"All the Ladies Like Whiskers" : how an 11 year old helped Lincoln become president

"Having recently seen a picture of Abraham Lincoln and the man who would become his vice-president, Hannibal Hamlin, eleven-year-old Grace Bedell decided in the autumn of 1860 to write to the Republican candidate and future U.S. president with a a single suggestion that would surely win him the affections of the voting public. To her amazement, she met him in person a few months later, as he traveled victoriously to Washington, DC by train - and he had taken her advice."

The letter reads:

For those hard of seeing, here's some help:

Hon A B Lincoln
Dear Sir
My father has just home from the fair and brought home your picture and Mr. Hamlin's. I am a little girl only 11 years old, but want you should be President of the United States very much so I hope you won't think me very bold to write to such  great man as you are. Have you any little girls about as large as I am if so give them my love and tell her to write to me if you cannot answer this letter. I have got 4 brothers and part of them will vote for you any way and if you let your whiskers grow I will try and get the rest of them to vote for you you would look a great deal better for your face is to thin. All the ladies like whiskers and they would tease their husband to vote for you and then you would be President. My father is going to vote for you and if I was a man I would vote for you to but I will try and get every one to vote for you that I can I think that rail fence around your picture makes it look very pretty I have got a little baby sister she is nine weeks old and is just as cunning as can be. When you direct your letter direct to Grace Bedell Westfield Chautauqua County New York.
I must not write any more answer this letter right off Good bye.
Grace Bedell

 

Grace met President Lincoln soon after. "He climbed down and sat down with me on the edge of the station platform," Grace later recalled. 'Gracie,' he said, 'look at my whiskers. I have been growing them for you.' Then he kissed me. I never saw him again." (via).

"With great power comes great responsibility." I wonder if one of the many responsibilities of those in power is kindness, and not taking oneself to seriously.

 

 

For more on . . .

-N- Stuff  :  History  :  President : humble, meager, pathetic

 

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Gorillaz : Damn fine artists

I first fell in love with Gorillaz, like millions of others did, when I heard the "Cling Eastwood" my junior year of high school. A few weeks later I saw the video and I remember sitting on my friends living room floor, completely absorbed.

They have a new song and video out, "Saturnz Barz" and just like the first time I heard 'em, over ten years ago, I'm all in, mainly because I love the community of artists they've been. The collaboration is instructive and inspiring of what Art should be.  

And they make some damn fine work. 

Gorillaz were created in 1998 by musician Damon Albarn and artist Jamie Hewlett. The band consists of four animated members: 2-D (lead vocals, keyboards), Murdoc Niccals (bass guitar and vocals), Noodle (guitar, keyboards) and Russel Hobbs (drums and percussion). These members are fictional and are not personas of any "real life" musicians involved in the project. Their fictional universe is explored through the band's website and music videos, as well as a number of other media, such as short cartoons. In reality, Albarn is the only permanent musical contributor, and the music is often a collaboration between various musicians (via).

Clint Eastwood

I ain't happy, I'm feeling glad
I got sunshine in a bag
I'm useless but not for long
The future is coming on
I ain't happy, I'm feeling glad
I got sunshine in a bag
I'm useless but not for long
The future is coming on
It's coming on
It's coming on
It's coming on

Yeah, ha-ha
Finally, someone let me out of my cage
Now time for me is nothing 'cause I'm counting no age
Now I couldn't be there
Now you shouldn't be scared
I'm good at repairs
And I'm under each snare
Intangible
Bet you didn't think so I command you to
Panoramic view
Look, I'll make it all manageable
Pick and choose
Sit and lose
All you different crews
Chicks and dudes
Who you think is really kickin' tunes?
Picture you gettin' down in a picture tube
Like you lit the fuse
You think it's fictional?
Mystical? Maybe
Spiritual
Hero who appears in you to clear your view when you're too crazy
Lifeless
To those the definition for what life is
Priceless
To you because I put you on the hype shit
You like it?
Gun smokin' righteous with one toke
You're psychic among those
Possess you with one go

I ain't happy, I'm feeling glad
I got sunshine in a bag
I'm useless but not for long
The future is coming on
I ain't happy, I'm feeling glad
I got sunshine in a bag
I'm useless but not for long
The future (that's right) is coming on
It's coming on
It's coming on
It's coming on
It's coming on

The essence, the basics
Without, did you make it?
Allow me to make this
Child-like in nature
Rhythm
You have it or you don't, that's a fallacy
I'm in them
Every sprouting tree
Every child of peace
Every cloud and sea
You see with your eyes
I see destruction and demise (that's right)
Corruption in disguise
From this fuckin' enterprise
Now I'm sucked into your lies
Through Russel, not his muscles but percussion he provides
For me as a guide
Y'all can see me now 'cause you don't see with your eye
You perceive with your mind
That's the inner
So I'ma stick around with Russ' and be a mentor
Bust a few rhymes so motherfuckers remember where the thought is
I brought all this
So you can survive when law is lawless (right here)
Feelings, sensations that you thought was dead
No squealing, remember that it's all in your head

