Rob's Blog

Tanzania Safari

This January, we went on a Safari in Tanzania, with the Oberlin Alumni Group. It was an incredible experience. We saw just about every animal imaginable - lions, giraffes, cheetahs, a leopard who we saw kill a baby antelope, warthogs, hippos, rhinos, zebras and wildebeast. I recommend the trip as a definite entry on the "bucket list." I'd previously gone on a safari in Kenya, but I think I saw more animals on this trip which took place during the "Great Migration" in the Serengeti as animals follow the seasons towards Kenya. Another great location was the Ngorongoro Crater.

 

Hurricane Sandy

Nothing like a disaster to make you appreciate the little things in life - like electricity. It was almost unbearbable being without heat for 7 days, especially in this weather. It was exhausting. We used the fireplace a lot, but it only generated heat when you were near it, and stayed out of the house as much as possible. We saw 4 movies in 4 days: Argo, about the Iran hostage crisis and how 6 Americans still in Teheran were smuggled out, impersonating a film crew on a "scouting" assignement; The Other Son, a fantastic story about an Israeli and Palestinian who were mistakenly switched at birth and grew up in families not of their biological origins; The Sessions, about a polio victim who uses a sexual surrogate to experience love - very graphic, but tastefully done; And Smashed, with Aaron Paul (from Breaking Bad) about an alcoholic couple and the changes that occur in their relationship when one of them decides to become sober. The last was our least favorite, but still worth seeing. Thank God the power went back on Monday night, 11/5, exactly a week from when it went off. How did people ever live without heat and electricity? I guess that is why life expectancy was so much shorter. It was stressful, though I'm not sure how much worse it was due to the fact that we are used to having power. It certainly supports the theory of Global Warming, which has predicted more frequent and severe weather events. Maybe we'll finally address tha, if it's not already too late.. Anyway, the next day, 11/6 was a momentus occasion when Barak Obama was re-elected. Now the hard work begins and one can only hope that bipartisanship prevails over self interest, stubborness and animosity. 

Working for the Common Good

Last night, my wife Linda, was an honoree at the BlueWaveNJ Annual Ball, this year's theme being "Working for the Common Good." BlueWaveNJ is a progressive grass roots organization working to effect positive change in such critical areas as health care, the economy, marriage equality, the environment, education, electoral reform and sensible gun control. It is almost entirely run by volunteers, one of whom is Linda. Here are her remarks:

In Jan 2005, BlueWave rescued me from the empty nest blues and gave me some hope after the demoralizing Kerry defeat, and  a second Bush term.  This wonderful organization helped me find my voice and express my concerns on a local, state and national level.  I was somewhat reticent when I first joined, but became more vocal and confident with the support and guidance of more seasoned BlueWave members. I started by getting educated on issues, and became involved with the Election Reform working group, and later, the Climate Change group.  I canvassed door to door and did phone banking for state and national campaigns, neither of which I had previously done.  I'm proud to have  been appointed as Secretary of the BWNJ Board and Steering Committee, and have also helped run the Silent Auctions at the Blue Wave Balls. I have felt empowered by participating in political  demonstrations and by lobbying our Senators and Congressman on a variety of issues.  I have learned after 6 years of involvement in BWNJ that the best antidote to despair about our country is to get involved on a grass roots level. Blue Wave has been a family affair. My  son Zach has been honored for his work as a volunteer at the BlueWave community center, and my husband, Rob, has videotaped events, and is helping out with the Silent Auction tonight. My niece, Katie Halper, has emceed our ball several times and performed with her Laughing Liberally group for a fund raising event.  Katie was also responsible for getting Nate Silver as an honorary guest at our ball two years ago, and Chris Hayes as speaker for our upcoming membership meeting in June. BWNJ is a wonderful community of which I am gratified to be a member.  It wouldn't exist without the efforts of our tireless leader Marcia Marley,  and the participation of many bluewavers past and present. You know who you are. Thank you for this honor.

