You've been there before, right? Childhood, that is. Do you remember it? Was it good for you? I can't say that my recollections of childhood are necessarily positive ones, at least from the current vantage point in my Life. Nevertheless, i will point to several specific memories. Perhaps they will spark a thought or two about your own childhood. Mr. Bubble. Was this manipulative enticement or what? Kids don't want to take baths, right? So parents have to lure them into the waters. At any rate it was a treat. I mean we couldn't afford it, so Mr. Bubble was a rarity. Although in all honesty i will say that at least it wasn't a hand-me-down like so many other toys, clothes, goodies and the like. But once in the water, i just didn't want to leave. There were so many, many bubbles. I could easily make mountains and valleys and passageways, shapes of all types. The bubble cone on my head must have reached the ceiling. I could hide in that bubble World and i did. Fizzies don't exist anymore, do they? They were those little candy tablets, a bit larger than a Sweet Tart. Drop them in a glass of water and the fizz began. It was fun to watch. At first this fizz would rise up from the edges of the tablet, filling the glass with color, bubbles and a light foam on the very top. Take a drink when it still fizzed and it would tickle my nose. Yes, they were a treat. Washing the dishes could actually be fun? It was the sudsy bubbles that made washing the dishes a sought after experience, well that and the warming effect on a cold winter day. The parents must have figured out the thrill factor. There came a time when i could not measure the soap myself. So i had to work with a partial cap instead of a full cup. Not as much fun, but still… Of course, in summertime the little bubble bottles found their way into the dime stores. (What's a dime store????) That must have kept us occupied for an entire afternoon, maybe even the day. Following a bubble - How far would it go? Would it merge? Would it rotate? Would it change colour? And size? Could i catch it and reblow it to make more bubbles? We were transfixed and the mixture went fast. Sometimes the dishwashing liquid was adequate to make our own source for bubble blowing. We kept the small hoops from the bottles and then we could make our own whenever we wanted. Ever blow bubbles? The kits today have become so elaborate. The bubbles are of countless shapes and sizes…and colours. Watching the dog chase them is my thrill these days. Now i was never one for gum, but it was certainly popular in the adolescent World. I saw my peers stuff their mouths with these packages of the chewable stuff and soon they were able to blow and play with ever larger and larger bubbles. Sometimes it made a mess, a huge mess, but only for the ones who had to clean it up. Anything that created a disturbance in class…or for the daring ones, in church, we kids applauded. Bubbles were such simple pleasures. Oh yes, i forgot. Were you lucky enough to not have the naysayers and spoilers stifle your bubble experience? (Or are such downbeat reminders needed to keep us grounded?) Television also joined in the fun. It was every Saturday night. We were all sitting around the television set waiting for it to 'boot up' in time for the Black and White version of Lawrence Welk. The champagne music of the show hailed the flowing stream of bubbles. Soon they filled the stage. The band just kept playing while others danced. How did it make us feel? Light-hearted. Festive. Relaxed. Joyful. Even my recollection feels that way. And how many times have we laughed hysterically, rolling across the floor as we watched the latest television skit make light of bubbles gone wild? It had to have been Lucille Ball and Carol Burnett who made classic clips of the washing machine overflowing with the sudsy bubblies taking over the kitchen, seeping under the doorway and into the next room. An otherwise 'normal' day was 'ruined'. LOL. No matter how many times i see such a skit, at least a smile comes to my face. Hmmmm, perhaps childhood was not so dreadful after all. Then there is one of the most versatile bubbles of all time. Balloons. Does one ever grow out of the age of enjoying balloons? These must be one of the most popular festive examples of bubbles in existence. Were you one of the lucky ones to attend a party in which animals were crafted from balloons? These phenomenal capturers of air bring joy to every birthday, every anniversary, every congratulatory bouquet, every sleazy bachelor party… The pleasures of the balloon probably exceed even my wild imaginations. Yes, even adults get into the enjoyment. How often have we seen balloons used to mark a pivotal ceremonial point at a convention? How often have we allowed colourful combinations of balloons to mark the opening of a new shop? How often have we used balloons to cheer up a family member, a co-worker, a friend? Or how often have we used that balloon to haphazardly sail through the air in our dreams, the dog in wild chase? Yes, this versatile bubble brings joy at all ages. When we are able to make it large enough, we can tie a basket to the bottom and sail across the sky for pleasure, to race, for a practical purpose, to advertise... or to simply escape into a dream World. It's an acceptable way for adults to play with balloons. The enjoyment of those amazing creations never stopped at the end of childhood or even of adolescence. In my early adulthood i saw this amazing performance of a non-traditional mime on the streets of Paris. What made this non-traditional was the fact that the mime wore vibrantly colourful attire and… performed his entire routine within the confines of a giant, clear bubble. I was in awe at the ease and beauty with which he flowed within the bubble. I felt i was the one actually constrained. Oh, and this was on the streets of Paris…in Epcot. Does that matter? Years later i am still applauding that amazing