Required Viewing

For folks in the media, there are only a handful of movies that would be considered "gotta' see".  In no particular order, here is my list.

#5. "Talk To Me". Don Cheadle as Washington DC DJ Petey Greene.  An ex-con who cons his way into radio and becomes a star. True story too.

#4. "Private Parts". The career of Howard Stern on film, starring Howard.  Surprisingly good.

#3. "Pirate Radio". The story of those jolly buggers who made radio on ships offshore England in the 60's. The way the pushed the buttons of the BBC and government are legendary. Starring the late Philip Seymour Hoffman.

#2. "Good Morning Vietnam". Pretty hard not to have this Robin Williams Classic on the list.  Some really funny dialogue and a great performance by Forest Whitaker.

#1. "Almost Famous".  A Golden Globe winner and a very fun look at music and culture in the 70's.  Funny, sad, inspiring.....and a great soundtrack.

And one bonus movie. The film "FM" starring Michael Brandon.  Not a 5 star offering, but all about radio and with another bunch of great tunes from Steely Dan, Linda Ronstadt, Jimmy Buffett and a host of others.

Leaders

I've long been a fan of leadership.  I've read about it, thought about it, talked about it, and written about it.  Yet there are still many times I find it hard to define what it is about people that makes them the sort of folks you want to get behind.  The kind of people you want to follow.

This little chunk of brilliance making the rounds on Facebook this week reminded me not to over think it. 

Cooking lessons.

I really love to cook. There's something about the whole process that I find completely satisfying.  Some guys work on cars, some guys build stuff in their garage, I cook.

Something I've discovered is that with only a few exceptions, it's more fun to cook without a recipe.  The challenge of finding the proper balance is what I really like. A little of this, a touch of that, a pinch of something else, will either lead to something very good, or something you don't want to talk about.

Two things I've learned.  One; once you've put too much of any one thing in its very hard to get the balance back.  And two; the end result is an improvement of all the single things that went into the dish. The sum is greater than its parts.

Control. Balance. The harmony of elements.

There are a lot of things we do that demand those same things in order to be good.