What does courage really mean?

We all need plenty of courage in our lives, but that simple word means much more than what we often think. As always, it’s always helpful to explore the true meaning of a word that we often take for granted.

By doing it, we always learn a lot, open up our minds to new meanings and use it better. When we begin to think about courage, it often means bravery, but there’s of course much more to it. If we begin with the core components of courage, we can think of: 

• Fearlessness or the ability to overcome fear and act in spite of it.
• Humility to admit one’s one errors and sincerely apologize for them.  
• Resilience, the capacity of bouncing back from setbacks and persevering. 
• Determination, having an ironclad purpose and pursuing it relentlessly. 
• Honesty when we speak truth to power, even when it feels difficult and intimidating 
• Empathy, our talent in understanding and responding to the suffering of others. 
• Vulnerability, when we take the risk to be open and recognize our limitations. 
• Integrity, when we stick to strong moral and ethical principles. 

Then, there’s a broader dimensions of what courage means, like: 

• Physical courage when we face real danger or pain. 
• Moral courage when we stand up for what’s right, especially when it’s unpopular. 
•  Emotional courage, when we must manage difficult emotions and vulnerability. 
• Social courage when we have to overcome anxiety and rejection. 
• Intellectual courage, when we dare to challenge established beliefs and seek new knowledge. 

In summary, courage includes our ability to confront challenges, uncertainties, and fears with strength, determination, and honesty. It’s a quality that empowers all of us to live authentically and make a positive impact on the world. It’s a lot more than just a simple word; it’s a complete toolbox!

Next winter snow forecast

On July 25, 2024 the United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), one of the most trusted meteorology sources in the world, released its winter 2024/25 predictions (not quite the whole season, November, December and January). 

If you ski in North America or plan to visit us there, try to locate where your skiing will take you or change your plans, put that information aside and complain to NOAA if it deviates. I always forget to do this! 

NOAA makes upcoming winter weather predictions for North America based on patterns and data readings in the Pacific Ocean. This is called ENSO (El Niño / Southern Oscillation) patterns. ENSO refers to the general climate patterns in the Pacific Ocean and does not indicate an El Niño cycle, despite the name. 

If this is too confusing, go to the fridge and get a beer to cool off your mind. Just a fair warning to anyone studying these cute pictures: While these visual predictions are based on detailed scientific data, backed by months of pattern analysis and years of research, they are by no means precise predictions for specific states or areas. 

However, they offer a good look at what general regions might look like this winter and they’re fun to look at. Further, there’s no harm in dreaming about a few good deep turns in bottomless pow this winter!

Who are we and who do we want to become?

Life often feels like a journey of exploration that can lead us to feel lost. When this happens, we must first find our bearings by asking for help, studying our position on the map while using the tools at our disposal. Only then can we chart a course that will bring us back onto the right path.

The same is true in the mental realm. To see more clearly, we must understand our beliefs and our culture, in order to understand what we are dealing with before making the necessary changes. 

We must understand our personal modus operandi in its environment, and make it a journey of discovery and personal reflection that will take stock of our beliefs, our values ​​as well as the norms and expectations of our environment. During this phase, we must analyze our thoughts, feelings and behaviors to help us identify our patterns and inconsistencies. Only by understanding who we are, can we embark on meaningful change. 

This may involve personal growth, societal change, or both. This will involve challenging long-held beliefs in the hopes of opening new perspectives. Going further by seeking out new perspectives that will challenge our assumptions and enrich our options. Some experimentation may also push us out of our comfort zone and reveal more possibilities. 

If we can, seek out people able to understand and encourage us. Finally, be patient and don’t hesitate to make small, incremental changes instead of aiming for overly ambitious transformations. Remember that change is a journey, not just a destination. It’s also okay to make mistakes and to view setbacks as opportunities to learn and grow!

The Olympics opening ceremony

We somehow managed to watch most of the Paris Olympic opening extravaganza. I thought it was a bit too long, but realized that the longer it would last, the more advertisers would find room to hawk their stuff. In capitalistic parlance, that’s what is called good economic policy. 

I loved the idea of parading the teams on the boats, was impressed by the laser lights over the Eiffel Tower, adored “Imagine” sung on the floating island and a few more creative moves, but thought that some of them were over the top, including a decapitated Marie-Antoinette. 