I ain't happy, I'm feeling glad
I got sunshine in a bag
I'm useless but not for long
The future is coming on
I ain't happy, I'm feeling glad
I got sunshine in a bag
I'm useless but not for long
My future is coming on
It's coming on
It's coming on
It's coming on
It's coming on
My future is coming on
It's coming on
It's coming on
It's coming on
It's coming on
My future is coming on
It's coming on
It's coming on
It's coming on
It's coming on
My future is coming on
It's coming on
It's coming on
My future is coming on
It's coming on
It's coming on
My future is coming on
It's coming on
It's coming on
My future

Saturnz Barz

Haha, woii yoii!
Done know how di ting go, a the Unruly boss
Don'?
Hahaha
Press the button to begin

Cho
All my life
Mi ever have mi gun so mi haffi move sharp like mi knife
All my life
Mi pray say when mi get wealthy a ma a mi wife
All my life
The system force mi
Fi be a killer just like Rodney Price
All my life
No, all my life

Wah happen to you Cobe, some bwoy doh know mi
To how me ruff dem cah believe a grandma grow mi
Know few Popcaan song doh, and feel dem know mi
Four mile mi used to walk guh school, dem know man story?
Ha! Now mi gain up all those glory
The world is mine, the whole a it mi taking slowly
Happy days mi call it now mi bun sad story
Anyway mi deh inna the world mi dawgs dem round mi
Hahaha mi laugh and collect those trophy
Because mi deserve everything weh music gives mi
Bwoy, unruly nuh light like Frisbee
The dream, family live that wid me
Oh, oh, oh, oh
All my life mi dream fi own house, land, cars, and bikes

All my life
I'm in the stakin' bar
I got debts, I'm a debaser
All my life
Saturnz about to make love
And I'm just a heartbreaker
All my life
And I won't get a take in
'Cause I'm out when I'm stakin'
And the rings I am breaking
Are making you a personal day

With the holograms beside me
I'll dance alone tonight
In a mirrored world, are you beside me
All my life?
Distortion

All my life
I'm in the stakin' bar
I got debts, I'm a debaser
All my life
Saturnz about to make love
And I'm just a heartbreaker
All my life
And I won't get a take in
'Cause I'm out when I'm stakin'
And the rings I am breaking
Are making you a personal day

 

These guys will make your palms sweat.

It's not the mountain we conquer, but ourselves.

- Sir Edmond Hillary

"ALEX HONNOLD is a professional adventure rock climber whose audacious free-solo ascents of America’s biggest cliffs have made him one of the most recognized and followed climbers in the world. A gifted but hard-working athlete, Alex “No Big Deal” Honnold is known as much for his humble, self-effacing attitude as he is for the dizzyingly tall cliffs he has climbed without a rope to protect him if he falls. Honnold has been profiled by 60 Minutes and the New York Times, featured on the cover of National Geographic, appeared in international television commercials and starred in numerous adventure films including the Emmy-nominated “Alone on the Wall.” (via)

He also has a new book out, Alone on the Wall which "recounts the seven most astonishing achievements of Honnold's extraordinary life and career, brimming with lessons on living fearlessly, taking risks, and maintaining focus even in the face of extreme danger" (via).

"Chris Sharma’s preternatural climbing ability and visionary first ascents have earned him an enduring reputation as one of the world’s best rock climbers. This American professional athlete, ambassador and entrepreneur from Santa Cruz, California, has been on a global odyssey, now two decades in the making, in search of the planet’s most difficult and beautiful rock climbs. Sharma has dedicated years of his life to discovering and climbing singular, aesthetic and seemingly impossible routes—always with his humble, meditative approach and powerful, dynamic style of movement. Today he continues to climb at the world standard, pushing the limits of what’s possible and always reimagining the direction of his remarkably storied climbing career (via)."

 

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What is Literature for?

Kottke wrote this, and I like it better than what I was thinking:

"The School of Life on four uses of literature. I especially liked this bit:

We’re weirder than we’re allowed to admit. We often can’t say what’s really on our minds, but in books, we find descriptions of who we genuinely are and what events are actually like described with an honesty quite different from what ordinary conversation allows for. In the best books, it’s as if the writer knows us better than we know ourselves. They find the words to describe the fragile and weird special experiences of our inner lives: the light on a summer morning, the anxiety we felt at a gathering, the sensations of a first kiss, the envy when a friend told us of their new business, the longing we experienced on the train looking at the profile of another passenger we never dare to speak to. Writers open our hearts and minds and give us maps to our own selves, so that we can travel in them more reliably and with less of a feeling of paranoia and persecution. As the writer Emerson remarked, “In the works of great writers, we find our own neglected thoughts.”

I would argue these points also apply, in one degree or another, to not just literature but to any artful endeavor: film, TV, comics, theater, painting, etc" (via).

 

But I'll add this, "Literature is a tool that will help us live and die with a little bit more goodness, wisdom, and sanity."

