Whoopi Goldberg by Anni Leibovitz

Whoopi Goldberg: I've Got Milk!

Whoopi Goldberg: Photography by Annie Leibovitz

WHOOPI GOLDBERG: MUSIC AND LIFE

Technorati: Whoopi Goldberg, Annie Leibovitz, Whoopi Goldberg photograph, photograph, photographer, music, movie, Oh Happy Day, Music and Life, life, mortality, video, YouTube

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Queen Elizabeth: By Annie Leibovitz

Queen Elizabeth: Photography by Annie Leibovitz

The atmospheric picture of Queen Elizabeth taken by Anne Leibovitz in the opulent White Drawing Room at Buckingham Palace. The Queen’s pale gold brocade dress, white fur stole and magnificent collection of jewellery emphasise her status, the diamond tiara was a wedding present for her grandmother, Queen Mary, while her pearl drop earrings were given to Queen Victoria when she was 19.

The way in which she gazes wistfully out of the window across the palace gardens, however, hints at a gentler, more fallible side. That essence of humanity is emphasized by the atmospheric lighting and storm clouds gathering outside. Of her photograph, which was commissioned to mark the Queen’s upcoming six-day trip to the United States, Leibovitz stated, "I feel like it’s a documentation and wanted to take a very simple portrait."
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Music and Life: But You Were Supposed to Sing

But You Were Supposed to Sing

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Matt Stone and Trey Parker made this flash animation about "Music and Life," which is based upon the thoughts of Alan Watts. The recognition of our mortality is the most important part of life, and one that we are driven to overlook or deny. However, the greater the extent to which we are able to entertain the sense of our mortality, the more plentiful are our possibilities for deciding how to live.

h/t to Andrew Sullivan

Technorati: Alan Watts, Music and Life, music, life, living, mortality, death, die, denial

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Into Great Silence: The Grande Chartreuse

Tucked away deep within the postcard-perfect French Alps, The Grande Chartreuse is considered to be one of the world’s most ascetic monasteries. In 1984, German filmmaker Philip Gröning wrote to the Carthusian order for permission to make a documentary about them. They said they would get back to him. Sixteen years later, they were ready. Gröning, without crew or artificial lighting, lived in the monks’ quarters for six months, filming their daily prayers, tasks, rituals and rare outdoor excursions. Critics have described Into Great Silence as a transcendent, closely observed film that seeks to embody a monastery, rather than simply depict one. It has no score, no voiceover and no archival footage. What remains is stunningly elemental: time, space and light. One of the most mesmerizing and poetic chronicles of spirituality ever created, dissolves the border between screen and audience with a total immersion into the hush of monastic life. More meditation than documentary, it is said to be a rare, transformative experience.

INTO GREAT SILENCE

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[YouTube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L68Fuy3YV1o]

INTO GREAT SILENCE: FRENCH VERSION

INTO GREAT SILENCE: SECLUSION OF HIS CELL

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Technorati: Into Great Silence, The Grande Chartreuse, Carthusian order, silence, solitude, monestary, France, French Alps, Philip Groning, movie, medition, video

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M.I.T. Admissions Head Caught in 28 Year-Old Lie!

DO AS I SAY, NOT AS I DO...

She Needed Therapy

Marilee Jones was the Dean of Admissions at Massachusetts Institute of Technology who was forced to step down from that position on Monday. In a note of bittersweet irony, since last fall Ms. Jones has been making speeches all around the country to promote her new book, Less Stress, More Success: A New Approach to Guiding Your Teen Through College Admissions and Beyond. The book had added to her reputation as a leader in the movement to tame the present-day college admissions frenzy. She had become well known for urging stressed-out students competing for elite colleges to calm down and stop trying to be so perfect.

But, Less Stress, More Success addresses not just the pressure to be perfect, but also the need to live with integrity. “Holding integrity is sometimes very hard to do because the temptation may be to cheat or cut corners,” she wrote. “But just remember that ‘what goes around comes around,’ meaning that life has a funny way of giving back what you put out.”

Yes, it certainly does...er, has!

Yesterday, Ms. Jones admitted that she had made up all of her higher education credentials and resigned after nearly thirty years at M.I.T. Officials of the institute said she did not have even an undergraduate degree.

“I misrepresented my academic degrees when I first applied to M.I.T. 28 years ago and did not have the courage to correct my résumé when I applied for my current job or at any time since,” Ms. Jones said in a statement posted on M.I.T.'s web site. “I am deeply sorry for this and for disappointing so many in the M.I.T. community and beyond who supported me, believed in me, and who have given me extraordinary opportunities.” Ms. Jones, 55, was originally from Albany, New York, and had on various occasions claimed to have degrees from three upstate New York institutions: Albany Medical College, Union College and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. In fact, she had no degrees from any of those places, or anywhere else.

Technorati: massachusetts institute of technology, M.I.T., Dean of Admissions, 28 year old lie, caught, forced to resign, higher education, education, Marilee Jones
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