Zemanta Melies

Image via Wikipedia

No, it's not a friend of mine with weird name. Zemanta is this software add-on for blogs, which supposedly generates appropirate graphics, links, etc. for the stuff you're writing about. Hey, it works! It came up with a picture of George Melies.

That's what Hugo, the Scorcese movie was loosely about. George Melies was the French "inventor" of science fiction movies and used effects that were unheard of in his time (early 1900's) at the dawn of film. Let's see if I can get a graphic of "A Trip to the Moon." Wow! It did it. It's a little cumbersome to move around though. At least with Typepad. I wonder if they have rich media like video. Hmm. I do see a link below to Rotten Tomatoes, which includes a You Tube clip, but it takes you away from the blog post I think.

Image via Wikipedia

 

 

Let's see, what else. I like the band, Dawes. Let's see if I can find that. Nope. The Beatles? Still don't like the placement. Well, it's an interesting idea anyway. Oh, and it puts tags in for you!

 

 

 

Wow, man, it's like, the 60's - with blackberries!

I visited Zuccotti Park yesterday, site of the Occupy Wall Street demonstration. It was like being back in college in the 60's. Hundreds, maybe thousands of people gathered, of all ages, colors and religions, and you could smell marijuana wafting through the air (I'm told!) It was very peaceful, cooperative, and politically correct - recycling cans everywhere, kids preparing and distributing healthy food, playing guitar, drums, accordion, singing, listening to workshops, meditating. It was kind of "soft" politics, not strident, just expressing the frustration of the average person (the other 99%) who are suffering from the excesses of the last 10-20 years. And college kids who are in debt and un- or underemployed. It's a worldwide phenomenon, and mostly peaceful, though evidently the Rome demonstrations were hijacked by Anarchists who started burning things. But the movement itself is adamantly against that. Whether this will have any effect on U.S. politics and government, which I think people any political persuasion find frustrating, unresponsive and impotent, remains to be seen. It's not anti-corporate, it challenges whether the present political climate is representative of the majority of Americans who are not rich or powerful, and the near economic disaster caused by the financial excesses and greed of the financial firms, many of whom reside at nearby Wall St. The tsunami engulfing U.S. society is a man made disaster, not a natural one. 

What a great vacation!

Got back last week from a terrific vacation in the Seattle area. We spent a few days in Seattle, which is a nice city, very laid back, though that belies the fact that you can't walk a block without running into a Starbucks or some other coffee place. Very caffeinated. We then went to a spa at Snowqualmie, which was nice, though we've been to better. The highligts of the trips came later. We visited Orcas Island, part of the San Juan Islands off of Seattle. It was amazing. We stayed at Turtleback Farm Inn, near Eastsound. It was set overlooking acres of land which was home to a small herd of sheep, one of whom was very friendly, particularly if you had food!

The view from our room at Turtleback Farm Inn

 

Feeding "Chompers"!

We took hikes, walked around town, went to a Farmer's market, ate great food, and I even jumped off a bridge into a lake. Fun! (You'll have to take my word for it, Linda thought I was crazy and didn't take a picture.)

  Click below to read about Mount Rainier National Park!

LATISM and social media

July 28, 2011

I’m in a small, impoverished village in Haiti, just over the border of the Dominican Republic. The heat is sweltering, and there’s no electricity or running water. Dozens of pregnant women, many of whom are in their teens and already mothers, are attending a free pre-natal health clinic staffed by volunteer doctors from the U.S., found via Facebook and Twitter. The women are advised to get regular checkups, though this is problematic as they are so isolated. The doctors perform a routine examination, and if they suspect any serious conditions they are referred to a hospital in the Dominican Republic, where they will be treated for free. One frequent condition is fistula, a serious medical complication that sometimes occurs in pregnancy, particularly in younger girls.

