Dateline: Faculty Club, U Cal Berkeley, Berkeley California, 8 March 2005
Didn't get to sleep until after midnight last night. I was so taken with my ability to read email in my bed via the WiFi, plus the connection was a bit slow. I have the "penthouse" on the third floor of the club, which means a sort of loft that you access through a narrow stairway and then you're up in the tower's mast: windows on all four sides, small private patio off the roof, all woods and beams, very historic and very cool.
Had hard time sleeping to 8am because it was 11am my time, so popped up, got dressed and caught the continental breakfast heading out the door. Picked up by one Prof. Barnes, who takes me to his military history class where I offer the same basic package as I gave in Canada last week. Then Q&A with students. Whole deal about 2 hours. Very good questions, and good discussion. Bit of a pre-select, given the class subject, but no dummies in the room.
Then off to a faculty lunch with generalized discussion. Host is Dr. Wayne Kreisler, and site is Institute for International Studies. After half a sandwich and some pasta salad stuffed in my mouth, I give a quick-and-dirty 20 minute overview of PNM, followed by about an hour of Q&A, which Kreisler later described as "highly spirited." All the questions tended toward the usual skepticisms, which made me glad-once again-that I spend a chapter on these points in Vol. II.
After that Kreisler takes me over to a TV studio on campus, where we film a one-hour interview show very much in line with "Booknotes." It will appear on a U Cal CSPAN-like channel that broadcasts over Dish Satellite TV, plus it will be posted in its entirety for viewing in perpetuity on their website. Kreisler will send me the relevant info when it's up, and I will definitely ask for a complimentary DVD for myself.
His style was very much like Lamb's so I felt it was a great interview. More than Lamb, Kreisler asked a lot of questions designed to generate career advice to students entering or contemplating entering the field of national security, so that was pretty cool. The show is called "Conversation with History," and he's had every big name you can think of over the past 20 years, so like with Lamb, I was in capable hands throughout, so I gave a great interview, reinforcing my point that the interview's quality depends first and foremost on the interviewer, not the interviewee.
After the show I head back to the faculty club and hang out in the lounge for a while, surfing the web Wi-Fi, getting word that now both of my Esquire feature projects are a "go" from the perspective of the subjects. So a DC trip is looming even as Mark and I gear up for a marathon review session on the book that will stretch over several weeks.
I am beginning to remember the rather relaxed pace of war college life with fondness . . .
Strolled through the Berkeley campus, snapping this shot of the famous clock tower:
BTW, here's a shot of the Parliament building in Ottawa that I snapped last week.
I'm beginning to see a sort of guy-without-his-wife motief to my choice in photos . . .
Once off campus I locate the Downtown Berkeley BART station, which is a subway I've never taken, despite my many trips here for the Center for Naval Analyses in the mid-1990s. It has a strange, dated, Logan's Run-sort of sci-fi futuristic feel to it. In many ways, very similar to the subway style that DC ended up with in the late 1970s. I think BART goes back to the early 70s, though. Much of the track between Berkeley and the Bay is above ground, but then you go under, resurfacing in the downtown area. What a great way to get to the airport, but alas, I fly SWA outta Oakland Friday morning, before the crack of dawn. That should be sweet, especially returning a rental that I haven't bothered and won't bother to use all week-at Berkeley's request. That sits in the parking garage at $12 a day, to go with the $180 charge. Frankly, I gotta believe a cab back and forth to Oakland International would have been at least $100 cheaper.
I have all day tomorrow off. Interested in ideas of where to go. Guess I could drive again over to the Muir Woods beyond Golden Gate and hike. That would be cool. Will have to ring my friend from TED, local hedge fund chief Kevin, and see what he suggests.
Heading to the Powell station, where I'll get off and walk to the World Affairs Council. I go on at 6pm and they want some Q&A within a 60-minute frame for later broadcast somewhere. Not sure who's taping. Will give them the same package I used in class this morning, and in Ottawa last week: Core and Gap, War in the Context of Everything Else, and Strategy Defines Structure.
Going under the Bay right now . . . waiting for my ears to pop . . .
Will check in after the WAC talk on Bart home. You buy the tickets through machines just like in NYC, which is cool, cause you can use credit cards (easier business receipts).
Tonight when I get back to Club, may glance through NYT and WSJ to see if there's anything I must really blog. After four talks today, I expect to be a bit beat . . .
[next morning]
When I got off the BART, I dropped into a Virgin megastore to buy two DVDs for my kids ("Exorcist" for demon-loving eldest daughter and "Where Eagles Dare" for WWII-fascinated son). Also picked up a second copy of "Computerworld" album by Kraftwerk, because son Kevin has played my old CD copy to near-death).
Got to World Affairs Council about 10 minutes before show, and they were completely unready for me to use PowerPoint-my fault for not checking in advance. They were good, though, and set up rather quickly. Only bitch: I had to stand at podium and use mike because show being taped for radio broadcast. Because of timing of show (60 minutes), I had to cut the talk short, skipping the Leviathan-SysAdmin section, but I did mention the need for the split and gave a short description. Then questions from the crowd, read to me by Dan Sneider, the foreign affairs columnist of the San Jose Mercury News (my host). Not sure when the program will broadcast locally.
My performance was okay. Bit tired, so flubbed more than my usual share of words/lines. Audience much older (at least up close to me) and pretty reserved, so not a lot of reaction. Others in the back told me later that the room had a lot of buzz, but I wasn't feeling it up behind the podium. As usual, stuck at podium, I tend to come off darker, and I don't know why. Just can't move or gesture much, so the drama goes all into your voice.
After talk, signed about 20 books. Then dinner at a nice Japanese restaurant courtesy of partner Bob Jacobson. We dined with a local expert on gaming, a wonderful lady who rode home with me on the BART and told me all about David Byrne's somewhat mocking presentation on PowerPoint that she went to the previous night at some local venue.
Long day. Fell asleep in bed with laptop on stomach as I was logging onto to Internet.
Have plenty of stories I want to blog, but will hold them for now. Have to do another phone interview with yet another Japanese newspaper at 10 am local time. The reporter will call me in the Faculty Club. After that, contemplating quick drive (may be kidding myself) over Golden Gate bridge to John Muir forest for short hike. Did a long one about a decade ago and have always wanted to return. Would have to get back here well in time for 7pm speech tonight (first half of brief), which constitutes the first of two big Nimitz lectures I give.
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