This is so cool! This artist Dan Jumaman from Visual Ink is drawing the presenters’ comments as they speak.
UPDATE: Here are some much better pictures of these illustrations.
No sleep ’till Boston
It’s raining here in NC and I’m waiting for the sun to rise while I wait for my flight to take off. Apparently all the airports in the northeast are delayed from weather, which means I’ll be even later than I was going to be to this really cool conference in Boston.
The upside of the weather: it reminds me why I’m glad I don’t live “up north.” 😉 I’ll be back in Chapel Hill late tomorrow night.
More MLK
Brian was so moved by Rev. Barber’s speech (that I mentioned at the bottom of my last post) that he recorded a conversation with me about it for his podcast at AudioActivism.org. It’s not very long, check it out!
White people still don’t get it
The AP reports a study showing that white people are more likely to think they see racial progress and four times less likely to participate in MLK Day activities. And this is surprising to who, exactly?
Three-fourths of the people in this country say there has been significant progress toward equality, but only 66 percent of blacks felt that way…
Just under a fourth of the population said they planned to commemorate King’s birthday on Monday. A solid majority of blacks, 60 percent, said they would be involved…
Fewer than one in six whites, 15 percent, planned to commemorate the day, the poll found.
– AP Poll: Blacks Likelier to Celebrate MLK
As is my wont, I observed the occasion with Chapel Hill’s usual progressive coalition of lefties of all flavors. The crowd included elected officials, student activists, the Chamber of Commerce, the Black Workers for Justice, the local NAACP, and the Raging Grannies. The rally was good, and moderately inclusive.
The church service always goes on too long, has more God than I like, and has more Jesus than I can stand, and this year was no exception. BUT this year we were also rocked by the radical sermon of the Rev. William Barber, recently-elected president of the North Carolina Conference of the NAACP. Most memorable line: he said he’s working on being a pacifist, but right now he’s just a “peace-ifist.” Most important lesson: “Silence [in the face of injustice] is betrayal.”
Bonus link: Download or play an MP3 of Dr. King’s famous “I Have a Dream” speech.
Climb the Latta with me
You may not know that I am a big fan of UNC basketball. My history with the team goes back to winning the 1982 national championship when I was an 11-year-old kid in Chapel Hill. In those days you could line up to have your picture taken with Michael Jordan at Apple Chill. Then when I was a UNC senior in 1993, they did it again! And of course last year, Brian and I got to enjoy the victory together.
It’s clear the men’s team this year is giving us a very happy surprise as they have now worked their way up to #20 in the nation. But have you been paying attention to UNC’s women’s basketball team? They are ranked #4 now, and have a real superstar on their team – Ivory Latta. She is only 5’6″ and you will see her wipe the floor with entire teams when she plays. She is full of energy and talent. And look out, because she’s only a junior!
In an effort to pay more attention to UNC’s fabulous team of women, I am doing two things. One is I am subscribing by RSS to any blog mentions of Ivory (via Technorati). The second is that I am publishing a calendar of women’s games. If you have iCal or a compatible program, you can can subscribe to this URL and get all the dates in your calendar automatically. (Brian and I already subscribe to the men’s schedule and it’s very convenient.) You can also view their schedule online at TarHeelBlue.com.
Feh feh feh
Here’s my personal guide to What Not to Watch from 2005 (in order of stinkitude):
- The Chronicles of Narnia. Made me want to wash my mouth out with the Fellowship of the Ring to rid me of the taste of sickly sweet poured over bad special effects. Made me want to shoot Santa (to be fair, it doesn’t take much). Did not make me want to re-read the book which I loved as a kid.
- Memoirs of a Geisha. Made me want to apologize for all the white people who still can’t understand that geisha are not glorified prostitutes, even when making a movie about this fact! After seeing this and the miserable Last Samurai (so bad, it’s not worth a link), I’d like to place a temporary restraining order on all American films about Asia, until we can get past our trendy fascination with eastern culture.
- King Kong. Is “because I can” a good enough reason to make an expensive movie? Peter Jackson loses all the cool points I gave him for Meet the Feebles lo those many years ago. What a waste.
Some films didn’t suck out loud, but were simply disappointing:
- Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. I had high hopes, but this just went off track. I prefer the 1971 version.
- The Curse of the Wererabbit. I suggest that Wallace and Gromit stick to the 30-minute format.
As an alternative I recommend either of the excellent poliitcal dramas made by George Clooney in 2005: Good Night and Good Luck and Syriana. I expect Capote to win some awards for it’s incredibly brilliant acting. Or for more action-entertainment, check out the fun and clever Serenity and Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. It was a good year for science fiction.
There are a few more I haven’t seen yet that I very much want to (Brokeback Mountain, The 40 Year Old Virgin, Me and You and Everyone We Know), so I may have to update…
Letter to Google
I just sent the following message to mobile-support@google.com .
I love the new mobile-friendly homepage. However, I think it has one big mistake that could easily rectified.
Welcome, President Richards
About a year after the abrupt departure of Gloria Feldt from the presidency of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, a replacement has been announced. And I think I like her! (Which is a surprise after working at PPFA for over 2 years and feeling eternally frustrated by the management decisions there.)
Incoming president Cecile Richards sounds like just what the doctor ordered:
Continue reading “Welcome, President Richards”
Sex and war – you know you want it
Stan‘s new book Sex and War is now available for pre-order on Amazon. See reviews on his blog. I’m getting mine right now!
Look out, Jack Granger
Actually, if this was enforceable, it would be a civil liberties nightmare. More wishful thinking enacted into legislation by the Bush administration:
Annoying someone via the Internet is now a federal crime.
It’s no joke. Last Thursday, President Bush signed into law a prohibition on posting annoying Web messages or sending annoying e-mail messages without disclosing your true identity.
In other words, it’s OK to flame someone on a mailing list or in a blog as long as you do it under your real name.
– Create an e-annoyance, go to jail | Perspectives | CNET News.com