Top models from around the world had an opportunity to have their say in Vogue's April, 2020 issue. Kaia Gerber from the United States, who has over five million Instagram followers, noted, "When you have a big platform, it seems irresponsible not to use it for good."
What models have to say on every subject lacks credibility, but in some areas they are experts. Liu Wen from China observed fashion is a subject that draws people from everywhere together for a creative cultural exchange. And all people should see themselves represented, said the UK's Fran Summers, who has seen a shift from what used to be one stereotype of a beautiful woman. Ugbad Abdi, the model who first wore an Islamic hijab on the cover of Vogue, agrees.
Although models, like professional basketball players, are taller than average women and men, there is neither one type of Brazilian beauty, says Kerolyn Soares from Sao Paulo, nor one type of black beauty, adds Anok Yai, who was born in Egypt. At age 37, Taiwan's Gia Tang also counters the idea that all models must be younger. Jill Kortleve, a Surinamese-Dutch model with tatoos, who stopped trying to exist on one banana a day, now books runway appearances in her body's normal size. Paloma Elsesser from the United States, a curvy, larger model of color, claims "a whole new guard of image-makers" exists. Latinx model, Krim Hernandez from Mexico, hopes the growing acceptance of inclusive images can lead to a broader acceptance of diversity in general.
Models also possess credibility to speak on subjects besides fashion and how the media represents women. Growing up in a refugee camp in Kenya and later in Australia, South Sudanese-born Adut Akech advocates for the rights of displaced refugees and the needs of those who suffered losses in Australia's bushfires. Speaking with a distinctive gap in her two front teeth reminiscent of model Lauren Hutton's pioneering look, Ms. Akech simply reports she is doing and saying what she knows best. What Adesuwa Aighewi knows best are authentic products from artisans in her West African, East Asian, and Southeast Asian heritage. She knows kitenge textiles featuring traditional African patterns are made in China. Ros Georgiou, a model born in Greece, is using her backstage access at runway shows to learn photography and to become a director. From her base in Milan, Italy, Villoria Cerelli applauds the new respect and opportunity she sees being accorded young photographers, hair stylists and makeup artists.
For Mariam de Vinzelle from France, modeling is a diversion, a hobby. Since she is currently an engineering student, in the future she expects to speak with authority outside the fashion field. India's Pooja Mor already speaks with authority on the Buddhist and Taoist principles of the Falun Gong spiritual practice that grounds people in peace and happiness.
During Vogue's round-the-world fashion shoot, although all models wore some form of the universal fabric, denim, no one expressed the fashion industry's concern for sustainability: landfills bulging with discarded clothing, recycling and the global water shortage. The fact is, blue jean manufacturers recognize the need to reduce the 500 to 1800 gallons of water needed to grow, dye, and process cotton for one pair of jeans and often to use additional water to prewash or stonewash denim. Even though Demna Gvasalia is the creator director of the venerable fashion house, Balenciaga, the hardships he experienced as a refugee from the Georgia that was part of the Soviet Union influence his attention to sustainability and global sociopolitics. In the March, 2020, issue of Vogue, Mr. Gvasalia discussed his use of upcycled and repurposed denim, questioned how much value to place on material items, and suggested falling in love improves productivity.
There always is a cause waiting for young people to attract attention to a cure on platforms that reach one friend, their family, a scout leader, teacher, coach, dance class....
Showing posts with label France. Show all posts
Showing posts with label France. Show all posts
Saturday, March 28, 2020
Thursday, September 20, 2018
China Feels Winds of Change
Not only has the US President tired of China's theft of intellectual property and lopsided trade balance, but Malaysia's new 93-year-old prime minister, Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, is fed up with loans for Beijing's worldwide Belt and Road Initiative. Labeling China's project "new colonialism," Dr. Mohamad traveled to Beijing to cancel the previous Malaysian government's agreement to finance a rail line and two pipelines for an inflated $20 billion (China may, however, have a way to regain these contracts, if Beijing turns over Jho Low, who was the mastermind of a financial scam in Malaysia). Sierra Leone's new president, Julius Maada Bio, also told China it canceled the previous administration's contract to build a new airport, since the existing one is underutilized.
Despite heavy Chinese spending in support of Abdulla Yameen in the Maldives, the atolls that occupy a key position to monitor trade in the Indian Ocean, Ibrahim Mohamed Solih won a surprise victory in that country's September, 2018 presidential election.
Chinese citizens also were none too happy in September, 2018, when they learned President Xi Jinping, at a meeting of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, committed another $60 billion to 53 African countries after committing $60 billion in 2015. Censors quickly removed social media criticism that claimed loans would not be repaid and aid was needed for domestic projects.
China's unabashed interest in Africa's mineral commodities and growing market is arousing dormant European competition. Following his trip to China to inquire about funding for infrastructure projects, President Buhari of Nigeria received visits by French President, Emmanuel Macron, Germany's Chancellor, Angela Merkel, and British prime minister, Theresa May. It was Mrs. May's first trip to former British colonies in five years.
At home, Tiananmen Square did not end demonstrations in China in 1989. Labeled "picking quarrels and causing trouble," "public-order disturbances," strikes by workers in factories and service industries, or just plain incidents, the Communist Party still tries to tamp out what it considers threats to peace and security by arresting demonstrators and those who post social media information about the protests. Despite these government crack downs, protests continue. In 2016, for example, parents of dead children, whose only children were born during the era of China's one-child policy, took to the streets in Beijing. This year, parents protested a local government's decision to transfer children from nearby schools to distant ones. Whether land is seized by local officials, soldiers demand higher pensions, or a minority wants to practice religion, state controls continue to spark tensions.
China fears large movements, such as members with loyalties to international trade union organizations or religions (Muslim, Buddhist, Shinto, or Christian). The government is wary of any large gathering. Security keeps visitors out of Hongya, the Dalai Lama's birthplace in March, when in 1959, a demonstration against Chinese rule in Tibet led to the Dalai Lama's exile and the dissolution of his government there. During the 19th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party in Beijing, police canceled the Norlha Basketball Invitational tournament in China's Tibetan region. The Public Security Bureau feared the large crowd of spectators the tournament would attract in the Dalai Lama's former domain. (Also see the later posts, "Challenging Chinese New Year" and "Playgrounds Welcome March Basketball.")
Despite heavy Chinese spending in support of Abdulla Yameen in the Maldives, the atolls that occupy a key position to monitor trade in the Indian Ocean, Ibrahim Mohamed Solih won a surprise victory in that country's September, 2018 presidential election.
Chinese citizens also were none too happy in September, 2018, when they learned President Xi Jinping, at a meeting of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, committed another $60 billion to 53 African countries after committing $60 billion in 2015. Censors quickly removed social media criticism that claimed loans would not be repaid and aid was needed for domestic projects.
China's unabashed interest in Africa's mineral commodities and growing market is arousing dormant European competition. Following his trip to China to inquire about funding for infrastructure projects, President Buhari of Nigeria received visits by French President, Emmanuel Macron, Germany's Chancellor, Angela Merkel, and British prime minister, Theresa May. It was Mrs. May's first trip to former British colonies in five years.
At home, Tiananmen Square did not end demonstrations in China in 1989. Labeled "picking quarrels and causing trouble," "public-order disturbances," strikes by workers in factories and service industries, or just plain incidents, the Communist Party still tries to tamp out what it considers threats to peace and security by arresting demonstrators and those who post social media information about the protests. Despite these government crack downs, protests continue. In 2016, for example, parents of dead children, whose only children were born during the era of China's one-child policy, took to the streets in Beijing. This year, parents protested a local government's decision to transfer children from nearby schools to distant ones. Whether land is seized by local officials, soldiers demand higher pensions, or a minority wants to practice religion, state controls continue to spark tensions.
