by Phil Houseal | Nov 29, 2021 | All Articles, Events, History, Music
Dec 1, 2021–I’ve mentioned before my obsession with 1940s radio entertainment. Every night I fall to sleep listening to Edgar Bergen, Burns & Allen, Jack Benny, and The Big Show (Tallulah Bankhead was waaaaaay ahead of her time). Every program featured a musical...
by Phil Houseal | Nov 24, 2021 | All Articles, Philosophy
Nov 24, 2021–When “official” weather predictions are less accurate than some random rodent’s, why do we keep paying attention to them? It seems to me that the accuracy of weather forecasting has plummeted like a barometer in Portland over the past few years. For those...
by Phil Houseal | Nov 17, 2021 | All Articles, Philosophy
Nov 17, 2021–I’ve stumbled on a phenomenon I call the Fallacy of Averages. Humans like to measure everything by talking about “averages.” The term has become part of our language: -Grade Point Average -Average Daily Requirement -Field Goal Average There’s even a Law...
by Phil Houseal | Nov 10, 2021 | All Articles, Philosophy
Nov 10, 2021–Years ago, when I interviewed the late composer and pianist Mark Hierholzer, one of his tenets was that we need to differentiate between art that is authentic, versus entertainment that is derivative. The former brings joy; the latter delivers...
by Phil Houseal | Nov 3, 2021 | All Articles, Philosophy
Nov 3, 2021–Plateau is a great word. But it’s a frustrating place to find yourself. I’ve gotten stuck on plateaus in many journeys of my life. The most recent is physical, as I recover from several weeks of involuntary immobility. For a guy who has worked out in some...
by Phil Houseal | Oct 27, 2021 | All Articles, Philosophy
Oct 27, 2021–Here’s an idea: For one day, don’t be predictable. Say something different. Better stated: say the same things in a different way. Let’s start with the universal greeting: “How are you?” The next time you are asked that, say anything but “I am fine.” Give...
by Phil Houseal | Oct 24, 2021 | All Articles, People of the Hill Country
Oct 20, 2021–Back in the 1990s I tried teaching my kids about the stock market by having them pick companies they thought would grow in the next 20 years. One of them figured battery use would skyrocket, for example, so they virtually “purchased” Proctor & Gamble...
by Phil Houseal | Oct 13, 2021 | All Articles, Philosophy
Oct 13, 2021–As we enter fall wedding season, I have a message for all future brides: no one really wants to go to your wedding. Sorry to be so blunt. But it’s true. No one. Not your friends. Not your family. Not your bridesmaids. To tell you the truth, even the groom...
by Phil Houseal | Oct 6, 2021 | All Articles, History, Philosophy
Oct 6, 2021–A generation ago, we kept chickens in cages and let kids “free range.” Today they’ve swapped places. Kids today are over managed. A lot of it revolves around school. Starting in Kindergarten, you got on the bus while it was still dark. You rode the bus for...
by Phil Houseal | Sep 29, 2021 | All Articles, Food, History, Philosophy
Sept 29, 2021–In the panoply of sentient life on earth, it wasn’t that long ago that we didn’t have candy bars. Or ice cream. Or sodas or pop-tarts. Breakfast cereals. Hamburgers. French fries. Coffee didn’t come to Europe until the 1500s. That means even...
