cats. (You’ve probably got a few things in your life that are like herding cats as well.)

The interesting thing for me as a NON-CAT person is I really wasn’t sure what that whole phrase implied…so I thought I might take a look at it from the standpoint of why I don’t like cats.

1. Cat’s don’t “need” me in the truest sense of they word.  They tend to do just fine by themselves and really to me only seem interested when they need or want something from me.  I’ve been told they “sense” that I am not a cat person.
2. Cat’s never seem to focus on anything.   You can easily distract them with a ball of twine or some other toy.  They can bounce from distraction to distraction and seem to be quite happy doing it.  I’ve been told they focus on the distractions… that’s what they are good at.
3. Cats will climb all over everything.  Boundaries don’t seem to matter.  My kitchen table, the stove, bathroom vanities, you name it and it is their territory. 
4. The incessant need to make sure that you know they have claws.  When you push them away or put them down, they will let you know that they also know how to use these claws.  Make sure you provide them with an acceptable scratching post or they will use whatever they can get those claws into.
5. Cats want to be awake when I want to sleep and if it’s mating season it is absolutely amazing the amount of noise that you can get out a cat when they are on the prowl.

So now look at your [Job or Task] and look at some of the reasons above…  I’ll use Project Management since I am a bit familiar with it…

1. Team members will often think that the PM is really not needed and that their job is to make their life miserable, holding them accountable for their portion of the project.  When people want to go it alone in a project things will quickly start to become problematic.  The sum of the parts is much better than the lone wolf.  (ummm cat)
2. Projects need to be organized, well communicated, structured, etc… If you are easily distracted or have team members that are easily distracted the project becomes at risk.
3. Everyone needs to know their boundaries and work on the things that they have been assigned.  I am a firm believer that you can’t manage ever single task.  You need to allow your team members the flexibility to do their task and all of its sub-tasks in the time allotted, holding them accountable.   
4. Having claws… In a project I might consider this to be the hidden agenda.  Either the project sponsor, the team members or in some cases even the project manager have an agenda that they want to accomplish that is not part of the project but they will wield their claws to get it accomplished.
5. Time management in projects is so important to meet the deadlines agreed upon.  If we aren’t meeting the deadlines we end up with again a project at risk.  Doing things “on your own time” never works well with projects.  I don’t care if you do it at 2am as long as I don’t have to get a call from you at 2am that you are running up against problems or need to discuss a change order.

So I guess the reasons I hate cats can be fit into the analogy…  I wonder if it would work with dogs?  Perhaps another day!

There was a super bowl commercial that was done a few years back by EDS… It was absolutely one of the funniest and well done!  I’ve included it from a YouTube search below… enjoy!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_MaJDK3VNE

When I bought Josh Groban’s NOEL CD I read through the songs and thought it would be an awesome Christmas album.  The first time I heard Thankful it brought tears to my eyes.  Holidays have always been a time of reflection for me… and this year is no different.   What is different this year is that I was shaken at the foundation with the sudden passing of my Papa Carm.   The experience, the loss, has been very sobering, and eye opening for me.  We can’t take time back… and as each minute ticks by we lose it forever… that minute is now only available in our memories.  I get so busy sometimes that I forget what I am Thankful for…  Josh’s song helped me to remember.

This holiday season I would encourage each of you to reflect on the things that you have… the things that YOU are thankful for.