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Friday, January 29, 2016

Star Wars videos and links

Darth Vader/Anakin links

  Darth wiki
Dark side of the Force

Lessons in Leadership from the Dark Side of the Force


all videos


Adam Driver Says Kylo Ren's Lightsaber A Metaphor For Character
3:05

J.J. Abrams Explains Why Kylo Ren Turned to the Dark Side
by IGN
0:56
The Star Wars Saga in 7 Minutes
by IGN
7:03
Stephen Explains "Star Wars" To China
2:39

Star Wars Summary | Episodes 1-6 Explained in 9 Minutes
9:29

Anakin Skywalker Becomes Darth Vader (1080p) - Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith
5:26

Star Wars - Story of Anakin Skywalker/ Darth Vader
9:30

The Galactic Empire: 5 Leadership Mistakes
by Forbes
2:29

Leadership Wisdom From The Jedi
by Forbes
1:35

Georgetown on Star Wars: Leadership Lessons
1:14

People Who Haven't Seen Star Wars Explain Star Wars
by Obsev

Taylor Mason, ventriloquism links

Resource:

the communicative construction of the organisation


    by J. Clifton 
21 May 2015

    Taylor Mason: video interview here



    The Complete Idiot's Guide to Ventriloquism



    Thursday, January 28, 2016

    Class 1/28

    Connect "apples and oranges" (Leonard Sweet video) with EPIC Times article:

    The new issue of Salt Fresno is in the mail, and online...
    including my piece on "EPIC Culture: Are You Immigrant or Native?," inspired of course by St. Leonard Sweet:


    Often in seminars, I ask people to raise their hands if they are married.

    Then I add, "Keep your hands up if you are in a cross-cultural marriage."

    Inevitably, hands go down.

    Inevitably, I argue that every hand should have stayed up.

    My comment at that point is "I didn't say 'cross-racial' marriage; I said 'cross-cultural.’ Culture can defined as a way of viewing the world, and a set of assumptions for behaving.
    How many have noticed that no matter how similar you and your spouse are, at some point you say, 'We are from two different worlds?'”

    Then laughter erupts and every hand held high.
    All marriages are cross-cultural.
    Every interaction with another human is cross-cultural.
    All of us in this world are from different worlds.

    Everyone reading this--especially those born after 1974--know that “the whole world” has changed in our lifetime. Whether you are talking our era’s information explosion, the role of church, expectations of teachers, music styles, or gas prices...it seems almost everything has changed in our culture, some things exponentially, and many things many times over.

    One of the most helpful grids through which to understand this change is to grasp that we have moved from what academics call the “modern world" or "modernity" into the "postmodern era" or "postmodernity." Ironically, this can be one of the most confusing grids, too...since everyone seems to mean something different by the same terms!

    My favorite, simplified way of explaining this shift we have all somehow sensed, comes from Christian futurist Leonard Sweet. In his book "Postmodern Pilgrims," Sweet offers the acrostic, "EPIC," to capture and summarize the postmodern times we live in:

    E stands for Experience, P for Participatory, I for Image-Driven, and C for Connected.

     These are the foundational hungers of people in our postmodern culture and churches, particularly those born after 1974.

    As compared to the “modern” world’s preferences, especially among those born into it; that is, prior to 1974:

     Rational (as opposed to Experiential), Representative (as opposed to Participatory), Word-based (in contrast to Image-Driven), and Individualistic (in contrast to Connected).
    Too bad RRWI  doesn't spell anything catchy like EPIC!)



    Which brings us to the question behind today's title:

                                               Are you immigrant or native to today’s EPIC culture?

    Note that I didn’t ask you how old you were.

     An EPIC-oriented culture is indeed the dominant culture today; but within that broader culture are both those who prefer it and are "naturally" oriented that way, and those who prefer the orientation of the culture that was previously dominant. That culture,  the culture and mindset of the "modern" world, prevailed for hundreds of years (since the printing press, in fact)…until our lifetime. Sweet suggests that those born after 1974 or so, especially people young enough to have never known life without a computer, are "natives” to EPIC culture. People born before 1974 are thus "immigrants" in a new culture.  The world they were native to was rational, representative, word-based and individualistic.

