It?s the kind of statement only a 19-year-old artist with his entire career ahead of him could make.
?I need to control everything,? says Zach Greenbaum, a film major at the Maryland Institute College of Art. ?I hate making concessions . . . ?
No compromise! Total control!
And the kind of attitude?in a town like Baltimore, where dreamers are often blessed not to know what they don?t know?that it takes to make it in a field where many are called but the chosen are few.
?Film is the way I think,? says Greenbaum, who began fooling around with cameras in the third grade and has made 10 films, most of them school projects. ?It?s my way of crafting a response to the world around me.?
Zach spent the first half of his life on South Exeter Street in Little Italy with his father, a Baltimore artist. From about the age of 10, he?s lived in Pikesville with his mom, a schoolteacher named Barbara Gayle Askinosie from Long Island, N.Y.
A 2012 graduate of the Carver Center for the Arts and Technology in Towson, he is on scholarship at MICA in Bolton Hill and somewhat resembles a young?an impossibly young?Stanley Kubrick, a hero of his.
?I admire Kubrick and Herzog and Kurosawa,? says Greenbaum, running down an especially masculine hallway of the canon. ?I try to copy their intensity?they?ll stop at nothing.?
Zach?s own intensity exhibits itself in persistence (film is about all he does, constantly shooting and editing) and tends toward landscapes?running water, industrial sites, the odd piece of statuary?accompanied by the kind of spare, evocative music you might hear at a wellness center.
?My work is often a contemplation of ideas which, in typical filmmaking with a plot structure, would take a saga to articulate,? he says, speaking specifically of this year?s Chimera, an attempt to ?create a symbiotic relationship between images and sound . . . something that takes you on a shuttle of emotions in each scene.?
Which means it is almost impossible to say what the film?complete with jarring scenes of a rusted, rural sculpture of a cowboy holding a beer?is about unless you see it yourself and come to your own conclusions.
?The cowboy is a metaphor for our primordial fear and our innermost feelings of angst and unease,? says Greenbaum. ?He?s a gatekeeper for the unknown . . . our fear of the unknown.?
And then the film turns beautiful again?reservoirs and naked trees in winter; the viewer has made it to the other side.
Zach sits at a sidewalk cafe in Fells Point, trading stories of film and family with his father, the visual artist and actor Joseph Greenbaum, 56, a 1975 graduate of Milford Mill High School.
?My dad has never doubted me,? says Zach. ?If it were not for his skill as an actor and dedication to my craft?as well as a mutual understanding as two artists?I can?t say I?d be where I am today.?
Joseph is known in Native American circles by his Cherokee name, Joseph Stands With Many, his Indian heritage rooted in the farmland of Purvis, Miss., via his full-blooded mother, Sheila Reese.
Joseph?s father?Jerry Green?was a journeyman ?hoofer? who grew up several blocks north of the waterfront on South Ann Street. Joseph says his parents met in a New Orleans dance hall. When Joseph was a boy, his father would take him up the gangways of ships docked at the foot of Broadway and try to see if they could get a meal with the crew, not so much for free grub but for the adventure.
Also nearby, the Baltimore American Indian Center on Broadway, where Zach?s film The Tacit Tome is part of an exhibit called Stories in Form, along with works by Ashley Minner, Waylon Gary White Deer, and others, through Sept. 21.
Joseph appears in many of his son?s films. In several he is cast alongside his old friend and sometime combatant Keith Worz from the late ?70s and early ?80s downtown art and Marble Bar punk scene.
In Zach?s short film Out to Lunch?seven minutes of black-and-white inspired by Jim Jarmusch?s 2003 pastiche Coffee & Cigarettes?Joseph sits tableside as Worz spins yarns about conning a fellow patient at Spring Grove State Hospital.
The teenage Greenbaum on Worz: ?I automatically knew this guy was fucking insane.?
Worz, 56, returns the compliment: ?This kid has a really good eye for the camera. His IQ is so high?super-intelligent?that [the ideas] go right onto film.?