What worries me is that it represents a huge competitive escalation in displays and creativity that will force the next event organizers to surpass that one, and I find this unhealthy and distracting from the seminal idea of what the Games should be: a world reunion of athletes competing fairly among themselves. 

Just my two cent.

The “HumDog” implants

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been much maligned lately, but I can’t prevent myself from thinking of all the good things that are being concocted in many a scientific lab, and since we live in Park City in a world dominated by dogs and their masters who venerate them like Indian adore their cows, I had a revelation about an invention that could be a game changer. 

To be concise, it would consist of a communication tool between canine and human appropriately called HumDog as in “human” and “dog”, that would consist of two modules implanted into the brain or the animal and that of the person and could communicate together, if not in a coherent and known language, but at the very least interact through electronic neurological impulses, in which a command from the master or a request from the pooch would translate into a conversation in which there would never be any misunderstanding.

From the training of the animal to everyday life, the owner would only have to think “sit”, “stand” or “heel” and the dog would execute. He could also ask questions, like “Molly, are you ready for a car ride?”. Likewise, the animal could also tell his master if he feels unwell, want to go for a walk, a pee or a poo. 

At the end of the pet’s life, the owner would keep the transceiver in their brain, just get a new one for the new doc… What a concept, talk about a true revolution and full clarity in communication between animals and humans!

The Games no one wants

What’s ironical is that on July 24, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) awarded the 2030 and 2034 Games to the French Alps and Salt Lake City in the absence of other candidate. 

This was a departure from years past when there always was a serious, competitive bidding process with multiple candidates. The IOC alleges that in the face of criticism for the high costs associated with hosting the Olympics, it needed to streamline the bidding process and make it less expensive for potential host cities, hence the "targeted dialogue" approach. 

The French Alps for 2030 and Salt Lake City for 2034, saved the day and the IOC’s face for now, but the Swiss based organization has now a major problem of convincing future candidates of the value of Winter Olympic Games. 

So, here we go again! Salt Lake and Park City will be impacted by the major disruptions the Olympics will bring to our towns. I was never in favor of this “encore”, but since it was inevitable, I hope our Federal Government (read all the US taxpayers) will pay for some badly improved transportation infrastructure into and inside Park City. 

That the least our politicians can do to mitigate this major inconvenience.

More on Thoughts, Feelings and Emotions…

A thought is an idea or opinion produced by thinking, or occurring suddenly in the mind. 

A feeling is a subjective response to a person, a thing, or a situation. Feelings appear when we become attached to our thoughts in a situation. They depend a lot on what goes on inside our mind. 

An emotion is a natural instinctive state of mind deriving from one's circumstances, mood, or relationships with others. As adults, emotions are physiological reactions that we cannot eliminate, but that we can learn to manage.

More to come...

Thoughts, Feelings and Emotions, what’s the difference?

These days, psychology is paying much more attention to the mind-body connection as thoughts, feelings, and emotions aren't just mental experiences; they also affect our physical well-being and behavior. For instance, chronic negative thoughts and emotions can contribute to stress, which in turn can weaken the immune system and increase the risk of illnesses. 

Modern psychology also recognizes the influence of unconscious thoughts, feelings, and emotions on our behavior. These can originate from past experiences, biases, education, and early childhood development. Finally, mental health issues like anxiety, depression, and phobias are recognized as significant problems. 

These conditions often involve distorted thinking patterns and negative emotions. Most people often get confused by the difference between thoughts, feeling and emotions as they’re often used interchangeably, when we don’t remember which is what.

Thoughts are cognitive processes that involve perception, reasoning, and memory. They are more logical and rational, and they are influenced by our experiences, beliefs, and values. On the other hand, feelings and emotions are actually two different sensations that are somehow connected. Emotions originate as sensations in the body and are real-time data. Feelings can be more biased as they’re influenced by our emotions but are also generated from our mental thoughts. 

Let’s keep in mind that all of these concepts are interrelated. A thought can trigger a feeling, which can then develop into a full-blown emotion. Understanding these differences and their mechanisms can help us improve our self-awareness and manage your reactions more effectively. 