 

For more on . . .

-N- Stuff  :  On Stories  :  Books

Fanfare for the Common Man - Aaron Copland

I've always loved this song. I love it's repetition, its building and its falling - like it's an essay. Everytime I hear it, I'm moved. 

"Fanfare for the Common Man" was certainly Copland's best known concert opener. He wrote it in response to a solicitation from Eugene Goosens for a musical tribute honoring those engaged in World War II. Goosens, conductor of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, originally had in mind a fanfare "... for Soldiers, or for Airmen or Sailors" and planned to open his 1942 concert season with it.
Aaron Copland later wrote, "The challenge was to compose a traditional fanfare, direct and powerful, yet with a contemporary sound." To the ultimate delight of audiences Copland managed to weave musical complexity with popular style. He worked slowly and deliberately, however, and the piece was not ready until a full month after the proposed premier.
Aaron Copland on an American street, Ossining, New York (?), Victor Kraft, photographer (n.d.).  Used by permission of Mrs. Victor Kraft. Music Division
To Goosens' surprise Copland titled the piece "Fanfare for the Common Man" (although his sketches show he also experimented with other titles such as "Fanfare for a Solemn Ceremony" and "Fanfare for Four Freedoms"). Fortunately Goosens loved the work, despite his puzzlement over the title, and decided with Copland to preview it on March 12, 1943. As income taxes were to be paid on March 15 that year, they both felt it was an opportune moment to honor the common man. Copland later wrote, "Since that occasion, 'Fanfare' has been played by many and varied ensembles, ranging from the U.S. Air Force Band to the popular Emerson, Lake, and Palmer group ... I confess that I prefer 'Fanfare' in the original version, and I later used it in the final movement of my Third Symphony."
Aaron Copland, said the composer and conductor Leonard Bernstein, was the one to "lead American music out of the wilderness." Copland's musical opus, for which he received the 1964 Medal of Freedom, also included such masterworks as "Piano Variations" (1930), "El Salon Mexico" (1936), "Billy the Kid" (1938), "Fanfare for the Common Man" (1942), "Rodeo" (1942), "Appalachian Spring" (1944), and "Inscape" (1967). (via)

Artist creates the world’s smallest cup of coffee, with a single bean

Paulig asked Luca Zannoto to make the smallest cup of coffee, out of one bean.

Music and Sound Design: Ulrich Troyer

Lucas Zanotto was born in the Alps of Northern Italy but is currently based in Helsinki. He speaks four languages, creates faces out of nature, and started YATATOY - a website that makes high quality simple apps for kids. 

 

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Top ten most viewed music videos equals 22.27 billion views

Last night, me and a couple of friends were reminiscing about VH1 Pop-Up Videos and it got me thinking about music videos again, because I don't watch them all that much anymore. Just every now and then, with my kids. 

So I thought I'd catch myself up on a few and found this list from Thrillist.com.

10. "Katy Perry - Roar (Official)"

1.94 billion views

 

9. "Adele - Hello"

1.94 billion views

 

8. "Major Lazer - Lean On"

1.99 billion views

 

6. "Taylor Swift - Blank Space"

2.02 billion views

 

7. "Enrique Iglesias - Bailando (Español) ft. Descemer Bueno, Gente De Zona"

2.04 billion views

 

5. "Taylor Swift - Shake It Off"

2.07 billion views

 

4. "Mark Ronson feat. Bruno Mars - Uptown Funk"

2.37 billion views

 

3. "Justin Bieber - Sorry (PURPOSE : The Movement)"

2.43 billion views

 

2. "Wiz Khalifa - See You Again ft. Charlie Puth [Official Video] Furious 7 Soundtrack"

2.65 billion views

 

1. "PSY - GANGNAM STYLE(강남스타일) M/V"

2.82 billion views

If you watch them all, it's 41 minutes of musical entertainment. 

If that 41 minutes is watched by the 22.27 billion viewers, that's 913.07 billion hours of musical entertainment.

That's a lot.

On Playing Devil's Advocate

After the invasion of Cuba, now known as the CIA's 'Perfect Failure', President Kennedy asked his brother Robert to "argue majority opinions and consider every idea" because he wanted to make sure the advice he was receiving from the CIA and others was, without a doubt, the best and most accurate. 

Kennedy wanted his brother to play the "Devil's advocate" a practice which dates back to 1587 and Pope Sixtus V, and which is, at times, misunderstood for arguing. But as with President Kennedy and Pope Sixtus V, the purpose of playing devil's advocate isn't simply to dispute, but to find and promote truth.

When Pope Sixtus V instituted a new process for vetting candidates for sainthood in the Roman Catholic Church, he assigned a promotor fidei, or promoter of the faith, to appose canonization by critically evaluating the character of candidates and challenging claims of miracles they had performed. The promoter of the faith argued against the advocatus Dei, God's advocate, and became known as the devil's advocate (via).

