Provocative Questions, Eclectic Answers
TV and Audio Interviews
TV INTERVIEW on PBS Charlotte - “Charlotte, City of International Success”
AUDIO Interview with Mark Peres for his podcast “On Life and Meaning”
AUDIO Interview with Mark Greene for his podcast “Cars Yeah” - Inspiring Automotive Enthusiasts [Web Page]
AUDIO Interview with Clifford Waddell for his podcast “The S.A.NE. Show”
Interviews in Books
“On Life and Meaning” by Mark Peres [Web Page]
Chapter: “Theaters of Purpose”
“The American Workday” by Austin Halbert [Amazon]
Chapter: “Writer”
Summary of Written Interviews
Interviews using interesting and clever prompts that reveal my many masks.
My favorite word is symbol.
My favorite sound is my wife's laughter.
The sound I hate is a broken string on a tennis racquet.
What turns me on is Excellence through Passion.
What turns me off is people using people.
My biggest defect is my boundless imagination (for more, ask my wife).
The profession I would attempt is film director.
The profession I would avoid is soldier.
If I would be an animal, I would be an athletic grey tabby cat called Phteeng.
I cannot live without art.
My favorite insult is “you malevolent incompetent” (for starters).
When God meets me at the pearly gates, she will say: "Tennis, anyone?"
The book everyone should read is Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl.
My heroes are my parents, above anybody else.
I also admire Edward de Bono, Joseph Campbell, Richard Wurman and Harold Pinter, who aimed to move human thinking forward.
The artist who inspires me is jazz pianist Bill Evans – his achievement was to show us that beauty is real and that it's possible for us to live extraordinary experiences.
My favorite city in the world is Zurich, Switzerland.
I live in Charlotte, NC because it bubbles with possibilities and the Blue Ridge mountains are just two hours away.
The thing that nobody knows that would help people know me better is that I can entertain myself endlessly. I have a heightened sense of the absurd and I can find humor in almost anything. I even laugh out loud in my dreams.
Five authors I absolutely love are: Julio Cortazar, Alejo Carpentier, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Mario Vargas Llosa and Carlos Fuentes.
Five movies I absolutely love are: La Dolce Vita, The Lives of Others, Ida, Citizen Kane and Blow Up.
What's worth my time watching on TV is: Scandinavian mysteries, because the quality of the productions and the acting are exquisitely crafted.
What I call success is saying "I've lived my dream" before I die.
Failure is a key to success only if you "fail forward," if you learn through questioning every aspect of your original plan and then morph, adjust, reengineer and measure your progress.
What I call fulfillment is becoming an intellectual hedonist who can inspire others to find what really matters to them.
What I call meaning is knowing for what you would live and die for and why it would matter to others.
What I call legacy is living with the knowledge that you're creating a path for others to follow.
Three fundamental lessons I've learned are:
Be the unexpected source of support that makes a difference: “If I am not for myself, who will be for me? And when I am for myself, what am 'I'? And if not now, when?”
Design your life, the toughest design of all: Life is not a straight line conditioned by what others want you to do. It's an open-ended spiral evolving towards higher degrees of personal responsibility and choice.
Leaders instill energy in others by living their Vision: The power of visionary leadership comes from knowing that you already are what you want. The task you are now involved in is to develop your strategy for dealing with your arrival and to help others understand and act on your new reality.
The risk that I'm willing to take as a leader is to create bigger and better experiences for people to discover what their burning passion is and act on it.
If you want to figure me out, you need to understand that I'm "a thinker" who always wants to become a better thinker.
My two Favorite quotes about business:
The friendship of those we serve is the foundation of our progress
Keep the right goal in mind. Don't look for money; look for applause. If you create something of value, the sales will come.
