Today’s unemployment rate announcement offers another demonstration that every statistic demands a second (and third and fourth) look. News coverage of the Bureau of Labor Statistics announcement of December employment stats understandably focused on the overall unemployment rate , down from 9.8% to 9.4% — a good news story. But when you look just below the surface you find good news — and bad. While unemployment declined by .4 percent, the labor participation rate declined by .2 percent — half of the overall decline in unemployment. In other words, half of the decline is attributable to more people finding work — and half is attributable to fewer people looking for it.
Remember when ‘friend’ was strictly a noun? The fact that it is now also a verb provides just a small sense of the impact that Mark Zuckerberg has had on society, and why he was designated Time‘s Person of the Year.
Just a few years ago, sociologists were warning that the Internet was diminishing social interaction (and social capital). Now, 500 million friends later, Facebook (and myriad other social networking sites) has turned that around. In the process, it has changed the way we communicate. When is the last time you spent an evening watching television without catching a few commercials that mention the companies’ Facebook page? If you’re in the communications business, how often are the communications products you produce used on a Facebook page? Read
In their 2004 book, Heavenly Intrigue, Gilder and his wife, Anne-Lee, point the finger at Johannes Kepler, founder of modern physics, as the murderer (by poison) of the great 16th century astronomer Tycho Brahe. In order to verify — or refute — their findings, Tycho’s body was recently disinterred from its crypt in Prague for state of the art forensic testing.
In his New York Times article this week, John Tierney says the story has all the makings of a Hollywood blockbuster — full of sex, intrigue and murder. Seems that some producers are already interested. We can’t wait to see the movie.
Who would think that Hollywood could produce a blockbuster out of the story about the founding of Facebook — a movie that is centered on a pair of court cases, with the action being driven by legal discovery sessions in a pair of board rooms? Actually, the trailers made it clear The Social Network would be entertaining enough. What surprised me was just how good it was — and how relatively balanced and nuanced it turned out to be.
Going in, there were some reasons not to expect any semblance of balance. For starters, the film was based on what is generally regarded as a one-sided book. Strike one. And Hollywood is not exactly known for fair and balanced depictions of the business world. Strike two. And the screenwriter was Aaron Sorkin, who generally likes his characters to wear white hats or black hats — no shades of grey allowed. Strike three. Nope, that one turned out to be a foul tip. In fact, Sorkin went on to hit this one clear over the fence. Read
About five years ago the American Film Institute compiled a list of the greatest quotes in the history of film. I didn’t envy their task. There have been some great ones. How to get it down to a hundred? The AFI almost could have come up with that many from the film Casablanca alone: “Here’s looking at you kid.”"This could be the start of a great friendship” “You wore blue, the Germans wore grey” “I’m shocked, shocked to discover there has been gambling going on in this establishment.” “Of all the gin joints in all the towns all over the world, why did she have to come into mine?” (The line was originally supposed to be “bars.” Humphrey Bogart changed it to “gin joints.” Writers beware.)
But the AFI did a good job narrowing it down to 100, and their top 3 picks tell us a lot about what it takes to reach people. The big lines they picked out all say something about what makes a great line great — not just in a film, but in a speech, an article or any communications vehicle.
The AFI’s top 3 choices were:
1. “Frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn.” The producers of Gone With the Wind had a hard time getting that one past the censors in 1939, but I think what makes it so memorable decades later is the way it expressed Rhett Butler’s core value. He was deeply in love, but nothing was more important to him than maintaining his self-respect. It wasn’t even a close call for him.
2. “I’m going to make him an offer he can’t refuse.” This line, originally in The Godfather novel, summed up the character of Don Corleone as played by Marlon Brando. He was always willing to negotiate, always willing to cut a deal. But he had the power to make sure he got what he wanted, at a price he was willing to pay. Bargaining session over.
3. “I coulda had class. I coulda been a contender. Instead of a bum, which is what I am.” Brando again, this time up against the mob in On The Waterfront. The line (delivered by Brando to Rod Steiger as his brother in the film) expressed the frustration of a character struggling on the docks after glimpsing the prospect of fame. But the line’s real meaning didn’t become fully clear until later in the movie, when the Marlon Brando character “ratted” out the crooked union boss, after his brother was killed. It was when the Brando character testified against the mobsters who were running the docks (and who had killed his brother) that he showed he did have class, he was a contender — and no longer a bum doing the mob’s bidding.
All three of these lines were great, I believe, because they expressed the characters’ core values — what they really stood for, what mattered to them, what they did give a damn about. Just like a speech should.
Ghostwriters are used to being behind the scenes. When the applause comes at the end of a speech, the writer doesn’t take a bow. But that doesn’t mean there are no hard feelings.
The hit TV show Dancing With the Stars invites celebrities to compete with some of the world’s best professional dancers. That is unless you’re a writer. According to young-adult author Ally Carter (author of the Gallagher Girls series) executives at the ABC show don’t seem to view writers as celebrities. Read
It’s not an uncommon situation. Being in a foreign country, clumsily trying to navigate the native language, and receiving blank stares – or, scowls – in return.
That’s exactly what Deborah Fallows – wife of famed journalist James Fallows – describes in her recent interview on NPR and writes about in her new book Dreaming in Chinese: Mandarin Lessons in Life, Love, and Language. When Fallows accompanied her husband to China, she had taken a few semesters of Mandarin. But when they arrived, she found it a real challenge to communicate. Read
Last night was a big night for nerds. Jim Parsons (aka Sheldon on The Big Bang Theory) won an Emmy for best actor in a comedy series, beating out front-runners Matthew Morrison (Glee) and Alec Baldwin (30 Rock), neither of whom would ever be accused of being a nerd. Parsons, however, plays the nerdy theoretical physicist Sheldon well enough to be on his way to icon status. (A physics major I know tells me that people in her class refer to especially geeky fellow students as “sheldons.’) That’s what writing is all about — making it real. That’s true no matter what you are writing.
What is especially impressive about Parsons’ win is that his character was not originally planned as the series lead. Rather, he was the break-out character (a la Kramer on Seinfeld, or Dwight on The Office). But his characterization of Sheldon stole the show. Some even say he has made geekiness cool. If so, that’s the acting equivalent of splitting the atom.
I was surprised that it didn’t get more attention when Bobby Thomson passed away the other day. In October 1951 he was probably the most celebrated person in America (and the most cursed in Brooklyn.) Thomson blasted what was known as the ‘shot heard round the world’ — a 3-run homer off Ralph Branca to lift the New York Giants to a 5-4 ‘miracle’ victory over the Brooklyn Dodgers in the special National League tie-breaking playoff series.
Thomson’s home run was one of the most famous in baseball history. More than anything else, I think, what gave it such appeal among baseball fans is that it demonstrated that, in baseball, it truly ain’t over till it’s over (as Yogi Berra would say). Read