The Tacit Tome is decidedly less absurd, a nearly hour-long, partial documentary focusing on Native American culture and the importance of storytelling beyond entertainment. Joseph Stands With Many narrates.
?American civilization trivializes stories,? explains Joseph in voiceover. ?There are stories for kids and adult stories.
?We have our religious stories and we save those for once a week. We don?t do that. It?s all one thing. Everything that we do is combined, a unity, a harmony . . . if you don?t have stories to tell, to share, to teach, to entertain [and] philosophize with, you don?t have anything.?
This year, on an early July vacation to Kentucky, where Joseph performed a traditional Cherokee wedding ceremony, Zach took time to film the skinning and butchering of a deer. Somewhere along the line, the footage will find its way into one of his experimental, avant-garde, pseudo-documentary productions.
He will wear every hat?cinematographer, writer, director, and editor?while choosing the music and figuring out a way to fund his own production company.
Total control, sans compromise.
?I have no choice [but to make films],? he says. ?I attribute it to the universe.?
Good luck, kid.
Stories in Form, including The Tacit tome, is on view at the Baltimore American Indian Center Heritage Museum.
Sensitive parenting can boost premature children's school performancePublic release date: 31-Jul-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Anna Blackaby a.blackaby@warwick.ac.uk 44-024-761-51345 University of Warwick
Sensitive parenting helps protect against the negative effects of being born prematurely on children's school success, a new study has found.
Children born prematurely are at risk of a variety of neurological impairments which can mean they are more likely to need special educational support when they reach school age.
But a new study led by the University of Warwick shows that parents of very preterm and very low birthweight (VP/VLBW) children can increase their child's academic achievement through sensitive and cognitively stimulating parenting.
Researchers looked at parenting styles of parents of children aged 6 to see what effect they had on those children's school success when they reached the age of 13.
The study found that highly sensitive parenting at age 6 boosted the academic performance of VP/VLBW children when they reached 13 to levels similar to full-term children. A parallel increase was not seen for full-term children.
However, the results also showed that more cognitively stimulating early home environments benefit all children's long-term school success, regardless of whether they were premature or not.
Professor Dieter Wolke of University of Warwick said: "By sensitive parenting, we mean adapting one's parenting to the individual child's behaviour and responses, while clearly remaining the more competent partner and setting age appropriate limits."
"So for example providing gentle feedback and suggesting potential solutions rather than taking over and solving the tasks for the child.
"Cognitively stimulating parenting is where parents include activities designed to get children thinking such as reading to them or doing puzzles together.
"We found that both these styles of parenting have a positive effect in increasing school performance, with sensitive parenting particularly effective at closing the gap in achievement between preterm and low birth-weight children and their full-term counterparts."
The study, Effects of Sensitive Parenting on the Academic Resilience of Very Preterm and Very Low Birth Weight Adolescents was published in the Journal of Adolescent Health.
The researchers sought to clear up uncertainty among the scientific community about whether parenting has an influence on academic achievement of preterm children.
They looked at two groups of German children 314 very preterm/very low birth weight children and a control group of 338 full-term children.
They were studied from birth to age 13, with the researchers analysing socioeconomic status, neurological and physical impairment at age 20 months and levels of parental sensitive and cognitive stimulation at age 6 years. School success was measured from six to 13 years of age.
The study defined very preterm as babies born at less than 32 weeks gestation or weighing less than 1500g (3lb 5 oz).
The researchers found that the 15 per cent of highly sensitive parents within the VP/VLBW group had children whose academic performance at 13 years was similar to the full-term children.
In contrast, parents of VP/VLBW children who showed low sensitivity had children who required more special educational help and had more schooling problems.
Maternal sensitivity made little difference to the grades or academic performance of full-term children, who were much less susceptible to parenting differences.
The research found that cognitively stimulating parenting raised academic performance across both groups of children.
Professor Wolke said: "The results suggest that sensitive parenting boosts children's self-control and attention regulation, which are important for school success.
