The Invisible Mentor

Archive for July, 2009

Review of The Little Father by Gelett Burgess

I decided to read a few more works by Gelett Burgess who wrote the People Cow poem. I put The Little Father on hold at the library and later found out that it was a children’s book. No problem, I thought, I could review it for this blog. I read The Little Father in less than 15 minutes. My initial impressions were that I had wasted my time, and that it did not make any sense for me to review it since there was not much substance to the book.

Several hours later while reflecting, I wondered if I was being fair so I made a commitment to read the book again since it is so short. The following morning when I awoke, many issues danced around in my consciousness, and I realized these were issues that the book could have been raising. Have you been in a situation where you changed your mind after a good night’s sleep? I reread The Little Father and wrote the review.

Mr. Masters, a very obese man, had a four year son Michael. There was no Mrs. Masters but we were not told what happened to her, whether she had died or just simply left. Mr. Masters had the habit of drinking Indian ink, which is presumed to make him shrink. The more he drank his Indian ink the more he shrank. And soon he was the size of Michael. At this point Mr. Masters stopped more or less being a father to his son and was more of a pal. They played with Michael’s  toys and shared clothes since Mr. Masters had been a frequent visitor to his tailor having to constantly have his clothes adjusted to fit his shrinking frame.

Mr. Masters was the topic of conversation among his neighbours and the neighbourhood children often ridiculed and made fun of him about his small size. But, Mr. Masters did not stop there, he kept on drinking the Indian ink until Michael had to use a microscope to see him. Michael is now taking care of his father and has been doing so for a while now.

The Little Father made me very angry. What would possess a father to do something so dumb, I thought. But the more I processed the information, the less angry I became. In life we have role reversals, where the child takes care of the parent as in eldercare. Except that this does not apply here because the child is only four years old and the parent is 42 years old.

So what other issue is at play? Should we speculate since the story is a bit scanty when it comes to information? Is it our responsibility to fill in the gaps? In life, we never have enough information, and often have to fill in the gaps based on “intelligent” assumptions. Did Mrs. Master leave Mr. Masters because he was obese? Did his neighbours and coworkers ridicule him because of his size? Obese people are often discriminated against, so this is a plausible assumption.

Was Mr. Masters often ignored by society, made to feel like he was insignificant and invisible, so now he works hard at becoming invisible, until he is indeed invisible to the naked eyes. Is this fair to his four year old son who now has to fend for himself? I am a deep thinker, have I gone off the deep end? Am I making too much out of this story, after all it is a children’s book. Should I take The Little Father at face value? If I do this book does not work for me.

• How do our actions make others feel diminished?
• Do we discriminate against others because they do not look like or behave in a manner that society expects?
• How can we be in harmony with others?

I recommend that you read The Little Father because I would really like to know what you think and how you interpret the book.

Further Reading

Culture, Obesity Stereotypes, Self-Esteem, and the “Thin Ideal”: A Social Identity Perspective, Journal of Youth and Adolescence, Vol. 33, No. 4, August 2004, pp. 307–317 ( C
2004), Paul A. Klaczynski, Kristen W. Goold, and Jeffrey J. Mudry

Obesity, Self Esteem and Wages, National Bureau of Economic Research, June 2009

Weight Discrimination: A Socially Acceptable Injustice By Rebecca Puhl, PhD

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• Fathering (distractible.org)

Interview With Alison Duke, Writer, Producer & Director, Goldelox Productions

This interview was first presented in the October 2006 issue of my newsletter Ambeck Edge

 Challenge: The business of filmmaking is very subjective. My clients are community-based organizations, government agencies and corporate businesses. They hire me to make films and videos for their companies in the form of short documentaries, Public Services Announcements and/or corporate videos. When I’m offered a contract to make “something,” usually there isn’t a script attached. Usually it’s just a concept. The only concrete things attached to it are the budget for the film and a delivery date. They may or may not have a research file on the subject available for me, or know the precise audience who the film is for. In addition to not having a script readily available, most of my clients didn’t go to film school so they don’t have the appropriate film grammar to explain what they want in the film or the film’s look or style.

A major problem working this way was that most people did not understand how much time and effort goes into producing films. Because TV, and Hollywood make moviemaking look easy, people have skewed ideas what things really cost. Yet when it comes to visuals, everyone has this uncanny way of knowing what they like (and what they don’t like) when they see it. An obvious business challenge working this way, was knowing what the client really wants, which means getting into the client’s head and figuring out what they want me to deliver without spending too much time and money so the production can arrive on budget and on schedule.

