MST3K Friday: Robot Rumpus

This has long been my favorite MST3K short.

"One of my classmates died in the kiln today, Mother."
"Pokey left a big surprise in your begonias."
"Hey you can throw things through Dad. I'm gonna get an anvil."

My Grandfather's Son by, Clarence Thomas

"Only the person who takes the voyage can really talk about it." -William F. Buckley, Jr.

Clarence Thomas's life is what we used to call an American Success Story. My Grandfather's Son details is life from being born in rural poverty to becoming an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court. Thomas was abandoned by his father and, at age 9, was shipped off by his mother to be raised by her parents. After the dual assassinations of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Bobby Kennedy in 1968, young Clarence's life fractured. He dropped out of the seminary, turned his back on religion, and embraced the Angry Black Man (tm) persona popular with college-aged African Americans in the early 1970's. These decisions caused a rift between him and his grandfather that was never repaired. He spent the next part of his career fighting for civil rights and to get better opportunities for minorities in America, but what he saw pushed him back to the political right instead of further to the left. Thomas discusses with much candor subjects like the dissolving of his first marriage, his alcohol abuse, and the rift between him and his grandfather that they both tried to repair shortly before his grandfather's death. He discusses with equal joy the love he obviously feels for his second wife, his return to the Christian faith, and the gratitude he feels toward his grandparents for raising him right. 

In keeping with the tradition of secrecy about the Supreme Court, the book ends with Thomas being sworn in by Chief Justice William Rehnquist and the silent prayer Thomas spoke before his first conference with his fellow justices.

My Grandfather's Son would be a good, inspiring read even if it wasn't written by a justice of the Supreme Court.

Song of the Week: All My Tears

MST3K Friday: Selling Wizard

"Ben & Jerry before Woodstock."
"What's this, frozen cotton?"
"Every cabinet is designed with your needs in mind." "But I need a stove!"

Song of the Week: The Downeaster "Alexa"

May 9th is Billy Joel's birthday, so we celebrate with this week's song of the week.  This track comes from Billy's 1989 album Storm Front, and has always been one of my favorite tunes.

MST3K Friday: General Hospital 3

"Can you folks break it up? Your party's depressing everyone in the building."
"Life getting you down?  Headache pain? Try Booze."
"The truth is I'm in love with a small Mexican man."

Suzie Cracks the Whip - Blues Traveler

I'm a pretty big fan of Blues Traveler.  I saw them in concert back in 1998 and I think I own every album they released, so I was happy when I finally laid my hands on their latest CD: Suzie Cracks the Whip.  I wasn't a fan of North Hollywood Shootout (their previous album), but with this one they're back in form.

Blues Traveler's sound is constantly changing and each album sounds different from the others.  With Suzie, the closest companion I can think of is Bastardos! - which is not a bad thing. The thing is a little funk, a little Blues Traveler, and has a pretty strong country influence in the second half (probably in part to the appearance of Crystal Bowersox).

Blues Traveler has never been a dour band, but I was astonished at how unrelentingly upbeat the whole album is.  I give it a solid B.

Standout tracks:
"Things Are Looking Up"
"You Don't Have to Love Me"
"I Don't Wanna Go"

Song of the Week: Things Are Looking Up

Blues Traveler!  This song is from their latest CD, Suzie Cracks the Whip.  Look for my album review tomorrow.

This song is "Things Are Looking Up":

MST3K Friday: General Hospital 2

"I'll propose a toast."  "Here's to the party getting better."

Getting Things Done by, David Allen

Getting Things Done by David Allen is one of the modern pillars of the executive/manager world.  This book and Allen's seminars have created legions of GTDers who approach management with a "mind like water" mentality.  Even without fully implementing GTD, there are a lot of tips and tricks here to get your professional and/or personal life under control.

I like his concept of a "tickler file", a file that helps you remember things on future dates, but it seems unwieldy for someone who does as little long-term planning as I do.  It involves creating 43 (43!!) folders, one for each day of the month (1-31) and one for each month.

Like a lot of help guides the advice is so simple that it borders on stupid.  But, you know what, it works.  Examples of Allen's wisdom

• Always determine your "next action" on a project.
• If the next action can be done in 2 minutes or less, do it now.
• Write stuff down.  Your brain can only hold so much at once.

I've followed some of these in the past and listening to the audio book reminded me of how productive I was when I did.  I think this is a book that I should listen to at least once a year to keep myself focused.

Recommended...and not just for managers, but for anyone who just wants to get things done.