I knew it was going to be a fun February as StepZen (well done Kittu and Neotribe Ventures) was acquired by IBM a few days back, and reminded me of:
February 2009. Tampa. Super Bowl XLIII: Steelers v Cardinals.
We (SmartOps Executive Team, with spouses) flew down on a Private Jet from Pittsburgh. It was an incredible game (with Bruce Springsteen as the half-time entertainment), with Santonio Holmes working his magic (from a precision throw by Ben Roethlisberger). There is no comparable Americana experience like watching the Super Bowl live in-person.
Perhaps the most American statement is the one made by Vince Lombardi:
Winning is not the main thing.
Winning is the only thing.
Tonight, however, I watched it at home. I knew I would love it as soon as it began, watching Chris Stapleton (The SteelDrivers, whose song If it haven’t been for love I first heard when Adele performed it) do the National Anthem (and Rihanna was impressive at half-time.)
In my inaugural (Quantum) keynote at IIT-Madras last month, I invoked this as I closed my talk – showcasing Sridhara Navatva-Shastra ☺️ that I introduced in Weston Brahmin – with:
Newness is not the main thing.
Newness is the only thing.
Between Microsoft’s imbedding of ChatGPT into their Search Engine (and, in hasty response, Google’s $100 Billion-dollar misstep with Bard), and the “surprising, sudden and impressive” statement (“I am a Capitalist”) made by President Biden in his State of the Union address (wonder what Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren felt!), I could simply not resist using this title using for the catchphrase “bada bing”, popularized by James Caan‘s character Sonny Corleone in:
The Godfather is a 1972 American crime film directed by Francis Ford Coppola, who co-wrote the screenplay with Mario Puzo, based on Puzo’s best-selling 1969 novel of the same title. The film stars Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, Richard Castellano, Robert Duvall, Sterling Hayden, John Marley, Richard Conte, and Diane Keaton. It is the first installment in The Godfather trilogy and grossed over $250 million (on a budget of about $7 million).
It had its fair share of controversy at the Academy Awards. Originally nominated for seven awards, the nomination for Best Score was replaced (as it was too similar to one he used in a Fellini’s 1958 movie, Fortunella); Brando did not attend (as a protest against Hollywood depiction of American Indians); and Pacino did not attend (as he felt insulted to be nominated for the Supporting Actor category instead of the Actor one, as he had more screen time than Brando.)
Now back to President Biden:
Capitalism without competition is not capitalism. It is exploitation.
Agree. Reminded me also of Allan Meltzer:
Capitalism without Failure is like Religion without Sin.
President Biden, continuing:
We’re making sure the supply chain for America begins in America.
I’ve visited the devastating aftermaths of record floods and droughts, storms and wildfires. In addition to emergency recovery from Puerto Rico to Florida to Idaho, we are rebuilding for the long term.
I am happy to say that the NASEM annotated version of his State-of-the-Union address includes the NAP (authored by Pinar Keskinocak, Wally Hopp and others) that I have mentioned earlier in my post.
