As I’ve been doing some #ThoughtExperiments for a “Covid19 global memorial”, I can’t helped but be inspired a lot by the amazing Maya Lin‘s design of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial! After learning more about Maya Lin, I’m totally adding Maya to my long list of Great minds of our time Here in this post, I capture some great videos, etc that I’ve come across and try to learn from.
In “Humanity: Infinity War” against #covid19, Humanity got exactly one out of 14,000,605 futures to defeat #covid19! And we stupid humanity is now looping, wasting valuable #time fighting amongst ourselves so badly, that the movie production of “Humanity: Endgame” is basically being cancelled because we all (you, me, the smart people who made the deepfake video of Dr. Tedros & Xi Jinping, everyone of us) do not really deserve to have a slightly happier ending remotely like what “Humanity: Endgame” could have been.
At this rate, all we deserve is “Humanity: The End” as a sequel. And you know what will that movie show? You see, “Humanity: The End” is not even a brand new movie but just a duplicate copy of “Humanity: Infinity War“, so no one need to waste time doing another deepfake video. We just need to show half of humanity dead like Avengers: Infinity War. We all happy?
It turns out my documentary poetry has been written based on solid provable science (so far) and too painfully real observations of humanity and how stupid we are!
#FuckingStupid
deep fake of Dr. Tedros, WHO (merging with Xi Jinping)
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Note: I wrote this post originally as a comment for a wise friend but I like it enough to share it publicly.
Here are two videos where you can watch Bill Gates foresight on Pandemic in 2015 & his views on #covid19 now. If his advices were heeded in 2015, thousands and thousands of lives could have been saved from #covid19.
And as a bonus video given by Dr. Bruce Aylward. Sadly, if his words from one month and one day ago were heeded by leaders of UK and UK, then they can certainly avoid many more daths
0:00Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus starts press conference 11:52 Q1 by reporter from China state owned Xinhua News Agency 12:28 A1 Dr. Mike Ryan answer re implication of China has no new cases since yesterday. 14:07 Q2 from Iran re Nowruz [which means “new day”/Iranian New Year, a holiday marking the arrival of spring] 15:12 A2 from Dr. Mike Ryan 17:38 A2 from Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove 18:48 Q3 19:24 A3 Dr. Mike Ryan 22:30 A3 Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove 23:38 Q4 24:16 A4 Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove 26:02 Q5 Email question from India 26:35 A5 Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove 28:08 Q6 28:35 A6 Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus 29:30 Q7 30:00 A7 Dr. Mike Ryan re lack of supply globally 34:55 A7 Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus 35:34 “Some countries are banning exports and that cannot be a solution” 37:00 A7 Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove re recommendations on the use of masks on an individual level. 38:18 Q8 38:44 A8 Dr. Mike Ryan 41:00 These are the healthcare systems collapsing … 42:20 A8 Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove 43:22 Q9 from Greece 44:02 A9 Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove 45:00 A9 Dr. Mike Ryan 47:38 A9 & Concluding comments from Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus
I LOVE the Brief But Spectacular series from PBS (and now also from CBC also). Because I’m a geek, there are TWO versions (in a sense) of Steve Martin and Martin Short – Brief But Spectacular.
“Choi – a 25-year-old Korean-American, also a film-maker, currently living in Seoul – has only been working with Bong since May, when her skills made her an indispensable part of his team at Cannes. But her scene-stealing has shone a light on interpreting, an overlooked aspect of film’s promotional circuit, especially on the arthouse side. It is a high-grade post, combining two-way linguistic expertise, formidable memory skills (good for keeping hold of rambling directorial musings) and a head for PR. Ever-present, as Choi has been as Parasite does the rounds, interpreters sometimes become a mouthpiece for certain directors. The fresh-faced young man that Takeshi Kitano had on hand during junkets in the early 00s was very conspicuous amid the retinue of yakuza-like goons who would hang around the director during his interviews.”
“After the world No. 6 beat Elise Mertens of Belgium 6-3, 7-6 (5) in a second-round match at the China Open, Andreescu said she has to focus on stressing the positives.
