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Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Valentino - S/S 2014 Show

2:43 PM Admin

Time: October 1, 2013 at 2:30 pm
Location: Paris
Models: Ophelie Guillermand, Sasha Luss, Anna Ewers, Sam Rollinson, Fei Fei Sun, Auguste Abeliunaite, Irina Kravchenko, Cara Delevingne

Rianne Ten Haken - "On the Docks" by Jean Paul Gaultier

12:46 PM Admin

Director: Johnny Green

Directed by Johnny Green, On The Docks tells the tale - with a carnal Jean Paul Gaultier edge - of the two lovers' reconciliation - 'where not the sea, nor the land, nor even their differences can keep them apart' says the press release.
After 12 years as a set decorator, British director Johnny Green is an expert in spectacular films. In On The Docks his camera plunges the audience into the bowels of the ship, the bunks and Classique's apartment with virtuoso lighting, 3D effects and soundtrack.

26-year-old beauty Ten Haken talks about what desire means to her. "It's very mysterious," she says. "You don't know why you want it, and why you want it so bad. But there's something magical about it. That's why it's so interesting."

Biologist Sean Carroll in Toronto

12:14 PM Admin

Biologist Sean Carroll of evo-devo fame was in Toronto last Friday as part of the 2013 Science Festival. I had a chance to talk to him in the afternoon at an event organized by the Centre for Inquiry. There were about a dozen people there.

Sean is the Vice President for Science Education at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute in Washington DC (USA). We talked a lot about science education. One of the issues he brought up was The Clergy Letter Project. According to Sean, this is an important example of co-operation between scientists and religious leaders to support the teaching of evolution in American public schools.

I understand the politics but I find it ironic that scientists seek out religious leaders to support the teaching of evolution in the public schools. These same scientists are the first ones to trot out the US Constitution whenever Christian fundamentalists try to teach creationism. You can't have it both ways. Either religious leaders have no say in what is taught in science classes or they do.

Sean Carrol gave a talk in the evening to an audience of about one thousand. His subject was Jacques Monod and the role of chance. Coincidentally, that's also the subject of his latest book, Brave Genius: A Scientist, a Philosopher, and Their Daring Adventures from the French Resistance to the Nobel Prize.

Sean emphasized the role of chance and accident in evolution, picking up on Monod's seminal work Chance and Necessity. From studying biology you reach the inescapable conclusion that life is the product of blind chance. It has no meaning or purpose. Monod was not the first person to recognize this but he's the one who made the best case back in 1971.

After his talk I reminded Sean that this conclusion puts science in conflict with almost all religious beliefs making it difficult for clergy to support the correct teaching of science and religion in the public schools.

"Hey, what can you do!" he said, just as someone took our picture.¹

I have a signed copy of his book.