China fears large movements, such as members with loyalties to international trade union organizations or religions (Muslim, Buddhist, Shinto, or Christian). The government is wary of any large gathering. Security keeps visitors out of Hongya, the Dalai Lama's birthplace in March, when in 1959, a demonstration against Chinese rule in Tibet led to the Dalai Lama's exile and the dissolution of his government there. During the 19th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party in Beijing, police canceled the Norlha Basketball Invitational tournament in China's Tibetan region. The Public Security Bureau feared the large crowd of spectators the tournament would attract in the Dalai Lama's former domain. (Also see the later posts, "Challenging Chinese New Year" and "Playgrounds Welcome March Basketball.")
Wednesday, September 19, 2018
Globalization's Impact on Fashion
Hard to believe in times past fashion confined itself to separate French, Italian, and US markets rather than to today's cross-cultural global industry. Even when Vogue magazine has separate international editions in Arabic and for Latin America, Poland, and the Czech Republic, Vogue's original edition features a global array of designers and models, such as Somali-American Halima Aden, the Tanzanian-Norwegian twins Martine and Gunnhild Chioko, and Grace Bol from South Sudan.
Although global e-commerce, references to no borders or boundaries, diversity, and presentations in exotic locations seem to be the mode, a former culture minister in Italy observed, "a globalized world puts greater value on the distinctions and sense of identity...." Brands with strong national identities, like Chanel and Burberry, do not shy away from projecting their heritage and point-of-view in the global marketplace. At Chanel, Hamburg's Karl Lagerfeld insured the future of the Lesage embroidery house. Japanese designer, Jun Takahashi, admits his inspiration from the British punk rock youth culture.
Fashion will always search for what is new and different. Flappers cast off their constrictive undergarments to Charleston in short shifts that could move. Dior fashioned voluminous skirts to signal the end of fabric rationing in World War II. The man who put on a Lumumba University
T-shirt to work out in CIA's gym wanted the attention he received.
Today, creating an individual identity is easy. Simply incorporate a touch of another country's culture. I treasure an African "gold" necklace of straw and wax a friend brought me from Mali. On my coffee table, guests can pick up and examine the carved wooden sling shot I found at a bazaar sponsored by West African missionaries. Add stuffed dates and rice wrapped in grape leaves to your dinner menu. And when you browse through mail order magazines from a museum (store.metmuseum.org) or a nonprofit (unicefmarket.org/catalog), look for foreign items for yourself and for holiday gifts that might introduce children and older friends to a new culture and distinctive identity.
Although global e-commerce, references to no borders or boundaries, diversity, and presentations in exotic locations seem to be the mode, a former culture minister in Italy observed, "a globalized world puts greater value on the distinctions and sense of identity...." Brands with strong national identities, like Chanel and Burberry, do not shy away from projecting their heritage and point-of-view in the global marketplace. At Chanel, Hamburg's Karl Lagerfeld insured the future of the Lesage embroidery house. Japanese designer, Jun Takahashi, admits his inspiration from the British punk rock youth culture.
Fashion will always search for what is new and different. Flappers cast off their constrictive undergarments to Charleston in short shifts that could move. Dior fashioned voluminous skirts to signal the end of fabric rationing in World War II. The man who put on a Lumumba University
T-shirt to work out in CIA's gym wanted the attention he received.
Today, creating an individual identity is easy. Simply incorporate a touch of another country's culture. I treasure an African "gold" necklace of straw and wax a friend brought me from Mali. On my coffee table, guests can pick up and examine the carved wooden sling shot I found at a bazaar sponsored by West African missionaries. Add stuffed dates and rice wrapped in grape leaves to your dinner menu. And when you browse through mail order magazines from a museum (store.metmuseum.org) or a nonprofit (unicefmarket.org/catalog), look for foreign items for yourself and for holiday gifts that might introduce children and older friends to a new culture and distinctive identity.
Sunday, September 16, 2018
Refugees at Work
Not all 68.5 million migrants identified by the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) live in camps. In the US, for example, asylum seekers can receive work permits, if their cases are not resolved in 180 days. In July, 2018, one asylum seeker from Sudan was given a court date in 2021.
What do refugees do while they are in limbo? Some drive cabs or work in nursing homes. But refugees who fled a civil war in Ethiopia mobilized family members to bring their home town food-associated hospitality to a restaurant they opened in Washington, DC. Creative employers, such as the Palestinian and Yemen business partners, Nas Jab and Jabber Nasser al Bihani, look for asylum seekers who have skills they can employ. That way, they found chefs for their Komeeda restaurants in New York, NY; Austin, Texas; and Washington, DC.
The UNHCR adopted an idea from a French catering company, Les Cuistots Migrateurs, that organized a festival to attract immigrant chefs for restaurants in Paris, Lyon, Madrid, and Rome. UNHCR-sponsored festivals have led to numerous international dining experiences.
What do refugees do while they are in limbo? Some drive cabs or work in nursing homes. But refugees who fled a civil war in Ethiopia mobilized family members to bring their home town food-associated hospitality to a restaurant they opened in Washington, DC. Creative employers, such as the Palestinian and Yemen business partners, Nas Jab and Jabber Nasser al Bihani, look for asylum seekers who have skills they can employ. That way, they found chefs for their Komeeda restaurants in New York, NY; Austin, Texas; and Washington, DC.
The UNHCR adopted an idea from a French catering company, Les Cuistots Migrateurs, that organized a festival to attract immigrant chefs for restaurants in Paris, Lyon, Madrid, and Rome. UNHCR-sponsored festivals have led to numerous international dining experiences.
- Women cook native dishes at Mazi Mas in London.
- Home cooking from Syria is on the menu at the New Arrival Super Club in Los Angeles.
- Detroit is opening Baobab Fare, a Burundian restaurant and market.
- The Sushioki chain in Durhan, North Carolina, advertises the cooking of refugee chefs.
Thursday, June 21, 2018
The Perfect Test
Ask students to write five questions on a unit. Then, have them exchange papers and answer each other's questions. When did they discover?
There are many aspects to writing test questions.
- What is a test trying to determine?
- How accurately does a test measure what it wants to determine?
- How will the test taker interpret the questions?
- How easy is it to take the test?
- How easy is it to grade the test?
- How easy is it to cheat on the test?
Have you ever thought about making a career out of developing tests?
Essay tests on literature are more difficult to take than math tests, but they are a better measure of understanding the subject than selecting multiple choice options, for example. True or false, yes or no, and matching columns are easy tests to take and grade, but there are many cases where they are not an accurate measure of what you might be trying to determine, and they can make cheating easy, too. Flash the student next to you three fingers, and they can give you a sign for true or yes on question three.
Besides pencil and paper tests, there are many other types of assessments. Before elections, telephone survey questions are popular. Thermometers take temperatures, barometers measure pressure, and stopwatches time speed. Sensors in fields tell when and where crops need water. Lie detectors catch criminals as do other crime solving forensics.
I was reading a scientific research paper a student intern helped write, when I started thinking about test-making careers. Listed in the paper were the kits, such as a "Fine Science Tools Sample Corer," Item No. 18035-02 from Foster City, CA, USA, that companies develop to help scientists anywhere in the world make standardized measurements. The previous post, "Lyme Aid," and the earlier post, "Teens Find Drought and Zika Remedies," talk about the need to develop more medical tests.
Floyd Landis knows all about the testing kits that already exist. He is the former cycling teammate of Lance Armstrong, who gave Landis his first testosterone patches and introduced him to boosting energizing, oxygen-carrying red blood cells through the process of doping. With these physiological enhancements, Landis set a spectacular time cycling through Stage 17 on the French mountains to win the Tour de France the year after Armstrong retired. His victory was short lived. When he failed the drug test that showed synthetic testosterone in his urine, he was stripped of his title, lost his home and wife, and repaid donors almost a half million dollars.
