Snow.

My favorite Christmas movie has always been “White Christmas”.  I love the story, the acting, the outfits, the music, everything about Danny Kaye’s performance, the general’s pipe and jeep, the look on Rosemary Clooney’s face when Bing appears on the Ed Harrison show and the scene at the end where General Waverly inspects the 151st division.   My family watches it almost every year.  None of us like the song, “Choreography”. We all love the “Snow” scene in the train…

I’ve learned one thing about snow since moving to Beverly, MA.  In a small city, snow transforms the place into something like an old western village.  The rules sort of slide away… you just walk down the middle of the street, drive wherever you can- do what you gotta do- and no one seems to mind.  I love walking down the street with friends.  I love seeing all the neighbors outside shoveling at the same time and I love that everyone else who’s outside says hi. You know, like in a village.

This past Sunday we got about a foot.  I went out after church to shovel off the sidewalk.  It was great.  The neighbors were out. The snow was beautiful.  I got out to the porch and found a box.

In it was a hat.

I got the hat from James at 10 engines.  (Turns out he loves White Christmas as much as I do)  I happened to be the 10th guy to buy a hat from him so he sent it to me for free! I donned my new, free  hat and finished up the sidewalk (making sure the hydrant was accessible).  Doing a good job shoveling is extremely satisfying.  Especially when there’s lots of snow.  You know, enough so the sidewalk looks like a little tunnel.  I thrust the shovel into the snowbank, adjusted my cap and meandered down the middle of the street to say hi to the neighbors.

All because of snow, snow, snow, snow, Snow!

Beautiful Things

Jeep Wagoneer

Wolverines 1000 Mile Boots

Old Leather Chair and Books

Filson Mackinaw

J.W. Hulme Satchel

L.L. Bean Norwegian Sweater

Old Case Pocket Knife

Paul Smith Tortoise Shells

J. Press Glen Plaid Linen Trousers

Florsheim Imperial Wingtips

Field

Big Sur Axe by BestMadeCo.

1961 International Scout

Inverallan Shawl Cardigan

Bag and Bike by Freeman Transport

Persol 0714’s Tortoise Shell

Car and Mountain Road

N3B Snorkel Parka

Merrell Vintage Alpine Hiking Boots for Orvis

1993 Land Rover Defender

A.P.C. New Standards

This Guy.

This guy rules.  He would not be complaining over facebook about how cold it is today.

Today’s tip: Be more like this guy.

Hat Tip to Jake Davis for this pic.

On authenticity.

This is from Seth Godin’s blog.

“How much life insurance do you have?”

Zig Ziglar liked to say that with that one question, you could tell if someone was a successful life insurance agent. If they’re not willing to buy it with their own money, how can they honestly persuade someone else to do so?

If you’re in the music business but you never buy tickets or downloads, can you really empathize with the people you’re selling to?

My favorite: if you work for a non-profit and you don’t give money to charity, what exactly are you doing in this job? I’ve met some incredibly generous people in the charitable world, but I can also report that a huge number of people—even on the fundraising side—would happily cross the street and risk a beating in order to avoid giving $100 to a cause that’s not their own. And the shame of it is that this inaction on their part keeps them from experiencing the very emotion that they try so hard to sell.

Money is more than a transfer of value. It’s a statement of belief. An ad agency that won’t buy ads, a consultant who won’t buy consulting, and a waiter who doesn’t tip big—it’s a sign, and not a good one.

Why didn’t I invent this?! # 21

This is one of the best inventions I’ve seen in a while.  Why didn’t anyone think of this sooner?

Check out the website here.

The Olde Woolen Mill.

Today, The Caleb Foundation celebrated the grand opening of The Olde Woolen Mill in North Berwick, ME.  We’ve been working on this project for quite awhile and are thrilled to see residents moving in.

The Portland station, WCSH Channel 6 covered the event here.

Charter Cities: or, how James Earl Jones Solved Poverty

Almost every time I see Field of Dreams on, I stop and watch it for awhile.  It was a magical movie growing up.  I didn’t play baseball and I didn’t live on a farm, but there was something so familiar about the whole movie.  Who would have thought that the most famous line from the movie would end up describing a revolutionary idea to end poverty in developing nations?

If you build it, they will come…

Who can forget JEJ’s speech when Kevin Costner’s about to sign away the farm?

While Paul Romer doesn’t have nearly as impressive of a voice as JEJ, he does manage to deliver a moving (and controversial) clarion call with a similar suggestion: If you build it, they will come. Only Romer’s not talking about a baseball field in the middle of the cornfields, he’s talking about brand new, empty cities,  built on uninhabited lands in poor nations, governed by other nations that invite people to come get jobs there.

Romer outlines his idea for lifting millions out of poverty:

Building Charter Cities that

1. are governed by good rules (captured in the charter) multiple nations,

2. offer choices for people (consist of completely voluntary residents and built on uninhabited land) and

3. offer choices for leaders (in the form of joint partnerships between different nations to govern the charter city).

Check out his TED talk for a better description.

P.S.

Romer’s Website is here

and

There’s an intelligent Q & A with Romer via the Freakonomics Blog if you’re interested.