Other Interests: pursuing your passion

Weekend in Sydney

We recently had a terrific family weekend in Sydney.

Also enjoyed a visit to the Brett Whitely studio and listening and dancing to Monsieur Camembert.

Exhibition

Anna had her 3rd year student exhibition last night.

Here's the invitation (the photo in the middle is hers)

Career guidance: Johnny Bunko review

Garr Reynolds has a great review of  The Adventures of Johnny Bunko: The Last Career Guide You'll Ever Need here .

There's a manga cartoon trailer for the book but I liked Reynold's slideshow summary.

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Are you aware?

As you do things during the day, are you fully present, mindful and aware of what you do?

In this video Jon Kabat-Zinn introduces us to meditation and your mind.

Al Gore's 2008 update on climate change

Al Gore's talk at TED in March 2008 brings a new sense of urgency to the climate crisis with updated slides and data.

Watch it here. (time: about 20 minutes plus questions)

I've been Andy Warhol'd

The size and depth of the Andy Warhol exhibition at the Gallery of Modern Art in Brisbane is awesome.

There was so much going on around Warhol and he seems to have been at the cutting edge in creating icons of the time.

Here's a photo booth picture of me done in the Warhol style.

People of the Book

It's Passover soon (19 April) and I've been reading Geraldine Brooks's People of the Book.

Here are some pictures of the actual Sarajevo Haggadah  and a Book Show interview

Moving Opera

My son was lucky to be chosen to attend a 4 day workshop run by Opera Queensland's Moving Opera program for schools.

At the end they did a presentation of the different activities the 25 boys and girls had done during the week: theatre sports, tableaux, diction, singing, drama. They did short ensemble pieces from Don Giovanni, Little Shop of Horrors and Pirates of Penzance.

Considering most of the boys had no musical background the results were a credit to all involved. And it looked like they had a lot of fun.

Here's Tarantara (When the foreman bears his steel) from Pirates of Penzance captured on a mobile phone.

Right brain, left brain

This video of a presentation by Neuroanatomist Jill Bolte Taylor is a knockout: a powerful personal story told clearly by a scientist!  Watch this.

You have to read this

I've read some great books lately (I really enjoyed Bill Bryson's biography of Shakespeare) but it was a short first-time novel called Addition by Australian writer Toni Jordan that I told my wife to read straight away.

It has it all: romance, obsession, wit, numbers, science.

Here's a Book Show interview