To me all these definitions and explanations are leaving much to be desired and I’m still looking for something more simpler and easier to understand. I think everyone is confused as this (poor) example aimed at helping us illustrating the connection: 

• Thoughts are like the seeds you plant in your garden. 
• Feelings are like the sprouts that emerge from the seeds. 
• Emotions are the full-grown plants that result from seeds and sprouts, influenced by many factors. 

I don’t quite buy that. Is there a much better story to tell?

Donald Trump’s transition to Don Corleone

In recent days, including during his acceptance speech at the Republican Convention, it seems to me that Donald Trump is sounding more and more like Don Corleone, of the Godfather’s fame, especially when he remind us of the divine intervention that saved his life the other day and how that was “an attack on democracy”.

This is quite fitting as the man seems to be finding his real “niche” in society. In fact, Donald Trump is the head of a pretty sinister family in the same way that Marlon Brando’s Vito Corleone was the head of his clan. Vito was a gangster, a self-made man who pulled himself out of poverty through crime and made himself and his family rich and quite powerful in the process. 

Trump doesn’t claim to be a gangster but loves to picture himself forward as a self-made billionaire and the greatest deal-maker, while in the process conveniently forgetting to admit that his wealth was inherited from his dad). So, it’s only right that the Donald now adopts the tone of voice of the legendary gangster. It couldn’t be more fitting!

Trump’s “elevated” personality

I’ve never heard about Trump’s “elevated shoes” until very recently. Apparently, the big frame and pretty tall guy was concerned about retrieving his own shoes after being shot at, last week. 

Apparently, he kept asking for them as he was surrounded and protected by his secret services “Let me get my shoes” was his repeated request as he was escorted off the stage. In a New York Post interview, Trump said that his shoes came off. He blamed his rough handling by the Secret Service agent for the incident. 

Although he explained how his shoes came off, he didn’t explain why he was so adamant about getting them back. He sure didn’t feel good about being seen shoeless on TV. The internet and its social media didn’t miss a bit blaming the shoe debacle on the explanation that he wears lifts in his shoes and is not actually the 6 foot 3 inches he claims to be. 

This is probably evidence by the way he leans forward when he walks. I didn’t check Trump’s shoes to confirm this categorically, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it were, as this would be consistent with the vain person Donald Trump really is, and would show the kind of things that are first and foremost in the mind of the ex-president…

When I was sending out résumés…

Some 50 years ago, I was writing a letter seeking employment with Look S.A., a French manufacturer of release ski bindings, that I heard from my buddy JP Chatellard that they had an opening in their racing department. 

I don’t recall clearly what I wrote in that letter, whether it probably was a combo cover letter with an embedded résumé, the whole document tooting my horn as best as I could, or how it really looked like. What I remember is when I hand wrote it, so it was in French, in my old literary style and, I’m afraid, chock-full or misspelling and syntax errors … 

It was probably titled “Dear Sir” when the person reading it and deciding on my fate was a strong-willed woman. 

In the letter, I did my best to tell about my skills as a skier, my proficiency in four languages, my technical background and understanding of mechanical devices plus my open-mindedness to different foreign cultures. 

Whatever was written probably hit the person who read the letter positively, as I was granted the job interview almost by return mail for a meeting in the ensuing weeks. I thought I was cool and felt good about myself, but in those early days, half a century ago, competition for good jobs was no way near what it’s become today!

Biden and the Peter principle

Joe Biden’s quandary reminds me of the Peter principle. For those of you too young to remember, I’m talking about a management concept explained in Laurence J. Peter’s book (1969) who observed that people, in organizations, tend to rise to "a level of respective incompetence". 

In other words, people are often promoted within hierarchical organizations based on their success in previous positions, and as they keep on climbing the ladder they eventually reach a level at which they are no longer competent, as the new skills they’d need in that new job have no longer anything to do with those they had acquired previously. 

This said, I tried to dig a little more into that subject to see if the principle could also apply to politics and to president Biden. That’s how I ran across an article written by Russ Sloan, a guest columnist, that appeared in the Daily Commercial, a Florida newspaper, on December 4, 2020. This piece, clearly not written by someone who loved Biden, remains interesting in terms of tracking our current president’s political career and limitations. 

