RMU Speakers Series - Zanny Minton Beddoes

Last night we attended, for the first time (we finally got around to subscribing to this), one of the Robert Morris University Speakers Series events.  The speaker was Zanny Minton Beddoes, the Editor-in-Chief of The Economist, the first woman to hold this position in the 176 year history of that publication.

She is a renowned expert on global economics, and Forbes magazine cites her as one of the most powerful women in the world.   After listening to her speak, I get it.

I know a lot of smart people, and I have heard a lot of smart people speak over the years, but Zanny Minton Beddoes, if she's not the smartest person I've ever heard speak, she's certainly in the Top Five, maybe Top Three.

I could only try to absorb some of what she was saying last night.  I certainly cannot summarize it here, but I will tell you that she identified four factors that have already begun and will continue to shape world economics and political policy over the course of the next five to ten years.

1. The increasing use of digital technology and the rapid advancement of artificial intelligence.
2. The fact that China has emerged as the preeminent economic super power in the world.  It's no longer the USA, folks, it's China.
3.  The aging population across the world.  For the first time in history, there are more people over age 65 than there are under age 5.
4. Climate change.  It's very real, despite what some may try to tell us.  The rest of the world is getting this far better than we are in America.

She expounded on each of those points, and it made for fascinating listening.

I went into the lecture thinking "An economist?  Hope I can stay awake", and I ended up listening to, as I said, one of the smartest people I've ever heard.  It was terrific.

It wasn't all deadly serious.  A question from the audience asked Ms. Beddoes to compare and contrast President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Boris Johnson.  "Well, they both have very interesting hair" was her opening line, before she gave a very reasoned and serious answer to the question. 

And the name Zanny?  Her birth name is Susan.  Her mother wanted to name her Suzanne, and "Zanny" just evolved from that as she grew up.

Next up in the Speakers Series - Bob Woodward of the Washington Post.  Can't wait for that one.

Our UK/Ireland Trip, Part IV - Ireland

Our two hour ferry boat ride across the Irish Sea from Scotland landed in Belfast on Tuesday, October 8.  As we looked at our itinerary prior to the trip, the morning in Belfast, Northern Ireland didn't particularly spark a lot of interest for any of us, but the half day that we spent there turned out to be one of the more fascinating parts of the trip.

A woman named Moira boarded our bus and gave us a guided tour of the city, the first stop of which landed us near the Harland and Wolf shipyards where the Titanic was built and from where it was launched on that fateful maiden voyage in April, 1912.

This building is a museum and cultural 

center dedicated to Titanic 

Seemed odd that a huge part of the tourism industry of a city would be voted to a devastating human tragedy, but there you are.

Much of the tour of Belfast, as you might expect, was devoted to "The Troubles" that devastated Northern Ireland for much of the twentieth century.  We learned that while The Troubles are painted as as Catholic vs. Protestant divide, to the natives it was every bit as much, if not more, a British vs. Irish divide.  We got to see many of the "peace walls" that divided the city for so many years. Most of them are gone, but many still stand.

As you can see, murals festoon many of the walls, and we were given the opportunity to sign the walls ourselves.  I personally found this to be a very moving experience.

We left our mark on Belfast

We then left Belfast and headed into the Republic of Ireland and its capital, Dublin.  As we approached Dublin, John played U2's recording of "Where the Streets Have No Name", which was very cool and very appropriate.  When we arrived, we headed straight to this place....

....where we enjoyed a very festive dinner and evening with our new friends.

On Wednesday morning, we had a tour of the Guinness Brewery, which has been around since 1709!

 Marilyn enjoying a Guinness with Alijandra, 

one of our many new friends

A view of Dublin from atop the Guinness Brewery

We then had the afternoon all to ourselves to explore Dublin.

 Dublin Street scene.  I ran into a guy wearing a Pittsburgh Penguins jacket. 

 He's a native Dubliner, but his fiance is from Johnstown, PA

 Lunch at this great little pub where we watched Scotland 

defeat Fiji in a Rugby World Cup match on the telly

The "Molly Malone" statue.  The natives tell us that she 

was selling more than "cockles and mussels, alive, alive oh".  

Seeing how she's dressed, I believe them!