Landis suspects testing has not caught up with the latest ways cyclists compromise the sport. Some, supposedly clean racers still set the time he made while using unauthorized measures on Stage 17. Investigations in the UK, for example, continue to find abuses of the Therapeutic Use Exemption system that permits athletes to take banned drugs for medical conditions.
Of course, athletes and students aren't the only ones who try to game the testing system. Teachers who knew their evaluations depended on the grades their student achieved on standardized tests were caught erasing wrong answers and substituting correct ones on their students' tests. After Volkswagen violated the US Clean Air Law by using a computer code to cheat on emissions tests, the company paid a $25 billion penalty.
Well aware that doping, match-fixing, and other abuses have plagued former Olympic Games, France has launched "Compliance 2024," a group formed to establish new laws, practices, and norms to promote transparency and accountability to govern the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. Such a group emphasizes opportunities for international careers in the test-making business. The perfect test is yet to be developed.
(Answers to test in later post, "Help for Human Rights:" 1.C, 2.D, 3.B, 4.H, 5.A, 6.E His troops were short on amo, 7.G, 8.F)
(Answers to test in later post, "Help for Human Rights:" 1.C, 2.D, 3.B, 4.H, 5.A, 6.E His troops were short on amo, 7.G, 8.F)
Saturday, May 19, 2018
Peaceful Matchmakers
Can the marriage of Meghan Markle from the United States and Prince Harry of Britain revive matchmaking for peace? Perhaps their romance was inspired by the marriage between King Seretse Khama, Botswana's first president, and his British wife, Ruth Williams, the love story told in the film, "A United Kingdom." It is said, on Meghan's and Harry's trip to Botswana, they got to know each other, and rumors speculate the country is their honeymoon destination.
In earlier centuries, monarchs adeptly used strategic marriages to achieve peace. In the 12th century, Henry II of England picked up French Aquitaine by marrying Eleanor, not by going to war. And Sicily's heiress, Constance, joined the Hohenstaufen dynasty's holdings by marrying a German Henry.
By the 15th century, Henry VII, the first Tudor King of England, arranged his son Arthur's marriage to Catherine, the daughter of Spanish monarchs, Ferdinand and Isabella. His daughter Margaret was married to King James IV of Scotland, which led to a joint crown for Britain and Scotland in the 17th century.
By 2020, China expects to have more well-educated women than better-educated men willing to marry them. Could these demographics offer an opportunity for new peaceful alliances?
In earlier centuries, monarchs adeptly used strategic marriages to achieve peace. In the 12th century, Henry II of England picked up French Aquitaine by marrying Eleanor, not by going to war. And Sicily's heiress, Constance, joined the Hohenstaufen dynasty's holdings by marrying a German Henry.
By the 15th century, Henry VII, the first Tudor King of England, arranged his son Arthur's marriage to Catherine, the daughter of Spanish monarchs, Ferdinand and Isabella. His daughter Margaret was married to King James IV of Scotland, which led to a joint crown for Britain and Scotland in the 17th century.
By 2020, China expects to have more well-educated women than better-educated men willing to marry them. Could these demographics offer an opportunity for new peaceful alliances?
Tuesday, February 6, 2018
February's International Film Festival
One of the most pleasant ways to learn about a country is to go to a movie made in or about somewhere you don't live. When Oscar nominations for short and feature films are announced, it's time to start looking for theatres that show them, because many of these potential Academy Award winners have an international connection.
This year, in the animated shorts category, South Africa presents Revolting Rhymes based on Ronald Dahl's dark spin on fairy tales. One French short, Negative Space, shows a sad relationship between father and son can exist in any culture, and, in another French short, two amphibians explore a deserted mansion. These shorts are shown together with two U.S. films: the Pixar short, Lou, that ran before Cars and Kobe Bryant's retirement letter, Dear Basketball.
Since the live action shorts nominated for Oscars often portray news events, they can be a pleasant way to see both uplifting and unpleasant aspects of a country. Watu Wote (All of Us) shows how Muslims risked their lives to protect the Christians riding on a bus with them, when Islamic terrorists attacked in Kenya. The British short, The Silent Child, introduces the social worker who taught a deaf 4-year-old girl the sign language that enabled her to come out of the shadows and be included in family conversations. Two U.S. entries cover a school shooting in Atlanta titled DeKalb Elementary and My Nephew Emmett based on the 1955 racist murder of Emmett Till. Australian humor is on display in The Eleven O'Clock, a short about an appointment between a psychiatrist and patient that try to treat each other.
Families already may have seen the animated feature, Coco, which has a Mexican theme depicting how a death in the family shouldn't end memories of a relative. Loving Vincent probably won't have wide distribution, but if young people have a chance to see this Polish-British feature, it might be their only time to see a movie where each frame about Vincent Van Gogh is made by an oil painting. Since Angelina Jolie produced The Breadwinner, this animated feature likely has wider distribution. It shows how an 11-year-old girl disguised herself as a boy to grow up with more opportunities under the Taliban in Afghanistan.
Although too advanced to be appropriate or understood by young people, the live action foreign language films nominated for Academy Awards provide adults with points of view from Chile (A Fantastic Woman), Lebanon (The Insult), Russia (Loveless), Hungary (On Body and Soul), and Sweden (The Square).
Oscar winners will be announced on Sunday, March 4, 2018.
This year, in the animated shorts category, South Africa presents Revolting Rhymes based on Ronald Dahl's dark spin on fairy tales. One French short, Negative Space, shows a sad relationship between father and son can exist in any culture, and, in another French short, two amphibians explore a deserted mansion. These shorts are shown together with two U.S. films: the Pixar short, Lou, that ran before Cars and Kobe Bryant's retirement letter, Dear Basketball.
Since the live action shorts nominated for Oscars often portray news events, they can be a pleasant way to see both uplifting and unpleasant aspects of a country. Watu Wote (All of Us) shows how Muslims risked their lives to protect the Christians riding on a bus with them, when Islamic terrorists attacked in Kenya. The British short, The Silent Child, introduces the social worker who taught a deaf 4-year-old girl the sign language that enabled her to come out of the shadows and be included in family conversations. Two U.S. entries cover a school shooting in Atlanta titled DeKalb Elementary and My Nephew Emmett based on the 1955 racist murder of Emmett Till. Australian humor is on display in The Eleven O'Clock, a short about an appointment between a psychiatrist and patient that try to treat each other.
Families already may have seen the animated feature, Coco, which has a Mexican theme depicting how a death in the family shouldn't end memories of a relative. Loving Vincent probably won't have wide distribution, but if young people have a chance to see this Polish-British feature, it might be their only time to see a movie where each frame about Vincent Van Gogh is made by an oil painting. Since Angelina Jolie produced The Breadwinner, this animated feature likely has wider distribution. It shows how an 11-year-old girl disguised herself as a boy to grow up with more opportunities under the Taliban in Afghanistan.
Although too advanced to be appropriate or understood by young people, the live action foreign language films nominated for Academy Awards provide adults with points of view from Chile (A Fantastic Woman), Lebanon (The Insult), Russia (Loveless), Hungary (On Body and Soul), and Sweden (The Square).
Oscar winners will be announced on Sunday, March 4, 2018.
Sunday, August 13, 2017
Fun is the Purpose of Education?
Education is designed to "get such fun out of thinking that (you) don't want to destroy this most pleasant machine that makes life such a big kick." Nobel Prize-winning physicist Richard Feynman, gave this as a reason why he didn't drink or experiment with LSD. Not only did Feynman find thinking about physics fun, but, when he went to Brazil, he found thinking about how to play a frigideira (small metal frying pan you beat with a little metal stick) so much fun he practiced over and over. A marching band chose him to play in their Carnaval parade.
