Suli Breaks - Why I hate School but love the Education

"Because the purpose of why I hate school but love the education was not to initiate the world wide debate, but to let them know that whether 72 or 88, 44 or 68 we will  not let exam results decide our fate"  Suli Breaks 

Are the exams imperative to ones future success? The debate is actually going on. This morning it came across Suli's video on my Facebook account. It makes you think. How society changed over the last two decades. Who determines the curriculum, the educational canon? Or, most importantly, who is responsible for revising it and making sure it is still relevant to our lives and needs?




So is the education important?  I enjoyed every minute of mine... as long as it was not related to math,  physics or chemistry ;-)

Here is Suli's opinion:

“If education is the key, then school is the lock. Because it rarely ever develops your mind to the point where it can perceive red as green and continue to go when someone else says ‘stop.’ Because as long as you follow the rules and pass the exams, you’re cool. But are you aware that examiners have a checklist? And if your answer is something outside of the box, the automatic response is a cross. And then they claim that school expands your horizons and your visions.” 

Yes, Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg or Oprah are uneducated and rich . But they are geniuses to begin with! It is a sad true that most of the  high schools and even universities would not be able to serve their needs and help them support their visions, and outside of the box thinking :-(

While I agree that the grade in high school may not be imperative to ones success, they may help in a today's competitive world.  No, I don't think "A" grade is an indication of ones great mind. Often it is a proof that one is able to  follow the instructions, stay on task, does the homework. It is training for future life. If  no one pressured you to stay on task until it is done, to be resilient,  to take pride of own success then how you can expect to do that in adult life when you also need to worry about family, bills and all the drama of everyday living?

Yes, if you are an entrepreneur, visionary, genius mind, risk taker, and on top of that have family and financial support - go for it!  But as most things in a world, there is a bell curve in human potential.  The World is full of great, good, interesting...but average minds.  To be able to name the best or the worst you need to have mass of average to compare against...

Who is a professor that made a difference

Cool, both Robin and I made it to the board at the UNI  Rod Library as a professors who made a difference :-)  Sharon Smaldino is also there - she along with Joe Marchesani made the biggest difference in my career as a student in the US. Ana Donaldson was the one who trusted me to teach her classes in my teaching career.  Thank you!

Image posted on Rod Library Facebook page on April 12

I stand for equality and... a common sense

Today, the Supreme Court of the United Stats is listening to the arguments on marriage equality and whether or not same-sex couples should be allowed to get married under the constitution. The final decision should be made by late June.

In a meantime there is a movement on social media to change profile pictures over to the Equality sign.

What do I think about marriage? How is is different than gay marriage?

Personally I don't understand  the big talk about sanctity of the marriage. Everyone who was married for few years knows that there are more sanity than sanctity issues :-) Marriage is a mix of love, trust, partnership, bunch of compromise, ups and downs, everyday drama mixed with everyday routine (especially when raising the kids). Why would I like to deny the right to that to anyone?!  I also don't believe is an absurd statement that marriage is to procreate.  If that was true then marriages between older or infertile couples would be against the rules.  I wonder how many of people who scream about sanctity of marriage got a divorce or were unfaithful to their spouses. I bet quite a few.

Proposition 8 made enough damage to the civil  rights. I hope that people will stand up for an equality. Why we should think less of a human being based on a sexual orientation?  It sounds similar to denying human rights to blacks, jews, or females. Thankfully we managed to change that dark parts of history.  I hope to see my kids to grow up in the world where ban on same sex marriage will sound equally ridiculous as ban on interracial marriage.

First they came for the communists,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a communist.
Then they came for the socialists,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a socialist.
Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a Jew.
Then they came for the Catholics,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a Catholic.
Then they came for me,
and there was no one left to speak for me.  ~ Martin Niemöller 

≤140, always know your limits:-)

Tweeting, Texting FB update, Foursquareing, we are quite addicted to it. And we are not using it, as many critics say, to brag or to feed our own vanity. At least not for a most part :).  I think it is more like when you are watching the awesome TV show alone and you make the loud comment only to realize that no one is around to react to it. With social media we can be more... social.

