ll this talk about stolen art has reminded us here at Dissent of the importance of art at a college. Paintings, sculptures, and whatnot inspire students--and faculty--to seize the day, and the weekend too. Like in that stupid Robin Williams movie.
We've also been reminded of the time, back in 1999, when Raghu, then President of IVC, spent $1,200 on a set of nicely framed inspirational posters. They're really quite something.
Today, I walked over to the small conference room in A100 and photographed the posters. It was lovely seeing them again. I so love the sentiments they express.
This one's called "ATTITUDE":
According to the poster, "The currents that determine our dreams and shape our lives, flow from the attitudes we nurture every day."
OK, so the water is like the current (that determines our dreams), and the rocks are like the--um, they're like our attitudes. But the currents (the water) flow from our attitudes. So our attitudes are not just the rocks, but they're somewhere out of the picture where all this water is comin' from, right? See, when things are profound, you can't make sense of 'em nohow.
The next one is called "EXCELLENCE":
Underneath the bird, it says: "Excellence is the result of caring more than others think is wise; risking more than others think is safe; dreaming more than others think is practical and expecting more than others think is possible."
My sister does all this stuff, which is why she's always broke and she's always gotta borrow money from me. So, now that I think of it, that is kinda excellent in a way. Sure, I get it.
The next one concerns the "ESSENCE OF LEADERSHIP." We see that same bird again:
Says the poster, "A true leader has the confidence to stand alone, the courage to make tough decisions, and the compassion to listen to the needs of others. He does not set out to be a leader, but becomes one by the quality of his actions and the integrity of his intent. In the end, leaders are much like eagles...They don't flock, you find them one at a time."
Yeah, Raghu is kind of like an eagle I guess. There's only one of him, too.
This one concerns "CHANGE." It's got no bird:
We're told that "If you're not riding the wave of change.... you'll find yourself beneath it."
In other words, go with the flow, and, that way, you can help drown the fools who insist on swimmin' against it. Gotta be tough.
I noticed some posters behind a door of the small conference room. Inexplicably, someone chose not to display them.
This one concerns "RATTITUDE":
This next one is kinda odd, I guess:
But for the life of me I can't understand why they haven't displayed this one:
Some of these posters--the ones they display, anyway--remind me of Tony Orlando's unforgettable remark on the occasion of Bob Hope's seventy-fifth birthday. Said Tony,
"If you could put all the laughs that Bob Hope has gotten, one after another, they would stretch all the way
to the universe and fill up the black hole in space."I'm sorry, but that line always brings tears to my eyes. --CW
P.S.: Don't forget about Feb. 13!!!
13 comments:
Has anyone checked to see if Raghu brought his Touchy Feely Hallmark sensibility with him to the district, and plastered his walls with it?
I disagree that the A100 posters are either Hallmark or touchy-feely. To me, they have always been threateningly creepy. Take the wet black rock of “ATTITUDE,” for example. Those cobwebby plumes of water, that green shrubbery that could be tree-size, could be bush-size, and whatever, the ratio is disquieting. And the suggestion that this dark, misty monstrosity is a dream is, well, one of those ironic IVC suggestions. As for that bald eagle, do you see the frown on that guy’s brow?? And come on, Raghu might have ordered these regime-type posters hung, but exactly who is the one who dreamed more than others thought was practical? Raghu the wannabe is no visionary. And “CHANGE” is just a plain old threat. Wait. Might “CHANGE” be the precursor to the surf logo?
Leafmold, you are correct, mam (or sir?). There is something dark and threatening about these posters. Still, Raghu does have a weakness for touchy feely sentiments, thought they aren't really in evidence here. He's like a cross between Stuart Smalley and Gordon Gecko, only without the talent.
I agree with the moldy one - "Change" is a threat.
Shudder, shudder.
It's all so cheesy though - embarrassing to meet in there, say, with potential job cnadidates and see their eyes snag on the posters and watch them as they supress giggles.
Here's the threat: "you'll find yourself beneath it."
Yep.
I'll refrain from making the obvious joke about the missionary position.
C'mon everybody. Raghu's posters are no more than expressions of familiar pseudo-profundities among the business crowd. They are no more (or less) than that.
The way i read the "wave" is that it will take our "entrepeneurial" hero down, if he/she doesn't watch out. The author of such malarkey isn't thinking about "workers" or people at all. He's thinking of shallow strivers like Raghu.
Of course, the whole business culture cares nothing for the little guy, but that's an entirely different point.
One thing's for sure, Raghu's got a touchy feely side (not sure what "Hallmark" means these days).
Remember that awful inspirational crap he used to sling years ago--the stuff about giving yourself a pat on the back, writing yourself grateful and appreciative notes, and the like? Strictly Stuart Smally.
And let's not forget his endorsement of the execrable "Who I am Makes a Difference" campaign.
The Modly individual is surely right, though, that Raghu is no innovator. He's as dull as dirt. He may strive to be the entrepreneurial hero, but he's just another opportunist without a single new idea in his head.
Tie a yellow ribbon 'round the old oak tree/if you still love me...
Okay, I am sufficiently creeped out by the repeated inclusion of "touchy-feely" in the same posts with "Raghu." But I am also enlightened by the explanation of the business world. Thanks.
By that "stupid Robin Williams movie," I meant Dead Poets Society, not Seize the Day (1989), which, for all that I know, is wonderful. You'll recall that "carpe diem" figures prominently in the former flick. Likely it also figures into the Bellow story, but I've neither read the book nor seen the movie.
Sometimes the feeling that Williams has played too many roles like the earnest one in DPS or, incidentally, that his motor mouth shtick is tiresome has too much momentum in my thinking, and I end up hating movies just because Williams appears (like that) in them.
I generally like Peter Weir's early work, but I think I was less impressed with DPS. But maybe I'm remembering it wrong. Was it good, despite its showcasing that super-sensitive kind of RW performance?
Am I too cynical? Too critical? Probably. I'll try to be more pleasant in future. The weather's fine, isn't it?
I like my classes this semester.
I'm glad I have such great friends.
It's great that John Stuart is hosting the Oscar awards (though I never watch the latter broadcast).
Oops, that last part was negative. But those award shows are STUPID, aren't they?
D'oh!!!!
re: the business world and education:
We have an autocracy which runs this university. It's managed. We asked the following: if President Kerr actually tried to get something more liberal out of the Regents in his telephone conversation, why didn't he make some public statement to that effect? And the answer we received -- from a well-meaning liberal -- was the following: He said, "Would you ever imagine the manager of a firm making a statement publicly in opposition to his board of directors?" That's the answer! Now, I ask you to consider: if this is a firm, and if the Board of Regents are the board of directors, and if President Kerr in fact is the manager, then I'll tell you something: the faculty are a bunch of employees, and we're the raw material! But we're a bunch of raw material[s] that don't mean to have any process upon us, don't mean to be made into any product, don't mean to end up being bought by some clients of the University, be they the government, be they industry, be they organized labor, be they anyone! We're human beings!
There is a time when the operation of the machine becomes so odious, makes you so sick at heart, that you can't take part; you can't even passively take part, and you've got to put your bodies upon the gears and upon the wheels, upon the levers, upon all the apparatus, and you've got to make it stop. And you've got to indicate to the people who run it, to the people who own it, that unless you're free, the machine will be prevented from working at all!
hmmm - IVC is not as bad as Berkeley in the 60s, Mario. Come on.
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