In the novel, World War Z: An Oral History of The Zombie War, Max Brook uses a documentary format to tell some great stories about the fictional Zombie War. Survivors they their stories.
One very interesting story was from a Air Force Pilot, Colonel Christina Eliopolis. A mid-air accident lead to her ejecting and parachuting into a zombie-infested area.
To support downed pilots, a network of Skywatchers existed. Over the course of two days, Col. Eliopolis was supported by a Skywatcher in a nearby cabin with the call sign "Mets Fan."
Interviewer: They never found your Skywatcher.
Eliopolis: No
Or her cabin.
No
And the Government never had a record of a Skywatcher with the call sign Mets Fan.
You've done your homework.
I . . .
You probably also read my after-action report, right?
Yes.
And the psych evaluation they racked on after my official debriefing.
Well . . .
Well, it's bullshit, okay? So what if everything she told me was information I'd already been briefed on; so what if the psych team "claim" my radio was knocked out before I hit the mud, and so the f*** what if Mets is short for Metis, the mother of Athena, the Greek goddess with the stormy gray eyes. Oh, the shrinks had a ball with that one, especially when they "discovered" that my mother grew up in the Bronx.
And that remark she made about your mother?
Who the hell doesn't have mother issues? If Mets was a pilot, she was a natural gambler. She knew she had a good chance of scoring a hit with "mom." She knew the risk, took her shot . . . Look, if they thought I'd cracked up, why didn't I lose my flight status? Why did they let me have this job? Mybe she wasn't a pilot herself, maybe she was married to one, maybe she'd wanted to be one but never made it as far as I did. Maybe she was just a scared, lonely voice that did what she could to help another scared lonely voice from ending up like her. Who cares who she was, or is? She was there when I needed her, and for the rest of my life, she'll always be with me.
Max Brook, World War Z: An Oral History of The Zombie War (New York, Broadway Paperbacks, 2006),pp 227-230.
Tuesday, July 4, 2017
Tuesday, June 20, 2017
Reflections on The Refugee Crisis and Character--TED Talk by David Miliband
David Miliband's Talk at TED 2017 was highlighted by the TED Website for World Refugee Day. Here are a few excerpts.
"I truly believe this, that the biggest question in the 21st century concerns our duty to strangers. The future "you" is about your duties to strangers. You know better than anyone, the world is more connected than ever before, yet the great danger is that we're consumed by our divisions. And there is no better test of that than how we treat refugees."
"When Pope Francis went to Lampedusa, off the coast of Italy, in 2014, he accused all of us and the global population of what he called "the globalization of indifference." It's a haunting phrase. It means that our hearts have turned to stone. Now, I don't know, you tell me. Are you allowed to argue with the Pope, even at a TED conference? But I think it's not right. I think people do want to make a difference, but they just don't know whether there are any solutions to this crisis. And what I want to tell you today is that though the problems are real, the solutions are real, too."
"Remember, anyone who asks you, "Are they properly vetted?" that's a really sensible and good question to ask. The truth is, refugees arriving for resettlement are more vetted than any other population arriving in our countries. So while it's reasonable to ask the question, it's not reasonable to say that refugee is another word for terrorist."
From TED Talk: David Miliband: The refugee crisis is a test of our character
https://www.ted.com/talks/david_miliband_the_refugee_crisis_is_a_test_of_our_character/transcript?language=en
April 2017
"I truly believe this, that the biggest question in the 21st century concerns our duty to strangers. The future "you" is about your duties to strangers. You know better than anyone, the world is more connected than ever before, yet the great danger is that we're consumed by our divisions. And there is no better test of that than how we treat refugees."
"When Pope Francis went to Lampedusa, off the coast of Italy, in 2014, he accused all of us and the global population of what he called "the globalization of indifference." It's a haunting phrase. It means that our hearts have turned to stone. Now, I don't know, you tell me. Are you allowed to argue with the Pope, even at a TED conference? But I think it's not right. I think people do want to make a difference, but they just don't know whether there are any solutions to this crisis. And what I want to tell you today is that though the problems are real, the solutions are real, too."
"Remember, anyone who asks you, "Are they properly vetted?" that's a really sensible and good question to ask. The truth is, refugees arriving for resettlement are more vetted than any other population arriving in our countries. So while it's reasonable to ask the question, it's not reasonable to say that refugee is another word for terrorist."
From TED Talk: David Miliband: The refugee crisis is a test of our character
https://www.ted.com/talks/david_miliband_the_refugee_crisis_is_a_test_of_our_character/transcript?language=en
April 2017
Wednesday, May 31, 2017
Eco on Pace in The Name of the Rose
Great reflections on a the pace of literature in the Postscript of The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco about a crime investigation in a medieval monastery.