And why shouldn't we be? We are so busy, so consumed with myriads of duties every single day. It is so nice to take a few minutes  break to read that a friend ate in great restaurant,  or listened to long forgotten tunes, or  is going through similar to ours troubles/successes/funny moments/problems with their pet/toddler/house/neighbor/house/duties... I love to see awesome pictures and good ideas pinned on Pinterest. I love to tweet and FB while watching the red carpet events, and hear what other people have to say about it. The whole second screen idea is brilliant!  It is also strangely rewarding to get points or badge on Forsquare for revisiting the Wellness Center! No one else will reward you for it. You are an adult!

Recently I finished reading the novel "Wife 22". Quite a lot of story plays via Facebook conversations. One of them is conversation between main characters about instant media:

"It’s immediate in a way email is not. Soon email may be extinct, gone the way of the letter."

- "I sincerely hope not. Email seems civilized compared to texts and posts and Twitter. What’s next? Communicating in three words or less? "

- "Great idea. We can call it Twi. Three-word sentences can be very powerful. "

- "No they can’t. "

- "Let’s find out."

Gideon, Melanie (2012-05-29). Wife 22: A Novel (pp. 118-119). Random House, Inc.. Kindle Edition. 

BTW (Twi) , I love how easy is to copy the excerpt from Kindle app for Mac! It paste with citation where the text is coming from!  Very handy thingy (Twi)

The point is I don't think that Social Media have to replace anything.  Different strokes for different folks. But there is a think called common sense that should be used while dealing with any activity. Duh!

Happy Valentines day!

Sure, sure Valentine’s Day is the ultimate Hallmark Holiday but still, I  wish you all  happy and sweet V-day!  ♥

But love is all around not only on Valetnines day! According to Gallup poll, on a typical day, about 70 percent of people worldwide reported a love-filled day (81% in the U.S.) Check out more about Valentine’s Day and the Economics of Love ♥

Too busy or too broke to celebrate?
Enter the code SWEET online or at a Redbox kiosk for a free one-night DVD rental, on February 14 only. ♥

But if you are not in the mood, single or simply against the innocent celebration of the Amore (like the crazy conservatives in Pakistan)

Here is Anti-Valentine's Day Playlist prepared by MTV
http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1701943/anti-valentines-day-playlist.jhtml

And 6 Book Stories To Soothe Your Soul prepared by NPR
http://www.npr.org/2013/02/14/171822913/sick-of-valentines-day-6-book-stories-to-soothe-your-soul

♥

New Artwork

At the end of last semester our building got reacher in two great paintings on a large canvases. As I learned they came from the walls of  Malcolm Price Lab School (R.I.P.) and were done by Price lab students. Well done (painting, not closing the lab school).

my Les Miserables

While on our 10th wedding anniversary trip we went to see Les Misérables in a movie theatre on a suburbs of Memphis. What a treat! What an amazing adaptation of Victor Hugo's novel that I neglected to read in high school ;-)   I found out that Hugo began planning a novel about social  injustice and human misery  as early as the 1830s, but it took a full 17 years for Les Misérables to be realized and finally published in 1862.  He was also the author of other amazing novel turned to the musical - The Hunchback of Notre-Dame.

The movie adaptation is great! I especially loved the performance of Sam Barks  playing Eponine and Eddie Redmayne  as Marius. I was crying with him during the Empty Chairs at Empty Tables song. It is incredible talent to play pain so well while singing. And she is so light and looking so charming and yet so mischievous with her dimples. Perfect selection to the role. We will see more of these talents of that I am sure!  Tomorrow is  the official Academy Awards Nominations announcement  and I hope they will be nominated to Oscars for supporting roles.

Marius and Eponine

Sacha Baron Cohen and Helena Bonham Carter as The Thenandiers were hilarious,  and the Daniel Huttlestone as little Gavroche so stinking cute and... tragic. It is not so clear in the movie but in a book Gavroche is the son of the Thenandiers. They left him on his own to live on the streets.

And little people know. When little people fight.
We may look easy pickin's but we've got some bite!
So never kick a dog because he's just a pup...
You better  run for cover when the pup grows up.

