Nobody ever…

Nobody ever figures out what life is all about, and it doesn’t matter. Explore the world. Nearly everything is really interesting if you go into it deeply enough.

Richard P. Feynman

born in Far Rockaway, Queens, New York, The United States, May 11, 1918

died: February 15, 1988

gender: male
genre: Science, Biographies & Memoirs

Richard Phillips Feynman was an American physicist known for the path integral formulation of quantum mechanics, the theory of quantum electrodynamics and the physics of the superfluidity of supercooled liquid helium, as well as work in particle physics (he proposed the parton model). For his contributions to the development of quantum electrodynamics, Feynman was a joint recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1965, together with Julian Schwinger and Sin-Itiro Tomonaga.

Feynman developed a widely used pictorial representation scheme for the mathematical expressions governing the behavior of subatomic particles, which later became known as Feynman diagrams. During his lifetime and after his death, Feynman became one of the most publicly known scientists in the world.He assisted in the development of the atomic bomb and was a member of the panel that investigated the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster.

In addition to his work in theoretical physics, Feynman has been credited with pioneering the field of quantum computing, and introducing the concept of nanotechnology (creation of devices at the molecular scale). He held the Richard Chace Tolman professorship in theoretical physics at Caltech.

http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1429989.Richard_P_Feynman

Bangladesh Miracle

Wise Woman

We are each…

We are each the authors of our own lives, Emma. We live in what we have created. There is no way to shift the blame and no one else to accept the accolades.

- Barbara Taylor Bradford

born in Leeds, West Yorkshire, The United Kingdom May 10, 1933
gender: female
website: http://www.barbarataylorbradford.com/
genre: Literature & Fiction

Barbara Taylor Bradford is the author of 25 bestselling novels, including Playing the Game, Breaking the Rules, and The Ravenscar Dynasty. She was born in Leeds, England, and from an early age, she was a voracious reader: at age 12, she had already read all of Dickens and the Brontë sisters. By the age of twenty, she was an editor and columnist on Fleet Street. She published her first novel, A Woman of Substance, in 1979, and it has become an enduring bestseller.

Barbara Taylor Bradford’s books are published in over 90 countries in 40 languages, with sales figures in excess of 82 million. Ten of her novels have been adapted into television mini-series starring actors including Sir Anthony Hopkins, Liam Neeson, Deborah Kerr and Elizabeth Hurley. She has been inducted into the Writers Hall of Fame of America, and in June of 2007, Barbara was awarded an OBE (Order of the British Empire) by Queen Elizabeth II for her contributions to Literature.

She lives in New York City with her husband, television producer Robert Bradford, to whom all her novels are dedicated, and their Bichon Frise dogs, who sit under her desk while she writes.

http://us.macmillan.com/author/barbar…

Banned

Dear Ela,

Have you seen our banned ad?

It’s all over the news: our controversial TV ad exposing Coke’s opposition to an effective ‘Cash for Containers’ recycling scheme has been censored at the last minute from airing on Channel 9 tonight [1].

TV bosses deemed it “too offensive” to go on air, despite us clearing it with government classification bodies. But all signs point to Channel 9’s fear of a backlash from Coca-Cola, one of the world’s biggest advertisers.

Our ad may be confronting. It might shock some. But let’s be clear: the only thing “offensive” here is Coke’s outrageous efforts to stop this popular and proven recycling scheme from being implemented nationally.

By blocking us on TV, they’ve only given us more media attention for this important campaign — and they can’t stop us reaching more Australians by sending it to our friends and family online. Can you watch the ad now and share it with everyone?

https://www.facebook.com/login.php?next=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fsharer%2Fsharer.php%3Fu%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.youtube.com%252Fwatch%253Fv%253DQ7Uxaw6YoRw&display=popup

https://twitter.com/intent/session?return_to=%2Fintent%2Ftweet%3Fsource%3Dwebclient%26text%3DShare%2Bthe%2Bcontroversial%2B%40CocaCola%2Bad%2Bthat%2B%40Channel9%2Brefused%2Bto%2Bair%2Bbit.ly%2FCokeYTAd%2B%2523CokeFail%2Bvia%2B%40Greenpeaceaustp&source=webclient&text=Share+the+controversial+%40CocaCola+ad+that+%40Channel9+refused+to+air+bit.ly%2FCokeYTAd+%23CokeFail+via+%40Greenpeaceaustp

http://youtu.be/Q7Uxaw6YoRw
If you’d prefer to share via email, copy and simply forward this to everyone in your address book.

