Harrison Bergeron
THE YEAR WAS 2081, and everybody was finally equal. They weren’t only equal before God and the law. They were equal every which way. Nobody was smarter than anybody else. Nobody was better looking than anybody else. Nobody was stronger or quicker than anybody else. All this equality was due to the 211th, 212th, and 213th Amendments to the Constitution, and to the unceasing vigilance of agents of the United States Handicapper General.
Some things about living still weren’t quite right, though. April, for instance, still drove people crazy by not being springtime. And it was in that clammy month that the H-G men took George and Hazel Bergeron’s fourteen-year-old son, Harrison, away.
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I recently stumbled across this remarkable short story by Kurt Vonnegut online… all I can say is, if you (also) tend to side with underdogs and/or if you’ve ever pondered the ultimate implications of egalitarianism, I think you’ll enjoy his compellingly dystopian story (written in 1961) here.
Photo by Jill Krementz (Kurt’s wife)
Washington, DC
New element on the periodic table
A major Washington-based research institution has recently announced the discovery of the heaviest chemical element yet known to science. The new element has been named “Governmentium.” Governmentium (Gv) has one neutron, 25 assistant neutrons, 88 deputy, and 198 assistant deputy neutrons, giving it an atomic mass of 312.
These 312 particles are held together by forces called morons, which are surrounded by vast quantities of lepton-like particles called peons. Since Governmentium has no electrons, it is inert. However, it can be detected, because it impedes every reaction with which it comes into contact.
A minute amount of Governmentium can cause a reaction, which would normally take less than a second, to take over four days to complete. Governmentium has a normal half-life of 4 years; it does not decay, but instead undergoes a reorganization in which a portion of the assistant neutrons and deputy neutrons exchange places. In fact, Governmentium’s mass will actually increase over time, since each reorganization will cause more morons to become neutrons, forming isodopes. This characteristic of moron promotion leads some scientists to believe that Governmentium is formed whenever morons reach a critical concentration. This hypothetical quantity is referred to as Critical Morass.
When catalyzed with money, Governmentium becomes Administratium—an element which radiates just as much energy as Governmentium since it has half as many peons but twice as many morons.
Source: (disputedly) William DeBuvitz
Winnipeg, Canada
Today is Robbie Burns Day (my namesake) as several Scottish clients and co-workers have pointed out to me… and coincidentally (it seems) Adrian kindly gifted me with two old unopened bottles of Scotch (the beverage) with the explanation, “No one in our family drinks Scotch, and it’s been in the back of the liquor cabinet for decades…” Sweet—we lads just sampled a wee dram or two (the fine “Special Old Reserve 12-Year-Old Single Malt” is now in its mid 30s), and all we can say is Slainte Mhath! (Good Health) and the responding Slainte Mhor! (Great Health). Read Rabbie’s complete works here.
Born January 25th, 1759 in Alloway, Scotland’s most famous poet and favorite native son produced a massive body of work in his short life of 37 years. “Rabbie” Burns’ carousing and his stick-it-to-the-man attitude endeared him to both his contemporaries and to ensuing generations. (Detail of painting by Alexander Nasmyth, 1787).
Steinbach, Manitoba
Our Peters family got together at my brother Jim’s place in Steinbach (about an hour SE of Winnipeg) for a love-filled family Christmas celebration yesterday. This photo of my older and younger brothers book-ending my ex-missionary octogenarian dad (at Falcon Lake in 2005) surfaced in the process… admittedly I suffered from being the middle child, but what might their excuse be?… :-)
New York, New York
A show of works by the ubiquitous Banksy, anarchist artist extraordinaire (aka “the invisible man of graffiti art”) is scheduled to open at the Vanina Holasek Gallery in New York on 2 December… no doubt to be accompanied by impromptu creative iterations around the city. I’ve admired Banksy’s work for years, particularly with respect to his evocative anti-war, anti-capitalist, and pro-freedom statements.
A “best and brightest” piece in Esquire describes him as: “A phantom with a stencil and a can of spray paint, maybe the premier ‘Guerrilla Street Artist’ in the world, Banksy is almost impossible to find, but his work is everywhere. And he makes people very, very happy.”
Read more about Banksy here; see more of Banksy’s art here.
Winnipeg, Canada
Saturday was an interesting day back here in the ‘Peg, and I once again gave my “Design 101” talk at FITC’s “Design & Technology” event… though I must admit I felt like somewhat of a dinosaur presenting alongside high-energy Flash aficionados such as Hoss Gifford, Joshua Davis, and Eric Natzke. While my “design primer”presentation dealt with important (read boring?) fundamentals such as the basics of form, composition, typography (e.g. legibility), colour theory, and visual Gestalt principles, theirs exhibited the cutting edge of motion graphics…
Toronto, Canada
In the category of ‘strange but true,’ my old school chum Gary Ludwig (now Creative Director at Interbrand in Toronto), has “officially retired his beard… after 33 years of faithful service” and offered a ‘before & after’ shot to “help identify him, should you run into him without warning.” If you do, let me know…
Do you see this dancer spinning clockwise, or counter-clockwise? If clockwise, you tend to use more of the right side of your brain. If counter-clockwise, you tend to use more of the left side (like the majority of people). Most designers travel easily from left to right and back… in fact, it’s this (relatively) unique disposition and ability that helps us guide our (mostly) left-brain clients to creative solutions while maintaining affinity with our (often) right-brain artist kin.
At Circle, we consciously practice “whole-brain thinking” by combining left-brain traits (analytical, logical, functional, focused, strategic) with right-brain traits (creative, intuitive, perceptive, passionate, tactical).
(Image source: The Courier Mail, Australia [thanks to Guy Schockaert])
Brno, Czech Republic
At a recent dinner meeting of the boards of the “three sisters” of design—Icograda (International Council of Graphic Design Associations), IFI (International Federation of Interior Architects/Designers), and ICSID (International Council of Societies of Industrial Design), and following a historic two-day joint board meeting to discuss the potential formation of a multi-disciplinary alliance—architect and designer Olle Anderson (president of IFI) drew this insightful napkin sketch… His point was that as designers get older, we engage in ever more “dinners” and less and less professional output. Though I hope this isn’t the case, it seemed to have enough truth to it that I felt obliged to share. (After weeks of volunteer NGO activity away from the studio, it’s easy to begin to question one’s very raison d’être…).
