Break the Freaking Mold - Colorlines Video

As some of you know, I am an advocate for alternative and creative video content. I do not care if you want to monetize or not, show me something other than an insulting dumb azz scripted corporate reality shows.

Women need to be visible. Non-hostile white men need to be visible. Fat people that like to dance need to be visible.

Which is why I will not watch. mainstream TV. My television has been dark for five years and counting. Only in the case of a national calamity will I turn it on again.

I subscribe to educational channels, old people channels, teenagers, food shows, tech shows, and what ever I might be interested in that day. Don't box me in and don't try to peg me demographically.

I'm just as likely to was 60 Seconds Adventures in Astronomy as I am to relax watching the Galaxy Trio.

I'm not alone in this mind set. Okay, perhaps watching the Galaxy Trio is for a select population.




Jay Smooth point out on Twitter this Colorlines video from some of the top folks on YouTube.They just so happen to be people of color.

Should you happen to hear some chuckle-head cackle that we are in a post-racial society and that they are color blind please point their eyeball to this video. Because these folks will tell them that they get deeply offensive comments no matter what they are talking about.

That they don't get the new tech give-a-ways to share with their viewers and they have a lot of viewers. Probably don't get the invites to plain vanilla stuff either. 

It is a lament that I have heard from African American parenting bloggers who get totally ignored by  the marketing world. Followed by food bloggers of color, tech bloggers and probably there is a version for the audio podcasters as well.

Asian, Latino/Latina and African Americans creators do not fit the current mold of completion acceptance. I have a feeling ageism creeps into the mix as well; in both directions.

So let's break the freaking mold.

Knowing Is Half the Battle and So Is Laughter

Last night I was checking the YouTube to see if there was any goodies I had missed. I glance at the right of the screen. The man was crafted skin tight. Nice looking fella but I couldn't take my eyes off of Mike's chest.

You know, on the list of things I have to develop, my chest area is not one of them.  One night you are able to sleep flat on the sheet. A week later you have bumps. That grow and grow and I really had no say in the matter.

This video is nine minutes of a man working hard for his body.



I can see his abdominal muscles. I count four but I can see the other two under his pectorals.

You know, it is a pleasure to watch a guy work out. It is not necessarily sexual. It could be if my hormones were at high tide. I'm posting it so that when my hormones flow upward again I don't have to hunt for this video. This is called being pro-active.

I'm looking at the aesthetics of him lifting up those weight.  Dude is kinda cute tho.

YouTube seems to think that I need a shape up. How they knew about my visit to my doctor is beyond me. This is like a re-enforced guilty reminder of something, I don't know what.

I do know that I will never be sleek. I have curves. I am rounded. For heath reasons I need to drop a few pounds but I am designed for puffyness.

So I am taking the pledge to eat more veggies this week. Not lettuce. Full green and orange veggies. Because I want to.

And I will walk more. 

And not let the societal pressures of having a perfect body get me down.

Vlogging While Brown 2011 Panel Session Video

When the blahs hit and you think there isn't anything to conjure up I say dive into the external hard drive video shoe box and see what you got.

The Blogging While Brown Conference 2012 is happening in Philadelphia this year. I can't make the trip but I do have some video to share.

This is a session about Videoblogging while Brown. This clip talks about the need to have a thick skin when you present yourself to the viewing public.


The Vlogging While Brown Panel participants were Roshini Cope, Andrea Tasia and Lydia Cotton.

Just two quick points. There is all kinds of ways to do videoblogging. There is talking head, personal narrative, advocacy, travel, cooking,  pick a topic and somebody has done a video on it. 

You do want to put on your internal slickers to repel some the bile that could come your way.

Jaming It In Anyway I Can for Day 13

Today is Sunday. A day of rest. Trying to catch up on my videos and it it almost but not quiet a lost cause. This is a video of me looking out at trouble from the Metro Pico Station. We are suppost to have our Santa Ana winds that cause warm air to lovinging caress the body.

