September 5, 2023 - Mandela, Coasting, Rocks, Labor of Love

Hello September! Can you smell the pumpkin spice in the air? She is my favorite of the Spice Girls.

Nuggets of Information: My Brain Feels a Little Loopy... 

The other morning, I finished my bowl of Fruit Loops, sprayed some Febreeze in my Sketchers and went for a walk. Except none of that happened or was even possible. None of those brand names in the last sentence are spelled correctly. Froot Loops, Febreze and Skechers are the actual spellings of those brands. These are examples of the Mandela effect, words or events that you think you remember correctly but actually have wrong. The name of this phenomenon is attributed to Fiona Broome, who in 2009 discovered that she, along with a number of others, believed that Nelson Mandela had died in the 1980s while in prison, but was still alive. (He died in 2013.) 

More examples: 

• “Luke, I am your father” - never said. Spoiler – Darth Vader’s actual words were “No. I am your father.” 

• The Monopoly Man doesn’t wear a monocle. Mr. Peanut does, however. And he wears it well! 

• If your bologna has a first name, it is O-S-C-A-R. But the last name? M-E-Y-E-R? Nope – M-A-Y-E-R! No wonder my love letters were returned marked “undeliverable.“ 

• Double Stuff Oreos? Nope – Double Stuf. Twice the filling, but half the F’s. I don’t love you any less!  

So why does this happen? There are several explanations. The most likely is that alternate realities are breaking through the fabric of the multiverse and entering our brains, overwriting the true info with wrong data.  

Other theories include: 

• Confabulation – people create a false memory to fill in a gap in their memory. It isn’t deliberate – an honest mistake.  

• False memories – you simply don’t recall the details correctly. 

• Priming – According to Wikipedia, Priming is “the idea that exposure to one stimulus may influence a response to a subsequent stimulus, without conscious guidance or intention. The priming effect refers to the positive or negative effect of a rapidly presented stimulus on the processing of a second stimulus that appears shortly after.”  

• Internet influence – misinformation is presented as truth, and through sheer repetition becomes accepted by a group of unwitting people. So glad that doesn’t happen in politics! 

I know this all may cause you to doubt everything you know, mistrust your memories, and be skeptical of all new information. That is no way to live! If you want an anchor of truth, accuracy and facts, subscribe to Bew’s N.O.O.Z.!  

Enrichment:  Letting the days go by, letting the water hold me down 

We spent our Labor Day weekend at Lake Oconee, in a beautiful house with a breath-taking view of the lake. Our group included Dan, Tom & Julie, Suzanne, Lisa and me, and a bunch of our kids and their friends. Great food, late-night Cards Against Humanity, boat-related fun, and lots of relaxation. Special thanks to Dan - the consummate host and pontoon boat captain.

Lake Oconee was created by Georgia Power in 1979 to serve as a reservoir for their Wallace hydroelectric plant. The creation of Wallace Dam created the lake, as well as the sister lake, Sinclair, on the other side of the dam. Oconee is the name of an ancient Creek town.  

The vast majority of lakes in Georgia were made by humans, to serve as reservoirs, recreation areas and to help with flood control. There are a few natural lakes in South Georgia, in the Coastal Plain, formed by sinkholes or Carolina bays, which are natural shallow depressions fed by rain and shallow groundwater. 

The largest lake in Georgia is Lake Lanier, with 692 miles of shoreline. Or maybe more. Much, much more. The imprecise measurement of the shoreline of bodies of water is explained by the “Coastline Paradox” - a counter-intuitive idea that a landmass’s coastline does not have a well-defined length, as it is comprised of fractals. A fractal is a geometric object that has self-similar properties. No matter how much you zoom in on a fractal, it will always look similar to the original. Coastlines are fractals because they are made up of many small bays, coves, and inlets that repeat themselves at different scales. It isn’t really a paradox, in the true definition, but is still fun to think about. If you measured the shoreline with a ruler that is 1 meter long, you would get a certain result. If you then used a ruler that was only 10 centimeters long, you would get a larger result, as that smaller ruler could capture more of the smaller bays, coves and inlets.  This helpful YouTube video explains how the Coastline Paradox works. They share that in 1951 Lewis Fry Richardson came up with the concept to explain the difference in the measurements Spain and Portugal had for their shared border. Basically, the smaller the unit of measurement, the longer the distance. Side note: I am very proud of my svelte 0.0005681818 mile waistline.  

