Avatar movie, Amazon.com, Audible.com

Amazon.com and Audible.com offer access to latest books and movies, for example, the Avatar movie. In publishing, I need to include Amazon on my list of locations to distribute my book. 

Avatar Movie and Star Wars Movie--Following Inspiration

A few days ago a ninth-grade student in English class was watching the Star Wars movie for the first time.  The Avatar movie was just released last Friday.  James Cameron, director of the Avatar movie, said that the Star Wars movie, written and directed by George Lucas,  movie was an inspiration for the development of Avatar.

Were I a full-time English teacher this year, I would probably assign an extra-credit project to view both Star Wars and Avatar and to track evidence of Star Wars inspiration in the Avatar movie. 

Earth Day 2010--April 22, 2010

April 22, 2010 is Earth Day 2010.  Disney has timed its release of the Oceans movie in theaters for this date and the Avatar movie is released in DVD and Blue Ray as of today.

The earth is experiencing lots of changes at its depths, on its surface, and in its atmosphere.  We hear of earthquakes and volcanoes, global climate change, holes in the ozone layer, and much more.

Yesterday someone I know mentioned a belief from a previous generation that traveling outside of the earth's atmosphere--to the moon--would cause problems on the planet.

While I don't see the cause and effect relationship of our moon walk to current earth changes, it is a good time for many of the people on this planet to hold a focus for healing the planet.  I don't know what the healing would look like--I leave that to Spirit.  I do believe that we can hold a focus (or put out a prayer) for healing of our planet and everything connected with it as a contribution for Earth Day and beyond.

The images of our "blue marble" planet sent from space are beautiful.  With all that beauty it is amazing to be aware of the conflict and crime and pollution that are still taking place here.  Earth Day is traditionally (since 1970) a time to focus on reducing, reusing, and recycling materials to preserve our planet.  We may also want to be doing that within our own thought systems.

Avatar Movie--Ideas for Innovation in Learning Event Design for Adults

In the world of technology visualized in the recent blockbuster, Avatar, it is amazing to see how much emphasis is still being placed on "talking heads" in learning and training environments.  People are excited to have a visual image of a person side-by-side with a PowerPoint Presentation, then add the possibility of text chat and/or voice-over conversation and people think they are experiencing a rich presentation.

The key to learning is engaging in positive learning activities, then in reflecting on these activities.  The avatar (cartoon images displayed in 3D in many 2D and 3D "virtual worlds") does not hold a candle to the avatar bodies shown in Avatar--and those were computer-generated graphics with lots of visual reference points gleaned from the real actors the graphic avatars were portraying.  A true avatar the incarnation of a deity changes in the consciousness of a culture.  Quetzalcoatl is an example of an avatar in the ancient legends of Mexico.

The point is this, technology needs to engage the learners, getting them involved in positive learning activities.  The 3D technology that was part of Avatar (the 2009 film) was intended to draw the viewer into the movie.  It does a good job of this.

We need to do the same kind of thing when designing learning events, especially for adults.  They need to be drawn into the action and to apply the skills and knowledge they are developing in the learning event to real challenges, then to reflect on how they're doing and be given time to improve. 

In the Avatar film, the characters make recordings into a video log (like a blog).  This is a reflective component that people need to do in an actual learning event.

Happy New Year 2010!!--and a look ahead with the Avatar movie

Happy New Year 2010!!

The "balls have dropped" (or the fireworks have gone up)--whatever way people celebrate the new year on January 1st, it's happened.  There was lots of celebrating (according to the media photos on television from around the world).

One of the special things about this New Years is that we have a blue moon--the second full moon in a month (the month of December).  This happens rarely and the next occurence at this time of year is projected for 2028.

People have already come forward with their prophecies of better times in 2010 for jobs, for the economy, and for many other areas.

I went to the Delnor Wellness Center this morning and, while there were fewer people than usual, many people were beginning their new year by doing something healthy--me, too, aqua pilates.

I've already needed to open new 2010 folders on my computer for eCommerce and for other activities and have set aside a new storage bin for 2010 receipts, along with putting up the 2010 calendars, all the traditional things needed for the first day of a new year.

An "old wives tale" I remember from childhood is to track the weather (highs, lows, clouds, sun, wind, etc) the first twelve days of the year--as indicators of what those months will be.  While the temperatures will not be exact, a cold day on the sixth of January could mean a cooler month in June.  Clouds and precipitation may also be good indicators except that July in my part of the world probably won't include any snow.

I saw the movie Avatar in 3D today.  It's an amazing movie, heralded as a breakthrough in film-making that sets the stage for whole new experiences.  The movie was amazing and reminded me of Star Wars, though it also has reminders of Medicine Man and Dances with Wolves.  George Lucas' companies were involved in Avatar, along with many more creative people.  I thoroughly enjoyed it and can only imagine what it would be like in 3D at an iMax movie theatre.

Many elements of the book reminded me of concepts I recently came across in a series of books by Robin Hobb,  Forest Mage, Shaman's Crossing, and Renegade's Magic.  The attitudes of the warriors toward the forest people, called specks due to the unique markings on their skin, is similar of the attitudes of the terrans toward the natives of Pandora.  The bonding of souls to the heart of the forest mother is also similar, especially in Renegade's Magic. 

The force in Star Wars was throughout the universe and the mother force behind the tree of souls in Avatar is seen to be exclusively of the planet Pandora.  Even so, the concepts capture the imagination.  

What is interesting about Avatar is that the movie taps into many historical themes in our world culture and, while taking the polarities to extremes to show the drama, much of what is contained in the movie shows "how things work today" in many parts of the world (though not all of the technology).  Even the technology depicted as fully functional in the movie has been heard of in our time.  It will be amazing to see what influence Avatar may have on film-making, technology development, and human progress over the next decade. 

Watching this movie was a great way to begin the new year.