I saw this link on Presentation Zen today for a wonderfully postmodern film, Le Grand Content. This short film offers an interesting perspective and commentary on meaning-making and thinking along with the ubiquity of PowerPoint.

According to the authors:

Le Grand Content examines the omnipresent Powerpoint-culture in search for its philosophical potential. Intersections and diagrams are assembled to form a grand 'association-chain-massacre'. which challenges itself to answer all questions of the universe and some more. Of course, it totally fails this assignment, but in its failure it still manages to produce some magical nuance and shades between the great topics death, cable tv, emotions and hamsters.

Last night I saw The First Emperor, a new opera at The Metropolitan Opera by Tan Dun starring Placido Domingo. While the opera had a somewhat slow First Act, the music held enough promise to keep me for the Second Act, one with one of the more memorable choruses I can recall. It was eerily mesmerizing, with the sadness and emotion common to most operas I have attended. For an opera in English (with a little Chinese as well), the chorus piece was astounding.

NY gas smell sends 19 to hospital NEW YORK (Reuters) - A powerful, mysterious smell of gas wafted through much of Manhattan and parts of New Jersey on Monday, forcing building evacuations and a temporary suspension of commuter train service before dissipating by mid-afternoon.

Here we are, more than 12 hours later, and there is still no clear answer as to what caused the smell of gas. When I got to work I had to wait two hours to get in, since my office building was evacuated. With such a strong smell of gas in Manhatten, the boroughs of New York, and even New Jersey, it is amazing to me that there is still no idea what caused this smell. I usually have a great deal of confidence in our Mayor, Michael Bloomberg, but his claim that the gas was not harmful and of unknown origin just does not sit well with me. Why can’t I help thinking there is some cover-up of something? Gas cannot just appear, be smelled by millions of people (literally), and be of unknown cause. Hmmm.

Here in New York City in late December, the air is filled with people wishing one another “Happy Holidays!” In the cultural melting pot of NYC, this seems so very politically correct. The generic “Happy Holidays!” serves Christmas, or Hanukkah or the Winter Solstice, or even New Year’s Eve. What can be a better effort at cultural sensitivity than this?

I have also noticed that there appears to be a direct connection between people wishing one another “Happy Holidays!” and the proximity to Christmas. I wonder if this connection is accidental, or a postmodern way of dealing with the holiday season by trying to be inclusive of such differences? Is wishing “Happy Holidays” an innocent-sounding code for wishing “Merry Christmas?”

Perhaps “Happy Holidays” means “Merry Christmas?”

Whatever holiday, or none, that you celebrate, I hope this season finds you at peace and with happiness.

It is interesting that I find myself wishing people “Happy Holidays” rather than the “Merry Christmas” I used to wish people when I was growing up. At that time, I thought everybody was either Christian (the majority, and therefore the “correct” faith) or Jewish (and all the rich kids at school were Jewish, so I supposed all Jews were rich and smart, too!). Christmas and Hanukkah were always spoken about in school, but now the world seems smaller and more intimate and yet more intolerant all at once. What is one to wish people during this season? How does one, if in an apartment building or public area, celebrate their own holiday without being insensitive to others? How can we be ourselves without confronting others?