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19th Birthday Post My Favourite Films About Growing Up That I Watched While Growing Up

This is a really dark birthday candle picture but I think its pretty and theres no 19th birthday photos anyway

Hi, I know, two posts in one week...damn the world must be headed for an apocalypse or something. Rather, it is my 19th birthday tomorrow. Which is interesting because I feel absolutely no excitement for this new age because it doesnt really mean anything. It is like being 17 - that awkward gap between sweet 16 and the big 18. So when it came time for me to think about doing a birthday post, I really didnt have anything to draw on because theres no such thing as R19 movies here (although there probably would be, considering that New Zealands rating system is just ridiculous) and Ive already "grown up" since I have to pay full adult price for everything now.

Seriously, it sucks having to draw my attention away from the kids menu at restaurants because Im an adult so I have to get steak.

In my thinking, though, I came to the realisation that even though 19 isnt a particularly special milestone age, this is the first birthday in my "new life", you could say. Gone are the days of growing up in a small town, since now Ive lived in Christchurch for over six months and passed my first semester of university. I no longer have to go grocery shopping with mum but I can buy chocolate whenever I want which is honestly the best part of growing up. Oh, and did I mention that I have a cinema five minutes bus ride away, with three others within a half an hour radius? If thats not cool, then I dont know what is.

In a way, 19 is a pretty important age to be. Whereas 18 is the age where you get slapped with the label "grown up", whether youre ready or not, by the time youre 19 youve done a spectacular amount of growing up. Well, I guess thats just how I feel now since a lot has changed since I turned 18 (I say this every year, but I could probably say now that just about every aspect of my life is so different from what it was last year). In celebration of that fact, heres a whole lot of films that taught me a bit about growing up while I was growing up. Dont expect John Hughes films (dont get me wrong, they had their influence), but more a bunch of films that came out at vital times in my life and gave me a bit of perspective. And yeah, things get mushy.


An Education - Earlier this year I outlined my intense love for this film, mainly because it shows the struggles of living up to unreasonable expectations in every way possible. Ive always found myself to be a little bit of a Jenny, trying my best to do things that I dont really care for, working hard but hoping that therell be a little bit of fun around the corner, and maybe being a little too pretentious for my age (now Im grown up and living with a whole lot of engineers, Im just known as the weird Arts degree student). Just as the title suggests, it has always been a film that I go back to get an education, whether it be about getting a "real" education or an education from "the university of life".




500 Days of Summer - Just because it gives you a lot of perspective on idealising and relying on other people to make you happy. And relationship stuff. And that expectations/reality scene still hurts me to this very day. Also, it spurred my five year long crush on Joseph Gordon-Levitt who is one of my favourite human beings on the planet and who inadvertently taught me how to be a better person. So I guess that counts as growing up also, doesnt it?


Cemetery Junction - This is an extremely underrated and underseen film, but one Ive held dear to my heart since I first gave it a blind watch in late 2010. Most of the reason why I connected with it so well (and pretty much whoever else I showed it to) was the fact that I lived in a place very similar to Cemetery Junction, where people very comfortably exist and dont really know whats going on outside of the town. Its something that Ive always hated and found most gratifying when I got out of Dannevirke, because the idea of making do with what little is there and existing is not one that Ive ever really enjoyed. Yet, the strange thing is that the people I grew up with became the new generation of people who could help Dannevirke be a better place, but we all left because we were so over it. And thats what Cemetery Junction is effectively about - those who outgrow their surroundings and what theyve always done, vs those who are far too comfortable with it. Of course, this is a film by Stephen Merchant and Ricky Gervais so theres a bit of off-humour in there, but this film deserves a lot more credit than it ever got.


Young Adult - This film isnt so much about growing up as it is about those who never grow up. Even though it never sets foot in a high school, it is just as much about high school as something like, say, Mean Girls. Mavis Gary may be somewhat successful, but everything she is about is all about who she was in high school. And that kind of fascinates me, since high school was generally a pretty okay time for me but you cant really apply any of the social things you learned at high school to real life. Basically - I dont wanna turn out like Mavis Gary. But shes a fascinating character nonetheless.


Before Sunrise/Before Sunset/Before Midnight - Basically because this film has given me a lot of conversations which I hope to have in the future. It isnt really about growing up, but more about living, and it is beautiful.