"We would like to see increased investment in programmes that equip parents of VP/VLBW with the skills needed to provide appropriate and sensitive support to their children."
###
Professor Dieter Wolke is available on D.Wolke@warwick.ac.uk
For further information please contact University of Warwick press officer Anna Blackaby ona.blackaby@warwick.ac.uk or 02476 575910
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Sensitive parenting can boost premature children's school performancePublic release date: 31-Jul-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Anna Blackaby a.blackaby@warwick.ac.uk 44-024-761-51345 University of Warwick
Sensitive parenting helps protect against the negative effects of being born prematurely on children's school success, a new study has found.
Children born prematurely are at risk of a variety of neurological impairments which can mean they are more likely to need special educational support when they reach school age.
But a new study led by the University of Warwick shows that parents of very preterm and very low birthweight (VP/VLBW) children can increase their child's academic achievement through sensitive and cognitively stimulating parenting.
Researchers looked at parenting styles of parents of children aged 6 to see what effect they had on those children's school success when they reached the age of 13.
The study found that highly sensitive parenting at age 6 boosted the academic performance of VP/VLBW children when they reached 13 to levels similar to full-term children. A parallel increase was not seen for full-term children.
However, the results also showed that more cognitively stimulating early home environments benefit all children's long-term school success, regardless of whether they were premature or not.
Professor Dieter Wolke of University of Warwick said: "By sensitive parenting, we mean adapting one's parenting to the individual child's behaviour and responses, while clearly remaining the more competent partner and setting age appropriate limits."
"So for example providing gentle feedback and suggesting potential solutions rather than taking over and solving the tasks for the child.
"Cognitively stimulating parenting is where parents include activities designed to get children thinking such as reading to them or doing puzzles together.
"We found that both these styles of parenting have a positive effect in increasing school performance, with sensitive parenting particularly effective at closing the gap in achievement between preterm and low birth-weight children and their full-term counterparts."
The study, Effects of Sensitive Parenting on the Academic Resilience of Very Preterm and Very Low Birth Weight Adolescents was published in the Journal of Adolescent Health.
The researchers sought to clear up uncertainty among the scientific community about whether parenting has an influence on academic achievement of preterm children.
They looked at two groups of German children 314 very preterm/very low birth weight children and a control group of 338 full-term children.
They were studied from birth to age 13, with the researchers analysing socioeconomic status, neurological and physical impairment at age 20 months and levels of parental sensitive and cognitive stimulation at age 6 years. School success was measured from six to 13 years of age.
The study defined very preterm as babies born at less than 32 weeks gestation or weighing less than 1500g (3lb 5 oz).
The researchers found that the 15 per cent of highly sensitive parents within the VP/VLBW group had children whose academic performance at 13 years was similar to the full-term children.
In contrast, parents of VP/VLBW children who showed low sensitivity had children who required more special educational help and had more schooling problems.
Maternal sensitivity made little difference to the grades or academic performance of full-term children, who were much less susceptible to parenting differences.
The research found that cognitively stimulating parenting raised academic performance across both groups of children.
Professor Wolke said: "The results suggest that sensitive parenting boosts children's self-control and attention regulation, which are important for school success.
"We would like to see increased investment in programmes that equip parents of VP/VLBW with the skills needed to provide appropriate and sensitive support to their children."
###
Professor Dieter Wolke is available on D.Wolke@warwick.ac.uk
For further information please contact University of Warwick press officer Anna Blackaby ona.blackaby@warwick.ac.uk or 02476 575910
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
[unable to retrieve full-text content]Researchers have developed a cementitious material incorporating carbon nanofibers in its composition, turning cement into an excellent conductor of electricity capable of performing functions beyond its usual structural function.
Vancouver unveiled Canada?s first permanent rainbow-coloured crosswalk Monday morning to kick off the city?s Pride Week celebrations in the heart its LGBTQ-friendly Davie Street Village.
