Godwin's Law

While doing a little research for yesterday's entry on bullying I reflected on the concept of flaming, which was rampant in the earlier days of the Internet. Being part of a few Usenet groups, it was inevitable that sooner or later a heated discussion would arise. If you choose to take a side, you risk being the recipient of a whole lotta hostile comments. This was flaming.

So while looking up flaming, which could be a long discussion in and of itself addressing the ease with which people can say things under anonymity that they might never say face-to-face, I stumbled upon Godwin's Law.

Here's a brief synopsis on Godwin's Law from Wikipedia:

Godwin's law (also known as Godwin's Rule of Nazi Analogies or Godwin's Law of Nazi Analogies) is a humorous observation made by Mike Godwin in 1989 which has become an Internet adage. It states: "As an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches 1."In other words, Godwin put forth the sarcastic observation that, given enough time, all discussions—regardless of topic or scope—inevitably end up being about Hitler and the Nazis.

Godwin's law is often cited in online discussions as a deterrent against the use of arguments in the widespread reductio ad Hitlerum form. The rule does not make any statement about whether any particular reference or comparison to Adolf Hitler or the Nazis might be appropriate, but only asserts that the likelihood of such a reference or comparison arising increases as the discussion progresses. It is precisely because such a comparison or reference may sometimes be appropriate, Godwin has argued that overuse of Nazi and Hitler comparisons should be avoided, because it robs the valid comparisons of their impact. (emphasis added)

This last statement is one that I've reflected upon many times.

Trivia question: Who was the last president not to be compared to Hitler?

Bullying

I returned home from a trip to Ohio yesterday and found a front page story here in the Duluth paper on the role of bullying in four suicides at a small Ohio school. Writing about the bullying issue has suddenly become all the rage this week, and it brings a number of thoughts to mind.

The first is Steven Levitt's and Stephen Dubner's chapter on the shark attacks of 2001 in their super sequel, Superfreakonomics. The authors point out that though the media wrote hundreds more shark attack stories than in the previous or following years, even dubbing 2001 "The Summer of the Shark", there were in fact the same number of shark attacks on humans as always. The media essentially terrified the public about a risk that has always existed but is minimal.

Bullying, like shark attacks, has always been with us. Is it worse now?

When my kids were in school they used to bring "the Peace Lady" into the class rooms to teach about getting along. This was elementary school, and the schools did recognize that there were problems, but the Peace Lady did not stop certain kids from picking on other kids.

Now we have people calling for the government to fix the problem with legislation. Are laws going to make bad people good?

Some idealists believed that the New Age was going to result in everyone being nice. Charles A. Reich's 1970 NYTimes bestseller The Greening of America went to great extremes announcing the coming of a new generation with a new consciousness unlike any of its progenitors. He called it Consciousness III. This new generation of enlightened youth were going to change the world through love and compassion and a new set of values in opposition to the power games that led to Viet Nam. Kids in school would all get along, and be nice. Reich has evidently drunk a little too much of Ken Kesey's kool-aid.

With all the publicity surrounding the pervasiveness of bullying, it is even becoming an election issue. Here in Minnesota this weekend the gubernatorial candidates were asked what they would do about schoolyard bullying. In typical fashion, the Democrat Mark Dayton said we'll pass laws to deal with it. The Republican candidate Tom Emmer said we have too much government and more laws aren't the solution. He said that what we need is "more understanding" which unfortunately does not sound strong enough, or a very easy target to achieve.

In fact, some bullying may be the outcome of having too many laws already. Teachers are handcuffed against taking action when it might result in a lawsuit.

Independent candidate Tom Horner sides with Mark Dayton on this one, stating that we need more laws. But what will these laws look like? Don't we already have laws against hate crimes and invasion of privacy and libel? Where do the lines get drawn, and how will they be enforced? When it boils down to "he said, she said," does a tie go to the victim?

Bullying is a terrible thing. I doubt that anyone who ever went to school could have avoided seeing some measure of it. I saw it in Bridgewater, New Jersey. Kids can be cruel and merciless, even in the "good" schools.

I once had a long discussion with a fellow who murdered someone when he was fifteen. The other kid had been picking on him and picking on him and picking on him. One day he took the kid out. Twenty-five years later he still seethes about this other kid's bullying.

For sure, children must be kept safe in our schools, since for that period of their lives they are wards of the state. Parents are required by law to entrust their children to the supervision of the schools for three-fourths of the year. Will new legislation improve the school district's ability to eliminate this problem? What will that legislation look like? And who will write it? And, like the health care bill that was passed, will our elected officials vote for it without ever reading it, hoping that it will ultimately make a difference?

