Archive for July, 2006

Langauge

Citizen Journalism

This, apparently, is the new buzzword for a brand of new, non-corporate journalism that has blossomed over the last several years.

To quote Nicholas Lemann, in his recent article “AMATEUR HOUR: Journalism without journalists” (The New Yorker), “Citizen journalists are supposedly inspired amateurs who find out what’s going on in the places where they live and work, and who bring us a fuller, richer picture of the world than we get from familiar news organizations, while sparing us the pomposity and preening that journalists often display.”

ohmynews.com

What do you think?

Environment

Isn’t Life Bittersweet at times . . . .

In bold letters, the headlines read: Blair and Schwarzenegger Sign Global Warming Agreement. And, while I think this is a great story, I also feel a bit of sadness about it all. The largest state of the Union (economically, at least), is making their own agreements with foreign countries to try to save and repair the environment. In many books, including my own, this is an absolute victory.

The bitter part about this message is that the reason why individual states are negotiating with foreign countries about saving the environment–you know, the place where we live and the air that we breathe–is because our own Federal Government is NOT LISTENING to us. Or, perhaps a bit more sinister, is the scenario where they are listening and simply do not care . . . .

The leader of the free world wants us to burn oil. The leader of the free world removed Carbon Dioxide from the watched gasses list in a nice Orwellian piece of legislation called, “The Clean Air Act.” In this ostrich approach, we bury our heads in the sand and stop tracking carbon dioxide–the greatest cause of Global Warming. By not monitoring that gas, our country immediately *ON PAPER* vaulted to the position of being a non-polluter. In reality, however, we gave free license to industry to make money irresponsibly–with our Federal goverment’s blessings.

Langauge

Convergence/Divergence at McSweeney’s

There is a really interesting Convergence/Divergence article about the Middle East at McSweeney’s today. It was written by Lawrence Weschler, and compares the situation in Beirut with the situation of Warsaw, Poland as portrayed in Roman Polanski’s “The Pianist.”

It is worth the time.

Langauge

Samuel Beckett’s Grave

Image of Samuel Beckett's grave in Paris.

So, I was having a little bout with insomnia. And, rather than lay there in bed and try all of my usual tricks again, I decided to get up and work on some of the projects that are keeping me awake at night. For a brief reprieve, I found myself wandering through my images of Paris from last year, and in particular, this image of Samuel Beckett’s grave.

I loved how the old and the new co-mingle in French culture. This cememtary was in the middle of a well-to-do neighborhood, was a couple of hundred years old, housed a great number of famous artists (Cesar, Rodin, Simone de Beuvoir, Jean Paul Sartre, Samuel Beckett, Balzac, etc.), and was overshadowed by the tallest building in continental Europe. The old and the new.

Many of the graves had flowers, or some other tribute paid to the artist or the dead. And, because of the number of famous people, many of these tributes exceeded your typical flower arrangement. Out of all the graves, however, Samuel Beckett’s had the most attention. Perhaps it was not the most ostentatious, but it was definitely the most.

Scattered on the ground around his grave were hundreds of the little purple tickets. They were the very tickets that those hundreds of visitors purchased to ride the Metro across Paris to see the grave of the famous playwrite–Samuel Beckett.

Uncategorized

Human Values

Now, more than ever, our civilization is in dire need of a dialog about human values. We need to talk about what we are doing, and why we are doing it. If we continue down our current path without even talking about it, our doom is certain.

The Tanner Lectures on Human Values is a phenomenal collection of essays, presentations, and writings about (go ahead, take a guess) Human Values. The lectures have been delivered by some of the greatest minds to have existed.

Try it out: find something that interests you, and download a lecture or two . . . .

Here’s the link: Tanner Lectures on Human Values

Langauge

Ahh, the Inky Goodness . . . .

Image of espresso brewing into a cup.

Doesn’t that just warm your little heart? It certainly makes mine palpitate a bit . . . .

As a lifelong coffeeshop junky, this is an image that resonates for me.