Now, how do schools fail to help students fulfill the purpose of education? From Brazil to the United States to Myanmar, the answer is the same. They foster rote memory and exams. Feynman found Brazilian students could recite, "Triboluminescence is the light emitted when crystals are crushed." But they never went into a darkened room with a lump of sugar and crushed it with a hammer to see a bluish flash.
Before they can start helping students discover answers, a large percentage of teachers find they have students who come to school poor; hungry; tragically behind in their age's grade level; unhappy with their home life, appearance, and lack of friends; suffering from traumas of war, dislocation in refugee camps, and rape; and without support from family members facing the same problems. Sales reps are told they shouldn't try to make a sale, if their customers are distraught about something. First, they have to let their customers get the trouble out of their systems. The same advice applies to teachers trying to "sell" the joy of thinking.
Nicolas Barre faced the same situation trying to teach in 17th century France, when students and their families were suffering from the effects of the Franco-Spanish War and a plague. Teachers trained at the Pyinya Sanyae Institute of Education (PSIE) in Yangon, Myanmar, have adopted Barre's method of speaking in a "humble, gentle, and simple manner so even the youngest can understand and teaching only what they themselves have adequately grasped." He did not say buy textbooks, manuals, worksheets, and standardized tests sold to suck every bit of creativity and individuality out of classrooms.
PSIE courses train teachers in English, math, history, science, music, literature, the environment, and art. An art therapist from Ireland imparts her experience working with children in Belfast. Teachers learn to treat each child as special and loved, to celebrate each child's birthday, and to help wise and knowing children think, discover, imagine, and act with integrity.
The idea of competency-based learning is challenging the idea of plunging a class past a failure to master and apply content and skills in order to cover a scheduled list of topics. Competency-based learning also recognizes: 1) some students move ahead and lag behind the pace of a class as a whole, 2) students show mastery in different ways, and 3) evaluating competency requires different measures for different students.
Not only teachers and students need to buy into a difficult competency-based program, but so do parents and guardians, especially when their children are placed in remedial classes or not tapped for gifted programs or allowed to skip a grade. At a time when employers have trouble filling existing positions for skilled labor, much less for future positions involving artificial intelligence, 3D printing, programming, robotics, and the Internet of Things; when college graduates are starting their own businesses; and when the good union jobs of the past have disappeared, the social stigma of being held back in a class or grade is less important than mastering basic reading, math, writing, and speaking skills. Or discovering there can be joy in thinking.
Now, how do schools fail to help students fulfill the purpose of education? From Brazil to the United States to Myanmar, the answer is the same. They foster rote memory and exams. Feynman found Brazilian students could recite, "Triboluminescence is the light emitted when crystals are crushed." But they never went into a darkened room with a lump of sugar and crushed it with a hammer to see a bluish flash.
Before they can start helping students discover answers, a large percentage of teachers find they have students who come to school poor; hungry; tragically behind in their age's grade level; unhappy with their home life, appearance, and lack of friends; suffering from traumas of war, dislocation in refugee camps, and rape; and without support from family members facing the same problems. Sales reps are told they shouldn't try to make a sale, if their customers are distraught about something. First, they have to let their customers get the trouble out of their systems. The same advice applies to teachers trying to "sell" the joy of thinking.
Nicolas Barre faced the same situation trying to teach in 17th century France, when students and their families were suffering from the effects of the Franco-Spanish War and a plague. Teachers trained at the Pyinya Sanyae Institute of Education (PSIE) in Yangon, Myanmar, have adopted Barre's method of speaking in a "humble, gentle, and simple manner so even the youngest can understand and teaching only what they themselves have adequately grasped." He did not say buy textbooks, manuals, worksheets, and standardized tests sold to suck every bit of creativity and individuality out of classrooms.
PSIE courses train teachers in English, math, history, science, music, literature, the environment, and art. An art therapist from Ireland imparts her experience working with children in Belfast. Teachers learn to treat each child as special and loved, to celebrate each child's birthday, and to help wise and knowing children think, discover, imagine, and act with integrity.
The idea of competency-based learning is challenging the idea of plunging a class past a failure to master and apply content and skills in order to cover a scheduled list of topics. Competency-based learning also recognizes: 1) some students move ahead and lag behind the pace of a class as a whole, 2) students show mastery in different ways, and 3) evaluating competency requires different measures for different students.
Not only teachers and students need to buy into a difficult competency-based program, but so do parents and guardians, especially when their children are placed in remedial classes or not tapped for gifted programs or allowed to skip a grade. At a time when employers have trouble filling existing positions for skilled labor, much less for future positions involving artificial intelligence, 3D printing, programming, robotics, and the Internet of Things; when college graduates are starting their own businesses; and when the good union jobs of the past have disappeared, the social stigma of being held back in a class or grade is less important than mastering basic reading, math, writing, and speaking skills. Or discovering there can be joy in thinking.
Monday, February 13, 2017
Oscar Nominations Enlighten the World
This year's Oscar nominations for live action short films provide a view of France, Denmark, Hungary, Spain, and Switzerland that is both particular to those countries and inspiring to countries throughout the world.
In Ennemis Interieurs (Enemies Within) and Silent Nights we see French concern for residents from Algeria who might be terrorists and a man from Ghana who finds in Denmark abuse from local and Arab neighbors rather than the income he expected to send to his family back in Africa. In both cases disillusioned men do things they never intended, and we wonder if their new countries could have acted differently to prevent these outcomes.
Sing from Hungary won the Oscar in this category on February 26, 2017. This film tells the story of a friendly elementary school girl with a heart and a new girl who is told by the chorus director to just mime the words to songs because she doesn't have a good voice. By convincing all the children in the chorus to mime the words to every song at a competition, the two clever girls undermine the director who they consider unfair. Children everywhere in the world could benefit from seeing how to treat new kids in their schools and how they can work together to right an injustice.
Spain's Timecode gives hope to everyone who has ever had a boring job. After his shift as a security guard who watches the cameras that keep an eye on a garage parking lot, he uses the whole garage as a dance floor to practice his moves. The woman who takes over after him sees his performance and decides to do her own routine for the cameras. After the male security guard sees her dancing, they join up for a duet that the manager sees when he is introducing a new guard to the job. The film ends with the new employee telling the manager, "I don't know how to dance."
A woman's daily gesture of waving a Swiss flag at a passing TGV train before she rides her bicycle to her pastry shop leads to an exchange of messages and gifts of cheese between the woman and the train's engineer in La Femme et le TGV. You never know where simple gestures might lead.
In Ennemis Interieurs (Enemies Within) and Silent Nights we see French concern for residents from Algeria who might be terrorists and a man from Ghana who finds in Denmark abuse from local and Arab neighbors rather than the income he expected to send to his family back in Africa. In both cases disillusioned men do things they never intended, and we wonder if their new countries could have acted differently to prevent these outcomes.
Sing from Hungary won the Oscar in this category on February 26, 2017. This film tells the story of a friendly elementary school girl with a heart and a new girl who is told by the chorus director to just mime the words to songs because she doesn't have a good voice. By convincing all the children in the chorus to mime the words to every song at a competition, the two clever girls undermine the director who they consider unfair. Children everywhere in the world could benefit from seeing how to treat new kids in their schools and how they can work together to right an injustice.
Spain's Timecode gives hope to everyone who has ever had a boring job. After his shift as a security guard who watches the cameras that keep an eye on a garage parking lot, he uses the whole garage as a dance floor to practice his moves. The woman who takes over after him sees his performance and decides to do her own routine for the cameras. After the male security guard sees her dancing, they join up for a duet that the manager sees when he is introducing a new guard to the job. The film ends with the new employee telling the manager, "I don't know how to dance."
