Mutaz Barshim

Friday, December 5, 2014

For most folks, for most non-track and field fans, the high jump is an obscure field event that receives relatively little attention compared to such sprints as the Usain Bolt dominated 100 and 200 meters.  There is something about the title, "The World's Fastest Man" that gets all the notoriety.  However, for the track and field fan (and former high jumper) such as myself, the high jump is a beautiful event where for a brief moment a human being using only the power of his legs and the will of his heart defies gravity and literally flies.  This past year 2014 was a particularly good year for the high jump.  In this year, five different men achieved heights that placed them in the top ten of all time.  To be placed in the top ten meant jumping 2.40 meters or about 7' 10.5".  That is an astounding height.  However, this year, in one single competition two of the competitors actually cleared 2.42 meters or about 7' 11.25".  To have two individuals clear that height in the same meet was fantastic.  However, topping off this greatest year in the history of the high jump was the clearance of 2.43 meters or about 7' 11.75" by an African Arab from Qatar by the name of Mutaz Barshim.  You can hear the excitement caused by Barshim's leap at    

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DIrDPa7moec

and an English version can be found at 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AC0tNAlHWSc

and a more condensed version can be found at

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDsSuvnwt2U

In listening to these broadcasts, please do pay attention to the jump itself.  Barshim's jump is aesthetically a leap of great beauty.  It is as though his body floats over the incredibly high bar.  In watching this jump over and over again, for me, Barshim's jump reinforced the metaphor that can be applied when approaching life's barriers.  In the high jump, we were always taught that with the right preparation and the right frame of mind, no barrier could not be overcome.  We were instructed to visualize jumping higher than the bar itself and to visualize the clearance we would achieve.  Indeed, we were taught that by visualizing the dream, it could become reality.  

Thus, for me and perhaps for others, Barshim's remarkable leap served to reinforce the heights that the human spirit can achieve.  It seems that in approaching life's barriers, whether they be professional or personal, with the right preparation and the right attitude there is no obstacle that cannot be overcome.  Indeed, if we are truly blessed, we can all learn to fly over life's barriers like Mutaz Barshim.

Have a great weekend.

Peace.

Travel Photos and Bora Bora

Monday, December 1, 2014

Someone  asked me to share photos of my trip.  I think my girlfriend and I must have taken a thousand snapshots on our cellphones during our trip.  I am currently in discussion with my IT Department (aka my kids) as to how best to transfer the photos to the internet.  However, while the IT Department is taking this under consideration, I think the following will give some idea as to the beauty that we experienced at our first true destination.

http://search.aol.com/aol/image?q=bora+bora+photos

One of my favorite authors is James Michener and he quite aptly proclaimed Bora Bora to be the most beautiful island in the world.  It is also, in his book Hawaii, the land of origin for the native Hawaiians that exist today.  For me, going to Bora Bora was not simply to enjoy the beautiful scenery.  It was also to experience the land that served as motivation for the man who wrote not only Hawaii but also Tales of the South Pacific, Sayonara, and The Bridges at Toko-ri.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_A._Michener

Thus, an hour after arriving a Papeete, Tahiti, we boarded another plane to Bora Bora.  And after a few hours of rest at our bungalow, I arranged to have a local take us on a tour of Bora Bora.  I shall discuss the tour later, but for now I would like to point out one interesting aspect of the following Wikipedia article on Bora Bora. 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bora_Bora

In the article, we learn:

In World War II the United States chose Bora Bora as a South Pacific military supply base, and an oil depot, airstrip, seaplane base, and defensive fortifications were constructed. Known as "Operation Bobcat", it maintained a supply force of nine ships, 20,000 tons of equipment and nearly 7,000 men. Seven artillery guns were set up at strategic points around the island to protect it against potential military attack.

However, the island saw no combat as the American presence on Bora Bora went uncontested over the course of the war. The base was officially closed on June 2, 1946. Only one former US serviceman, Fred Giles, returned to the island. The World War II airstrip, which was never able to accommodate large aircraft, was French Polynesia's only international airport until Faa'a International Airport was opened in Papeete, Tahiti, in 1960.

***

What struck me as being odd was the statement "Only one former US serviceman, Fred Giles, returned to the island." As I later learned, this is a sore point for many Bora Borans because, with 7,000 service men being the red blooded Americans that they were, there were relationships that arose with the Bora Boran women.  It is reported that over 150 babies were born during the World War II years that were attributable to the servicemen stationed on Bora Bora.  Of these 150 or so babies, a third of them died.   I am not certain as to all the circumstances behind such a large number of infant deaths, but it obviously made an impression on the Bora Borans and is certainly a dubious legacy for the American military.  Thus, the notation that "only one former US serviceman... returned to the island", if true, is one that I find to be sad.

Peace.