Not these rain clouds.



What rest?

I have cleaned the bathroom, Uploaded 15 videos to the Vlomo Gallery, throwing out trash, trying to finish a blog post and start another and did I mention the kitchen is a wreck?

There is laundry. There is purging of things I haven't used or read in 15 years.

No. I am not complaining. I am stating facts. The fact is this is a good day. Well, except for damn near choking myself because I took too strong of a sniff of PineSol.

Ventilation should never be compromised. 

Meeting the People You Sleep With

2015  Update: The original video has been lost; it was posted on a service called BlipTV. I haven't found the original; it is on a disc someplace in my possession. I've added a book trailer that hopefully you will find interesting.

This takes some explaining. I like audio dramas, storytelling, audio theater, old time radio and stuff like that. I got hooked on Philippa Ballantine podcasts of Weather Child and other productions.

Tee Morris, yes. too many to count. I usually listen to podcasts before I go to bed, when I need to mellow out at work or for medicinal purposes.

I attended Tee's presentation at BlogWorld 2011 in Los Angeles. Excellent. He told the straight scoop and didn't try to get me to believe in the fairly money making slot machine of podcasting. I really appreciate that.




Here is my story. Tee did mention that he and Philippa would be in steampunk attire the next day. I didn't think I get a chance to see them but they were standing near the Podcaster Zone. Do yourself a favor and check their web site http://www.ministryofpeculiaroccurrences.com

I did have my digital camcorder, honest. It was hiding from me at the bottom of my bag. I could only lay hands on my mobile phone. Not high definition but you use what you got. I was also going into a mild fan panic of "record you idiot before they get away."

Folks, I must have looked like a dork. I know it.  But I got the video.

I am putting on my self-desired holiday shopping list an electronic organizer for my handbag. This, I swear,  will never happen again. This is my day 4 video for Vlomo 2011.

Being 52 - Writing A Post to A Stranger

Life was a bit simpler being a six-year old person. You could write a letter to someone you did not know. You thought about the letters that made up the words you wanted to say.

As you age up a bit you become more self conscious and hopefully a bit more reflective. I did type hopefully. Anyway this video is an answer video to Frank Carver's Vlomo10 post on the A14.



Hi Frank.

This is the California state highway 134. It is normally jammed up with folks going and coming from work or trying to get to the Rose Bowl. Lord help you if you are on it the same day as the UCLA vs USC football game.

The scenery is kinda cool. There are palm trees, oak trees, wild flowers, bougainvillea and whatever the wind blew into the land this week.

Lemme see, anything else. Oh, yes. The sound you hear is the on-board television called TransitTV. There are day old news stories from the Associated Press, PowerPoint type puzzles and commercials to ride the bus to people that have no choice but to ride the bus.

Thanks for the inspiration.

Gena

The Being 52 lesson of the day is go for it.

Margaret Fabrizio on Creativity and Going Forward

Margaret Fabrizio is working on a quilt project. She is an artist, a vlogger and a bit older than I am. If you are watching this on a day after October 31st then you might be confused.



It is the questions. Always the dang questions that leads us to enlightenment. But not before you get kicked in the tush with lessons.

I Will Survive Doing It My Way on The Finally Friday Freakout

We will survive if we can endure. I wish I could have told that those young souls who ended their lives because of bullies. Suicide is not a good option. It is final but the pain that is left behind for others to carry is too much.

There are people that want to do better but first, a musical interlude to mellow us out after a tragic week that will pass into time but not without a handkerchief of tears.

This is Chantay Savage with her rendition of I Will Survive (Doing it My Way)



If you never experienced being bullied as a child or a teen you really don't understand. There are adults who call it teasing, kids being kids or any other word used to explain away one or more people targeting another person.

Age is not an excuse. Youth is not an excuse. We've had elementary school students tease other children into suicide. There is something profoundly wrong here.

If you have never had 15 kids make fun of you in stereo then you do not know what hell on earth is like.