performance. I think someone else saw this too or perhaps read some inspirational stories. An entire movie was made on this same concept of a boy who lived his entire Life within a bubble. The one that comes to mind is one of my many favourite movies, Bubble Boy. The bubble protects the boy. One could say it also isolates him, but that is when his creativity takes hold. Bubble Boy develops many ways to interact with the World around him, despite what others may see as confinement. His own limits are stretched beyond the confines of the bubble. Bubbles mark celebratory events on many other occasions too. An adult can spend a small fortune in order to guarantee the quality, the purity, the consistency of a simple parade of bubbles. Isn't that one of the primary differences between a bottle of Dom Pérignon and a simple bottle of Sekt? The very nature of each of those thousands of tiny bubbles could determine whether or not the entire bottle is accepted or rejected. Although there was that time…It was New Year's Eve and i was merrily strolling along the Váci Utca in Budapest. It was lined with people awaiting the New Year. Somewhere along that trek i was doused with a full bottle of sekt. The tiny bubbles sparkled on my skin as my eyes dazzled at the fireworks across the sky. Then again it could have been the accompanying kiss from a complete stranger that threw me for a loop. (Isn't a loop also based on a bubble?) Walk the streets of any café district in most any European city and what will you find sitting on…half the tables or so? It will be a bottle of Perrier or Pellegrino or even Calistoga. And those patrons sitting there in their nonchalant yet gazing manners are paying a premium for those bubbles and specifically for that brand of bubble. They are flaunting it proudly,… as have i. One could say at the other end of the scale are the beer drinkers, diving right into the head of bubbly foam. It's all part of the experience. The bubbles are already resting on the top and that top head is once again a measure of the quality of the brew. A swift blow, bubbles a fly, and the laughter commences. Could one ever hope for the perfect belch without those bubbles? For those who will pass on the alcohol, the international drink by many is Coca-Cola identified by you guessed it, bubbles. And if Coke is not your drink of choice, numerous other 'soft' drinks have joined the fray to give you a selection. There is but one thing you can count on. The beverage makers have gone to great extent (and expense) to preserve the impact of those delightful bubbles. Was i the only kid to receive a glass of bubbling Coke or 7-Up when my tummy was upset? Alka-seltzer, Epsom Salts or other types of bath bombs have demonstrated that there is a medicinal value to this magical bubble. Bubbles soothe us. They comfort us. They settle our nerves. They neutralize what is at odds in our body. Ah yes, bubbles. What about the more professional World of bubbles? Do bubbles provide value in any of our various disciplines? The answer is an unequivocal yes. And i am just going to run the list of the many i have encountered. Don't hesitate to seek out a complete description over the internet. These concepts are beyond fascination. I never cease to be amazed. - Making of glass objects from bottles to bulbs to nano-gates - Generating energy from fusion wave interactions - Traveling from one point in the space-time continuum to another - Creating identifiable images or art by laser within the mass of a glass block - Testing the fittings on a new natural gas pipe line - Delivering drugs to specific points in the body at predefined intervals - Replacing or enhancing body functions and parts through implants of numerous types - Crafting a new Life form from the point of conception to birth - Identifying geologic compositions and characteristics of a given specimen such as pumice - Searching for specific minerals and natural resources such as gold, oil, natural gas… - Exploring one of the many possible explanations for black holes - Printing page after page of colourful imagery, texts and circuitry - Surviving in otherwise unwelcome environments - the far reaches of space or depths of oceans - Determining the location of underwater or even glaciated Life forms - Forming a livable habitat such as the Notonecta bug - Performing various tactics to enhance basic search and rescue techniques - Understanding one of the many possibilities of how memory and thoughts are stored - Researching concepts of integration versus segregation - Studying the various quantum fields in conjunction with nanoscience - Understanding some of the basic characteristics of the ordinary cell - Breathing - from the very source of photosynthesis and into the blood cells of our bodies - Studying flow patterns to enhance computer circuitry design - Developing varying strength intensities to nano carbon threads - Using special packaging to protect our delicate shipments So, how do you feel? Overwhelmed? Did other experiences come to mind? Could you relate to these on some level? In reading through the early childhood experiences and the various professional applications of this bubble phenomena, what are you feeling? Fascination? Amazement? Curiosity? … A "so-what"? I say, "Wow!" This is an amazing list of positively extraordinary experiences and examples of bubbles all around us. Bubbles are everywhere! But i can't stop there. I need to carry the concepts further. I looked at this by-no-means exhaustive list and began to ask myself if there is something in common across all of these examples. What is it about bubbles that finds them in so many differing disciplines? Are they more openly accepted in the childhood World than the adulthood World? Why? I may have found one such commonality. Picture this! Bubbles carry us to new experiences. They are the very fringes of our wildest ideas. Bubbles force us to change our perspectives, to look at a situation through