Millennial Leaders - Bea Fields, Scott Wilder, Jim Bunch & Rob Newbold

MILLENNIAL LEADERS

A great book I read last year in 2008. I was very pleased to directly receive the book by one of its authors, my online friend Bea Fields, completed with an autograph of her.

The very modern and updated book gives a deep insight in the peculiar way the so called Generation Y approches work and life.

The book, very smooth to be read, encompasses a number of interviews with experts in this field, as well as precious "Point of reflections" at the end of each chapter.

From Chapter I "The Roots of a Generation" :

"Echo Boomers. The Connecteds. Generation Y. Millennials.

This isn't a list of rock bands, but the numerous names attacched to the generation of young people who were born after 1980. And there are 74 million of them in the United States right now, a population that will soon outnumber the Baby Boomers who have dominated the workplace for two generations."

"Here is a generation of young adults who have never been without the Internet or cell phones.The Soviet Union existed only in their history books. To "Google" is a verb and text messaging is their email."

"Gen Y, as a Group, has tremendous influence in our culture, with a powerful impact on the workplace. On teh job, they are interacting with members of others generations - Gen X, baby Boomers, and the Silent Geneartions. Each generation brings its own perspective and set of tratis, but how do you bridge the ever-widening gap between so many interconnecting age groups ?"

"…..The reliance on the Internet and text messaging to communicate within their socila network has reduced many social and interpersonal skills. The have great expectations and "I want it now" impatience that confounds their managers and employers."

"As our stash of fascinating insight continued to grow, we saw the need to share it with others who have been unable to find a way to live, work, and play with these unique youth. In this book, we offer perspective on the upbringing that has created the Gen Y mindset by letting the experts speak for thenselves. We deliver their knowledge and advice to help you grasp the core essence and unrealized potential of this segment of the population".

"This book is about busting myths, not people. Gen Y has been accused of being self-serving, lazy and disrespectful. We'll explore the realities of these myths, revealing a generation of young people who are dedicated to volunteerism and making a positive change in their world. We'll show you that these highly self-sufficient individuals welcome leadership and respect the value of older mentors."

http://millennialleaders.com/

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Il Barbiere di Stalin

Il Barbiere di Stalin di Paolo D'Anselmi

Come il barbiere di Stalin, che non si sentiva responsabile dei crimini del dittatore, ciascuno si sente pulito e pensa sinceramente di non aver nulla a che fare con misfatti e inadempienze che constata ogni giorno: eppure tutti "flirtano" con il male. Qualche volta lo servono. Pensionati e lavoratori, politici e cittadini, dipendenti pubblici e privati, lavoratori dipendenti e popolo delle partite Iva sono l'un contro l'altro armati, convinti che altri siano i responsabili. D'Anselmi invece se la prende con le personali responsabilità di ciascuno. Il messaggio finisce per essere tuttavia ottimistico e non catastrofista perché riconsegna a ciascuno la chiave della propria felicità. Puntando l'attenzione sul lavoro delle imprese e delle istituzioni l'autore svolge un'analisi puntuale dei diversi settori dell'economia e del sociale, crea un database sterminato di scempiaggini che si perpetrano e di cose buone che si fanno, e presenta così uno spaccato della nazione e l'agenda per una cultura dell'attuazione.

SCHEDA LIBRO EGEA

Download Index

http://www.ilbarbieredistalin.it/

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Shunga. Arte ed Eros nel Giappone del periodo Edo

Shunga. Arte ed Eros nel Giappone del periodo Edo

On the 20th of October was inaugurated, and the 21st of October officially opened to the public, the exhibition “Shunga, Arte ed Eros in Giappone nel periodo Edo” hosted at Palazzo Reale, in Milan. Saturday the 21st of November Palazzo Reale has celebrated the one million visitors to the exhibitions by offering a free entrance to the public.