    It might sound obvious to conclude that most older people prefer the RRWI approach, and younger folk opt for the EPIC way. But one realizes there are exceptions to the rule. Leonard Sweet himself, for example, is even older than me (imagine that!), so he "should" be an immigrant who is uncomfortable with an EPIC approach. But he says EPIC is his natural wiring. It is likely rarer, but there are also surely some twenty-somethings who function out of an RRWI worldview.


    We don't have space to talk about all the implications for church, and being salt and light in our day.  But begin imagining the issues that are raised. Traditional churches very often are Rational (logical arguments in defense of faith), Representative (one or two "professional" clergy to represent “laypeople”).  Traditional churches might fear being Experiential, but an EPIC would suggest that a relationship with Jesus, or a sermon, must be experienced.  Traditional churches tend to operate out of a representative leadership model, but EPICs actually want to participate. Traditional churches focus on Words, but EPICs are ministered to primarily by Images.

    We are from two different worlds.
    It’s extremely cross-cultural.

    One can find Scripture for each culture.  As one example, recall that Jesus is both Word of God (John 1) and Image of God (Col. 1:15).  We preachers, especially those of us from an RRWI world should be thrilled that the culture actually would have us stretch, and become more like  image-makers (not as in worshipping images, but as in telling stories, as Jesus did; and incorporating art into worship gatherings).  Picture that!  We become missionaries in our own culture.
    Ecologist Rudolph Bahro writes, "When the forms of an old culture are dying, the new culture is created by a few people who are not afraid to be insecure."

    Christian speaker Graham Cooke adapts the saying for Christians, "When the old wineskin is dying, the new wineskin is created by people who are not afraid to be vulnerable.”
    Holy insecurity and humble vulnerability enable this old RRWI to become a better missionary in these EPIC times.

    Sweet concludes that though there are dangers in accommodating to culture, the postmodern hunger (which we have often condemned as being wishy-washy and far from God) actually positions people to hear, see, and respond to the gospel in beautiful ways not possible in the modern world.   That is, if we truly “get” that:
    ..in  Millennium Three, Christianity faces the most powerful intellectual and spiritual advance in the history of civilization. Internet technology is amplifying the worldwide flow of new kinds of experiences, interactions, images, and connections. The doors of the future are there for Christianity to open for the glory of God. Our ancestors helped create those doors. Will we their descendants open them? Or will we sit back, entwined like mummies in safety-belt strips of protection, fear and suspicion--all death sentences--and let others open those doors while the future flies by?

    There is no door we can't open with EPIC love.
    - http://bit.ly/a2fV2s




    --
    Taylor M:

    Stop it!



    Monday, January 25, 2016

    Class 1/26

    Last half-hour of Matrix:





    Matrix transcript on one page here








    Today's section:

    (Cellular)
    Tank: Okay. What do you need, besides a miracle?
    Neo: Guns. Lots of guns.

    (Construct)
    Trinity: Neo, no one has ever done anything like this.
    Neo: That's why it's going to work.

    (Office)
    Agent Smith: Why isn't this serum working?
    Agent Brown: Perhaps we're asking the wrong questions.
    Agent Smith: Leave me with him. Now.

    (Nebuchadnezzar)
    Tank: Hold on, Morpheus. They're coming for you. They're coming.

    (Office)
    Agent Smith: Can you hear me, Morpheus? I'm going to be honest with you. I hate this place, this zoo, this prison, this reality, whatever you want to call it. I can't stand it any longer. It's the smell, if there is such a thing. I feel saturated by it. I can taste your stink. And every time I do I feel I have somehow been infected by it. It's repulsive, isn't it? I must get out of here. I must get free and in this mind is the key, my key. Once Zion is destroyed there is no need for me to be here, don't you understand? I need the codes. I have to get inside Zion, and you have to tell me how. You're going to tell me or you're going to die.

    (Lobby)
    Guard 1: Please remove any metallic items you're carrying, keys, loose change. Holy shit.

    Guard 2: Backup. Send backup.

    Soldier: Freeze.

    (Office)
    Agent Brown: What were you doing?
    Agent Jones: He doesn't know.
    Agent Smith: Know what?

    Agent Brown: I think they're trying to save you.

    (Elevator)
    Neo: There is no spoon.

