Education, creativity, the wonderous brain

TED talks, my Internet crush, has introduced me to Sir Ken Robinson. I want to make the leadership at the University where I work watch this and apply it to transforming our mission and how we do things.


Two things I take away from this as a teacher that underpin his lecture: he establishes contact with his audience ("how are you?" "amirite?" "do you?"). He uses jokes and stories to make his points, which he then also spells out clearly and concisely. It's a lot harder than it looks to do this!

And also "The whole purpose of public education is to produce University professors," and as a University professor who has studied teaching and learning styles, I think he's right.

His bio on the TED site says:

A visionary cultural leader, Sir Ken led the British government's 1998 advisory committee on creative and cultural education, a massive inquiry into the significance of creativity in the educational system and the economy, and was knighted in 2003 for his achievements. His latest book, The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything, a deep look at human creativity and education, was published in January 2009.

If you like this, you should also watch the amazing talk by Jill Bolte Taylor, a brain scientist who talks surviving about her own stroke. She, like Sir Ken, talks about the corpus callosum, but on the most profound, fundamental level.

CNN meteorologist Chad Myers explains Chile's earthquake

I got the first news of the earthquake in Chile from my Twitter stream this morning, and I've been following the coverage from multiple sources around the world.

Chad Myers explains the science of the 8.8 maginitude quake that struck off the coast of Chile at 3AM this morning. The news is still arriving of the damages and response, and people all over the Pacific are preparing for the tsunamis that will arrive: Hawaii, but also every Pacific coast to some degree or another.

While the force was many hundreds of times greater than that of Haiti's earthquake, the epicenter of quake happened off the coast of a relatively unpopulated area, and many buildings are build to earthquake code--so while there will be deaths, injuries and loss of home and property, I'm hoping that we don't see the kind of devastation that we saw with the 7.0 quake that directly struck Port-au-Prince. Concepción is the hardest hit city. The largest earthquake in recorded history also happened in Chile, a 9.5 quake in 1960.

We can watch the evacuation proceedings as they happen in Hawaii via streaming TV.

You can watch more videos from CNN here. It's my fervent hope that there will have been enough time to get everyone safe in time. The surge moves at the speed of a jet--500mph--so they know when it will arrive, and how bad it will be.

The Zombies

So much fun to sing along with these sixties hits by The Zombies!

Tell Her No (no, no, no, nonono no!)


She's Not There


Time of the Season


Out of My Head (cover of Little Anthony and the Imperials)

Distraction

The place where I work decided to build its brand a few years ago with a slogan, meant to imply that those of us who work here are compelled to search ceaselessly for "excellence." The whole idea makes me tired. That slogan is now mandatory on the newly designed website for my unit. It is all over every media object produced here. But what bugs me is that it is printed in large letters at the bottom of our letterhead stationary. So every time I must send out a letter of recommendation, my words appear over this slogan. I'm somewhat amused, however, by the fact that my brain automatically read it as"Driven to Distraction (SM)

Distraction

Sometimes distraction as beguilement: reading long novels, watching all the episodes of Dexter, settling into my seat in the movie theater with my popcorn.
The bad kind, the kind that has been afflicting me in the last few weeks, involves forgetting my keys, losing my cell phone, misplacing my datebook, leaving my powersource in the classroom, locking myself out of my office. I've been too distracted by worry over a person's health to do more than try to navigate my way safely through space and time.

What is the other side of distraction? presence of mind? serenity? boredom?

Oh, Jon Stewart, I love you!

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Rage Within the Machine - Progressivism
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Remembering Malcom X on the anniversary of his death

Murdered 45 years ago, Feb 21, 1965. So I don't remember him, because I was 8 and we were living in Japan (in the Army during the Viet Nam war) and I didn't know anything about him until much, much later. I think I connected to the way reading saved his life, gave him a new purpose:

"I certainly wasn't seeking any degree, the way a college confers a status symbol upon its students. My homemade education gave me, with every additional book that I read, a little bit more sensitivity to the deafness, dumbness and blindness that was afflicting the black race in America. Not long ago, an English writer telephoned me, asking questions. One was, "What's your alma mater?" I told him, "Books.""

