Munjal Shah, CEO, Like.com Inc.
Vineet Buch, Principal, BRV
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
1:00-2:15PM | CIS-X Auditorium, Stanford University
Link to map: http://campus-map.stanford.edu/index.cfm?ID=01-370
Queer Formal, an annual dance held in Winter quarter, was on Friday at the GCC. I didn't attend this year. I have attended in the past, but this year I had no desire to go. I didn't really realize why until an hour before the event was supposed to start. My house threw a large happy hour as a preparty to the formal. The e-flyer for the formal said:
COME GET YOUR FREAK ON AND LEAVE TO DO THE HORIZONTAL HOKEY POKEY WITH SOMEBODY NEW (or old, or blue, or borrowed)!
*drag is highly encouraged*
So naturally the attire of all the people in my lounge en route to the GCC was . . . a strange mix of formal wear and "crazy fun drag wear". Granted, there were a couple of fiercely beautiful queens in formal wear. But the overall feel was very much a freak show feeling to me - complete with straight guys in drag. I still don't know how I feel about that co-optation of an element of queer resistance against a repressive straight society by straight people at a queer event. I'm happy when people fight gender roles, but I'm somewhat offended when it's done by those who don't understand the meaning and history - at a queer event, I suppose.
I guess what got me the most about Queer Formal this year was that it was marketed in a way that turned it from a formal into any other hypersexualized and freaky fun queer party. Don't get me wrong, I love those parties, which is good because queers hold a lot of them. But Viennese Ball was also on Friday.
Viennese Ball, probably the most formal dance event Stanford holds, is a very romantic, fun, and formal affair. But just by the nature of the dance (tuxes and gowns, leads and follows, etc), the entire event is very gendered to fit a straight society, and I know lots of queer people who are hesitant to attend. Two boys (or girls) in tuxes dancing together at this event would stand out much more than at a Queer Formal. I know that it's likely it wouldn't be an issue for same sex or same gender pairings at Viennese Ball, but many people in the LGBTQ community are very nervous about attending these "very straight" events because of past incidents, current climates, etc.
So the only option for a guaranteed queer-friendly formal event at Stanford is Queer Formal . . . or at least it was. Now, as my friends who attended report, "It was just another queer freakshow." Will we get more respect when we can demonstrate to the rest of the world that even we love romance, and getting dressed up to take out a sweetheart? Or will we be constantly doomed to prejudices of freakness or hypersexuality that we ultimately take up as a defensive measure?
I want a real Queer Formal. There is nowhere else to get this. I can wait until Genderfuk, Terra Parties, Queer parties, any weekend night in the Castro for tongue-in-cheek-drag and "horizontal hokey-pokey". Perhaps I'm just old-fashioned.
I mentioned a few weeks ago about the Gumball Challenge - a one-week competition that creatively engages students with microfinance. Student-teams are given a loan of $27 and one week to do something creative and entrepreneurial. At the end of the week, the loan is returned and any extra revenue does to the Gumball Fund - which loans to entrepreneurs in the developing world through Kiva. The whole thing is a project of Gumball Capital - a nonprofit started by Stanford students earlier this year. The Challenge is also being run at 5 other schools this month.
The Stanford Challenge is now heading into its 5th day, and the 9 competing teams have been doing some pretty awesome stuff! One team has being holding a Penny War in White Plaza and has raised over $60 (including some from our own Vice Provost ). Another team did In-n-Out runs on Thursday night and made $75. Others are hosting a Wii tournaments in the dorms or making 5ft towers out of quarters.
What excites me most about the Gumball Challenge is the creativity on speed. This idea is epitomized by the success of National Novel Writing Month, which is all of November. In 2006, 13k people wrote a 50,000 word novel, many who have never done anything like it before. The excitement of throwing things together, pushing through obstacles and achieving success in a creative way is addictive and awesome.
Now for that video I promised of Vice Provost John Bravman supporting the Penny War by smacking down the senior class. Ouch!
US Senator. Vice President. Best-selling Author. Academy Award Winner. Now Al Gore can add Nobel Peace Prize winner to his list of accomplishments. Whatever you think of Al Gore, his movie "An Inconvenient Truth" or Global Warming, you can't scoff at what Al Gore has accomplished in his life.