Biden was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1972 and was re-elected in '78,'84, '90, '96, 2002 and 2008. All of this time, he was in the same Senate position, a pretty cool and quiet line of work. During his lengthy Senate career he tried twice for the presidency and failed miserably both times. The first time was in 1987, when he had to withdraw upon revelation that he had plagiarized a major speech from British Labor Party leader Neil Kinnock. 

He also ran in the 2007 primaries, finished a dismal 5th and, as a consolation prize, became Barack Obama's VP in 2008, that he’d serve in that capacity for eight years. On his last and successful attempt in 2019, it’s interesting to observe that Biden and Sen. Kamala Harris, both presidential candidates, failed a different moments in their efforts to seek their party's nomination, yet theses two uninspiring candidates managed to beat Trump in 2020 as America was sick of the continuous chaos the Donald created. 

At the end of all his attempts, the "Peter Principle" seems to have matched the old adage that the "the third time’s a charm” and his election had more to do with sheer luck than merit...

Saudan: Ski-celebrity marketing

During the 60s, Alpine skiing was big news in Europe, the heroes were Killy and Schranz and there was hardly any room left for other exploits on skis. 

Because he happened to like skiing steep slopes and was obviously good at it, Sylvain Saudan was able to create a brand-new “niche” activity, where he had little to no competition, and was quite smart in leveraging his successes through clever personal marketing, by becoming “The skier of the impossible.” 

Quite a dangerous endeavor in which names like Anselme Baud, Patrick Vallençant, Serge Cachat or Jean-Marc Boivin soon followed him, but the Swiss-born skier had already defined the category as his own. 

A long-time resident of Les Houches, France, right in the Chamonix valley, Saudan elegantly saluted his adoptive country by dying on Bastille Day, securely laying in his own bed, after having successfully dodged lurking dangers and bad luck his entire lifetime. He was 87 years old.

Dear dental implants (continued)

To begin with, implants are great, but not cheap. This was even more the case at their inception; a tiny market for an extra-small, precise part made of Titanium alloy, plus a delicate and staged procedure explain their high price back then and still today. Their growing popularity didn’t have a huge impact on their cost and having had these procedures over the last 4 decades, I would be the first to say they’ve climbed faster than inflation in spite of some economies of scale. 

Today, the worldwide market for that product and procedure is about $5 billion, with about 5 million units installed. In the United States, the cost for the implant alone is between $1,500 to $3,500 to which a crown must be added, pushing the price range for the set from a staggering $2,500 to $5,000 for a full set. This doesn’t include the bone graft that could run from $500 to $1,500. Still an awful lot of money!

Sure discounters of variable repute claim low-ball prices that aren’t real (see billboard). Western Europe is considerably cheaper, but still expensive. In France an implant and a crown runs between $1,500 to $2,500, but nearby Hungary and Turkey offer significantly better prices (at least on paper). The same is true in America with Mexico and Costa Rica, or Thailand and India if one lives in an expensive Asian location. 

This form of medical tourism isn’t a panacea, however. It takes 3 to 4 month for a graft to take hold, the same time for the implant to be ready to receive the crown, so one has to add multiple trips, costly airfares, hotel stays and living expenses while the process goes on, not to mention crossing one’s fingers while hoping everything will go as plan without a hitch. Sure, vacations can be weaved into that time frame, but it’s far from being as easy as it would seem. 

As always, patients get what they pay for!

Shopping for dental implants

For those of us old enough to have bad teeth, mostly because we were born in the wrong family or too many moons ago, or both, when a tooth is dead and when a crown or a bridge won’t do the job, an implant becomes the needed solution. 

The system wasn’t invented yesterday; in the 1950s, a Swedish orthopedic surgeon Per-Ingvar Brånemark accidentally discovered the process of osseointegration, where titanium implants could bond with the jaw bones. In 1965, a first patient received a titanium dental implant, marking the beginning of the procedure.

Its success and further trials and errors led to further advancements in implant design and materials, making dental implants a popular and effective treatment for missing teeth. I had my first two implants in the late 80s, but both failed and had to be replaced. Today, I have three more, plus an additional one scheduled to be placed next month, so I know a few things about them, but still have a lot to learn… 

Typically, implants consist of a titanium screw replacing the root of a missing tooth, with a variety of designs depending on their end use and the manufacturer. A majority of dental implants are made of pure titanium, but some are alloys. 