It can be physical. Verbal. It can be emotional. It can be a two for one deal that last for years. Let me emphasis that last part, "for years." That is after you tell the parents, after you tell the teacher, the principle and any other adult.

Some adults will act and some will tell you to suck it up or fight back. Some of the incompetent adults will laugh and join in on the attack because unbeknown to the young person an internal cage is being rattled.

Adults who hear stories of young suicides ask how did their pain get bad? Because the student in question had no place or person they could turn as a resource. There is embedded sexism, homophobia and all kinds of sanctioned body abuse.

Sustained abuse is either internalized, reciprocated or medicated. Death is the ultimate pain killer. Seriously, don't do drugs and don't kill yourself.

Survival and Coping

We as straight, gay, lesbian, transgendered, queer and asexual adults have to put out more emergency soul repair kits and mental life rafts.

We have the power to inform and counteract the negativity and the misinformation.

I like Dan Savage's idea about creating a video channel telling gay youth that there is another side if they can hang on because it does Get Better.

The Twitter hastags #stayalive #itgetsbetter has some good idea such as the repetition of the suicide prevention hot line for LGBTQ youth 886-488-7386. Other folks are offering coping ideas, music and resources.

The Gay Lesbian and Straight Eduction Network has an anti-bullying resource page students.

It doesn't matter to me if you are a teen or an older person trying to hold on praying expectantly or holding on 'til your change shall come.

It might mean actively looking for positive mentors. Artists, poets, dancers, sports folks. It might mean reading or searching for your historical pathfinders to figure out how they moved forward.

Deep breaths. One moment at a time.

Birds on A Wire by Jarbas Agnelli

It has been done before. Anyone who has seen PBS non-commercial commercials will recognize the idea.



This time the birds do the composing and the author really does transcribe their work note for note. For more videos by Jarbas Agnelli check out his Vimeo channel.

These Are The Days of Our Lives on the Finally Friday Freakout

I was reading Dave Pollard's blog "How to Save the World." I check into it every now and again to see if he has figured it out. Because, you know we live here and perhaps there is a better way to live.

Dave wasn't feeling the positive vibe this week in his post "Nobody Knows Anything."

No one is in control. Obama isn't getting anything done, despite being the most powerful person on the planet, because he can't. The 'leaders' aren't going to deal with climate change or peak oil or pandemic disease or unsustainable debts, because no one has the power or authority to do anything, and because it would be political suicide to admit that the only solutions that might work will be radical, painful, and require a lot of sacrifice from everyone. So all you get is posturing, and it's just going to get worse. This is what unsustainable means.

I think Dave is having a form of burn out or something. It is hard. Waiting for people to have a clue that the gimme-gimmies are not working as well as they have in the past.

That how we continue in the future is dependent on how we act today.

There are times I feel the same way. Smoke it down and then start a new. And that kinda defeats the purpose of "How to Save the World." This next sentence is unavoidable. We are the world. Ok, a part of it.



I picked this video for a couple of reasons. Freddie Mercury was no angel but he was true to himself. He lived his life. Freddie certainly loved. This video was recorded toward the end of his time on the planet.

You don't mess around when you know you are about to croak. You do what you have to do. You speak your peace and prepare. In black and white the video still has a spark. I think Freddie wanted to let those close to him know that he did love. His gift was performing. Freddie wasn't finished yet. Not quiet ready to lay it down.

Maybe Dave Pollard is right; change cannot come from pundits and so-called leaders. It will have to come from the bottom up. It can't be legislated. The change has to be enacted by real people in action. Not sound bits or slogans.

Can we do it in love and respect? That is up to us. Not looking too good at the moment.

Dave is getting pissed that after 40 years from high school he now realizes that people don't know squat? Dude, I hear you. Except that many of us do know. There is action.

Slowly, so slowly we are moving toward the change that will exist long after we are dust.

Funny or Die Health Insurance Parody PSA

This video is from MoveOn.org take on health insurance companies. You can find it at Funny or Die but I saw it at Pam's Coffee Conversations.

