EVEN BALLOON BOY’S father would have to admit this was a pretty impressive publicity stunt.

By now most folks have likely heard about the Virginia couple who managed to slip through White House security Tuesday night and crash President Obama’s first state dinner.

Biden didn't seem bothered by the uninvited guest.

The pair went on to mingle with the likes of White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel and Vice President Joe Biden, who is seen copping a feel in a photo the woman, Michaele Salahi, posted on her Facebook page (dirty old veep…)

It subsequently was discovered that Salahi, a former Washington Redskins cheerleader, is being considered for the new Bravo reality series, ‘The Real Housewives of D.C.’ (Of course, right? We had to expect that a reality show was a factor here.)

Apparently the couples’ vehicle was turned away at first – presumably because their name wasn’t on the guest list – but they hopped out and proceeeded on foot. Reporters on scene observed that the pair were followed by a camera person and a makeup woman who got out and fixed the woman’s hair and powdered the man’s forehead.

How they actually ended up crashing the state dinner is the focus of an investigation. Regardless, the stunt was an audacious one; sneaking into the White House is no small feat – at least I thought so.

Many want this couple to be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. While such shameless self-promoters irk me, and the White House is no place to attempt to grab your 15 minutes, these two social climbers are really not the issue here. As many noted about Balloon Boy’s father, they are merely symptomatic of a society that’s obsessed with celebrity.

The disconcertingly poor security at the White House needs to be the focus.

Obama: Faces greater threats than most presidents.

The president of the United States will always be a target. The fact that Obama is the first black president and is at the helm during a time of economic turmoil and global terrorism means he’s under even greater threat. Back in 2007, he became the first presidential candidate to receive Secret Service protection.

How strange that it’s impossible to get through security at an airport without proper documents, or to get into a cheesy nightclub if you aren’t on the guest list.

Apparently, though, all it takes to slip through the Secret Service, which we’ve been led to believe is the tightest security apparatus in the world, is a fetching bottle-blonde in a sari.

Perhaps the Secret Service should enlist more women. At least they only think with one head.

ryan@roadtostarrdom.com

We have stories! Today they finished writing them so the meeting was mainly about writing, prompting and writing again. Ilan asked me to bring the box, “It has a magical influence,” he said. It does. As they wrote I was looking for a matchbox Nathalie told me about and I found it. Two of the boys were finished so I gave them the tiny box, told them about the girl who made it, the girl from Switzerland who didn’t have a story and asked them if they would write one for her. Since we had only about 20 min. left until the end of the day, they decided it would be a good idea to launch “The Tiny StoryBox Tiny Project”

They wrote a beginning, we’ll write some instructions and place the matchbox into a slightly larger tiny box so it can be its own project for others to continue. I hope that by the time it gets back to Kevin the girl will have a story…

Then Ilan took me to see the drama class – he is the school’s drama teacher and his students, the same kids we are working with, were preparing scenery he thought using as a background for their storytelling. It’s a small warm space.

From here on we have several tasks we would like to complete:

Practice telling the stories so we can have a storytelling session. It will be recorded on video.

Translate the stories into English and create a printed version. The translations will be made by two of the kids, another will take everybody’s photos and another will edit and print the booklet.

Take one of the stories (Ilan will choose which one), turn it into a mini-play and rehearse it. This will be a good experience for those who will feel too embarrassed to tell their story. The play too will be recorded on video.

Ilan is going to write a piece about Zichron Yaakov which has a special story. We are going to take the entire class to main-street which is an historical site and shoot some photos and video.

If they will manage to do it on time, some of them want to create comics and a statue. These too will be documented in digital form.

We’re going to check if we can invite the local press, so if that happens, it will join the rest of the material. Ilan told them about the local press and they went “Duhh..”. “Tell them about Chanel 2 and you’ll get them listening,” I was joking and then one of them asked another, “Why don’t you tell your uncle about this?” turns out this kid’s uncle is a well known interviewer on national TV and a really cool guy… we’ll see.

All this material will be edited into a video-clip. Two of them are going to write, play and record music for it. One of the fathers, a professional video man will help us edit the digital material. The clip and the story-booklet will be placed into the StoryBox, the rest will stay here.

But I stole this meme from The Jos.  Feel free to play, and leave a link in the comments if you do!

Things you have done during your lifetime:

( )Gone on a blind date

(X) Skipped school

(X) Watched someone die (my dad)

(X) Been to Canada

( ) Been to Mexico

(X) Been to Florida

( ) Been to Hawaii

(X) Been on a plane

(X ) Been on a helicopter

(X) Been lost

( ) Gone to Washington, DC

(X) Swam in the ocean

(X) Cried yourself to sleep

(X) Played cops and robbers

(X) Recently colored with crayons

(X) Sang Karaoke (if at a relative’s house counts

( ) Paid for a meal with coins only

( ) Been to the top of the St. Louis Arch

(X) Done something you told yourself you wouldn’t (photograph weddings, to name one)

(X) Made prank phone calls

( ) Been down Bourbon Street in New Orleans

(X) Laughed until some kind of beverage came out your nose

(X) Caught a snowflake on your tongue

(X) Danced in the rain

(X) Written a letter to Santa Claus

(X) Been kissed under the mistletoe

(X) Watched the sunrise with someone

(X) Blown bubbles

(X) Gone ice-skating

(X) Gone to the movies

( ) Been deep sea fishing

( ) Driven across the United States

( ) Been in a hot air balloon

( ) Been sky diving

(X) Gone snowmobiling

(X) Lived in more than one country (lived in Brazil for a summer)