We have recordings and transcripts of his speeches, interviews and talks, but he himself did not write his life story. How we understand his words and their meanings today is inseparable from the debates in which he was involved, the polemics of segregation and international anti-colonial struggles in the early sixties.
Here's a good example. Observe how he speaks, with incredible civility, in response to questions that seem either ignorant or motivated by the desire to cast him in a certain light. It's actually a fascinating conversation because he has the opportunity to lay out his thinking without being shouted at.You can see the entire interview here with NBC reporters on a Chicago TV show where he has been invited to talk about black nationalism. This is an excerpt:

Here's another recording in the context of a debate. Note how he uses Shakespeare's words in Oxford to articulate the consciousness of being oppressed.

His analysis was not just of racism in the U.S.: he understood the anticolonial struggle. "There's a world-wide revolution going on."

After his journey to Mecca he parted ways with the Nation of Islam, and his views shifted. He was a leader whose views were evolving. Who really was responsible for his death? I don't think we know, any more than we know who really killed JFK, or Bobby Kennedy or Martin Luther King, Jr.

Alex Haley published the book The Autobiography of Malcolm X the year he was killed; it was based on their conversations, and labeled "as told to." I find this teacher's guide to give a thoughtful approach to reading the book with young people:
A Teacher's Guide to The Autobiography of Malcolm X.

Men's figure skating Olympic medals

The men's figure skating medals were awarded last night at the Vancouver Olympics, and what an exciting event it was (links to all performances here) DRAMA! with undeniably talented but posturing divo Yvgeny Plushenko coming out of retirement to see if he could win a second gold medal, and sneering at the other dancers, pulling faces on the podium, trash-talking in the press conferences. Evan Lysacek, who won the World Championship last year, but who is hampered by the sport's attempt to cast him as the great Hetero Hope (and his complicity in that role) performed perfectly, albeit with all his nerves on display, and squeaked by Plushenko for the gold. The adorable and talented Daisuke Takahashi from Japan, a worthy competitor, took bronze.

Our Favorite Johnny Weir skated a gorgeous and underscored routine, and got a standing ovation, but no medal. That's OK, because WE LOVE YOU JOHNNY!


Although Stephane Lambiel did not skate his best,he is a gorgeous skater, as can be seen at his exhibition skate to Jacques Brel song I adore (don't worry, the Russian guy stops talking shortly after the song begins)

Isabel Allende at TED talks

Need some silliness in my life right now

UPDATED TO AD: and here is how they made this in a single take!

Lindy dancing

Last night, I went out dancing for the first time in way too long. The band was Steve Clarke and the Working Stiffs, a great band for dancing swing, lindy, west coast, and Balboa (if you know how, which I don't but I intend to learn).
Kurt Lichtman is on the swing dance faculty at Cornell! Yes, they have a swing dance faculty! His pages give very good historical overviews of the different regional styles and how they evolved. "Partnered Jazz Dance" is the way he describes swing dance, because it gives so much room for improvisation. Explore the Archives of Lindy Hop for more detailed stories of the styles, the dancers, and the Savoy Ballroom scene, where it all began.

Minneapolis tours

Roger Ebert recently published a post on walking in London that was both a tour of his memories and a selection of videos about walking in London. This got me thinking that there must be similar videos about Minneapolis.
This "Ben's Tours" video gives some history of Minneapolis through a tour of the Mill City Museum; it's well-filmed and really gives a great sense of the place

I really enjoy this architectural tour of recent building projects in Minneapolis.

Cool Hunting also produced this video about one of my very favorite spaces in Minneapolis, the Sculpture Garden across from the Walker Art Center. It opened the year I moved to the city. One of the pieces featured is the bronze horse (there's another one in the San Francisco airport.
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Walker Art Center Director Olga Viso talks about more of the art in the sculpture garden on its 20th anniversary.
One of Minneapolis' urban joys is the Chain of Lakes: Lake of the Isles, Lake Calhoun, and Lake Harriet. Here's a presentation about them.

Another reason to love Stephen Colbert

Although speedskating is a thrilling sport, it's not lucrative. Athletes struggle to survive and train, and the speedskating association lost money when a bank went under. Stephen Colbert came to their rescue by holding a fundraiser that came up with the $300,000 they needed, and "Colbert Nation" is now the official sponsor. He and up-and-coming competitor Shani Davis staged a competition, after Shani Davis called him a jerk for his "Canuck bashing." It's possible that Davis was not familiar with the Colbert persona at the time. They seem to have buried the hatchet.

