Sunday Roundup. Everything is said, the title of this post is quite self-explanatory. I have been inspired by the Sama Gazette and their weekly Rendezvous Friday Digest. I think this is an interesting way to share with you the news that caught my attention and which are worth mentioning on this blog. This is my first #Sunday Roundup, I hope you will appreciate it!
ART
#Graffiti is Art. No question about it. Cool Hunting posted an article about Martha Cooper’s exhibition at L.A.’s Carmichael Gallery: “Martha Cooper: Remix” (9 April 2011 – 7 May 2011). “A major part of the early graffiti scene, photojournalist Martha Cooper is now on the other end of lens as the focus of a new exhibition at L.A.’s Carmichael Gallery. “Martha Cooper: Remix” sees over 50 artists recreate their favorite images by the ever-present documentarian, including works by Lady Pink, Faust, Neck Face, Fumakaka (all pictured here) and more…“. If you live in Los Angeles, don’t miss this exhibition.
Read this week on BCC website: Sir Patrick Stewart leads actor protest over arts cuts. “Some of the UK’s leading actors have gathered in London to protest against the recent round of Arts cuts. Sir Patrick Stewart, Penelope Wilton and Samuel West are among the stars who have signed and delivered a petition to Downing Street calling for a “coherent” arts policy. Last week, more than 200 organisations lost out on annual funding from Arts Council England...”. Let’s talk money if it can save Art: the arts industry was the “second most profitable sector in Britain“.
MOVIES
Great news, Torontonians! #Thelma and Louise are making a road trip to Toronto. “Geena Davis and Susan Sarandon, who played the title characters in the celebrated 1991 film, will participate in an onstage discussion about the movie on June 7. The evening at Roy Thomson Hall is being billed as “Thelma & Louise: The 20th Anniversary Homecoming.” It will feature reflections by Sarandon and Davis, an onstage interview, clips from the film as well as other movies from the actresses’ careers, video memories and behind-the-scenes interviews with people involved in making the film“. Read more here about this great movie.
I think Cate Blanchett is a wonderful actress. AP‘s movie critic, Christy Lemire, picks Cate Blanchett’s five best performances: “Whether she’s front-and-center as the star of a film or playing a juicy supporting part, Cate Blanchett is always fascinating to watch, with her astounding versatility and transfixing, chameleon-like features.” Agreed.
Boing Boing always selects interesting #geek news. Faux software interfaces in film is a good example. “Access Main Computer File is a marvelous celebration in images of (mostly phony) computer user interfaces from Hollywood. Once there, mouse over the pictures to see the movie name and year. Notably absent is the instant messaging screen from Pretty In Pink’s library scene“. I always look at computer user interfaces in movies; if you do too, visit Access Main Computer File.
Roger Ebert tweeted about an article posted on Film Detail by Ambrose Heron. “Various pieces of film music often end up in trailers for other movies but some appear more frequently than others. When you watch a trailer for an upcoming film, the music featured is not necessarily what you hear in the final cut. Often this is because the film and score haven’t been finished, but there are some musical cues that keep re-appearing. The movie music website Soundtrack.net have compiled a long list of frequently used cues from trailers and here are the top five...”.
And last but not least: New York film director Sidney Lumet dies at 86. The Los Angeles Times writes: “Sidney Lumet, a four-time Oscar nominee, was known for guiding strong performances in films such as ’12 Angry Men,’ ‘Network’ and ‘Dog Day Afternoon.’ He directed more than 40 films in his long career, many of them in his hometown of New York.” Add ‘Serpico’ (with the amazing performance of #Al Pacino) and you get four of my favorite movies. R.I.P Mr Lumet.
AFRICA
Last week Enough Project asked us to “Tell President Obama & Secretary Clinton: Send an Envoy to Congo!“. You can sign the petition on Change.org: “In 2005 & 2006, as a freshman senator, Barack Obama tried to pass 156 pieces of legislation. Only a single bill of his was signed into law – The Democratic Republic of Congo Relief, Security, and Democracy Promotion Act. Obama’s bill asked that the United States appoint a Special Envoy to the Great Lakes Region. The bill passed with bipartisan support and was co-sponsored by Secretary Clinton…“
On his side, #Nicholas Kristof retweeted: “A call for an American special envoy to Congo“. A very well designed website with interesting information and photos you can visit here.