(X) Lay down outside at night and admired the stars while listening to the crickets

(X) Seen a falling star and made a wish

( ) Enjoyed the beauty of Old Faithful Geyser

( ) Seen the Statue of Liberty

( ) Gone to the top of Seattle Space Needle

( ) Been on a cruise

( ) Traveled by train

(X) Traveled by motorcycle

(X) Been horse back riding

( ) Ridden on a San Francisco CABLE CAR

(X) Been to Disneyland (I would think Disneyworld counts)

(X) Truly believe in the power of prayer

(X) Been in a rain forest

( ) Seen whales in the ocean

( ) Been to Niagara Falls

( ) Ridden on an elephant

( ) Swam with dolphins

( ) Been to the Olympics

( ) Walked on the Great Wall of China

( ) Saw and heard a glacier calf

( ) Been spinnaker flying

(X) Been water-skiing (oh, was that painful!)

(X) Been snow-skiing

( ) Been to Westminster Abbey

( ) Been to the Louvre

( ) Swam in the Mediterranean

(X) Been to a Major League Baseball game (go Twins!)

( ) Been to a National Football League game (but I’d like to)

FINALLY. Tomorrow, on November 27th, (I’m happy to annouce) Laura Pausini releases her new live material, titled LauraLive World Tour 2009 along with its Spanish version LauraLive Gira Mundial 2009 both being a compilation of one year of concerts. Both versions have a CD and a DVD. Besides this, there are also three new singles, one of them released on September 25th while the second one was released last Monday, and the next one probably tomorrow. I’m talking, of course, of Con La Musica Alla Radio, Non Sono Lei & Casomai. 

So I can say I will be completely satisfied when I have this new material on my hands (tomorrow, of course), because it not only reminds me of the concert I attended, but also shows me this artist is simply fantastic. (Weird for me, ’cause I’m a more rock/pop guy, but… things happen). So, for those fans who read this, expect a good entry about the album on Saturday, and in the meantime, I leave you with her new singles. Always, feel free to comment.

NON SONO LEI

Ti ho avuto qui, tra le mani, qui… eri. Testardo tu, legge dettavi, fino a, ieri… eh. Come il vento porta via, cose che non pesano, un momento ci bastò, ci separò. Non sono come lei, che non protesta mai, ama come sei, non contraddice. Io non sono come lei, che aspetta quando vai, ti giustifica, infelice, non sono lei. Ho scelto ormai, di continuare, accendendo soltanto una piccola luce per me. Nel buio sai, si può brillare, meglio che, al sole… eh. Come il vento portò via, cose che mi pesano, se mi oriento altrove andrò, perché lo so. Io non sono come lei, che non si stacca mai, ti segue dove sei, come un oggetto. Io non come vuoi, un inganno e non so mai, dirti una bugia, senza rispetto. È gentili avvertenze, non sono più lei. Ho altre esigenze, in cui non ci sei. (Io non sono come lei). Che non contesta mai, ama come sei, non contraddice. Io non sono come lei, che aspetta quando vai, ti giustifica. (Io non sono come lei). Che ti si addice. (Non si ribella mai). Non sono più lei. Lì messa in cornice, immobile… infelice. (Non sono lei). Infelice. (Non sono lei).

Casomai

Tutto è così… leggero, da quando sei qui… a dar sollievo ad ansia e ostacoli. Quanta gente mi diceva: “Non fidarti mai di lui”, con l’invidia di chi spera, soltanto nei tuoi guai. Casomai in meglio, tutto è cambiato, casomai lo sbaglio, non averti incontrato tempo fà. Un po prima… che l’emotività… formasse il mio carattere. Mentre il mondo giudicava, perchè hai scelto tra me e lei, dietro ai vetri sussurava: “Non è più la stessa ormai”. Casomai in meglio, è cambiare tutto, casomai adesso, invece è distrutto. Tutto è così… leggero, ma quando sei qui… a riportarmi giorni limpidi. Quanta gente mi diceva: “Non fidarti mai di lui”, con l’accidia di chi dispera, per non essere noi. Come noi, è meglio, e non è mica un peccato, casomai lo sbaglio, non averti incontrato tempo fà… tempo fà. Casomai, ora che ti ho trovato, è meglio.

PD: Con La Musica Alla Radio, the first single, will be posted on Saturday or tomorrow.

Most stories of Thanksgiving history start with the harvest celebration of the pilgrims and the indians that took place in the autumn of 1621. Although they did have a three-day feast in celebration of a good harvest, and the local indians did participate, this “first Thanksgiving” was not a holiday, simply a gathering. There is little evidence that this feast of thanks led directly to our modern Thanksgiving Day holiday. Thanksgiving can, however, be traced back to 1863 when Pres. Lincoln became the first president to proclaim Thanksgiving Day. The holiday has been a fixture of late November ever since.

However, since most school children are taught that the first Thanksgiving was held in 1621 with the pilgrims and indians, let us take a closer look at just what took place leading up to that event, and then what happened in the centuries afterward that finally gave us our modern Thanksgiving.