Happy Homecoming Day

Monday, December 1, 2014

In 1964, my family returned to our pink house in Victorville, California, after spending two years in El Paso, Texas, and another two years in Glasgow, Montana.  Soon after our return to Victorville, my Dad shipped out for a two year stay in Germany, leaving my Mom in Victorville with five kids.  That year back in Victorville was a particularly hard time.  Money was short and social adjustments were difficult.  This time of year, Christmastime, was particularly difficult. Mom was very stoic about all that was going on.  Aside from once threatening to move us all to Bakersfield to pick cotton, she managed to scrape enough money together to get us through.  However, what I remember so well from the time, was Mom playing Charles Brown's Christmas Album over and over again.  I especially remember this tune:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vxpgWkqlUvk

Thinking back on the Christmastime of a half century ago, I can now surmise that Mom may not have been as composed as I may have thought.  I suppose, upon reflection, even our vaunted parents had their frailties ... just as today, we, as parents, have ours.

If any of you have a favorite Song of the Season, please feel free to share it with us and tell us why.  

Peace.

P. S. Happy Homecoming Day, Mom.

    

The Mutiny on the Bounty and the Myth of the Hero

Wednesday, November 26, 2014

On the red eye flight to Tahiti, I did indeed watch parts of The Wolf of  Wall Street, but I did not finish it.  It was, after all, the red eye, and I fell asleep.  When I awoke from my slumber the movie was over.  Being unable to resume my sleep, I then cast my attention to some of the informational videos about Tahiti itself.  As chance would have it, one of the videos was about the Mutiny on the Bounty and I proceeded to watch it.  

For those who do not recall the details about the Mutiny on the Bounty, please see

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mutiny_on_the_Bounty

In reading the Wikipedia article, one will find the following two sentences:  

"Meanwhile, the mutineers sailed for the island of Tubuai, where they tried to settle. After three months of being attacked by the island's natives, they returned to Tahiti."

The part of the informational video that was shown on the plane actually focused on these two sentences.   However, the perspective presented was from the Tahitian perspective and was not quite as straightforward as the second sentence implies.  As depicted in the informational video, the mutineers who sailed for the island of Tubuai were a rowdy, lazy, and undisciplined bunch.  They were overly aggressive in pursuing the Tahitian women for sexual favors; they were ignorant of and insensitive to Tahitian customs; and they lacked integrity in their words and deeds.  These failings in the character of the mutineers led to a tumultuous existence on Tubuai.  Blood was spilled and a long term existence on the island was destined for continued hostility and ultimate failure.

Also as depicted in the movie, Fletcher Christian, the leader of the mutineers is a weak and compromised leader.  His desire to return to England to present the case against Bligh ran counter to the belief held by the other mutineers that a return to England meant only certain imprisonment and possible death.  So slowly, but surely, the authority assumed by Christian began to be undermined.

Being on the red eye, I again fell asleep before the video ended.  However, by the time I did fall asleep, the notion that Fletcher Christian was a hero had begun to wane.  In the end, it seemed that by leading the mutiny, Christian had lost legitimacy.  And, in later reading about the fate of the Bounty on Pitcairn Island, it seemed to me that Fletcher Christian not only lost his ship, his country, and his life but, to a certain extent, he also lost his soul.

I suppose the moral for me in learning this latest bit about the Bounty is that we can never be fully certain about those we consider to be our heroes.  There is often a hidden history and a hidden persona that does not make the history books and is not publicly portrayed.  Ultimately, the safest route is not to idolize others as our heroes but rather to make ourselves our own heroes and to our selves -- to our own inner heroes -- be true.

Peace.

Bad Behavior Glorified, Part Two

Wednesday, November 26, 2014

On the red eye flight to Tahiti, I saw parts of a movie entitled The Wolf of Wall Street.  I suppose it was a cautionary tale about the perils of being a corrupt Wall Street broker, but as portrayed in the movie the lifestyle afforded to a bad behaving broker seemed pretty appealing.  

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wolf_of_Wall_Street_(2013_film)

On my last night in New Zealand, one of the few available television stations played a documentary late at night.  It was the 2010 Academy Award winning movie Inside Job which details the financial shenanigans that led to the 2008 financial meltdown.  Depressingly, as the movie showed, it seems that the bad behavior depicted in the movie The Wolf of Wall Street was not fiction but rather all too common in our financial services industry.  And the most tragic part of it all, is that, unlike what happened in the Wolf of Wall Street, no one has really been held accountable for their bad behavior -- bad behavior that almost destroyed this country and did destroy many common folks lives.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inside_Job_(2010_film)

Contributing to this notion of not being held accountable for bad behavior, this morning, while driving into work, the local public radio profiled the prevalence of rape in college fraternities.  One of the speakers, Caitlin Flanagan spoke about the power of fraternities and how that power has enabled countless young men to begin their adult years by getting away with the crime of rape.

http://www.theatlantic.com/features/archive/2014/02/the-dark-power-of-fraternities/357580/

Later, I see that Ms. Flanagan recently weighed in on the Bill Cosby matter, noting the similarity of the patterns that have been seen historically when discussing the issue of rape.

http://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/caitlin-flanagan-article-1.2019677