Everybody bless the landlord! Everybody bless his spouse!
Everybody raise a glass Raise it up the master's arse.
 Everybody raise a glass to the master of the house!

"I Dreamed a Dream" song performed by Anne Hathaway was breath taking. This is the song that few years ago realized the dream of one underdog in Britains Got Talent show, Susan Boyle. The song is officially on my favorite list right there with "Belle" from musical Notre Dame de Paris performed by Patrick Fiori, Daniel Lavoie and Garou;  and "One Day I'll Fly Away" performed by  Nicole Kidman in Moulin Rouge. Oh! And song by Goldie Hawn from The Girl From Petrovka.

The makeup on Hugh Jackman transforming him in to the scared, destroyed and roughened by life in prison man; the makeup and hair on colorful yet appalling prostitutes; the disease scared and miserable crowd on the streets of Paris was an art itself. I bet that Lisa Westcott, the makeup and hair designer, will also have her nomination to the Oscars!

Here is a video where she talks about her work on set:



What I took from the movie (besides the even bigger respect to the makeup and set artists) is that we, as a human kind may be miserable on many levels. Extreme poverty, social injustice, diseases, deaths are the obvious causes. But the misery may come from the broken heart, unfulfilled dreams, unreturned love, dark secrets, wrong decisions hunting from the past,  being in wrong place at the wrong time, on the wrong side of ...  But what we can do is try to redeem ourselves by trying to be kind and pay it forward.   “It is nothing to die. It is frightful not to live.”- Victor Hugo, Les Misérables

If I have my Bucketlist  seeing the Cameron Mackintosh Les Misérables Musical on stage would definitely be there!

Mass shooting - how to deal?

Another mass shooting just few months after at a massacre at a movie theater in Colorado in July.  The latest one, at an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut took life of twenty innocent children and teachers,  and forever changed lives of the families of the victims. 

How much longer till something will be done about gun control?  And I don't mean the insane idea of arming the teachers!  The second amendment (the right to keep and bear arms - US Bill of Rights) was adopted in 1791! I believe that times changed since then. 

We also need to tackle the problem related to a free or affordable mental health help, problem of unwanted children (planned parenthood), lack of interesting and affordable after school programs, and problem of increasingly violent movies and games. All of these issues contribute to the problems we have as a society.  Unhappy childhood, lack of professional help, boredom, easy access to guns, trivialization of the violence and glamorization of the aggression in our pop culture is an easy recipe for the disaster. 

Post from Bill Maher's Facebook Page

According to the MotherJones report Between 1982 and 2012 there were 62 mass murderers and more than three quarters of the guns possess by the murderers were obtained legally! 

In a words of comedian Eddie Izzard : "They [NRA] say that 'Guns don't kill people, people kill people.' Well I think the gun helps. If you just stood there and yelled BANG, I don't think you'd kill." 

On Friday in China one mentally ill creep also went on a killing spree - He attached 36 kids - hurt 22 - killed... O - The numbers would look different if he have assault weapon. Why an average citizen  need a weapon large-capacity magazines?

I agree with Maher, that just hugs and preyers won't change much. Not in a political arena. But they can help to cope on an everyday level.  How to talk to kids about all the cruelty of the world?  Someone posted this on Facebook and I plan to teach that to my three girls: 

Here are tips for Parents and Teachers from the National Association of School Psychologists (NSAP) how to help children cope when national tragedy happens.

Santa's morphology and Happy Holidays

Well, I already explained what Saint Nicholas is all about in my last year post . But this picture is a perfect addition. Not that I want to pick up the fight, but common, Santa Claus?

Christian Meme

I is rather fascinating how traditions change!  After all, even trivial everyday stories are told different depend on who is recalling the event.  Flip between Fox News and MSNBC and you won't believe how political lens can distort the vision.

Saint Nicholas, Santa Claus, Father Christmas, Kriss Kringle (?!)..., is a fascinating partly historical, christian, partly legendary and folkloric, and mostly highly commercialized morph.  People all over the world call him different names and celebrate him in different ways.  Wikipedia entry on Santa Claus summarizes his phenomena pretty well.  My take on it? As long as the effect of the traditions will put a smile on ones face, help to bring people together, and help someone in difficult times I'm all for it! Happy holidays! 

eBay - New logo and Functionality to keep up with trends

On September 13, After 17 years ebay decided to change its logo (and website) to more contemporary look. The announcement came with the list of other significant changes  that will help eBay be stronger on mobile devices and enhance the convenient any-time, any-place shopping.