The Pilgrims who sailed to this country aboard the Mayflower were originally members of the English Separatist Church (a Puritan sect). They had earlier fled their home in England and sailed to Holland (The Netherlands) to escape religious persecution. There, they enjoyed more religious tolerance, but they eventually became disenchanted with the Dutch way of life, thinking it ungodly. Seeking a better life, the Separatists negotiated with a London stock company to finance a pilgrimage to America. Most of those making the trip aboard the Mayflower were non-Separatists, but were hired to protect the company’s interests. Only about one-third of the original colonists were Separatists.

The Pilgrims set ground at Plymouth Rock on December 11, 1620. Their first winter was devastating. At the beginning of the following fall, they had lost 46 of the original 102 who sailed on the Mayflower. But the harvest of 1621 was a bountiful one. And the remaining colonists decided to celebrate with a feast — including 91 Indians who had helped the Pilgrims survive their first year. It is believed that the Pilgrims would not have made it through the year without the help of the natives. The feast was more of a traditional English harvest festival than a true “thanksgiving” observance. It lasted three days.

Governor William Bradford sent “four men fowling” after wild ducks and geese. It is not certain that wild turkey was part of their feast. However, it is certain that they had venison. The term “turkey” was used by the Pilgrims to mean any sort of wild fowl.

Another modern staple at almost every Thanksgiving table is pumpkin pie. But it is unlikely that the first feast included that treat. The supply of flour had been long diminished, so there was no bread or pastries of any kind. However, they did eat boiled pumpkin, and they produced a type of fried bread from their corn crop. There was also no milk, cider, potatoes, or butter. There was no domestic cattle for dairy products, and the newly-discovered potato was still considered by many Europeans to be poisonous. But the feast did include fish, berries, watercress, lobster, dried fruit, clams, venison, and plums.

This “thanksgiving” feast was not repeated the following year. Many years passed before the event was repeated. It wasn’t until June of 1676 that another Day of thanksgiving was proclaimed. On June 20 of that year the governing council of Charlestown, Massachusetts, held a meeting to determine how best to express thanks for the good fortune that had seen their community securely established. By unanimous vote they instructed Edward Rawson, the clerk, to proclaim June 29 as a day of thanksgiving. It is notable that this thanksgiving celebration probably did not include the Indians, as the celebration was meant partly to be in recognition of the colonists’ recent victory over the “heathen natives,” (see the proclamation).

A hundred years later, in October of 1777 all 13 colonies joined in a thanksgiving celebration. It also commemorated the patriotic victory over the British at Saratoga. But it was a one-time affair.

George Washington proclaimed a National Day of Thanksgiving in 1789, although some were opposed to it. There was discord among the colonies, many feeling the hardships of a few pilgrims did not warrant a national holiday. And later, President Thomas Jefferson opposed the idea of having a day of thanksgiving.

It was Sarah Josepha Hale, a magazine editor, whose efforts eventually led to what we recognize as Thanksgiving. Hale wrote many editorials championing her cause in her Boston Ladies’ Magazine, and later, in Godey’s Lady’s Book. Finally, after a 40-year campaign of writing editorials and letters to governors and presidents, Hale’s obsession became a reality when, in 1863, President Lincoln proclaimed the last Thursday in November as a national day of Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving was proclaimed by every president after Lincoln. The date was changed a couple of times, most recently by Franklin Roosevelt, who set it up one week to the next-to-last Thursday in order to create a longer Christmas shopping

Throughout history mankind has celebrated the bountiful harvest with thanksgiving ceremonies.

Before the establishment of formal religions many ancient farmers believed that their crops contained spirits which caused the crops to grow and die. Many believed that these spirits would be released when the crops were harvested and they had to be destroyed or they would take revenge on the farmers who harvested them. Some of the harvest festivals celebrated the defeat of these spirits.

Harvest festivals and thanksgiving celebrations were held by the ancient Greeks, the Romans, the Hebrews, the Chinese, and the Egyptians.

The Greeks

The ancient Greeks worshipped many gods and goddesses. Their goddess of grains was Demeter who was honored at the festival of Thesmosphoria held each autumn.

The Romans

The Romans also celebrated a harvest festival called Cerelia, which honored Ceres their goddess of grains (from which the word cereal comes). The festival was held each year on October 4th and offerings of the first fruits of the harvest and pigs were offered to Ceres. Their celebration included music, parades, games and sports and a thanksgiving feast.

The Chinese

The ancient Chinese celebrated their harvest festival, Chung Ch’ui, with the full moon that fell on the 15th day of the 8th month. This day was considered the birthday of the moon and special “moon cakes”, round and yellow like the moon, would be baked. Each cake was stamped with the picture of a rabbit – as it was a rabbit, not a man, which the Chinese saw on the face of the moon.

The families ate a thanksgiving meal and feasted on roasted pig, harvested fruits and the “moon cakes”. It was believed that during the 3 day festival flowers would fall from the moon and those who saw them would be rewarded with good fortune.

According to legend Chung Ch’ui also gave thanks for another special occasion. China had been conquered by enemy armies who took control of the Chinese homes and food. The Chinese found themselves homeless and with no food. Many staved. In order to free themselves they decided to attack the invaders.