I'm not very optimistic about this issue.

More Than A Game

A couple weeks ago I picked up Brian Billick’s More Than A Game, The Glorious Present and Uncertain Future of the NFL. I can’t tell if the title is overplaying the contents of the book yet, but for sure if you have been a fan of NFL Football for any length of time you will undoubtedly enjoy the book for the quantity of anecdotal insights about coaches, players and teams with whom you’ve become familiar with over the years.

According to a recent Esquire poll of 20 and 50 year old men, NFL football is the most watched spectator sport for young and old alike. For this reason alone a publisher like Scribner would take a chance publishing an insider's perspective on the game, especially when co-authored by a New York Times bestselling sportswriter.

This is not my first book by or about an NFL coach. Billick took his Baltimore Ravens to a Super Bowl, which gives him the privilege of having his story told. Last year I read Tony Dungy’s excellent Quiet Strength: The Principles, Practices, and Priorities of a Winning Life, and before that The Education of a Coach, about the fabled Bill Bellichek, who turned the disorganized New England Patriots into a dynasty in the new era of free agency.

Billick’s story is his own, but not unlike Bellichek’s or Dungy’s in this sense. Dungy went to Tampa Bay to coach a team of losers and turned them into winners, but having failed to bring home a Super Bowl trophy found himself displaced. At Indianapolis he helped put it all together, and did indeed achieve remarkable things, bringing home the big prize in Super Bowl XIV. Billick, who cut his teeth under the Minnesota Vikings’ Dennis Green, took over a Baltimore Ravens team that had never had a winning season in its history. The previous year his Vikings had been 15-1, so a daunting challenge lay ahead of him. Yet Billick turned the franchise around and did what needed to be done to build a formidable team.

This book is less about that and more about the challenges facing coaches, managers and teams today, not so much through citing statistics as by stringing together anecdotes. The chapter I’d just finished on the plane from Dayton to Detroit dealt with aspects of the college football draft, with insights into the various methodologies and criteria coaches use to select new talent. Tom Landry, for example did everything by the numbers, speed, height, weight, arm strength, etc. San Francisco 49ers coach Bill Walsh would have tapes assembled featuring every candidate’s 15 best and worst plays from the college careers. Tony Dungee also added a character criteria to his assessments. If a player had had a minor scrape with the law, a small “c” would be written on the player’s sheet. If they’d had a major issue, there would appear a large “C” on his assessment, and the Colts never hired a player with that capital C.

What is interesting are the uncertainties in so many situations and decisions. Billick underscores the difficulties of assessing future success when drafting quarterbacks. Because of salary caps, a top quarterback can become an expensive bite from the pie you have to work with. And over the past fifty years the odds of getting winner are only 50/50. No matter how stellar an athletes numbers in college, the pros are a different animal. And no one gets it right more than half the time. Billick points out, however, that there is another stat that accompanies the drafting of top dollar quarterbacks in the first rounds. 100% of the time, the coach that drafted him is gone within three years if he turns out to be a lemon.

Another variable that makes things hard to anticipate are the hidden off-field behaviors that can ultimate become a distraction, or worse. Michael Vick's dog fighting activities were not only an embarrassment to the league, but damaging to his value to sponsors who invested so much in the aura he created as a superstar. This week's headline involving Brett Favre's "inappropriate passes" can't help be a distraction for the team as they face the Jets tomorrow.

In the book, Billick shares how difficult interviews with potential draftees can be. It becomes extremely difficult to uncover and evaluate the potential problem baggage a player might be carrying because they learn rote answers to put themselves in the best light possible for consideration. The Ravens' owner Steve Biscotti had an interesting interview question that cut through the mustard in these situations. He would ask, "Okay, what's the worst thing you ever got away with?" Not, what is the worst thing on your record, but what has been going on that nobody knows about. The players get confused, because they do not know what the owner knows or doesn't know.

Billick, after looking at a player's rap sheet, once asked, "Look, you're either a thug or you're stupid. Which is it?" The player looked straight back at Billick and asked, "Are those my only two choices?" Billick writes that he knew right then the guy wasn't stupid, and it turned out he wasn't a thug either, playing nine solid years without a spot of trouble.

The book is filled with the kinds of stories only an insider can tell. If you like football, check it out. It's an insight-filled read.

Three Lines, Two Stanzas and a Series of Dreams

If you listen to Dylan much at all, you can't help but notice the many great lines woven throughout his songs. Here three favorites lines, two stanzas and another of my favorite Dylan songs, A Series Of Dreams. Plus a couple Dylan portraits I've painted over the past few years.