A woman's daily gesture of waving a Swiss flag at a passing TGV train before she rides her bicycle to her pastry shop leads to an exchange of messages and gifts of cheese between the woman and the train's engineer in La Femme et le TGV. You never know where simple gestures might lead.
Friday, August 12, 2016
Empower Yourself: Know Your Enemy
When facing a bully, an unfair teacher or police officer, an angry parent or one who ignores you, a potential employer, or a terrorist group, what is the natural reaction? Cower in a corner, plot revenge, accept the enemy's position and join the opposition?
Only by understanding an enemy can you gain confidence in tailoring an effective approach to each situation. Bill Gates was said to know more about his competitors' products than his competitors did. One size does not fit all, when dealing with enemies.
In his book, Playing to the Edge, Michael V. Hayden, who headed two U.S. intelligence agencies, explained the MICE system for recruiting spies. Those close to enemy leaders who are willing to betray their countries are not motivated by one thing. Some want Money; some share your Ideology; some are Compromised because they are about to be exposed for something they did; and some who have a huge Ego feel they aren't appreciated. Different motivations require different approaches.
U.S. President Lyndon Johnson knew exactly what each member of the U.S. Senate wanted (a bridge in his home state, a trip to Europe with his wife, a certain committee assignment), when he was Senate majority leader. On the other hand, his failure to understand the motivation of Vietnam's revolutionary leader had dire consequences,
Wednesday Marten gained the results she wanted, when she decided to study the social elite who were ignoring her on New York City's upper East Side. She wrote in Primates of Park Avenue how her study enabled her to join Manhattan's high society. Victims of bullying might benefit by studying popular kids.
Without an understanding of an enemy's culture, however, Michael Morell, a former director at the Central Intelligence Agency, pointed out in the New York Times Opinion section (August 5, 2016) how easy it is to fall into an enemy's trap. Those ignorant of the point of view of Muslim extremists who see themselves engaged in a holy religious war against the secular West live up to this enemy stereotype with every anti-Muslim position they take and every anti-Muslim statement they make. If the enemy likes what you are doing, he may compliment you and you will keep on doing his bidding. What does a young man do, if a gang leader compliments him for killing a rival gang member?
By putting together bits and pieces of the present, it even is possible to understand good and bad futures before they occur. In his book, Submission, Michel Houellebecq anticipates how an Islamic party would go about winning an election and imposing Islamic law in France. Such knowledge, actually any knowledge about an enemy, really is power.
(The idea of understanding an enemy also is discussed in the earlier blog post, "Fight, Flight, or Something Else.")
Only by understanding an enemy can you gain confidence in tailoring an effective approach to each situation. Bill Gates was said to know more about his competitors' products than his competitors did. One size does not fit all, when dealing with enemies.
In his book, Playing to the Edge, Michael V. Hayden, who headed two U.S. intelligence agencies, explained the MICE system for recruiting spies. Those close to enemy leaders who are willing to betray their countries are not motivated by one thing. Some want Money; some share your Ideology; some are Compromised because they are about to be exposed for something they did; and some who have a huge Ego feel they aren't appreciated. Different motivations require different approaches.
U.S. President Lyndon Johnson knew exactly what each member of the U.S. Senate wanted (a bridge in his home state, a trip to Europe with his wife, a certain committee assignment), when he was Senate majority leader. On the other hand, his failure to understand the motivation of Vietnam's revolutionary leader had dire consequences,
Wednesday Marten gained the results she wanted, when she decided to study the social elite who were ignoring her on New York City's upper East Side. She wrote in Primates of Park Avenue how her study enabled her to join Manhattan's high society. Victims of bullying might benefit by studying popular kids.
Without an understanding of an enemy's culture, however, Michael Morell, a former director at the Central Intelligence Agency, pointed out in the New York Times Opinion section (August 5, 2016) how easy it is to fall into an enemy's trap. Those ignorant of the point of view of Muslim extremists who see themselves engaged in a holy religious war against the secular West live up to this enemy stereotype with every anti-Muslim position they take and every anti-Muslim statement they make. If the enemy likes what you are doing, he may compliment you and you will keep on doing his bidding. What does a young man do, if a gang leader compliments him for killing a rival gang member?
By putting together bits and pieces of the present, it even is possible to understand good and bad futures before they occur. In his book, Submission, Michel Houellebecq anticipates how an Islamic party would go about winning an election and imposing Islamic law in France. Such knowledge, actually any knowledge about an enemy, really is power.
(The idea of understanding an enemy also is discussed in the earlier blog post, "Fight, Flight, or Something Else.")
Friday, July 29, 2016
Muslim Perspective: Part 2 of a 3-Part Series
In a continuing effort to learn more about the Muslim perspective, the second part of a 3-part series follows:
After defeating Napoleon, England was not willing to stand by while massacres and atrocities by Turkish oppressors in the Ottoman Empire led to revolts that gave outside powers reason to intervene. France's Emperor Napoleon III and the Russian Tsar both vied to protect Christians living under Turkish rule. Tsar Nicholas I, who called the Ottoman Empire's Sultan the "sick man of the East," was intent on liberating fellow Slavs in Bulgaria and other Balkan areas that the Turks controlled. The Austro-Hungarian Empire, which also saw an opportunity to expand into the Balkans, annexed Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1908. Britain had no interest in the Balkans, but London was determined to prevent Russia from interfering with its profitable spice trade in India and, eventually, its access to Middle Eastern oil. Knowing that revolutions in 1848 had weakened both Austria's and Hungary's ability to prevent Russian expansion toward Constantinople and the Dardanelle Straits, Britain was willing to prop up Turkey and to join France in what became known as the 1856 Crimean War.
Although the Ottoman Empire survived the Crimean War, a little over 20 years later, Russia forced the Sultan to recognize the independence of his Balkan possessions in Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia, and Montenegro. The Ottoman Empire's North African territories were victims of the European scramble for colonies in the late 19th century. France claimed Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco and, by 1869, opened Egypt's Suez Canal.
Britain, which viewed France as its major colonial rival in Africa, saw the canal as a vital link to India. When Egypt's Turkish ruler needed funds to pay interest on the European loans that had financed canal construction, England eagerly bought shares in the Suez Canal Company. As a result of Britain's financial interests, Egypt became a British Protectorate in 1882. Throughout half of the 20th century, Great Britain continued to maintain a strategic military base in the Suez Canal Zone.
During World War I, Britain captured Palestine, Iraq, and Iran. It was in 1917 that Lord Balfour, Britain's foreign minister, first raised the possibility of carving an Israeli state, what he called "a small notch," out of Palestine. By making Palestine a British Mandate on September 11, 1932, the League of Nations took the first step to implement Lord Balfour's plan. After World War I, the UK also won League of Nations support in its dispute over the Mosul oil fields in northern Iraq, but England's position in the Middle East deteriorated following World War II. In 1951, Iran's government nationalized the joint Anglo-Iranian oil company on the Persian Gulf at Abadan.
After defeating Napoleon, England was not willing to stand by while massacres and atrocities by Turkish oppressors in the Ottoman Empire led to revolts that gave outside powers reason to intervene. France's Emperor Napoleon III and the Russian Tsar both vied to protect Christians living under Turkish rule. Tsar Nicholas I, who called the Ottoman Empire's Sultan the "sick man of the East," was intent on liberating fellow Slavs in Bulgaria and other Balkan areas that the Turks controlled. The Austro-Hungarian Empire, which also saw an opportunity to expand into the Balkans, annexed Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1908. Britain had no interest in the Balkans, but London was determined to prevent Russia from interfering with its profitable spice trade in India and, eventually, its access to Middle Eastern oil. Knowing that revolutions in 1848 had weakened both Austria's and Hungary's ability to prevent Russian expansion toward Constantinople and the Dardanelle Straits, Britain was willing to prop up Turkey and to join France in what became known as the 1856 Crimean War.