"But there was another reason for including those long didactic passages. After reading the manuscript, my friends and editors suggested I abbreviate the first hundred pages, which they found very difficult and demanding. Without thinking twice, I refused, because, as I insisted, if somebody wanted to enter the abbey and live there for seven days, he had to accept the abbey's own pace. If he could not, he would never manage to read the whole book. Therefore those first hundred pages are like a penance or an initiation, and if someone does not like them, as much the worse for him. He can stay at the foot of the hill.
"Entering a novel is like going on a climb in the mountains; you have to learn the rhythm of respiration, acquire the pace, otherwise you stop right away. . . .
"In narrative, the breathing is derived not from the sentences but from the broader units, from the scansion of events. Some novels breathe like gazelles, others like whales or elephants. Harmony lies not in the length of the breath but it its regularity."
"But there was another reason for including those long didactic passages. After reading the manuscript, my friends and editors suggested I abbreviate the first hundred pages, which they found very difficult and demanding. Without thinking twice, I refused, because, as I insisted, if somebody wanted to enter the abbey and live there for seven days, he had to accept the abbey's own pace. If he could not, he would never manage to read the whole book. Therefore those first hundred pages are like a penance or an initiation, and if someone does not like them, as much the worse for him. He can stay at the foot of the hill.
"Entering a novel is like going on a climb in the mountains; you have to learn the rhythm of respiration, acquire the pace, otherwise you stop right away. . . .
"In narrative, the breathing is derived not from the sentences but from the broader units, from the scansion of events. Some novels breathe like gazelles, others like whales or elephants. Harmony lies not in the length of the breath but it its regularity."
Sunday, May 14, 2017
Zócalo Book Prize: Winners List
Winners of the Zócalo Book Prize
Sponsored by Zócalo Public Square
Founded by Gregory Rodriguez
2017
Mitchell Duneier, Princeton University
Ghetto: The Invention of a Place, the History of an Idea
2016
Sherry Turkle, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Reclaiming Conversation: The Power of Talk in a Digital Age
2015
Danielle Allen, Harvard Univesity
Our Declaration: A Reading of the Declaration of Independence in Defense of Equality
2014
Ethan Zuckerman, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Rewire: Digital Cosmopolitans in the Age of Connection
2013
Jonathan Haidt, New York University
The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion
2012
Richard Sennett, London School of Economics
Together: The Rituals, Pleasures and Politics of Cooperation
2011
Peter Lovenheim, New York Times
In the Neighborhood: The Search for Community on an American Street, One Sleepover at a Time
Link to Website: http://www.zocalopublicsquare.org/2017/03/31/princeton-sociologist-mitchell-duneier-wins-2017-zocalo-book-prize/inquiries/prizes/
Saturday, December 31, 2016
Good Quotes 2017
like most others in the world
they believe that failure
is caused by some factor
besides themselves
--Charles Bukowski, "the 7 horse"
"I'm a person who listens for a living. I listen for wisdom and beauty, and for voices not shouting to be heard."
--Krista Tippett, Becoming Wise
"So this neglected space became a constructive one, and people's hopes and dreams made me laugh out loud, tear up, and they consoled me during my own tough times. It's about knowing you're not alone; it's about understanding our neighbors in new and enlightening ways; it's about making space for reflection and contemplation, and remembering what really matters most to us as we grow and change."
--Candy Chang, TED Talk, July 2012
"Now, this is, more or less, if you look at the average data of the countries — they are like this. Now that's dangerous, to use average data, because there is such a lot of difference within countries. . . . The improvement of the world must be highly contextualized, and it's not relevant to have it on regional level."
--Hans Rosling, TED Talk, February 2006
"Good ideas are always crazy until they're not."
--Larry Page
"It always seems impossible until it's done".
--Nelson Mandela
"As a magician, I think everything is possible. And I think if something is done by one person, it can be done by others."
-David Blaine, TED Talk, 2009
"Rene Girard wrote that modern society has become addicted to scapegoating; we take our anger out on sacrificial lambs just as cruelly as ancient societies did."
-Joe Mathews, Zocalo Public Square
http://www.zocalopublicsquare.org/2017/05/01/go-ahead-blame-berkeley-everyone-else/inquiries/connecting-california/
"Art is not a plaything, but a necessity, and its essence, form, is not a decorative adjustment, but a cup into which life can be poured and lifted to the lips and be tasted."
--Rebecca West
Learning is finding out
what you already know.
Doing is demonstrating
that you know it.
Teaching is reminding
others that they know it
just as well as you
You are all learners,
doers, teachers.
-Richard Bach, as found in Chicken Soup for the Soul
I wanted movement and not a calm course of existence. I wanted excitement and danger and the chance to sacrifice myself for my love. I felt in myself a superabundance of energy which found no outlet in our quiet life.