Old logo

New logo

Devin Wenig,  President of eBay wrote:

Today we begin to introduce a series of significant new features and enhancements for our customers. We’re delivering a cleaner, contemporary look and feel; a more intuitive, convenient way to browse, decide and buy – both globally and locally; and a new personal way to curate your own shopping experience and discover items perfect for you. (More of the letter here).

mobile app

The new logo looks cleaner but also more generic. It keeps the color scheme almost unchanged and the letters are still touching one another but no longer overlapping. The Helvetica font makes it much like any other store front sign around the world. Is that what Wenig meant to achieve? Logo universal enough to look Ok in any culture? After all, according to eBay's October'2012 statistics, there are 105 Million active users in 190 countries!  In my opinion it looks clean and contemporary but it lost its unique characteristic :-(

http://www.ebay.com/new/assets

Microsoft also modernized its logo. Here is an article poking fun of the changes
What if Microsoft's new logo style was applied to other famous brands?

With all due respect that 's a bunch of malarkey

Joe Biden said to Paul Ryan "With all due respect that 's a bunch of malarkey."
... and the users of the second screen went wild:-)

2012 first Vice Presidential debate between Vice President Joe Biden and Congressman Paul Ryan was not only watched but also discussed and analyzed in real time by millions of private viewers exercising their First Amendment:-) Twitter posts, google searches for the definition, and creative images avalanched the social networks and cyber space. Obama Campaign immediately bought Ads for ‘Malarkey’ Hashtag on Twitter;  and you can already purchase #malarkey t-shirt!

Martha Raddatz, Senior Foreign Affairs correspondent for ABC News, and an amazing moderator that put Jim Lehrer in to shame, was also trending at google search with +50.000 searches


According to Tropsy, word malarkey or malarky was used about 30.000 times within few minutes. Name of Joe Biden came up around 230.000times while Ryan roughly 80.000

I wonder how many people will/did remember the context in which the Biden's critical comment was used? How many people will remember or watched Clint Estwood bizarre conversation with empty chair  during GOP Convention?  For sure both became part of American pop culture meme :-)

Next presidential debate on October 16 will be moderated by CNN's Chief Political Correspondent Candy Crowley. Will Obama step up?

Image by Reuters

Mentions of words Malarkey and Malarky on Topsy

Mentions of Martha Raddtz on Topsy

'There are no shocking pictures, only shocking reality' - Oliviero Toscani

Oliviero Toscani. 

Background Kissing Nun (1992) 

Challenging the principle of 

religious celibacy

Oliviero Toscani, is one of my favorite visual artists. This awesomely controversial Italian photographer that shaped the image of United Color of Benetton in the 80's and 90's,  keeps in awe the world with his creativity,  crude images, provocative messages, and bold fight for social change.  His art serves as fuel for debates and make people think.

I often use his images when introducing the principals of visual design (or CARP model) , when talking about diversity, visual literacy or  media influences on our self image.

His work has as many critics as praisers. Some say he has no right to use serious subjects to sell as trivial thing as clothes. Or that he is just an arrogant scandal seeker.  Other applauding his ability to be more than just an advertiser. You be the judge! Here is my pro list

√ He helped raise AIDS awareness . While advertising Benetton Toscani made a decision to show the reality of dying of AIDS.  The controversy around the image came form similarity to pieta paintings.  But despite the disputes related to sacrilegious message, the elephant in the room  an AIDS  problem was also addressed.

David Kirby dying of AIDS and his family. 

Photo taken by Therese Frare in Ohio SU Hospital (1990) 

√ He spoke against war.  1991 campaign featured cemetery in France with rows of crosses and one star of David. The message was quite simple : When you die it does not matter who you are, what is your rank, social status,  nationality, or religion. In war the death is the only victor.  

