Jodi Foster is one. She seems normal because she aggressively stays out of the public eye. This is interesting given that Howards Huges self-imposed isolation was seen as anything but normal. On the other hand, that seems to have been borne out. Lately I have been reading the blog WWdN: In Exile. This is the blog of Will Wheaton, most well known to people as the character Wesley Crusher on the television program “Star Trek, The Next Generation” and also, like many, I came to wish the same fate on the character Crusher as many Star Wars fans wished in the character JarJar Binx. …
So long Billy, we walked a bit of the same road
I like pitchmen, well the good ones and Billy Mays was that. He was one of the best known pitchmen of the last decade.
You have to understand, for nearly I decade I performed in the streets, festivals and fairs in the U.S. and Canada, and encountered the pitchmen, talkers, hawkers and shills of all manner. Billy was the logical evolution. Were the things he pitched sometimes crap? Of course. Caveat Emptor has been the motto of all performers, not just the pitchman, since people started to barter. …
If a tree falls in the forest and no one posts it on Youtube, does the tree actually have a healthier sense of self?
As many of you know from earlier posts, I am the mother of a 15 year old. Although I have certainly been aware of the need for constant email, phone, and camera usage everywhere she and her friends congregate, it came to me this spring that although she embraces this practice enthusiastically, it seems to place an unnatural burden on her I am only too glad I did not have in my teenage years.…
Robert Thomas: First Nations Carver and Dancer. Ordinary People Project
I met Robert (and his mother Florence from the previous episode) at the Lil’wat Pow-Wow in Mount Currie, BC. We talk about Carving and Dancing here.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghO_y4Hkgws…
Ordinary People Project – Florence, First nations Singer, Drummer and Dancer
Interview with Florence Thomas, a First Nations singer, drummer and dancer, during the Lil’wat pow-wow in June of 2009.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1XmB_VhT9Ps…
Random Hitchhikers, Episode 4 of The Ordinary People Project
People that I picked up in Whistler and Pemberton, BC in June:
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2PL9E55EGc…
Call for participation in AAA survey of anthropologist working outside academia
The American Anthropological Association is expanding its resources, services, and professional networks to anthropologists practicing outside academia. A key step toward achieving this goal is to conduct a survey aimed at understanding the careers of MA anthropologists.
Each year there are at least 1,000 anthropology Masters degrees granted in North America . Based on anecdotal information, we know that many MAs pursue careers at the types of companies associated with AnthroDesign(editors note, this is a yahoo newsgroup).…
The Problem with Valedictorians
Every May, colleges trot out their straight-A students to give valedictory speeches. These are the unusual students who made their way through a complicated system, complying with the diverse, often obscure, and even arbitrary wants of a variety of professors, without tripping or stumbling. This is a difficult task and worthy of admiration.
As for the words themselves, the typical valedictory speech asserts that life is about accepting challenges and the role of determination in success.…
Episode Three of the Ordinary People Project: Cara from Pemberton
This is Episode Three of the Ordinary people project. You can see the previous episodes here and join the OPP group on Facebook.
Introducing Cara
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qy_a_EaUw0…
Ordinary People Project – Episode Two: Dave in Pemberton
Dave is a fellow I met in a local bar in Pemberton, BC and agreed to be my first interview, its just took some time to get it together!
…
The Ordinary People Project – Episode One: Gord in Pemberton
This is the first episode of the Ordinary People Project, Gord from Pemberton, BC. Thanks Good!
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sx9pxLw4xJo…
The Ordinary People Project
I am taking a few months off to drive to Alaska and have conversations with the random people that I meet along the way. I’m calling it The Ordinary People Project because the primary part of the fun is turning the idea of celebrity on its head. After doing a short conversation with someone, I take a celebrity headshot style photo of that person and they autograph it to send them to the celebrity of their choice.…