I've often felt that huge failures result in great success in the future. Steve Jobs got fired from Apple, and then he returned it's savior years later. Al Gore narrowly lost the election that was supposed to be his. So he turned to business - becoming an adviser for both Google and Apple, a VP for , and founder/CEO of Current TV and a "asset-management firm". (Fast Company)
Lots of people have been speculating as to whether or not Al Gore was/is going to jump into the Democratic election, but I think it's pretty clear now that he will not. He's got great things going on, and a lot of authority to talk about in issue he cares about. Global warming is one of the greatest challenges humanity faces and Al Gore is now poised to lead the solutions to that challenge. Why get back into that messy battleground of politics?
Still, nobody's perfect. People grumble about how much money he makes per speech ($175,000) and that he ought to lose some weight (at least he cut off that awful beard), and that he's contributing more to global warming than stopping it (you try spreading a message without flying around a lot).
Al Gore still has street cred for me. What about you?
There is an article today in the Daily about Gumball Capital, and talks about how they are encouraging students across the nation to participate in the Gumball Challenge. The Challenge is going to be run this November at schools like Yale, UCLA and Berkeley. Of course Stanford is running one too - and I'm in charge of making it happen.
Here's the gist of it - on November 7th, teams of students will get a Starter Kit with gumballs, a $27 loan and a guide book. They'll have one week to create value by thinking outside the box. They return the loan at the end of the week, and any revenue will to the Gumball Fund - which supports developing-world entrepreneurs through Kiva.org. Teams can win prizes for their innovation and the value they create.
I think what's exciting about the challenge and separates it from other business-y competitions is that you don't need to write up a business plan. You don't spend two months doing applications. It's just one week creativity spree. No business experience necessary. Definitely Facebook me if you want to learn more. We'll be having an info session on the 2nd floor of Old Union next Wednesday (the 17th), so drop by!
As a local alum, it's great to make a visit back to campus every so often. When the Photowalking Stanford event came up, I couldn't say no!
3:25pm: at work... gotta finish this deck! know it's early but i can't miss it.
3:40: zipping on El Camino Real (if there's such a thing)
4:05: meet the Photowalking crew in Memorial Court, introduction to Burghers of Calais by Tom Seligman
4:30: a special treat, a trip up to the balcony in MemChu.. memories of tour guiding days return!
... and the details on the walls are always gorgeous..
Photowalk with Robert Scoble and Thomas Hawk: Monday, Oct. 1
I'm organizing a photowalk around campus with super-bloggers Robert Scoble and Thomas Hawk next Monday, October 1. Basically, we'll walk around campus together taking photos of whatever strikes our fancy. Everyone's invited, just bring your camera -- point-and-shoot, Polaroid, digital SLR, lomo, cameraphone, pinhole, or whatever strikes your fancy.
We'll be meeting in the Main Quad at 4pm. Tom Seligman, Director of the Cantor Art Center, will be on hand to talk about campus art. Gabe Hoffmann from the Hybrid Systems Lab will show off an autonomous robotic helicopter. Other stops on the photowalk will include MemChu, the Rodin Sculpture Garden, Bio-X, and the New Guinea Sculpture Garden.
At 7:30pm, we'll head over to Kresge Auditorium to catch the free Aurora Forum / National Geographic panel discussion entitled Making Connections: Photographic Storytellers from around the World: "The National Geographic Society’s All Roads Film Project recognizes and supports indigenous and underrepresented storytellers from around the world who are documenting their changing cultures and communities through photography and film. We present talented artists from Israel, Kashmir, Lapland, Mongolia, Nigeria, and the United States who have been selected by the National Geographic Society to present their work and reflect on ways their images and stories make connections that help create a more just and beautiful world. The All Roads photographers will be joined by Chris Rainier of the National Geographic Society and photographer Shahidul Alam, founder of the Drik photo agency in Bangladesh."
If you can't stay for the entire time, feel free to drop by for a little while. So far, over 40 people have signed up. You can RSVP via Facebook or Upcoming. Or just show up for the fun.