The devil's advocate wasn't seen as an enemy or competition that needed to be overcome, they were an ally, and one who would promote the faith. They probably argued and fought and and got pretty emotion, but at the end of the day, they embraced, shared a beer, or laughed about old times because, at the end of it all, they, the devil's advocate and God's advocate, were on the same side, heading in the same direction and wanting the same thing: the promotion of the faith, and of Truth.

So they argued like they were right, and listened like they were wrong. 

 

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These numbers actually mean something . . . kind of.

One of my math professors at University once told my class he could tell us where we were all born, just by hearing their first three digits of their SSN. And then he did. It was pretty cool.

He then told us a story about how he had done the same thing years earlier and when he told one young lady she was from Florida, she argued. "No," she said, "I'm from New York."

"No," my professor argued back, "You're from Florida," and she argued back, insisting she was born and raised in New York.

Turns out she was from Florida because she was adopted and her parent's never told her.

Whether this story is true or not I don't know, but here's what I know is true: those seemingly random numbers mean something.

In 1935, following Social Security Act, the US government had to "devise a method for uniquely identifying the earnings records for the millions of persons covered by the new law." Because "Social Security and the benefit amount were to be determined from a person’s earnings over many years, a method was needed for maintaining permanent and accurate earnings records for each person."

The Social Security number (SSN) consists of nine digits divided into three parts, with each part usually separated by a hyphen:

xxx - xx - xxxx
Area number - Group number - Serial number

Until 1972, the urea number indicated the location (State, territory, or possession) of the Social Security office that issued the number. When the Social Security numbering system was developed, one or more area numbers were allocated to each State based on the anticipated number of issuances in the State. Because an individual could apply for an SSN at any Social Security office, the area code did not necessarily indicate where the person lived or worked. . . The area code now indicates the person’s State of residence as shown on the SSN application.

Area Number:

There are several exceptions to these rules. Before 1964, area numbers 700-728 were assigned by the Rail- road Retirement Board to workers covered by the Rail- road Retirement Act.’ Area number 586 is divided among American Samoa, Guam, the Philippines, and Americans employed abroad by American employers and, from 1975 to 1979, it was also used for Indochinese refugees. Area number 580 is assigned to persons applying in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.
Virtually all railroad workers had been assigned SSN’s by 1964; therefore there no longer was a need to have a separate numbering system. 

 

Group Number:

The group number has no special geographic or data significance. It is used to break the numbers into blocks of convenient size for SSA’s processing operations and for controlling the assignments to the States.

 

Serial Number:

The last four digits, the serial number, represent a numerical series from 0001 to 9999 within each group. The order in which the SSN’s are issued is as follows: For each area number, the group number follows an odd and even sequence starting with odd numbers 01 to 09, even numbers 10 to 98, even numbers 02 to 08, and finally odd numbers 11 to 99. The serial number begins with 0001 and continues in sequence,2 except every fifth
For all practical purposes, the serial numbers are random. The use of numbers from the 2000 and 7000 series for every fifth issuance per- mits scientific sampling of workers and beneficiaries, For example, see Warren Buckler and Creston Smith, “The Continuous Work History Sample: Description and Contents,” Economic and Demographic Statistics: Selected Papers Given at the 1980 Annual Meeting of the American Statistical Association in Houston, Texas, November 1980.
SSN is given a serial number from the series 2001-2999 and 7001-7999. The last three serial numbers issued are 9998, 9999, and 7999. Serial number 0000 is never used. Each State goes through all of its area numbers with group number 01 and serial numbers 0001-9999 and 7999 before using group number 03. Thus, 989,901 SSN’s can be issued for each area number.
The g-digit number provides the capacity for assigning nearly 1 billion SSN’s. To date, approximately 277 million numbers have been issued, leaving about 75 percent still available. Only Florida has used up its original allotment. Several other States (Arizona, California, and Mississippi), and Puerto Rico are expected to exhaust their original allotment within the next 2 decades. Additional area numbers have been designated for these locations. About 5-7 million new numbers are issued each year, but even at this rate there will be sufficient numbers available for several generations to come (via).

 

I hope none of you just found out you were adopted. If so, blame my math professor. He started it.

 

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An Oxford Comma worth millions . . . or lack there of

The New York Times recently published an article, entitled, Lack of Oxford Comma Could Cost Maine Company Millions in Overtime Dispute, By DANIEL VICTOR, March 16, 2017.

It states that, "A class-action lawsuit about overtime pay for truck drivers hinged entirely on a debate that has bitterly divided friends, families and foes: The dreaded — or totally necessary — Oxford comma, perhaps the most polarizing of punctuation marks." 

. . .