Back to Georgia lakes, the hit TV show “Ozark” was set in the Lake of the Ozarks but was filmed at Lake Allatoona. They say that on a quiet day, when the water is still, and the breeze comes in just right, you can hear the voice of Ruth Langmore whisper “If you’re a killer, then I’m fucking Snow White. And I don’t see any dwarfs around.” 

Workshop: What is Your Rock? 

This past Sunday, September 3^rd, was the second anniversary of my Mom’s death. Mary Rock grew up in Jacksonville Florida, met Jim Booher in High School, married him a few years later, raised three kids, served her community so well that volunteer awards were named after her, and always asked everyone she encountered how they were doing. She cared about people, was a great mom, and is missed dearly. 

I mentioned in last week’s post how I was moved when Yacht Rock Revue played Paul Simon’s “She Loves Me Like a Rock” - which Mary and I danced to at my wedding. She was the Rock of our family – literally and figuratively.  

About ten years ago I was at a conference where Aron Ralston spoke as our motivational speaker. Ralston’s story was captivating – he was hiking in the Bluejohn Canyon in southern Utah when he dislodged a boulder, which pinned his right wrist to the side of the canyon wall. After five days, he had to break his forearm, amputate it with a dull pocket knife to break free, make his way through the rest of the canyon, rappel down a 65-foot drop, and hike 7 miles to safety. These events were depicted in the movie 127 hours, with James Franco portraying Ralston.  

Ralston is a compelling storyteller. I had seen the movie, but hearing his account of what happened was mesmerizing. Towards the end, he discussed how he felt about the boulder that pinned him. He does not hate it, or demonize it, or even blame it. He has gone back to visit that space – that boulder – more than 15 times. He now sees the boulder as a metaphor for anything that is trapping you, holding you back. Your boulder may seem overwhelming, and deep in your heart you know that the only way to free yourself may be to make an incredible sacrifice. Freeing himself saved his life ... and changed his life. At the end of his speech, Ralston asked us “What is holding you back? What is your boulder?”  

The death of a loved one can be debilitating to their survivors. It can feel overwhelming. Everyone’s grief is different, and personal. I chose to not allow the loss of my mother to be a boulder that would pin me down. The rock in my life is the strong, loving example my mother set, the way she smiled & nodded her head in understanding, and her unwavering belief that I was going to be okay. It helped me navigate her loss, and will always be there for me as a source of strength and peace.

What is your boulder? What do you need to do to free yourself, to turn your boulder into your rock?

Selected Content: Le Roi du Crazy 

As a boy, I equated Labor Day with the Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon, a 21 ½ hour cavalcade of actors, singers, professional wrestlers who actually body-slammed Andre the Giant, and other famous people. Between 1966 and 2010, Jerry Lewis’s final year of participation, the telethon raised over $2.45 billion to benefit the Muscular Dystrophy Association’s efforts around research and support of people with muscular dystrophy, ALS and other neuromuscular conditions. These conditions cause progressive weakness and breakdown of skeletal muscles over time. 

When Lewis was 19, he met Dean Martin. The following year, 1946, they first performed as Martin & Lewis, with Martin playing the straight man to Lewis’s physical slapstick antics. During the 1950’s, their television, radio and film appearances dominated the public airwaves. Together they appeared in a 14-film series from 1950-1956. But Lewis’s zany performances quickly overshadowed Martin’s straight character role. The tension built, and they split, with their last live performance in July 1956. Both went on to pursue solo careers. In the 1960’s Lewis had his solo breakthrough performances The Bellboy, The Ladies Man and The Nutty Professor.  

Lewis and Martin were reunited in 1976 when Frank Sinatra surprised Lewis during the telethon by bringing out Martin as a special guest.  

Lewis remained prolific though the 1980’s and 90’s, including a critically acclaimed dramatic role in The King of Comedy, as a talk-show host targeted by two obsessive fans. He had a few more appearances and performances in the 2000’s and passed away in 2017. 

For someone who made a career of not being taken seriously, for playing the fool, Jerry Lewis did a lot of good for a lot of people, and he has my respect.