“Today was more of a battle mentally with myself than anything,” said the 19-year-old from Mississauga, Ont. “I felt like I was getting very down on myself. I expect a lot from myself in general, but I have to realize not everything is going to go the way I want it to.”
Andreescu fought back from a 4-1 deficit in the second set and then fended off a set point to beat Mertens in a rematch of a U.S. Open quarterfinal. The Canadian also won in New York last month en route to her first career Grand Slam title.
“I can improve on a lot of things, but I think the main thing right now is definitely keeping a more positive approach to things,” Andreescu said. “Even if there are 100 positives in something, if there is one negative thing that happens, that triggers something in me and I then I totally forget about all the positives.
“I just want to think of the positive as much as I can and just work with what I have.”“
“Dream big to get big! And don’t forget who you are. Don’t forget your roots! She [Bianca’s mom] has been telling me that ever since I was a little kid.” – Bianca Andreescu (2000- )
I feel guilty and must confess that I’m one of those very few Canadians that have neither read Canadian National Treasure Margaret Atwood‘s awards winning The Handmaid’s Tale nor watch a full episode of the famed TV series. But still, I’m fascinated about “The Testaments” and here I plan to collect some radio/TV interview, news, and book reviews.
Comments Off on Something about “The Testaments”, Margaret Atwood’s much-anticipated sequel to her 1985 classic The Handmaid’s Tale | Canada, insightful, politics, YouTube | Permalink Posted by kempton
I’ve reserved a copy of “Talking to Strangers”, Malcolm Gladwell‘s new book, from the Calgary Public Library and looking very much forward to reading it. Here are some video interviews Malcolm has done on his book tour to promote his book and some links to book reviews. Enjoy!
In life, I believe we can and should take stock and learn from #TeachableMoments whenever we can. I don’t play tennis but I see lots to learn from 2019 US Open Champ Bianca Andreescu (and her interaction with 23 times grand slams and multiple US Open Champ Serena Williams)!
pix 00 – 2019 US Open Bianca Andreescu vs Serena Williams
I went to a pub and it was a ton of fun watching Bianca played and won live with other Canadians! But I learned a lot more from her many post-game press conferences, news articles and off the court behaviours (who can forget her Rogers Cup on court moment (see video) with Serena?!) and desire to inspire the next generation of tennis players (especially Canadian female players).
Bianca is so talented and look at what she achieved in just one year! What an epic year! I LOVE quotes, and there have been much online talks of attribution/misattribution of quotes involve underestimating/overestimating what one can achieve in one year or five/ten years. But another way of looking at it may be to simply give Bianca‘s visualization process (?) as mentioned in the news and her press conference a try. In fact some Twitter user pointed out that Bianca writing herself a cheque for winning the US Open when she was young and her visualization process was not unlike what fellow Canadian Jim Carrey did (see Jim’s video interview with Oprah). (NOTE: One day I may write more about why this is important to me but that can wait for now.)
For the record, I tweeted 20190811 (with video link in tweet and also below),
“My eyes were wet when I rewatched Bianca & Serena courtside uncensored talk a few times+their press conf twice each. Best in sport moments transcend technical skills, winning/losing & become #teachablemoment re how to treat other w empathy & respect, try2be better versions of us.“
I may still add/update this post to share a list of my own #TeachableMoments from these last few weeks and months from Bianca. Until then, the following is a list of most of the raw sources that I learned those #TeachableMoments from. Enjoy and have fun!
Bianca‘s desire to inspire other tennis players (like Serena has inspired her), especially younger Canadian players! (Note that Bianca herself is ONLY 19 years old, that in itself is impressive!)
(NOTE: I may add more in the future if I can find some time.)
xxxxx
===== References & Sources of inspirations for my #TeachableMoments =====
My 1986 copy of “Iacocca: An Autobiography” which I used for a high school English class assignment/book review. This is one of the autobiographies that got me onto the path of lifelong learning form insightful people’s biographies.