Although the Ottoman Empire survived the Crimean War, a little over 20 years later, Russia forced the Sultan to recognize the independence of his Balkan possessions in Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia, and Montenegro. The Ottoman Empire's North African territories were victims of the European scramble for colonies in the late 19th century. France claimed Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco and, by 1869, opened Egypt's Suez Canal.
Britain, which viewed France as its major colonial rival in Africa, saw the canal as a vital link to India. When Egypt's Turkish ruler needed funds to pay interest on the European loans that had financed canal construction, England eagerly bought shares in the Suez Canal Company. As a result of Britain's financial interests, Egypt became a British Protectorate in 1882. Throughout half of the 20th century, Great Britain continued to maintain a strategic military base in the Suez Canal Zone.
During World War I, Britain captured Palestine, Iraq, and Iran. It was in 1917 that Lord Balfour, Britain's foreign minister, first raised the possibility of carving an Israeli state, what he called "a small notch," out of Palestine. By making Palestine a British Mandate on September 11, 1932, the League of Nations took the first step to implement Lord Balfour's plan. After World War I, the UK also won League of Nations support in its dispute over the Mosul oil fields in northern Iraq, but England's position in the Middle East deteriorated following World War II. In 1951, Iran's government nationalized the joint Anglo-Iranian oil company on the Persian Gulf at Abadan.
Thursday, May 19, 2016
International Flight Fatalities
When Egyptian Air Flight MS804 from Paris to Cairo went down in the Mediterranean Sea on May 19, 2016, efforts to find the lost passengers and plane required a coordinated international search reminiscent of the continuing search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 in the Indian Ocean.
What comparisons could a student make? The main countries studying Flight MS804's crash are Egypt, Greece, France, England, and the United States. The search for Flight 370 has involved up to 26 countries.
Using an Atlas of the Bible and a World Atlas, I see this might be a good season to look for debris in the Mediterranean. According to the missionary travels of St. Paul, the safe sailing season, when the Mediterranean is free of storms, is from May 27 to September 14. The sea was rough during the first few days of the search, but the black box voice and flight data recorder finally was recovered on June 16. Thus far, although the recorder revealed smoke detectors went off in a toilet and under the cockpit just before the crash, whether fire was caused by a mechanical problem or a bomb is not known.
The World Atlas showed the water where Flight MS804 went down is roughly 5,000 to 10,000 feet deep. It was dark when Flight 840 disappeared off radar around 2:30 am, and no eye witnesses in the normally busy eastern Mediterranean immediately came forward with information. Neither have any terrorists groups taken credit for downing the plane. The lack of a sighting may indicate navigation instruments were compromised by a smoldering fire rather than by the flash of a bomb.
In the Indian Ocean west of Australia, where Flight 370 disappeared, the water is 20,000 or more feet deep. Currents off Australia move in a counterclockwise motion toward Africa, while the Mediterranean's currents flow south and easterly. Very little debris from Flight 370 has been found off east Africa's coast. and all searches for the missing plane were discontinued January 17, 2017. Flight MS804 was located in the Mediterranean east of the crash site and north of Alexandria, but no agreement about the cause of the crash has been reached.
What comparisons could a student make? The main countries studying Flight MS804's crash are Egypt, Greece, France, England, and the United States. The search for Flight 370 has involved up to 26 countries.
Using an Atlas of the Bible and a World Atlas, I see this might be a good season to look for debris in the Mediterranean. According to the missionary travels of St. Paul, the safe sailing season, when the Mediterranean is free of storms, is from May 27 to September 14. The sea was rough during the first few days of the search, but the black box voice and flight data recorder finally was recovered on June 16. Thus far, although the recorder revealed smoke detectors went off in a toilet and under the cockpit just before the crash, whether fire was caused by a mechanical problem or a bomb is not known.
The World Atlas showed the water where Flight MS804 went down is roughly 5,000 to 10,000 feet deep. It was dark when Flight 840 disappeared off radar around 2:30 am, and no eye witnesses in the normally busy eastern Mediterranean immediately came forward with information. Neither have any terrorists groups taken credit for downing the plane. The lack of a sighting may indicate navigation instruments were compromised by a smoldering fire rather than by the flash of a bomb.
In the Indian Ocean west of Australia, where Flight 370 disappeared, the water is 20,000 or more feet deep. Currents off Australia move in a counterclockwise motion toward Africa, while the Mediterranean's currents flow south and easterly. Very little debris from Flight 370 has been found off east Africa's coast. and all searches for the missing plane were discontinued January 17, 2017. Flight MS804 was located in the Mediterranean east of the crash site and north of Alexandria, but no agreement about the cause of the crash has been reached.
Monday, April 4, 2016
New Art Forms and Functions
Joining innovative artists like Christo, who wrapped a bridge in Paris with cloth, and those who create sculptures out of sand and ice are contemporaries using solar power in their art and creating digital art that exists as a piece of software. Other artists are activists expressing environmental concerns and promoting participatory art that can flourish outside galleries and museums.
Visitors need to go deep inside a limestone cave in Puerto Rico to see a work by minimalist artist, Dan Flavin. Solar panels at the mouth of the cave power the pink, yellow, and red fluorescent lightbulbs that cast a reddish glow on the surrounding rock formations. To protect the lights from humidity and bats, the bulbs are hermetically sealed in a glass case.
The Phillips Gallery in New York reports that a digital image of a grain silo in Kansas that was created using algorithms appealed to a geneticist and a high-frequency trader, because it related to the mathematical processes they used in their jobs.
During a UN conference on climate change in Paris in December, 2015, visitors saw ice from Greenland slowly melting at the Place du Pantheon. Danish-Icelandic artist, Olafur Eliasson, created his work of art, "Ice Watch," by breaking an 80-ton block of ice into 12 chunks arranged in a circle.
Artists, activists, researchers, farmers, scientists, and architects have come together to dramatize the importance of preserving the seeds of ancient grains no longer in wide use. A sailing ship will return the seeds from Oslo to their native soil in Istanbul and the Middle East. Some students are designing and making the ship's sail and sailing outfits out of plants grown from seeds used for ages.
Not only can students be on the look out for new forms and functions of art around the world, they can try creating some themselves. Try attracting bees by planting a variety of flowers and vegetables in an artistic design this summer.
Visitors need to go deep inside a limestone cave in Puerto Rico to see a work by minimalist artist, Dan Flavin. Solar panels at the mouth of the cave power the pink, yellow, and red fluorescent lightbulbs that cast a reddish glow on the surrounding rock formations. To protect the lights from humidity and bats, the bulbs are hermetically sealed in a glass case.
The Phillips Gallery in New York reports that a digital image of a grain silo in Kansas that was created using algorithms appealed to a geneticist and a high-frequency trader, because it related to the mathematical processes they used in their jobs.
During a UN conference on climate change in Paris in December, 2015, visitors saw ice from Greenland slowly melting at the Place du Pantheon. Danish-Icelandic artist, Olafur Eliasson, created his work of art, "Ice Watch," by breaking an 80-ton block of ice into 12 chunks arranged in a circle.
Artists, activists, researchers, farmers, scientists, and architects have come together to dramatize the importance of preserving the seeds of ancient grains no longer in wide use. A sailing ship will return the seeds from Oslo to their native soil in Istanbul and the Middle East. Some students are designing and making the ship's sail and sailing outfits out of plants grown from seeds used for ages.
