Unity is a Process

This kind of quote reminds me why I’m a big fan of Mary Parker-Follett. [Specifically this.]

‘The most important thing to remember about unity is — that there is no such thing.  There is only unifying.  You cannot get unity and expect it to last a day–or five minutes.’

Quoted by Rosa Zubizarreta quoting Albie Davis, quoting Follett on the MPF-Ning Network.

Turned Out Nice Again

Scary piece by Lisa Jardine about a hero of mine (and hers) where it seems she may have lost her admiration for her father Jacob Bronowski. I have long had the “I beseech you …” Auschwitz scene burned into my psyche, that it was always the punctuation to the grand sweep of science he had presented; That whatever his secret WWII military career, the positive progress of science has always come with that joined-up-moral caveat. And of course he was a man of knowledge well beyond science too. Good to see the Parkinson interview, with Lisa’s commentary on his health at the time. He died so soon afterwards. And good to see any doubts restored in Lisa’s mind too. Phew.

Animal Kingdom

Saw this Sundance Grand Jury winner on the flight back from Brisbane / Singapore.

Really excellent study in evil. Slow, depressing, grim, grey-brown mood builds inexorably towards unavoidable family conflicts of loyalty, with many a predictably unexpected twist. Some good out-of-sequence events arriving at & leaving the courtroom climax add to the temporary confusion. How bad can this get ? Even when the fat lady sings, somehow it doesn’t quite seem over …

(Be interesting to see on a big screen. The claustrophobic tight shots seemed so reminiscent of gritty TV drama.)