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Skate Expectations - Speedskating Race - Shani Davis
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Vancouver Winter Olympics favorites: Apolo Anton Ohno

I adore Apolo Anton Ohno, who first came to my attention for winning Dancing With the Stars with charm and real dance talent. He's about to skate in his first event at Vancouver and I'm rooting for him! This is what he does as part of his daily training. My.

This is his third Olympics, and he has won five medals in the past. The event is a combination of racing for time and "roller derby on ice" because you have to skate in a pack and not get blocked or knocked down. He's beloved by fans for his humor, charisma, his loving relationship with his father, and generosity with his community.

Network Literacy--Howard Rheingold explains the basics

It is really worth listening to Howard Rheingold explain some of the basic underlying ideas and structures that make the internet work, and issues over access, control.

Remix-o-mania (for Rosemary)

Remix culture is fun! (and interesting)

1) Take massive hit song "Lisztomania" by Phoenix (official video w/lyrics can't be embedded)

2) use it as soundtrack to some footage from 80s high school "brat pack" films for a YouTube hit called the "brat pack mashup"


3) a group of Brooklyn pals then did their own remake of this remix:

4) Which was then copied by these folks in SF!


5) analyze and post,

6) get tweeted by famous Creative Commons advocate Larry Lessing "Watch this -- The Evolution of Remix Culture -- by that Lib(ertarian) Julian Sanchez. Extrasmart"

Snowpocalypse forecast

My brother's family lives on the Eastern Shore, across the Chesapeake Bay from Annapolis, MD. Apparently, the unusual snowfall in the greater DC area is giving the weather people conniptions.

(via Bob Collins at MPR's NewsCut blog) Excuse me, while I go out and shovel the walk. I'm glad we're only going to get 5-8 inches in our storm.

A great idea

Local Minneapolis crew at X Y and Z have a project that I love, called the Community Visual Restoration Project, about turning vacancy into art.

Mind Eraser, No Chaser

I'm loving the new album by Them Crooked Vultures, with John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin teaming up with Dave Grohl Nirvana, Foo Fighters) and Josh Homme (Queens of the Stone Age)
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John Paul Jones playing bass a few decades earlier with Led Zep. He wasn't the flashiest one in the band, but he was responsible for a lot of their sound.

John Paul Jones (I can't just call him John or Jones!) had an amazing career as an arranger and session player before he even joined up with Led Zeppelin. He's 64 now, but unlike some rockers, he doesn't look too old to be on that stage.

Bboy Legacy makes a film reflection on contemporary dance

via sytycdism, one of my favorite blogs, comes this wonderful piece created by Legacy. It gives me a lot to think about. After the challenges of learning contemprary dance styles on the show, working with dancers and choreographers, in a milieu that identifies so-called contemporary dance with "dance" and his kind of dance with "tricks", this is a fascinating statement.

Amazing crow video

via Birdchick's blog, here is a video clip taken this Sunday at Loring Park in Minneapolis, of the tens of thousands of crows that fly in to roost their every night in the winter. One of my daily joys is seeing the crows fly overhead toward their roost, so this footage taken by TwinCitiesNaturalist is thrilling. I have to go see it in person some time soon! I highly recommend clicking on the full screen view icon in the lower right hand corner of the video to get the full effect.

Monday afternoon Twitter harvest

I'm in between classes having lunch in my office and browsing my Twitter feed, or dipping my cup into the river, as George Packer would have it. No, I'm not an addict. I can stop any time, really.

Some good news from Haiti: despite the terrible losses of lives and livelihoods, some of Haiti's historical patrimony has survived the earthquakes: Haitian Libraries and Archives Spared from Earthquake Damage, posted by Christopher Howard

Here are some interesting stories about the new iPad:

Is it consumption tool? a delivery system? a way to take your TV on the road? The Tweetgeist: Is iPad TV in a black turtleneck?
By Scott Rosenberg

At her blog Emergent by Design, Venessa Miemis asks "Overhyped Flop or Case of Great Design Thinking?"

Feeling creative? feeling cynical? Read this smart and hilarious analysis of Hollywood by Anne Helen Peterson, "How to make a valentine's day movie in 10 steps or less." Or fewer.

Why we love Cillian Murphy.

The Grammys did their "we're all fans" with fan vids of various artists. Here is Lady Gaga's page. You can click on the images and see the videos fans made for their favorites.
And here she is with Elton John, opening the show.