Not only can students be on the look out for new forms and functions of art around the world, they can try creating some themselves. Try attracting bees by planting a variety of flowers and vegetables in an artistic design this summer.
Thursday, February 11, 2016
Front-Runners for UN Secretary-General
Considerations for choosing a new UN Secretary-General before Ban Ki-Moon's term ends this year:
- Eastern Europe has never been represented in this position
- A woman has never been the UN's Secretary-General
- All permanent UN members (US, UK, France, Russia, and China) have to agree on the nominee
- He/she has to have the support of his/her country
- Irina Bokova from Bulgaria
- Vuk Jeremic from Serbia
- Danilo Turk from Slovenia
- Vesna Pusic from Croatia
Others who have shown interest:
- Helen Clark from New Zealand
- Natalia Gherman from Moldova
- Antonio Guterres from Portugal: Chosen by Security Council members Oct. 6, 2016
- Srgjan Kerim from Macedonia
- Igo Luksic from Montenegro
Friday, October 9, 2015
Who Are Your Country's Super Heroes?
Judging from their popularity in comics, graphic novels, and movies, young people love super heroes. Can they match the following countries with some of their super heroes?
_____A. Mahatma Gandhi launched a program of civil 1. Pakistan
disobedience that led to independence.
_____B. Bishop Desmond Tutu called for Western 2. Poland
nations to apply sanctions that led to an end
of apartheid, i.e. segregation of blacks into
separate homelands and other indignities.
_____C. Malala Yousafzai won a Nobel Peace Prize 3. Turkey
for urging all countries to educate their
girls and women.
_____D. Fidel Castro assembled a Communist 4. France
guerrilla band that caused the country's
corrupt dictator, Fulgencio Batista, to flee.
_____E. Dorothy Day was commended by Pope Frances 5. Myanmar/Burma
as a champion of workers and the poor.
_____F. Lech Walesa organized the Solidarity 6. Cuba
trade union that began the movement
that ousted the Soviet Union from Eastern
Europe.
_____G. Aung San Suu Kyi, known as "The Lady," 7. India
who received a Nobel Peace Prize for
keeping democracy alive in the face of a
military regime takeover.
_____H. Mao Zedang, leader of the "Long March" away 8. United States of America
from rivals, who returned to lead the country in
1949 and to try rapid economic development
through a program called the "Great Leap
Forward."
_____I. Mustafa Kemal, who took the name Kemal 9. South Africa
Ataturk and was elected president in 1923,
established the country as a secular republic
after hundreds of years as part of a Muslim
empire.
_____J. Charles de Gaulle led the country's 10. China
government-in-exile until World War II
ended and he could return to be elected
President.
Answers can be found at the end of the earlier post, "What Moscow Could Learn from History."
_____A. Mahatma Gandhi launched a program of civil 1. Pakistan
disobedience that led to independence.
_____B. Bishop Desmond Tutu called for Western 2. Poland
nations to apply sanctions that led to an end
of apartheid, i.e. segregation of blacks into
separate homelands and other indignities.
_____C. Malala Yousafzai won a Nobel Peace Prize 3. Turkey
for urging all countries to educate their
girls and women.
_____D. Fidel Castro assembled a Communist 4. France
guerrilla band that caused the country's
corrupt dictator, Fulgencio Batista, to flee.
_____E. Dorothy Day was commended by Pope Frances 5. Myanmar/Burma
as a champion of workers and the poor.
_____F. Lech Walesa organized the Solidarity 6. Cuba
trade union that began the movement
that ousted the Soviet Union from Eastern
Europe.
_____G. Aung San Suu Kyi, known as "The Lady," 7. India
who received a Nobel Peace Prize for
keeping democracy alive in the face of a
military regime takeover.
_____H. Mao Zedang, leader of the "Long March" away 8. United States of America
from rivals, who returned to lead the country in
1949 and to try rapid economic development
through a program called the "Great Leap
Forward."
_____I. Mustafa Kemal, who took the name Kemal 9. South Africa
Ataturk and was elected president in 1923,
established the country as a secular republic
after hundreds of years as part of a Muslim
empire.
_____J. Charles de Gaulle led the country's 10. China
government-in-exile until World War II
ended and he could return to be elected
President.
Answers can be found at the end of the earlier post, "What Moscow Could Learn from History."
Friday, July 3, 2015
Break into a Happy Dance
What do festivals and weddings include? Dancing. Whether dancers are doing a Mexican Hat Dance or Horah to the tune of Hava Nagila at a Jewish wedding, there's a smile on everyone's face. Through the years, the same happy attitude has accompanied the slow graceful French minuet, spirited Italian tarantella, Virginia Reel from Scotland, Irish step dancing, Poland's mazurka and polka, the Sailor's hornpipe, clogging, square dancing, and break dancing by b-boys on the street. Colorful costumes often add to the joy.When Michaela DePrince was a hungry little girl living in an orphanage in Sierra Leone, Africa, she saw a magazine picture of a happy ballerina standing on her toes and wearing a pink dress. To be happy, she thought, I want to be like that girl. Defying all expectations, she was adopted and, carrying the picture of the happy ballerina with her, she came to the United States. As soon as her new momma saw the picture, she said, "You will dance." Ballet classes followed, and Ms. DePrince, now one of the few black ballerinas in the world, dances with the Dutch National Ballet. She tells her story in Ballerina Dreams.
Misty Copeland, who just became the first female African-American principal dancer in the American Ballet Theater's 75-year history, is another happy ballerina. Her memoir, Life in Motion: An Unlikely Ballerina, tells how she pursued her career despite beginning ballet lessons at, for a ballerina, the advanced age of 13.
Dancing is for the very young and very old. Multicultural Kids (multiculturalkids.com) offers children All Time Favorite Dances on DVD and CD formats and international tunes for dancing on Ella Jenkins Multicultural Children's Songs and I Have a Dream World Music for Children by Daria. Making conversation with two elderly women at a party, I asked how they met. "At folk dancing," one said, and, on the spot, she did a few steps to show me one of their dances. At the University of Wisconsin in Milwaukee, the Ko-Thi Dance Company (ko-thi.org) gives children and adults lessons in traditional dances from Africa and the Caribbean on Saturday mornings. For world travelers, trips can include learning a few steps after watching hula dancers in Hawaii or girls performing the classic Khmer apsara in Cambodia. Trip planners at AAA.com/TravelAgent promise travelers to Argentina will never forget their private dance lessons at an authentic tango house in Buenos Aires.
Sunday, April 26, 2015
Fashion's Open Door
Two ideas Robin Givhan presents in her new book, The Battle of Versailles, should encourage designers in lesser developed countries to enter the fashion industry. She traces the history of fashion from one-of-a-kind haute couture styles dictated by the French monarchy to ready-to-wear separates women find practical and a freeing way to express their own style. The fashion industry Givhan describes today is: 1) a global business and 2) in a constant state of flux. The earlier blog post, "The World of Fashion," already mentioned designers in China, Brazil, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh, as well as France, the UK, Germany, USA, and Japan.New designers have a wide open opportunity to introduce their own new looks. Earlier blog posts mention jewelry makers (See "Fashion Forward.") and textile weavers (See "International Fashion Designers Find Consumer Niches," "Fashion As a Cottage (and Sustainable) Industry," and "The Continuing Battle of Good and Evil.") who are uniquely suited to work together to create coordinating pieces, such as the Versace-designed emerald green necklace and gown Scarlett Johansson wore to the 2015 Academy Awards or the geometric necklace Project Runway finalist, Amanda Valentine, created to complement her color-blocked maxi dress. Chico's, the retailer known to feature jewelry inspired by the clothes it sells, might be ready to feature just such items.