Three Lines

"If I turn a deaf ear to the thunder in the sky, what good am I?"
(What Good Am I?)

"You don’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows."
(Subterranean Homesick Blues)

The enemy is subtle, how be it we are so deceived
When the truth’s in our hearts and we still don’t believe?
(Precious Angel)

Two Stanzas

Rubin could take a man out with just one punch
But he never did like to talk about it all that much
It’s my work, he’d say, and I do it for pay
And when it’s over I’d just as soon go on my way
Up to some paradise
Where the trout streams flow and the air is nice
And ride a horse along a trail
But then they took him to the jailhouse
Where they try to turn a man into a mouse.
(Hurricane)

Now he worships at an altar of a stagnant pool
And when he sees his reflection, he’s fulfilled
Oh, man is opposed to fair play
He wants it all and he wants it his way
(License to Kill)

And a really great song....

Series Of Dreams

I was thinking of a series of dreams
Where nothing comes up to the top,
Everything stays down where it’s wounded
And comes to a permanent stop.
Wasn’t thinking of anything specific
Like in a dream when someone wakes up and screams;
Nothing too very scientific,
Just thinking of a series of dreams.

Thinking of a series of dreams
Where the time and the tempo fly
And there’s no exit in any direction
’Cept the one that you can’t see with your eyes;
Wasn’t making any great connection
Wasn’t falling for any intricate scheme,
Nothing that would pass inspection…
Just thinking of a series of dreams.

Dreams where the umbrella is folded
Into the path you are hurled
And the cards are no good that you’re holding
Unless they’re from another world.

In one, the surface was frozen;
In another, I witnessed a crime.
In one, I was running, and in another
All I seemed to be doing was climb.
Wasn’t looking for any special assistance,
Nor going to any great extremes;
I’d already gone the distance
Just thinking of a series of dreams.
Copyright © 1991 by Special Rider Music

Have a creative, fulfilling day.... and enjoy your weekend.

A List of Top Art Blogs

If you make art and have a fair amount of web traffic, here is a site where you can see how you stack up against the rest of the cyber-universe. This site lists the top blogs by a variety of criteria, from web traffic to number of pages indexed by Google or Yahoo. The names of the blogs and websites show the range of creative expression online these days, from Doodlers Anonymous and The Tomorrow Museum to Modern Art Obsession, Bibis Box and JazJaz.

Not a lot of time here to fine tune my thoughts for something more, so invest a few minutes by heading to this List of Top 75 Art Blogs and bookmarking it. And if you're an artist, get yourself listed.

Art quote of the day by Vincent Van Gogh: "The only time I feel alive is when I'm painting." I can't say it's the only time I feel alive, but I do know where he's coming from.

Five Minutes with Artist Soojung Cho

Here is another artist I recently met online, painter Soojung Cho, originally from South Korea.

Do not be beguiled by the seeming simplicity of some of her designs. I see echoes of both Matisse and Magritte, and something more that is her own. According to her artists statement, "In my work I try to reconstitute colors and forms that reflect inner sentiments and emotions in order to create new images." Since 1992 she has shown here work in Miami, New Jersey, New York and South Korea. She is a gift emerging artist with a fresh spirit for our times.

Ennyman: When did you first notice that you were gifted in creative ways?

Soojung: I’ve always been drawn to the arts, even as a little child in rural Korea. But it wasn’t until I met God in my early forties that it became clear to me that I was in some way gifted in creative ways.

The appearance of God in my life has allowed me to focus on the things that are truly important and pure. I am no longer overwhelmed by the constant bombardment of empty noises and incessant chatter that populate the lives of most of us in today’s world. I have regained the necessary peace of mind and spirit to listen to my creative inner voice.

Making art had not been an act of creation; it was rather an expression of an emotional whirlwind. It wasn’t until God had allowed me to focus on pure creation that I truly realized my gift.

Enny: Who were your early influences to become an artist?

Soojung: My earliest true influence was my high school art teacher. She always told me my artworks are good and it was real encouragement to me. Her simple and kind recognition opened the door to pursue art as more than just a hobby. She gave me the confidence to devote my life to art.

Enny: You grew up in South Korea. Does South Korea have a thriving arts community?

Soojung: South Korea has a growing and vibrant art community. Many of my friends are well known artists in Korea, and they have found a way to sustain their art through the patronage of art lovers that are plentiful in a fast growing economy and a culture that values tradition and the arts.

