The Man In The Glass

One of my favourite poems:


When you get all you want and you struggle for self,

and the world makes you king for a day,

then go to the mirror and look at yourself

and see what that man has to say.


For it isn't your mother, your father or wife

whose judgement upon you must pass,

but the man, whose verdict counts most in your life

is the one staring back from the glass.


He's the fellow to please, never mind all the rest.

For he's with you right to the end,

and you've passed your most difficult test

if the man in the glass is your friend.


You can fool the whole world down the highway of years,

and take pats on the back as you pass.

But your final reward will be heartache and tears

if you've cheated the man in the glass.


by Dale Wimbrow, 1934


If we are honest with ourselves, we will know if we have truly done our best in all things that we do. This tenet is central to many organizations that I belong to, including Sigma Chi Fraternity and Scouts Canada. It is also crucial to happiness, in my opinion. The regrets about the things we did fade away much faster than the regrets about the things we never did. Don't cheat the man in the glass!

Aristotle versus Kant! Philosophical battle!

I answered this question on Yahoo Answers some time ago: "What would Aristotle and Kant think about stealing? What would they argue?"

My answer was:

They dealt with opposite sides of an ignorance coin. Aristotle dealt with the ramifications of whether the thief knew he was stealing whereas Kant focussed on whether the victim knew he was being robbed. They would be separated by their respective perspectives and would probably kill each other in a dual fit of rage, both yelling at the other "Why won't you listen to me!" ... Aristotle in Greek and Kant in German, which doesn't help matters.

According to Aristotle, ignorance of the major premise results in an evil act, but ignorance of the minor premise results in an involuntary act, i.e., it is not stealing if one does not know the property belongs to someone else. It is a serious moral flaw if a man does not understand what stealing is, but it is possible to know that stealing is wrong and still take someone else's property in ignorance. This is the sort of ignorance of particular circumstances that results in an involuntary act for which one is not morally responsible.

Kant argued that any action taken against another person to which he or she could not possibly consent is a violation of perfect duty interpreted through the second formulation. If a thief were to steal a book from an unknowing victim, it may have been that the victim would have agreed, had the thief simply asked. However, no person can consent to theft, because the presence of consent would mean that the transfer was not a theft. Since the victim could not have consented to the action, it could not be instituted as a universal law of nature, and theft contradicts perfect duty.

Full disclosure: I referred to cliff's notes and wikipedia for my answer, although I particularly like my first paragraph in the answer.

A few thoughts about Oscar

I replied to my friend Alistair's mention of Tom Hanks blowing off one of the "hosts" who verbally attacked Tom as he was walking by backstage with William Monahan, the writer of The Departed.

Those award show "hosts" are the most superfluous part of an over-the-top back-self-patting extravaganza. Hmm, come to think of it, that last phrase was a little over-the-top, too. Over The Top, by the way, was an arm wrestling(!) movie starring Sly Stallone back in 1987. My friend and I were 2 of 3 people in the theatre for that one. It makes The Long Kiss Goodnight seem like Lawrence of Arabia by comparison. I think Alistair, Dean and I were 3 of the 5 or so people in the theatre for The Long Kiss Goodnight. You remember that one A.? Not that I'm bitter. ;-) It was Geena Davis's follow-up to Cutthroat Island. I think that one-two combo was the death knell for her career, a cameo in Stuart Little and a few TV appearances aside. Speaking of aside, enough of this aside: back to the Oscars!

Good on Tom Hanks for totally snubbing that "host" whose lameness with his attempt at comedy with the wooden horse race board (he called it "the latest in technology", or some such foolishness) that he held in his hand was only exceeded by his blind toadying/insinuation into Tom's life, which was going along just fine without that host (who shall remain nameless; OK, I don't know his name).

I am happy that Scorsese finally won Best Director. I think it was one of those body-of-work awards, although I really enjoyed The Departed. On another note, I agree with Alan Arkin who said that he hoped that his 10-year old co-star Abby Breslin would not win Best Supporting Actress. While he was joking by saying she would have to follow it up by winning a Nobel Prize next year, I have to agree with him. What could she do after winning the top award in her field at age 10? Best to simply get a nomination and not peak too early.

