Wayne Cox » Culture

Song for the Weekend: Ingrid Michaelson and Greg Laswell

Wayne Cox — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 18:53:30 +0000

Hope this brings a smile! May you love someone like this, and find love like this …

You see the light that I can’t see
You see the light in me

Jamie Arpin-Ricci’s Review of Avatar

Wayne Cox — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 01:10:47 +0000

I saw it. Liked it. Briefly talked about it with the guys at Taco Bell afterward. But that was pretty much it. I moved on.

The blockbuster film by James Cameron, Avatar has broken all sorts of box-office records. But for me, it was just … well, ok. Great computer-generated visuals – we saw it in 3D – and entertaining, but there was just something about it. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it, until ….

Jamie Arpin-Ricci nailed it for me in his recent review of the film: in discussing the over-the-top evil of the military/corporate bad guys, he writes, “it allows us the scapegoat of identifying ’sin’ in only extreme categories, thus freeing us from responsibility.”

So well put. Thanks for putting that into words. I much prefer a film with nuanced portrayals of good and evil – don’t make me come to your conclusions.

And Jamie warns against uncritically embracing the film and its message as mere “entertainment” when he writes, “Movies function as a deeply influential mythology in our culture, shaping the way we think and act.”

Check out Jamie’s full review here.

What about you? What did you think of Avatar?

January Month-In-Review: Missional Pastor Edges President Obama for Top Spot

Am I Addicted to Twitter?! The Oatmeal Poll

Wayne Cox — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 13:30:59 +0000

Created by Oatmeal

Leave a comment and share your level of addiction!

Looking Forward to PBS Frontline’s Series: Digital_Nation

Wayne Cox — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 13:30:19 +0000

This preview has me hooked! Will definitely be tuning in to this.

I think the Frontline series will be a critical look at our culture and I’m especially interested to watch in light of this question: how will we “do community” in an increasingly digital nation?

Christine Sine writes in anticipation of this series and what it will reveal about our changing world:

As we engage the challenges of the coming decade our place is not to criticize or try to deny the changes that are coming. Our task is to enable individuals and communities to fashion narratives that weave together divine and human stories into a single fabric.

Agreed.

Social Media: Are You More or Less Human?

Triple Evils, Interrelated

Wayne Cox — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 14:38:21 +0000

Communism forgets that life is individual. Capitalism forgets that life is social, and the kingdom of brotherhood is found neither in the thesis of communism nor the antithesis of capitalism but in a higher synthesis. It is found in a higher synthesis that combines the truths of both. Now, when I say question the whole society, it means ultimately coming to see that the problem of racism, the problem of exploitation, and the problem of war are all tied together. These are the triple evils that are interrelated.

~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

The Words of 2009

Wayne Cox — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 15:56:24 +0000

Single words, but they speak volumes. These are the words that encapsulate the past year.

New Oxford American Dictionary announced their word of the year, “unfriend.” Webster’s New World Dictionary went with “distracted driving.” Here’s my list of the quintessential words of 2009:

Bailout
Obama (multi-purpose word – proper noun, adjective, and even curse word for some!)
H1N1
Tweet
Facebook (as a verb – ya know, like, “Just Facebook me and we’ll talk about it.”)
Green
Healthcare
Cloud (as in computing)

What do you think? What word or words would you suggest as representative of the past year?

The Christian Sub-Culture’s Newest Product

Wayne Cox — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 00:39:21 +0000

Coming in 2010 to your neighborhood Christian trinket – er, “book” – store:

The NFL – Now That’s Culture!

Wired for War: Thoughts on a Robotic Revolution

Wayne Cox — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 17:08:00 +0000

Previous advancements in the human capacity to kill have dealt with the how – how the system, machine, technique can go faster, further, or bigger. The use of increasingly advanced robotic deals with the who – who is actually fighting our very human wars. So says Peter W. Singer in this thought-provoking video:

He asks some key questions: What does this do to the ethos of war? Does it make war easier?

I have two questions to add:

What do you think are the consequences of further de-personalizing war? Smart bombs fired from miles away are one thing; robots built with software that “makes decisions” is quite another, it seems to me.
What could we, as a species, accomplish if this much effort, creativity, problem-solving, and money were put behind a more constructive mission?

Thinking above all, in response to this video, about the response of the Christian community. What is the response of those that follow the Prince of Peace, to this development, unique to our time and culture?

Buechner: Thoughts on Principles

Song for the Weekend: The Be Good Tanyas

Wayne Cox — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 13:00:24 +0000

Last weekend, I encouraged you to be a friend with the Ray Lamontagne song, “Let It Be Me.” This weekend, with the help of The Be Good Tanyas, I want us to hear these words: Be authentic. Be vulnerable. Be … well, a Human Thing!

You’re so busy frontin’

Confusin’ courage and acting

Great lines! Cool song. Enjoy …

It seems to me that to follow Jesus means we must embrace our human-ness, our frailty; for it’s in being a “Human Thing” that we are strong, and the divine is most clearly seen! 2 Corinthians 12:9-10

My Email Manifesto, Or “How Email Will No Longer Rule My Life!”

Wayne Cox — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 12:30:05 +0000

This is probably a post best suited for a website dedicated to workplace management, GTD, and personal productivity, but I’m going to post it here as my response to the email culture that I’ve been living in for way too long.

Here’s the problem: The demands on time and attention are infinite. There seems to be no end to the amount people will ask of you. And yet, those two precious natural resources, time and attention, are finite. Merlin Mann talks about this, and his Original Inbox Zero Video is the inspiration for many of the changes I’m making.

I’m making some new commitments to myself regarding the email inbox. The changes are for the purpose of increasing my efficiency in time-management, a more disciplined, thoughtful approach to my days, and my sanity.

It’s my Email Manifesto, and it goes like this:

I will maintain an empty inbox. I will respect the sanctity of an empty inbox by getting the inbox count to zero at the close of every work day. A clean inbox leads to greater respect for newly received email.
I will do this by processing every individual email in one of four ways:
1. Delete/archive – in the Gmail age with such search capabilities and online storage, archiving is key.
2. Delegate - if it’s not something I can/should directly handle, I’ll forward it to the appropriate person.
3. Create a task – If it requires action that can’t be done at that specific moment, I’ll add it to the to-do list. I’m beginning to use Google Task list, but am on the lookout for any other application that makes the to-do list work better. Any suggestions?
4. Take immediate action – if this means typing a (short) reply, do it. If it means making a phone call, or setting up a calendar event, do it.
My email inbox will not serve as my “to do” list any longer.
I will check email only twice a day, around 10am and at 3pm.
I will turn off all email notifiers – no more dings while working! All “push” options on my mobile phone will be turned off – only manual email checking from the mobile device. I’ve become too de-sensitized to incoming mail. Maybe it’s important and requires immediate action, but those emails are few and they get lost and drowned out by the dozen less important emails that get the same notification “ding” on my desktop.
I will write 5 sentence replies – no longer. It’s well said here: http://five.sentenc.es/

Email is a just a medium, a tool for communication and productivity. It is not something that should control any part of my daily schedule.

So, there you have it: my (new and, assuredly, evolving) convictions on email!

What is your approach to email? Do you have emails that sit in your inbox for long periods of time? What’s the read and unread count of your inbox right now?! I’d love to have you share any tips on email simplification you use.