Power of Play

There was an interesting article in the Arts and Entertainment section of the Sunday Kansas City Star. The piece was actually a review of a book titled Play: How it Shapes the Brain and Invigorates the Soul by Stuart Brown and Christopher Vaughn - Avery publisher $24.95

It opens talking about how if you work at Cal Tech's prestigious Jet Propulsion Lab, you better be the best, the brightest an be ready to talk about how you played as a kid.

Vaughn and Brown believe that play is the "stick that stirs the drink."  The message I gleaned from the review is that Vaughn and Brown as well as others have come to the realization that schools have become assembly lines for high test scores but real learning is grounded in creativity and creativity is born of play.

While seeing this article is not particularly revolutionary information to me, It marks the second time in oh, something less then six months I've seen discussions suggesting that some of the top flight organizations and employers in the U.S. are reaching the conclusion that they are better served by employees that are well grounded in creativity. This seems to change the whole right brain left brain concept of intelligence vs  creativity. I guess being creative is after all a marketable commodity.

 

Technorati Tags: Play: How it shapes the Brain,right brain vs left brain,creativity

“is that it’s a place of many places.”

KEVIN COYNE writing in The New York Times, attempts to explain why the state of New Jersey is so rich with successful poets of late. He points out that W.S. Merwin's Pulitzer Prize for poetry makes the fourth such poet to win the prize in the past 10 years and he says this is a streak that is unmatched by any other state.

Coyne reports that another of New Jersey's Pulitzer Poetry winners, Stephen Dunn thinks he knows what what it is about the state that has given their poets this edge. “New Jersey’s gift to its poets, is that it's a place of many places."

It seems there are 566 municipalities compressed together in the state with a total population about equivalent to that of New York City.  There are in fact more municipalities in the state per square mile than in any other state in the nation. Lots of places provide a treasure trove of places to write about. Each with their own history, their own landscape and so on.

As I read Coyne piece and thought about Stephen Dunn's remarks, I am once again reminded how much emphasis place can have on poetry.  Poems are like a snapshot. A story stopped in time. The have a place in time and a geography all their own. I do believe Stephen Dunn is onto something here.

Technorati Tags: W.S. Merwin,Stephen Dunn,Pulitzer Prize for Poetry,poetics of time and space

Jesse says....

 

"Give me a waterboard, Dick Cheney and one hour, and I'll have him confess to the Sharon Tate murders." ~Jesse Ventura  5-11-09

Technorati Tags: waterboarding,Dick Cheney confess,Sharon Tate morders,Jesse Ventura

And We Thought Wall Street was the Bad Guys

Wall Street creative financial instruments that went bad are not the only sign of corporate greed. While Congress debates consumer protection regulations for the credit card industry, many of the companies it seeks to regulate are rushing to sock-it to customers before it's too late to milk them any further.

The credit card industry has enjoyed precious little regulation over the years and they have in recent times piled on  the fees and in many instances raised intrust rates even for well paying customers arguing they must do so to cover losses.

President Obama has urged a series of protections for customers. They include:

• statements that are easily understandable
• ban on unfair rate increases
• prevention of unfair fee and interest charges
• straightforward contract terms
• protections for students and young people

Yet a proposal to cap rates at 15 percent failed on Wednesday. A sign that the industry still has power in the halls of Congress.

While some changes are likely to reach the President's desk this secession there will be an interim period of time before they take effect. Meantime, companies are busy tacking on amendments to customer's contracts and hiking fees.

Another ironic aspect of all this is at least one major company who swallowed up several other companies and received taxpayer funded assistance has sent notices to customers current and with good credit scores advising them it is necessary to increase their rates due to industry losses.

Sources: NPR Washington Times Credit FYI

Technorati Tags: President Obama,credit card industry,consumer credit protections,Congress,Chase Credit

Double Darn

Darn!  Had I realized it earlier, I would have joined the President, Michelle and Darth Vader for a poetry reading at the White House.

Another discouraging  bit of news...  Republican Senator Tom Coburn  of Oklahoma tacked an amendment on to a credit card reform bill that would allow visitors to National Parks to carry guns. It is so lame to slip shit like this into law by attaching it to legislation that is not remotely connected to the topic. And of course, the measure passed 67 to 29 vote.  A lot of Democrats folding to the gun lobby. No backbones!   27 Democrats joined 39 Republicans voted for it and another 27 were joined by one Republican and voted to against it. Of course it may or may not survive a House Senate conference, but the fact remains there were a lot of Senators running with their tail between their legs.

Technorati Tags: White House Poetry Reading,Sen. Tom Coburn,No backbones,Guns in National Parks

Roxana Saberi Free

 

In the event you've not already heard, the Iranian - American Roxana Saberi was released from jail in Iran and has been told she is free to leave the country.  Last week, Amnesty supporters immediately responded by sending over 26,000 letters to the Iranian government in less than 24 hours urging her trial be revisited openly and that she be released. The details of Ms. Saberi's ordeal were reported here earlier.

Some of my Journal Bits from the past week....

• The sky has no cheer to offer
• The stars wink back / we are mutually exclusive
• old notions of predisposition / fell upon a perilous path /and were trampled
• there is commotion  / in the world order / what to do with the castors

Technorati Tags: Roxana Saberi,Amnisty International,Journal Bits

It's Clicking Again

Sadly the weekend is slipping away.  On the positive side, I was able to get some positive vibes back into my writing.  Yeah!!!

I'm working on both new stuff and rewrites for a particular submission that I've been planning and while the deadline is fast approaching, I don't as of yet feel particularly stressed about it. Surprising as that seems.

Parting thought for the weekend - "I shut my eyes in order to see." ~ Paul Gaucuin

 

Technorati Tags: life as a poet