One of the young mothers at the makeshift clinic

This is part of a month long sustainable development project set up by Ana Roca Castro and her LATISM (Latinos in Social Media) organization. Ana, with a seemingly inexhaustible supply of energy, is shuttling us (myself, a video producer and a cameraman) from one location to another, so we can document the project. Back across the Dominican border in Monte Cristi, another isolated, but beautiful village on the northwest coast, we visit a “cyber room”, set up with dozens of computers donated through Latism.  Here, local “trainers” help educate artisans, and hotel owners, to use social media to connect with potential customers and organizations. The trainers will stay behind after LATISM departs, thus fulfilling the promise of sustainability, and ”using social media for social good.” We were able to meet the local artisans, mostly all women, who were visibly excited about taking pictures of their beautiful handmade pieces, and enthusiastic about sharing them on line. Many of the crafts will be sold at the upcoming blogging event, BlogHer.

Local artisans with their wares

Finally, the last aspect of the program is a summer camp, attended by the children of both the LATISM volunteers and cyber room participants, where they get to work on their English, Kung Fu skills and to generally have fun. It’s amazing how a relatively small, but extremely focused organization like LATISM can achieve so much in so little time. What they will leave behind are practical skills, knowledge, the promise of economic sustainability, and most importantly, increased self-worth and hope for a population too often ignored.

Ana Roca Castro and "gringo"

My son, the president....

Well, not really, but Zach has been working at the NonProfit Times, specifically their job seeking site. In this economy, I'm very happy that he has been able to get a paying job, after doing various internships. However, his experience in working as an intern at a start-up, MetroFlats (no longer in business), was key in his being hired for the "real" job. Anyway, he deserves a pat on the back for his perseverance in this tough economy. I just hope for everyone's sake it improves. 

What I have seen

Last night I saw the much acclaimed Tree of Life, the new Terrence Malick film. My first reaction was that I hated it, though after thinking about it a bit, I now simply didn't like it. It was way too long, way too ambitious and way too bizarre. Malick was  basically relating the creation of the universe, earth, and the cycle of life, juxtaposed with a fairly traditional story of Texas family with a complicated father-son relationship. There was an attempt to relate the two aspects, but on that count, I think it failed miserable. It reminded me a lot of 2001, but much less compelling. On the bright side, there was some great acting, especially from the kid playing Brad Pitt's oldest son; and his wife, played by Jessica Chastain. Brad Pitt was good, not great and Sean Penn literally sleepwalked through the role. Other than internal dialogue, I doubt if he spoke more than a dozen words. Some critics, as well as the Cannes Film Festival was raving about this film, but to me they're raving lunatics. Just because a film is ambiguous, impressionistic, and beautifully shot (which it was, particularly the cosmic stuff - there's even a dinosaur in it, one of my favorite parts) doesn't make it a masterpiece.

Oh, well. What I did enjoy a lot more was Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris. Of course, I love Woody Allen, but this was a lot of fun. Owen Wilson was one fo the better Woody "stand-ins", though I didn't much care for Rachel McAdams as his wife. But, Marion Cotillard as a fantasy/love interest, was magnifiique! Also some great turns by actors playing famous people, whom I won't mention for fear of giving away the plot, in case you don't know it or haven't seen it. What we've also been really into are these grade-b film noirs from the 40's and 50's with people like Edward G. Robinson, Gene Tierney and Victor Mature. With titles like Scarlet Street, I Wake Up Screaming, and Whirlpool. Kind of campy and dated, but really interesting to see and quite a counterpoint to today's movies, like Tree of Life. Linear, logical, slow to develop and adhering to Hollywood's morality code of that time. All the bad guys and "loose" women eventually get theirs. And the most risque scenes involve kissing. A welcome relief from genital sexting!

Studio 12 - Church St. Montclair, NJ

Every Wednesday night, Greg Spinelli and his wife Cheryl run an open mic at 12 Church St., Montclair, NJ., upstairs from what USED to be the Market restaruant. This just in: Greg and Cheryl have now opened a new restaurant downstairs, "Tapastry",  featuring, no not Carol King, but tapas, and really good ones! Anyway, last Wedesday I "flipcamed" the action upstairs, featuring, among others,  Meg Beattie Patrick, Carl Croce, Greg Spinelli, Zach Halper (yes relation) and Carrie Cantor. Drop by and check it out live sometime.