While catching up on my blogroll, I spotted two posts about the impact of racist cartoons.
: BFP considers the implications of cartoons that show Native Americans doing "white thing" (like keeping immigrants out of the U.S.) and other such "through the looking glass" political cartoons, and how the message they send actually reinforces racist and imperialist thinking.
: Ridwan Laher discusses his first encounter with racism in Tintin comics, and how people still collect Tintin stuff, after the uncensored second issue of the comic, "Tintin in the Congo" (which portrays Africans as apes, among other things) was released.
These two posts so clearly outline why I've always found the tendency to write off comic books and cartoons as unimportant so infuriating. They aren't "high-brow" enough, they aren't "intellectual" enough (which screams of elitism as it is, because, just a couple of examples, Neil Gaiman's "The Sandman," Hiromu Arakawa's "Fullmetal Alchemist" and "Avatar: The Last Airbender" all deftly weave mythical and Biblical themes and imagery, philosophical questions and complex stories and characterization with beautiful artwork and humor much better than many of the new literary novels being written nowadays ... and I totally just let my geekitude show, didn't I?), so anything in them should not be taken seriously. Well, sometimes what's in them is serious. Sometimes they can introduce or reinforce some pretty nasty stereotypes, and if no one takes them seriously, that just makes it more insidious.
And even if they are just "kid stuff," what are children being told to believe about themselves by seeing cartoons in the newspaper or in the library that makes a mockery of their identity?
Transformers was an unexpectedly entertaining summer blockbuster. When I heard last year that Hollywood was coming up with a live-action version of the beloved robots in disguise, I wasn’t quite excited about the concept of the film. However, I made plans to watch the movie anyway since I am a regular patron of the slew of cinematic centerpieces big movie studios dish out during the summer season.
The film came out. I saw it on opening night. And Transformers conquered the box-office, surprisingly. The Cybertronian robots went on a rampage – entertaining moviegoers of all ages along the way – as the Autobots and Decepticons took their intergalactic battle to the streets of the America. But what was it exactly that made this Steven Spielberg-produced, Michael Bay-directed movie live up to its tagline, “more than meets the eye”? What were the elements of this film that drew the audiences into its universe and held them there for 2 hours and 15 minutes? From the very first frame of the film to the very last, I found Transformers to be an interesting movie. Here are some reasons.
First of all, images of fighting robots that can convert themselves into various types of transportation has never been depicted in a dynamic and eye-catching way as the robots in this film has. This, I believe, made Transformers a big hit to the viewing audience. The animation of the Autobots and the Decepticons was done so well, it invigorated the imagination of moviegoers. I thoroughly enjoyed every time the robots would transform, get into battle mode and used the many arsenal they had tucked away in their mechanical frames.I enjoyed how the film, for me, became an indirect visual aide at how advance robotics works. It was a 135-minute look into the mechanized characters much like the Xlibris book, Robotics in 90 Minutes, was a, uhm… 90-minute look into robotics. Benjamin Cheung wrote it as a concise primer to help people understand the key subsystems, history and concepts behind Robotics engineering – something (sort of) abundant in the Transformers film.
Second, the uncomplicated story and how it was told. The script was not by any means Oscar-material, but it was simple enough for a summer blockbuster audience to take in, and told well enough for lovers of good narrative to appreciate. It was straightforward enough to be summarized as follows: advanced, alien robots – good Autobots and bad Decepticons – from a planet called Cybertron came to Earth in search for a great power source – the Allspark – which had been lost for ages; the quest involved a young man named Sam, who eventually helps the Autobots defeat the Decepticons and their leader, Megatron. You can’t get any plainer than that.Third, the relevant themes and principles in the movie. For me, this is what made the film very meaningful. Many statements and symbolisms resonated with things that I believe in. Here are a few:
“More than meets the eye” – the film’s tagline, which was also quoted by Sam (Shia LaBeouf) and Optimus Prime (voiced by Peter Cullen), to me says a lot about looking beyond the surface, seeing a person’s character – who they are inside is what really counts.
“No sacrifice, no victory” – the Autobots’ battle motto sounds a lot like “no guts, no glory” but it rings true, nonetheless. In life, each one of us is called to give up something, to sacrifice what we want the most to accomplish a higher objective, a lofty goal. This was depicted vividly first when Optimus Prime offered his life to save many by allowing the use of his body to destroy the Allspark, and then when Sam sacrificed his safety and his life to keep the Allspark from the Decepticons. There can be no real victory without sacrifice.
