EmBark! | Mel Rosenberg | TEDxKibbutzimCollegeofEducation
-
0:21 - 0:24[EmBark! Bark!]
(Dogs barking) -
0:27 - 0:31[Please Bark!]
(Audience barking) -
0:35 - 0:37[I can hardly hear you --
Please bark louder!] -
0:37 - 0:39(Audience barking louder)
-
0:43 - 0:46[$100 prize for
the loudest and finest barker] -
0:46 - 0:48(Audience continues to bark)
-
0:50 - 0:53[Just kidding, but... thanks anyway!!]
-
0:53 - 0:55(Laughter) (Applause)
-
0:59 - 1:02Mel Rosenberg:
Well, thank you very much for barking. -
1:02 - 1:04That was a very good beginning,
-
1:04 - 1:07however, I can see there's a few of you
-
1:07 - 1:10who haven't been
to barking practice lately. -
1:10 - 1:13If you wait a few minutes,
I'll give you another opportunity, -
1:13 - 1:18and for those of you who feel
a spontaneous need to bark during my talk, -
1:18 - 1:21please wait for another ten minutes.
-
1:21 - 1:24The thing is that young kids love to bark.
-
1:25 - 1:27They see it as a hoot, it's fun,
-
1:27 - 1:30it's spontaneous,
it's silly, it's wonderful, -
1:30 - 1:33and if you ask them why,
they'll say, "Because". -
1:33 - 1:37My sister Miriam, as a young child,
used to bark with such conviction -
1:37 - 1:40that dogs would follow her
down the street, -
1:40 - 1:44and if you ask her, she'd say, "Because".
-
1:44 - 1:47But as we grow up,
we forget the word "because". -
1:47 - 1:52We become more worried
about words like insults, -
1:52 - 1:58embarrassment,
snide comments, or self-conscious. -
1:58 - 2:00And then we grow up.
-
2:00 - 2:05And as grown ups we crave one thing,
and that one thing is respectability. -
2:05 - 2:11And if you had met me at the age of 39,
you would have thought I was respectable. -
2:11 - 2:14And the truth is I was very respectable.
-
2:14 - 2:19I was a university scientist studying
how bacteria interact with the mouth, -
2:20 - 2:24I had a bunch of papers,
I was up for professorship, -
2:24 - 2:28I had innovations
and inventions in the oven. -
2:30 - 2:35I was up and coming,
but inside, I was down and out. -
2:35 - 2:38I was a wreck. A train wreck.
-
2:39 - 2:43I was afraid of failure,
but I was afraid of success. -
2:44 - 2:49I was afraid of dying,
and I was also afraid of being alive. -
2:50 - 2:54From a very young age, I had noticed
that once in a while my heart would go -
2:54 - 2:58into some kind of Brazilian samba,
beating wildly in my chest. -
2:58 - 3:02And once I was diagnosed,
or maybe I should say misdiagnosed, -
3:02 - 3:04as having a very rare heart condition,
-
3:05 - 3:09and I spent the next 20 years
in mortal fear of dying. -
3:11 - 3:14When I was 39, my wife said to me,
"Why don't you check?" -
3:15 - 3:20So I did, I went to a famous cardiologist,
he looked at my electrocardiogram, -
3:20 - 3:23and he said, "You have
a wacky electrocardiogram, -
3:23 - 3:25but your heart is normal."
-
3:25 - 3:29I said, "What?"
He said, "Yes, you are going to live." -
3:30 - 3:32And he was right.
-
3:33 - 3:35That was my first wake up call
at the age of 39. -
3:35 - 3:37Because a few months later,
-
3:37 - 3:40I found out I had a completely separate
chronic medical condition -
3:40 - 3:44that I have to deal with
on a day to day basis. -
3:45 - 3:46So I cope.
-
3:46 - 3:48That was my second wake up call.