Protect Insurance Companies PSA from Will Ferrell

I'll keep saying this, I don't want health insurance reform. I want health care access and reform. I'd prefer a single payer option.

It seems this is gonna be a knock down drag out fight for the most minimal coverage Americans can hope to get.

I'm still working my way back to positivity so, go figure. I also have a cold. Not the flu. I am one cranky woman at this point.

Scuze me while I swig some NiteQuill.

Irregular Flow from 4khz

Sometimes it is a simple idea matched with the breath of execution.

irregular flow from 4khz on Vimeo.

There is not much more I can add except h/t to Buddha at Musings. I went to Vimeo to find out more about it and the creator but there are only a few more videos and a lot of positive comments.

Yes, video can be like this and more.

Video Geek Lab - Business and Product Support Resources

This is the fourth segment virtual handout on the BlogHer09 Web Video/Videoblogging session of the Geek Lab. There is a lot of pure bunkum that is being perpetrated in this area. Lurk, observe and do not give your money until you are sure that the person or company has demonstrated experience.

This means that if you see a tacky looking slide show and they claim to be “video experts” who will teach you how to create video for a price, move along. Also Search engine optimization is not the same as producing good content be it text, audio, photos or video.

The flim flam is excessively high so be very picky about these type of content providers. What I am trying to say is the true goal is the same for all types of web video; to communicate a message.

You first need to understand what you want the video to do for you. Yes, I know for a fraction of you the goal is to make money.

I have to tell you most successful money generating people I have met, and I do know some Benjamin packing people, have in common is that they have a product or service that they believe in AND that there is a clear benefit to the consumer.

The benefit has a value of X . Honestly the focus has to be on what can you do for your potential customer before she or he commits to buying your service or product.

What Has This Got to do with Web Video for Business?

This is your opportunity to by pass your local TV and radio stations who will not sell you time to promote your product and service.

This is your time to help your customers understand what your product can do for them and explain it on your terms. Your occasional or ongoing series of videos can help make that decision.




Cori Chavez's goal is to help small business people using video with the equipment that they have. Her focus may be to be known as an expert. I don't know. But the videos on her blog do not talk about her knowledge. They demonstrate help and assistance to the viewers and potential customers.

Videos can help in product support or demonstrating how to use, wear or incorporate a product into a consumer's lifestyle. At BlogHer I received a DVD from a woman who is promoting Pilates for desk jockeys. When my box of stuff arrives I'll put in the name of the video.

Now I'm do not have an exercise blog, and I am not the first person you think of when it comes to physical fitness. But if someone asks me about desk based back and abs exercises I now have a resource for them to check out. I do know folks with back and fitness problems.

I can refer them to the website that if they have good sense, demonstrate one or two exercises that would cause a person to buy the DVD. This is Social Media 101.

Are you catching my drift? The business videos you create have to support the needs of your potential clients and customers. Not how great the product is or could be for them.

Oh, yeah, one more thing. Do not lie of deceive people. It is wrong. People will talk. And not everybody gets to go to the Country Club prison.

Equipment:

• Upper Level Digital Camcorder
• Prosumer Camcorder
• External good quality microphones, tripods, lighting.
• Hiring professional assistance to start.

There are many kinds of business videos. These are business video examples and I make no judgment or endorsement of the products or services presented.

Cisco Systems Business Video Portal

David C. Skul - video on YouTube on 5 Tips for Effective Web 2.0 Marketing. I then backtracked to his website to find out about his services and other resources that I will post below.

Gerry Oginski at The Lawyer's Video Studio is promoting the use of video for lawyers.

IRS video explaining the benefits of Retirement plans with captioning.

Megs Concession Supply has videos that demonstrate concession food machines and products.

Poor Specimen.TV caters to surfing enthusiasts and those that remember back in the day of the surf film. You purchase and view videos online.

WellcomeMat.com is a portal for real estate videos and real estate video services.


