Join the Polaris Sailing Club

President's UNGA Speech

It doesn't matter what side of the political perspective you are on it is important to keep up on the news to see what might be coming down the road. As business people we should seek to gain information about potential changes in American policy. As policy changes so does the way in which we do business and how we influence world markets.

Pictures of the Bay of Shelter Island

The Shelter Island Bay area has lots of great wooden boats, interesting docks and even a house on the dock. You can see the sea lion here chasing down fishing boats.

Painting for Charity

Sometimes I like to try and paint and do artwork for my personal desires but also for charity. I then try and sell them online and sometimes a few are sold here and there. The rest just sort of go to friends, piled somewhere or thrown away. I did this one while talking on the phone.

Supporting Clean Beaches Through Surfing with Surfrider Foundation

Who says you can't enjoy the waves while supporting clean coasts and fighting Global Warming. Plastics play havoc on our environment and wild life. This morning I went and hit the bodacious waves and listened to some radical music for a good cause. Even bought a great little stainless steel water bottle to donate money. https://www.surfrider.org/

Learn to Play Polo in San Diego

Made this little advert from one of my pictures for a friend of mine and polo club that I play in. 

Tatyana Ryzhkova-Some of the Most Beautiful Guitar

Guitar is one of the most versatile instruments to learn. It is easy to take with you and relatively easy to maintain. Sometimes listening to such masters as Tatyana leads to greater motivation and inspiration in your own guitar music.


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Why Marketing Messages Should be Unique and Thought Provoking

Marketing is an issue of emotion and recall. These emotions could be positive, negative, or anything in between. When we create unique and thought provoking marketing messages we are sparking the person to be cognitively in the moment and think about the message for a second. When we have their attention and focus they will create memories of the message and often recall those emotions when thinking about a product.

Brands are created when entire campaigns have successfully created an image that sparks an emotion among a certain section of the population. For example, if you are an outdoor enthusiast you may respond to breathtaking images of a young man standing on top of a mountain. The images catch our attention and we begin to encode.

When we want to get active, explore the outdoors, such images begin to arise with their motivations. They are connected and encoded into our brains in the same place. They naturally come together when they are released. These emotions then push us to purchase products that help us achieve our goals and objectives.

Sparking memories is so important that companies often connect the past with the future. Think of classic brands like Coke or Tide. They have memories and when we spark those memories we have pleasant childhood thoughts and this creates positive feelings that help us make a purchase.

The next time you are developing your campaign consider the need to ensure create something unique that will be memorable for your audience and help them remember the brand. Don't be so crazy that it damages your brand but be fun and trendy enough that people repeat it creating sparking as many memories and feelings as you can.

Wyoming Bear Attack-How Should You Respond to an Encounter

I have been an outdoor enthusiast for sometime and constantly read about the outdoors as much as possible. The recent attack by a grizzly bear in Wyoming indicates there may be some serious changes going on based within the environment and bears familiarity with people. Just FYI this bear has now been killed because it poses a threat to other hunters and hikers.

A few tips might help you with a bear attack. First, bears don't normally just attack unless they are protecting food or protecting their young. In this case, the bears seemed to be very abnormal in their behavior indicating they have had previous exposure to humans and do not fear them. Likewise, their environment may be changing creating hormonal changes in themselves (i.e. contamination or territorial issues).

1. Stop and walk backwards. Show that you are not moving toward the bear or are a threat.

2. Continue talking to the bear in a calm manner to ensure that they differentiate you from other bears and animals.

3. Playing dead could also work in some situations so don't rule it out. They may push you around and test your reactions.

4. Just because a bear stands up doesn't mean it will charge. Most of the time it is a bluff. Jump, wave your hands in the air, scream, etc... to help it reassess.

5. If your with friends stand close together to look like a pack and back off slowly.

6. If you are actually attacked try and hit, bite, punch and kick the eyes and nose as soft spots.

Review of Lap Swimming Headphones Toyogo MP3 Player

I enjoy lap swimming and I will tell you the most boring part of it is not having music. Its not like when your on a bike and listen to songs in a way that makes time speed up. However, when swimming there is an option.

Waterproof headsets will do the trick if they are rugged enough. This one by Toyogo is pretty good. No problems with it as long as you read the instructional manual. I thought it stopped working, wanted to return it and then read the manual. Just out of power.

It can hold up to 8K songs. That is pretty good. I can plug it into my lap top, download songs, and then listen to them while swimming. Its great to have some distraction and I soon find I am swimming longer and getting in better shape.

Now the only downside to this is the waterproof buds which are not the most comfortable but definitely bearable. You have to put them in fairly solid because any water that gets in will distort the sound. There are some other options for changing around the plugs but I haven't tried them.

$40 on Amazon.