Most have a textured surface (through etching, anodic oxidation or blasting) to increase the surface area and the integration with the bone.  As long as it contains more than 85% titanium, an alloy will form a titanium oxide surface layer that isolates the other metals, preventing them from contacting the bone and compromising the bond. 

There are also metal-free implants, like Zirconia, that are suitable for patients allergic to metals. More malleable than titanium to facilitate fitting to the abutment and that also less costly than their titanium counterparts. In older patients like me, bone grafting is needed when bone is insufficient to stabilize the implant. 

Typically, the goal is to have a minimum of 0.39 in in bone height, and 0.24 in in width. To compensate for a lack of bone, various bone grafting techniques are available, using either natural bone coming from the patient or a from cadaver and that filling is then covered with a semi-permeable membrane for healing. 

During the healing phase that can last several months, the graft forms the new bony base that will receive the implant. Tomorrow we’ll talk about the growing popularity of implants, their marketing and their cost to the patient... (To be continued)

Learning a language today…

Since I have learned a few foreign language over the (starting with English, and then with German and Italian), all with “Méthode Assimil”, a rather crude, old French self-taught method. I know how difficult learning a foreign language can be. 

Especially when the student had to figure-out the pronunciation from a dreary book, then read a sentence out loud and try to remember it along with its construction as well as the meaning of the few new words that were loaded into it. 

What I can say is that it was hard, imprecise, very time consuming as well as taxing. All along the danger to falling prey to discouragement and abandonment was looming large. Now, fast forward to the 21st century, its smartphones and the many foreign language apps that have populated this particular educational landscape and you see a sea change! 

Since we’re planning to go on a vacation with friends in the not-too-distant future in a Spanish-speaking country I have decided to finally learn the language of Cervantes that I had threatened to embark upon, but never acted on it for the past 10 year as my recurrent new year resolution. 

So, less than 2 weeks ago, I reactivated the Duolingo app that was sitting unused on my phone and I discovered that it had been significantly improved over the pre-Covid era when I briefly attempted to use it. 

I immediately found the new version totally addictive and as a result, I’m hooked on it. Sure, my enthusiasm stems from the terrible “Méthode Assimil” of yesteryear that was what the old horse-pulled buggy is to a Tesla. 

Of course, of all, Duolingo is the least intellectual method, but perfect for a guy like me who’s never understood the basic rules of grammar whether French or for any other language and who sees speaking a foreign language as a risk-taking endeavor or a game of chance.

I’m told there are better tools than Duolingo, like Babble, Rosetta Stone or Pimsleur, but these are both less fun and more expensive, besides, I’ve never aimed at speaking Spanish like Don Quixote! I’ll let you know how this project unfolds...

Vincent van Gogh’s two cents…

 

Another National Celebration…

Just 47 years ago, we switched countries and, in the process, gained July 4th, a new National Celebration but lost Bastille Day that served us well for most of the years before. 

For about two decades, from the time I was a little kid and my parents opened up their restaurant at Les Lindarets, in the French Alps, July 14th, was work, work work, and we just hoped was that the weather would hold so we could capitalize on other folks’ day off and make a good income on that special day. 

True, in addition to these working days, I also missed two of these French Holidays when I was working in Australia, but I didn’t even notice it, as my mind was too busy doing things I enjoyed. 

These days, all the way in America, we never ignore this special day and even if we don’t fly the French flag in front of our house, it’s felt somewhere, deep in our hearts to a faint sound of “La Marseillaise”, the French national anthem… 

Another test for Biden...

On the heels of the NATO summit, Biden had another chance to prove he was fit to run for a 2nd term, but did not quite convince me. 

After mixing up Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Vladimir Putin in public remarks as the meeting was ending, President Joe Biden continued by mixing up his own vice president, Kamala Harris, with Donald Trump at this high-stakes news conference as his campaign is on the line. 

He clearly has problems with words and names, and if he still impressed some with his comments on foreign policy, they were made in a slow, rambling and unexciting manner as he carefully recited what he could remember. 