The Perks of Being a Wallflower - Obviously this was going to make the list. The Perks of Being a Wallflower was my go to movie last year. Through all of the good times and the tough times, it was always there. It was kind of a perfect film to have around when I was doing my final year of high school since most of it was about those final days (even if it was through the eyes of a junior) and those moments that make you alive as a teenager. Even at the risk of sounding like a little oversaturated Tumblr kid, the teenage years are the time to feel infinite. I kind of miss that feeling already.


The Spectacular Now - Just as The Perks of Being a Wallflower was there for my final high school year, The Spectacular Now came into my life right at the very end. It was just one of those movies that came along at a perfect time. As Ive said before, I am Aimee and that scares me a lot but it has comforted me a little bit through some trying times. Thats the real beauty of film in general - when you find a movie that you really connect with, theyre the best at giving you advice on life because someone is actually thinking like you. Plus, Im not gonna lie, but the final days of high school are actually pretty terrifying when youre not entirely sure of what you wanna do and you just wanna live in the "now". Even though pretty much everything is based on how well you do as a teenager, it is the time when you wanna live in the "now". The Spectacular Now is a pretty sad deconstruction of that, but itll probably be the film I go back to in order to live these formative years.


Boyhood - I realise that I only just saw this last week, but the bottom line is: this film is actually like watching my childhood unfold because the course of the film runs parallel to the time which I grew up in. Also, I love this film a lot. Thats really all I can say.

What were the films that told you about growing up? Any thoughts on being 19?

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10 Amazing Facts About Magnetism

Magnets are not just pieces of metal that attract each other. There is a whole science behind them. In fact, magnetism is one of the most powerful forces in the universe, gravity being the weakest. Some scholars believe magnetism and gravity are somewhat related and there is evidence that proves this. However mass does not affect magnetism which disproves this theory. 

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4 Lessons Photography has taught me about Learning

If you follow me on the web, then you perhaps know that Im big on photography. I absolutely love taking pictures - my Flickr stream with about 13000+ pictures will tell you just that. Im no pro, but something makes me feel Ive gotten better with time. As I reflect on the last 10 years of having owned cameras, I think Ive some interesting insights on how adults learn. In todays post I want to share some of those thoughts with you and Id love to hear how you feel about what Im writing.

Learning is effective when its autonomous and purposeful

When I got my first digital camera I wasnt fussed about technique. I was just keen to take pictures. I think I had a 256 MB card for my camera and it was an absolute luxury for me. All I wanted to do was capture every moment of my life. You need to know something about me. I didnt grow up with many of the gadgets that kids my age in the west were exposed to. So I didnt have a computer or video games. I have some photographs of my life prior to getting a camera, but the frank truth is that we were always constrained by the 36 pictures on the film roll. The ability to take pictures and see them instantly was gratification enough for me. Gradually, I got interested in photography as an art and only over the last few years have I gotten over the desire to snapshot my life. Instead, I want to capture vivid moments that tell stories of their own. I havent yet been to a photography course. I havent let anyone dictate how I should shoot. As my purpose and subjects have changed, I have learned and my approach has evolved. I think this tells me something. It has taken me 10 years to learn what I know about photography, which frankly is precious little. On the other hand, someone else with a completely different purpose may have learned much quicker. I dont feel that Im stupid because I took 10 years - I didnt need to. I enjoy the autonomy with which I learned. My learning has served my purpose and thats all that matters.

Try Again. Fail again. Fail better.

Our educational systems are built around the premise of promoting success and success alone. I dont think theres anything wrong with celebrating success, but we cant forget that failure is a stepping stone to success. I love shooting wildlife. Unlike many other subjects, filming wildlife is a very unforgiving experience. I can safely say Ive had more failures than success filming wildlife and especially fast moving birds. A few days back I went to the lake near my house to try and follow the resident pied kingfishers. This is a curious bird and to watch it fish can provide hours of entertainment. It was no easy task filming these little geniuses given how skittish they can be. I failed at least four times before getting some satisfactory pictures on the fifth attempt. Failure was heartbreaking I must say, but the safety of knowing I have another chance gave me confidence. Each time I failed, I learned a little more. When I finally got the shot I wanted I was able to repeat my technique several times over. As you design learning experiences, how are you building in the safety to learn from failure?