The women baked special moon cakes which were distributed to every family. In each cake was a secret message which contained the time for the attack. When the time came the invaders were surprised and easily defeated. Every year moon cakes are eaten in memory of this victory.

The Hebrews

Jewish families also celebrate a harvest festival called Sukkoth. Taking place each autumn, Sukkoth has been celebrated for over 3000 years.

Sukkoth is know by 2 names – Hag ha Succot – the Feast of the Tabernacles and Hag ha Asif – the Feast of Ingathering. Sukkoth begins on the 15th day of the Hebrew month of Tishri, 5 days after Yom Kippur the most solemn day of the Jewish year.

Sukkoth is named for the huts (succots) that Moses and the Israelites lived in as they wandered the desert for 40 years before they reached the Promised Land. These huts were made of branches and were easy to assemble, take apart, and carry as the Israelites wandered through the desert.

When celebrating Sukkoth, which lasts for 8 days, the Jewish people build small huts of branches which recall the tabernacles of their ancestors. These huts are constructed as temporary shelters, as the branches are not driven into the ground and the roof is covered with foliage which is spaced to let the light in. Inside the huts are hung fruits and vegetables, including apples, grapes, corn, and pomegranates. On the first 2 nights of Sukkoth the families eat their meals in the huts under the evening sky.

The Egyptians

The ancient Egyptians celebrated their harvest festival in honor of Min, their god of vegetation and fertility. The festival was held in the springtime, the Egyptian’s harvest season.

The festival of Min featured a parade in which the Pharaoh took part. After the parade a great feast was held. Music, dancing, and sports were also part of the celebration.

When the Egyptian farmers harvested their corn, they wept and pretended to be grief-stricken. This was to deceive the spirit which they believed lived in the corn. They feared the spirit would become angry when the farmers cut down the corn where it lived.

The United States

In 1621, after a hard and devastating first year in the New World the Pilgrim’s fall harvest was very successful and plentiful. There was corn, fruits, vegetables, along with fish which was packed in salt, and meat that was smoke cured over fires. They found they had enough food to put away for the winter.

The Pilgrims had beaten the odds. They built homes in the wilderness, they raised enough crops to keep them alive during the long coming winter, and they were at peace with their Indian neighbors. Their Governor, William Bradford, proclaimed a day of thanksgiving that was to be shared by all the colonists and the neighboring Native American Indians.

The custom of an annually celebrated thanksgiving, held after the harvest, continued through the years. During the American Revolution (late 1770’s) a day of national thanksgiving was suggested by the Continental Congress.

In 1817 New York State adopted Thanksgiving Day as an annual custom. By the middle of the 19th century many other states also celebrated a Thanksgiving Day. In 1863 President Abraham Lincoln appointed a national day of thanksgiving. Since then each president has issued a Thanksgiving Day proclamation, usually designating the fourth Thursday of each November as the holiday.

Canada

Thanksgiving in Canada is celebrated on the second Monday in October. Observance of the day began in 1879.

Some kid known as ‘Sal9000′ married the love of his life, a character off of a Nintendo DS game called “Love Plus”, named Nene Anegasaki.  Why would they even allow this to be a legit event?  Yes there was a real priest there too.  Only in Japan….wow.

◙   Donny Osmond has won the 9th series of ‘Dancing with the Stars’.  Totally thought Mya had it in the bag but I guess Donny stepped it up a notch.

◙   Well, Polanski is finally getting out of a Swiss jail on bail – $4.5 million dollars worth that is, unless it is appealed in the courts.  AND he gets to stay in his chalet in the Swiss Alps, while he wears an electronic monitoring tag.  Must be nice.

◙   Bob Marley’s “Catch a Fire” and The Beach Boys’ “California Girls” are amongst 25 songs that will be inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.  Check out this link to see the other classic tunes on the list.

◙   In sad news on the Canadian/Toronto music front, Jacksoul lead singer Haydain Neale lost his life to lung cancer, at the very young age of 39.  My condolences to his family, friends and the band. 

◙   Ohhhh more Adam Lambert news.  So, he’s not apologetic for his actions on stage even though he admitted that he got carried away with his performance, because he wanted to ‘interpret the lyrics’.  Hmmm, I don’t know about that.  Then to say on The Early Show that Janet Jackson was out of line during her performance, as well as Lady Gaga; but because he’s a gay male and they’re female performers, they wouldn’t receive that much backlash.  Ummm helllloooooo????  Do we not remember what happened to Ms. Jackson a few years ago after the whole Super Bowl-Justin Timberlake fiasco?  Her career almost completely fizzled because her tit came out of her costume (even though we couldn’t even see all of her boob).  If you’re going to defend yourself and justify your actions, do it properly and use real comparisons.  Sheesho.

◙   Maybe you saw it when you were searching for images of First Lady Michelle Obama.  A racist image of Mrs. Obama was the first image that would generate when people searched pictures of her through the Googles.  As it created a lot of rage (understandable), Google apologized and removed the image from the top search results, even though Google admits that they didn’t completely remove it.

◙   Lady Gaga performing for Queen Elizabeth??  How the hell did that happen?  I wonder if the Queen bops around Buckingham Palace listening to ‘Paparazzi’ or ‘Poker Face.’  And what is Gaga going to wear you ask?  Apparently, latex.  I’m sure the Royals will fancy that!!

we walked about 5-6 km? first to cimiez then 1 round st jean cap ferrat. it was really beautiful. so glad i went at least once befor ei go back. see how clear the water is! i really wanted to jump in and swim

and finally a photo of Nice beach in fall.

