Promise to me + Pink & Black Campaigns

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Promise to me and Pink & Black campaigns are featured. Guests include:
Debra Burnham-Director of Education, Anne Rivers-Corporate Marketing
Augusta Williams, a Pink and Black Campaign Embassador and 22-year breast cancer survivor.

Everyone gets a mansion and free ice cream in the Invention of Lying

In The Invention of Lying, Ricky Gervais, the always funny and quirky comedian grapples with the instant benefits and results of lying. This movie has a few actors I never expected to see from Tina Fey to Edward Norton and a serious actress who has appeared on Law & Order as a tough District Attorney to. I can’t help but see a hint of Maid of Honor as Gervais and Jennifer Gardner play the odd romantic couple. If you could do anything, what would it be? Such a vague question yet profound since we’re in the pursuit of truth while lying to get what we want. Five minutes into the movie after the main character goes on a date with Jennifer Gardner and told him all her shallow yet truthful thoughts, I questioned my motivation for renting this film. I’m already bored out of my mind and wondered how will this humorless movie ends. To find out I have to keep watching and suspend my constant judgments and high expectations of something surprising to happen. Mark is ea nobody writer who starts capturing everyone’s attention with his ability to tell spellbinding stories that makes the world a happy place. I can use this dose of happy pill in the form of an touching sugary story right about now.
His first action with his newfound ability to lie is to get money and help his suicidal neighbor feel good about life. He then builds the courage to ask his last date to go out again because he’s different now. He can get just about anything he wants including a woman who does not find him attractive. Furthermore, he lied his way back to his old job at Lecture Films where he was fired for the most unsuccessful screenplays. He pitched a new story with the same title that was previously rejected by his boss. What would I do with that kind of lying power? Well, getting an old job at a company where I was not wanted would not be on my wish list. At this point, what Mark knows is how to tell lies that make people happy and make them feel good. One of our obsessions is what happens after we die and Mark seems to have stumbled on the manifesto of life beyond. He shares his tips with his curious followers while holding the pages inside a Pizza Hut box. Needless to say Mark becomes rich with the best film ever and building a life with his best friends and his very own mansion. Being rich and famous does not change how his dream woman sees him: a fat man with snub nose. In other words, he’s a loser in the body of a good guy. She’s looking for a strong genetic match to reproduce with and Mark does not fit her DNA profile requirement. Which would you choose? Your ideal genetic partner or being with the person who makes you happy just being around? Is it possible to get everything you thought you wanted yet live a miserable unfulfilling life? We live in a world where we claim to value happiness over beauty and money. On the other hand, we spend endless amount of time and resources to be perceived ageless, flawless, rich and beautiful. Instead of chasing a Man in the Sky ideological fable, how about looking in the mirror and around you to discover and rediscover what matters as you go through the cycle of life.

National Association of Asian American Professionals (NAAAP Boston)

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Lisa Yasner is the featured guest from NAAAP Boston. NAAAP

AIDS Action Committee & Fashio Fusion

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Keith Orr from Aids Action Committee is featured on the show.

Mastering the Art of Cooking & Living

Nora Ephron did it again with the movie, Julie & Julia! She directed a beautiful film with a simple story line, simmered with applicable life lessons from captivating characters. I love the juxtaposition of Julia Child’s adventures in France while chronicling the life of a young married couple living in a 900 square feet apartment in Queens, NY. She works at the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation assisting 9/11 families with insurance claims. Her job calls for her to be objective with callers but it is difficult when most people project their own frustrations on her. Needless to say, her job is stressful and she’s miserable in her cubicle. To make matters worse, she subjects herself to having lunch with a group of rich friends with well-paid jobs and lavish lifestyle. As a refuge, she turns to cooking to cope with her frustrations and disappoints. She started out with one cake in her tiny kitchen, which fills a void for a night. She then came up with the unique idea to start blogging about cooking Julia Child’s cookbook. As an incentive to finally finish something she started, Julie sets a one-year deadline to get through Julia’s cookbook. With her plan in motion, the virtual Julie/Julia Project was born.
As Julie settles in her newfound purpose after a hard day at work, we learn that Julia Child is loving Paris and pondering about what she should be doing because she doesn’t want to go back to government work. Like Julie, she runs her ideas by her husband who listens intently to her list of possible pursuits. One thing we know about Julia, in addition to her love for France, is that she loves to eat. By day, she learns French with a tutor and tours the city. The interaction between Julia and her husband is always pleasant and loving. He seems to actually care about every word that comes out of her mouth. The way he listens to her is comparable to Julia’s mindful eating of every meal. She takes pleasure in all her daily activities from shopping in outdoor markets to searching for a French cooking book in English.
Julia found her purpose and decides to go to cooking school. She is in “utter bliss” at Le Cordon Blue. Ironically, the Director of the school, who is female, dislikes Julia Child from the moment she met her. Imagine Julia's predicament, about to enter a school that’s all male and must face a Director who does not have 1 ounce of confidence in her. Although I suspect Julia had dealt with more challenges than presented in the film. As I watch the movie, I wonder, what would happen to Julia and Julie if they did not have the support of their husbands? They also made the time to learn how to cook and to practice cooking daily. One distinction in Julie’s relationship with her husband is the limitations of their interaction inside their apartment. In spite of this minor difference, they both seem to have talent, drive and a quiet fearlessness about them to pursue their dreams. As Julia and Julie, write about their experiences with cooking, it is evident that it has a profound effects on their sense of self as they navigate through their daily routines. Their discovery and love of cooking stimulate their lives and in turn, inspire us to jumpstart our own. Bon Appetit!

