What is ahead of the curve?

In response to last week’s question, "What is ahead of the curve?,"  my writing and sailing friend Rich replied, "The valley of the beyond average."  My neighbor Al added, "And it's usually a big yellow caution sign and a lot of skid marks" to which my PR colleague Stan declared, "It's the bleeding edge."

When my temple friend Bob noted, "straight, or another curve," my cycling friend Ted shared, "I have learned never to try to predict what lies ahead of the curve and truly live for the moment-I prefer a more derivative question-- which makes me a "slope" kind of guy!!- Sorry--I don't mean to go off on a tangent!! (Think way back to your days in calculus class!)"

My network friend Andrew then explained, "Since we are graded "on the curve" in college, being "ahead of the curve" either means placing out of the course, or getting a better-than-average score, assuming a normal (bell-curve) distribution or something similar. Ahead of the curve usually means you will pass the class, no matter how stupid the rest of the "curve" is or whether you learn anything or not."

Please share your thoughts about this week's "things that make you go 'Hmmm' “:

What things to you couch?

We don't stop laughing because we get old. We get old because we stop laughing.  Make it a priority to have fun and make others laugh.

Hal

Two more answers to the previously asked, "If Apple made a car, would it have windows?," my writing and sailing friend Rich concluded, "Yes, you need them to see the virtual world that you will be driving through" while my template friend Richard cautioned, "It wouldn’t have Windows, but the operating system would have to be updated every 2 weeks."

Two upcoming events that I'm involved with planning that may be of interest to you or someone you know

·         For golden retrievers, their families and fan, this dog party will celebrate www.grra.com's rescuing more than 3,000 dogs with lunch, family photos, agility course, grooming and creating a 100+ dog group photo.  This year's theme is Hawaiian Luau.   Click here for more info.

·         TAG's annual Social Savvy awards, recognizing the success of being social in small/mid size business as well as enterprise, will feature keynote speakers from Google, CARE, Kaiser Permanente and YikYak    Click here for more info.

Thanks to Demetri Martin, Steven Wright and George Carlin for the inspiration for Hmmm.  Stop by www.nichelabs.com to see what else I'm up to.

If Apple made a car, would it have windows?

In response to last week’s question, "If Apple made a car, would it have windows?," my comedic and punny friend Bruce realized, "No, just like if Apple ran for President, it wouldn't be PC."  

My videographer friend Ivan observed, "Apple's car would have Gorilla Glass, Sapphire, or a Windows emulator.  Actually, Apple has what it has. Microsoft has to come up with something to do what Apple does, then give it a name. Apple does not have to do that.  Look, who needs Windows when you have Vision?!  See?"   Then my networking friend Andrew added, "No, it would have Chrome, and you could take it to the Opera or on a Firefox Safari."

My cycling friend Ted declared, "Of course not!! It would have large High Res Retina screen iPads attached to the interior and outside cameras everywhere. It would also have a large bite out of the right front fender! You would probably want to buy a new iCar every 2 years because it would get slower and slower after every upgrade(after which the iBicycle would be a better option)!"

My equestrian friend Royce thought the Apple car would have "Maybe 8 because 10 would be overkill."  And my dad's beach buddy Bob pointed out, "Yes, but you would have to peel them down to see daylight."

Please share your thoughts about this week's "things that make you go 'Hmmm' “:

What is ahead of the curve?

We don't stop laughing because we get old. We get old because we stop laughing.  Make it a priority to have fun and make others laugh.

Hal

Two upcoming events that I'm involved with planning that may be of interest to you or someone you know

• For golden retrievers, their families and fan, this dog party will celebrate www.grra.com's rescuing more than 3,000 dogs with lunch, family photos, agility course, grooming and creating a 100+ dog group photo.  This year's theme is Hawaiian Luau.   Click here for more info.

•  TAG's annual Social Savvy awards, recognizing the success of being social in small/mid size business as well as enterprise, will feature keynote speakers from Google and YikYak    Click here for more info.

Thanks to Demetri Martin, Steven Wright and George Carlin for the inspiration for Hmmm.  Stop by www.nichelabs.com to see what else I'm up to.

     

What do you prepare when you're giving someone food for thought?

In response to last week’s question, "What do you prepare when you're giving someone food for thought?," my temple friend Richard suggested these oxymora, "You prepare and serve jumbo shrimp, sweet & sour chicken, baked fries, banana peppers, and for dessert, fried ice cream, of course!"   My networking friend Andrew then offered these savory clichés, "When offering 'food for thought', don't bite off more than you can chew. Make sure your audience can stomach a bitter pill, and avoid getting cheesed off before chewing the fat with them. If you can't cut the mustard with them, they will drop you like a hot potato. Then you would have egg on your face and have to eat humble pie. On the other hand, you may find it easy as duck soup and become the apple of their eye, if your input is the greatest thing since sliced bread. In a nutshell, know which side your bread is buttered on and avoid laying an egg."