In 2014, three truck drivers sued Oakhurst Dairy, seeking more than four years’ worth of overtime pay that they had been denied. Maine law requires workers to be paid 1.5 times their normal rate for each hour worked after 40 hours, but it carves out some exemptions.
A quick punctuation lesson before we proceed: In a list of three or more items — like “beans, potatoes and rice” — some people would put a comma after potatoes, and some would leave it out. A lot of people feel very, very strongly about it.
The debate over commas is often a pretty inconsequential one, but it was anything but for the truck drivers. Note the lack of Oxford comma — also known as the serial comma — in the following state law, which says overtime rules do not apply to:
The canning, processing, preserving, freezing, drying, marketing, storing, packing for shipment or distribution of:
(1) Agricultural produce;
(2) Meat and fish products; and
(3) Perishable foods.
Does the law intend to exempt the distribution of the three categories that follow, or does it mean to exempt packing for the shipping or distribution of them?
Delivery drivers distribute perishable foods, but they don’t pack the boxes themselves. Whether the drivers were subject to a law that had denied them thousands of dollars a year depended entirely on how the sentence was read.
If there were a comma after “shipment,” it might have been clear that the law exempted the distribution of perishable foods. But the appeals court on Monday sided with the drivers, saying the absence of a comma produced enough uncertainty to rule in their favor. It reversed a lower court decision.

. . .

The language in the law followed guidelines in the Maine Legislative Drafting Manual, which specifically instructs lawmakers to not use the Oxford comma. Don’t write “trailers, semitrailers, and pole trailers,” it says — instead, write “trailers, semitrailers and pole trailers.”
The manual does clarify that caution should be taken if an item in the series is modified. Commas, it notes, “are the most misused and misunderstood punctuation marks in legal drafting and, perhaps, the English language.”
“Use them thoughtfully and sparingly,” it cautions.

. . .

Varying interpretations of a comma in the Second Amendment have figured in court decisions on gun laws, including a Federal District Court overturning a Washington gun ordinance in 2007. (The Supreme Court later overturned the law in the case known as District of Columbia v. Heller.)
Most American news organizations tend to leave the Oxford comma out while allowing for exceptions to avoid confusion, like in the sentence: “I’d like to thank my parents, Mother Teresa and the pope.”
Reporters, editors and producers at The New York Times usually omit the comma, but Phil Corbett, who oversees language issues for the newsroom, wrote in a 2015 blog post that exceptions are sometimes made:
“We do use the additional comma in cases where a sentence would be awkward or confusing without it: Choices for breakfast included oatmeal, muffins, and bacon and eggs.”
The Associated Press, considered the authority for most American newsrooms, also generally comes out against the Oxford comma.
But the comma is common in book and academic publishing. The Chicago Manual of Style uses it, as does Oxford University Press style. “The last comma can serve to resolve ambiguity,” it says.
A 2014 survey of 1,129 Americans by FiveThirtyEight and SurveyMonkey Audience found 57 percent in favor of the comma and 43 percent opposed.
Mr. Webbert, who said working on the case recalled his boyhood grammar and Latin lessons, scoffed at the idea that he was representing all those in favor of the Oxford comma. He was only representing the truck drivers, he said.
The drivers, who earned between $46,800 and $52,000 per year without overtime, worked an average of 12 extra hours a week, Mr. Webbert said. Though three drivers filed the class-action lawsuit in 2014, about 75 will share the money.
Oakhurst, a longtime family business that was acquired by Dairy Farmers of America in 2014, employs about 200 people and has annual sales of $110 million, selling dairy products throughout New England, according to its website.
Its president, John H. Bennett, said in an interview on Thursday that “our management team values our employees and we take employee compensation seriously.”
“We believe we’re in compliance with state and federal wage laws, and we’ll continue to defend ourselves in this matter,” he said.
Mr. Webbert declined to take a personal position on the broader debate of using the Oxford comma. But he sounded like a lot of English teachers and writing coaches who offered an alternative suggestion: If there’s any doubt, tear up what you wrote and start over.
“In this situation, it did create an ambiguity, which means you have to either add a comma or rewrite the sentence,” he said.

I'm an oxford man myself, and a avid supporter of the middle class worker being paid for his work. 

This, for me, is a win-win-win. It was entertaining, supportive of my views, and helpful to the working class (see what I did there?). 

 

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Ken Robinson : Do Schools Kill Creativity?

,

Great watch, whether you're an educator or not, because his thoughts on creativity and intelligence apply to us all. Plus, he's just truly entertaining.

I love his thoughts on intelligence, that it is "is dynamic and wonderfully interactive." And that it's diverse, dynamic, and distinct. 

Creativity, he says, "is having original ideas that have value."

Sir Ken has also published, "The Element: How Finding your Passion Changes Everything."

 

 

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Russia's history is more complex than we know

In the past two days I've listened to two podcasts, somewhat unconsciously. That is, I unconsciously chose them, not unconsciously listened to them, because that would be reckless. 

Both podcasts, one from Stuff You Missed in History Class and the other from This American Life told stories with Russia as their focus. One podcast entitled, "The Other Mr. President" fit my ideas and understandings of Russia perfectly, and also injected a whole lot of steroids into my stereotypes of a scary, harsh country - Vladimir Putin's rise to power is a CRAZY STORY!!! 

