The Center for Future Storytelling: New Technology and the Changing Story.

I just read that M.I.T. is launching the Center for Future Storytelling to explore how new technology will change storytelling, sounds like really interesting. From the NYTimes,

Starting in 2010, a handful of faculty members — “principal investigators,” the university calls them — will join graduate students, undergraduate interns and visitors from the film and book worlds in examining, among other things, how virtual actors and “morphable” projectors (which instantly change the appearance of physical scenes) might affect a storytelling process that has already been considerably democratized by digital delivery.

(Image: http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2008/)

Longing for Queer stories

An interesting article in the New York Times about young gay male marriage. The article explores why gay men are marrying in their 20’s, without the social pressure, which, according to the article, explains why straights get married young. The final answer ends up being a combination of the desire for commitment and the need for social legitimacy.

The appealing part of the article is not the social analysis, but the subject, happy queer stories. For sometime, I have been noticing that there is a lack of stories about queer people. When I went to see “Brokeback Mountain” I remember being surprise that the person I saw it with was crying. To me there was no doubt how the movie would end, the same way all mainstream queer stories end violent or AIDS related deaths. This really struck me. Where is the cultural narratives which help young queers see how they might live happy fulfilled lives?

There are of course such stories, one must simply dig for them. A few suggestions to wet your appetites. Inlaws & Outlaws is a great movie that explores love and commitment in it’s myriad of incarnations. Summer Storm is a very compelling coming of age story out of Germany, which delves into the conflicts of growing up gay in a straight world, and what an alternative might look like.

I would love to hear about any other suggestions people might have.

The First Green Homeless Shelter

The New York Times today reported on Crossroads, a homeless shelter in Oakland, CA, that is being reported as the first green homeless shelter in the US.

Green Jobs, Needed Jobs

I came across an interesting article in the New York Times about Van Jones’ “Green for All” campaign, which is trying to go get 30,000 youth trained in environmentally sustainable industries through a $125 million appropriation by Congress.
Mr. Jones’ whole point is that environmental sustainability is a non-starter without inclusion of all sectors in society, including low-income and people of color. He also thinks that green jobs can be the solution to social inequality and environmental degradation.
"(A) big chunk of the African-American community is economically stranded." (Said Mr. Jones) "The blue-collar, stepping-stone, manufacturing jobs are leaving. And they’re not being replaced by anything. So you have this whole generation of young blacks who are basically in economic free fall.” Green-collar retrofitting jobs are a great way to catch them.
(Photo credit greenforall.org)

Articles of Note

A couple of articles I thought were interesting.

From Ants to People, an Instinct to Swarm. It fascinates me, as an avid believer in the power of the individual, how if you take enough of use you can boil us down to some pretty simple rules of behavior. It reminds of Isaac Asimov's Foundation Series.

Investment Firm Names Gore as a Partner is another sign of our ascendance into a sustainable society. It is good news that investment firms are taking an interest in sustainable business.