Thanks to my high school English teacher for letting me use Iacocca‘s best selling autobiography for one of the book review/class assignment which got me on a lifelong path of reading and enjoying autobiographies and biographies of many people which got me to learn valuable life lessons and teachable moments from them.
For the record, the following are excerpts from five insightful articles I found to read re “Load Management” as used by NBA Champion team Raptors on its players including MVP superstar Kawhi Leonard. Pay attention to mentions of Alex McKechnie, Raptors’ director of sports science (hired by Raptors in 2011) who now has six, yes SIX, NBA championship rings!
Let me start by sharing this cool bonus video that I found online:
The Raptors were 17-5 when Leonard sat in the regular season but his value — and the value of Toronto’s patience — has been proven in the post-season.
The Raptors are 22 points better per 100 possessions with Leonard on the floor than when he sits, which is why Nurse has leaned on him so heavily when the games have mattered most.
That Nurse has been able to do so reflects the outsized impact of the club’s director of sports science, Alex McKechnie, a white-haired senior citizen with a Scottish accent who has as much influence in the organization as anyone other than Nick Nurse and president Masai Ujiri.
When the Raptors traded for Leonard, who had missed 73 games in San Antonio in 2017-18 due to an unspecified right quadriceps injury, a Raptors insider texted McKechnie with a simple message:
“You’re the most important person in the organization now.”
Managing the load When Leonard arrived in Toronto, he made his priorities clear — after establishing that he was, indeed, “a fun guy” — a few minutes into his opening press conference on the eve of training camp.
He was asked: What does he want for his career?
“Just be able to be healthy, that’s my No. 1 goal,” he said. “Play a long, healthy career [and] be able to be dominant, wherever I land.”
He’s dominant. He showed it all season long as he posted career highs in points (26.6) and rebounds (7.3) and was second-team All-NBA and second-team all-defence despite playing just 60 games — missing most of the other 22 due to “load management.”
The term is a medical one, recognized by the NBA and deemed an acceptable reason for teams to sit out players who aren’t otherwise acutely injured or ill. It was McKechnie — who’s in his 19th NBA season and seventh with the Raptors — who made the term part of the lexicon and was responsible for managing the load by keeping track of Leonard’s fitness through a combination of biometric measures, outside medical opinions and feel.
Shortly after he joined the Raptors, McKechnie — who was not made available to be interviewed for this story — described his approach, honed after more than 40 years working in the field, as a blend of science and instinct born of thousands of hours of in-field experience.
“When we look at rehabilitation and training and conditioning, there’s a science to it, [but] once you establish the science the trainer becomes an artist, and so it’s really painting that individual’s picture,” McKechnie told Raptors.com in 2012.
“For example, you’re not going to do the same things you may for a post-up player as you would for a guard. Totally different approach to the training protocols. In much the same way that we look at a player shooting on his right side as a guy shooting from his left. There’s a completely different set of default postures that we look at.”
Green Balls from Play | Alexander Ekman & Ballet de l’Opéra de Paris | Palais Garnier 2017
Respect and help others, even total strangers. This is one of the many lessons my dad taught me by example.
You see. one year our family traveled to Thailand and there were performances (dancing and singing) at lunch. As our tour group finished our meals, people were getting ready to leave. All except our table.
Dad convinced our fellow travellers to stay seated for a few more minutes to allow the singer to finish her song before we left. The singer noticed and appreciated it. She was someone we would never meet again. I guess in some sense even she didn’t mind people leaving en masse mid-song as she must have come to expect and have seen happened many times. But our small gestures made a small difference to her that day.
Dad didn’t intend to teach me any lessons. He was just being himself. Respectful and polite (and be firm with reasons when needed) to everyone including strangers. I in turn got a lesson for life. By example.
So back to my green balls which signify playfulness and happiness to me thanks to the epic ballet Play in Paris (see trailer video below). It just so happened that while watching Play in Paris during an intermission, I was posting stuff on Facebook and saw a friend’s post which I saw as a “cry for help”. Long story short, after getting my hands on a few of the magical green balls at the end of the performance, I snapped a photo and sent it to my friend and promised to arrange a coffee meetup to give the friend one of my treasured green balls. We had a good talk. And the friend felt better.
