My sons at the Obama Rally on Election night

Capitalist Rallies Have Stores!

We were fortunate enough to get tickets to the Obama-palooza party in Grant Park last night. We wanted to take the kids so they could be part of history. Being there, it was more like being at a rock concert than a political rally. As I stood there with tears in my eyes as President Obama spoke, I could not help but think that we were part of something bigger than ourselves. This is a good feeling to have because sometimes, especially during these tough economic times, we can get dragged down with our our personal situtations since we are so heavily focused on what is in front of us. Change happens all around us. We just need to work toward it. As the Obama campaign said, “Yes We Can!”

Every September 11th, I think back on where I was on that fateful morning. I was actually at a breakfast with some disgruntled employees. I was the chairman of a technology based company. That morning, a group of employees invited me to breakfast to discuss their grievances with the CEO of the company. Over breakfast, they voiced all the problems with the CEO and wanted him out. I walked back to the office with a heavy heart and unsure what to do about the situation.

When I got back to the office, I heard about the Twin Towers. The issue we had discussed seem to fade away compared to what was going on in New York that day. In the subdued mood that followed days later, the employees and the CEO were able to put aside their differences and reconcile in the end.

Where were you?

I am becoming more of a documentary fan. Recently, I watched Seth Gordon’s King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters. It is about people that try to set records of old style video games that I grew up on. Once upon a time, these games only appeared in bars, restaurants and arcades as stand alone machines. This 80 minute film focuses on the record set by Billy Mitchell for the highest score in Donkey Kong that has stood for over 20 years. The challenger, Bill Wiebe, who sees himself as a loser, sets out to set a new record, first on his machine in his garage and then later at public tournament. What is most interesting about the film

1. It shows that people will compete to be the best at anything. We will do almost anything to get fame and how important fame is in our culture. We can get our respect and self esteem by being successful at anything. It can give us that bounce! that can carry us to success in other things or enable us to let go of our failures.

2. Most competitive processes there is politics and room for corruption. Billy, the current champion is the favorite of the ruling body who judges these things. In fact, one of the original taglines to the movie was to be: ” The highest form of corruption at the lowest levels.”

3. Some people like Steve see themselves as losers when they come in second place. Don’t get me wrong, I think we should try to win and that we usually don’t remember who came in second…but being second, does not mean we are branded a loser.

Watch the movie. You will enjoy it!

News item: Bobby Fischer, great chess champion, died yesterday in Iceland at age 64. He had been a grand master since he was 15.

I grew up loving chess. When I was 12, Fischer beat Boris Spassky for the title. It was a source of great American pride. Then Fischer got weird with his actions. He became increasingly Anti-Semitic (although he was Jewish) and Anti-American. He became very reclusive.

What sticks in my mind is not Fischer himself, but the 1993 movie, Searching For Bobby Fischer. It is about a boy who is incredible at chess. I vividly remember a line in the movie where the father, played by Joe Mantegna, is pushing his son to be the best with despite what perhaps his son really wants. He says, “My son is better at chess than I have ever been at anything”. For me, this shows the hope that all parents have for our children to be better than we are. And the pride that we take in it. And unfortunately, sometimes, as the father in this story does, how we push our children too hard to achieve for our own selfish ego gratification.

I talk about in Bounce! how we are addicted to achievement. This goes not only for ourselves but for our children. Let us each follow our own dream and passion but let’s make sure it is our own. Let’s make sure that we do not push our hopes and dreams on our children….at least not too hard.

New Mexico is trying to keep drunks off the road by telling them not to drive before they get into the car. According to a recent news story, they have 500 talking urinal cakes in restaurant and bar bathrooms. When I man steps up in front of the urinal, a women’s voice says, "Hey big guy. Having a few drinks? Think you had one to many? Then its time to call a cab or call a sober friend for a ride home."

Entrepreneurs: Think of the possibilities of talking Urinals.

Today is election day in America. Vote. It is our duty and right.

We all know that disposable diapers are causing a huge landfill problem..but is reselling cloth diapers the answer? That Fat Baby, a company right here in Illinois,list used diapers for resale. I was not able to find this particular one, but Inc Magazine reports that they found a "terry cloth model with red trim and light to moderate staining". There has got to be a better way!

This day, September 11th will always be a memorable day. On days like this, we always ask each other..where were you? Other generations have the end of WWII, John Kennedy or Martin Luther King being shot. We have 9/11.

I remember where I was 5 years ago. I was chairman of a small consulting company. Some of the employees had asked me to meet for breakfast that morning. They were staging a ‘coup" against the CEO of the company. After they aired their problems, we all went back to the office to hear the news of the WTC being hit. Our issues seemed pretty small after that….

Today is May Day. The traditional day for revolutionaries and protests in many parts of the world. Today is a significant May Day since rallies are planned by illegal immigrants to show how they matter to the US economy. As reported in the news:

"Thousands of illegal immigrants and their allies across the country plan a show of force Monday to illustrate how much immigrants matter in the U.S. economy. Some will skip work, others will protest at lunch breaks, school walkouts or at rallies after work."

Immigrants are here in the US because there is better work available. American businesses are enablers of this illegal immigrants. They are an important part of the economy. We need to figure out how to get have them as a legal part of the economy.

Well, my candidate lost yesterday by a large margin. My son that participated in the campaign was so disappointed that he actually still wore his campaign button to work. When I asked him why he was doing this he said, "Well I will wear it today, maybe people will change their mind".