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Author Archives: Fred

Disagreeable Discourse Solves Problems

  By Fred | November 16, 2011 - 1:00 am | ,
2 Comments

American Censorship Day was organized by a number of organizations including the Electronic Frontier Foundation to raise awareness of legislation that is being developed in the United States that would significantly change free discourse available via internet technologies. And thus the image that covers the FrogBlog.biz header and that you are seeing in various places: I certainly don’t like everything I see on the internet. I am at various times annoyed, disgusted, and angered. But it is important to remember when things that are distasteful leak through, this is also the technology that helped bring some of the most totalitarian regimes left on earth to their knees. When free nations choose to censor what disgusts them, they are also providing cover to the regimes who chose to censor simple political discourse. For that reason alone any legislation that proposes to ‘fix’ the free wheeling style of the internet must be … Continue reading →

…and then the table across the room broke into song.

  By Fred | October 26, 2011 - 12:50 pm |
5 Comments

We’re exploring restaurants within walking distance these first few days in Zagreb. Our excursions have been to places my lovely wife remembered well, or at least thought she did. It appears the entrepreneurial spirit is bubbling here with places opening and closing, businesses being bought and sold. Monday night we ate with the new owner of a small pizzeria downstairs. He offered to help us order when it became obvious that the instructions we had received were insufficient for the occasion. He ordered ‘the lady’s’ first request – but chose something ‘spicier’ for the ‘gentleman.’ Pride of product. Pizza with uniquely Croatian sausage. Yum. Owner for little over a month, he was learning the ropes of his new gig, thinking about changes and additions. Appeared young, yet not his first place – his first was a bar when only 22. A serial entrepreneur. A veteran. Eighteen hour days were exhausting, … Continue reading →

…astound ourselves

  By Fred | September 29, 2011 - 12:17 pm | ,
1 Comment

I usually wait till I’ve actually read a book before I start talking about it. But this morning I finally opened How to Change the World: Social Entrepreneurs and the Power of New Ideas, and ran into the quote: “If we all did the things we are capable of doing, we would literally astound ourselves.”  Thomas Edison That’s a great quote to wake up to.

Donuts

  By Fred | September 28, 2011 - 1:00 pm |
1 Comment

When I Googled donuts recently an old familiar name popped up. LaMar’s. Kansas City staple. Glazed donut of the gods. Warm when you pick them up and as they go down. TJCinnamons was the only short term challenger for ‘perfect morning meeting food.’ That didn’t last long and is a whole different story. Every time I live in a new city, I must search for the perfect donut. Every city seems to have their own local donut hero. LaMar’s worked out of a converted gas station for years. You’d pull up on almost any morning to cars parked four deep. Like there was a gas shortage but for donuts. This appears to be a real thing. Hadn’t thought about it before. Growing up we were a Dunkin’ Donuts family – that’s where I acquired my addiction to the slightly more difficult to make french cruller. Delicate enough that you had … Continue reading →

The Swing of Urban Life

  By Fred | September 27, 2011 - 11:52 am |
9 Comments

I’m getting back into the swing of living urban. Coffee shops and a killer french cruller within walking distance. Sounds of human life drifting in on morning breeze. Alternate Tuesday street cleaning and parking tickets… My wife and I started out on the Plaza in Kansas City. Relaxed compared to hard core Chicago city life, but a great all night coffee shop for late night talks between newlyweds. Waitresses that let you nurse a cup knowing your tip would rent the booth. Been a long time since kids and yards came calling. Since our focus shifted from ‘worldview’ to ‘family view’ where teacher meetings, softball, and scouting beat a night out every time.  Our move to the Chicago of skyscrapers and jazz clubs became real life with neighbors and life-long friends. Quiet nights of Mancala. Long walks on dark streets. A dog, two cats. Sometimes loud, laughter filled nights of … Continue reading →