 Resolution: I educate the client about what it will take to make their film. Once attached to the job, I book a show and tell with the client. A show and tell is a creative meeting where I show segments from my previous work that may represent the feel and style of their project. For completely new ideas or concept, I present sketches, animations samples and even audio clips of what I have in mind for this new work. I’ll go over the cost of producing these audio/visuals and also talk about the overall challenges of creating particular visuals or audio for our timelines. Once the client approves the ideas they want, I give them a production contract. In this contract, I incorporate as much details about the creative, including responsibilities and timelines. I also affix a budget and payment schedule so that payments are released as we achieve creative milestones such as script approval, subject selection and so on. I go off and write the script.

 I don’t start the actual filming until they sign off on the script. When the production is in progress, things always change and it is very easy to get sidetracked in creative conversations. When the situation is clearly defined on paper people are more able to anchor back to the overall objective and director of the job.

 Lessons Learned

1.  Establishing a creative work environment with my client takes work. I can’t assume that it is just going to happen, I have to nurture it. The environment must have balance though, with a clearly defined hierarchy of who has the final say because it is easy to give in to ideas and try to satisfy the whims of everyone involved in the project
2. Creating this type of work environment enhances the overall execution and workflow of the project.
3. You can actually do more damage to your reputation as a creative person by working on projects, which lack overall vision, execution strategies or adequate support systems to help you deliver. When I started out doing this I did a lot of different things. I am very selective in what I do now

Formula for Success

Understanding my client’s needs, providing good service and being passionate about what I am doing is key. I love filming and I try as hard as I can to keep abreast with technology and trends. I read a lot of film books, magazines and web sites, and I also do a lot of research for each job so I am as prepared as possible. The bottom line is that I love learning about what I do. I feel that when I know more I am better able to give my clients products they can use for a long time.

Excerpt: Ambeck Edge October 2006

Further Readings

Internet Movie Database (IMDb) Alison Duke
Hear the Story

While I was writing an article about the importance of reading, Building Intellectual Power One Book at a Time, I wanted the perfect quote to sum up what I felt, and I found the perfect one by Francis Bacon, author, philosopher and the father of inductive reasoning.

“Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested: that is, some books are to be read only in parts, others to be read, but not curiously, and some few to be read wholly, and with diligence and attention” says Francis Bacon.

A Video of Creative Quotations from Francis Bacon

(CreativeQuotations.com)

From the quotes in the video, which one is your favourite, and why?

Note: As is the case with all the posts so far in the series 10 People Who Would Have Been Great Bloggers, based on research, I attempt to get into the head of these great thinkers and project what I think they would say. And, most importantly, I have fun with what I discover. I find the theory that Bacon was Shakespeare to be quite fascinating.

Baconisms

1. You may not know this, but I am the originator of the phrase “Knowledge is power.” I am so delighted that the phrase is so widespread
2. Reading gives me pleasure and gardening is one of life’s simple pleasures
3. Have planned procedures to investigate everything
4. I believe in practical knowledge so it is important to restructure traditional learning methods
5. Though I revered Aristotle, I hated his philosophy, what the heck is Aristotelianism anyway?
6. My life is the classic case of a Greek tragedy, read my next point and you will know why
7. Be weary of power and do not let it go to your head, operate with integrity, I know what I am talking about. I was on the fast track and lost my way, I was charged and arrested for bribery. Though the king later pardoned me, I was banished from public life
8. If you make a mistake, own up to it, and learn from it
9. Good can come from adversity: After I was charged and arrested, I focused on my writing
10. Am I, or Am I Not William Shakespeare? Now That’s the Question!

Sources:

The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Francis Bacon (1561 – 1626)
Biographies: Francis Bacon “The Secretary of Nature (1561 – 1626)
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Francis Bacon

Of Francis Bacon by Max Patrick

Photo credit: Wikipedia

Interesting Information

Bacon is Shakespeare Slideshow
Baconian Theory

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• Crunch time for Pringles’ sense of self (guardian.co.uk)

What do you do when you want to clear your mind, when you you want to let go of all that “stuff” that gets in the way? To be the best that I can be, and unleash my inner genius, I reflect on my life a lot to make adjustments when necessary. And, I also read and write. Last summer I wrote a series of poems, and I would like to share one with you. Let me know what  you think.