As you can see the video quality is all over the place. Yes thousands of folks are trying web video for business but only a few are doing it correctly. There will always be room for quality. Content rules but quality for business video is equally important. Like the Instructional tutorials you gotta have a plan. These following people can help.

Creating Business Video Resources

Bill Myers Online – working on independent distribution before the Internet and has adapted to the changes. Review the sample articles and videos for free.

Cori Chavez at New Video Monday is targeting small business owners who want to use video. A new effort but she does have good video content.

David Skul's RelativityCorp.com page on business and marketing web videos. Both articles and video content.

Web Video University's blog where you can sample videos and the quality of the instructor, Dave Kaminski work.

Video Geek Lab - Documentary and Journalism

This is the third section of the BlogHer09 Video Geek Lab. This one concerns resources for those of you interested in documentary videography, citizen journalism,video activism and presenting fact based videos.

• Web Camcorder - you will have to work harder on the video but it can be done.
• Digital Video Camcorder - upper level with more controls and features.
• Prosumer Level Camcorder
• Audio/Microphone Concerns
• Tripod/Monopod

You might need better quality equipment and a bit more skills to create different versions for distribution. In addition, you might need to learn some of the techniques of traditional and web based journalism.

News University – free and paid web classes on journalism issues, storytelling techniques and new media. You will also want to hang out at the Poynter Institute for Visual Journalism page.

Online Journalism Review - Tips for shooting better online video (2007). Technology has improved since this article but it is still solid information. You should also read What Are The Ethics of Online Journalism and How To Write for the Web because slapping a video on a blog is not always the complete story.

Many of us will find ourselves interviewing people. Here are some tips from Serena Carpenter:

How to shoot video interviews

View more presentations from Serena Carpenter.

Audio and storytelling resources at Transom.org Please read Curtis Fox, Elizabeth Arnold and Studs Turkel on the many paths to storytelling. You will also find information about microphones and recoding software.

Knight Digital Media Center - Camcorder information specifically for those people interested in journalism.

For journalism, social media and related information visit Serena Carpenter, Amy Gahran and Amy's posts at Poynter.org

Cinema Studies – Would You Watch A Chick Flick?

My initial answer is usually “No.” In my head a so-called “chick flick” is fluffy, superficial and it reeks of girly-girl craziness in pursuit of beefcake. Or so I have been told. If I dig a little deeper inside of myself I think “How do I know this?” Well, movie reviewers and critics, mostly male but some female critics have passively taught me the negative confines of a chick flick. So I wonder, do women see movies differently than men?

Cinema Studies is many things from how each element in a film contributes to the creation of an movie experience to the importance of a film against the context of its time. Let me start with an movie that I was guilty of pre-judging when I saw the initial ads and reviews.

The Notebook is based on the novel by Nicholas Sparks.  Had no prior knowledge of Mr. Sparks work.  I might have seen the commercials for the movie and read a few of the reviews. It was enough to cause me to dismiss spending money on the film. That was a mistake. This is the trailer for the film: 

About a year ago I saw the movie on television. Loved it. I couldn’t figure out how I had missed it.  Looking back at the reviews I can see why. I was told that it was sweet, corny and well worth the risk of diabetic shock?  Yowser!

I found that the movie invited me into the past and the present with a love story involving class, wealth, loss and the endurance of love. The same qualities that I found in Casablanca, The Quiet Man and What Dreams May Come. For me, it was the story and the craftsmanship used to tell the story.  If the movie touched me in a positive way but freaked out some of the men that reviewed it does that make it a bad movie?

It could be that, to a professional movie reviewer who has seen a lot of movies, this was a paint by the numbers job. For myself who spent umpteen years watching the Late, Late Show and knows a turkey movie when I see one, I don’t think this was the case. How many good films might have been ignored because they didn’t resonate with the perceptions of the predominately male reviewers? I don’t know. I don’t even know if it is a fair question.