On top of all this, while in New Zealand, in conjunction with reporting on the G-20 summit, the latest big news from America appeared to be the latest display of Kim Kardashian's "assets".

http://perezhilton.com/2014-11-24-kim-kardashian-paper-inspired-memes#.VHYa0DHF-VY

And on my first day back in the States, I caught the "tail-end" of the American Music Awards show with Jennifer Lopez beginning her dance routine with a pose that left little to the imagination.

http://www.billboard.com/articles/events/amas-2014/6327569/jennifer-lopez-iggy-azalea-booty-amas-2014-video-live
Sorry, but after experiencing the beauty of French Polynesia and New Zealand, and marveling at all the blessings that God has bestowed upon this planet and its inhabitants, I have found it disconcerting to be once again thrust into the muck and the mire that exists.  But hey, I just got back.  Give me a week or two to become re-acclimated to the way we do things here, and I will be fine.

Peace.

Bad Behavior Glorified, Part One

Tuesday, November 25, 2014

I returned to this country only to be met with some of the most disturbing news.  Topping the list is what is occurring in Ferguson, Missouri. While I partially understand the anger, I am still wondering just how many times the town of Ferguson must be destroyed to ease the pain of the angered few. 

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/26/us/ferguson-missouri-violence.html

Just on the heals of the Stephen Collins sexual indiscretion "therapy confession" comes now the lurid sexual assault allegations about Bill Cosby

http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/bill-cosbys-legacy-recast-accusers-speak-in-detail-about-sexual-assault-allegations/2014/11/22/d7074938-718e-11e4-8808-afaa1e3a33ef_story.html

And while such allegations now make me cringe, I am even more amazed that so many continue to support Bill Cosby despite the evidence that continues to grow

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/earl-ofari-hutchinson/we-love-you-bill-cosby_b_6204616.html?flv=1

And as a corollary to it all, is the just reported death of Marion Barry, the former Mayor of Washington, D. C. whose use of cocaine did not disqualify him from office.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/24/us/politics/marion-s-barry-jr-former-mayor-of-washington-dies-at-78.html

President Obama has thankfully condemned the violence in Ferguson.  But where, oh where, are the religious and political leaders who can speak out against the tendency to glorify the bad behavior that seems so prevalent in our society and our country today?  Have we become too tolerant or have we just lost our own moral compass?

Peace.

The Dreams of Our Youth

Monday, November 3, 2014

Glasgow Air Force Base, Montana is now the small community of Saint Marie.  The run-down Air Force Base ceased to be a vital military operation sometime in the mid-1970s and, in the 1990s, it was opened up for public residential purposes.  Apparently, it is much cheaper and more strategic to have a multitude of missile silos sprinkled throughout the land rather than archaic military bases. So when I returned to Glasgow Air Force Base in September, it was nothing but a worn out shell of what it once was even though there are now a smattering of units that have since been reoccupied.  I suppose that the lesson I garnered from visiting the ruins is that single purpose communes whether they be military, racial, religious, or sexist are likely to cease to exist over time if they are not able to expand into the outside world and to adapt their missions to the social fabric of an evolving world.  

What I also learned from the trip is that it is not so much the place but the ideas, the ideals and the dreams that stay with us forever.  In my own particular case, Glasgow is where I first spent a great deal of time dreaming. In the winter, when the snow was high and the temperature frigid, and before the Youth Center was built, I spent a great deal of time reading and dreaming about the life ahead. I spent many an hour sitting on the steps inside our unit just dreaming about the military campaigns I would one day wage, or the space flights I would take or the the athletic accomplishments that I would achieve. For the most part, not much became of those dreams came true.  Somewhere along the way, I became conflicted about waging war.  Going to space became a not so desirable goal when one develops a fear of heights and a deep aversion to water.  And as for athletic accomplishments, well, maybe I just have not found the right sport ... yet.

However, there was one dream that began in Glasgow that never died.  For some reason, during the winter of 1962-63, my Mom took me to the Base Theater.  I think it was an outing for both our family and another airman's family.  The other airman was a black G.I. with a Japanese wife and the star of the movie showing that evening had made a movie a few years previously that may have resonated with them.  In any event, in that movie, a ground breaking production for its time, I got my first panoramic glimpse of a world far, far away and entirely different from my own.  Having previously lived (at least in my memory) in the not so scenic towns of Victorville, California; El Paso, Texas; and now Glasgow Air Force Base, Montana, up to that time the landscape of life had been bleak.  But there, up on the screen, was a place of paradise.

The movie we saw was Mutiny on the Bounty starring Marlon Brando.  And after seeing it, my daydreams became more vivid and visiting such a locale became one of those dreams to pursue.  

It has taken some 52 years, but tonight I board a plane, to fulfill that dream.

Thus, ultimately, the lesson from Glasgow and the lesson for the road ahead is never stop pursuing your dreams.  Many may not come true. But some will, and if not, your life will be enriched by the pursuit itself.

For, as the proverb goes, "Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you will land among the stars."

Peace.