Cool things I found this week (week 3)
Fascinating conversation about the making of 3-D movies & making the Hobbit with Peter Jackman:
Go ahead. Give it a watch. I know you want to!
Race in America:
"At the time, my son was eleven months old – on the cusp of trying out his first words. On an outing with him in his stroller through downtown, I saw a large crowd. I was told a KKK rally was being held at the Capitol building. Suddenly the two of us were swept into an anti-KKK demonstration moving swiftly up Main Street. Briefly I thought this must be a flashback – perhaps I had inadvertently time-travelled to an earlier ugly era.
But no, the Klansmen had assembled in their iconic white gowns and steepled hoods before the State House, staging their event in full view of the state's seat of legislative power. Policemen advised me to keep at a distance. Upon seeing the KKK's gowns, my son, perched high in his stroller, thought it an appropriate moment to attempt speech. His words were not the usual "cat," "dog," or "Mommy," but a marchers' chant.
"K-K-K, Go a-way!" he shouted.
It was a six-syllable rhyme as easy as a Dr. Seuss verse. He recited it for many days to come."
This is a beautifully written essay about the rarely discussed actual experience of race in America. The author's fondness for the book Black Like Me
shade this piece in unmistakable human sepia. -- White like me by Pricilla Hart (I can't find a link for her)
Stop waiting for Congress:
"And yet we keep waiting for Congress to come up with solutions to our problems. Right now, we’re waiting for them to do something to spur job growth. We’re waiting for a Super Committee to find at least $1.2 trillion in budget cuts. Many are waiting for the political Messiah to appear in the form of a Republican candidate.
We might as well be waiting for Godot.
To be fair, not everyone is merely waiting. Some are occupying public squares and parks. Or having tea parties. A large number of us are still voting. We’re trying to participate, but the problem is we’re doing all the same things we’ve always done and expecting different results." -- Stop waiting for Washington by Jim Sollish.
Ok, to be fair? I like this piece because of this line: "We might as well be waiting for Godot." And I like that line because I sat through an almost unbearably bad performance of Waiting for Godot to support a family-less client when I was a psychotherapist. And, I think he has some interesting ideas. I don't love his solutions, but I agree with the assessment of the problem.
Bad Lip Reading : An interview
These videos are some of the funniest things on the web. And no one knows who makes them. Click here to read an interview with the creator.
Don't know what I'm talking about? Check this one out:
"When I buy stickers for folks in prison, I bring milk and not backyard meth. It's a prison party."
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