In the most recent of the series of sweet lectures around London, I saw an on-stage interview with Paul Greengrass last night. He's a British director (most famously having directed the last two Bourne movies...sorry, "films") who is known for his docudramas and "hyperkinetic" style. Not sure what that means? I wasn't really either until they showed this clip:
Yeah, so there's a good definition. Apparently the average cut in "The Bourne Ultimatum" was less than 2 seconds!
More interesting, however, was his previous work, specifically "United 93" and "Bloody Sunday". Very intense stuff, and Greengrass was simplistically eloquent in describing his mission - to show the world events that he considers important. He doesn't try to push his "style" or his own take on events, but makes films responsibly and with respect for those most affected by the tragic events he works with. He hopes to use the film medium to move beyond entertainment and escapism - it is a powerful tool with which to show powerful events, opinions, beliefs. It was also pretty striking that he felt so moved to make films about Northern Ireland and 9-11; though he is neither (Northern) Irish nor American, he still internalized the human tragedy that occurred and used his abilities to show the events for what they were.
All in all, good talk. And I learned that good film isn't necessarily entertaining.
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Going Up
Gets you every time, doesn't it?
True, our manned space program is stuck in low earth orbit doing...not all that much, but there's something magical about a space shuttle launch, isn't there? Boldly freeing ourselves from Earth's gravity, going outside our protective little sphere, all that jazz. On another note, I love the amazingly corny phrases the NASA announcer always uses right after liftoff. Apparently with Discovery's launch, new gateways for international science were opened as Harmony was hoisted heavenward. Yes!!
But the United States wasn't the only country to launch hardware into space recently. China successfully got a probe headed toward the Moon. This comes shortly after Japan sent their own payload toward the Moon and shortly before India plans to do the same thing. Space race part II pending?
True, our manned space program is stuck in low earth orbit doing...not all that much, but there's something magical about a space shuttle launch, isn't there? Boldly freeing ourselves from Earth's gravity, going outside our protective little sphere, all that jazz. On another note, I love the amazingly corny phrases the NASA announcer always uses right after liftoff. Apparently with Discovery's launch, new gateways for international science were opened as Harmony was hoisted heavenward. Yes!!
But the United States wasn't the only country to launch hardware into space recently. China successfully got a probe headed toward the Moon. This comes shortly after Japan sent their own payload toward the Moon and shortly before India plans to do the same thing. Space race part II pending?
Toolbox Biology
Well, so much for all that momentum - my Rockies didn't fare so well last night, narrowly falling to the Red Sox, 13-1. Good news is that my other team, Arsenal, took care of business with a 7-0 trouncing of some Czech team...yeah, I'm clearly a very devoted fan.
Anyway, went to a lecture the other night by Craig Venter. Not many people can talk about changing the world and expect to be taken seriously, but this guy's one of them. He sequenced the first bacterial genome, and sped up the sequencing of the human genome by several years after coming up with a new way to read the genetic code. Most recently, he's declared that he's been able to make artificial life, by inserting a minimal genome and hijacking a cell's machinery to express its genes:
The good part is what he's hoping to do with this new capability: get the world off of its fossil fuel dependence and sequester carbon dioxide at the same time. That would be nice. It's an amazing new way of viewing biology as a whole: as a box of tools that can be configured and tinkered with to produce a desired result. If we can figure out the exact combination of DNA bases needed to, say, produce a pigment, those bases can be thrown into a cell and will use that cell's parts to make the pigment. Input synthesized genetic code, and out comes the protein of your choosing.
It's inspiring to see paradigm-shifters and share their enthusiasm and sense of grandiosity. Venter wasn't the most exciting speaker I've ever seen, but he was supremely confident of his purpose and abilities, and it's hard not to get a little kick of motivation from that.
Anyway, went to a lecture the other night by Craig Venter. Not many people can talk about changing the world and expect to be taken seriously, but this guy's one of them. He sequenced the first bacterial genome, and sped up the sequencing of the human genome by several years after coming up with a new way to read the genetic code. Most recently, he's declared that he's been able to make artificial life, by inserting a minimal genome and hijacking a cell's machinery to express its genes:
The good part is what he's hoping to do with this new capability: get the world off of its fossil fuel dependence and sequester carbon dioxide at the same time. That would be nice. It's an amazing new way of viewing biology as a whole: as a box of tools that can be configured and tinkered with to produce a desired result. If we can figure out the exact combination of DNA bases needed to, say, produce a pigment, those bases can be thrown into a cell and will use that cell's parts to make the pigment. Input synthesized genetic code, and out comes the protein of your choosing.
It's inspiring to see paradigm-shifters and share their enthusiasm and sense of grandiosity. Venter wasn't the most exciting speaker I've ever seen, but he was supremely confident of his purpose and abilities, and it's hard not to get a little kick of motivation from that.
Monday, October 22, 2007
"Dr. Livingstone, I presume?"