Constraints make for great learning

When I bought my first camera, a simple point and shoot Yashica film device, Id complained heavily about the lack of zoom. That complaint carried on as I graduated to better, more expensive cameras and super-zoomers. What I failed to appreciate was that every camera has a built in zoom - our two feet! Ever since, Ive moved onto better equipment and longer lenses, but I must say my favourite lens today is a the 50mm prime that I own. Its a simple piece of equipment. It cant zoom, it has no image stabilization. That makes for great learning on how to get close to my subjects and how to keep my hand steady. In a similar manner I have learnt from the constraint of having to shoot vivid images through a single frame of a prosumer camera. Cameras dont see what our eyes see - theres way too much contrast to capture. This has led me to explore techniques such as high-dynamic-range (HDR photography) - the picture above is an example. I love placing meaningful constraints in the learning programs I design. For example at ThoughtWorks University I like to place the constraint of learning while on the job of delivering software to a client. It helps the new consultants to learn how to learn and gain useful experience on the side.

Theres no match to social media  and mobile platforms as learning tools

One of the things Ive learned from photography is that its extremely gratifying to get feedback from your friends, skilled or not. I often put up my photographs on Flickr and sometimes on Facebook. When people favourite my images or comment favourably on them I know that I must be doing something right. It motivates me to do more. Social media has been a big influence on my learning journey too. Twitter, Google Reader, Facebook and Flickr put together have become an integral part of my photography learning journey. The byte sized pieces of inspiration I get every day are just the right size to help me learn on a daily basis. Add to that inspiring mobile apps like Life and Guardian Eyewitness  help me analyse great professional photography. As Brent Schlenker writes on his blog, mobile apps and new media are removing the middlemen from the learning experience. I learn from the best today by following their blogs. Trey Ratcliffes blog is far more up-to-date than his book. Thats an example of how powerful the social media learning experience can be. The era of having to go to school is past. School comes to me - every day and at my own pace.

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Learning is an iterative, experiential process. We however seemed to have based corporate learning around a dated model of education which lacked autonomy, had little social structure and discouraged failure. I cant say my experience with photography is representative of all kinds of learning. I do think that there is something for us to think about as we analyse experiences such as these. Id love to hear how you feel about my musings today. I apologise my bad back has stopped me from being regular with my blog posts. As I grapple with this situation, I hope you continue to visit this blog as and when I post. Ill do my best to maintain a regular schedule as well. Hope you enjoyed todays post.

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35 soul crushing facts about American income inequality

Here are 35 soul-crushing facts about American income inequality.  For example, the money given out in Wall Street bonuses last year was twice the amount all minimum-wage workers earned combined.
http://www.salon.com/2015/07/15/35_soul_crushing_facts_about_american_income_inequality_partner/

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5 Things Ive learnt about Training and Presenting from Disney

The last week has been absolutely incredible. The Agile 2010 conference seemed to be heaps bigger and better than last years conference and that seems to be a continuing trend. I was able to deliver a solo workshop on "Making Feedback work in Your Teams", to a packed house. More on that later, but the best feedback comment I got was, "I could listen to Sumeet all day!". Well, whoever wrote that, thank you! Im sure if you do spend a day listening to me, youll quickly realise how awful I can sometimes be. I spent a significant amount of time chatting with Martin Fowler - which may seem surprising, given Martins a fellow ThoughtWorker, but then hes been busy writing his book, so we havent seen him in India much recently. And I had Esther Derby walk up to me at the end of my talk and call me her ally, which was particularly heartening - thanks Esther for being a valuable participant in my workshop! Ill be particularly delighted if I could someday join forces with Esther and deliver a joint workshop on feedback in Agile teams.