A chi vi arrivi per la prima volta in un grigio pomeriggio di novembre, la città può apparire scostante e ruvida. Le distanze sono dilatate, gli spostamenti a piedi sono ostacolati dall’aria fredda – quella che, se non hai un berretto di lana, ti congela anche i pensieri. Le case guardano il passante con aria un po’ trasandata, e – a dirla tutta – le strade non sono un granché pulite. L’odore rancido di fast food e patatine fritte ti assale non appena scendi dalla metropolitana. Il sole tramonta prima, e alle cinque è già buio pesto. Quando chiudono i negozi, in centro non si incontra più nessuno. Quasi c’è silenzio.

Ma Berlino non è una città da giudicare alla prima occhiata. Berlino vive negli interni. Nelle caffetterie, nei locali, nei ristoranti dal caldo soffocante. Nei musei scintillanti. Nei teatri. Nei laboratori artistici, nelle botteghe, nelle boutique alternative. Bisogna esplorare le zone lontane dai siti più turistici, specialmente quelle a nord di Alexander Platz: Prenzlauerberg, Schönhauser allee, Kastanienallee, Oranienburger strasse, Hackescher Markt; in questi quartieri si percepisce che Berlino è una città da vivere.
A far la sua parte c’è anche quell’efficienza e quello speciale senso civico tipico dei popoli dell’Europa del nord. Il trasporto pubblico è impeccabile sia di giorno, sia di notte. Si gira in tutta tranquillità, anche alle quattro del mattino. I minimarket sono aperti fino a tardi, oppure non chiudono mai.  Le strade sono fatte per le biciclette, e i marciapiedi per i ciechi. I vuoti degli alcolici – che i tedeschi tanto amano consumare in giro – vengono ordinatamente disposti attorno ai cestini dell’immondizia, in attesa che i barboni li raccolgano e li consegnino ai negozi in cambio di uno sconto sulla spesa.

Berlino, la si scopre poco a poco, e penetrandone la scorza se ne può vedere l’energia, la creatività, il calore. Non serve andare in chissà quali luoghi segreti, ma bastano cinque giorni per intravvedere che c’è tanto da scoprire; basta poco per innamorarsene e provare un desiderio irrefrenabile di tornare.

Who has it better: airline passengers or captive cattle? I'm thinking cattle.

ON TUESDAY the U.S. Department of Transportation fined three airlines a total of $175,000 for stranding passengers overnight on a tarmac in Rochester, Minn. last August.

This is the first time airlines have been fined for something like this.

The incident involved passengers being held for hours inside a tiny airplane, with crying babies and overflowing toilets and apparently no water or air conditioning, (it’s hard to say which of these would be worse when you’re stuck on a plane).

Lahood: Vowing to strengthen passenger protections.

“I hope that this sends a signal to the rest of the airline industry that we expect airlines to respect the rights of air travelers,” said Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. “We will also use what we have learned from this investigation to strengthen protections for airline passengers subjected to long tarmac delays.”

Good stuff. We need way more of this kind of accountability when it comes to air travel.

Canada doesn’t fine its airlines (our transport minister should take note of the actions of his American counterpart). Though the federal government did introduce an airline passenger bill of rights in 2008.

Among other things, ‘Flight Rights Canada’ states that “passengers have a right to punctuality.” If a flight delay exceeds 90 minutes, “the airline will offer passengers the option of disembarking from the aircraft until it is time to depart.”

I should hope so. Passengers pay good money to fly but all too often – and I’m speaking from a vast amount of personal experience here – end up getting treated like third-class citizens or captive animals.

Actually, captive animals have it better. They don’t have to deal with surly flight attendants.

ryan@roadtostarrdom.com

By now we have a bunch of 15 raw stories. Some of them need polishing; others are looking for a sufficient ending. Since we knew that this time we will have only one hour to work with the kids, we decided to do two things – find a creative expression that will travel together with the stories and do some kind of warm-up on the way to actually telling the stories to others. Like in standing in front of other people and talking…

Fear is what I wanted to avoid. A little fear can turn into excitement so that is where I was aiming at. I gathered four very basic exercises and grabbed my large red spaghetti spoon. When I met Ilan he was concerned about splitting the class. His colleague didn’t come to school so he had no one to send the kids who do not participate in the project to. He was preparing some kind of alternative activity he would lead while I’m working with the rest but still was uncomfortable with “the authorities”. We decided to invite them all in and play it by ear.

8:15 AM is not a pretty site when you are 14…. They looked as if they were shoveling coal for the entire night. Action and energy were required, “ok, push all the tables to the wall, bring your chairs in and let’s sit in a circle!” they actually did it Some of the kids who are not part of the project looked concerned, “don’t worry,” Ilan said, “you can take part, you are invited.” I told them we are going to warm up to the possibility of telling a story – without telling one today, just preparing. Holding on to the spaghetti spoon I looked at the kid sitting next to me in the eye, asked for his name and said, “here Amit, and when you grab the spoon you need to look at me and say thank you Limor. Then you pass it on the same way, with the same text, switching names and looking at each other while the interaction takes place. Naturally.”