NSO Inculcates Unwitting Freshman, Transfer Students; Parents Never to See their Children Again
Beware non-freshmen: the time has come to face the inevitable. A new crop of freshmen -- fodder for the less-drunk-than-you-think-he-is SAE fratter, the annoying overachievers in Polisci 2, the ones who think they're cool enough to go to Kairos Wine & Cheese -- are about to arrive on campus.
But how do the freshmen become the way they are? I blame it all on over-programmed and highly-scripted NSO. A sampling of the events, with commentary and interpretation.
Tuesday, 1-3PM. Green Library Tours. Um, yeah. I'm guessing this is for the parents. What are they going to show them? The warm-and-fuzzy Bender Room, with every couch and chair occupied with upperclass students fleeing the chaos of move-in day?
Tuesday 7:30-9:30PM. House Meeting and Social Activity. I know cheesy icebreakers when I see them. I used to hate that game when everyone went around and said their name and some sort of sign or something, and then each person had to remember all the people before them. I was always at the end and would forget everyone's names.
But everyone will know each other's names through Facebook stalking anyway, so that's not a concern.
Tuesday 12PM. Website Open for PWR. Sucks to be you, suckas! Enjoy the Rhetoric of Whatever.
Wednesday, 8:30AM. Chemistry Placement Test. Sucks to be you, suckas! But you could stop pretending to be a premed and not wake up this effin' early.
Wednesday, 2:40-3:30PM. For Students Considering Humanities and Social Sciences: Choosing Math and Science Courses. For the wusses who won't take fitty-one, I suggest Math 19, which seems like the easiest course at Stanford (see "Gut Courses" entry below).
Wednesday, 4:30-5:15PM First Course: Feed your Body, Mind and Spirit. I like it how at Stanford, all the various religions pretend to get along. InterVarsity reigns supreme, though.
Thursday, 9:30 and 10:30AM. Associated Students of Stanford University (student activity information panel). The froshie's first chance to realize that the ASSU does nothing.
Thursday, 11:30AM-12:30PM. Public Service and the Arts: Stanford Students Dance in Prisons. "What are the arts, especially dance, doing to address this invisibility and what is the relationship of the arts to prisons, punishment and rehabilitation?"
I couldn't help but think of this video, and wonder if it's anything like this. If so, it might be kinda fun:
If it's not, this sounds like it has the substantive level of your average PWR course.
Friday, 1-3PM. Hume Writing Center Open House. Has anyone actually ever been there? I don't even know where it is.
Saturday, 5:30PM. Stanford football versus Oregon. If we score a touchdown, I'll be pleased. Oregon just crushed Michigan (admittedly not much of an accomplishment these days) and might challenge Cal for number two in the Pac-10. Predicted score: Oregon 52, Stanford 7.
Monday, 9PM-11PM. O-Show. Around the fourth a capella group, it becomes insufferable. And then you have to squirm through another five or so.
I am not a movie buff. Or, at least, I didn't used to be. Then, I decided to draw with a guy that this is, was, and always will be obsessed with film. Whether it's dreaming in the unique worlds of Michel Gondry or exalting the narrative genius of a Wallace and Gromit short, Jack's love of movies makes Leonard Maltin seem like a first year film student. And, clearly, it has rubbed off on me, for I have found a new obsession: The Stanford Theatre.
My love affair with this unique venue started, as most good things do, on a whim. I was taking a stroll down University, having just left campus on a Saturday afternoon around 3:30. Upon seeing a line outside the theater, my eyes looked up to find Dail "M" for Murder (1954) and Sabrina (1954) on the marquee. Having never seen either, but a fan of both Hitchcock and Hepburn, and with no plans for the evening, I decided to seize the opportunity and duck in for an old film. Much to my (unemployed) pleasure, I immediately found out on of the theater's greatest attributes: it's affordable! With a $7 ticket granting admission to both films and cheap concessions (popcorn, a drink, and candy all for under $5), this is easily the cheapest romantic date around (and about the only affordable thing to do on University!).
Beyond that, the theater itself is absolutely stunning, with comfortable seats, a balcony view, and even live organ music before and after the 7:30 showing. Add in a diverse mix of patrons and the nostalgic posters and cinema paraphernalia on display in the lobby, and you've got one of the move unique and delightful movie-going experiences this side of Cannes.
