Feldman's Faves: August 29, 2022

GOOD MORNING EVERYONE

First and foremost I want to congratulate our good friend Johnny Connon for being named Canada’s M&A lawyer of the year by “Best Lawyers in Canada” - an amazing achievement and so well deserved!!

I hope everyone is enjoying our final days of summer and have something epic planned for the upcoming (and final) long weekend of the summer. For those of you in town, it is fun to see that the EX is back in full force in all of its glory, serving pickle flavoured lemonade, mustard flavoured ice-cream and deep fried Twinkies. No, we are not a society on decline at all….

Also, for those of you who are Swiftees and did not watch the VMAs, Taylor Swift announced – after winning Video of the Year Award - that her new album will be coming out in October. I know that certain people in my house (at least) are very excited about this news.

No real theme this week – just interesting people.

leadership – six studies in world strategy By: Henry Kissinger – At 99 years old Leadership could possibly Henry Kissinger’s last book (but who knows, he might live forever). In this book Kissinger describes leadership through two main philosophies/approaches, namely the Philosopher and the Statesman. To be successful he says, you need a bit of both, which in simple terms, means having vision to see what others do not see and the ability to execute within the current system and the one you create. In order to show these ideas in action, Kissinger describes the lives and accomplishments of six fascinating leaders that emerged in the post-WWII era: Konrad Adenauer, Charles de Gaulle, Richard Nixon, Anwar Sadat, Lee Kuan Yew and Margaret Thatcher. In Leadership, Kissinger describes the well-known stories of each of these icons, but does so from his unique perspective of having had a front row seat to the history of the 20th century. As with all historical analyses, this book helps us not only appreciate these people’s contributions but also acts as a blueprint for life today and for future world leaders (that I hope some will read). Here is a good review from the Wall Street Journal - https://www.wsj.com/articles/henry-kissinger-is-worried-about-disequilibrium-11660325251

SmartLess - "Shawn Levy" – I am always amused by this PODCAST. The reason I am including this week’s interview with Shawn Levy (famous for Night at the Museum, Free Guy, the Adam Project, The Internship, Stanger Things, and many, many more) is that he talks about his current project which is filming the four part series (I think for Netflix) of the book All the Light We Cannot See, which I reviewed earlier this year and just loved (like many of you) I can’t wait to see what he does with this amazing story. The discussion is fun and a good reminder to focus on knowing yourself and who you are. Once you do that you can really find peace with yourself. Here is an excerpt from the PODCAST itself: “Talk about great hair… it’s Shawn Levy comin’ through from a Hungarian hotel to educate us on cinematic heft and settle-down hands. We try to quit him, but we can’t, because as Shawn L. would say: “when the tan fades, I’m concerned.”https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/smartless/id1521578868?i=1000575235129

Thank you for your ongoing engagement and participation.

And remember to stay safe, stay healthy and to docket daily.

Jon