Edsel Ford Speaks about Racing in America

Last night, I had the privilege of hearing Edsel Ford II, great grandson of Henry Ford, talk about his grandfather and also about a special new exhibit going up in the museum Henry founded. Racing in America will cover all forms of American auto racing, focusing on the theme of innovation.

Taking up 22,000 square feet in the museum, which is 10 miles west of Detroit, the exhibit will cover stock cars, open-wheel cars, sports cars, drag-racing vehicles, winged sprinters and land-speed-record cars.

The Henry Ford Museum itself is much more than just a car museum, although there are plenty of them in there. Its 250-acre campus features five unique attractions and contains more than 26 million artifacts that help teach visitors--and future generations--about the genius of ordinary Americans. More than 1.6 million people visit each year--including more than a quarter of a million school children.

I'll have to make of point of going as soon as I can get back there.

Mr. Ford told us about his great grandfather's race in 1901, in which he entered a lightweight but durable vehicle--called "Sweepstakes." By outlasting the competition and being piloted effectively by the first time racer. Mr. Ford himself, it won. Sweepstakes was discovered years later in the Ford collection and has been restored. That win helped launch support for the Ford Motor Company--and the rest is history.

Now, Mr. Ford is seriously seeking the glass punchbowl which was given to Henry Ford as the prize for his only race. If you know the whereabouts of the punchbowl, be sure to let the museum know.

Job Hunting's Like Choosing a Mate

Looking for a new job is a lot more like choosing a mate than you might suppose. You want to like the person (company) and what they stand for. You decide based on your observations and feelings for the moment, but what you really want is something that works for the long term. But how can you tell?

You go on dates (interviews) to try to figure out how compatible you are. You ask questions--and answer them. You try to be honest, but of course you tend to talk up your accomplishments and avoid those moments you'd just as soon forget. However, tell outright lies at your own peril--I don't even try--because I can't and also because I believe that if you do, they'll come back to haunt you later.

So, you date (meet), you talk, and when you think you've found the right one (and they agree--a rarer thing), you make a legal agreement (paperwork) and you're together. If you're lucky--and work at it, it lasts.

A good marriage can (and should) outlast a lifetime of good and bad jobs, or even multiple careers. So far, I'm doing pretty well. Ask my wife.

It's Wonderful ('67)

Funny how a certain song can stop you in your tracks. I sometimes (perhaps too often) find myself lingering on the 60's channel on Sirius XM Radio. They love to play the big hits of the day, like "Satisfaction" by the Stones or "Stop in the Name of Love" by the Supremes--great songs, but suffering from overexposure.

Then, up comes "It's Wonderful" by the Rascals (note: you have to wait for it on the YouTube video). The psychedelic musings, four/four keyboard rhythms and odd marching outro are so much a part of that surprisingly short period from 1966 to early 1968 in which acid-themed odd (and long) songs suddenly appeared (and quickly disappeared). They play the Rascals' "Groovin'" all the time, but you rarely hear "It's Wonderful." It's a favorite--along with Tomorrow by the Strawberry Alarm Clock. Yeah, they play that band's "Incense and Peppermints" all the time, but not "Tomorrow."

It's for those little chestnuts that I wait through yet another Four Seasons or Gary Puckett and the Union Gap tune.

A Double Dose of Chamber Music

Yesterday, I got to enjoy two chamber music concerts. Being in an orchestra and a member of the Chamber Musicians of Northern California, I have met lots of fellow players--and they sometimes invite me to come hear them perform at local venues.

First, I drove to Alameda to the High Street Station to hear the Hillside Quintet, made up of five members of the Castro Valley Chamber Orchestra. They feature flute, clarinet, oboe, bassoon and horn. Their two sets mixed the popular sound of Mozart with the rousing refrains of John Philip Sousa's Liberty Bell March (the Monty Python theme), a surprisingly beautiful composition, the Andante by Muszynski from 1985, and other delightful pieces. They even played "Take Me Out to the Ballgame."

That's the Hillside Quintet in the photo above.