The other injected life into their bigger picture. Entitled "Three Nuclear Close Calls" this podcast told of three different stories where Russian generals, single handedly, prevented all out war against the US and saved thousands of lives. And they did so in almost direct opposition to their superiors. These are even CRAZIER stories!!! 

There's a couple films about on one of the men, Stanislav Yevgrafovich Petrov. 

Here's the latest one.

Portrait Photography : Martin Schoeller

I first came across portrait artist Martin Schoeller when he published his "Faces of America," and I've since seen him pop up in various places. 

What I love about his work is that, as he says on his About page, the people he is photographing "are treated with the same levels of scrutiny as the un-famous. The unknown and the too-well-known meet on a level platform that enables comparison, where a viewer’s existing notions of celebrity, value, and honesty are challenged." 

And I just love that.

You can see more of his work on identical twins, close ups of famous people who are still on the same level as the rest of us, female bodybuilders, and portraits.

"Schoeller’s close-up portraits emphasize, in equal measure, the facial features, both studied and unstudied, of his subjects— world leaders and indigenous groups, movie stars and the homeless, athletes and artists— leveling them in an inherently democratic fashion" (via).

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Beware! The Muslims are coming!

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From TED Radio Hour

From TED Radio Hour

I enjoyed this Ted Radio Hour show for various reasons. One, it reminded me to not be too serious and to laugh more about hardships and turmoils. But more importantly, I appreciated these two speakers, Maysoon Sayid and Negin Farsad because their stories, told with humor, are trying to break down stereotypes and prejudices and are bringing people together. 

Negin Farsad has even taken her mission off the stage and into the street, setting up booths, making pastries, and asking if anyone has any questions about Islam. And when people ask, when they truly sit down and ask honest questions, questions like, "Why do some Muslim women look like you, and some Muslim women you can't tell who they are? Like if they robbed a bank, you wouldn't be able to tell who they are?" or "I don't understand, I mean, you're dressed like an American" - "I am American" she interrupts - "Okay . . ." and "Tell me why I haven't seen Muslims who are not extremist criticizing the Muslims who are?" walls begin to crumble.

In order for community and unity to be found, for ignorance to be beaten, somebody has to be strong. Kind. And bigger than the situation, than themselves.  They must, "remain delightful" because, "you'll attract more bees with honey." Which also means, sometimes, those holding the honey will have to endure the stings of the ignorant and cruel.

Negin and her fellow traveling comedians made a movie about this project called, "The Muslims are Coming." 

Soon thereafter, a known hate group spent 300,000 dollars on an ANTI MUSLIM poster campaign. 

Negin and her crew responded with a "Fighting Bigotry with Delightful Posters" campaign. They raised the money, worked with the city of NY for over five months, and got the posters approved.

The posters said things like, "Fact. Grown up Muslims can do more pushups than baby Muslims!"

But then, two days after they were supposed to go up, they were banned for "political content."

Despite this and other obstacles, like death threats, Negin says she still things Social Justice Comedy is one of the greatest weapons against bigotry. "I have performed in red states and blue states, and one thing I've found," she explains, "is that the American people are not built to hate. They want to be friendly and they want to offer you a coffee and open the door for you." They want to be good neighbors.

Because "if you approach people with love," Negin argues, "you get love in return." Muslim or not.

Once more Ms. Adichie's words come to mind, "Single stories create stereotypes. And the problem with stereotypes is not that they are untrue, but incomplete."

Remain delightful, because the Muslims are coming, and many of them carry honey.

 

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The Last Jedi, and a tribute to Carrie Fisher

I've never been a huge Star Wars fan, but I have always enjoyed them - especially the oldest and the most recent - and I'm pretty pumped about this one.

As it's opening day creeps closer, it seems only fitting to pay tribute to one of the great originals.

In November of 2016, I listened to this podcast, from NPR's "Fresh Air" and connected with her thoughts on oversharing. "I think I do overshare," Fisher says. "It's my way of trying to understand myself. ... It creates community when you talk about private things."

 

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Charlie Chaplin delivers the greatest speech

I’ve seen this speech several times and have used it often in class. Because it’s brilliant. I love how simple it is. No gimmicks. No pictures. Just words, powerful words. Words bursting with truth, and words that should convict us all.

The film is based on a barber who, wounded during the First World War, returns home after 20 years. “His shop has grown full of cobwebs and dust, but it is the hateful graffiti on his shop window that takes him totally by surprise. Hynkel, the tyrannical dictator, and his henchmen persecute the barber, as well as the rest of the Jewish community” (via). 

"The Great Dictator is a 1940 American political satire comedy-drama film written, directed, produced, scored by and starring Charlie Chaplin, following the tradition of many of his other films. Having been the only Hollywood film-maker to continue to make silent films well into the period of sound films, this was Chaplin's first true sound film."

The Great Dictator was Chaplin's most commercially successful film. Modern critics have also praised it as a historically significant film and an important work of satire. The Great Dictator was nominated for five Academy Awards - Outstanding Production, Best Actor, Best Writing (Original Screenplay), Best Supporting Actor for Jack Oakie, and Best Music (Original Score) (via).

