Passing Comments

A video in the Sunday magazine of the New York Times is a visual poem in praise of the “power game” now in women’s tennis. It’s breathtaking to see.

Watch here (“The Beauty of the Power Game” directed by Dewey Nicks, Aug 25, 2010).

In a blog post Sunday in the New York Times, philosopher Susan Blackmore explains why human beings copying each other in all kinds of ways is a very good thing (“The Third Replicator” Aug 22, 2010). In fact, she argues, it is essential to our development and progress.

In the post, Blackmore discusses memes (rhymes with cream). She also coins a new term “temes” (technological memes). Both terms are all about the act of imitating.

Excerpt:

“Whatever the reason, our ancestors began to copy sounds, skills and habits from one to another. They passed on lighting fires, making stone tools, wearing clothes, decorating their bodies and all sorts of skills to do with living together as hunters and gatherers. The critical point here is, of course, that they copied…”

Read the full post here.

Whenever I read a P.D. James mystery novel, at some point I always find myself thinking about James herself. I begin to wonder especially how many of James’ personal perspectives are expressed in her most famous character Adam Dalgliesh.

It’s not always an admiring curiosity I’m feeling because I find the poet-policeman himself (don’t shoot me, Dalgliesh lovers) somewhat prim and grayish in personality, even as the plots themselves – and especially the other characters — are particularly engaging.

Today, James is celebrating her 90th birthday. For the occasion, she sat for a video interview with the Guardian. And what a special treat it is for James fans to hear the Baroness herself talk about her life and her work (“PD James: ‘Some people find conventions liberating’” interviewed by Sarah Crown, Aug 3, 2010). Thank you, Guardian!

In the brief interview, the overlap between the author personally and her star creation Dalgliesh are discussed, along with other interesting questions. I especially applauded James’ comments about how women are treated (abused) in present day crime fiction.

Most important, of course, is there another Dalgliesh book on the way? James answers that too — sort of.

If you want to change the world, as they say, and still don’t understand how important social media (Twitter, Facebook et al) is as a primary tool, then you might want to watch this short video featuring digital strategist, Cheryl Contee.

Contee was speaking at the Netroots Nation conference (ending today) in Las Vegas. She highlights some important statistics about who’s using social networking media, and offers a few powerful dos and do nots for social activists and organizations.

For example, Contee explains why now “there is no digital divide.”

Though the conference is USA focused, the info about Twitter and Facebook is applicable across the globe.

Can’t resist posting another Rosey Chan video (previous here).

In about a month from now, on August 21, Australia’s first ever woman Prime Minister Julia Gillard will find out if the voters of the country also want her in the government’s top spot.

According to a Guardian Weekly story last week, Gillard’s Labor Party has pulled ahead  in the national polls (“Julia Gillard calls snap Australian election” by Peter Beaumont, July 18, 2010):

The country’s first female prime minister, Welsh-born Gillard was appointed by the ruling Labor party as the government faced what seemed like certain electoral defeat, and a party coup saw Kevin Rudd ousted. Since then, however, Gillard has been credited with rebuilding support for her party, to an extent that Labor is narrowly ahead in the opinion polls.

Below is a video of Gillard last Saturday announcing her decision to call for the August election:

Piano performer Rosey Chan — “A day in the life…” (J S Bach).

As of today, Australia has its first ever woman prime minister, Julia Gillard. Given the dismal statistics (here and here) on women in political leadership worldwide, it’s news that calls for popping the cork on a bottle of spumante, or maybe even two.

And from what I can tell, when the unexpected opportunity arose, Gillard simply had the courage and smarts to step forward and ask for the top job. See Guardian article today (“Julia Gillard becomes Australia’s first female prime minister” June 24, 2010).

Excerpt from the Guardian:

The 48-year-old who came under attack in 1998 when she entered parliament for being single and childless, said it was also an important milestone for Australian women.

“I think if there’s one girl who looks at the TV screen over the next few days and says ‘Gee, I might like to do that in the future’, well that’s a good thing,” Gillard told reporters.

And from Wikipedia:

In a 2007 interview, Gillard stated: “I used to think I wanted to be a school teacher. There was an English teacher at Mitcham Primary [in Adelaide], who was a real stickler for standards and grammar and punctuation but who was also very kindly. I thought teachers were good; I thought it would be a rewarding job, seeing the eyes of young people light up with new information.

I got talked out of that ambition for good or for ill by a school friend’s mother, who said, ‘No, you’re really good at arguing and debating, you should try law.’ If I hadn’t been pre-selected for the seat of Labor and run successfully in the 1998 election, I’d probably still be somewhere in and around the law; public sector law perhaps. Maybe giving tutorials, trying to pound law into other people’s heads.

And from AlJazeeraEnglish:

This morning as I was taking my daily walk through the center of the small town where we live, I saw an older woman, carrying a bag of groceries, pause as she reached the the top of some steps she had just climbed. She was limping a little and obviously taking a moment to catch her breath after the climb.

Two other women, coming from opposite directions, called the woman by name and hurried toward her. In a good-natured but insistent manner, the two friends began a small argument about which one would get to carry her groceries home for her.

The matter was still unresolved as I passed by, but I suspect all ended well.

In this short video of a Guardian interview with young Pakistani poet and journalist Fatima Bhutto, she speaks in a compelling way about how things have gone so wrong in her country (“Hay festival video: ‘Power is violence in Pakistan’” June 3, 2010).

Embodied in her words, it seems to me, is a frightening warning for the citizenry of all countries, including my own.

Excerpt:

We have for the last 63 years of our country’s history allowed those in power to be above the law. We have laws and bills and acts safeguarding those in power, protecting them from questions, protecting them from recrimination, protecting them from the consequences of their often corrupt and criminal legacies.

And the people are protected by nothing, but held hostage by silence.