-
3:48 - 3:51And the third wake up call
was getting a puppy. -
3:52 - 3:55Family dogs teach us
a lot about ourselves. -
3:57 - 4:00The kids called him Elvis Presley.
-
4:02 - 4:08He didn't [sing], but boy,
did he ever have a life. -
4:08 - 4:10He didn't sing, he barked.
-
4:12 - 4:14Elvis had a girlfriend named Camilla.
-
4:15 - 4:19And we didn't approve
of that relationship. She was a bitch. -
4:19 - 4:21(Laughter)
-
4:21 - 4:23And we locked him up in the second floor,
-
4:23 - 4:27sure enough Elvis flew out of there
one day, over the balcony, -
4:27 - 4:29to be reunited with his true love,
-
4:29 - 4:32and he wasn't worrying very much.
-
4:33 - 4:35That's what I call barking.
-
4:35 - 4:39And after those three wake up calls,
as I approached the age of 40, -
4:39 - 4:44I realized that I had
to get myself something: a life. -
4:44 - 4:47And so I began barking.
-
4:48 - 4:53My first port of call, as a barker,
was my university career -
4:53 - 4:57because I had become interested
in something called bad breath, -
4:57 - 5:00and I went to the library once,
-
5:00 - 5:02and I saw that nobody
was doing research on this subject -
5:02 - 5:05which is so worrisome to all of us.
-
5:05 - 5:06I came home that night,
-
5:06 - 5:09and I said to my wife,
"I have found my scientific career. -
5:09 - 5:12It's a scientific gold mine.
A stinky one." -
5:13 - 5:15And at work, my colleagues made fun of me.
-
5:15 - 5:17They called me "Mel the Smell",
-
5:17 - 5:19they even coaxed me
-
5:19 - 5:23to leave my scientific papers
on bad breath out of my CV -
5:23 - 5:25so that I would be promoted in the end.
-
5:26 - 5:27But I followed my nose.
-
5:28 - 5:31I wrote dozens of scientific papers.
-
5:31 - 5:35I smelled about 10,000 mouths,
more than most people. -
5:36 - 5:37Now I do it only for fun.
-
5:40 - 5:42I wrote books, I organized
international meetings. -
5:42 - 5:45I became the world expert on bad breath.
-
5:45 - 5:47And I say this to you
with a degree of modesty -
5:47 - 5:49because there's only three of us,
-
5:49 - 5:52and each one claims
that he's the world expert. -
5:55 - 5:59My second barking career
was writing children's books. -
5:59 - 6:02I'd wanted to write
children's books from my 20s. -
6:02 - 6:04I started in my 40s.
-
6:04 - 6:07My first books were albeit
closer to my comfort zone. -
6:07 - 6:11I wrote books about bacteria,
I wrote books about dentistry, -
6:11 - 6:16witches, dental witches,
toothbrushes, tooth fairies, -
6:16 - 6:18but then I really began to bark.
-
6:19 - 6:22With the help
of the wonderful illustrator Rotem Omri, -
6:22 - 6:26we created a whole zoo of characters.
-
6:26 - 6:28They all share one property.
-
6:29 - 6:34They are forced in their lives to cope
with a challenge and to overcome it. -
6:34 - 6:38If you look over my left shoulder,
you see Tim the Porcupine. -
6:39 - 6:43He wakes up one morning,
his quills are on backwards. -
6:43 - 6:45He rubs everybody the wrong way.
-
6:45 - 6:48In the palm of my hand you see Kenya.
-
6:48 - 6:53Kenya can't hop, and that would be OK,
except she's a Kangaroo. -
6:53 - 6:57But my favorite character is Gloomeris.
-
6:57 - 7:02Gloomeris is serious.
He has absolutely no sense of humor. -
7:02 - 7:06And that might have been OK,
except that Gloomeris is a laughing hyena. -
7:08 - 7:11Funny enough, I don't have
any dogs in any of my stories. -
7:11 - 7:14But all my animals learn to bark.