© Roy Export S.A.S. All Rights Reserved.

© Roy Export S.A.S. All Rights Reserved.

"Getting Charlie to speak also meant putting to death this character that had made his creator famous and taking the risk of exposing himself without a mask. Does the declamatory speech at the end of The Great Dictator betray Chaplin’s inability to sustain the aesthetic and comic register all the way through to the end of the film? Chaplin was well aware of these issues, which is why he wrote the words “First picture in which the story is bigger than the Little Tramp." (via).

 

In his 1964 autobiography, Chaplin stated that he could not have made the film if he had known about the true extent of the horrors of the Nazi concentration camps at the time (via).

Here's the speech:

I’m sorry, but I don’t want to be an emperor. That’s not my business. I don’t want to rule or conquer anyone. I should like to help everyone - if possible - Jew, Gentile - black man - white. We all want to help one another. Human beings are like that. We want to live by each other’s happiness - not by each other’s misery. We don’t want to hate and despise one another. In this world there is room for everyone. And the good earth is rich and can provide for everyone. The way of life can be free and beautiful, but we have lost the way.

Greed has poisoned men’s souls, has barricaded the world with hate, has goose-stepped us into misery and bloodshed. We have developed speed, but we have shut ourselves in. Machinery that gives abundance has left us in want. Our knowledge has made us cynical. Our cleverness, hard and unkind. We think too much and feel too little. More than machinery we need humanity. More than cleverness we need kindness and gentleness. Without these qualities, life will be violent and all will be lost….

The aeroplane and the radio have brought us closer together. The very nature of these inventions cries out for the goodness in men - cries out for universal brotherhood - for the unity of us all. Even now my voice is reaching millions throughout the world - millions of despairing men, women, and little children - victims of a system that makes men torture and imprison innocent people.

To those who can hear me, I say - do not despair. The misery that is now upon us is but the passing of greed - the bitterness of men who fear the way of human progress. The hate of men will pass, and dictators die, and the power they took from the people will return to the people. And so long as men die, liberty will never perish. …..

Soldiers! don’t give yourselves to brutes - men who despise you - enslave you - who regiment your lives - tell you what to do - what to think and what to feel! Who drill you - diet you - treat you like cattle, use you as cannon fodder. Don’t give yourselves to these unnatural men - machine men with machine minds and machine hearts! You are not machines! You are not cattle! You are men! You have the love of humanity in your hearts! You don’t hate! Only the unloved hate - the unloved and the unnatural! Soldiers! Don’t fight for slavery! Fight for liberty!

In the 17th Chapter of St Luke it is written: “the Kingdom of God is within man” - not one man nor a group of men, but in all men! In you! You, the people have the power - the power to create machines. The power to create happiness! You, the people, have the power to make this life free and beautiful, to make this life a wonderful adventure.

Then - in the name of democracy - let us use that power - let us all unite. Let us fight for a new world - a decent world that will give men a chance to work - that will give youth a future and old age a security. By the promise of these things, brutes have risen to power. But they lie! They do not fulfill that promise. They never will!

Dictators free themselves but they enslave the people! Now let us fight to fulfill that promise! Let us fight to free the world - to do away with national barriers - to do away with greed, with hate and intolerance. Let us fight for a world of reason, a world where science and progress will lead to all men’s happiness. Soldiers! in the name of democracy, let us all unite!

Final speech from The Great Dictator Copyright © Roy Export S.A.S. All rights reserved

 

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We've sent some pretty cool shtuff into space

The Golden Record

The Golden Record

Back in 1986, Carl Sagan and Ann Druyan (his wife and co-creator of Cosmos) sent Chuck Berry the above birthday card.

In the letter, Sagan and Druyan reflect on the fact that a phonograph record of Berry's 'Johnny B. Goode' had been placed aboard the Voyager spacecraft when it launched in 1977, as part of the Voyager Golden Records project.  (via).

"Voyager 1 and 2-a kind of time capsule,"  intended to communicate a story of our world to extraterrestrials. The Voyager message is carried by a phonograph record-a 12-inch gold-plated copper disk containing sounds and images selected to portray the diversity of life and culture on Earth" (via).

The contents of the record were selected for NASA by a committee chaired by Carl Sagan of Cornell University, et. al. Dr. Sagan and his associates assembled 115 images and a variety of natural sounds, such as those made by surf, wind and thunder, birds, whales, and other animals. To this they added musical selections from different cultures and eras, and spoken greetings from Earth-people in fifty-five languages, and printed messages from President Carter and U.N. Secretary General Waldheim. Each record is encased in a protective aluminum jacket, together with a cartridge and a needle.
Instructions, in symbolic language, explain the origin of the spacecraft and indicate how the record is to be played. The 115 images are encoded in analog form. The remainder of the record is in audio, designed to be played at 16-2/3 revolutions per minute. It contains the spoken greetings, beginning with Akkadian, which was spoken in Sumer about six thousand years ago, and ending with Wu, a modern Chinese dialect.
Following the section on the sounds of Earth, there is an eclectic 90-minute selection of music, including both Eastern and Western classics and a variety of ethnic music. Once the Voyager spacecraft leave the solar system (by 1990, both will be beyond the orbit of Pluto), they will find themselves in empty space. It will be forty thousand years before they make a close approach to any other planetary system.
As Carl Sagan has noted, "The spacecraft will be encountered and the record played only if there are advanced spacefaring civilizations in interstellar space. But the launching of this bottle into the cosmic ocean says something very hopeful about life on this planet" (via).