Today, another Facebook friend from overseas seemed to be having a bad day so I took the above green balls photo and sent it to the friend with a few words of encouragement and care. Giving the friend my balls (photo of them) and keeping them. My version of “having my cake and eat it too“. ;)
At the end of the day, I believe love and care are like that, the more you give, the more you have. We are all on this earth for the blink of an eye and may be gone tomorrow. Might as well be good and caring to our loved ones, friends, acquaintances, and even strangers. We may not be able to be good all the time, but try we can. A new thought just came into my mind as I typed this paragraph. You see, if you think about it carefully, we are that “strangers” to others we don’t know. And the world and we ourselves would be better if we are all a bit nicer and kinder to that strangers as our world seem to fall into a darker period in our recent years.
0:11 Just LOVE this answer from Kyle Lowry: Why not feed the big dog? Let the big dog eat.
4:35 Kawhi Leonard: I don’t really judge my game like that. I’m more of a team aspect, see what my team is doing. Just want to win. I don’t care about being best player. I want to be the best team. I always said that.
//And another grin as Leonard and Lowry shared the post-game podium in the wake of the history-making 100-94 win over the Bucks. It came after Lowry was asked how this group had managed something no other Raptors team had accomplished. The point guard cracked a smile, looked left at Leonard, then broke into a laugh, looked at Leonard again and continued laughing. Leonard happily grinned back. “The one thing about Kawhi, and you guys all know it, is he literally stays level-headed all the time,” Lowry said admiringly. “He never gets up, he never gets down. He showed some emotion after Game 7 against the Sixers. But I think him and Danny (Green) brought that championship pedigree here, just kind of staying level-headed and even-keeled.” In the same news conference, Leonard deflected praise from team president Masai Ujiri, who called him the best player in the league during the post-game trophy ceremony.//
Comments Off on Raptors – Kawhi Leonard: “I don’t care about being best player. I want to be the best team.” Kyle Lowry: “Why not feed the big dog? Let the big dog eat.” | Canada, insightful, YouTube | Permalink Posted by kempton
RIP I. M. Pei 貝聿銘 (2017 – 2019). I picked up my copy of “I.M. Pei: A Profile in American Architecture” in the early 90s as I began my lifelong love of beautiful architectures. So thanks to Mr. Pei for your inspirations.
I like to remember the recently passed with their own words if I can, here he talked about the various challenges and ideas in redoing the Louvre.
Video description: //The GSD is proud to celebrate the 100th birthday of Ieoh Ming Pei, MArch ’46. Both I. M. and his wife Eileen Pei GSD ’44 studied at the GSD, as did their sons Chien Chung (Didi) Pei, MArch ’72, and Li Chung (Sandi) Pei, MArch ’76. Pei was also an assistant professor of architecture at the GSD. This event, with guests including Harry Cobb AB ’47 MArch ’49, moderated by Mohsen Mostafavi, dean of Harvard GSD and Alexander and Victoria Wiley Professor of Design, will focus on the formative years of I. M. Pei’s career as well as some of his special friendships, influences, and projects.//
P.S. There are some archival news footage of the building of Louvre in this clip.
I recently watched the documentary “Design Canada – The History of Graphic Design in Canada” via online streaming service Kanopy (free thanks Calgary Public Library) and LOVE it! Especially loving the segment about the design history of the Canadian flag! I love that Canadian flag segment so much that I looked up more online and found some extra cool info produced by CBC News in 2015 to celebrate the 50th birthday of our lovely flag!
P.S. I love Canada and the Canadian flag and I’ve requested a Peace Tower flag that has flown on Parliament Hill in Ottawa and hoping to receive it around the year 2060, hopefully I’ll still be alive to receive it!
I like the Greek proverb (?), “A society grows great when old men plant trees in whose shade they shall never sit.” In requesting the Peace Tower flag that had a waiting list of 46 years at the time, I made myself a commitment/promise of sort to love, cherish, and to try to make Canada a little bit better than I found her!
Posted by kempton 
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