Taaluma (a Swahili word meaning "profession") is a company that has combined travel and fashion. On trips to Guatemala, Indonesia, Mali, Bhutan, and Nepal (recently suffering from a major earthquake), explorers from Taaluma (carryacountry.com): 1) purchased traditional fabrics, 2) made these textiles into backpacks, and 3) donated a portion of the proceeds back to the countries' organizations.
Fashion also has become interested in protecting the planet. In order to use less water and fossil fuel to produce and transport goods in the entire supply channel, new items are being recycled out of old ones. The earlier blog post, "Recycled Fashion Firsts," reported how, for example, the fence that once imprisoned Nelson Mandela in South Africa had been made into jewelry.
T-shirts, bracelets, and a variety of fashion items are now used to support causes (See the blog post, "North Pole Flag."), and, despite continuing problems in countries such as Bangladesh, organizations like the Natural Resources Defense Council have been formed to make sure artisans, cottage industries, and employees in lesser developed countries work in safe/healthy conditions and are fairly compensated.
In The Battle of Versailles, Givhan writes that designers design from what they come from. Nowadays, that can be any country or culture in the world.
Saturday, December 27, 2014
Recycled Fashion Firsts
Protagonists in Gone With the Wind, Sound of Music, and Enchanted all knew how to conserve the world's resources by converting draperies into dresses. Ecouterre.com has identified seven of 2014's top designers who have done something similar to these heroines. Their creative ideas are:
Just as leather and denim were cut into strips and woven into new products, cut old ties from thrift shops or dad's closet into strips and weave them into squares, sew two together, leave one side open to stuff, sew up that side, and make a pillow. Or make a cat toy by filling a smaller pillow with crunchy wax paper or aluminum foil. Look around the house to see if you can find a moth damaged sweater you can unravel to make a ball of yarn that an adult can show you how to knit into a dog sweater or a skirt for a Barbie doll.
See earlier blog posts, "Good Works Multiply Fast" and "I Made This Myself" for other recycling ideas that will conserve the world's resources.
- Pleather, leather-looking jewelry and clothes made from inner tubes
- Jewelry made from the fence that imprisoned Nelson Mandela in South Africa
- Jewelry made from Detroit's peeling graffiti
- Leather waste woven into laptop and tablet sleeves
- Denim woven into seats for camper chairs
- Pine needles from discarded Christmas trees made into French designer lingerie
- Rubbish from the United Kingdom made into sneakers.
Just as leather and denim were cut into strips and woven into new products, cut old ties from thrift shops or dad's closet into strips and weave them into squares, sew two together, leave one side open to stuff, sew up that side, and make a pillow. Or make a cat toy by filling a smaller pillow with crunchy wax paper or aluminum foil. Look around the house to see if you can find a moth damaged sweater you can unravel to make a ball of yarn that an adult can show you how to knit into a dog sweater or a skirt for a Barbie doll.
See earlier blog posts, "Good Works Multiply Fast" and "I Made This Myself" for other recycling ideas that will conserve the world's resources.
Monday, August 18, 2014
Idea Transfer
French artist, Junior Fritz Jacquet, used Japanese origami-like folds to create expressive faces out of toilet paper rolls, according to a report in thisiscolossal.com. Despite criticism, globalization presents the opportunity to discover something, like a new art form, in one country that can be duplicated in another by an artist or
a school's art teachers. (See similar ideas in the earlier blog post, "It Takes A World to Raise a Child.")
Globalization fosters what Baptiste Barbot, a researcher at Yale's Child Study Center, calls the "synergistic interaction" of factors that permit a person to spot associations, take risks, and entertain alternative thoughts. In short, globalization might be considered a creative shortcut that enables people around the world to think outside the box.The German company, ThyssenKrupp, for example, adapted the Japanese idea of propelling trains over tracks by magnets to propel multiple elevators up and down in magnet propelled, cable-free shafts.
By signing up for free at trendwatching.com, subscribers, without leaving home, can scan the world for ideas that can be used where they live. The following examples from recent trendwatching reports provide an idea of the valuable information this site provides:
Globalization fosters what Baptiste Barbot, a researcher at Yale's Child Study Center, calls the "synergistic interaction" of factors that permit a person to spot associations, take risks, and entertain alternative thoughts. In short, globalization might be considered a creative shortcut that enables people around the world to think outside the box.The German company, ThyssenKrupp, for example, adapted the Japanese idea of propelling trains over tracks by magnets to propel multiple elevators up and down in magnet propelled, cable-free shafts.
By signing up for free at trendwatching.com, subscribers, without leaving home, can scan the world for ideas that can be used where they live. The following examples from recent trendwatching reports provide an idea of the valuable information this site provides:
- Seeing how consumers respond to tender loving care, a French cafe began giving polite patrons a discount
- Ready made, microwavable food is as popular in Malaysia as in Manhattan
- Indonesian temporary tatoos are printed in eco-friendly ink and last three to four days
- Japan's solar lanterns in a variety of designs can light up the darkness where there is no electricity, such as on a camping trip
- Korea's Samsung NX Mini camera and a metal clamp that holds a mobile phone are innovations that facilitate group selfies, called "wefies" or "massfies"
- In Romania, people could submit a photo of racist graffiti on a building and Unilever would send a team that used its Cif brand of cleaning products to remove it
- By using an app to rate the temperature in a building or on a public vehicle, occupants and passengers can create an aggregate measure that enables CrowdComfort to adjust the thermostat to please the majority
- In Singapore, customers can set a smartphone app for a McDonald's Surprise Alarm that gives them a special deal every time their alarm goes off
- A Brazilian publisher prints stories and poems in the pockets of jeans sold by FreeSurf
- No matter where someone is in Mexico, he or she can receive a government warning of an earthquake on a small Alerta Sismica Grillo, crowdfunded by the Fondeadora platform
- In India, The Good Road campaign developed a smart helmet with sensors that tell your motorcycle to start. Take off your helmet and your motorcycle's engine turns off.
- Plastic Coca-Cola bottles in Vietnam reduce pollution, because they come with 16 different caps that convert empties into new uses, such as squirt guns, pencil sharpeners, and soap dispensers.
Tuesday, April 30, 2013
Build a Global Icon
It's one thing to collect pictures of the world's best known buildings and landmarks (See earlier blog post, "Picture the World"), but learning how they were made is something else. In a non-fiction book for children, Patrick Dillon tells The Story of Buildings From the Pyramids to the Sydney Opera House and Beyond, while Stephen Biesty's illustrations show the step-by-step details.Now, children also can build famous landmarks. Using 3-D world monument puzzles from National Geographic (shopng.org), children can build the Eiffel Tower in Paris, London's Big Ben clock, and Russia's St. Basil's Cathedral. New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art (store.metmuseum.org) and many book stores sell LEGO architecture sets, such as the ones that build London's Big Ben and the Imperial Hotel in Japan. British model builder, Warren Elsmore, who has used Denmark's LEGOs to create London's red double decker buses, the Paris Louvre and Eiffel Tower, and other famous icons, shares his creative process with words and pictures in the book, Brick City: Global Icons to Make from LEGO. In the virtual world, Minecraft builders can create the Taj Mahal and other landmarks using the Swedish video game.
Parents and other adults who probably will need to help construct these icons won't mind the fun of sharing the experience with youngsters. Working on these forms also provides an opportunity to talk about other countries and travel. While the puzzle pieces and LEGO bricks may be too little to keep around children who still put everything in their mouths, it might be worth buying the puzzles and book now to have them on hand when children are older.
Finally, when The Lego Movie failed to receive an Academy Award nomination in the Best Animated Feature category in 2015, one of the film's directors used LEGOs to create its own Oscar statue.
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