“You are a soldier now!” – Captain William Lennox’s (Josh Duhamel) call to arms for Sam, who, toward the end of the film, was given the daunting task of keeping the Allspark safe and away from Megatron and his lackeys. Hesitant about taking a key part in the raging battle, Sam was encouraged to step up and join the ranks of the soldiers fighting for the protection and preservation of life on Earth. At some point in our lives, we will be required to heed the call to rise up and take arms to defend what is right.
Overall, Transformers was unexpectedly entertaining, easily digestible and honorably themed. It went beyond robots running around and big explosions galore. This film’s heart made it exciting and endearing to me. Transformers is truly more than meets the eye.
Luis Pone de Leon, returning to his university after five years' imprisonment by the Inquisition, resumed his lectures with the words: "As we were saying yesterday...."
After Harry Potter, here is another Fantasy book but this is for real. “Mysteries of the Unexplained” is a collection of the true life events which defy normal explanation. My dad gifted this book to me when I was school. Even today, it fascinates me as it did then.It covers a range of topics from Zombies of Africa to Unidentified flying objects. Here is a sample of some interesting facts from the book.
A Shared Fate: A man riding a moped was killed by a taxi in Bermuda in 1975, exactly a year after his brother had been killed – on the same street, by the same taxi driver, carrying the same passenger and on the same moped.
A dog named toy: Two identical twins were adopted by different families shortly after their birth. They re-united after 40 years and discovered that each had been named James, each had law enforcement training, each married a women named Linda, had a son each. One named James Alan and the other James Allan – had divorced and married a second wife named Betty. Both had dogs named Toy!!!
Futility and The future: In 1898 published a novel about pride, greed and stupidity. It was called the wreck of the Titan, or futility and described the maiden voyage of a transatlantic luxury liner named Titan. Although reportedly unsinkable, Titan strikes an iceberg and sinks, with enormous loss of life.
In 1912, the Titanic which was touted to be unsinkable sank during her maiden voyage. The following similarities pertained between the book and the real tragedy.
TitanTitanic
Month of the wreckAprilApril
Passengers and Crew30002,207
Life Boats2420
Tonnage75,00066,000
Length800Ft882.5ft
Propellers33
Speed of Impact25Knots23Knots
Unaccountable Knowledge: Many of you would have heard the story of of west Africa. Preserved at the core of their deepest religious teachings is the detailed knowledge of a star which is quite invisible to the naked eye. The star they describe is known to us as Sirius B which they call Po Tolo. It is a White Dwarf and although small and fait, it is extremely dense and heavy and hence exerts gravitational pull it’smuch larger neighboring star, Sirius A.
The Dogon name for Sirius B, Po is the name of the smallest seed known to them, they also claim that it is the heaviest star and the color of the star is white. All the qualities of a White Dwarf is attributed to this star – smallness, heaviness and whiteness. They go on to say that the stars orbit is elliptical with Sirius A as one of the focus of the ellipse (as it is) and the orbital period is 50 years (the actual value is 50.04 +/- .09). They also attribute a third star in the Sirius system, which is yet to be discovered.
In addition to this Dogon’s astronomical lore includes the fact that Saturn has rings and Jupiter has 4 moons. They have four calendars for Sun, moon, Sirius and Venus and have long known that planets orbit the sun.
The Dogon’s claim that their astronomical knowledge was given to them by beings who came to visit them from Sirius star system!!!
Fascinating, isn’t it? This book is more than 25years. I wonder if any of the mysteries have been explained now.
[German title: Elemente des Informations- und Wissensmanagements mit den Geschäftsprozessen und intellektuellem Kapital verflechten (Translate text to: )]
Taylor, L.: Knowledge, Information and the Business Process. Revolutionary thinking or common sense?. Oxford: Chandos Publishing, 2007. 150 p., ISBN (paperback): 1843341042, ISBN (hardback): 1843341050
Summary:
The key focus of this book is to integrate elements of information and knowledge management, together with the business process and intellectual capital. The book questions some of the fundamental concepts and principles currently used to manage information that revolve around business processes. Specifically, it addresses the argument to more effectively evaluate the contributions of human and systems capital (which are defined) to a process, highlighting the need to make more conscious decisions about what role each will perform in the developed process
Readership: The book is primarily aimed at those individuals in a service provision environment, who are responsible for change and/or effective business processes
Key features:
Covers the integration of the intellectual capital with business processes
Provides practical guidance on analysis of the complete business process (including products and customers) from a human and systems capital perspective
Provides practical frameworks that enable readers to implement the suggested strategies regarding the development of intellectual capital round business processes, which are explained throughout the book
Author:
Liz Taylor has worked in the knowledge and information management field for the past eight years
I started reading Gil Courtemanche's book on the beach of a desert island somewhere in the middle of the Adriatic and I must say it was pain to swallow every word. I put the book away after two days and decided to enjoy the sunny holiday, the sea and the beauties of life instead. I took the book up again when I got home and read it in two days. Sex, AIDS, violence and an incomprehensible genocide to top it all. Please let the future of Rwanda be free of all this and let the hills prosper and the winds blow in PEACE.