The first few had great difficulty meeting eyes. But as we proceeded they managed to keep it with occasional giggles. I asked them how it was. They realized that looking at a person for a short interaction was not a habit most of them were acquainted with – they are not used to paying attention this way, it felt embarrassing. I asked them to go for a second round aiming to succeed as a group. The flow and attention were their mutual responsibility which is the case in storytelling. No power game, no begging for attention. They did it very well this time; they too could sense the slight shiver which appears in the presence of truth.

The second exercise went a different way, inspired by the “Academy Award Acceptance Speech” from Raising Voices by Judy Sima and Kevin Cordy. “ze grrande spaghetti prize” was granted to each and every one of them, young chefs who participated in “the younge chefe natsionale competitione.” I did the commentary announcing their wins by name and what we wanted to see was their reaction to the announcement. No words, just a single gesture that will make us understand what they feel receiving such a prestigious award. It was fun and Ilan took it slightly further demonstrating what a clear gesture is so they could be more accurate and effective.

The third exercise touched the embarrassment issue again. I presume you all know the exercise where the person comes over to the storytelling space, takes it with intention, stands in front of the audience and keeps standing there while receiving applause. They were really ok there. Then we spoke about it a little and that was enough for this part.

Creative expression was our second issue. Since all the class was there and participated, we had the opportunity to bring the “outsiders” back into the story. We asked them to take part in the creative idea, since it will require a lot of work. Nobody resisted. “Storytelling is the main creative expression form in this project,” I said, “but doing some more would be nice since it can travel.” They had many ideas – pictures, video, play, short book, comics, PPT, statue, music & song, video clip. We asked them to think where they could contribute the most and wrote down their names accordingly.

Through Facebook chat with Nathalie Jendly I realized there was stuff in the box we missed, some of it which she hoped will be continued by others. We didn’t really get to see all of it. Ilan felt he wanted to take some time with the box and its stories, without his students. So we are going to meet and look through all the material.
It might be a good idea to leave a clear message for the next story-keeper about things you want them to relate to. Next time we are going to return to their stories.

Following are basic facts outlining the roots and manifestations of the poverty affecting more than one third of our world.

More than one billion people in the world live on less than one dollar a day. In total, 2.7 billion struggle to survive on less than two dollars per day. Poverty in the developing world, however, goes far beyond income poverty. It means having to walk more than one mile everyday simply to collect water and firewood; it means suffering diseases that were eradicated from rich countries decades ago. Every year eleven million children, 1 every 3 seconds, die-most under the age of five and more than six million from completely preventable causes like malaria, diarrhea and pneumonia.

In some deeply impoverished nations less than half of the children are in primary school and under 20 percent go to secondary school. Around the world, a total of 114 million children do not get even a basic education and 584 million women are illiterate.

Health

• Every year six million children die from malnutrition before their fifth birthday.
• More than 50 percent of Africans suffer from water-related diseases such as cholera and infant diarrhea.
• Everyday HIV/AIDS kills 6,000 people and another 8,200 people are infected with this deadly virus.
• Every 30 seconds an African child dies of malaria-more than one million child deaths a year.
• Each year, approximately 300 to 500 million people are infected with malaria. Approximately three million people die as a result.
• TB is the leading AIDS-related killer and in some parts of Africa, 75 percent of people with HIV also have TB.

Hunger

• More than 800 million people go to bed hungry every day…300 million are children.
• Of these 300 million children, only eight percent are victims of famine or other emergency situations. More than 90 percent are suffering long-term malnourishment and micronutrient deficiency.
• Every 3.6 seconds another person dies of starvation and the large majority are children under the age of 5.

Water

• More than 2.6 billion people-over 40 per cent of the world’s population-do not have basic sanitation, and more than one billion people still use unsafe sources of drinking water.
• Four out of every ten people in the world don’t have access even to a simple latrine.
• Five million people, mostly children, die each year from water-borne diseases.

Agriculture

• In 1960, Africa was a net exporter of food; today the continent imports one-third of its grain.
• More than 40 percent of Africans do not even have the ability to obtain sufficient food on a day-today basis.
• Declining soil fertility, land degradation, and the AIDS pandemic have led to a 23 percent decrease in food production per capita in the last 25 years even though population has increased dramatically.
• For the African farmer, conventional fertilizers cost two to six times more than the world market price.

The devastating effect of poverty on women

• Above 80 percent of farmers in Africa are women.
• More than 40 percent of women in Africa do not have access to basic education.
• If a girl is educated for six years or more, as an adult her prenatal care, postnatal care and childbirth survival rates, will dramatically and consistently improve.
• Educated mothers immunize their children 50 percent more often than mothers who are not educated.
• AIDS spreads twice as quickly among uneducated girls than among girls that have even some schooling.
• The children of a woman with five years of primary school education have a survival rate 40 percent higher than children of women with no education.
• A woman living in sub-Saharan Africa has a 1 in 16 chance of dying in pregnancy. This compares with a 1 in 3,700 risk for a woman from North America.
• Every minute, a woman somewhere dies in pregnancy or childbirth. This adds up to 1,400 women dying each day-an estimated 529,000 each year-from pregnancy-related causes.
• Almost half of births in developing countries take place without the help of a skilled birth attendant.