When asked why he was running again after inferring, his first time around that he was there just for the transition, he answered he couldn’t quit because no one else could do a better job than he would, in my view just misplaced and reckless enough arrogance to disqualify him. I’d give him a 4 out of 10, when a 9 should be the acceptable minimum and a 10 more comforting grade for the top political job in the world. 

Sadly, he is ill-equipped to run our country for four more years and even less to contain and beat Trump. I hope our political leaders are smart enough to engineer a replacement plan while the Republican Party is having its convention next week, leaving its fascist members wondering when the next shoe will drop from the Democrats and how bad it will upset Trump’s plans...

 

Utah’s ski numbers are in!

I was losing patience as I looked for the Utah score, and it took the arrival of the dog days of July to see Ski Utah publishing its excellent visitation numbers for its 2023-24 ski season. 

Beating last year would have been close to impossible giving our anemic, early season that didn’t bode too well, but when loads of snow changed everything after the new year, it all became unstoppable, to the point that this past ski season will be the second busiest in Utah’s history, marked by 6,746,008 skier visits across Utah’s 15 ski resorts. 

Last year’s monster winter snow set the record with 7.1 million skier visits, far surpassing the 5.8 million skier visits in the 2021-22 season. As usual, I continue my attempts in estimating which resort got what out of this bonanza, on the table to the right… 

So that's it, as we're ready to break all temperature records in Utah during the next 3 days, skiing is alive and well in our State and if we look at the impending rise in global temperatures, it’s only fair to ask, for how much longer?

Our mystery “Grandpa’s Weeder”

A few days ago, we found a garden tool, that was used but still fully functional, left standing against the wall, by the entrance to our backyard’s lower level door and wondered who could have left it there, as a thoughtful present. 

Thoughtful, because whoever left it there, must have seen my dear wife toiling all day long as she is chasing weeds all around our property. 

The Grampa’s Weed Puller was invented in 1913 and still is a blessing to all who like their weeding easy, with no bending over and no hand pulling. 

They simply position the two gripping prongs over the weed, press into the ground, and then “lean” the long handle in the direction of the foot-pad lever. Out comes the weed, root and all! This weeder is a simple, effortless tool to use. 

It can be purchased for about $40, but ours was a gift from some mysterious, not yet identified donor! 

Quentin Chauplannaz 1986-2024

Quentin was the son of my friends François and Christine Chauplannaz, from Morzine, France. I spent five seasons working as a ski instructor alongside Francois, and even though I didn’t know his son Quentin that well, I had met him several times when I visited his parents during our short stays in the French Alps. 

He was a young man overflowing with vitality, kindness and enthusiasm. Quentin was married to Marlène and together they had two daughters, Ambre 6, and Garance 4. On the morning of Monday, July 8, Quentin was killed when the old, restored Jeep he was driving went off a mountain road. No one knows exactly what happened. 

Was it a mechanical problem with the 80 years old vehicle, did he lose consciousness or was he distracted by something he saw, his phone or some other thing? No one seems to know and no one may ever know the cause of this violent accident. 

What is certain is the tragedy it is bringing to his two young daughters, spouse and parents. Our deepest condolences to everyone in this heartbroken family.

A sure way to beat Trump

Following the first presidential debate between Biden and Trump, I had suggested Joe Biden’s replacement by better candidates, and even brought up a Gavin Newsom- Liz Cheney ticket. Right, Gavin Newsom for president and Liz Cheney as VP!

While unexpected and to a degree, a bit shocking, this is an iconoclastic, imaginative and out-of-the-box pair that could pave the way to assuage the concerns of registered Republicans and Independents reluctant to vote for Donald Trump, but left with no one they’d feel comfortable giving their vote to. 

This would be the perfect hybrid ticket, Democrat-Republican, capable not just represent a practical commingling of all the American opinions at the executive level, but also constitute a terrific opportunity to bring together a splintered America and usher an era of constructive dialog, political compromise and active governance for the good of the People.

This would be a welcome alternative to the constant bickering that has been our political environment and reality since the tea party gained power in Congress. Should I also mention that both of them are young, smart, command respect, know how to speak in complete sentences and would stand as a stark contrast to the two grumpy old men we are been forced to choose from. 

