Higher Thought

Randy Pausch, a professor at Carnegie Mellon University, is dying of Pancreatic Cancer. This is an abridged version of his truly inspirational last lecture at CMU on the Oprah Show. A must watch!

Wow! I wish we had something like this in our school. Wait for the “crossing the line” exercise…

www.challengeday.org

Can you believe it, Bob Dylan won the Pulitzer prize!

Stop the violence! Stop the killing! Stop the wars!

Bob Dylan and Joan Baez singing “Blowing in the wind”

Watch out for a shocking revelation midway through the talk. A story of hope and spirit. A story that makes you grateful for your life.

If you’re one of the two people in the world who doesn’t know about this campaign that started off with a single person and now has become a worldwide movement… see the video, then go hug someone.

freehugscampaign.org

I’m quite a knucklehead when it comes to classical music, from anywhere in the world.

But I’ve always enjoyed the Indian classical music concept of Jugalbandis (duets, more like duels actually).

Here are two amazing performers, Hariprasad Chaurasia on the flute and Anuradha Pal on the tabla (drums). Anuradha Pal is a disciple of Ustad Zakir Hussain.

Kenya sings for India - The Indian National Anthem.

Here are some details of this great event from pangeaday.com

The Pangea Day Event

Starting at 18:00 GMT on May 10, 2008, locations in Cairo, Kigali, London, Los Angeles, Mumbai, and Rio de Janeiro will be linked via satellite for a live program of powerful films, live music, and visionary speakers. The entire program will be broadcast – in seven languages – to millions of people worldwide through the internet, television, and mobile phones.

The 24 short films to be featured have been selected from an international competition that generated more than 2,500 submissions from over one hundred countries. The films were chosen based on their ability to inspire, transform, and allow us see the world through another person’s eyes. The winning films will be announced in late April.

The program will also include a number of exceptional speakers and musical performers. Queen Noor of Jordan, CNN’s Christiane Amanpour, musician/activist Bob Geldof, and Iranian rock phenom Hypernova are among those taking part.

Hans Rosling is using data to change our understanding of the world. He’s shattering myths about the developed world versus the so-called third world with his statistical analysis. One of the most amazing presentations I have ever seen.

Hans Rosling’s website is gapminder.org

Here he is speaking at TED in 2006.