This ad was fully-funded by Greenpeace supporters; people like you who care about our planet and our wildlife. At moments like this – when corporate interests trump what the Australian public wants – our movement needs to step up and fight back.

We know there’s something seriously wrong when TV networks are happy to show gambling, rape and violence but are too afraid to air an ad for recycling.

Thanks for getting involved.

The team at Greenpeace Australia Pacific

PS. We’re waiting to hear back from Channel 7 and Channel 10 about showing our ad on their networks. We’ll make sure that NSW Premier Barry O’Farrell and other decision makers see it.
Greenpeace blames Coke for Channel 9 ‘choke’, ABC News, 10 May 2013.

Nine slams Greenpeace over ad linking Coca-Cola bottles to dead wildlife, Herald Sun, 10 May 2013

Nine rejects Greenpeace anti-Coke ad, The Australian, 10 May 2013.

Nine slams Greenpeace over ad linking Coca-Cola bottles to dead wildlife, Daily Telegraph, 10 May 2013.

Ad dumped as Nine gives Greenpeace the bird, Sydney Morning Herald, 10 May 2013.

Gun Control

What the Motorcycle said

What the Motorcycle Said

Br-r-r-am-m-m, rackerty-am-m, OM, AM:
All-r-r-room, r-r-ram, ala-bas-ter-
Am, the world’s my oyster.

I hate plastic, wear it black and slick,
hate hardhats, wear one on my head,
That’s what the motorcycle said.

Passed phonies in Fords, knockede down billboards, landed
On the other side of The Gap, and Whee,
bypassed history.

When I was born (The Past), baby knew best.
They shook when I bawled, took Freud’s path,
threw away their wrath.

R-r-rackety-am-m. Am. War, rhyme,
soap, meat, marriage, the Phantom Jet
are sh*t, and like that.

Hate pompousness, punishment, patience, am into Love,
hate middle-class moneymakers, live on Dad,
that’s what the motorcycle said.

Br-r-r-am-m-m. It’s Nowsville, man. Passed Oldies, Uglies,
Straighties, Honkies. I’ll never be
mean, tired, or unsexy.

Passed cigarette suckers, souses, mother-fuckers,
losers, went back to Nature and found
how to get VD, stoned.

Passed a cow, too fast to hear her moo, “I rolled
our leaves of grass into one ball.
I am the grassy All.”

Br-r-r-am-m-m, rackety-am-m, OM, Am:
All-gr-r-rin, oooohgah, gl-l-utton-
Am, the world’s my smilebutton.”

― Mona Van Duyn

The world’s…

The world’s perverse, but it could be worse.

- Mona Van Duyn

born in Waterloo, Iowa, The United States May 09, 1921
died: December 02, 2004
gender: female
genre: Poetry

Mona Jane Van Duyn was an American poet. She was appointed Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress in 1992.

http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/202713.Mona_Van_Duyn

A life that matters

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Every weirdo…

Every weirdo in the world is on my wavelength.

- Thomas Pynchon

born in Glen Cove, Long Island, New York, The United States May 08, 1937
gender: male
genre: Literature & Fiction

Thomas Ruggles Pynchon, Jr. is an American writer based in New York City, noted for his dense and complex works of fiction. Hailing from Long Island, Pynchon spent two years in the United States Navy and earned an English degree from Cornell University. After publishing several short stories in the late 1950s and early 1960s, he began composing the novels for which he is best known today: V. (1963), The Crying of Lot 49 (1966), Gravity’s Rainbow (1973), Vineland (1990), Mason & Dixon (1997), and Against the Day (2006).

Pynchon is regarded by many readers and critics as one of the finest contemporary authors. He is a MacArthur Fellow and a recipient of the National Book Award, and is regularly cited as a contender for the Nobel Prize in Literature. Both his fiction and non-fiction writings encompass a vast array of subject matter, styles and themes, including (but not limited to) the fields of history, science and mathematics. Pynchon is also known for his avoidance of personal publicity: very few photographs of him have ever been published, and rumours about his location and identity have been circulated since the 1960s.

http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/235.Thomas_Pynchon