World Sojourner : 3760

During my childhood, late May and early June were dedicated to watching Larry Bird and Magic Johnson play basketball.  Or, at least that’s how it seems today.  I don’t remember a great deal of childhood.  Leveling and some wilful amnesia have all but erased most of it, but during some magical late- spring evenings during the 80’s there was, the rivalry. 

The parkay floor of Boston Garden and the stars sitting alongside the Forum’s court were the backdrop for some of the greatest games of all time.  Many consider it the golden age of the NBA.  It was pre-Jordan; pre-tattoo era; defense was king.

And now, it’s back.  Starting June 5 in Boston the rivalry returns.  New locations and new players, but the same magic – I hope.

I haven’t been excited for an NBA series since 1998 when the pre-Reinsdorf-dismantling-them-unnecessarily Bulls took on the Jazz in the finals. The post-Jordan era league has been, until recently, extremely unappealing with too many tattoos and not enough defense.  But the latest generation of players appear to be bringing back team offense and good defense – it’s an appealing form of basketball that really hasn’t been in the NBA for 20 years. 

Who to cheer for?  Frankly, I like them both for different reasons

• The Celtics – During those epic battles in the 80s, I cheered for the Celtics and I like the new big three of Ray Allen,  Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett
• The Lakers – I want to see Phil get his tenth championship because he’s my man from his Bulls days.  And, this will be his greatest championship since this team wasn’t really assembled to win a championship and shut Red Auerbach up.

I like having the NBA back in my life.  Frankly, post-college basketball in the US is pretty boring until autumn and the return of college football.

Some other nice signs that the 80s and possibly good years are back in the NBA

• Doug Collins will once again build a Bulls team and have a temperamental young star run him out of town (Michael Beasily)
• The New York Nicks stink.  This isn’t a parallel but nice to see.
• Boston defeated Detroit on the way to the championship in a good series.

I’m sure there’s more but I have to run out and buy Michael Jackson’s Thriller before it’s all sold out …

I’m currently searching for flights to a small mid-western city, where I’ll spend most of my summer.  It’s a nice little town so my transition from big city London to small town America will be complete.  At least for the next three to six months. In a way, I’m excited to start traveling and I’m really ready to be off the bench – no more quick do this projects or here add lipstick to that walking porkchop over there.

Frankly, I didn’t know where I was going when I opened this post but my reference to Lipstick on porkchops or putting lipstick on a pig got me thinking about one of my favorite new terms.  No, it’s not new to others, but thanks to my willful avoidance of business speak it’s new to me.

Lipstick on a pig applies to the following concepts:

• Advertising your car as having great gas mileage despite the fact the gas milage hasn’t changed
• Or, stop advertising the MPH and just give the total miles to a tank (mileage or tank size?)
• Basic analysis of a company, put it into a new diagram

Essentially, it’s anything old that has been made to appear new.  I loved the imagery so I started extending the metaphor some.  Put on a new hat and dress; or giving the old piggy a new pair of shoes.  The mental image these little pigs in new outfits is just great.  This idea can explain 95% of all the ‘new ideas’ out there – especially in marketing.

A couple of bunnies are playing in the yard – hmm, lipstick on a bunny?  No, Playboy probably owns the trademark …

Toss in your bets folks, the Martines have hit five years today. We’re currently enjoying margaritas at a river side bar after enjoying a nice day in the city.

Yesterday was fun. After arriving, we decided to see the Alamo and go up in the Tower of the Americas.

Tomorrow we go to see Shamoo and other fish friends.

Time for more drinks. Ahh, the good life.

I just got back from Phoenix, Arizona where I participated in my company’s first ‘All-Hands’ meeting.  For those of you not ‘down’ with US business lingo, this is a meeting where everyone in the company (or a high percentage) travel from all parts of the country for a meeting and training.  It was a good time.  The training was tight and it was nice to finally put faces with the names.

During the meeting I came to the conclusion that wine is the cute girl (or to be politically correct person) that you flirt with in the evening, and then her/their other half shows up to beat the crap out of you in the morning. 

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A few people have asked me about my feelings on the election in the 27th district.

“We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.” – Albert Einstein

Well, there you go. 

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My friend Chris has been doing some inspired writing on the rise of Marshall as the top university in West Virginia.  His link is in my blog roll.

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Presumed Democratic candidate Barack Obama referenced the US having 57 states.  I’m guessing in the back of his mind was a quick strike on Canada and completing the merger with Mexico.  But, I could be wrong.

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It appears Hillary Clinton’s online strategy is to watch for anything unique about Barack’s site and just copy it.  Currently, her head is the size of a Macy’s Day Parade blow up.  Has anyone else noticed that she never faces the camera in any of her campaign ads?  I get not having mirrors around because the lack of reflection would freak out the electorate, but why not show the whole nose?

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Next weekend Mrs M and I have been married for five years.  We’re heading to San Antonio for the weekend.  More on that, later.

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And finally, I’m currently reading The Dilbert Principle.  It should be required for all undergraduates preparing for the working world.  Screw Porter and Aaker, this book will teach you more about corporate work than anything else.