That evening, we had a night of Irish entertainment....

On Thursday morning, we left Dublin and made three stops.  The first was at the Irish National Stud in Kildare, the center of the Irish thoroughbred breeding industry.  It was a very interesting tour in a beautiful setting.

 This is Invincible Spirit, the Primo, A #1 stallion at the National Stud

Another shot with John Barleyman, 

our Primo A #1 Tour Guide

Then on to Kilkenny where we saw yet another castle and had lunch at a great place called Left Bank.

The bar at Left Bank

The place was more continental than Irish.  We had a great lunch there, and a sign in the place was promoting a "Motown Night" of entertainment for the upcoming weekend.  Sorry we missed that.

The day ended in Waterford, the oldest city in Ireland, and the home, of course, of this little business that might be familiar to you.

 Snapped this photo as we awaited in line for our tour of the Waterford Crystal factory.

Many of the people that we got to know and spend time with on the tour are in this picture.

 Our hotel in Waterford flew both the Irish and American flags because, 

I was told, "so many of our guests come from America."

Street scene from our walking tour of Waterford

 Over 90% of the Irish emigration to North America in the early 20th 

century left from this dock in Waterford, 

which was right across the street from our hotel 

 Another scene from our walking tour

Dinner at this Waterford pub - not a great dining experience,

 but  enjoyed the conversation with two 

couples from Massachusetts while there.

The next morning it was an early start to get to the ferry boat that would take us on a four hour journey back across the Irish Sea and land us in Wales, and the final two days of our journey.

 The Ferry from Ireland to Wales.  It was huge!

 The bar and lounge area on the ferry.  

Made the four hour trip really enjoyable.

 Marilyn with new friend Tracey from Australia, 

a special lady, as it turned out!

 Just had to take a pic of this ad that was posted on the boat

Who are those guys?

NFL Power Rankings: Grandstander vs. FGE

Earlier this week, I released my Grandstander Power Rankings on Facebook.  They are as follows....

The Grandstander's Week 8 NFL Power Rankings if the NFL Did It Like College Football:

1. Patriots
2. Saints
3. 49'ers
4. Packers

Knocking at the door....Colts, Rams, Ravens, Seahawks

Today my pal John Frissora released his FGE NFL Power Rankings.  Here that are, along with his commentary.....

The Top 2 remain the same, as they appear to be on a Super Bowl collision course.

1. (Last Week 1) - New Orleans - Brees is back and Saints keep marching.

2. (Last Week 2) - New England - Didn't realize that there are three Belichicks coaching the Pats.  Reminds me of a bad insurance agency.

3. (Last Week 6) - Green Bay - Not just the Aaron Rogers show this year.  They can play some D.

4. (Last Week 5) - Seattle - Bounce back in the Top 4 after the Chiefs lose and they defeat the Falcons.

Next Team Up - Indianapolis Colts - Win at Pittsburgh not as big a deal anymore.  

So the GPR and FGE agree more than they disagree, but John not showing any love for the 49'ers.  What's up with that?

I am also using his forum to make a special request of John...I would like to hear his analysis of the Cleveland Browns thus far in 2019.  Was FGE on the Browns-to-the-Super-Bowl Bandwagon that so many others were prior to the season, and what to make of the fact that they currently are below the 3-4 Steelers in the AFC North standings.  Stay tuned.

Sports Happenings on Pittsburgh's North Shore

What a few days it has been on the Pittsburgh sports scene, and where do I even begin?  

Let's start with last night's Steelers 27-14 win over the awful Miami Dolphins.

When I got home from the Caring Place last night and turned on the TV, it was early in the second quarter, the Steelers were down 0-14, and Mason Rudolph was standing in his own end zone to take the snap from center.  Things looked grim indeed.  Well, you know what happened next.  The Steelers drove the field and kicked a FG to make it 3-14, and then proceeded to score 24 more unanswered points to win the game 27-14.  Obviously, my presence in front to the tube cheering them on made all the difference.  I will try not to miss any more action in future games.