Went to a talk tonight about Henry Morton Stanley, the great English explorer, given by his most respected biographer, Tim Jeal. Pretty good stuff, though it was certainly enhanced by the surroundings: the august halls of the Royal Geographic Society in London. Stanley is most famous for scouring the vicious jungles of central Africa for David Livingstone, a Scottish missionary and explorer who had neglected to return to his homeland. Upon finding him, Stanley uttered those ironically formal words "Dr. Livingstone, I presume?"...or did he? Jeal doesn't think such words were ever spoken. When perusing Stanley's journal, he read gripping accounts of the natives, the animals, etc., and right as he finds Livingstone...the page was torn out! Hmmm. Livingstone's journal of the period includes no such phrase, so perhaps it was merely the ingenious creation of a publicist.
Anyway, Jeal called Stanley the greatest British explorer of all time. I guess I've always viewed those Victorian-era British explorers a little cynically, assuming they were carried around and catered to by servants, and sought little more than personal glory. Well, turns out Stanley was pretty intense. He certainly had plenty of help, but he suffered enormously and was the driving force behind several expeditions. Jeal closed the evening by stating that "Men such as Stanley are now an extinct species." Why is that? Well, for one thing, I think we're all a product of our times, and there just aren't any more continents to go swashbuckling through. The exploration of space is probably the closest thing we've got. But we live in pretty sterile times as well; we're risk-averse, and unwilling to pay the price often necessary for big steps in exploration. It's hard to imagine that England would have continued to sponsor such grandiose expeditions if there was a news team following them around documenting the 50% attrition rate. Not that an open press is a bad thing; in the end, I think a significant change in our acceptance of risk would be necessary to return to the days of expanding humanity's boundaries.
Anyway, Jeal called Stanley the greatest British explorer of all time. I guess I've always viewed those Victorian-era British explorers a little cynically, assuming they were carried around and catered to by servants, and sought little more than personal glory. Well, turns out Stanley was pretty intense. He certainly had plenty of help, but he suffered enormously and was the driving force behind several expeditions. Jeal closed the evening by stating that "Men such as Stanley are now an extinct species." Why is that? Well, for one thing, I think we're all a product of our times, and there just aren't any more continents to go swashbuckling through. The exploration of space is probably the closest thing we've got. But we live in pretty sterile times as well; we're risk-averse, and unwilling to pay the price often necessary for big steps in exploration. It's hard to imagine that England would have continued to sponsor such grandiose expeditions if there was a news team following them around documenting the 50% attrition rate. Not that an open press is a bad thing; in the end, I think a significant change in our acceptance of risk would be necessary to return to the days of expanding humanity's boundaries.
Sunday, October 21, 2007
Getting Started
A few things about blogs:
1. I've never been a fan of unilateral information transfer, yet ironically, that's exactly what a blog is - me putting my thoughts and views out there for the world (or, more realistically, 5 or 6 bored people) to see. So whoever you are, whether I know you or not, I'd love to hear from you - your reactions to my posts, your thoughts on something I might find interesting, etc.
2. The written (or typed) word has an incredible way of seeming more legitimate, more profound, than the spoken word. It really is amazing how much more convincing something can be when the "uh"s and "like"s of daily speech are omitted. I find that many online authors seem so authoratative, so confident about everything. Well, hate to break it to you, but if you're searching for definitive wisdom, this is probably not the best place to be looking. So don't take me too seriously.
3. So what is this about? After all, the world needs another blog about as badly as it needs another Starbucks. I suppose this blog is as much for me as it is for you - a chance for me to organize thoughts, make notes, and hopefully exchange ideas with like-minded people. Most importantly, perhaps, this will not be about me - I know you could care less what I ate for lunch today. I plan to relay noteworthy stories and comment on issues I find important and/or interesting - the expansion of human potential, imagination, and ability. These are things that inspire me, and I hope they will be of some interest to you as well.
Thanks for stopping by, and enjoy!
1. I've never been a fan of unilateral information transfer, yet ironically, that's exactly what a blog is - me putting my thoughts and views out there for the world (or, more realistically, 5 or 6 bored people) to see. So whoever you are, whether I know you or not, I'd love to hear from you - your reactions to my posts, your thoughts on something I might find interesting, etc.
2. The written (or typed) word has an incredible way of seeming more legitimate, more profound, than the spoken word. It really is amazing how much more convincing something can be when the "uh"s and "like"s of daily speech are omitted. I find that many online authors seem so authoratative, so confident about everything. Well, hate to break it to you, but if you're searching for definitive wisdom, this is probably not the best place to be looking. So don't take me too seriously.
3. So what is this about? After all, the world needs another blog about as badly as it needs another Starbucks. I suppose this blog is as much for me as it is for you - a chance for me to organize thoughts, make notes, and hopefully exchange ideas with like-minded people. Most importantly, perhaps, this will not be about me - I know you could care less what I ate for lunch today. I plan to relay noteworthy stories and comment on issues I find important and/or interesting - the expansion of human potential, imagination, and ability. These are things that inspire me, and I hope they will be of some interest to you as well.
Thanks for stopping by, and enjoy!
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