Tag · 40 posts
March 27, 2016
Walter Blanding and I spent a week together on tour visiting 100’s of students across the Pacific Northwest. I managed to grab this gem of a talk answering the question, “why is it important to play music?” Click here to…
March 13, 2015
Happy Birthday today to my hero! My dad! Daniel Arthur Kolke, Sr. is 85 years young today. I took this first picture of my parents in Krakow Poland on a family trip to trace our roots. My dad was born…
March 12, 2015
Some people just don’t get why it’s a big deal… On the eve of the fourth annual Jazz Walk I am reflecting on two conversations that I just had with two patrons of Boxleys while at Pioneer Coffee – the…
July 2, 2009
Just think that 233 years ago; the continental congress was in the final hours of deliberating what to do. They decided to risk everything so we could have the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. They stood…
June 19, 2009
What makes someone great? What creates greatness? Do leaders ask to be great? Do they desire to be great? Or do they come from ordinary stalk and somehow they make the decision that something has to be done. Do they…
June 12, 2009
Leadership is difficult. The burden of doing what is right with what is trusted to you is heavy. And it’s certain you will stumble and you will fall. You will make mistakes and you will make missteps. The longer you…
May 5, 2009
I’m watching the sun chase the clouds away. It’s as if the weather doesn’t remember how cruel it was a few hours ago. The camera on my smartphone really doesn’t do my picture justice – I’m amazed at how beautiful…
April 30, 2009
Whether you believe in God as I do, or you believe that a series of random unplanned sequence of events (probably trillions of them) in which you have somehow survived and which has lead to your very existence – either…
April 26, 2009
Let’s call it what it is, “stupid”. Mass adoption of a stupid idea does not in anyway alter the intellectual value of that idea. It’s still stupid. For me when confronted by a populist idea – I remember an anonymous…
April 21, 2009
Accepting the thoughts of others without validation is foolishness. The more thoughts that you accept, the more momentum you create in those thoughts and the more vulnerable you become to the influence of others. Surrendering your thoughts without conscientious…