    (Office)
    Agent Smith: Find them and destroy them.

    (Rooftop)
    Pilot: I repeat, we are under attack.

    Neo: Trinity. Help.

    Agent Brown: Only human.
    Trinity: Dodge this.... How did you do that?
    Neo: Do what?
    Trinity: You moved like they do. I've never seen anyone move that fast.
    Neo: Wasn't fast enough. Can you fly that thing.
    Trinity: Not yet.

    (Cellular)
    Tank: Operator.
    Trinity: Tank, I need a pilot program for a V-212 helicopter. Hurry.... Let's go.

    (Office)
    Agent Smith: No.

    (Helicopter)
    Neo: Morpheus, get up. Get up, get up.... He's not going to make it.... Gotcha.

    (Rooftop)
    Neo: Trinity.

    (Nebuchadnezzar)
    Tank: I knew it. He's the one.

    (Rooftop)
    Morpheus: Do you believe it now, Trinity?
    Neo: Morpheus. The Oracle, she told me I'm...
    Morpheus: She told you exactly what you needed to hear, that's all. Neo, sooner or later you're going to realize, just as I did, there's a difference between knowing the path and walking the path.

    (Cellular)
    Tank: Operator.
    Morpheus: Tank.
    Tank: God-damn. It's good to hear your voice, sir.
    Morpheus: Need an exit.
    Tank: Got one ready. Subway station, State and Balboa.

    (Rooftop)
    Agent Smith: Damn it.
    Agent Brown: The trace was completed.
    Agent Jones: We have their position.
    Agent Brown: The sentinels are standing by.
    Agent Jones: Order the strike.
    Agent Smith: They're not out yet.

    (Subway station)
    Neo: You first, Morpheus.

    Trinity: Neo, I want to tell you something, but I'm afraid of what it could mean if I do. Everything the Oracle told me has come true. Everything but this.

    (Nebuchadnezzar)
    Trinity: Neo.
    Tank: What just happened?
    Trinity: An agent. You have to send me back.
    Tank: I can't.

    (Subway station)
    Agent Smith: Mr. Anderson.

    (Nebuchadnezzar)
    Trinity: Run, Neo. Run! What is he doing?
    Morpheus: He's beginning to believe.

    (Subway station)
    Agent Smith: You're empty.
    Neo: So are you.

    Agent Smith: I'm going to enjoy watching you die, Mr. Anderson.

    (Nebuchadnezzar)
    Trinity: Jesus, he's killing him.

    (Subway station)
    Agent Smith: Do you hear that, Mr. Anderson? That is the sound of inevitability. That is the sound of your death. Goodbye, Mr. Anderson.
    Neo: My name is Neo.

    (Nebuchadnezzar)
    Trinity: What happened?
    Tank: I don't know. I lost him. Oh shit.

    Trinity: Sentinels. How long?
    Morpheus: Five, maybe six minutes. Tank, charge the EMP.
    Trinity: You can't use that until he's out.
    Morpheus: I know, Trinity, don't worry. He's going to make it.

    (Street)
    Man: Shit, that's my phone. That's my best phone.

    (Cellular)
    Tank: That's unknown.
    Neo: Mr. Wizard, get me the hell out of here.
    Tank: Got a patch on an old exit, Wabash and Lake.

    Neo: Oh shit.... Help. Need a little help.
    Tank: Door.... Door on your left. No, you're other left.... Back door.

    (Nebuchadnezzar)
    Trinity: Oh no.
    Morpheus: Here they come.... He's going to make it.

    (Cellular)
    Tank: Fire escape at the end of the alley. Room 303.

    (Nebuchadnezzar)
    Tank: They're inside.
    Trinity: Hurry, Neo

    Morpheus: Can't be.

    (Hotel)
    Agent Smith: Check him.
    Agent Brown: He's gone.
    Agent Smith: Goodbye, Mr. Anderson.

    (Nebuchadnezzar)
    Trinity: Neo, I'm not afraid anymore. The Oracle told me that I would fall in love, and that man, the man who I loved would be the one. And so you see, you can't be dead. You can't be, because I love you. You hear me? I love you.... Now get up.

    (Hotel)
    Neo: No.

