BROAD CAST 28 MARCH 2007: THERMAL ZOO IMAGES, FEMALE POETS ON RACISM, BRING YOUR DAUGHTER TO WAR DAY, AND STAR WARS SYNOPSIS

(Tarantula body heat distribution.)

The images I'm using to illustrate this edition of Broad Cast all come from an article by Roger Highfield in the Telegraph.UK online about the use of thermal cameras at the London Zoo to learn how various animals conserve or expel body heat by use of fur, feathers, and other anatomical means. All of the photos are by Steve Lowe using a civiliar FLIR camera (Forward Looking InfraRed). Warmer areas are white, yellow or red; cooler are blue and green.


(Hot-headed penguin, flamingo cutting off blood to one leg to conserve energy, pelican with glowing feet.)

John Lundberg writes a column at Huffington post on poetry, and this week he posted a column entitled Poems about Racism where he discussed, and included examples of, the work of four poets. His choice as examplar poets included Langston Hughes, Claude McKay, Michael S. Harper, and Robert Lowell. I was astonished at the all-male bias and the idiotic choice of Robert Lowell, so I posted a comment, which I copy in for you all below:

"I appreciate you making this effort. As a poet, I know the art has been essential to meaningful social change in every instance.

But during this charged time, with race and gender being pitted against each other, could you really only think of MALE poets for examples of works on racism?

Without pausing for breath, I rattled off Gwendolyn Brooks, Lucille Clifton, Ntozake Shange, Maya Angelou, June Jordan, Audre Lorde, and Sonia Sanchez. Brooks won the first Pulitzer ever given to an African-American. The other women on this list have won Guggenheims, Obies, Pushcarts, National Book Awards, also been nominated for a Pulitzer, been poet laureates for several states, founded schools/presses/movements, were chosen to read at Presidential inaugurations -- often while keeping households and raising children. They are far more accomplished than Harper and far more appropriate than the tepid Robert Lowell on the topic of racism.

Hughes and McKay, yes, they are vibrant examples (although I wish you'd mentioned their radical politics/communism and being gay or bi, influences which affected their writing often as much as race). But the other 50% should have come from the other half of this country's population. No excuse."

And, to illustrate my point about what he overlooked in his boys-only club, here's a stunning tour-de-force by Gwendolyn Brooks:

THE POOL PLAYERS.
SEVEN AT THE GOLDEN SHOVEL.

We real cool. We
Left school. We

Lurk late. We
Strike straight. We

Sing sin. We
Thin gin. We

Jazz June. We
Die soon.

(Zebra stripes have different temperatures, butterfly wings show veins of warmth through delicate tissue.)

This newsclip from the Onion News Network came to my attention via Broadsheet. I found it hilarious. But it's definitely not something for kids to see. I'm including it below: Army Holds Annual 'Bring Your Daughter To War' Day


Army Holds Annual 'Bring Your Daughter To War' Day

And, lastly, another video to share (thx to Austin Kleon for the tip), stars a three-year-old girl synopsizing the plot of Star Wars.