Shunga (春画) is a Japanese term for erotic art. Most shunga are a type of ukiyo-e, usually executed in woodblock print format. While rare, there are extant erotic painted handscrolls which predate the Ukiyo-e movement. Translated literally, the Japanese word shunga means picture of spring; "spring" is a common euphemism for sex. The ukiyo-e movement as a whole sought to express an idealisation of contemporary urban life. Following the aesthetics of everyday life, Edo period shunga sought to express the sexual mores of the chonin in the widest variety of forms possible, and therefore depicted heterosexual and homosexual, old and young alike, as well as a wide range of fetishes. In the Edo period it was enjoyed by rich and poor, men and women, and despite being out of favour with the shogunate, carried very little stigma. Almost all ukiyo-e artists made shunga at some point in their careers, and it did not detract from their prestige as artists. Classifying shunga as a kind of medieval pornography can be misleading in this respect.

Extracted from Wikipedia.


For more info : Comune Milano

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Slow Economy by Federico Rampini

After the last dramatic economic crisis the world economy won’t be anymore as we were used to see it before; what’s for sure, we’ll continue being assisting to a further development of eastern economies and to a slower rate of growth of western economies; yet, as I often heard it said, we don’t know yet how exactly the structure, the system of the economy will be after being so dramatically affected.

For sure, western people will have to adapt to a different, more frugal habits, abandoning the consumerism way of life.

Rampini cited the effective example of US families and consumers whose attics are full of goods that they’ll never use, to give an idea of the consequences and waste caused by some of the worst aspects of pre-crisis economic system.

In a world that risks to be led by a so called G2 (USA and China), Rampini rightly stressed the necessity of a major role to be played as an actor in the global scenario by Europe. As known, currently Europe as an institution is not living a bright time, yet Europe should be able, must and should be advisable to get a major role in the global policy.

The book, whose title rightly remind us, according to the same author, the Slow Food, mediterranean philosophy and all the positive concepts accompanying it, not least a healthier way of life against obesity, talk also about the studies presented by Sarkozy and led by two renowned Nobel prices: Joseph Stiglitz and Amartya Sen about the possibility of susbstituing the old way to measure GDP, with a new one, taking into account differents and more well-advised that make more sense, since it's clear that western economies are changed and probably won't never regain the same pace and rate of growht as before this last great global crisis. Rampini also cited about a provocative proposal made in Buthan about substituing the GDP with a "Gross National Happiness" Index.

Overpaid managers and their benefits paradoxically increase the GDP measure, while on the other hand the precious work made by some women, such as in the field of the care for persons, is neglected as a GDP input: paradoxical example brought by Rampini to show the necessity to change the old GDP measurement.

Severe recession hit the Globe due to bad Finance, the economy is slowly recovering, yet it really seems that the lesson from the crisis has not be learned so well, since Finance still seems to show unfair behaviours and seems having not much accordingly changed.

The book in many respects reminds me about the thesis and arguments sustained in the great book by the great scientist Fritjof Capra that I recently read: “The turning point” : the importance of the environment and, more generally, of eco-related topics, of sustainable growth, the necessity of a greater appreciation of works traditionally made by women, such as those in the field of care for persons, the necessity to change the way we measure the wealth produced by a nation, the philosophy, the tradition and habits of eastern people as models, as the author himself cited in his examples. All very important topics tackled by Capra in his book of the first years of the eighties; yet, as Rampini himself reminds us, they are nowadays than ever still topical issues. Exactly in the same place where, in a recent past, Capra introduced his last work “The Science of Leonardo”, Rampini has been stressing those vital issues for our Globe.

As the cosmopolitan Rampini said, “Slow Economy represents a distillate of lessons learnt from his voyages, observations and experiences in the Far east.

The books talks about the necessity to pursue Quality in the midst of a slow rate growth world, achieving a sustainable growth.

Lessons learnt from the East: humbleness, modesty, frugality, eastern habits and way of life.

A last example cited by the Author, hinting at his high quality cashmere sweater, is the textile industry: in particular the cashmere clothing made in the Biella textile district.

