Experience vs. Talent

As is often the case, while I type up this blog post, the television blares on in front of me. In the past I’ve typed away to the likes of American Idol, or the assorted sitcoms that populate nighttime T.V. Tonight though is a little bit different. On a rare occasion I’ve set the channel on MSNBC in order to tune in to the Democratic Candidates Debate in Ohio, my support and like of Barack Obama a secret to nobody.
I’ve probably said uncountable times that Tribal politics more than most people would admit has come to mirror mainstream politics, and this whole primary, not just within the Democratic Party but in the Republican race as well, has only served to confirm my belief. Whether that is because certain parallels exist across most democracies or because politicians have learned to hit the same notes that appeal to a broad constituency and are generally universal is hard to say. Either way, I’ve noticed a practice being thrown out there of separating experience and talent/hope/optimism/education that has become somewhat personal for me. You are especially seeing this within the Democratic primary, as Hillary Clinton constantly touts her 30 or so years of experience, although John McCain is doing so as well.
This is personal for me because it was an issue that I’ve faced for a number of years now, and especially after first being elected Tribal Chair in late 2006. A notable elder of the Tribe blasted me in my first meeting as Chair, noting that I was “just a baby” during Restoration, and that this somehow impaired my ability to do the job. It was not easy to take, especially publicly. Quite often, I think, comments about being too young are mired in the same vein of thinking as inexperience. They could be one and the same; youth equals inexperience to some people.
Entering my fourth year as a Council member, I realize fully the value of experience. True to what some might tell you, experience is irreplaceable, and with very few substitutes. It sure makes a big difference when typing up a resume or filling out a job application. In politics, though, it's a little different. Experience is also one of the most misleading resume points that a person can possess, especially if a person’s breadth of experience has been more characterized by failure and ineptitude as opposed to success. Sometimes, depending on what lies ahead, experience is far from being enough.
I go on this little rant because it has become a theme during the Presidential primaries, and because it has become more frequent in Council discussions, enough to make me sigh and roll my eyes and think of better days. Over the last two weeks, especially, as we are dealing with a situation that I’d assumed experience would have made for better preparations. But therein lies one of the major flaws with experience: it creates within some people the belief that they really are prepared for anything, that time put into a certain job has amounted to unflinching wisdom and innate ability to never be wrong.
I expect “experience” to be major selling point for at least one candidate during this year’s Council elections. Will anybody bother to ask about the specifics of that “experience”? As Barack Obama has pointed out in his debates with Hillary Clinton, experience as campaigned on usually is a glossed-over version of what happened where successes are handpicked and highlighted and generally presented as being the norm of the experience. Sometimes the best form of experience is actual failure, although I don’t expect too many politicians to ever use those anecdotes.
There is something to be said for talent and fresh ideas, even of the raw variety. It doesn’t always equate to new faces, but at the very least new ideas and hopefully a new way of doing things. I was told once or twice that the difference between an optimist and a pessimist is that a pessimist usually has better information. There is sadly more truth to that than I like to admit. But I’m not ready to sell optimism down the river just yet.
For one, I believe that given the choice of talent and experience it is best to take talent, which usually represents upside. Experience is often safer. But once in a while, the right combination of experience and talent come along, the kind that knows that while anything is possible, not everything is probable, and experience allows a person to know which is which.
That is my philosophical rant for the day.

Camera Happy

Okay, so maybe I am just looking to post anything here, since I haven't had much time to write these past two weeks. Either way, I love Oregon and the seasons. These photos were taken less than three weeks apart. One was a snow day, the other a balmy 61 degree Sunday before President's Day. Yes, that is Mt. Hood, far as I know. For some readers here, snow is probably no big deal. But in the Willamette Valley, you kind of have to get out there and enjoy it. The snow seldom lasts very long.

