Matters of Great Import

I went bonkers this morning when I was at Emily’s camp dropping her off and I checked the camp store to see if there was a shirt I wanted to buy and I saw stuff from Brooklyn Superhero Supply.

BSS is a ‘front company’ – its store front in Brooklyn really does sell cans of ‘antimatter’ and ‘magnetism’ and snazzy capes which you can try …out in front of a fan… but behind the storefront, through a door is a not for profit writing program for mostly kids.  BSS was inspired by some of Dave Eggers work.

Dave Eggers has given a couple of speeches and been recognized for his work at the TED conference.  Please take a look at his work in San Francisco, in which the storefront is a Pirate Supply Store.

And see what you can buy at the Brooklyn Supply store… which was inspired by Dave.

Purchases from BSS support the work being done in tutoring students – I know I’m going to have a serious wish list from here soon.  Note also that there is a storefront in LA = Echo Park Time Travel Mart “Whenever you are, we’re already then” – the slurpee machine is ‘out of order – come back yesterday’

And note – Austin Bat Cave is following this example of one on one tutoring…

I missed this before the 4th, but it is great to go back to… I love hearing great documents read aloud and this has to be top 5…

A discussion described as creepy-cool… and I have to agree.  A discussion which goes from the behavior modification caused in rats by a parasite which makes rats more likely to get eaten by cats… (why? It can only reproduce in cat guts) to the fact that several studies show a correlation between the same parasitic infection in people and risk-taking behavior.

See the video here… a fascinating discussion through biology, behavior, parasites, aging and stress…

One more thing… the national rates of toxoplasma infection appear to correlate with some cultural differences between nations.  Not causality… but an interesting correlation.

Toxoplasma (Toxoplasma gondii) [Toxo] was first observed in 1908. You may have heard of it as the crazy parasite that makes rats attracted to cats.  This, in its own right, is astonishing, interesting, & bizarre. It has also been widely known that pregnant women should stay clear of cat scat & other sources for Toxo as it can adversely affect the development of the fetus.

Dr. Robert Sopalsky at Stanford has taken this link to humans further & has been studying, in detail, how it is affecting humans with some startling observations, but we’ll get to that later.

excerpted from Tobias Tenney’s blog

John Wooden leaves this world poorer for his passing but richer for having shared with his players, friends and all his teaching.  The guys at the DBR have a nice remembrance

Wooden was a tie to a different time, with far less ambiguity and confusion, and humility was as omnipresent as was his talent for teaching.  He lived in a world which was ordered simply around faith, industry, decency and optimism.

…

In an age when people are willing to debase or humiliate themselves in any number of ways, his character elevated him. A humble man, he saw himself as a teacher first and surely saw himself as a foothill in men’s lives, someone who helped them prepare for the mountains ahead, rather than as a footnote. That’s about as far as he was going to praise himself.

Well said.  See also the words from the man himself in this short talk given back in 2001.  Well worth a watch.

With profound simplicity, Coach John Wooden redefines success and urges us all to pursue the best in ourselves. In this inspiring talk he shares the advice he gave his players at UCLA, quotes poetry and remembers his father’s wisdom.

 

Note how sharply he gave this speech, well thought through, with no papers, dropping quotes verbatim, at 91.  I hope to do that well at that age.