a variety of unconventional lenses and thus provide untold opportunities at going forward…IF we choose to go with the experience. Therefore, in order to fully explore the possibilities of that new experience, we need to do everything possible to protect those bubbles. That includes recognizing but keeping all those naysayers at bay. Of course, the argument could be made that there are in fact bubbles that are dangerous. There are bubbles that can be Life threatening. Remember the Hindenburg? And yet it is understood that the benefits of exploring the World of bubbles far outweigh the potential dangers, if we in fact spend time to understand the various characteristics of the evolving bubble before us and don't cower to its perceived dangers. Revisit the list. Even the danger of having bubbles in our very own blood stream has proven to be a myth based on misunderstanding the very critical role bubbles play in that same blood stream. I need to jump to one of those areas where the danger of the bubble has clouded the understanding of its benefits. One of my core areas of experience has been in the World of Wall Street, the field of investments, specifically in technology. I marvel over hidden values and develop ways to empower, to recognize those values. These are values that lie on the fringes, where the bubbles lie. But as of late, a different bubble has rejoined the common lexicon of the investor, or certainly of the more general World of finance. Personally i think we have allowed the naysayers to take the upper hand. They have convinced us that it is wrong to 'blow bubbles'. They have convinced us that it is wrong to have fun with bubbles. They have convinced us that bubbles are bad and have no welcome place in the World of finance, that bubbles have no other value than to forewarn of ever growing dangers. I say no. I say these various financial bubbles are trying to tell us something. I say we are failing (in favor of fearing) to allow those bubbles to take us to new experiences. And this is some of what i hear: > The playing field was being leveled. 'Average' investors could participate in the legitimate appreciations in value on the secondary markets (eg via the publicly accessible stock exchanges). Such appreciations had been reserved for exclusive investment bankers and venture capitalists, the primary markets. > Investors wanted to redefine value in a given company. Hence we saw company's valued even far in excess of their sales. Such a metric had been unheard of in fundamental financial analysis. Accountants have tried to fill this gap with 'Goodwill'. But this too was simply inadequate to measure the value of certain companies, value that was not reflected in Profit/Loss statements. > The marketplace of individual investors was becoming more accessible at even the smallest dollar entry point. Individuals around the World were gaining access to these markets and consequently becoming part of companies, of ideas, of alternative cultures and ways of thinking worldwide. > These 'outrageous' values were turning unknown geeks into billionaires virtually overnight. Some for sure were splurging. But others were spawning other innovations both in the for-profit World and the not-for-profit World. Interest also grew in SRI (socially responsible investing) funds. > Investors sought to protect young companies from hostile buy-outs. One way was to overinflate the value of that young company and give it the equity value to more easily follow through on its ideas. Ever hear of Google? > The entire economy, both domestically and globally, was beginning to feel uplifted by the growing bubbles. Sadly, we will not get to follow the bubbles through to these new experiences. Are there problems in focusing on the inflating of a single bubble? Yes. Are there problems in the over-inflating of some unwanted bubbles? Yes. But does that mean all 'bubbles' need to be not only deflated but eliminated entirely? I think not. In all of the previously mentioned examples the bubble interacts with the environment in which it develops. It is not independent of that environment. It is the harmonious interaction of all the players in that environment with the bubble that enables the experience to extend beyond any previously identified limits. We have yet to discover what those new experiences are in the financial World because we deliberately burst the bubbles. I see similar destructive burstings in what were the evolving tech and real estate markets. The naysayers have won, yet again. Not that there wasn't rampant abuse in these markets. But those can be checked with accountability. The markets want and need to evolve. We had a choice to do it through playful means or … what we appear to be experiencing now. We want to encourage the playful exploration of new ventures. Perhaps one way to minimize the downside risks (ie the dangers of bubbles exploding in our face) is to have a set of guiding principles checked and balanced by an advisory council of sorts. Such a council might include associates from the industry, legal representatives, citizen groups, and an actual degreed curriculum at the universities. This process would be in lieu of the more tightly levied regulatory restrictions which typically begin to surface after the fact. We are seeing some re-emerge now. But i don't want the focus of this article to be about mechanisms to restrict bubbles. Our headlines are laden with those views. Playing with bubbles and how we play with those bubbles are choices. Like a good bottle of aged champagne, eventually the bubbles are going to want to get out. And if that bottle has been properly nurtured, the upshot of that 'opening' experience could very well be beyond any expectations. I say we keep nurturing and get ready for a celebration of the finest of bubbles. BTW, don't we typically illustrate our dreams, our ideas in a bubble? So what is it exactly that we let burst? Tim Gerth - Trekker

Axel