-
7:15 - 7:18Finally, and perhaps most important,
-
7:18 - 7:21I became a professional musician
at the age of 47. -
7:21 - 7:23It started when I was 41.
-
7:23 - 7:26I was at a party,
and there was a saxophone there. -
7:26 - 7:29And I've been dying
to play the saxophone for years. -
7:29 - 7:30I don't know why I didn't.
-
7:30 - 7:34But at the age of 41 I was there,
I was ready to change my life. -
7:34 - 7:38I grabbed that beast,
and I put it to my lips. -
7:39 - 7:40And noise came out.
-
7:40 - 7:42Terrible noise, but I got all excited,
-
7:42 - 7:45and I called my friend,
Chris McCulloch, in Toronto. -
7:45 - 7:50And I said, "Chris, am I too old
to learn to play saxophone?" -
7:50 - 7:51And he said something important.
-
7:51 - 7:54He said, "Mel, you're never too old
to play saxophone." -
7:54 - 7:57The next thing you know,
before you could say maple syrup, -
7:57 - 8:01Chris had bought me a saxophone,
shipped it from Toronto to Israel, -
8:01 - 8:02and I began to play.
-
8:02 - 8:05Not now and then,
not here and there, but every day! -
8:05 - 8:09I drove my family crazy.
The neighbors threatened me. -
8:09 - 8:12I sometimes practiced
in the car, but I persisted. -
8:12 - 8:15I had a wonderful teacher
who took me to a gig. -
8:15 - 8:18He said, "You see that guy
playing saxophone, Benny Tal? -
8:18 - 8:20He started when he was 35."
-
8:20 - 8:23I was incredulous,
but five years later, sure enough, -
8:23 - 8:27I was gigging with my own band;
we've had some amazing gigs. -
8:27 - 8:32We played at Shimon Peres's 80th birthday,
before he was president. -
8:32 - 8:34Now he's president,
he's having a 90th birthday party, -
8:34 - 8:38where they've invited some other performer
named Barbra Streisand. -
8:38 - 8:40(Laughter)
-
8:40 - 8:43That's OK. I can wait another ten years.
-
8:43 - 8:45But what about Barbra Streisand?
-
8:45 - 8:47What would have happened
-
8:47 - 8:51if somebody insulted her
when she was nine or ten years old, -
8:51 - 8:55and said to her, "Barbra,
you don't sing well. You're off key," -
8:55 - 8:59and she had stopped for years.
-
8:59 - 9:02We would have lost
one of the world's great performers. -
9:02 - 9:06And I want to ask ourselves,
how many of us, when we were kids, -
9:06 - 9:10wanted to draw, to paint,
to play an instrument, to sing, -
9:10 - 9:13and somebody told us
that we weren't capable, -
9:13 - 9:16or we thought
we might have been ridiculed, -
9:16 - 9:18and we haven't done it up till now?
-
9:18 - 9:20How unfortunate that is!
-
9:20 - 9:24I stopped singing for 25 years.
You can't stop me now. -
9:26 - 9:28In the meantime,
the years have flown by, -
9:30 - 9:36and Elvis is dead, we have a new dog,
and his name is Fudge. -
9:37 - 9:40Fudge not only loves to bark
he also sings. -
9:40 - 9:43And I want you to have a look
at this instructional video, -
9:43 - 9:45because afterwards, we'll do something
-
9:45 - 9:47that's never been done
in the history of mankind, -
9:47 - 9:49So will you have a look with me, please?
-
9:49 - 9:53(Video) (Dog barking)
(Man playing the saxophone) -
10:06 - 10:10Look at that creature. He's in his groove.
He's singing with me. -
10:10 - 10:14He doesn't care if he's being criticized,
if there's jazz police. -
10:14 - 10:17Whether he's on key,
maybe he doesn't get the words right, -
10:18 - 10:22and I figure that if dogs can sing,
-
10:22 - 10:26the very least that human beings
can do, is to bark. -
10:27 - 10:30And I'm going to do an experiment
-
10:30 - 10:32that's never been done
in the history of mankind, -
10:32 - 10:35and you're going to join me
and make it happen. -
10:37 - 10:40It's very simple, because changing
your life can start with a bark. -
10:41 - 10:45I want you to bark with guts, with spirit.
