John Koen

“Strong institutional marketing also helps sell tickets. La Scala, the Bolshoi, and the Paris Opera Ballet all can spend less on programmatic marketing—the selling of tickets—because they benefit from their high institutional visibility, earned generations ago. No arts organization, however—no matter how famous—can afford to rest on its laurels. The Rome Opera, for example, is facing bankruptcy—and this was the house that offered the world premieres of both Cavelleria Rusticana and Tosca! We all compete for the same new audience members and the same new donors. If we are not working actively now, we will lose out to an organization that is.”
― Michael M. Kaiser, Curtains?: The Future of the Arts in America

“We humans are about 2/ 3 water. Each of us contains about 40 liters (or quarts) of the stuff, and each liter weighs a bit over 2 pounds. Our bodies effectively regulate fluid balance by adjusting urine output and sense of thirst, but this is done within a 2-liter range. Within this range, your body doesn’t really care if it is up to a liter above or below its ideal fluid level. What this means is that we all live inside a 4-pound-wide grey zone, so that from day to day we fluctuate up or down (i.e., plus or minus) 2 pounds. This happens more or less at random, so with any one weight reading you don’t know where your body is within that fluid range. Your weight can be the same for 3 days in a row, and the next morning you wake up and the scale says you’ve ‘gained’ 3 pounds for no apparent reason. For people who weigh themselves frequently, this can be maddening.”
― Jeff S. Volek, The Art and Science of Low Carbohydrate Living: An Expert Guide to Making the Life-Saving Benefits of Carbohydrate Restriction Sustainable and Enjoyable

“The yolk of an egg is incredibly nutritious. It contains 100 percent of the carotenoids; essential fatty acids; fat-soluble vitamins A, E, D, and K that our body requires; and more than 90 percent of the calcium, iron, phosphorus, zinc, thiamine, folate, B12, pantothenic acid, as well as the majority of the copper, manganese, and selenium our body requires. They are also excellent sources of lutein and zeaxanthin, which evidence has shown are highly protective against developing macular degeneration—the major cause of blindness in the elderly. Since most people don’t eat liver, egg yolks are the only major source of choline, which helps to protect against fatty liver disease, which afflicts about one-third of Americans. Additionally, animal studies indicate that when you get three times more than the recommended amount of choline early in life, you can have lifelong protection against senility and dementia, along with major boosts in memory and mental performance throughout your life. Eggs yolks are primarily feared by people because of their cholesterol content, but they are jam-packed with really important nutrients, some of which are very difficult to get anywhere else in your diet.” –Dr. Chris Masterjohn”
― Jimmy Moore, Cholesterol Clarity: What the HDL is Wrong with My Numbers?

“(This reminds me of a group I once studied. The organization was an arts presenter in a major city; its mission was to break even. While not aspirational, it was indeed the board’s honest goal. I suggested that they could achieve this mission by closing shop and going home. This suggestion was not appreciated.)”
― Michael M. Kaiser, Curtains?: The Future of the Arts in America