It isn't likely that the Voyager will find life anytime soon, but if or when it does, the Golden Record will be more of a time capsule of a time where Earth lived without iPhones, Beyonce, or many of us. 

But whoever or whatever finds it will then have Mozart, and Johny B. Goode'. And I think they'll be impressed. Even if they have something cooler than iPhones.

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Corey Arnold : ALEUTIAN DREAMS

Corey Arnold can take pictures. 

"Fifteen years ago," he writes on his info page, "I wrote a job-wanted sign and hung it outside of a bathroom near Seattle’s Fisherman’s Terminal. It read: “Experienced deckhand looking for work on a commercial crab or halibut fishing boat in Alaska --- hard worker --- does not get seasick” I was 24 years old, energetic and ambitious, with a few years of salmon fishing experience but naive to the world of high seas fish-work. After a few shifty respondents, I was hired by a seasoned Norwegian fisherman and flew on a small prop plane past the icy volcanos and windswept passes of Alaska’s Aleutian Islands, eventually slamming down onto the short runway in Dutch Harbor. The experience would forever change the direction of my life and shape my identity as both a fisherman and photographer. Isolated from the mainland by some of the world's roughest waters, Dutch Harbor is a thriving, working-class commercial fishing port surrounded by steep mountains and lonely windswept valleys. It’s a place where industry and nature collide in strange and beautiful ways, a place where people harvest seafood on a massive scale, and share their meals and their refuse with local wildlife --- from rapacious bald eagles to curious foxes. That first year I worked jigging for Codfish in the Bering Sea and continued to return for work as a crabber for the next seven seasons. What lured me back though wasn’t only the money, but the curious and often masochistic realization of the American dream happening in the Aleutian Islands. Those who come here often possess a desire to escape the safety of home to work in an environment filled with risk and visual grandeur that is far from ordinary. In recent trips, I joined fisherman at sea aboard crabbers and trawlers, and on land documenting the surreal landscape of fishing culture that once captured my imagination as a young greenhorn. Aleutian Dreams is a collection of images from my journey through this wild and unforgiving frontier of Western Alaska.

You can follow his blog here, or see more of his work here. Some of his works include exploring modern man's complicated relationship with animals, Great White Shark diving near Guadalupe Island, Mexico, and Chum Salmon season on the Yukon River in Alaska. And more.

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John Steinbeck: Nobel Prize Speech

The following is an abbreviation of the speech, but you can find it's entirety here.


Literature was not promulgated by a pale and emasculated critical priesthood singing their litanies in empty churches - nor is it a game for the cloistered elect, the tinhorn mendicants of low calorie despair.

Literature is as old as speech. It grew out of human need for it, and it has not changed except to become more needed.

The skalds, the bards, the writers are not separate and exclusive. From the beginning, their functions, their duties, their responsibilities have been decreed by our species.

Humanity has been passing through a gray and desolate time of confusion. My great predecessor, William Faulkner, speaking here, referred to it as a tragedy of universal fear so long sustained that there were no longer problems of the spirit, so that only the human heart in conflict with itself seemed worth writing about.

Faulkner, more than most men, was aware of human strength as well as of human weakness. He knew that the understanding and the resolution of fear are a large part of the writer's reason for being . . .


Furthermore, the writer is delegated to declare and to celebrate man's proven capacity for greatness of heart and spirit - for gallantry in defeat - for courage, compassion and love. 

In the endless war against weakness and despair, these are the bright rally-flags of hope and of emulation.

I hold that a writer who does not passionately believe in the perfectibility of man, has no dedication nor any membership in literature . . .

With humanity's long proud history of standing firm against natural enemies, sometimes in the face of almost certain defeat and extinction, we would be cowardly and stupid to leave the field on the eve of our greatest potential victory . . .

The danger and the glory and the choice rest finally in man. The test of his perfectibility is at hand.

Having taken Godlike power, we must seek in ourselves for the responsibility and the wisdom we once prayed some deity might have.

Man himself has become our greatest hazard and our only hope.

So that today, St. John the apostle may well be paraphrased ...

In the end is the Word, and the Word is Man - and the Word is with Men.

- John Steinbeck

 

Art is an attempt to answer the question, "What is it all about," and Steinbeck's answer is, "Man himself has become our greatest hazard and our only hope." His works are a fleshing out.

 

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