In #Sudan, things are not taking the right road, obviously. Satellite Sentinel Project posted: Range of Attack: Deployment of SAF Attack Helicopters, Tanks Near Abyei. “In recent weeks, the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) has deployed heavy offensive weaponry, including attack helicopters and tanks, at Muglad, the reported headquarters of the SAF’s 15th Division. These units include two helicopters consistent with Mi-24 Hind gunships, at least nine main battle tanks consistent with T-55s, and trucks consistent with support vehicles needed for the forward deployment of heavy armor…“. You can find more information on the Washington Post.
In #Darfur. You can sign a petition on Change.org started by Investors Against Genocide asking: “JPMorgan Chase: Stop Investing in Companies that Support Genocide“. “On May 17, shareholders at JPMorgan Chase will vote on whether or not the company should make an effort to avoid investments in companies that substantially contribute to genocide or crimes against humanity. The choice seems obvious. But JPMorgan Chase (JPM) opposes the proposal and tells shareholders that they should vote against it. JPM says it already factors human rights issues into its decision-making, even though it owns about 5% of the outstanding shares of PetroChina, worth $1.3 billion. PetroChina, through its closely related parent, China National Petroleum Company, is internationally recognized as the worst offender helping fund the Government of Sudan’s genocide in Darfur.”
I am not following @tara_kendyle on Twitter ( I may very soon) but the people @SamaGazette forwarded me a poem Tara wrote “for the millions who perished in the #genocide in #Rwanda, for the #children who now cry in #Darfur“. Tara Kendyle is the teacher and creator of TeensMAD4Rwanda. I loved her poem and I invite you to read it on this page.
#Every Human Has Rights retweeted an article posted on The Zimbabwean: CSOs statement on the harassment and persecution of human rights defenders. This is a must-read article for anyone concerned about what is currently happening in #Zimbabwe. “The continued harassment of Mr. Abel Chikomo, the Executive Director of the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum (the Forum) by unnamed state agents – using police officers from Harare Central’s Law and Order Section as a front – is as deplorable as it is unjustifiable. The attack on Chikomo and the Forum is not just an attack on one individual and/or one organization but an attack on all civil society organisations (CSOs) in Zimbabwe. Police and all other state agents must stop attacking the messenger and start attending to the message.”
For the French speaking readers. Vague de solidarité dans le sillage du fil #CIVsocial sur Twitter. Le soutien à la Côte d’Ivoire et la solidarité s’organisent malgré tout. Du côté de Haïti. Sophie Chavanel est journaliste pour Radio-Canada lorsqu’elle apprend la nouvelle du séisme en Haïti. Ébranlée, elle décide de tout quitter pour se joindre à l’équipe de la Croix-Rouge à Port-au-Prince. Voici son journal, poignant mais aussi très instructif que vous pouvez lire ici.
WORLD / SOCIAL TRENDS
#Al Gore has posted a blog about Coal escapes consequences for its deadly track record. “The Charleston Gazette ran an excellent article Sunday on how big coal often escapes consequences for its deadly track record“. The full article can be found here: “On Jan. 14, 2009, officials from Aracoma Coal Co. pleaded guilty to 10 mine safety crimes. Prosecutors uncovered the violations during their investigation of a January 2006 fire at Aracoma’s Alma No. 1 Mine in Logan County. Delorice Bragg and Freda Hatfield were in court that day, too. Their husbands, Don and Elvis, died in the fire. The widows came to speak out against the government’s promise not to bring any future charges against Aracoma’s parent company, Massey Energy. It wasn’t the first time government officials went after Massey but settled for a deal with one of the Richmond, Va.-based coal giant’s subsidiaries or a low-level company staffer…“. The day when companies and big corporations will take their environmental responsibilities is yet to come.
Joseph Stiglitz is an American economist and a recipient of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences (2001). He writes in this month’s Vanity Fair about “how in our own democracy, 1 percent of the people take nearly a quarter of the nation’s income—an inequality even the wealthy will come to regret“. Inequality is a great problem and as always, Stiglitz finds the right words to explain the whys. “Some people look at income inequality and shrug their shoulders. So what if this person gains and that person loses? What matters, they argue, is not how the pie is divided but the size of the pie. That argument is fundamentally wrong. An economy in which most citizens are doing worse year after year—an economy like America’s—is not likely to do well over the long haul. There are several reasons for this…“
We read about the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant leak everyday since the earthquake. Japan is facing one of the world’s biggest nuclear crises and we have all the reasons to feel concerned. Kyodo News writes: Radioactive materials spread around northern hemisphere in 2 weeks. Things are simple and yet not reassuring at all as we speak of radioactive contamination lasting for decades if not more: “The organization runs 63 monitoring stations around the world, including one in Takasaki, Gunma Prefecture in Japan. The Takasaki station detected radioactive substances on March 12, followed by detection in eastern Russia on March 14 and in the west coast of the United States two days later. The radioactive materials then crossed the Atlantic and reached Iceland on March 22, it said. According to a simulation by a German research institute, a path of the radioactive materials involved moving from Fukushima to the United States on air currents before they were dispersed from northern Canada to the Arctic Sea to spread around the hemisphere.”