What It Means

Right now, I am trying not to be overly obsessed with the Constitutional election. Last night I received the call, the news was not good, and upon hanging up settled down on the couch in front of my fireplace and hit the play button. The film I watched was “3:10 to Yuma”, with Russell Crowe and Christian Bale, two of my favorite actors, if anybody is interested. Back in 1996 I took a film class at the University of New Orleans, and the original “3:10 to Yuma” was one of the flicks we dissected, starring then Glenn Ford and Van Heflin. Appropriately, both versions deal heavily in psychology, which fit my neurotic mood after getting such depressing news.
I awoke this morning at 5:00 a.m., earlier than usual, and with less than 6 hours of sleep. My mind simply would not let go. For some reason a racing mind means a sleepless body. That was the case.
It is tempting right now to say something like “It’s hard to make sense of this mess!” The reality though is that it all makes perfect sense. Most Tribal members who cared to vote on this issue wanted change. In fact, if you average out the three percentages of amendments A, B, and C—78%, 60%, and 55%, what you get is somewhere in the mid-60 percentile region, which is a lopsided in any kind of election. But the old two-thirds majority requirement of our Constitution, that is matters the most.
The real question that people need to be asking themselves now is simply “Is that it?” Is it end of story, game over, etc.? Personally, I can’t quite buy that right now, for the simple reason that even the least successful of the amendments, Part C, at 55% is the kind of percentage anybody would take in their cause. I’m sure any of the presidential candidates right now would like that kind of percentage, as would anybody running for Council even. To say the “the people have spoken” or anything like that would not carry much weight because, once again, most who voted wanted change. Had the membership rejected the amendments, say 70% to 30%, I wouldn’t even be bothering writing this post. What could I say? But that isn’t what happened, and that’s what is so frustrating right now.
Given the circumstances, the amendments fared quite well. The neglected effort to clear up misconceptions about the enrollment issue by Tribal leadership, which I know includes me but my criticism still stands, could have very well been the difference in this election. I will always believe that the half-hearted effort put forth in all this was far from innocent.
I guess what I’m left with right now is “What next?” Does the issue simply die, or do the results speak to future opportunities? My own hunch is the latter, but then again I haven’t devoted the last nine years of my life to this issue as some people have. What I’m feeling right now is mild in comparison, no doubt.

Spare Time Again

As I sit here and write this little posting, one of my favorite shows, “Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations” on the Travel Channel, is ending. For those of you not familiar with this program, Bourdain is a famous chef who is very snide, but creative and funny too. He has made a career out of traveling, eating, drinking liquor, and basically making it all into weekly television show. I had first heard of Bourdain in 2000 when he released a book titled “Kitchen Confidential” which supposedly revealed a number of trade secrets. Honestly, I’ve never read his book, but after watching his old show on the Food Network, “A Cook’s Tour”, he caught my attention. His job right now is basically my dream job.
The episode this week he traveled to New Orleans, and chose to focus on the rebuilding efforts, zeroing in on the resurrected restaurant industry, one that has been hit especially hard since Katrina. A food show in New Orleans would have to have a small cameo by Emeril LaGass, which it does. But that is hardly the highlight. Perhaps the most interesting moment comes from the anecdote of one owner who related and flashed photos of the disgusting remains of foodstuffs that would occupy the pantry and walk-in freezers of his former restaurant. Funny how I would never even think about something like that.
I would recommend “No Reservations” for anybody who likes travel, humor and food. It’s on a few times per week on the Travel Channel. Monday nights are the new episodes.

“No Country for Old Men” (2007)

I can’t really say that any movie by the Coen brothers has ever disappointed me. Once in a while they may go overboard with the token eccentricities, but usually the films the two brothers make are solid. I haven’t read Cormac McCarthy’s book with the same title, but after seeing this film his books can be expected to join my list.
“No Country” is different from the Coen brothers’ other films because it is unusually dark, and with much less humor and quirkiness then usual. Josh Brolin plays kind of an average joe, though a Vietnam vet, who stumbles upon a drug scene circa 1980 while hunting and finds corpses and a ton of cash. He takes the money of course and ends up being chased across Texas by a hitman played by Spanish actor Javier Bardem, who in turn ends up being pursued by sheriff Tommy Lee Jones and (briefly) bounty hunter Woody Harrelson. This is really a study in characters, as Brolin is clearly in over his head and Jones is mystified at how explicably violent this whole case becomes. Bardem is so twisted, psychotic, mellow and quiet that that you end up chuckling during a couple of scenes because he is just plain wrong in the head and there is something sickly amusing about his character.
I would not be surprised if this movie won an Oscar for Best Picture, and Bardem won for Best Supporting Actor. Admittedly though, this movie is not for everybody. But if you like something different, here you go.