But todays blogpost isnt about the conference and Agile. Today I want to share with you one of the most magical experiences in my life and what Ive taken away from it as a learning and development professional. So, some context - the conference was supposed to happen in Nashville, Tennessee. Unfortunately Nashville was hit by one of the biggest floods in many years and that made us move the conference venue to the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Resort. At first I was a bit disappointed - Im not one for amusement parks and in fact, I passed up my first opportunity to be at a Disney World in Hong Kong because I dont really care for the rides. "Just another amusement park.", I thought. Then again, I dont like sitting in a hotel when Im in a new place and if I was going to be in Orlando, I had to go to Disney World if only for the record. Having spent time at the four major Disney World parks, I now have a completely changed opinion. In that itself, Ive learnt a lesson to never judge a book by its cover. The magic of Disney World is something for you to see to believe. If you dont like amusement parks, my words will have little effect on you, but I know that if you do chance upon this amazing place, youll understand why Disney World is such a popular destination. Each day that I visited the place, I felt a strange heart warming happiness - unlike anything Ive ever felt before. I felt like a child once again and yet I didnt find anything childish. There were important lessons for parents, children, professionals - in fact, I kept relating the way Disney does their business with the way we should train and present. Today, I want to share with you what Ive learnt about my trade from these dream merchants.

Keep things Simple
"I am interested in entertaining people, in bringing pleasure, particularly laughter, to others, rather than being concerned with expressing myself with obscure creative impressions." - Walt Disney
Disney movies maybe an elaborate affair in production, but for the audience, theyre incredibly simple stories and morals to digest. If you think of any movie, youll realise that the storyline revolves around a simple moral. Finding Nemo is about parents letting their children take chances and for children to realise why their parents care. Tinkerbell teaches you to believe in yourself. Toy Story and Up are about friendship, loyalty and the spirit of adventure. Theres not a tale in the Disney cabinet that takes effort to understand. I love this, because the simplicity of Disney movies make them memorable for not just youngsters, but also grown ups.

Its a lesson for trainers and presenters - simplicity takes effort. Simplicity is not equivalent to being simplistic. It takes great creativity to powerfully express an idea and yet make it easy to understand. I have never forgotten how Crush the turtle from Finding Nemo says to Marlin, "You never really know. But when they know, youll know. You know?". Im not a parent yet, but thats a great parenting lesson right there - it comes halfway through the movie after a significant amount of storytelling. The key is that Disney took the pains to tell a story that would make that message stick. And stick it has. When we do our presentations and training, whats our simple message that will always stick through? Its food for thought, isnt it?

Set a Theme
"We like to have a point of view in our stories, not an obvious moral, but a worthwhile theme. ... All we are trying to do is give the public good entertainment. That is all they want." - Walt Disney
Disney Worlds success is in being the worlds first theme park. Its not just an amusement park with rides, it tells a story. So while Magic Kingdom is about making dreams come true, Animal Kingdom is about celebrating our planets biodiversity. If Hollywood studios is about celebrating backstage action from our favourite movies, Epcot is about education, science and innovation. Every corner of these parks, stays true to its theme. Steve Jobs, one the best presenters of our era, does this with uncanny predictability. For example when he keynoted Macworld 2008 to announce the Macbook Air, he started off with the theme, "Theres clearly something in the air today." To this day, it remains one of his most memorable keynotes in the way he introduced his latest family of notebooks.

Themes allow our brains to relate items of information to each other. Our brain stores related information in contiguous areas, firing more neurons which eventually leads to better retention. Dr John Medinas book on Brain Rules is a fantastic text on how our brain works and even he says, "Our brain pays attention to patterns." So create that pattern by setting your theme and watch your audience sink into the experience.

Entertain before you Educate
"Your goal is to entertain, not only inform. The funnier you are, the more people will know youre smart because it takes great intelligence to be funny." - Guy Kawasaki
I spent a lot of my time in Epcot, Disneys educational park. I was particularly amazed at how Disney has gone to great lengths trying to make education fun. I wish Id experienced this as a kid - I would have taken a stronger interest in science. Each ride was not just fun, but it was memorable. On Mission Space, I learnt how astronauts have to train to go on outer space missions. On Soarin I learnt about California and its beautiful landscapes. On Living with the Land, I learnt how new ways of making agriculture more productive. On Test Track, I learnt how car manufacturers test their vehicles. On each of these rides, I learnt a little bit but had heaps more fun. Our brains are conditioned to remember interesting events. To create strong memories, we need an affective context. Disney creates an affective context on each of their rides and shows and I think if I can find use for some of the things Ive learnt, Im unlikely to forget these experiences.