    (Nebuchadnezzar)
    Tank: How?
    Morpheus: He is The One.

    Trinity: Neo.

    (Phone)
    The One: I know you're out there. I can feel you now. I know that you're afraid. You're afraid of us. You're afraid of change. I don't know the future. I didn't come here to tell you how this is going to end. I came here to tell you how it's going to begin. I'm going to hang up this phone and then I'm going to show these people what you don't want them to see. I'm going to show them a world without you, a world without rules and controls, without borders or boundaries, a world where anything is possible. Where we go from there is a choice I leave to you.

    Final thoughts on Matrix:

    -Note previous class posts included links on Matrix and leadership etc.
    --
    -Some examples of Morpheus as leader
    (We didn't discuss these in class):



    In The Matrix and The Matrix Reloaded, Morpheus was known to be a truly inspirational leader and influential teacher to many people, particularly the majority of his crew, to the extent that Tank commented that "Morpheus was a father to them, as well as a leader". In The Matrix Revolutions, with Morpheus's faith in the prophecy shattered, he doesn't appear as strong a leader as he was in the first two films. Despite his strong faith, Morpheus still showed some rationality in dangerous situations rather than blindly relying on his beliefs to see him through the current crisis; perhaps his only truly irrational decision was to attack Agent Smith while unarmed in order to give Neo a chance to escape.
    More memes
    His strong, almost single-minded belief in Neo as the One has very strong Biblical correlations to that of John the Baptist's belief in the prophecy of the Messiah. Like Morpheus preaching about the imminent return of the One into the Matrix, John was preaching in the desert of the Messiah's imminent return, and actively searched for the Messiah to come who would deliver his people from bondage. Upon finding Jesus, he believed so strongly in Jesus as the Messiah, John willingly stepped aside and let Christ take up the groundwork that John had created and laid before him, and continue where John had left off  link

    --

    So, when Neo is introduced to his mentor (Morpheus, played by Laurence Fishburne), he is bewildered to be greeted by someone who has such tremendous confidence in him.  Morpheus has an unwavering faith in Neo’s abilities.  He fervently trusts that Neo “is the one”; the one with exceptional gifts and the One with the ability to save humankind.
    In turn, Morpheus presents Neo with a choice: the option to take the “blue pill”, a safe choice that would allow Neo to return to the comfort of his day-to-day life or the option of the unknown – Neo could take the “red pill” and make a conscious choice to explore his destiny.
    This scene represents to me the perceptible power of a transformational leader.
    A transformational leader is one who is “attentive to the needs and motives of followers and tries to help followers reach their fullest potential” (Northouse, 2012, p. 186).  Transformational leadership has the power to motivate followers, like Neo.  It also has the power to expand followers’ level of consciousness “about the importance and value of specified and idealized goals” (p. 190); it inspires followers to transcend their own self-interest and motivates them to fulfill higher-level aspirations.  link

    -
    Morpheus serves as a leader in the real world, steadfast and courageous in the face of great danger and difficulty. He is the one who plucks Neo out of his comfortable life in the Matrix and shows him the truth, and he believes immediately that Neo is the One. Morpheus’s faith in Neo remains consistent even when Neo proves to be less than perfect, and his loyalty to Neo is so deep that he is willing to die so Neo can continue his work. Morpheus is a kind of father figure for Neo, Trinity, and the rest of the Nebuchadnezzar’s crew, and though Neo eventually eclipses him in terms of fighting skill and power, Morpheus remains the epicenter of wisdom and guidance. Morpheus represents the best kind of leader and teacher: He teaches Neo what he knows and guides him to the right path, then steps aside and lets Neo proceed on his own. Morpheus does not seek glory, and his selflessness makes him heroic in his own way.  link
    ==
    Morpheus is also understood to be a visionary leader to the degree that he has the capacity of creating and articulating the vision of a realistic future that is attractive and believable for those who follow him. He has the capacity of leading his group in an environment of great complexity... Leaders like Morpheus can show the way to be followed by the organization in a complex universe. It is the type  ..  continue reading here
    --

    Pope Francis as leaderL

    Pope Francis Kisses Man Plagued With Boils


    slideshow clickhere


    article:Why the Pope's embrace of the disfigured man is so powerful by the Rev. James Martin