Coun. Tim Stevenson, who was the first openly-gay provincial cabinet minister in Canada, announced the crosswalks at the intersection of Davie and Bute streets at 8:30 a.m. Monday. City crews painted on the rainbows late Sunday night.
Over its 35-year history, the Vancouver Pride Parade has grown to be the fifth largest in the world with over 650,000 people involved last year. More than 150 floats from every part of the community will cover three kilometres over three hours.
Spencer Chandra Herbert, NDP MLA for the West End, welcomed the new crosswalks to an area that has ?kind of been a cultural capital, so to speak, for LGBTQ folks across Canada.?
?This is where the Pride Parade started, it?s where the fight for marriage equality started, the right to adopt,? Herbert said. ?It makes sense to mark that history and a little colour is a good thing.?
He predicted the busy intersection will even be a more popular place for ?people to hang out and get their photos (taken).?
Events like these are held every summer in nearly every major city in the world both as a celebration of LGBTQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgendered, Questioning) culture and to commemorate the 1969 Stonewall Riots in New York City that brought the struggle for gay and lesbian rights into the public eye.
More to come?
Share your photos of you at the crosswalks with us! Email them to: sunwebfile@vancouversun.com
(Reuters) - Pfizer Inc reported second-quarter earnings slightly ahead of forecasts on Tuesday as the United States' largest drugmaker lines up a business split that could lead to the spin-off of its generics division.
The company, which has been hit by falling sales of its now off-patent cholesterol fighter Lipitor, reaffirmed its financial outlook for the year.
For the second quarter, adjusted income fell 10 percent to $4.00 billion (2.6 billion pounds), or 56 cents a share, from $4.45 billion, or 59 cents a share, a year earlier. Revenue fell 7 percent to $12.97 billion.
Analysts, on average, were expecting second-quarter income of 55 cents a share, on revenue of $13.01 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Pfizer, whose CEO Ian Read has been reviewing the group's structure after divesting its nutrition and animal health businesses, said on Monday it planned to separate its commercial operations into two units for branded products and a third for generics.
Read said Pfizer's new model would help revitalize its innovation-based core drugs business, while enhancing the value of consumer and off-patent established brands, and maximizing the use of capital.
Pfizer's generics business, which represents 17 percent of total sales, has far lower profit margins than its patent-protected drugs.
Many analysts have urged Pfizer to spin off its generics business so it can focus on its core branded pharmaceuticals, although such a move is unlikely before 2016.
Within the core drugs division, revenues from cancer medicines increased by 28 percent in the second quarter, helped by new products like Inlyta and Xalkori.
Read also said he expected business in emerging markets to accelerate in the second half of the year, led by China.
"From a total company view, we are tracking to our expectations for the full year and continue to capitalize on the investments we are making to better position Pfizer for long-term success," he added.
Pfizer reiterated that it expected full-year earnings of $2.10 to $2.20 per share.
LIPITOR AND PREVNAR HITS
The 7 percent fall in quarterly revenue reflected an operational decline of 4 percent and an unfavorable impact from foreign exchange of 3 percent.
Operationally, the biggest hit came from losses of exclusivity on Lipitor, while shifts in government purchasing patterns for bulk orders of Pfizer's Prevnar pneumococcal vaccine also took their toll.
The U.S. drugmaker's determination to reshape its business is part of a wider trend by pharmaceutical companies around the world to divest slower-growing and maturing operations.
Abbott Laboratories's decision to split off its innovative drugs into AbbVie , in particular, has fueled a wider rethink across the industry as to whether other companies or groups of investors may be better owners for certain assets.
In Europe, GlaxoSmithKline is also selling off certain non-core brands, and in April it took a similar tack to Pfizer by opting to bundle many of its established drugs into a new unit.
Pfizer last November sold its nutrition business to Nestle SA for $11.85 billion in cash and in February spun off its animal health business into a new company called Zoetis .
(Reporting by Ben Hirschler in London and Sakthi Prasad in Bangalore; Editing by Patrick Graham)
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Public release date: 31-Jul-2013
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