--Leo Tolstoy, "Family Happiness"
passage highlighted in one of the books found with Chris McCandless's remains
as found in Jon Krakauer, Into the Wild
they believe that failure
is caused by some factor
besides themselves
--Charles Bukowski, "the 7 horse"
"I'm a person who listens for a living. I listen for wisdom and beauty, and for voices not shouting to be heard."
--Krista Tippett, Becoming Wise
"So this neglected space became a constructive one, and people's hopes and dreams made me laugh out loud, tear up, and they consoled me during my own tough times. It's about knowing you're not alone; it's about understanding our neighbors in new and enlightening ways; it's about making space for reflection and contemplation, and remembering what really matters most to us as we grow and change."
--Candy Chang, TED Talk, July 2012
"Now, this is, more or less, if you look at the average data of the countries — they are like this. Now that's dangerous, to use average data, because there is such a lot of difference within countries. . . . The improvement of the world must be highly contextualized, and it's not relevant to have it on regional level."
--Hans Rosling, TED Talk, February 2006
"Good ideas are always crazy until they're not."
--Larry Page
"It always seems impossible until it's done".
--Nelson Mandela
"As a magician, I think everything is possible. And I think if something is done by one person, it can be done by others."
-David Blaine, TED Talk, 2009
"Rene Girard wrote that modern society has become addicted to scapegoating; we take our anger out on sacrificial lambs just as cruelly as ancient societies did."
-Joe Mathews, Zocalo Public Square
http://www.zocalopublicsquare.org/2017/05/01/go-ahead-blame-berkeley-everyone-else/inquiries/connecting-california/
"Art is not a plaything, but a necessity, and its essence, form, is not a decorative adjustment, but a cup into which life can be poured and lifted to the lips and be tasted."
--Rebecca West
Learning is finding out
what you already know.
Doing is demonstrating
that you know it.
Teaching is reminding
others that they know it
just as well as you
You are all learners,
doers, teachers.
-Richard Bach, as found in Chicken Soup for the Soul
I wanted movement and not a calm course of existence. I wanted excitement and danger and the chance to sacrifice myself for my love. I felt in myself a superabundance of energy which found no outlet in our quiet life.
--Leo Tolstoy, "Family Happiness"
passage highlighted in one of the books found with Chris McCandless's remains
as found in Jon Krakauer, Into the Wild
Monday, November 7, 2016
Quotes on Innovation
A few interesting quotes on innovation.
It’s not about breaking the rules. It is about abandoning the concept of rules altogether.
-Paul Lemberg
Don’t worry about people stealing your ideas. If your ideas are any good, you’ll have to ram them down people’s throats.
-Howard Aiken
Anyone can look for fashion in a boutique or history in a museum. The creative explorer looks for history in a hardware store and fashion in an airport.
-Robert Wieder
Posted by Jessica Marati
http://ecosalon.com/40-best-quotes-on-innovation/
It’s not about breaking the rules. It is about abandoning the concept of rules altogether.
-Paul Lemberg
Don’t worry about people stealing your ideas. If your ideas are any good, you’ll have to ram them down people’s throats.
-Howard Aiken
Anyone can look for fashion in a boutique or history in a museum. The creative explorer looks for history in a hardware store and fashion in an airport.
-Robert Wieder
Posted by Jessica Marati
http://ecosalon.com/40-best-quotes-on-innovation/
Sunday, October 30, 2016
"You Are Not Alone"--Rhimes
Here is a great section from a speech by Shonda Rhimes given to the Human Rights Campaign on 14 March 2015.
I don’t know if anyone has noticed but I only ever write about one thing: being alone. The fear of being alone, the desire to not be alone, the attempts we make to find our person, to keep our person, to convince our person to not leave us alone, the joy of being with our person and thus no longer alone, the devastation of being left alone.
The need to hear the words: You are not alone.
The fundamental human need for one human being to hear another human being say to them: "You are not alone. You are seen. I am with you. You are not alone."
As found in Shonda Rhimes, Year of Yes: How to Dance it Out, Stand in the Sun and Be Your Own Person (New York, Simon & Schuster, Inc., 2015) p. 234.
I don’t know if anyone has noticed but I only ever write about one thing: being alone. The fear of being alone, the desire to not be alone, the attempts we make to find our person, to keep our person, to convince our person to not leave us alone, the joy of being with our person and thus no longer alone, the devastation of being left alone.
The need to hear the words: You are not alone.
The fundamental human need for one human being to hear another human being say to them: "You are not alone. You are seen. I am with you. You are not alone."
As found in Shonda Rhimes, Year of Yes: How to Dance it Out, Stand in the Sun and Be Your Own Person (New York, Simon & Schuster, Inc., 2015) p. 234.
Saturday, August 13, 2016
Spaulding on Striving for Magic
In an interview on the Public Radio show Bullseye, Jazz Musician Esperanza Spaulding talked about the impact of "Petrushka" by Igor Stravinsky on her.