The heroine of the book, "Foreign Babes in Beijing" observes her colleagues and her boss during a meeting at the PR firm she works at. She narrates:
As for Charlotte, she was one small player in a long tradition of Westerners harboring the happy illusions that they both could and should change China. While we Westerners have come and gone, China has changed at its own pace, gradually at times, quickly at others, within plan at times, but most often outside it. What may be more predictable is how China changes us.
Ajanta and Ellora Caves - 300 kms from Mumbai
Contarary to popular view , Ajanta and Ellora are not natural caves. They are man made temples carved out of granite hills.Four hundreds of years, hindu, jain and Buddhist monks lived and mediated in these caves, carving interesting motifs on the walls. Kailash Temple- one of the largest monolithic structures in the world. Udaygiri and Khandagiri caves- NearBhubaneswar , orissa Ranked among the earlist Jain rock cut shelters, Udaygiri caves were built thousands of years ago by King Kharavela. What inspires awe here is the 18 -apartment complex carved out of large rocks. The Hathi Gumpha is replete with the King's edicts, the most famousbeing the 117 - Line record in pali language, while the Rani Gumpha is embellished with friezes and carvings.
While Udaygiri translates as 'Hill of Sunrise' , Khandagri means 'broken hill' . The latter can be reached through a steep pathway, which also leads to Ananta hills and the jain Temples. Dont miss these Tourist places in India, You can get help from . Here You can get all facilities like Hotels, Cars renting in India For Tour.
FALLS CHURCH, Va., July 26, 2007 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- A special treat for all fans of humorous literature is coming your way as Xlibris announces today the release of The World's Best Joke Collection for All Ages, the catchy new book written by Carole Lee.
The text features a wide selection of jokes and varied short stories for readers who enjoy good clean entertainment at the dinner table. With varied themes such as relationships, family, socializing, business and even politics, these stories reflect some facts of life, how people react to the unusual and the humor that comes with them. Every reader will find something meaningful and entertaining to relate with this collection.
The World's Best Joke Collection for All Ages is now available for your reading pleasure at your local bookstore and online at Xlibris.com. Spice up your life by ordering a copy now!
About the Author
Carole Lee was born in Valdosta, Georgia, and raised in Folkston, Georgia. Her parents were from Folkston, Georgia. After attending Valdosta State College, Valdosta, Georgia, she moved to Washington, DC, where she worked in the registrar's office, Georgetown University, Washington, DC, in 1962. Then she worked at the Pentagon, Arlington, Virginia, in 1964 and also worked on Capitol Hill for five years for Democrats and Republicans. The author is a member of the Writers Guild, New York, and was a member of the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, Chevy Chase, Maryland. Carole worked at the White House conference on small business where she received an outstanding award (1980).
is said to be 'the founding father of the African novel'. I wondered why and found that it is an anthropological classic. The everyday lives and believes of Nigerian villages evolve beautifully, coloured with folk tales (birds and the tortoise) and festive songs. Basically all aspects of a traditional life is depicted through the daily events of Okonkwo's family. I particularly enjoyed the insight on marriage negotiations and the sometimes barbaric believes (twins need to be thrown away and children murdered for the sake of the Earth Goddess). There is a twist to the story that differentiate Achebe's book from other African novels I've read and that is the hands-on description of colonisation through the eyes of the confused natives. The chaotic circumstances of the clash of civilisations is very though provoking and edifying. I slightly missed the attachment to the characters but the cold-headed description of events has helped the story which towers over the individuals.
Transformers was an unexpectedly entertaining summer blockbuster. When I heard last year that Hollywood was coming up with a live-action version of the beloved robots in disguise, I wasn’t quite excited about the concept of the film. However, I made plans to watch the movie anyway since I am a regular patron of the slew of cinematic centerpieces big movie studios dish out during the summer season.
