Podcamp NYC 2.0 has been rescheduled for April 25-26, 2008

Podcamp NYC 2.0, originally slated to begin today and end tomorrow, has been rescheduled for April 25-26, 2008. Whew! Even though this is a leap year, there's so much to do and so little time this month and next. Gathering around the Podcamp site in late April works much better for me. Moreover, say the organizers:

We decided to move Podcamp NYC to April 25 & 26 rather than the original dates for a couple of reasons, including less chance of this crazy winter weather this year impacting the event, and to take advantage of the great outdoor space at Polytechnic University, as well as to give us organizers some more time to make the event special. We want to have the best event possible, and this was a date that worked better for us and worked for our venue as well.

You can read about the Podcamp NYC 2.0 Theme (Education), venue (the Marriott-Brooklyn Bridge), speakers and confabs here.###

Get wild today! Celebrate African American History Month at the Bronx Zoo

If you're in the New York metropolitan area, get wild today! Come celebrate African American History month at the Bronx Zoo. As Bronx Zoo News and Events reads:

Celebrate African-American Heritage at the Zoo

Wednesday February 20: Pay-What-You-Wish Day!
©WCS/J.Maher

Join us on Wednesday, February 20 to celebrate African-American culture and wildlife. Catch the beat of drum and dance performances, make your own jewelry, and visit gorillas, giraffes, and other animals that call African jungles and savannas home.

Black History Month, Video: "The first white man I ever saw was black"

The Alaska Highway (also known as the Alaska-Canadian - or Alcan - Highway), was built in eight months in 1942. The international roadway - which extended 1,523 miles (2,451 kilometers) northwest from Dawson Creek, British Columbia to Fairbanks, Alaska and navigated through some challenging virgin territory - was nicknamed the "Oilcan Highway" by the United States servicemen who built it, discarding empty oil containers along the way. Sources at Answers.com>>Alaska Highway report: over 10,000 American soldiers, approximately one-third of them black, constructed the highway as "an emergency war measure to provide an overland military supply route" to military forces in Alaska during World War II.

Completing the Alcan Highway, in record time, "was a significant engineering feat because of the difficulties of terrain and weather." On the human side, bitterly cold temperatures and frostbite sent some troops searching for warmer clothing and shelter.

During one such foray, recounts Modern Marvels: Alcan Highway, some black soldiers stumbled upon a Canadian Indian village. They left a lasting impression. Years later, one villager remarked: "The first white man I ever saw was black."

As this is Black History Month, and I am a Veteran's History Project Official Partner, I highly recommend watching this informative, inspirational History Channel program. Modern Marvels: Alcan Highway shares many incredible stories about the construction of an engineering marvel, about the creation of landmark sites (such as Signpost Forest at Watson Lake, pictured below right), and about black soldiers who persevered - and made heroic contributions - despite segregation and racial discrimination during an already-challenging project.

For example, heavy construction equipment was in scarce supply and was assigned only to white troops. This left the black servicemen vulnerable to untrue accusations that they were too ignorant to use heavy machinery. In response, some creatively assertive black soldiers disproved that vicious rumor, and substantially contributed to the roadway's completion, by "borrowing" heavy equipment from sleeping white troops at night and using it to build miles of roadway before daybreak. In the morning, white servicemen would awaken to find their machinery intact, and long, new stretches of roadway punctuated by signs that read: "Completed by [Black Regiment's Name]."

That's not all. There's much more to Modern Marvels: Alcan Highway. Get the complete story on VHS or on the History Channel.

IMAGES:

• Alaska Highway Start, courtesy of Yufei Yuan (August 10th, 2005), Wikipedia.com>>Alaska Highway. Answers.com>>Alaska Highway caption: "A monument at the southern terminus of the Alaska Highway (Dawson Creek)."


• Alaska Highway End (Delta Junction), courtesy of Nader Moussa (August 3, 2007), Wikipedia.com>>Alaska Highway caption: "A monument at the northern terminus of the Alaska Highway (Delta Junction): Signpost marking the end of the AlCan (Alaska-Canada, or Alaska Highway), at the Delta Junction tourist information center.. The signpost reads: 'This highway was constructed during World War II as a military supply route for interior Alaska Military and Airfields in 1942. 7 Army regiments and 42 Contractors and Public Roads Administrators working from Delta Junction South and Dawson Creek North completed it when they met at Soldiers' Summit at Kluane Lake Yukon Territory in November 1942. At the peak of construction, 77 Contractors employed 15,000 men and 11,000 pieces of road building equipment. The total construction cost for 1422 miles was $115,000,000.' "
  
• Watson Lake Signpost, courtesy of Yufei Yuan (August 15th, 2005). Wikipedia.com>>Alaska Highway. Answers.com>>Alaska Highway caption: "Signpost forest at Watson Lake, Yukon"###

Postscript to Intervention: Sopranos Style

These lines from The Sopranos constitute a fitting postscript to "Intervention: Sopranos Style."