Just today, I was back for more with the no-so-politically-correct The Jungle Princess (1936) and monster-classic Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954), before which the organist played Bach's eerie "Tocatta and Fugue." I'm not quite sure how long I'll keep up my old movie obsession, but one thing's for sure: I now know where to get my fix.
THIS WEEKEND be sure to catch Citizen Kane (1941) at 3:35 and 7:30 followed by The Maltese Falcon (1941) at 5:20 and 9:00. Also, remember that this Saturday and Sunday is the Palo Alto Festival of the Arts (10:00am to 6:00pm), which will take over University Avenue in a display of art, wine, and music. It should be very fun.
At around 11:30 this morning, eleven students from the Stanford Sweat-Free Coalition began a sit-in in President Hennessy's office to protest what they call "Stanford's inaction on sweatshops."
As of 3:30pm this afternoon, all the students were still sitting there, accompanied by moral supporters outside the office building.
According to an article on the San Francisco Chronicle's website, University officials today said they "agreed" with the students' point and were "working on a plan to ensure Stanford gear is produced in responsible factories."
According to the group's website, the students have been prevented from using the private bathrooms in the Office: "The cops are going upstairs to pee, while we are forced to hold it. They told us that there are public toilets outside, but we cannot be let back in. We are prepared to pee in our pants."
Did this officer get to pee inside?
Emails circulated on various Stanford lists say Sweat Free's schedule for the rest of the day includes a Solidarity Rally at 4:30pm in the Main Quad and a "Sweat-Free Teach-In" at 6pm in Bldg. 240.
I'm having somewhat of an identity crisis here: Who am I?
At this moment, as I add content to this site, what -- at the most fundamental level -- am I doing? Am I doing "reporting?" If so, what kind?
I am at an event right now at Cubberley Auditorium featuring Bill Keller, Executive Editor of the New York Times; Gary Pruitt, CEO of the McClatchy Company; Marissa Mayer, Vice President at Google; and Harry Chandler of the L.A. Times. It is moderated by Joel Brinkley, a visiting professor in the Department of Communication.
The talk is called "Pressing Times: Can Newspapers Survive in the New World of Journalism?" Among other things, the three of them have jumped between various terms for people who write in this medium right here: we are alternately bloggers, at other times citizen journalists.
Keller was critical of bloggers, saying that we could never equal professional journalists for various reasons; Keller even implied that bloggers uniformly do not fact-check. Chandler, meanwhile, continually used the phrase "citizen journalists" as if to lend us more credibility as a part of the fabric of journalism today.
So, ultimately, what is the role of a blogger? Do you think that you, as a blogger, are more or less credible than a reporter for McClatchy or the New York Times? Or are we not even comparable -- are we totally different things entirely? If you're not a blogger yourself, what do you think when you read a blog: can you trust our reporting -- are we really a subsection of journalist (citizen journalist) as Chandler said?
What exactly does blogger vs. citizen journalist mean and imply? I know for sure that no one from the L.A. Times could cover this event the way I am now, but perhaps they wouldn't ever want to.
I'm not sure what to think, but I'd love to hear your opinion.
The conferenceFeminicide = Sanctioned Murder: Race, Gender and Violence in Global Context will examine the murders and disappearances of women in Mexico, Guatemala and Canada that are occurring on an epidemic scale, and interrogate closely the gender, class, sexual and ethnoracial components of this violence against women. The aim and purpose of the conference is to stop the violence and map out ways to bring about justice.
Distinguished participants include Elena Poniatowska, one of Mexico’s most eminent writers, whose innovative writing advocates for women and the poor in their struggle for social and economic justice, and Lydia Cacho, who recently received the 2007 Ginetta Sagan Award for Women and Children's Rights from Amnesty International for exposing a net of pederasts linked to the government and big business, and for creating a shelter for the children, victims of trafficking and abuse in Cancún, Mexico.
The conference, presented by Chicana and Chicano Studies of The Center for Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity at Stanford University, brings together the most knowledgeable experts on the subject of feminicide in recent years, including mothers of murdered and disappeared women, activists, academics, writers and journalists, human rights lawyers, artists and filmmakers.
This evening, BSU's Blackfest hosted rapper Lupe Fiasco at Roble Field.