Both would have wide entries in the two traditional American parties, would generate a supercharged energy and be and intelligent alternative to Trump and would be the catalyst for a new United States as it gets ready for its 250th birthday! http://go-11.blogspot.com/2024/06/the-horror-show-aka-first-debate.html

A busy Australian ski run…

During summer, I love to take a peek at on of my old alma mater, hidden far south from the summer heat of the northern hemisphere to get some fresher air, and to see if the enthusiasm that once inhabited the Australian ski resort of Mount Buller, in the state of Victoria hasn’t abated in spite of an obvious lack of snow at least last weekend when that video was shot. 

The main beginners area is called Bourke Street, named after the Bourke Street Mall in Melbourne for its busy high-traffic and crowds. Many call it “The busiest ski slope in the whole south hemisphere” as it’s really a challenging spot to learn how to ski or ride considering the density of certain weekend crowds, made up of skiers, snowboarders, pedestrians and occasionally stray dogs. 

Even though I’m a heathen, looking at the scene makes me believe that up above, there must be a God, playing ski-traffic controller! Australian ski areas like Mt. Buller are both at a low latitude (37°.08’ south) and low elevation (village at 4,920 ft and top at 5,840 for a usable vertical of just 920 ft so good snow cover and decent skiing are never guaranteed. 

The resort is a day-ski area from the more than 5 million people living in Melbourne some 3 hours away and offer 7,000 visitor’s beds, with just 22 lifts and a 40,000 skiers per hour capacity. This place is where I taught skiing in 1971 and 1972, had a wonderful time and decided that skiing would be my lifelong career! 

Last chance interview for Biden?

We watched the Biden interview by Stephanopoulos on Friday night as it was aired live on ABC. In our view, it failed to accomplish what the President and his supporters hoped in terms of lifting doubt about his chances of re-election.

George Stephanopoulos asked the right questions, but Biden failed to answer most of them or if he did, it was poorly. We think he doesn’t even realize what is happening to him and to his body; that’s sad! His body language showed anger and resentment at all the questioning. 

An angry old man. When asked if he watched a replay of his debate with Trump, he first said he didn’t remember and later said “No”. Instead of projecting a self-assured and calm image of himself, his voice and body language betrayed the complete opposite. We think he’s toast and must be replaced.

A quick ski jaunt to Chile…

As soon as the summer equinox is over, skiing re-enters my mind and with it, as the weather warms up and quickly heats-up, my sole escape back to skiing seems to look down under. I shop the various webcams of Argentina, Australia, Chile, New Zealand and even South Africa, to see what’s frozen, cool and in-between under the Southern Cross skies… 

This year, Chile got more than its fair share very early in the season. Portillo, that stands pretty close to the Argentina border in Chile, got lots of powder and using the webcams available, I pieced together a quiet morning in that resort that doesn’t appear to be very busy. 

In 1946, Emile Allais, came to Chile to take part in the initial development of Portillo and La Parva ski areas, becoming the first director of the Portillo ski school through 1954, until Stein Ericksen took over in 1955. Located 100 miles from Santiago, Portillo’s low latitude (32.83°S), barely gets high enough with an altitude of 9,450 ft at the resort, offering a 2,500 ft vertical stretching from 10,860 ft at the top, down to 8,360 ft below the lodge. 

The skiable area is small, just 1,240 acres and pretty much all visitors are housed inside the same hotel, ski on 35 trails served by 5 fixed grip chairs and 9 surface lifts, including the unique Roca Jack, aka “Va et vient”. As you can imagine, it’s a super cool place, so if you feel oppressed by the summer heat, just go there and enjoy some good turns while there’s snow! 

Could Supreme Court Judges be bribed?

What I now call the “Half dirty dozen”, these six Judges that in theory should be fair and impartial, might have very well been bribed by some nefarious and rogue elements working in unison with the GOP and its Trumpist leadership.

What else could provoke their weird decision to grant monarchic power to a president? Just ideologically-driven insanity? I don’t think so. The whole deal just needs to be properly hidden from view in order for it to be viable and worth risking by the six Judges-for-life. 