1991 "War Cemetery" Ad appeared in Italian media few days

before Gulf War and was immediately banned.

1994 Allegedly Uniform of dead Croat soldier

Marinko Gagro killed in the Bosnian war

√ He spoke against racism.  In 1984 the 'All Colors of the World' campaign he photographed multicultural group of young people wearing Benetton clothes. It was the first time when such a diverse group  appeared together in a positive light in an Italian advertising. 

Interestingly, all his race related campaigns sparked heated debates and were often accused of being racist. The breastfeeding ad according to critics does not show the racial harmony but rather suggest black servitude. Because of outrage of unspecified African -American organization  Benetton withdrawn the ad in United States. The rest of the world praised the concept and the art.

1989 campaign for equality. Black woman breast-feeding white
baby is the most-awarded image in Benetton's advertising history

1990 The theme of multiculturalism

 appropriate for 'United Colors' 

was a main theme for almost 10 years

Hearts 1996. 

Critics called it the most racist.
They are actually pigs hearts.

√ He spoke against death penalty.  The 'We, On Death Row'  2000 campaign feature death-row inmates and the slogan 'Sentenced to Death'. It stirred so much controversy that Toscani had to leave Benetton after being their Creative Director for 18 years.

2000. The On Death Row campaign 

was the reason why he left Benetton

√ He fought for gay rights.   In 2005 he managed to piss of the Catholic groups (again!)  by putting homosexuals in rather shocking positions while advertising Ra-Re clothing brand.

source

The campaign came in a middle of 

 ongoing debate in Italy about gay rights.

√ Working for No-li-ta clothing company he took part in fight against anorexia. 

2007 French model/actress Isabelle Caro (1982 – 2010)

Suffered from severe anorexia nervosa 

With ad she became the face of anorexia fight

√ He took part in promoting tolerance and global love.  Recently in 2011 the Benetton foundation launched  the 'Unhate' campaign.  'A campaign to combat the culture of hate'. Which contrary to its message, evoke extremely strong reactions.

The ad showing doctored image of Pope Benedict XVI kissing a top Egyptian imam on the lips was withdrawn almost immediately after the Vatican denounced it as an "unacceptable" provocation.

2011 Storefront in Paris. German Chancellor Angela Merkel 

kissing French President Nicolas Sarkozy 

and Chinese President Hu Jintao kissing Barack Obama

2011. Pope Benedict XVI kissing 

an Egyptian imam Ahmed Mohamed el-Tayeb 

withdrawn after the Vatican denounced it as provocation.

What's next maestro? Oil dependency? Green Planet? Crazy parents agains vaccination? Crazy governments against birth control? Exploitation of illegal immigrants? Children trafficking? The distribution of wealth? There is so much shocking cruelty, stupidity, ignorance, shortsightedness, -isms in the world...

Or perhaps it's time to focus solely on positives ? I love the direction taken be the Benneton group and the UNHATE Foundation. I like the idea of focusing on the new generation.

The Toscani's  legacy is visible in every Benneton project.  The Raza Umana Italia  latest project by Oliviero Toscani Studio looks interesting but I am waiting for his next BIG international move!

Oh, and by the way, the Benetton advertisement did it's magic on me :-)  I really enjoy their classic clothing line for kids.

2011 - Vivi & Lili exploring  the cavities :-) ©

--

I started this post quite some time ago, but every time I thought that I am ready to finish it I had to stumbled upon yet another interesting piece of information or a new image! As usually, when you deal with fascinating subject, you found yourself few hours later with the nagging feeling that you need to learn more ;-)
Here are some of the better resources I used to educate myself on the subject:

• http://toscani.com/
• United Color of Benetton. Case Study (pdf)
• Creative Review - Benetton Hits Middle Age 
• The True Colors of Oliviero Toscani by Eric J. Lyman 
• P. Rutherford, (2000) Endless propaganda: The Advertising of Public Goods; University of Toronto Press
• O. Toscani (1997) Reklama uśmiechnięte ścierwo; Warszawa. Agencja Wydawnicza Delta (oryg. fr. La Pub est une charogne qui nous sourit (Reliure inconnue) 1995)