Then, I drove quickly East, to Pleasant Hill, where in the contemporary A-frame of St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church, four separate groupings of musicians (with a few folks playing in multiple ensembles) filled the building with great sounds. After Schubert's String Quintet in C Major (1828) came the biggest surprise of the concert--The Ballade, Pastorale and Dance by Eric Ewazen (born in 1954). In the unusual grouping of flute, horn and piano, it proved, as the Muszynski did, that modern classics can be a delight to the ear.

My Favorite Cookies

In keeping with a mellow, laid-back weekend set of posts (no global warming, homelessness, etc.) I hereby present a list of my favorite cookies, in no particular order except number 1:

1. Mint Milanos: Pepperidge Farm's delicate blend of chocolate and mint, tucked neatly between a crunchy cookie that gives with just the right amount of resistance. Heaven. They come in little paper containers. Bet you can't restrict yourself to just one package. I have been know to parcel out three and then go back five more times for "just one more." Note: There are now lots of other Milano variants, including the original mintless variety, milk chocolate, orange, raspberry, chocolate (cookie)...

2. Mother's Animal Cookies: These small snacks have white icing and jimmies and are perfect for eating sequentially for an extended period of time until you burst. I haven't had any for a while, and that's probably a good thing.

3. Le Petit Ecolier. The little schoolboy cookies by Lu have the best chocolate of any cookie--perhaps even #1 above. MMMMMMM. I eat each one in several bites so I can let the chocolate melt in my mouth.

4. Double Stuf Oreos. These improve on Nabisco's original timeless recipe by doubling (tripling?) the white cream filling. I still eat them by twisting them apart and eating the icing first. It sometimes all sticks to one side and sometimes remains attached partially to both. No big deal. The best part? You get a lot of cookies for the price.

5. Pinwheels. Oh my--the world's best use of marshmallow. The crack of the chocolate coating as you sink your teeth into it is quite addictive. Lucky they sell them in packages of (I think?) a dozen (carefully separated by plastic). That limits the number you eat--because you won't stop because you're "full."

6. Any other cookies by Pepperidge Farm. They know how to do it--and their packaging, with enlarged photos of the contents front and center, is very effective. Tearing open the package feels like receiving a present.

Oh, I've left a lot of them out! I like the chocolate chip (chunk) cookies at Starbucks and Peet's, especially at 3 p.m. with coffee. And Girl Scout cookies are always fun--but seasonal (fortunately).

She's Got Style, She's Got Flair

Today, I came into my bedroom where my wife was watching The Nanny. The brilliant sit-com, which ran from 1993 to 1999, starred Fran Drescher as the nanny to the three children of Mr. Sheffield, a wealthy widower and theater producer. With a uniformly excellent ensemble cast, it was funny from the start and never faded.

The shows are being shown, in order, on TV Land. As it turns out, today they were running the final episode--followed by the pilot. What a shock to see the end before the beginning. I find that when The Nanny is on I inevitably end up sitting and watching. With TV Land's generous programming, that can consume an entire Saturday afternoon if you're not careful.

With Fran's brilliant comic timing, the blend of social class mismatches and Jewish/Gentile cultural mixing, the show is a treasure, and will likely live on forever, much like I Love Lucy from the 1950's.

100th Post of the Year!

It just shows that the secret of success is to make a plan and then stick to it. At the end of last year, I decided to write a post a day here starting January 1. Well, here we are on April 8 and this is it. It also demonstrates that time flies when you're having fun.

Now, what about 100? It's the first three-digit number. If you're that old you'll probably get your name in the local newspaper, with you staring, bleary eyed, at the camera ("What's going on?"). Listen to the Moody Blues' I Never Thought I'd Live to be 100."

Chevrolet celebrates its 100th anniversary in 2011. Next year, Arizona and New Mexico will have their centennials. New Mexico has issued a beautiful turquoise commemorative license plate (see above) which won the 2010 "America's Best License Plate" award.

On the negative side, there's the Hundred Years War, which actually lasted 116 years, and kept France on edge from 1337 to 1453.

There's Gabriel Garcia Marquez' 100 Years of Solitude, a great book that I haven't read yet.

Here's to the next 100 posts.