If, on the other hand, watching the movie makes you feel bad about your love life (or lack thereof) is it a good movie because it re-enforces cultural memes about finding true, everlasting love? Shannon at Three Girls Grown Up pulled a double whammy on herself. She read the book and viewed the movie.

So there is the subjective way to view film and an objective way to see a film. For students learning filmmaking there is process you can employ to really understand how the film was crafted. Tendrape at the Communications and Culture Blog reviewed the film looking at how certain decisions were made to invoke mood and experience.  She also looked at how certain mythologies are conveyed in the film:

This movie reinforces attitudes that go along with other popular films today like encouragement for the underdog and living the American Dream. Even though Noah is not working to become a millionaire or something with money which most often is associated with the American Dream, he doesn’t stop trying to get Allie back and eventually all his enduring efforts paid off similar to the dreams goals panning out in the end.

Women who love film/cinema/movies might bring a different perspective on what the see in a movie. They can also shine a light on forgotten or ignored film history. Here are some examples.

Other Cinema Blogs That Inform

Stacia at She Blogged By Night gives a review and critique of BorderTown. Stacia intertwines a synopsis of the movie with how Bette Davis performance in the film enhances or detracts from the presentation.  There is also a mention of the racism directed toward Latinos in the 1930s in the film. Raquelle from Out Of The Past, A Classic Film Blog uses the 1961 movie, The Young Savages to focus in on how Puerto Ricans are portrayed in New York City, 30 years away from BorderTown.

Raquelle has another great post about the dilemma of just focusing on the film or performance or do you allow the actor’s real life to influence your appreciation of the film:

I am far too nosy and inquisitive to not learn about the lives of classic film stars yet is it right for me to dig up the dirt? Should I honor their legendary careers by avoiding their personal lives? If so, why should I? If they did bad things, why should I overlook them? What about those stars who were genuinely good people? Should we avoid them too?

Campaspe at Self-Style Siren evaluates the screen relationships between two great character actors, Peter Lorre and Sydney Greenstreet. She point out an interesting aspect of one of their scenes in The Maltese Falcon:

How well these two always managed to flesh out relationships that were somewhat superficial on paper. In The Maltese Falcon their more-than-business association is startlingly plain, but it's all in the playing. When Lorre attacks Greenstreet, yelling "You, you imbecile! You bloated idiot! You stupid fathead!" we hear not just a criminal sidekick but also a frustrated ex-lover.

Lolita’s Classics features a tribute to Animator Lottie Reiniger. Reiniger used black paper and scissors to create her animations and the work is stunning. You can view some of Lottie’s wonderful videos at Lolita’s blog. As Lolita points out:

Even though many people think that the first feature-length animated film was Walt Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937), The Adventures of Prince Achmed really is the oldest surviving animated feature film.

Bunny Fontaine loves B-Movies and writes about them at The B-Movie Buffet. But Bunny also grooves on retro movie fashions at her blog The Jaded Pussycat. Check out the 1960s fashions from the Dean Martin film The Silencers and then wonder about the so-called good old days when things were more “innocent.”

Sometimes a film can inspire folks to create their own works of art. Diane at Whidbey Island pays tribute to Hollywood fashion via reconstructing costumes from movies. The  costumes are scaled to doll size. You can see costumes from Imitation of Life, Funny Face and Rear Window.

I end with Norma Desmond’s The Flick Chick review of a contemporary movie, My Life in Ruins.  From what I’ve read this may indeed be a chick flick and not a good one at that:

I can’t remember the last time I saw a film where the plot machinery was so clearly visible and where everyone involved seemed to be proceeding with a “let’s just get this over with” attitude. I wasn’t even expecting that much from this, just light, fluffy summer entertainment but I find it difficult to be entertained by things that never aspire to more than the lowest common denominator.

I think the difference for me is that the plot and structure of the movie is being judged and not the fact that it doesn’t have bombs, gore or transforming robots as an instant negative.

This post originally appeared on BlogHer, where I am a Contributing Editor.