The rest of this wash of glorious futuristic surrealist magical organic architecture
Like erupting up out of the ground around you
. . . . .
And heard the meaning of this composition
And I was gob-smacked
And completely turned inside out
In a way where I was like “ I suck. Stop being so wimpy and thinking all this bull doodo”
This is what I am here for
This dude is right
He is modelling what is possible if you don’t be little whiny wimp and work really hard and do magic and strive for magic.
Full Interview
http://www.maximumfun.org/bullseye/bullseye-rachel-bloom-esperanza-spaulding
20 June 2016 Episode
The rest of this wash of glorious futuristic surrealist magical organic architecture
Like erupting up out of the ground around you
. . . . .
And heard the meaning of this composition
And I was gob-smacked
And completely turned inside out
In a way where I was like “ I suck. Stop being so wimpy and thinking all this bull doodo”
This is what I am here for
This dude is right
He is modelling what is possible if you don’t be little whiny wimp and work really hard and do magic and strive for magic.
Full Interview
http://www.maximumfun.org/bullseye/bullseye-rachel-bloom-esperanza-spaulding
20 June 2016 Episode
Sunday, June 19, 2016
What is a Whisper?: Radiolab
RadioLab interviewed writer Kent Meyers about the Sanford Underground Research Facility and the small signal resulting from dark matter detection. Meyers gave an amazing analogy of a whisper.
The universe whispering to us.
The whisper in human nature.
The whisper is the point when we really
We want to speak intensely to a single person.
We whisper at funerals
We whisper in the presence of awesome things in nature.
It's that sense. Reduced use of the voice.
Drops down and drops down
Only goes in the ear it was intended for
http://www.radiolab.org/story/xenon/
The universe whispering to us.
The whisper in human nature.
The whisper is the point when we really
We want to speak intensely to a single person.
We whisper at funerals
We whisper in the presence of awesome things in nature.
It's that sense. Reduced use of the voice.
Drops down and drops down
Only goes in the ear it was intended for
http://www.radiolab.org/story/xenon/
Saturday, June 18, 2016
Orlando and Leadership Reflections
The mass shooting at the Pulse Nightclub in Orlando is awful tragedy. Acts of leadership often emerge from tragedies, trials, and immense challenges. Here are three quotes that reflect solid leadership in the aftermath of this tragedy.
"And he said we just - we need the president to help us to start to heal, to stabilize this community because we've gone through such a trauma. And so we appreciate so much that he - you know, the busiest man in the world took time out to come see us and give his condolences."
--German Lemus, Orlando artist in public radio interview commenting on President Obama's visit.
http://www.npr.org/2016/06/16/482362913/obama-biden-visit-with-victims-of-orlando-mass-shooting
"He hugged me like a brother."
Family member of victim on President Obama visit, in a public radio story.
From a New York Times article by Julie Hirschfeld Davis: "He grasps for words of sympathy, comfort and condolence and offers long, tight embraces that the mourners will remember far more vividly than his words. His visit to Orlando came four days after the massacre. Accompanied by Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., the president entered the Amway Center, about two miles from the club, and the two men took turns hugging and grieving with the scores of people who lost sons, daughters, siblings, partners and friends."
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/17/us/politics/obama-orlando-shooting.html
"An attack against gay Americans in Orlando is an attack against each one of us."
--Dr. Ronnie Floyd, outgoing president, Southern Baptist Convention, during an annual meeting
http://www.npr.org/2016/06/16/482362969/southern-baptist-convention-urges-churches-to-welcome-refugees
"And he said we just - we need the president to help us to start to heal, to stabilize this community because we've gone through such a trauma. And so we appreciate so much that he - you know, the busiest man in the world took time out to come see us and give his condolences."
--German Lemus, Orlando artist in public radio interview commenting on President Obama's visit.
http://www.npr.org/2016/06/16/482362913/obama-biden-visit-with-victims-of-orlando-mass-shooting
"He hugged me like a brother."
Family member of victim on President Obama visit, in a public radio story.
From a New York Times article by Julie Hirschfeld Davis: "He grasps for words of sympathy, comfort and condolence and offers long, tight embraces that the mourners will remember far more vividly than his words. His visit to Orlando came four days after the massacre. Accompanied by Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., the president entered the Amway Center, about two miles from the club, and the two men took turns hugging and grieving with the scores of people who lost sons, daughters, siblings, partners and friends."
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/17/us/politics/obama-orlando-shooting.html
"An attack against gay Americans in Orlando is an attack against each one of us."
--Dr. Ronnie Floyd, outgoing president, Southern Baptist Convention, during an annual meeting
http://www.npr.org/2016/06/16/482362969/southern-baptist-convention-urges-churches-to-welcome-refugees
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