On February 16th, Rose Gottemoeller spoke to a crowd of about fifty (very intelligent) Vail Valley residents and visitors. I hate to employ such an over-used term, but most would agree that she was simply awesome. As personable and humble as she could possibly be, and yet obviously so incredibly knowledgeable and thoughtful, that it was just a pleasure to be in her presence.

Her observations about Putin and Putinism were insightful, as well as the challenges associated with nuclear disarmament, the clan structure and Russia's mistrust of the west in general. Throughout her talk about all the enormous problems, she continued to hold out hope for improvement, progress and even peace. It was sobering yet slightly optimistic at the same time. Admittedly, she did say pointedly that she was "from Ohio, and therefore had no choice but to be optimistic". I'm not sure exactly what that meant, but it was as charming as she was.

Just another in the Symposium's incredibly long line of fabulous speakers.

Swain of Symp

The Muslim Question with Adnan Husain

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On Jordan Metzl...

OK! What a great way to kick off the 2008 season ... Jordan Metzl was every bit as good as his brother Jaime was last year ... and that was a ten.
After showing the video on the Ironman (how DOES anybody do that?), he talked about kids sports, followed by drugs in sport (some legit, some not) and finished with some advice on lifelong fitness (pertinent to those of us who happen to be in our second half-century).
It was all great, but different parts of it resonated with different parts of the audience. It was good to see some of the local ski coaches there, as well as some big time athletes like Mike Kloser, not to mention tri-athletes Jordan and Jaime themselves.
There were more than a few "a-ha's" for me ... the fact that young female athletes are five times as likely as guys to suffer ACL injuries was a shocker, but less so after Jordan explained why. I was also surprised to hear that more than half the population over fifty has some amount of arthritis, miniscus tears and/or disc problems, and yet may be uneffected by their particular issue. Jordan's point was that the advent of the MRI readily reveals these maladies, but that doesn't mean they're necessarily the source of someone's pain or problems. Many of us live with these issues relatively pain-free. Therefore, someone else's pain could be caused by something entirely different, despite the temptation to assume that the obvious MRI's results are definitive.

Those of us who chose to go to the private dinner with family Metzl afterward were rewarded with continued, stimulating conversation. It was fun asking Jordan some tough questions in a small group (So do YOU think Lance was doping?).
I'm pretty sure that anybody who comes to Symposium programs this year will be REALLY happy if they decide to tell Fraidy that they'd like to join the speaker and a few others for dinner afterward. I sure won't miss them if I can help it.

Can't wait until the next one ... C'mon Farmer John.

Swain of Symp

Rise of Radical Islam in Southeast Asia with Sadanand Dhume

July 16, 2007
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A Talk about Alzheimer's with Dr. Howard Fillit

July 10, 2007

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Solving Our Leadership Crisis with Bill George

July 5, 2007
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