American Violet Trailer

Hat tip to What About Our Daughters for writing up about this movie. Did not know a thing about it or the subject. It is in limited release which means it may have been pulled by the time you see this trailer.

Any movie that has Alfre Woodard and Charles S. Dutton kinda gets my attention.



I doubt you will be able to find it in your local theaters. I doubt it will go into general release. I'd say keep your eyes on the Target DVD racks in about two months or so.

And for the chosen few, you got enough Katt Williams DVDs, try something different for a change. (No disrespect to Katt Williams intended.)

Open Video Conference - NYC June 19-20

As we prepare to step into our futures you should know that folks are working on ways to make creating video content easier, open and accessible. I have to tell you that DTV ain't doing it for me. Every time I give it a try I have 60 channels of infomercials and weather.

Bah! Collectively we can and have made better content.

Now there are multiple approaches to this from the technology itself, not using commercial/licensed software, the ability to share across video platforms (DV, computer video formats, operating systems, cell phone video and yadda, yadda yad-da.) and devising ways to make the process easier for the average creator.



If any of this is ringing your chimes check out the video by Jay and Ryanne:

Some day it will be as easy as opening and closing a refrigerator door. Until that time people are talking, thinking and creating tools and systems to move closer to that day.

For more information about the conference you can visit http://openvideoconference.org

Videoblogging Week Is Coming - We Need Women!

Yes, it is almost that time again when vloggers do their thing for 7 straight days. Anything goes and usually does. Josh Leo has the Videoblogging 2009 vlog up. But something is missing. Actually someone has been missing in large numbers.



Women! I don't have time for my usually long winded rant but we need more women with cameras, camcorders and whatever you got to tell your stories. I'm off to the Salt Mine but when I get back I'll have more info for you on how to jump in and at the very least claim your day to post a video. One, just one and if you like it maybe another one or two or twenty.

Dreams Fulfilled - Journeys to Science Ph.D Bloggers

Visibility.  There is still a need to document the work being done by women, particularly in the sciences. It is even more important to educate people outside of the science world because it can literally save lives. More on that later in my post. One of the benefits of going to a science blog is that another person is telling me they are traveling the distance between a dream and actuality. If they can do it maybe I can too.

This post was inspired by FairerScience hosting a blog carnival on dreams of a more equitable society. Prudence Motowo is from Zimbabwe.  It is one thing to say that you want to be a scientist but there is a lot of work involved in gaining that higher degree. In a video from 2007 you can learn about Prudence’s area of research and her climate transition from Zimbabwe to the English winters. 

In 2008 Prudence had to defend her dissertation in what folks in the UK call a “viva.”  This is a video of the moments after Prudence Mutowo became Dr. Prudence Mutowo.

Disgruntled Julie is working on her Ph.D in Oncology. Her blog is a mixture of what she is doing in and out of the lab. The first post I read was explaining a dilemma about a presentation she needed to give to her peers. In this passage you can clearly see that she loves what she does:

My program is in cancer biology, rather than biochemistry or pharmacology or structural biology, so we are tied together by the fact that we study cancer, not by the way in which we study cancer. 98% of the program studies cell signaling and knockdown genes in cells and in animals, and while they produce some hot science and generate some pretty cool results, the techniques they use are all same old, same old in so much as we see the same thing every week.

Then I come along, and my results come from surface plasmon resonance and circular dichroism and fluorescence polarization, and I talk about things like molecular modeling with structures from co-crystallization…That’s what I love about my project – even though it’s taking me a long time to generate worthwhile data, my presentations are always interesting, because I am the black sheep of the program doing something COMPLETELY different than everyone else (all biochemistry/biophysics), and people are interested to learn about what it is that I am doing.