As known, Chinese economy has repeatedly tried, in a vain attempt, to replicate the quality of our Italian domestic textiles, by building factories perfectly identical to the Italian ones, adopting the same identical processes. Yet, they so far have never achieved to made a cashmere quality product comparable with the Italian ones.

Where does the secret of this lie ? The answer is in the purity of water flowing in the streams where the factories of Biella draw water in order to be used in their production processes for making quality cashmere clothing. The polluted Chinese rivers does not allow to achieve such a high quality standard that the factories of Biella have been able to achieve. (You could find an excerpt from the book (in Italian), dealing with this case, in http://garda2o.wordpress.com ) Of course this is also an example to stress the importance of environmental issues and of sustainable growth, an aspect so crucial and strategic even for the industrial sector.

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Steve McCurry 1980-2009 Photo Exhibition in Milan, Palazzo della Ragione

Steve McCurry 1980-2009 Photo Exhibition in Milan, Palazzo della Ragione

In its evocative frame, Palazzo della Ragione in Milan hosts, from the 11th of November 2009 to the 31st of January 2010, an exceptional collection of more than two hundreds snapshots showing faces, tragedies lights and landscapes from far countries, particularly the poor ones in the South and East of the world. Steve McCurry is a maestro of photojournalism and won twice the World Press Photo Awards.

Evocative, touching, dramatic and magic images will strike you and you'll never forget them.

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Edward Hopper Exhibition

Promossa dal Comune di Milano in collaborazione con la Fondazione Roma (nella capitale la mostra sarà ospitata dal 16 febbraio al 13 giugno 2010), Artemisia, il Whitney Museum of American Art e la Fondation Hermitage di Losanna, l’esposizione rende omaggio all’intera carriera di Edward Hopper (1882-1967), il più popolare artista americano del XX secolo con un’antologica che comprende più di 160 opere.

“La mostra di Edward Hopper – ha detto il Sindaco Letizia Moratti - si inserisce all’interno del filone Milano-Mondo, che detta la linea della politica culturale della città e che quest’anno si concentra sull’arte di due importanti Paesi: Stati Uniti e Giappone. Hopper è un pittore vicino alla gente che racconta un’America vera, slegata dagli stereotipi, ed estremamente affascinante”.

Il Sindaco Moratti ha partecipato questa mattina alla conferenza stampa di anticipazione della mostra con il presidente della Fondazione Roma, Emmanuele F.M. Emanuele, l’assessore alla Cultura Massimiliano Finazzer Flory e Jole Siena, amministratore delegato di Arthemisia.

“Con Edward Hopper diamo inizio a un’importante e nuova collaborazione tra il Comune di Milano e la Fondazione Roma che ha condiviso con noi il progetto – ha continuato il Sindaco –. Un cammino nato dal comune amore per la cultura, per l’arte e per il gusto della bellezza e attraverso il quale vogliamo sfatare un luogo comune: tra Milano e Roma non vi è alcuna rivalità e con questa collaborazione tra il Comune di Milano e la Fondazione Roma vogliamo dimostrare che le due città sono più unite che mai.”

“L’immediatezza meneghina e la disponibilità del Comune di Milano ci hanno permesso di diventare coprotagonisti di una grande avventura artistica: portare in Italia la più grande mostra dedicata ad Edward Hopper”, ha sottolineato Emmanuele F.M. Emanuele.

“Milano e Roma rappresentano oggi il sistema Italia e la capacità di attivare nuovi meccanismi di collaborazione – ha evidenziato l’assessore Finazzer Flory –. L’ambiente competitivo delle mostre ci chiede di metterci insieme e di dare spazio alla creatività che trasforma i problemi in opportunità. Accanto alla mostra di Hopper, saranno numerose le attività culturali e didattiche che animeranno la città con un’attenzione particolare alle famiglie per le quali, all’ingresso, verrà creata una family line: niente coda e precedenza assoluta ai bambini”.

