2014 - A Year in Review

It was a tremendously interesting year, and I've compiled my list of some the year's extraordinary developments and happenings.  As usual, the order reflects how my brain works, but little else that is discernible I imagine.  Rather than just a list, I've elected to do this as 'awards' - the most this, or best that, or biggest impact.  I hope you will see why I think that makes sense.

BEST MARKETING EFFORT
While there were many interesting events and new product launches and the like, the winner here hands down goes to the Coca Cola company for the names on bottles campaign.  I know many people that wouldn't ever buy Coke, but went out of their way to search for their own names (on a bottle) or
one for someone else.  The ads and supporting efforts were significant and noticeable, but also importantly stayed true to Coke's overall theme.  Perhaps most critically for the determination of success for a campaign, Coke financials for the nine months this year in an operating income sense were up.  In a market segment that is under pressure from many angles and brand that needed a boost, this effort was inspired.  Mark my words, this will become a business school case study in years to come.


BIGGEST NEW THREAT
While it's not a happy story, the reality is that hacking took a few ugly turns in the year, and has emerged as something significant that can have very broad implications, and a lasting effect.  Formerly understood as one of those things that hit a select few in society, hacking has emerged as being a huge financial threat as well as a potent political weapon. Early in 2014, Target lost $500M in corporate value, and their CEO due to a hack, and Julian Assange and his Wikileaks occupied the political headlines for a long time.  Sony's second big hack though seems to have crossed a threshold, as at the time of writing this, it's politically motivated against a company and has swayed that organization into loss making actions.  While that in itself is interesting, put this into the context of the web and the corresponding push to Cloud based everything.  The idea that your information isn't secure (it's not) creates a subtle and fundamental uneasiness for anyone and that's different than we have experienced in the past. Yesterday, we could lock our doors to keep intruders out, but today sees an open acknowledgement that anyone can roam our halls, and take what they wish.   We'll see the emergence of cyber crime detection and tracking move into the mainstream, and the Robin Hood perceptions of the little hacker guy fighting the bad corporation go away, but not before more get hurt.

LARGEST UNSEEN GEOPOLITICAL WAVE COMING AT US
Balance is something we strive for, and this is so true amongst nations and power.  Change happens, but usually not suddenly, and when that has occurred in history it's almost always been accompanied by

bloodshed.  Change is coming fast at us, and we all see it but I fear we don't appreciate it for what it means - the price of Oil.  What isn't being acknowledged here is that economies are built on certain assumptions and the price of Oil being +/- 15% is one of those assumptions.  Russia, China, Brazil, Canada and the US are all being economically impacted by the precipitous drop in the price of crude oil, as all buy and sell oil and that makes up sizeable portions of their GDP's and respective balances of trade.  If the economies are upset in these countries, what's bound to happen...well, I imagine that's the trillion dollar question with my own fear being about Russia primarily.  The culprit here seems to be the Saudi's who have vast stores of cheaply accessed oil, that pointedly remains a profitable source of income for them well below the thresholds of extracting it in other countries.   By continuing to produce at rates beyond market need, the price is dropping which is forcing other players to examine their own production bottom line.  It's akin to Walmart lowering the price of sneakers in recognition that their cost base is the lowest, in order to capture more share.  The underlying issue here however is that Payless Shoes doesn't have nukes at their disposal (or a crazy-ass Czar-guy) when they get hurt.  Let's not celebrate the lower price at the pump, instead let's try to remain calm as economies re-balance themselves into a revised geopolitical order.  Transition without blood is what's desired here.


BIGGEST CHANGE - THE FORMAL EMERGENCE OF NATION-LESS STATES
For what I think is amongst the first time in history, a war pitting one (or more) state against another state without a territory has begun.  ISIS isn't a country, its a set of individuals. While they are occupying land, they aren't the formal or even informal government there, and yet a coalition of many countries is formally fighting them.  This is seminal because it speaks to how conflicts could occur in the future, and the likely demise of bodies such as the UN, who were formed under the auspices of nations speaking on behalf of the people located there.  That ISIS is a terror-based organization and worthy to fight against isn't my point.  In future will we see a nation go to war with a set of individual people, that threat to their way of life being as real as an old fashioned invasion..?  It seems so.  

2014 has been remarkable so far, in the above ways.  Let's see what the next months bring.

I ran (Part 2)

I did it. And am thrilled.

 Not only did I finish it, I ran it the way I'd intended.  I had probably my very worst time in doing these things, but I'll chalk that up to lack of rest, some jet lag, the temperature and incredible humidity.  But regardless, even when my calves were spasming and I couldn't summon the will to start running again after walking for a bit, I was still in awe. You know you're doing something special when amidst lots of various body failures and pain, you turn, admire your surroundings and just say "wow".  It was a combination of little high fives from the children lining the route, and the idea we actually had the place sort of to ourselves, the runners owning the road in the otherwise highly congested Angkor area.  The race was well run with water every 2km's and I think I drank 6 water bottles in addition to what I carried and I still lost 8lbs on the run.  

Running as in some other sports takes place in your head. Sure, your legs and toso do the work, but it's your head that makes best times and defines the experience. And from watching another sunrise colour the sky over Angkor Wat waiting to begin, to passing a dozen elephants within the ruins and complexes to the smiling happy faces of the locals that celebrated our personal accomplishment, this was a day for me to cherish until I die.  Sometimes running isn't about the road, sometimes it's about the heart, and mine's bursting today.  