Nightmares On The Journey

Now just because you think your dream is a good idea doesn’t mean that all educated people are going to respect or encourage you. Even in the halls of science, there are people who will be threatened by a woman’s presence . Melissa at Confused At A Higher Level, dreams about if there will ever be any increased representation in physics by women:

I have become less optimistic the longer I have persisted in physics. Initially, I imagined there existed a few old guards resistant to change, but that the attitudes and actions that hindered women in physics were on their way out. Yet I have had physicists of my generation say appalling things to me, and I continue to be disappointed in the complacency of people who claim to be allies.

What does make me optimistic is that women who have had 30+ year careers say that they have seen improvement over the course of their careers. However, now that the blatant discrimination is gone, the challenges are more insidious. For that reason, I think Virginia Valian’s book, Why So Slow? The Advancement of Women, might make good required reading for scientists.

Honoring The Dead and Saving Future Lives

In 1989 a man walked into an classroom at the Ecole Polytechnique. This man killed 14 women students. This is a statement of fact. It does not tell the story. Alice at Sciencewomen fills in the details about what happened in her post on We Remember the Montreal Massacre. You see, in most stories they remember the name of the killer. Alice list the names of the women who were killed. 

Most stories also remember that he stated that he wanted to kill “f*cking feminists.” It did not matter if these women were or were not feminists. They were women who dared to dream. In our world, that is enough to get you killed. Thesis with Children wants you to know that the fear echoed south of the border. 

I understand that fear because when you are in a male dominated environment or course of study you are told both covertly and overtly that you as a woman do not belong. I bring this up because there is a fictional movie based on the events of December 6, 1989. You can view a trailer of the movie, or read more about it at IMDB’s Polytechnique page. Canadians are conflicted about the movie. There is an article in the The Star.com that talks about film and what memories it invokes.

Unfortunately it might become the cultural record of fact. This is another person that is revising and re-interpreting the actual experience. I do not know if those of us the U.S. will have access to this movie.  To be honest, I don’t think I would see if I could. Watching women being killed is not entertainment to me.

We can save future lives by educating our children that all people have the right to be educated. We can be verbally respectful of women who choose their life path, whether that is a SAHM, a Bio-Medical engineering or a mom who is a Ph.D.

We can save future lives by telling our truths in our writings, photographs and recordings. We can no long allow people to tell our stories if we are capable of doing so ourselves.

We can save future lives by following our dreams.

Gena Haskett is a Contributing Editor at BlogHer where this article first appeared.

Lessons from The Monty Python Channel on YouTube

This is how you do it. They get it. Or got it. Maybe it was one of their grandkids that brought it to their attention. YouTubers have been snagging Monty Python content for years. I neither approve or condone such actions but yeah I watched.

You get attached to Spiced Ham and then a stinking DCMA notice hits and it gets yanked down. Up and down, from good transfers to crappy Vaseline postings. The fans would not be satisfied. It took time and effort to yank those suckers down too. Only one benefiting was the lawyers typing up those dang DCMA letters.

That is all over, thanks to the wonder of The Monty Python Channel



Somebody said, hey let's post our stuff in the best quality and we'll ask them to buy DVDs of the lot. Now it might seem to some people that this is not a good idea to give it away free. In fact, it is a great idea. See, I remember them because I saw the actual television show on PBS.

But that was years ago. Now I can look at the bit of stuff and decided if it was as good as I thought or not. If it is, I might want to get the DVD so that I don't have to get rump burn trying to watch the clips and videos in my computer chair. I am a potential customer!



But wait, it gets better. What about all the folks that have never seen it and only heard about it from older brothers and sisters. Not sure they would have listened to the parents but ok maybe even them. A whole new generation can be turned on to strange men in women's clothing.

Yeah! Everybody wins. The MPs get introduced to a new generation. The old fogies light ups some memories and cashed is exchanged for DVDs at Amazon.com.

No hate, no eyestrain and you get a wee bit of Monty Python history too.

So your royal purpleness, Prince (not of England) why fight it man? Why feed the lawyers? Can't we all just get along? You know you could put out experimental videos and music just to wet your feet? Take lessons from a bunch of gits. It can work for you.