Mason Rudolph in action last night

Rudolph, playing for the first time since October 10, looked horrible at the start, then he shook off the rust, and performed admirably, I thought, in leading the team over the last two and one half quarters of the game.  He was helped by a strong game from James Conner, and great play from WRs Diontae Johnson and JuJu Smith-Shuster.  Rudolph is still very much a developing work-in-progress, but I see some good things there and am encouraged by how he has performed thus far.

Now the Dolphins, as I said, are truly awful, so a win over them must be kept in context, and at 3-4, the Steelers season thus far has been nothing to brag about, but I take joy in at least these two facts:

1. The Steelers are one game AHEAD of the 2-5 Cleve Brownies in the standings.  You know, the Browns who were everybody's trendy pre-season pick to storm their way to the Super Bowl.
2. Browns cinch-for-the-HOF QB Baker Mayfield has thrown six TD passes thus far this season.  Mason Rudolph has thrown seven.

The season is only half over, and the Steelers and Browns have yet to play each other, so things can certainly change, but for now, at least, those two facts are just delightful.

        ********

The bigger sports news this week, though, has been made by the Pirates. Last week, team president Frank Coonelly and the team agreed to part company. Yesterday, GM Neal Huntington was fired, and Bob Nutting introduced Travis Williams, an executive with the NHL Islanders for the last eight years, and more importantly, a native Pittsburgh who had served for many years as Chief Operating Officer for the Penguins, as the new President of the team.  Nutting, himself, actually met and spoke with the press on the occasion for the first time since Spring Training.

Travis Williams

In the end, Nutting did what Pirates fans had been screaming for - he cleaned house.  Since the end of the season, the manager, general manager, and team president have all been given their walking papers.  The so called "best management team in baseball" is no more.  Nutting also talked the talk and said what many fans have been saying....why haven't we drafted and developed players like other teams have, and why are our players suddenly performing so much better when they go to other teams?  He also tap-danced around questions about payroll and spending money, so we will wait and see if these changes will, in the end, really mean anything.  As one sports writer has said, he did what needed to be done insofar as cleaning house, so he deserves the benefit of the doubt and a fresh start - for now.

Travis Williams certainly brings a good resume as a sports executive to the job. He's not a baseball guy, but the team president doesn't really have to know who should be called upon to get Cody Bellinger or Christian Yelich out with the game on the line in the bottom of the ninth.  That's for the GM and the manager and the "baseball people" to figure out.  Williams first order of business will be a huge one: hiring the next GM to steer the ship in the days and years ahead.

One quote from Williams presser yesterday struck me.  Before taking the job, he asked Nutting if he was willing to do "whatever it took" to do things right and win and contend consistently, and Nutting assured him that he would.  Seems that I heard the same quotes from Coonelly and Huntington when they were hired in 2007 and from Hurdle when he was hired in 2011.

Like I said, we'll see.

A word about Frank Coonelly.

Full disclosure: Back in 2009, when I was working for Highmark, I met Frank Coonelly, and we became friends. He is a charming and engaging guy. He never forgets a name or a face once he meets you.  Marilyn and I would run into him at the ballpark, at spring training in Bradenton one year, or even just around town, like at a PNC Bank ATM machine, or the Ace Hardware in Wexford (true stories!), and he always  would take time to chat and engage with you.  Every year in November, I would have lunch with him, and I considered him a personal friend.  Often times at those lunches, the state of the Pirates was the least of what we talked about.  I never wrote about what we discussed during those lunches, and I was always reluctant to be critical of him in all of the many posts I've written about the Pirates over the years.  Hey, I never claimed to be Woodward and Bernstein when I write this blog!

So, as I mentioned to a pal on Facebook when the news of Frank's departure became known last week, I take no joy in this.  I look at it as a friend of mine losing his job, and I feel bad about that.  Not that we need hold a benefit for him.  He will bounce back from this, and I know that he will land in a good spot for him and his family.

Maybe Frank's departure and Williams' hiring will work well for the Pirates.  As a fan, I hope that it absolutely does mean good things for the team, but I am sorry that a friend of mine, Frank Coonelly, will no longer be a part of the process.  I wish him well, whatever he does.

********

And while we are talking about sports on the North Shore, how about the Pitt Panthers spitting the bit last Saturday against a not-great Miami team?  After winning five straight games and sitting at 5-2, there was talk that it was certainly possible for Pitt to win their remaining five games, finish at 10-2, maybe getting to the ACC Championship game, and getting a really nice Bowl game for their efforts.  

