Monday, July 28, 2008

Multitasking

[This post was originally delivered by email to our local Toastmasters Club.]

I enjoy multi-tasking. Almost always, I work with music in the background. At home, I have two computer monitors which allows me to pay bills and watch a little nonsense on youtube. Over the past few nights, I’ve been a little more deliberate about my multi-tasking. If you’re like me, and have an opportunity, I encourage you to do the same. Here are a few opportunities I’ve taken:

1) Catch up on politics – watch their speeches and compare:
This year’s election feels like it’s the most important one in which I’ve had the opportunity to vote. Maybe it’s an increased awareness with age, or because the world seems to be coming a little looser at the seams. However, I’ve lost track of what my presumptive candidates’ proponents are. Watching their speeches and interviews has been hugely helpful. I can learn about the issues and also admire or wince at their rhetorical achievemrnts.

McCain: http://www.johnmccain.com/Informing/Multimedia/Archive.aspx?gallery=07919950-D725-4C5A-B953-B192D9A547B4
http://www.youtube.com/johnmccaindotcom

Obama: http://www.barackobama.com/tv/speeches.php
http://www.youtube.com/user/BarackObamadotcom

In my opinion, nobody interviews as effectively as David Letterman. Do a search for your candidate with Dave.

2) Be inspired – watch the really great speeches on really great subjects
Martin turned me on to this site. Don’t miss this phenomenal resource: www.americanrhetoric.com.

“Top 100”: http://www.americanrhetoric.com/top100speechesall.html
Starts with “I Have a Dream.” Don’t miss Kennedy, Malcolm X, Roosevelt, Eisenhower, Faulkner.

Tonight, I was blown away by Randy Pausch’s “Last Lecture: Achieving Your Childhood Dreams.” A professor’s last lecture, knowing he had three months to live. Entertaining, and fantastically inspiring. Definitely qualifies for speech #10.

Use the Speech Index to look up any of your heroes, secular or religious. If they said anything that was recorded, it’s probably here. Back to politics, I used this resource to listen to McCain’s Republican Nominee Address back to back with Obama’s Democratic Nomination Victory Speech. The difference in rhetoric and audience connection is staggering.

3) Be entertained and informed – Comedy Central seems to have the corner on cutting through the bologna.

Full episodes of the Daily Show with John Stewart and the Colbert Report are available free.

Watch Letterman take on Bill O’Reilly here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKftpGB03vU

And of course, this Caravan Race on TopGear is about the funniest car episode I have ever seen.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7897406168274581724


That’s it. Remember, watch these WHILE YOU’RE DOING SOMETHING ELSE! And, probably, never watch them at work.

Monday, July 21, 2008

Another Guest Spot

I've been invited to post on another blog, a new one, a political one. Politics is not my gig. I know nothing about the players. I have opinions like anyone else, but I have no statistics to back them up. But, in this season of what feels like real-deal issues, I'm thankful for an opportunity to say my piece, to explore my opinions through writing.

If you're interested, the new blog is here: resoundingtruth.blogspot.com

In other news, I had a fantastic lunch with my pastor this afternoon. We talked about architecture and how to relate to the six architects in our tiny church.