Lupe played for about 50 minutes and sang some of his best-known songs such as "Kick Push" and "I Gotcha." He opened with Kanye West's "Touch the Sky," a track on which he is originally featured. Other hits from today were "Sunshine" and "Daydream."
The crowd at Roble Field.
Lupe, a native of Chicago, Illinois, had his debut album Food & Liquor nominated for 3 Grammy Awards in 2006.
GENDERFUK and GXM: Mixing Can Result in Extreme Adverse Effects
Genderfuk, Stanford's biggest drag show gala is quickly approaching....
Wondered how to do your makeup? How to do your hair? How to dance like Shakira?
Learn from Shakira's mannish sister, Shaqueera, and fill yourself with a second helping of George Xander Morris.
Interview with Tim Gregory, Co-director of The Strange Case of Salman abd al Haqq
The Strange Case of Salman abd al Haqq premieres this Wednesday, April 18th at 8PM in Cubberley Auditorium. Don't miss this important moment in Stanford student filmmaking and in the Stanford student body's response to America's torture scandals.
View the Trailer:
The first revelations of America's torture of prisoners in Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay shocked many in the Stanford community. Even more shocking were revelations by the ACLU and others that the use of torture (including approval of specific techniques) was sanctioned at the highest levels of the Bush administration. Then came news that the CIA, notorious for using the most "aggressive" techniques, was operating secret prisons abroad. And as if that wasn't enough, the US government was also shipping prisoners to other countries notorious for their sanctioning of torture, such as Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Morocco and Uzbekistan. This extra-judicial process of holding prisoners in other countries is known as "extraordinary rendition," or as some would call it, "the outsourcing of torture."
With our government's commitment to human rights crashing down around us, one would hope -- no, one would expect -- that there would be some kind of artistic processing of the phenomenon from the Stanford community. A new film by Tim Gregory and Jeff Orlowski, entitled The Strange Case of Salman abd al Haqq, is exactly this sort of artistic processing. It is a forceful protest, in hopes that the American people and our elected representatives might begin to understand this moral crisis, and then really confront it.
To learn more about the film and the thinking behind it, I sat down for a few minutes with Tim Gregory, co-director, to discuss how it came to be.
PINK FLAMINGOS take over campus for SOCA's An Art Affair
Last night, SOCA members helping to organize An Art Affair, Stanford's largest arts festival (happening THIS WEEKEND!), took initiative to set up ~60 pink lawn flamingos across campus, all marked with "SOCA" and Art Affair information.
"Guerrilla advertising" has become a new tactic on campus this year, with the installation in the intersection of death (by the clock tower), and the investigative effort of the d.school in viral marketing.
Top-ranked Women's Water Polo vs. #2 UCLA on Saturday
And now for a break from ASSU stuff:
Stanford's Women's Water Polo team is on a role, winning its 17th consecutive game on Saturday with a blowout of Long Beach State. The #1-ranked Cardinal are now 19-1 overall and 8-0 in MPSF play, with the only loss coming to USC during the Stanford Invite. With strong leadership from seniors Alison Gregorka, Christina Hewko, Meridith McColl, and Katie Hansen, this team seems certain to make a run for the national championship.
Come cheer on the Cardinal as it hopes to continue its streak next Saturday, April 14th against No. 2 UCLA at the Avery Aquatics Center at 1:00 PM. This is a really important game--one of the last home games of the season--and I hope a lot of people are able to make it. Be loud, and bleed Cardinal.
An Art Affair is now in it's 8th year, and is bigger than ever before. This year, the festival joined with Stanford Community Day (April 15th) as a celebration of the Stanford arts community.
Some new additions this year include:
A Workshop Stage for student groups to give workshops following their performance on the Main Stage, FREE gourmet FOOD for Stanford students from the Cooking Club, special guest performances by KENNY ENDO and STANFORD TAIKO and GAMO DA PAZ and KUUMBA AFRICAN DANCE AND DRUM ENSEMBLE, and an extended schedule spanning two days-- moving the Stanford Soundtrack CD Release Party to Saturday night, and the general festivities to Sunday to coincide with Community Day.
Here's what you can expect at An Art Affair:
Over 60 performances on three stages, over 200 peices of visual art and photography on display (in two tent galleries), 3,000 free copies of the Stanford Soundtrack CD, 11 workshops from student organizations, FREE FOOD (on both days!) for Stanford students with SUID, and tabling from arts groups -- all to showcase the Stanford arts community in this annual celebration.