Speaking of peaking too early, you read it here first: Jennifer Hudson will never again achieve the acting success she currently has, with a Golden Globe and Oscar. Her role in Dreamgirls was her dream role and while she probably won't be back on cruise ships singing Disney tunes anytime soon, I wonder if she should quit while she's ahead. Unfortunately, I think her career will be disappointing to her and to her fans. I hope I'm wrong.

P.S. Here is a site that lists some other young hopefuls that never re-attained their Oscar peak. I guess most stars shoot across the sky in Hollywood.

Appraisal Groupies

OK, so this is the first time anyone has said this to me at a property. I was appraising the Esso/Tim Horton's in Brookfield (near Truro). After I was done, I went in to the Tim's to get a hot chocolate as it was pretty cold outside. While I was waiting for my drink, one of the Tim's girls asked me if I was an appraiser. I guess she looked at my coat with Kempton Appraisals Limited on it -- no snarky comments! I answered that I was an appraiser and she responded sincerely(!), "Cool! How do you become an appraiser? Do you have to go to a special school?" I answered no, and then listed some of the qualifications to become an appraiser. By this time a couple of the other workers joined in the conversation and they were pretty impressed at the depth of knowledge one needs to be an appraiser. If I didn't know better, I wouldn't believe their reaction, but this was a pretty laid-back place and I think they were actually impressed. Maybe this girl sees it as a way to get out of Brookfield. Not exactly Hollywood, but maybe Halifax is a big city to her. I guess there's a first time for everything. It made me feel pretty good about myself, which is nice considering some of the clients we have had lately.

ROXANNE...

You don't have to put on the red light.

Possibly the most recognizable opening lines in late 70's rock, as well as the most interesting backing vocals in a hit song. Take a listen again to hear what I am saying.

I bought 4 tickets to The Police's second show in Toronto, happening at the Air Canada Centre on July 23. My three closest friends are joining me: Alistair, Dean and Dave D. I tried calling the Air Canada Centre at 11 AM on Saturday, got a busy signal time after time and about 10 minutes into it, thought I should look for an online box office. I found it at Ticketmaster.ca and bought 4 tickets. It was a pretty easy experience and I would recommend it. I tried buying tickets for the first and what was the only show at the time, but it was sold out basically right away. Then I looked at all of the various pre-sale sales and I realized that people were able to buy tickets as early as Tuesday. No wonder it was sold out! I am glad I took the time to get the tickets when I did because I heard on the radio this morning that all of their shows sold out in a matter of hours (I am guessing minutes).

We are planning to meet in T-dot for the show, with Dean hosting (right, Dean?) Dave is scheduled to be in Brockville, visiting his inlaws with his wife Lauren and their to-be 2 kids, Oliver (Cheryl's and my godson) and Baby to be named later when s/he arrives in the next week or so. Alistair will fly in from wherever he happens to be at the time, and I will use Air Miles to go up from Hali.

I bought upper bowl seats for $95 - plus about $17 in various charges per ticket!! - rather than the lower bowl for $225. I am somewhat torn by it because in the long run an extra $130 would probably be worth it, but on the other hand if you are not on the floor near the front, it is much different? Would it be worth 2.5 times? I don't think so. anyway, just being in the arena will be the thrill, although there were $60 tickets available but I wonder if they are nosebleed seats or standing room tickets, dunno.

I saw The Police on TV the other night when they opened the Grammys. I thought they looked happy and healthy and ready to tour, so I am looking forward to the show.

Not so much a football post...

Here is a link to Tony Dungy and Lovie Smith's inspiration as coaches who are able to achieve so much and get their players to do the same. I was touched by Tony Dungy's comments after the Super Bowl when he was presented with the Lombardi Trophy. So many athletes thank God for their success, but this time it felt real. Congratulations to a Godly man - Tony Dungy - and his team.

Thanks to Matt Whitman for the link.

Pardon me? Please?

Great cartoon by Mr. Fish in Harper's Magazine. By the way, Harper's is my new favourite magazine, with thought-provoking pieces about current events. Good brain food.