Day Tripping: June 28

Innovation perspiration

The many successes of Elon Musk are well documented, and his rise to become one of the wealthiest people on the planet are a testament to human perseverance. The road that led him to these great achievements has been heavily laden with obstacles. Elon himself would tell you that this is how it should be.

“Failure is an option here. If things are not failing, you are not innovating enough.” – Elon Musk

From a boy with Aspergers Syndrome who was bullied in school, to a brash young entrepreneur who started several ventures only to sell them for massive profits, Musk has seen his fair share of failure. But that never kept him from trying.

A prime example was when Elon ventured to Russia to purchase repurposed ICBMs, refurbished missiles to propel his Mars Society project. He planned to use the ICBM’s to send agricultural payloads to space, but after being dismissed as an amateur and even spat on by a Russian engineer, Musk design his own space transport system, SpaceX.

After three initial failures to launch, Elon Musk’s Falcon rockets have successfully filled the breach left by the NASA Space Shuttle program.

Lend An Ear

A World Heavyweight Championship rematch billed as The Sound and the Fury took an ugly turn in the third round at the MGM, Las Vegas Arena in 1997. Challenger and heavy underdog Evander Holyfield were in total control of the bout when his opponent, reigning champion Mike Tyson bit off a piece of Holyfield’s right ear.

An innovative maneuver to be sure, but it earned Tyson a disqualification and a suspension of his boxing license.

Today is:

Logistics Day — This day holds special value because it was a business I thrived in for many years. When you consider the massive coordination taken on a daily basis to bring goods to their wholesale destinations, only to have them become products that need to reach the end users’ destinations in a timely and orderly fashion, you can appreciate the scale on which businesses grow and thrive.

From packaging to inventory to transport, and the communication involved in keeping every aspect in line, logistics plays an integral role in everyone’s lives, which has expanded exponentially in the last eighteen months of our changing landscape.

Musical Ride

Featuring backing vocals from his good friend, John Lennon, David Bowie released Fame in 1975. The song would become Bowie’s first American #1 hit.

Since David provided yesterday’s entry, here’s a Moon Song courtesy of The Police to honor Major Tom.

Interesting Notes

Stephen Hawking hosted a time-travelers party in 2009 where he sent invitations out the following day. Strangely, no one showed up the night before.

Gone But Not Forgotten

A personal hero of mine, Rod Serling was the prolific and intellectual writer/producer of The Twilight Zone anthology series in the 1960s. Aside from being an incredibly talented storyteller, Serling was a vocal political activist who never shied away from saying what was on his mind.

The always-present lit cigarette between his fingers was a strong clue to the cause of his death in 1975. Rod Serling was 50-years-old.

Notable Births

1946 — Still on top of the list as the funniest female cast member of SNL, Gilda Radner

1948 — Academy Award and Primetime Emmy Award winner Kathy Bates.

K. Barrett Maria Rattray Maryam Merchant Dr Mehmet Yildiz Tree Langdon Myriam Ben Salem Phil Truman Chelsea Mandler MAT Terry Mansfield Hollie Petit, PhD. Terry Trueman Dr Preeti Singh John Gruber Bill Abbate James G Brennan ScienceDuuude Marcus Liam Ireland Claire Kelly Noorain Hassan, BMS Amy Pierovich David Acaster Nora Thewriteyard David Perlmutter Joe Luca Holly Kellums Michael Burg, MD

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