A Daughter’s Farewell by Avil Beckford

I can’t remember you ever hugging me.

I can’t remember you telling me you loved me.

I can’t remember you kissing me.

But I clearly remember you criticizing me,

Leaving me, even when I was scared.

You weren’t there, even when you were there.

You were emotionally distant.

Sometimes I wonder if you were a figment of my imagination.

You must have been real, because you were my father.

The battle within me rages because I was invisible to you.

I no longer want to be invisible.

I want to be a real person to you.

Just once I would like you to tell me how you feel about me.

Just once, I would like to hear you say “I love you”.

Just once, I would like to feel your arms around me.

But you can’t really do that, can you?

You died before I got to know you.

You died without asking for my forgiveness.

You died before I forgave you.

I try to make sense of it all,

All the wasted moments, all the wasted years,

Both of us waiting for the other to extend a hand, a forgiving hand.

Our stubbornness got in the way, and now you’re gone.

If I got one more chance to see you again, what would I do?

Would I hug you?

If I got one more chance to see you again, what would I say?

Would I tell you I love you?

If I got one more chance to see you again, could I forget past hurts?

Could I forgive you?

Since I do not have the chance to see you again, I say,

“Farewell my father, rest in peace knowing that I love you.

Farewell my father, your daughter has finally found peace.”

What are your thoughts about forgiveness? What kind of relationship do you or did you have with your father?

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Review of On Natural Selection by Charles Darwin

I have been researching great thinkers and how they have shaped the world. I have also been trying to prove that the act of reading helps to generate or even stimulate great ideas. Great thinkers do not operate within a vacuum, they rely on the works of others, and often expand the original thought and take the world further. Charles Darwin and British biologist Alfred Russel Wallace independently arrived at similar theories of Natural Selection in the mid-1800s after reading Essay on the Principle of Population by British pastor Thomas Malthus.

I wrote this book review four years ago for my newsletter, Ambeck Edge and thought I would share it with you since it makes a great Invisible Mentor.

Darwin defines natural selection as the “preservation of favourable variations and the rejection of injurious variation.” So what does this all mean? Darwin further adds, “Variations neither useful nor injurious would not be affected by natural selection, and would be left a fluctuating element, as perhaps we see in the species called polymorphic… Natural selection can act only by taking advantage of slight variations; she can never take a leap, but must advance by the shortest steps.”

This book wasn’t the easiest to read, and I found it quite “dry”. But, in my quest to find out where really good ideas come from, I made the sacrifice and slogged through it. I have selected fives ideas from On Natural Selection. For the five ideas below, how can you use them in different contexts to resolve/understand modern day problems?

Five Good Ideas

1. When a plant or animal is placed in a new country amongst new competitors, though the climate may be exactly the same as its former home, yet the conditions of its life will generally be changed in an essential manner. If we wished to increase its average numbers in its new home, we should have to modify it in a different way to what we should have done in its native country; for we should have to give it some advantage over a different set of competitors or enemies.
2. Individuals having any advantage, however slight, over others, would have the best chance of surviving and of procreating their kind
3. When a species, owing to highly favourable circumstances, increases inordinately in numbers in a small tract, epidemics often ensue
4. The more diversified the descendants from any one species become in structure, constitution, and habits, by so much will they be better enabled to seize on many and widely diversified places in the polity of nature, and so be enabled to increase in numbers
5. Natural selection is working behind the scenes all the time throughout the world whenever the opportunity arises. It works to improve each organic being in relation to its organic and inorganic conditions of life. You cannot see these slow changes taking place, until after a long period of time has elapsed, we see that the forms of life are now different from what they formerly were

We could take idea number two and look at it in the context of education. It’s a reasonable assumption to make that people who are more educated have a better chance of succeeding than those who have less education. Or, for that same idea, we could say, someone who has an idea and knows how to take action, will be more successful than someone who has ideas but do nothing about them. Success in this context is not restricted to financial success. Why don’t you take one of the above five ideas and see what new ideas you can generate?

I recommend On Natural Selection because I am sure that you will come up with your own five ideas. This is not a book that you would read for entertainment, but it will certainly stretch you.

Excerpt Ambeck Edge May 2005

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Photo Credits: Cover from Amazon