Enny: How did you end up coming to the U.S. and what made you decide to pursue art in a more serious way as an adult?

Soojung: I first came to the U.S. to study Fine Art at Otterbein College. I returned to Korea after matriculating but came back to the United States when my husband found job in New York. I have lived here ever since. There are many reasons I love the United States, but the one thing I could not give up is the freedom I enjoy here as both a woman and artist.

I have to be an artist because nothing else fills that void in my life. I would happily paint for free, if only the practicalities of life didn’t get in the way.

Enny: Are you selling your work and how did that begin?

Soojung: I started selling my artwork at art exhibitions.

I began selling my art through the encouragement of friends who were actively involved in the Korean art community. Once a show went well, it gave me the confidence and experience to cast a wider net. So far I'm very blessed to have supportive Korean audiences and am excited to see a more and more diverse following. In the end, I want my art to be universal.

Enny: I like the way your website gallery has been divided into three sections -- Renewed, Unseen, Seen -- each with a passage from Scripture to go with it. How much is your art influenced by your spiritual beliefs?

Soojung: It is difficult for me to make a distinction between my faith and my art, except to say that my art is an expression of my faith. So in some way, my spiritual beliefs are the only influence, in so far as it is foundational to who I am and how I view the world.

Enny: Most of your work on the website seems to be oil on canvas. Is this your favorite medium and why?

Soojung: Oil on canvas is my favorite medium. I have been fascinated by oil color ever since I was child; I even love the smell linseed oil. But recently I have been exploring the possibilities of digital painting with Corel Painter, and it is pretty amazing. I will upload my recent digital paintings to my website www.soojungcho.com soon.

Enny: Thank you SooJung for letting me share some of yourself with others here at Ennyman's Territory.

Mr. Holland’s Opus, Revisited

At this point I can’t recall exactly what it was I was looking for last week when I stumbled up an essay by Thomas Larson that stopped me in my tracks: Fellow Teachers, We Are Not Mr. Holland.

Larson makes no bones about it. He disliked Mr. Holland Opus, and since I’d always found it a heroic and uplifting film I felt compelled to take in another perspective. What so wrong about a man who sublimates the personal passions of idealistic youth to assume the adult responsibilities of parenting, self-sacrifice, and faithfulness. Larson takes aim and fires an on target salvo.

The film’s career-ending glory and applause, while heartfelt, is unjustified: thirty years to write one five-minute symphony? It’s demeaning to Mr. Holland to suggest that he did not have the courage to create. It is also demeaning to suggest that his teaching got in the way of his composition. For many artist-teachers, their work with students does not erase but rather enhances what they do with their evenings and weekends.

Of course a few artists do make a living not teaching. But those people are supported by a market that draws out the artist’s commercial choices. The serious composer, the classical musician, the poet, the choreographer, the performance artist—all must teach in our society because their endeavors go unsupported by the marketplace.

Besides, commercially successful artists are few. The vast majority of creative and artistic people in America work at other jobs or else teach their craft. In either case, if they are true creators, then their creative side occupies a major part of their lives. If artists teach, they are not, as the film suggests, less dedicated because they mind their artistic fires. On the contrary. They are enlivened and deepened by the paradox of personal and professional fulfillment, a finer truth which Mr. Holland’s Opus fails to explore.

Larson makes many good points in his essay, but this one applies to most professions and is most excellent. When we make a living doing something else, the art we create can be more “true” to one’s inner vision as we’re not necessarily married to the need to sell our work to survive. This is a liberating insight, once understood rightly.

And Larson's main point above is especially true, that artists and writers can use their work experiences as grist for the mill, logs for the fire, building materials. Scott Adams could never have created Dilbert had he be exempt from having to work because he was independently wealthy. The culture he was immersed in became the fertilizer for his imagination.

The other issue Larson underscores is that Mr. Holland’s paltry output is not due to the interference of teaching in and of itself. Yes, there are seasons when job or family become a 24/7 pre-occupation. Yes, sometimes life gets in the way of living. At this moment I am flying over Lake Michigan, heading to Ohio on a business trip, which means I will not likely be painting in my studio for a few days. But for writers, musicians, artists to say that they don’t get anything done because they have to work, well… Larson makes a case that this is a weak excuse for lack of creative output.

On the other hand, in defense of the film I would suggest that the point being made was that the students themselves were Mr. Holland’s real Opus. And I can accept this. Our influence on others really is our most important work, and teachers have an opportunity to do this to a degree few other professions really offer.

If you have time, the essay is a pretty good read and worth checking out.