-
10:45 - 10:51I don't care whether you moo, growl,
yelp, grrr, it doesn't matter. -
10:51 - 10:56Because your life does
kind of depend on it, doesn't it? -
10:57 - 11:02You can sing only in the shower,
or you can sing in the choir. -
11:02 - 11:06You can step up to bat
with the bases loaded and two outs -
11:06 - 11:09or you can watch the baseball game
from your living room. -
11:09 - 11:12You can do your thing, or not.
-
11:12 - 11:14But one thing is for certain,
-
11:14 - 11:19whether we live our lives
and bark our dreams, -
11:19 - 11:23at the end of the day,
we all end up croaking. -
11:25 - 11:27So on the way, why not bark?
-
11:27 - 11:30So what we're going to do now
-
11:30 - 11:31(Laughter)
-
11:32 - 11:36is you're going to yelp, growl,
bark with all your might, -
11:36 - 11:39and we're going to make this
a dream come true, -
11:40 - 11:43and it doesn't matter
if you don't understand the words. -
11:44 - 11:46Just let it all hang out. OK?
-
11:46 - 11:49Please follow the magic ball.
-
11:49 - 11:50Are you ready?
-
11:50 - 11:54(Saxophone music)
(Audience barking along "Autumn Leaves") -
12:19 - 12:21(Applause)
-
12:33 - 12:35Inbar: Thank you, Mel.
MR: Oh, thank you! -
12:35 - 12:38Inbar: Thank you, thank you very much.
MR: Woof! -
12:38 - 12:39(Laughter) (Applause)
-
12:39 - 12:41Inbar: You do know, by the way,
-
12:41 - 12:44that Israeli dogs bark, "Hav!",
and American dogs bark, "Woof!", -
12:44 - 12:46it's completely different kind.
-
12:46 - 12:51Mel: But when one dog from Israel
says, "Woof!" to a dog from the US, -
12:51 - 12:52they understand each other.
-
12:53 - 12:55Inbar: If you're saying so.
-
12:55 - 12:57Thank you.
-
12:57 - 12:58(Applause)
- Title:
- EmBark! | Mel Rosenberg | TEDxKibbutzimCollegeofEducation
- Description:
-
This talk was given at a local TEDx event, produced independently of the TED Conferences.
This lecture is about overcoming our fear of silliness, which is the main obstacle preventing us from being creative, original and pursuing our passions and dreams. Prof. Rosenberg teaches barking as a metaphor to overcoming one's initial embarrassment - a first step in pursuing one's dream.
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TEDxTalks
- Duration:
- 13:08
Denise RQ approved English subtitles for EmBark! | Mel Rosenberg | TEDxKibbutzimCollegeofEducation | ||
Denise RQ edited English subtitles for EmBark! | Mel Rosenberg | TEDxKibbutzimCollegeofEducation | ||
Denise RQ edited English subtitles for EmBark! | Mel Rosenberg | TEDxKibbutzimCollegeofEducation | ||
Denise RQ edited English subtitles for EmBark! | Mel Rosenberg | TEDxKibbutzimCollegeofEducation | ||
Denise RQ accepted English subtitles for EmBark! | Mel Rosenberg | TEDxKibbutzimCollegeofEducation | ||
Denise RQ edited English subtitles for EmBark! | Mel Rosenberg | TEDxKibbutzimCollegeofEducation | ||
Denise RQ edited English subtitles for EmBark! | Mel Rosenberg | TEDxKibbutzimCollegeofEducation | ||
Denise RQ edited English subtitles for EmBark! | Mel Rosenberg | TEDxKibbutzimCollegeofEducation |