This is my favorite cartoon (from The New Yorker, by William Steig - Published March 24, 1986) - a reflection of my inner dialogue, at all times:
Love's Qs – Provocative Questions for Interesting People
Adapted from an interview by John W. Love, Jr. published in Charlotte Viewpoint Magazine online
Is beauty necessary? Beauty is as essential as consciousness
Your mind:
It's the temperature of a loving embrace
the texture of vibrant oil colors sliding on a canvas
and the speed of a singing note on a piano
Your age:
I am older than my true self
younger than a Lebanese cedar tree
and the exact same age as my smiling ambergreen eyes
What has made you cry? The massacre of five consecrated men I knew in Argentina
Be they naturally occurring or people-made, name three things that exist as your favorite color: A Tuareg's turban – Morpho butterflies – "IKB 79" by Ives Klein at the Tate Modern in London
What color annoys you right now? Teal
If you could eat a piece of sculpture, whose is it, what's its name, what is it made of, and where does it reside? Mihail Chemiakin's small bronze series "The Carnival at St. Petersburg" – scattered through private collections
If you could wear a piece of music, what would it be? "My Foolish Heart" played by Bill Evans and his 1961 trio at The Village Vanguard in New York
If you were to rendezvous with the most succulent part of yourself, in what painting would the two of you meet? "Miss La La at Le Cirque Fernando" by Edgar Degas at the National Gallery in London
Don't name the film. Just describe one detail in the moment that took your breath away: It's dawn on the beach in Fregene, Italy. The aimless protagonist can't recognize the adolescent waitress with whom he had danced at lunch some time ago. She gestures over the estuary separating them but he can't understand her. Obfuscated, he shrugs and turns back to join the disheveled partygoers. She waves at him goodbye with a sad smile.
If you were to have an affair with a piece of literature, what would it be? "A Pure Soul" by Carlos Fuentes
It's a stage play. There are two characters. They are "You at your Best" and "You at your Worst". From every beverage you've ever tasted or yearned to taste, choose your playwright, director, set designer, costume designer, lighting designer, and cast.
Playwright: Glenlivet single malt 18 years
Director: Malbec wine
Set designer: Lemoncello
Costume designer: Brazilian coconut water
Lighting designer: Absinthe
Cast: Darjeeling tea
You at your Best: Louis Roederer Cristal Champagne
You at your Worst: Devil Dancer Ale Triple IPA
If you had to kiss slumber accompanied by the same bit of dance night after night, day after day, nap after nap...what would it be? "Trem das Cores" ("Train of Colors") sung by Caetano Veloso in Portuguese
What's the sexiest tool in your arsenal? Raising my left eyebrow
Favorite sweet thing? Grand Cru Chocolate Truffles from Sprungli in Zurich
Favorite bitter thing? Schumacher Altbier from Dusseldorf
Favorite sour thing? Single Malt 18 years or older
Favorite hot thing? Illy Double Espresso
Favorite cold thing? Freddo's ice cream in Buenos Aires
Favorite hard thing? Almond Chocolate Biscotti
Favorite soft thing? Laduree French macarons
What makes you tired just thinking about it? High School Math
Who's the sexiest person you know personally? Daniela Lavender – a Brazilian actress married to Sir Ben Kingsley who made her London debut as a character in my theatre play "A Voice Screaming to Heaven" in 1997.
What makes a nerd hot? Obliviousness
What makes a physically beautiful person NOT hot at all? Disdain
What three spices in the spice rack best describe you? Cardamom, Smoked Paprika, Rosemary
What fresh herb would you wear as a scent? Basil
What inanimate object are you in love with the most right now? My Le Corbusier LC4 chaise (in Chinese red leather)
Who do you know that is both sleek and salty? My mentor Richard Saul Wurman – the founder of the TED Conferences
Who's got a mind you'd describe as plush and juicy? My mentor Dr. Edward de Bono – the father of Lateral Thinking
What is your oldest desire? To understand images, metaphors and symbols
At this very moment, if your life were to spontaneously transform into your deepest, richest, and most private dream, what (or who) would the score sound like? "Flamenco Sketches – Take One" from Kind of Blue (Miles Davis, Bill Evans)
What would be the taste in your mouth? Sprungli chocolate orangette