And us, what do we do?

See: Article

Sommerurlaub im Winter oder Winterurlaub im Sommer … beides hat etwas für sich … meine Natur liegt im Winter”sport” und dennoch freuen wir uns auf DEN Sommerurlaub im November-Dezember …  Die Spannung steigt: am 26.11.09 um 12:00 hebt der Flieger ab auf die sonnige zweite Halbkugel unseres kleinen blauen Planeten … T minus 30 Stunden …

die Tickets sind gedruckt, die Sitzplätze gebucht … jetzt muss nur der ICE noch pünktlich sein, dann steht einer Erkundungsreise der australischen Ostküste nichts mehr im Wege…

Dresden – Frankfurt – Singapur – Brisbane – Sydney – Brisbane – Byron Bay – Brisbane – Fraser Island – Brisbane – Singapur -Frankfurt – Dresden

Wenn das mal kein Plan ist Ich will versuchen einige Stationen unserer Reise festzuhalten und vielleicht auch den Einen oder Anderen visuellen Eindruck zu posten

T.

Long time not see! I just got back… from Shanghai!

As always, I’m struggling with my blog, trying to figure out how to upload from my mobile phone. (-。－；) But let’s not get into that.

I got to experience the world’s top speed!!!

At the time as it was displayed in the picture (Japan time plus one hour), I experienced 431 km/h!!! For about 10 seconds… aboard the world’s fastest linear motor car, which connects inner Shanghai to the Pudong International Airport.

Here’s the machine!

!?

What’s that I see!?!

And take a look again…

Can you see the corpse right smack in the middle?!!!

It’s been a while since I was in China, but I really enjoyed my short stay. I finished my first round of Shanghai high end car market research, and I even had some delicious Shanghai crab!!! I didn’t make it to the Guangzhou International Automobile Exhibition though, sadly ….. (T_T)

All in all, it was a really meaningful trip!

The ROM and its new addition: building of beauty or one of the world's ugliest?

TORONTO, the city that wants so badly to be considered world class, was dealt a bit of a blow in that quest the other day.

The website www.virtualtourist.com put the city’s Royal Ontario Museum on its list of world’s ugliest buildings.

The ROM opened a new addition two years ago. The Daniel Libeskind-designed aluminum and glass structure, which shoots out in sharp angles, contrasts sharply with the existing museum.

This architectural contrast is the primary reason virtualtourist.com gave for ranking the ROM the eighth ugliest building in the world (it beat out only a library in Kosovo and some yet-to-be built hotel in North Korea on the Top 10 list):

“What I.M. Pei’s pyramid is to the Louvre, so is the relatively new Michael Lee-Chin Crystal to the Royal Ontario Museum. While many praise the glass structure, just as many are troubled by the incongruity to the original, more traditional museum that still sits directly beside it.”

Some readers on the Toronto Star’s website concurred.

“It’s like sticking Godzilla’s head onto Pam Anderson’s body,” is how one commenter described it. (I’m not sure Pamela Anderson could ever be considered an apt analogy for a museum/heritage building – an inflatable bouncy castle, maybe – but I think I get his point.)

Well, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. There are just as many, like me for one, who think the ROM addition is a striking architectural achievement worth celebrating. And if the new building is being likened to the Louvre pyramid, that’s good company to be in.

For too long Toronto has been plagued by boring, ugly, conservative architecture. Thankfully times are changing and the ROM addition is one of many projects cropping up around town that take some chances, architecturally speaking.

The folks at virtualtourist.com should be real tourists and come check it all out.

ryan@roadtostarrdom.com

Monday – Cartegena, Colombia

I was woken by Jim at midnight and myself and Vincent proceeded to keep an eye out for passing ships that may run over us. I was very tired by now but it was sort of fun but scary with all the passing storm clouds and we saw a lot of sheet lightning, but no thunder, so there was no reason to wake the skipper.

Our watch passed quite fast with only one set of lights on the horizon. After we woke Hayden and Val at 2am I was ready for a shower which I enjoyed, but then trying to sleep in my bunk, which was on the windward side, was nearly impossible. With the hatches closed it got very hot quickly and after about an hour I got up and joined 2 others on the big party bed, the one that covers the whole saloon floor. At least this was where I could be positioned with my head up hill and I was soon asleep. It did seem to be getting windy though and Bruce got up to bring in the foresail.

I managed to get myself about 4 hours sleep, not a lot, before I woke up and of course could not get back to sleep because some people on board have no respect for others and make too much noise, banging and crashing stuff around and loud voices. If you look at the map again, you will see a couple of black circles, these are my guesstimate of each 12 hour leg of the trip.

The rest of the day was a repeat of yesterday, with me trying my hardest to stay away from the sun, I was red raw and it hurt. I only had a few beers today, well a couple more anyway Once again here are a few photos from Vincent, probably not even from today, but this is basically what goes on when at sea, someone steers the rest lie around and read or be sick, whatever

We had a minor mishap during the windy moments. We were on a broad reach, with the main out on one side and the jib up front and the motor of course as we needed the speed to get the eta. The bottom of the mainsail at the rear where it joins to the boom, I think it is called a clew. Anyway, it is attached to a roller type block which is attached to the boom, which allows for adjustment etc, well with the flogging of the sail the block spat the dummy and gave way and was banging and flapping in the breeze! This caused a few moments of drama as Bruce and myself tried to hold the boom still while he lashed a few ropes around it. Nothing major and no great loss of time nor speed.