Beware, #Twitter and Facebook users! US terrorist attack warnings to be made on Twitter and Facebook. Get used to it, terror alerts will appear on Twitter and Facebook. Everything is explained on The Guardian: “Terror alerts may be broadcast on Twitter and Facebook only “when appropriate”, according to the hitherto top-secret document. Terror threats are made public only when members of Congress, various counter-terrorism officials, governors and mayors have been informed. The document even specifies how many minutes US officials can wait before organising urgent conference calls to discuss pending threats. The new advisory system is designed to be easier to understand and more specific. The present warning levels have been lampooned by comedians and criticised by TV broadcasters for being too vague and open to interpretation.”
When Did Girls Start Wearing Pink? This is a question I asked myself a long time ago. Why girls have to wear pink and boys blue? Since I don’t like pink that much, I always have a thought for little girls who have to wear pink. Hopefully I grew up during a ‘Gender-neutral clothing era‘. But everything has changed now and Jeanne Maglaty provides useful facts. “John Money, a sexual identity researcher at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, argued that gender was primarily learned through social and environmental cues. “This was one of the drivers back in the ’70s of the argument that it’s ‘nurture not nature,’ ” Paoletti says. Gender-neutral clothing remained popular until about 1985. Paoletti remembers that year distinctly because it was between the births of her children, a girl in ’82 and a boy in ’86. “All of a sudden it wasn’t just a blue overall; it was a blue overall with a teddy bear holding a football,” she says. Disposable diapers were manufactured in pink and blue.“
Talking about girls who may never have the chance to wear pink or blue or any other color. The Economist published: Gendercide in India – India’s sex ratio is getting worse. The trend can be reversed. The facts are there, chocking: “Parents choose to abort female fetuses not because they do not want or love their daughters, but because they feel they must have sons (usually for social reasons); they also want smaller families—and something has to give. Ultrasound technology ensures that this something is a generation of unborn daughters, because it lets them know the sex of a fetus…“
A wonderful news and a great lesson of courage: Joao Silva Doing Exceptional Following Major Reconstructive Surgery. The news was posted on the National Press Photographers Association website by Donald R. Winslow. “Photojournalist Joao Silva is doing exceptionally well this morning following extensive reconstructive surgery at the hands of three teams of specialized surgeons yesterday at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, DC, his boss New York Times assistant managing editor Michele McNally told News Photographer magazine this morning. In October 2010, war photographer Silva, 44, lost both legs when he stepped on a landmine while on patrol with American soldiers near Arghandab in southern Afghanistan. He also suffered extensive internal injuries in the blast…“
SCIENCE
Is it a new particle, or just a fluke? That’s a good question asked in this article posted on CNN: “The possible discovery at Tevatron is not a Higgs-like object, said Rob Roser, a scientist at Fermilab who works with Tevatron’s CDF particle detector experiment, where the new data came from. But that doesn’t rule out the potential new particle’s involvement in explaining mass, experts said. Physicists Estia Eichten, Kenneth Lane, and Adam Martin said the Tevatron findings may be evidence of a “technicolor” theory involving a brand new force leading to mass. The forces we know about are gravity, electromagnetism and the strong and weak nuclear forces — “technicolor” would add a fifth….” No Higgs-boson yet but some other interesting ‘things’ to come!
On the BBC website, we read: Kepler star trio find is mystery to astroseismologists. Why is the star unexpectedly quiet? Why doesn’t the red giant star pulsate? “The graceful dance between three stars seen by the Kepler telescope has drawn the attention of astronomers because it is not accompanied by a song. Most stars are known to generate great booming sounds in their interiors, and Kepler can spot the resulting change in the light that they emit. However, astronomers reporting in Science say a red giant they have spotted is unexpectedly quiet…“
Something some of you will appreciate for sure: Hubble has online resources for the blind and visually impaired. “Tactile astronomy: Making the Universe Touchable. This new section of Amazing Space features “Tactile Images of the Month” — a collection of the latest Hubble images that can be printed in a tactile format. The section opened in celebration of Hubble’s 20th Anniversary, in April, 2010…“. More information here!