Then they fail to put the ball in the end zone and lose 16-12 to Miami.  They are now 5-3 with four games left.  They could win all four of them.  A case can be made for that.  It is also possible that they could go 1-3 in those games.  I doubt that they'll lose all four of them, but I wouldn't be totally shocked if that happened either.

As Dan said when we left Heinz Field on Saturday, "I've followed Pitt all my life.  I'm used to this." 

"Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice"

We took in this terrific documentary today about '60's. '70's, '80's and beyond pop/rock/folk/country music icon Linda Ronstadt.  If you lived through that era and enjoyed Ronstadt's music, and as this doc indicates, who didn't, you will truly enjoy this film, narrated in large part by Ronstadt herself.  The film is also peppered with interviews many of her similarly iconic contemporaries such as Don Henley, Jackson Brown, Peter Asher, Emmy Lou Harris and others.

The film is made all the more poignant when you realize that Linda Ronstadt, striken with Parkinson's Disease (like her grandmother before her) in the early 2000's, can no longer sing.  She made her last public singing appearance in 2009.

Linda Ronstadt was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2014, and she is a Kennedy Center Honoree in 2019.  This film makes you realize and remember just how great a talent she was.  A must for all fans.

Three and a half stars from The Grandstander.

How about I close with just a glimpse of that talent.  You go down the YouTube rabbit hole searching out "Linda Ronstadt", it's hard to decide just which clip to select.

Enjoy.....

Our UK/Ireland Trip, Part III - Scotland

When we left England on Sunday morning, we crossed the border into Scotland and made our first stop in the village of Gretna Green.  

When England made the marriage laws more restrictive way back when and required parental permission to marry if you were under 18 years of age, young English lovers eloped across the border to this small village in order to get married. The town is still famous for this reason (sort of like Vegas!), and over 3,000 weddings a year take place there.  We even happened upon a wedding taking place when we stopped there for lunch.

Overall, we found Gretna Green to be a delightfully touristy and cheesy, and we nicknamed it the "Breezewood of Scotland", but that didn't stop us from joining in on the fun of the place.

On to our hotel in Glasgow and dinner that night in a restaurant in the shadows of Stirling Castle, which overlooked the valley where the battle for Scottish sovereignty that Mel Gibson immortalized in "Braveheart" took place.

 Stirling Castle as night fell

 We were met at the castle by Kevin, a Scottish piper,

who led and piped us down the hill to our restaurant.

A very cool experience.

 Sampled a local Scottish brew

The round black morsel on the left is haggis, which we both ate.

It was like a liver pate, and wasn't all that bad, actually.

On Monday, we were driven to Edinburgh where a visit to  Edinburgh Castle was the centerpiece of the day.

 The wind was blowing to beat hell that day atop the hill where the 

Castle sat.  It was really cold, too. And the Scots play golf in that!!

 The four of us house hunting in Scotland

 Mary, Queen of Scots resided there.  

She didn't look a thing like Saoirse Ronan.

 This was on a bench on the Castle grounds.

Dan and I wanted to bring it home and put it 

in front of the Allegheny Sandwich Shoppe.

Overlooking Edinburgh

 Had lunch at this pub.  I had a "Big Peat Scotch Whiskey Sour," 

 and trust me, it was appropriately named.

With a Scottish street musician.

I had to buy that "Scotland" stocking hat to ward off the cold and wind that day.  

Can't wait to wear it on the golf course someday

On Tuesday morning, we left Scotland for a trip along the Irish Sea where we boarded a ferry boat that would take us to Belfast, Northern Ireland.  The Irish portion of our journey will be the subject of a future Grandstander entry.

A rest stop and photo op along the Irish Sea....

....that included this view of the Ailsa Craig, a huge rock of an island off the coast which is featured whenever the British Open is played at Turnberry in Scotland.  

Too bad it was a misty day when we were there, so I couldn't get a real good photo of it.

The ferry boat that would take our bus and us into Belfast.  

John played the theme song from "The Love Boat" as we drove up to the dock.