We eventually arrived at the port city of Cartegena around 5.30pm and were anchored about 6.30. We unloaded just what we needed for the evening, and it was once again Michael who copped a wet bag during the crossing, he was not a happy chappie.

We walked around for a while looking for the supermarket and we eventually found it and managed to get some Colombian cash out of the machine, so we could get a hotel or whatever.

Now, the German chap Manfred turned up and he was given out passports to be stamped and we were then to meet him tomorrow morning at 11am, so we could get a temporary import permit for the bikes, this would allow us to ride them around getting insurance and customs inspections etc.

After that was taken care of we grabbed a cab to a street called Media Luna, near the old walled city. Here we traipsed around once again looking for accommodation, in my case specifically with aircon(it was steaming), internet and bike parking. Myself and Val managed to find a place but no bike parking, but there was a pay park behind the hotel. For tonight it would do and we booked in and then got directions to a restaurant for some food, we were starving, Val more than me as he had spent 2 days not eating and just lying around being sick, he was a shadow of his former self

We found the place and it was nice food, although a bit dear, but never mind, we had full stomachs and now was time for a shower and sleep! We had also heard that tonight and tomorrow the city would be without water, so it was best to grab a shower now. How a city can turn off it’s water supply I have no idea, but apparently true, I will let you know tomorrow!

I spent some time after a basic shower getting caught up on emails as I had been out of contact for 6 days. There seems to be a bit of withdrawal symptoms happening, well thanks for following me and I will try and keep it interesting. Finding a new camera is a priority, but getting the bikes off the boat and legally into the country is more important. The other people on board are aware of my plight and I hope to get some photos in time to post, if not it will text only until I can find one that suits.

Day 0 miles and 0 km
Trip – 43,486 miles and 69,984 km

Salud
TravellingStrom

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A while ago I posted on Dutch teen Laura Dekker who had wanted to sail solo around the world at the tender age of 13. In her case a Dutch judge stepped in (you can read the post here Judge torpedoes teen dreams) and made her a ward of the state in order to prevent her making the voyage. 16 year old Australian Jessica Watson however has been at sea since October 18th and has recently crossed the Equator near Kiritimati Island.

Sailing into history or infamy?

I’ve always been fascinated by the experiences of those who sail the globe on their own. Joshua Slocum’s classic tale Sailing alone around the World, was one of my favourite books when I was Jessica’s age. And it is the question of her age, and perhaps her gender, that continually lurks behind media coverage of her voyage. Before she set sail the word “controversial” was continually used to describe her parents decision to let her leave, particularly after Jessica collided with a freighter on the first night of her shake down voyage to test her boat and systems.

Currently the press coverage is somewhat muted but I suspect that is because the greatest tests to Jessica and her boat lie ahead as she turns her bows back southward towards the huge seas and unpredictable winds of Cape Horn. This media fence sitting is becoming as fascinating to me as the voyage itself. It has already been decided, it seems, that her voyage can end in only either triumph, and book deals and endorsements, or tragedy, and the public stoning of her parents.

That narrative has yet to be written but Jessica’s blog which she updates from onboard has become required reading for me and thousands of others (it is currently Australia’s most followed blog).

Madrid  – Krisis ekonomi kali ini benar-benar membuat semua orang pusing kepala. Bahkan orang Spanyol pun terpaksa harus makan dari rambut.

Ya mereka menjual rambutnya untuk mendapatkan uang di saat sulit seperti ini. Setidaknya bisa untuk membayar tagihan.

Di sisi lain tentu saja ada yang saling diuntungkan, Dan Justino Delgado, yang mengekspor rambut asli untuk wig dan perpanjangan rambut. Usahanya bermula 50 tahun lalu, desa demi desa didatangi hanya untuk mencari rambut perempuan, hingga kemudian ia mulai mengimpor sebagian besar rambut itu dari Asia, terutama dari India dan China.Beberapa bulan belakangan, makin banyak perempuan Spanyol telah datang ke tempat usahanya di dekat Madrid.

Rambut itu berharga antara 50 dan 150 euro (75 dan 220 dolar AS), tergantung dari panjang dan berat. Syaratnya sederhana, rambut tersebut harus memiliki panjang lebih dari 40 centimeter dan tak pernah diberi pewarna.

Menurut Delgado, rambut orang Eropa lebih baik dan sangat dicari, dan dijual dengan harga lebih tinggi dibandingkan dengan rambut orang Asia misalnya”, yang lebih tebal.

Saat ini tersedia 90 ton ikatan rambut yang berwarna pirang, coklat dan merah yang digelar di lantai luas tempat usahanya.

Ia sekarang mengekspor sebanyak 80 persen produksinya, terutama ke bagian lain Eropa dan ke Amerika Serikat.

Sebelum dijual, rambut itu harus dicuci beberapa kali, lalu sebagian rambut tersebut diberi warna, diikat, disisir lalu diberi pita.

Semua negara di Eropa timur, misalnya, mencari warna khusus, orang Jerman memilih warna kenari muda, yang kurang umum di Spanyol, kata Yolanda, putri Justino.

Ada yang berminat?