Intersection of Race, Class, Power and the Criminal Justice System

The city of Cambridge found itself in the international headlines in defense of racial profiling accusations. Many of you may have watched, read or heard that Harvard Prof. Henry Gates, Jr. was arrested at his Cambridge home and charged with disorderly conduct. The charges were quickly dropped after national outrage. Since then, there has been comments from the highest political figures in office. President Obama described the action of the Officer as "stupidly" when a reporter asked him directly for his opinion during a televised health care reform press conference. You can guess what the media pundits chose to highlight and overanalyze.
Many are commenting on others' comments which is making this incident viral. Others are sugarcoating deeper issues such as pervasive racial tensions and the inbalance of power in our culture. Race continues to divide many in this country post electing the first African American President. Some have sided with Gates and others with the arresting Officer in question. It is being presented as a black and white problem.
WGBH's Basic Black, CNN and several other television programs jumped on the bandwagon to create special forum to address the recent event. As I'm listening to all views, I wonder what role, if any, did assumptions and power play in shaping this incident? How is anger perceived in the context of race, masculinity, and class?
As you can see we still have old wounds to heal and new ones to mend. It's a lot to process but this incident certainly qualifies as a teachable moment.

Media Diva

So Sexy So Soon: Girls & Tiaras

TLC will debut another reality show capitalizing on the state of our culture with a snapshot of pageant for toddlers. Now that Kate & Jon+ 8 has become a rating disaster, it's time to find the next ploy to draw an audience. How about a showcasing little girls being conditioned to become beauty obsessed ? I saw a news story that reported that an infant as young as two weeks old has been entered in a pageant. Two weeks! This child is just discovering her environment and a parent decided the best way to build her child's imagination and place in the world is through pageantry.
Many of these parents, mostly the mothers, have also been part of pageants as young beauty queens. The cycle continues but now it's starting earlier on the premise the girls want to do it. Many parents have stated the kids wanted to participate and they're simply being supportive in helping them reach their dreams. One of the mothers interviewed stated, "small towns, big dreams." Regardless of where a girl is growing up, a happy childhood is more important than winning pageant trophies. At four years old, a little girl is parading on stage with loads of makeup, coiffed hair, in heels and smiling at the judges for votes. What is wrong with this picture? It all depends on who you ask.
A few months ago, I interviewed Dr. Diane Levin, co-author of So Sexy So Soon, about the sexualization of childhood in our culture. Little girls are growing faster and being objectified in the media for profit disguised as cuteness. This is a dangerous trend as some of these girls will become celebrities through reality TV and get scrutinized about their looks. There is also the possibility that other girls watching will see these participants as potential role models. What's next? Extreme makeovers for babies. The network will probably get a pass because the parents grant them permission to use the images of their children. Who should be held accountable?
Everyone should read So Sexy So Soon to learn about ways to raise media savvy children and teach them critical thinking skills. If toddlers are now part of the reality TV landscape, it is clear parents and others must take a proactive role to counter these packaged messages about girl/childhood. Don't thinkg that boys are exempt from these images, Dr. Levin reminded me that they're negatively affected as well. Drs. Levin and Jean Kilbourne offer some great tips in their book. Here are some examples from the website:
• Encourage a broad range of interests and skills in both your girls and your boys.
• Choose toys and play materials that allow for a broad range of play activities instead of narrowly scripting it.
• Encourage girls and boys to find common ground for engaging in meaningful activities with each other, including play.
• Point out examples of males and females who are doing a broad range of activities, not just the limited range that children so often see in the media.
• Help boys and girls find appealing role models that provide alternative images to increasingly influential celebrity culture with its superstar icons.
I encourage you to add the book to your reading list. It's a must have companion guide to complement your parenting and teaching.



Media Diva