Putin might be a logical presumed initiator of such a bribery as he’d love to see his invasion of Ukraine ending in total victory to successfully reach his hegemonic goal. He has enough malfeasance and criminal connections to channel any amount of money through and into offshore accounts to guarantee a totally opaque remittance to the Judges. 

It could also be the Chinese, the Iranians, who really knows for sure? While I can’t prove this at the moment, it’s equally hard to disprove that this obvious incentive was there to tip the balance of justice in totally illogical, absurd and corrupt ways. Outside of a massive Democrats’ win (President and Congress) in November, I wonder how America can extricate itself from this ominous threat...

July 4th and me…

Am I a staunch patriot? Not really, I guess. I don’t fly an American Flag on my house and I’m more of a global citizen. 

I see a lot of sectarianism in the patriotism displayed all over America, and considering the mass infestation from the MAGA virus, from our right wing politics to our fanatic Supreme Court, I am frankly disgusted with what goes on in a country I used to admire.

I only hope this will change, because the United States has taken a turn for the worse and I am all, but in a festive mood on this 248th birthday of the nation I reside in...

Trump and Biden’s presidential crutches

Following his halting, senile performance at the debate, Joe Biden was able to deliver an energetic speech in North Carolina the following day, so his political supporter said “See, the man is good, he can do it, not only that rousing speech at his last State of the Union…” 

Well, these people, including Obama and Pelosi, were either dishonest or not very smart, because they conveniently forgot the key difference between that botched debate and these official speeches. What made all the difference was a device called the teleprompter! These tools were invented in the late 40s and President Eisenhower was the first to use one in the 50s. Obama liked the device so much that he got addicted to it.

For those unfamiliar with that marvel, also called auto-cue, it consists of two or three scrolling screens that prompt a speaker with displaying an electronic text when a speech is given on TV. This enables someone to look straight at the camera lens while reading a script, creating the illusion that the speaker has memorized a speech, or is speaking extemporaneously, while looking the viewer straight in the eyes. 

All major political speeches are written in advance, sometimes by the speaker, but mostly by speech writers when it comes to Biden or Trump. Speakers who can deliver a brilliant speech “off the cuff” are a tiny exception, and teleprompters work best for people who struggle with memorization and are nervous when they must address the public, just like Biden or Trump are. 

It just takes some training but even a stupid person can make a decent impression by using one, as long as the speaker can read well enough. So now, you have it, four years after his last debate with Trump, Biden always used a teleprompter. Several days before the debate, he trained intensely, most likely with cue notes right before his eyes, but in the presence and with the support of his team. 

Without prepared notes, our hapless President found himself woefully stuck, trapped like a deer caught in headlights, as he tried to struggled to string sentences on his own without the assistance of his two screens. He went into a kind of panic attack, a meltdown and was totally ineffective. With his usual swagger, self assurance, lies and big mouth Trump delivered his trademark gobbledygook and got away with it.

Too much reliance on technology can torpedo a debate, a campaign and a political career!

Knife

A few days ago, I finished reading “Knife”, a book by Salman Rushdie, even though I wasn’t able to push any further than page 15 on his “Satanic Verses” that I had found extremely difficult to get into and left me puzzled as to why Ayatollah Khamenei even decided to get its author killed for it. 

So it took my wife to convince me to read the story of what happened on that morning of August 12, 2022, when Salman Rushdie, standing onstage at the Chautauqua Institution, in upstate New York to give a lecture on writers’ safety. was attacked by a lunatic wielding a knife and stabbing him 14 times, almost died and lost his right eye in the process. 

In that book, he explains the aggression and its traumatic aftermath, but most important he explained the way he channeled the event without resentment, but just indifference and contempt for his assailant. 

My take-away from that reading is that I better be careful about what I write about as there seem to be a high cost for shocking idea! In conclusion though, a good book, written in its own style that I enjoyed, this time.

More comfortable with my instinct…

Macron’s crushing defeat at the French legislative elections and Biden collapse behind his lectern last Thursday, validate what I have always thought about this two politicians, and tell me that all efforts to explain away their defeat by their respective supporters won’t have much effect on the two men political future.

In both situations, their demise was already scripted and the scenes were just presented to us so we could assist as was predictable to those who just paid a little attention. This is why this week, I’m beginning to trust and better appreciate my political instinct…