As Dr Medina says, "The brain doesnt pay attention to boring things, and Im as sick of boring presentations as you are." That statement is quite conclusive in that we need to do more to make our topics interesting and fun for our audience. Hiding behind the excuse that a topic is dry isnt enough anymore; in fact, its a waste of time. If we care about our topics enough, we need to find ways to make them interesting. Sometimes its not easy and we need inspiration. Hans Roslings fun talk on an incredibly dry topic, is testimony that this is possible.

Create an Immersive Experience
"Until a character becomes a personality it cannot be believed. Without personality, the character may do funny or interesting things, but unless people are able to identify themselves with the character, its actions will seem unreal. And without personality, a story cannot ring true to the audience." - Walt Disney
One of the key things I noticed with the Disney World experience is how committed the entire crew is to ensuring that youre totally immersed in the experience. When you enter the haunted mansion, its not your ride that begins, your attendant emerges saying, "Your time has come." When I got onto the Kilimanjaro Safaris, it wasnt about getting onto a jeep - it was about going on a two week trip and keeping your eyes out for poachers. The attention to detail is so minute that when you take the train from Rafikis planet watch, you dont go to the Africa exhibit, your attendant sees you off to Harambe village in Africa. The Asian exhibit has moisture affected walls just as youll see in India; a dhobi ghat with clothes strewn across the steps just as youll see at many places in our country. All the Disney characters stay true to their mannerisms, every moment of the day. For long everything felt so real that I believed I was walking through a real life Disney movie!

The immersive experience creates hugely memorable experiences. The race to find the poachers, the quest for the Iguanadon before asteroid impact on earth, the extreme g-forces when our rocket took off from the space station, have created a huge impression on me, which Im unlikely to forget. This is a crucial lesson for trainers in particular - we learn lessons where were kinesthetically part of an experience. As Nick Shackleton-Jones often mentions - its ridiculous to think about learning as just knowledge transfer. The trainer of the future, inspires and involves learners in an experience of co-creation through storytelling, scenarios and simulations. Our approach with ThoughtWorks University has been a step in this direction.

Performance Counts
"Fantasy, if its really convincing, cant become dated, for the simple reason that it represents a flight into a dimension that lies beyond the reach of time." - Walt Disney
At Disney World, the show takes precedence over everything else. Perfectionism is the name of the game and youll notice that theyve gotten so good with their shows that they know how to run them without fail, each time. They dont put a step wrong, whether its Donalds walk, Mickeys wave, the fireworks at Magic Kingdom or the Jammin Jungle Parade. It appears theyve practiced so hard that to improvise is never a chore. The flawlessness of execution is something for you to see, to believe me. The result is a perfect show thatll ring in your memory for years to come. As practicing experts, were in a similar situation when we teach or present. We can choose to go out there and play it by ear, or do our audience a favour and practice diligently. Theres heaps we can learn from the art of public performance, and we owe it to our audience to give them the most engaging, interesting and entertaining learning experience possible. The thought about performance also reminds me that Disney doesnt overdo live performances. If theres something that could be a recording, then they just leave it that way. For example the briefings for the rides - they seem live, but theyre not! This is yet another lesson for us - never do a live demo if it doesnt add significant value. Its a recipe for disaster, creating an additional point of failure for your presentation or workshop. This is not to say you shouldnt do anything live. You just need to be pragmatic about whats valuable and whats not.

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Its tough to write all about my Disney experience in words. Call me shallow, corny or cheesy - there are 17 million others like me in this world! I loved being at Disney and learning about Walt has given me heaps of inspiration for the next few years. I guess it should suffice to say that Im almost a new, refreshed person after my time at the parks.

On a sidenote, please drop in a comment to let me know how you found todays article. If youre in Bangalore, do catch me for a coffee and Ill show you some of the pictures from my visits to Disney. Im in Chicago as I write this post, and Im missing the place already. I could stay there forever!

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A Few Fundamental Truths About Game Reviews So Stop Being So Mad

Always remember: If it makes lots of money, it is perfect and immune to criticism.

To catch you up: Theres a game called Grand Theft Auto V. Maybe youve heard of it. Like all games in the series, you commit horrible, violent crimes. Arguably, in V, those crimes tend to be a bit more on the gruesome, appalling scale than in earlier games.

oh god why am i trying so tired so tired

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