[Christopher just got out of drug rehab.]

• Tony S. : So, what step are you at now?
• Christopher: I did all the steps, except for the one where I'm supposed to go around and apoligize to all the people I f[*]cked over when I was using.
• Tony S.: I think maybe you shouldn't do that one. You know, let sleeping dogs lie.
• Christopher: Yeah, that's what I was thinking.

March 29, 2008 is the first international SWAN (Support for Women Artists Now) Day

The first international SWAN (Support Women Artist's Now) Day will be March 29, 2008. On SWAN Day, I'll be displaying photography in Grace Institute Gallery's Women's History Month exhibit, "Never Routine: Women in the Course of their Everyday Lives." What will you be doing?

You can learn more about:

The exhibit, and see who won the contest here.

How to make tax-deductible purchases and contributions, and double (even triple) your money here, under "Non-Profit Fiscal Sponsor."

SWAN Day here.###

Art and about: my activities on the creative tip since 3Q 2007

I haven't posted much since my friend Ken died, but I've been busy nonetheless. Here's some of what I've been up to lately "on the creative tip" (as Ken would say). It's posted in no particular order.

Since 3Q 2007, I:

Registered as an official partner in "Art. Ask for More," the national arts education public awareness campaign of Americans for the Arts and the Ad Council.

• Tag line: "The less art kids get, the more it shows."
• Read: "10 Simple Ways Parents Can Get More Art in Their Kids’ Lives."

Updated my Artist's Profiles in the:

• Registry of Artists, Brooklyn Arts Council, and
• Artist's Directory, The Fund For Women Artists

Posted "The Business of Art: the RAC Marketing Toolbox For Artists" to the SCORE Chapter 306 Blog.

Submitted photography to Grace Institute's juried art exhibition for Women's History Month. "Never Routine: Women in the Course of Their Daily Lives" will be on display from March 3-April 25, 2008. Stay tuned for results of the competition.

Co-authored, edited and illustrated a children's puzzle book and added audio and animations to transform it into a multimedia activity packet. The work received a standing ovation when presented to a university children's literature class. Stay tuned for publication and purchasing details.

Served on several grant evaluation panels throughout Greater New York, and made a presentation about the QCAF regrant process to the Queens Council on the Arts Board of Directors. Congratulations to all grantees, especially my pal April Lynn James (whose panel I sat out). NOTE: participating on a grants panel is an excellent learning experience for proposal writers.

Ghostwrote several articles, reviews and papers. NOTE: This is also a great way to expand one's horizons.

Created new interactive works and exhibition pieces, and contacted venues. Stay tuned for upcoming exhbits and events.

Received a scholarship for audio recording and production training. ###

Three sites have been dedicated to the late Ken Braithwaite

His friends and family may be pleased to know: three sites have been dedicated to the late Ken Braithwaite.

• A "Friends of Kenneth Braithwaite" FaceBook Group has been created. This social networking site accommodates text, still images, videos, links, music, and other media posts, and facilitates communication amongst participants.
  
• The Social-Organizational Psychology Program at Columbia Teachers College has posted Program Information: Memorial Service for Doctoral Candidate Kenneth Braithwaite.


• A guest book has been connected to Ken's online obit at boston.com. I won't post the link, as: (1) the guest book will be deleted in November, 2008 unless someone pays to sponsor it, and (2) there's no need for anyone to sponsor a commercial guest book, as Friends of Kenneth Braithwaite (or another site like it) can serve the same purpose, in perpetuity, for free.

Merry Christmas!

Images: courtesy of Wikipedia.org>>Nativity of Jesus:

(1) Grotto of the Nativity in the Church of the Nativity, Bethlehem — where it is believed Jesus was born, and

(2) Relief of Nativity, Cathedral St. Peter, Worms, Germany.

Merrry Christmas! Do you know the reason for the Christmas season?

To learn about the history of Christmas, click the link above or access the following books and cds.

