When the Levees Broke - Spike Lee HBO Joint
I caught one act of When the Levees Broke on HBO last weekend. Despite visiting New Orleans in the
past year and driving through the decimated Ninth Ward, the film’s content and the way it was presented still amazed me. My reaction was one of anger and tremendous disappointment towards our country and government. The federal response has been disgusting and FEMA, part of that response, has shown complete incompetence. The response from corporations involved - mostly insurance co’s and local industry (oil) - has been one of apathy. It’s interesting that these same industies are typically connected with Republican groups. Coincidence? I doubt it. After discussing it with several government loyalists, I have still yet to hear a strong argument to the contrary. If ever there was a clear signal that the leadership of our country is in disarray, this event should be it. New Orleans is one of America’s truly special cities and this makes the situation even more tragic. I’m currently researching Katrina relief organizations and determining what help I can provide.
Lorin Bassnectar ripping it up at Burning Man
I took this film at Burning Man during DJ Lorin Ashton’s (aka Bassnectar) set on Saturday night. I think
it captures so much of the energy that was emanating from Entheon
Village during the show and at Burning Man overall throughout the week.
Office dress codes and uniforms are evil
Day four at Answers.com is in the books, though it hasn’t passed without a small revelation. When I awoke this morning, I opened my closet door and pondered my Thursday outfit. I initially gravitated towards slacks and a button-down shirt…after all, this is the official American male corporate uniform. As I decided between off-khaki colored khakis and blue-grey dress pants, then perused my assorted hanging shirts, a feeling of boredom and unoriginality swept over me. At that moment, one of those clouds that connote thought in cartoons appeared and my outfit of choice was before me: jeans and a smart-looking shirt (not necessarily of the button-down variety). Programmed by four years in the dreadfully homogeneous world of investment banking, this felt dangerously risqué, but I followed my hunch. It paid rich dividends.
In short, today was one of the most liberating work-days of my career. Why? Because I wore what I felt comfortable wearing and I gave myself the freedom to express myself - if even the slightest amount - through my choice in outfits. I felt more creative throughout the day and far more prolific in idea generation and concept creation. And the more I thought about it, the more it made sense. When you strip an employee of freedom to express themselves by enforcing a staid dress code or by encouraging other homogeneous behavior, you also suppress their creative energy. If you are running an assembly line (IBanking isn’t far away), that’s one thing, but if you value original ideas and individual talents, then let them shine. There is one company that comes to mind who value individual creativity enough to integrate it into their core values and it has undoubtedly contributed to helping them become the leader of the technology revolution in a whole…eight years. I’ll leave you guessing…
Another Burn is dust…
Burning Man ended a week ago Monday. Without getting into details yet, this year was even better for me than 2005. It will take some time to fully digest what transpired and to hopefully, consolidate the experience into a message, lesson, learning. Nonetheless, Burning Man felt more like home and my camp-mates more like family. I expected the "wow factor" to be diminished the second time around and the experience to be somewhat less meaningful, so I was doubly pleased when I discovered this wasn’t the case. My photos probably tell the best story. Also, here is an aerial map of Black Rock City that helps give some idea of what Burning Man actually looks like. More to come on this…