I run - part 1

You may have read a little about Angkor Wat and Cambodia and the big trip I've undertaken lately. It's because I run, or rather running is the reason I'm here.  The 2014 Angkor Wat Half Marathon. 7500 of my closest strangers set off at 06:10 on Dec 7th to run around and through the Angkor temple complexes.  I'm told you don't ever get a PB here - a personal best - and that's because we keep stopping to take pictures.

That's understandable, but it's the heat that has me a little worried.  It's being held at dawn because then it's "only" 25 degrees C / 78 Farenheit.  But by the time the race is done it gets well and truly hot. Factor in time zone difference and funky sleeps and I'm not sure what to expect.

I've been practicing and losing some weight which is surprising effective at helping to run better.  And I've been saying to myself since I got here in a quiet training mantra, "Just run my own run". After-all, I could bundle up and run the distance at home any old day. Here it's the sights, sounds and experience. It's not about running faster, it's about being in the moment.

Running in a race though is different. While pretty much all the others here would need to "DNF" for me to actually win, there is still a tension, a palpable feeling of competition in a properly organized run/race even when you aren't going for the win.  So my race today is about the struggle to just keep calm, keep breathing and just run my own run. 

Part 2 to follow.....

Angkor Wat

The grand-daddy, the poster child of the region.  Cambodia's crown jewel (it's on their flag!) A Unesco World heritage site, and this defining complex is considered the 8th wonder of the world.  So, expectations were a tad high.

 It actually doesn't dissapoint.  I awoke at 3:30 to be there for sunrise, and the play of light brought an etheral-ness to the place.  It's 5 main spires and long causeway can be over-run with people, but the size of the complex soaks it up.  Three terraces make up the structure, set in a monsterous garden, with the fashion of the times - a large 1/2 km bridge terrace depicting the walkway to heaven cutting across the surrounding water-way/moat that is measured in square km/miles.  

 Size mattered to these kings, such that Bayon which was made by the subsequent king was done 10X as large.  But the scale here really works to bring you towards an appreciation of what's in front of your eyes.  Bayon's size means you can't appreciate it all in one view. You can here.

 Angkor Wat is indeed mind-blowing.

Bayon

It's hard to pick favourites.  But I did anyway.

Perhaps it was the heat, or time of the day, perhaps it was because I did this one - the largest - after the others and I found places in the woods where it was silent and I could contemplate what I was looking at without hawkers, or loud fellow tourists.  (The signs all over that say "please be quiet" need to be translated into Mandarin).

I suspect it might be the huge gates with this friendly fellow looking down at all who pass into the city of Bayon. It once housed a million people, and was built after Angkor Wat in a case of royal one-upmanship.  In the west, the only comparable would be Rome, with ruins intact, and strewn about, all being tell-tale signs of what took place before.  The detail work that you see on almost literally every surface speaks to the artisans that made the places.

Bayon isn't all standing. Much of it, is fine, like the Elephant terraces and royal pools (the bgger one for concubines) still hold water, but much is falling as well.  It's 35/100 degrees now in winter and this place was made so long ago that the fact it still remains is testament to the thought, quality and ingenuity of it's makers.

 Indeed I like Bayon the best, because off the main temple there are other monuments and relics of the royal palace where no one else is.  You hear the jungle and wonder at what lies in front of you - or you're standing higher than the trees, 10 storeys in the air.  It boggles the mind a little. It's humbling.

 

Angkor

There are a few Angkor's around Siem Reap, Cambodia where I write this from. I don't mean that purely in a every place has multiple faces sense, there are literally a few different temples, ruins and evidence of the Khmer empire's building spree that took place 800-1000 years ago.

Some are in better shape than others, as might be expected in a jungle, in a country that has been

conquered and invaded numerous times and went through what I may graciously call a soul searching period within the last 20 years.  We think of this area as "Angkor Wat", but in fact that simply the best known, most photographed and best preserved site.  It's not the biggest or the awe-inspiring, but this is about word of mouth perhaps more than anything, and it's the one that captured the imagination.

So I wanted to save it, thinking it was best.  I don't think in hindsight that was a good assumption, and here's why - there's incredible richness in this whole place. Everywhere you turn in the jungle, there's another stunning piece of history.  Arguably the best are those off the beaten pathways.

They each have names, distinct histories and are worth exploring.  Some are being eaten by the jungles, and some are completely intact.  All will take your breath away.

Arriving / Glitches

Any plan worth doing can survive hiccups and I've had one today.  Our plane into Shanghai had a minor technical thing that caused us to return to the gate in Vancouver.  The result ? Some stress on my part that my connection which had seemed easy, became less so.

But as I say, hiccups can be survived.  Notwithstanding the negative comments from the airline staff on arrival to help, they did actually help and after an accelerated customs clearance, a 1km run to the adjoining terminal and departure customs followed by another 1/2 km run to the farthest gate, I was told upon arriving 11 minutes before departure that it hadn't started boarding yet. What I mean by that is that I always believe I can make super short airport connections.  Hats off to "Chris" from Air Canada for guiding and pacing me.   He was a track star (literally, the guy ran with me) and I wouldn't have been able to do that without him.

As I write this I am descending into Siem Reap where I need to get a visa on arrival, and a moto-taxi to my hotel.  Where there's a shower and a bed.  I did manage about 5 hours sleep enroute and while the 27 travel hours passed without a movie or any video based entertainment, I feel good. But admittedly tired. Let's see what the new day brings.