My temple friend Vivian proposed, "How about fried brains?  For the recipe, go to matadornetwork.com," to which my sailing friend Norm added, "Calf's brains - baked of course but could be fried."   And my equestrian friend Royce wrote simply, "their mind."

My birthday bud Jon lamented, "You prepare for a smart-ass answer, if you are Hal on a Monday."

And my cousin Valarie recommended, "I usually offer something sage to chew on, but I've been given some half-baked advice from others."

Please share your thoughts about this week's "things that make you go 'Hmmm' “:

If Apple made a car, would it have windows? anonymously submitted from a kind friend from Dish Network

We don't stop laughing because we get old. We get old because we stop laughing.  Make it a priority to have fun and make others laugh.

Hal

A few notes of interest:

L'shona Tova to my Jewish family, friends and honorary Jews.  My this be a year of health, prosperity and good times.

Saturday, 9/19 is International Talk Like a Pirate Day. This is a non-violent, fun day to not act your age.  And if you are near one of the few participating Krispy Kreme donut stores, you could score a sweet treasure.  Avast me matey.  Have ye a grog for me.

My sailing friend Dawn, who works with CARE, shared that she could write a book about "Somewhere in the world a woman gives birth to a child every minute.  What should we do for her?" based on all she's seen throughout my work.  What can we do? 

• If we could educate communities that their girl-child is a human being and not a commodity to be traded or given away, we would avoid girls as young as 10 years old becoming teenage mothers.
• If we could ensure that all mothers have a skilled and "warm" (i.e. someone who cares) birth attendant and access to information to help the newborn through their first most difficult year to get the nutrients she/he needs (a message from one of my co-workers), the child will have a fighting chance to survive and thrive.
• If we could provide women and men access to information and services that help them make informed decisions, we would have a significant impact on the economic livelihoods of the extremely poor families.

And for separating good religious people from extremist, my networking friend Andrew added to list of Christians, Jews and Muslims that have killed in the name of their religion that "a Hindu extremist assassinated Mahatma Gandhi, since he was a Hindu but did not want British India partitioned into two state based largely on religion (Muslim Pakistan, majority-Hindu India)."

Thanks to Demetri Martin, Steven Wright and George Carlin for the inspiration for Hmmm.  Stop by www.nichelabs.com to see what else I'm up to.

     

Can you have baked fries?

In response to last week’s question, "Can you have baked fries?,"  my writing and sailing friend Rich called out, "Baked is not fried.  Live dangerously and have some real fries with that."

My sailing friend Bradley observed, "Living in a college town I’ve learned people will eat a lot of things when they’re baked."  My cousin's Canadian in-law Jack added, "I remember when I use to sit around with all my folk music friends, and those two words each had their own special meaning."  My cousin Greg then queried, "The real question is HOW MANY baked fries can I have.....?"

My network friend Andrew announced, "Yes, 'baked fries' are possible since you can also have 'grilled toast'. QED" to which my PR friend Stan added, "Not a half-baked concept since we already have baked chips."  To this, my dad's beach buddy Bob confirmed this by explaining, "When you run out of canola oil, you call Orieda and turn the oven on."

My videographer friend Ivan explained, "As I look at my children, lovely as they are, I realize I have two small fries who's ideas are both half baked, half the the time.  Two small fries probably equals one large fry.  Half baked = 0.5 baked.  Half the time = 0.5 time.  0.5 x 0.5 = 0.25.  By my calculations, which, when right, are seldom wrong, you can have baked fries any time. At a factor of .25 per each, you need 4 times as many.   More important, however, but not by much, is the fact that just because you can have baked fries, it does not follow that you can have fried bakes.

And my humorous temple friend Stuart noted that "this week's post is basically a tribute to oxymorons.  Consider jumbo shrimp and military intelligence?  With that in mind, can you have a fried baked potato? This leads me to other questions, why is it that you park on a driveway and drive on a parkway? Why do you pay a toll on the freeway? What do you prepare when you're giving someone food for thought and what do you feed stupidity?

Please share your thoughts about this week's "things that make you go 'Hmmm' “:

What do you prepare when you're giving someone food for thought? from my friend Stuart

We don't stop laughing because we get old. We get old because we stop laughing.  Make it a priority to have fun and make others laugh.

Hal

9/11 Rememberance is this Friday: Extremists are the real danger.  Religious zealots in Christianity (England vs Ireland, and the Great Crusades), Judiasm (a Jew assassinated Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabi) and Islam (9/11 attacks) are examples of hijacking religion for a small groups' own benefit. On a very positive note if you are in ATL on Nov. 19, please join us for an uplifting and inspiring celebration.

Thanks to Demetri Martin, Steven Wright and George Carlin for the inspiration for Hmmm.  Stop by www.nichelabs.com to see what else I'm up to.