Kenneth Noel James Braithwaite: Contact Info, January 10 Memorial Service at Columbia Teachers College, Published Research

INTRODUCTION:

The blogosphere is a powerful tool. Case in point: many people have contacted me in response to Tribute to Kenneth Noel James Braithwaite (August 1966-November 2007).

Apparently, some had learned about Ken's death through this electronic grapevine. Others had found the post via online searches and word of mouth, and contacted me to obtain and share details about Ken's death, life and going home services. In all cases, I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but glad my online tribute has been informative.

CONTACT INFORMATION:

I don't mind being contacted about Ken. However, I'm reluctant to provide unpublished personal details to strangers. Of course, a telephone conversation can easily "qualify" folks as legitimate friends of Ken's, and I welcome such chats. They tend to prove informative and comforting for me as well as for those who phone.

Additionally, I'd like to refer those with questions to his family's place of worship, St. Bartholomew's Episcopal Church [239 Harvard Street, Cambridge, MA 02139, Tel. (617) 354-8582], and to the Social-Organizational Psychology Program office at Columbia Teachers College ("TC"), where he was close to completing his Ph.D.

MEMORIAL SERVICE:

Ken's professors and colleages at TC will be holding a memorial service on January 10, 2008 at 7:00 P.M., Eastern Time. A small reception will follow. The location will be 179 Grace Dodge Hall, at 525 120th Street, New York, NY 10025 [get directions]. Please RSVP to Lynda Hallmark, Program Manager for Social-Organizational Psychology by January 4th [email: hallmark AT tc.edu], and specify: (1) that you will attend, and (2) whether or not you would like to say a few words.

Feel free to invite other friends of Ken.

PUBLISHED RESEARCH:

Interested in reading Ken's published research? He co-authored the following article with his doctoral advisor:

Westaby, J.D., & Braithwaite, K.N. (2003). Specific Factors Underlying Reemployment Self-Efficacy: Comparing Control Belief and Motivational Reason Methods for the Recently Unemployed. Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 39, 415-437.

Tribute to Kenneth Noel James Braithwaite (August 1966-November 2007)

Thanksgiving weekend 2007 was not festive for everyone. Case in point: the sudden, unexpected loss of Kenneth Noel James Braithwaite (August 1966-November 2007), earlier in the week, gave a new, darker, meaning to "Black Friday."

Nonetheless, the week's events gave me a new reason to give thanks.

Instead of driving up from the Big Apple on November 23, 2007 (the day after Thanksgiving) to accept Ken's invitation to "hang out" in Beantown, I made the trip for a solemn reason: to attend Ken's Celebration of Life services. The wake and funeral services were held at Saint Bartholomew's Episcopal Church in Cambridge; interment was at Woodlawn Cemetery in Everett (in a plot shared with his mother, Audrey).

What a contrast to the last times Ken and I had hung out in Massachusetts. On another holiday weekend, he, another Columbia classmate, and I had had a grand time driving there in my two-door coupe. For this planned, November trip, Ken and I had assumed that we would use my four-wheel drive vehicle to access out-of-the-way haunts, and otherwise pahk the cah neah Hahvahd Yahd and take the "T" around town. [I enjoyed teasing Ken about his Massachusetts accent.]

You know what they say about the word "assume." Ken rode not in my green SUV with New York plates or on Boston Mass Transit's Red or Green Line this weekend. Rather, he took his final ride on Friday at noon, in a shiny black hearse with Massachusetts DMV plate number 2025.

I rue not visiting Ken sooner, as he'd suggested. I still hadn't learned my lesson: death never comes at convenient times. Consequently, those in the know prioritize opportunities to spend time with loved ones, and accordingly avoid suffer the consequences I'm currently experiencing.

By George, I think I've finally got it now. The school of hard knocks is quite effective.

So I finally made it to Ken's home in Massachusetts, but for the wrong reason. His bicyles in the hallway, his laptop on the table beside the sofa, his blue jacket draped over the loveseat arm, and his passport and photographs were eerie, material reminders of his accomplishments as an athlete, professional, globetrotter and debonair bachelor. Ken was also a gifted scholar with degrees from Buckingham Browne and Nichols, Tufts College and Columbia University, whose dissertation proposal had recently been approved by his doctoral committee in Organizational Psychology.

Ken's profile was impressive, yes. However, it was the presence, the shared stories, and the tears of those of us who loved him that demonstrated the real measure of the man. Kenneth Noel James Braithwaite was a beloved son, uncle, and friend who will not be forgotten. I am truly thankful for his friendship and for the time we shared.