The festival is organized each year by the Student Organizing Committee for the Arts (SOCA). It is one of the largest and most ambitious student-organized events on campus, and is the biggest arts event of the year. Do not miss it!
On April 10, American Studies will be a leading co-sponsor of an event organized by Stanford Beyond Bars, an organization dedicated to sparking dialogue and consciousness of the issues surrounding incarceration. The event will be organized by American Studies major Jacqueline Gauthier, who is the coordinator of Stanford Beyond Bars. Since SBB's official inception in the fall of 2004, they have started a tutoring program with the San Francisco County Jails in association with the Northern California Service League and volunteered with prison activist organizations such as the Prison Activist Resource Center in Oakland.
After attending a rally yesterday afternoon in Oakland (which you can see here), Barack Obama, junior Senator from Illinois and 2008 Democratic presidential candidate, met with supporters at the Mark Hopkins Hotel in San Francisco -- I know, very swanky. He spoke briefly and then signed books and spoke with audience members, mingling amicably and talking with supporters, including a bunch of Stanford students on hand.
I got to be *this close* to him and even shook his hand and said a few -- albeit brief -- words to him. About 40 Stanford students got the opportunity to go to the event since Dean Julie is working on the campaign. The event was invitation-only and thrown for donors to Obama's campaign. Because it was on a weekend (Obama was in the area for the rally), a number of the bigwigs originally invited were unable to attend. Dean Julie was notified and posted the information to (what else?), her Facebook profile.
I just came back from a show by the Stanford Improvisers (SImps) called “Phantom of the Improv” at the Pigott Theater. I watched 8 members produce an improvised, unrehearsed 50 minute Broadway-style musical called “The Ballet Class” (the title was selected through many audience suggestions and subsequent voting).
It was incredibly fun.
I love SImps shows: they are funny, musical and surprising. This show was the best entertainment I could recommend to anyone. The songs were catchy, the actors were funny and real, and the plot had a great ending. The story was basically about a school where a new kid gets into trouble on the first day with a “bad kid,” then joins the homeroom art project of “expressing yourself” with two other students who learn ballet. The bad kid is eventually convinced to join the project as well and give it a chance.
Packed Auditorium and Standing Ovation for Professor Zimbardo's Farewell Lecture
The Lucifer Effect: Understanding How Good People Turn Evil. Previously recorded at the "Thinking Humanity" conference, and available here. Accompanying slides are also available here.
Professor Phil Zimbardo said goodbye to Stanford today in a farewell lecture on his signature issue, the psychology of evil. Entitled "The Lucifer Effect: Understanding How Good People Turn Evil," his talk was a guest lecture for Psychology 1 students, but he attracted so many other fans and students eager to hear him speak once more, that the TAs for the course began to block the doors, allowing only Psych 1 students in and challenging people entering to name their TA.
Zimbardo was introduced by Psych 1 Professor Benoit Monin, also a social psychologist, who said that many departments have "fairy godmothers" who help nurture and train the students and scholars there. Zimbardo, however, was more like a "godfather," or, rather, THE Godfather. As a token of the department's appreciation, Monin presented Zimbardo with a symbolic black hat, which Zimbardo promptly wore. Zimbardo then proceeded humorously to give Monin the famous Godfather "kiss of death."
Appropriate enough for a psychologist who studies evil.
Sign-ups have been extended for this year's annual "An Art Affair," the largest arts festival at Stanford. An Art Affair, which is organized by the Student Organizing Committee for the Arts (SOCA), will be held this April 14th and 15th, and will coincide with Stanford's bi-annual Community Day. This is the seventh annual An Art Affair festival, and it's going to be bigger and better than ever before.
Now in its seventh year, An Art Affair has evolved into a true Stanford tradition.
Come see the SImp's quarterly show on Friday and Saturday, March 9th and 10th at Pigott Theater. They'll have Theatresports matches on both nights, leading up to the finale on March 10th at 10:00pm, where one of the SImp teams will battle an all-star team of alumni players. Tickets are $5 and will be sold in White Plaza and at the door.
And now for a break from ASSU stuff:
