The week has ended and I find myself moved to note the obvious, America’s experiment in non-violent regime change, of, by, and for the people, is still percolating in the lab.
I think I take it for granted far too often that I live in this place that, although not perfect, is trying to be a more perfect, union. Winston Churchill once said, “Many forms of Government have been tried and will be tried in this world of sin and woe. No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed, it has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.”
If you never saw our new president’s speech about race, sit down and watch it to the end (I know you have time to waste, you’re reading my links after all). Seeing it was the first moment I thought he might win, and yet knowing the trivialization and pettiness that we are capable of when we give in to our baser nature and all the assaults on reason that have battered our souls, it was also the moment when I most believed he would lose. I’ve had bigots and racists and just plain idiots that have driven up and shouted horrid things to my loved ones and I for just being alive, being together, for believing that we are better for our differences. And of course others have endured far worse. But I’ve also seen small wonders casually expressed by people just trying to understand and live and grow together.
Nobody can predict what tomorrow will bring but as Alan Kay once said, “the best way to predict the future is to invent it.” Our new president may embody our melting pot spirit but we ourselves will be the elemental ingredients in this energetic brew, if we let this experiment fail, we have only ourselves to blame. Science and curiosity and invention, your mother is calling. Come home.
Although speaking about where he got his inspiration for film I think it applies to the current situation nicely. Jean-Luc Godard said, “it’s not where you take things from— it’s where you take things to.”
Yup, the New York Times has done a nice interactive graphic too to show you the details of the day it happened… and inaugural address word frequency through time…
Nice 59,783 X 24,658 pixels image of the inauguration (zoom in and then zoom in some more)…
Need a book to read about someone else who faced a similar challenge? Read No Ordinary Time It chronicles the inner workings of the FDR era from the perspective of the home front during the world war, how Eleanor had the first nationally syndicated daily blog in the White House, how challenging the country to do the impossible actually worked, and how we defeated the biggest threat to our world that had yet challenged us.
Things are changing, I’m guessing instead of fireside chats we’ll have daily email blasts…
Ok, last one for those that hate when I recommend another book to read, flickering images for your cortex! Here you can find inauguration film clips going all the way back to 1901.
On to the links….
————-Top Five————
1. Chocolate?
2. 95 percent of mobile users would use data services if they were easier… now that IS surprising.
3.Beating plowshares into swords!
4. Scott McCloud talks about vision.
5. Nice long form commercial for a car…
——————-The Rest—————-
A USB endoscope!
Spring better get here soon… but if it doesn’t show up, this would be nice…
Geek thing, layered screen captures…
Dammit if they won’t give us movie capture on the iphone we’ll just take a bunch of pictures!
A little thingy for people who want to learn but lack the motivation (aww that sounds so sad).