“Uno degli obiettivi dell’amministrazione è rendere il pubblico protagonista dell’arte - ha sottolineato poi il Sindaco - ma con la mostra di Edward Hopper abbiamo fatto di più”.

Da questa mattina, infatti, sino alle ore 21, in piazzetta Reale è stato allestito un set fotografico dove i milanesi, i turisti, i visitatori delle mostre di Palazzo Reale potranno farsi fotografare. Tra i tanti scatti ne verranno selezionati cinque che saranno utilizzati per la campagna di promozione della mostra. “Il mio artista preferito? Edward Hopper!” si leggerà sui manifesti che, da luglio a settembre, verranno appesi in città. La campagna sarà ripetuta a Roma e tutte le foto saranno esposte.

Dopo Hopper, la collaborazione tra Roma e Milano proseguirà con un grande progetto che vedrà protagonista Giò Marconi.

Fonte: Comune Milano

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Scapigliatura - Un pandemonio per cambiare l'arte

Sabato 21 Novembre Palazzo Reale celebra il milione di visitatori con ingressi omaggio alle mostre

Duecentocinquanta opere tra dipinti, sculture, grafiche e incisioni celebrano il movimento che, dalla seconda metà dell’Ottocento fino ad inizio Novecento, seppe coinvolgere tutte le arti in un rinnovamento e traghettò la società italiana verso un cambiamento ideologico e di costume.

Il percorso espositivo, organizzato in sezioni cronologiche, prende il via dagli anni ‘60 dell'Ottocento e si chiude con gli anni '90. In mostra i lavori di trentotto artisti, da Giovanni Carnovali detto Il Piccio a Daniele Ranzoni, da Tranquillo Cremona a Giuseppe Grandi - di cui sono esposti per la prima volta i gessi restaurati che diedero vita al monumento alla Cinque Giornate - da Gaetano Previati a Medardo Rosso, a Pietro Troubetzkoy, provenienti da raccolte pubbliche e private italiane e da prestigiose istituzioni straniere quali il Groninger Museum di Groningen, in Olanda, e il Szépművészeti Múzeum di Budapest, coprendo un arco temporale di quattro decenni in cui il movimento si è evoluto.

Precursore delle avanguardie come Divisionismo e Futurismo, la Scapigliatura fu un’esperienza che coinvolse tutte le arti verso un capovolgimento ideologico, artistico e di costume nella Milano postunitaria, laboriosamente avviata al ruolo di capitale morale, fra borghesia in ascesa, incombenti conflitti sociali e rinnovata coscienza individuale. Scultori, scrittori, musicisti o gente di teatro, personalità libere, unite dall’insofferenza e dal medesimo disagio di vivere che, nella volontà di scandalizzare i benpensanti, portarono a compimento una (con)fusione tra vita e arte.

La mostra, sotto l’Alto Patronato del Presidente della Repubblica Italiana, promossa dal Comune di Milano – Cultura, prodotta e organizzata da Palazzo Reale e Artematica, col patrocinio del Ministero per i Beni e le Attività Culturali, della Regione Lombardia e della Provincia di Milano, è curata da Annie-Paule Quinsac e da un comitato scientifico composto da Giuseppe Farinelli per la letteratura, Paolo Repetto per la musica, Gaetano Oliva per il teatro, Anna Finocchi per i rapporti con l’architettura.

Fonte : Comune Milano

Science for peace - First World Conference on Science for peace

Yesterday, Saturday the 21st of November, came to an end the first World Conference on Science for peace, held in Bocconi University and organized by Fondazione Umberto Veronesi, founded by professor Umberto Veronesi.

The two days Conference aimed at proposing concrete answers for peace to be immediately operating. The meeting saw the contributions of Nobel prizes, scientists from all the disciplines and famous characters of international culture.

The project, conceived by Umberto Veronesi has as its goal the dawn of a great movement for Peace, led by the world of science.

The two main topics tackled in the two days meeting :
- Cultural basis for the developement of a world of peace.
- Perspectives for an effective conflict prevention.