By Peter Smith / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
LATROBE — When he died in 2003, Fred Rogers was described in many headlines as gentle, beloved, kind and — of course — neighborly.

But how about radical? Counter-cultural? Trouble-maker?

Scholars and others are using such adjectives as they assess the legacy of the late creator and host of the long-running “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.”

For all his much-parodied gentle voice and manner, the Latrobe native actually worked from a steely social conscience. He used his program, with its non-threatening benign puppets, songs and conversation, to raise provocative topics such as war, peace, race, gender and poverty with his audience of preschoolers and their parents — patiently guiding them across the minefields of late 20th century political and social change.

Mr. Rogers was no “meek and mild pushover,” wrote Michael Long, author of the recent book, “Peaceful Neighbor: Discovering the Countercultural Mister Rogers.”

Mr. Rogers was “a quiet but strong American prophet who, with roots in progressive spirituality, invited us to make the world into a counter-cultural neighborhood of love,” said Mr. Long, a professor of religious studies and peace and conflict studies at Elizabethtown (Pa.) College.

An early example could be seen on a recent afternoon in a classroom at the Fred Rogers Center for Early Learning and Children’s Media on the campus of St. Vincent College in Latrobe. The center was formed to carry on his legacy, and that includes learning to be bold advocates when needed, said its co-director, Junlei Li.

Mr. Li, a professor of psychological science, is teaching a seminar this semester titled, “What Would Fred Rogers Do?”.



http://www.post-gazette.com/news/education/2016/03/27/The-radical-legacy-of-television-s-Mister-Rogers/stories/201602170201

Apr 5, 2016

Imagine you’re African-American and working at a 500-person technology company where everyone else is white, and one day the CEO declares in a national newspaper interview that his company’s lack of diversity isn’t an accident. In fact he prefers to hire white people because when it comes to technology white people simply make better employees.

That statement would be unthinkable. But what if a tech CEO made the same comment about age?

In 2013, I went to work at a software company called HubSpot. I was 52 years old. The average HubSpot employee was 26. Everyone seemed to be right out of college. The place was like a frat house, with refrigerators stocked with cases of beer and telemarketing sales “bros” drinking at their desks while hammering away on the phones. Thirty-something employees were considered “old people.”

About nine months after I joined, HubSpot’s CEO and co-founder, Brian Halligan, explained to the New York Times that this age imbalance was not something he wanted to remedy, but in fact something he had actively cultivated. HubSpot was “trying to build a culture specifically to attract and retain Gen Y’ers,” because, “in the tech world, gray hair and experience are really overrated,” Halligan said.

I gasped when I read that. Could anyone really believe this? Even if you did believe this, what CEO would be foolish enough to say it out loud? It was akin to claiming that you prefer to hire Christians, or heterosexuals, or white people. I assumed an uproar would follow. As it turned out, nobody at HubSpot saw this as a problem. Halligan didn’t apologize for his comments or try to walk them back.

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/when-comes-age-bias-tech-companies-dont-even-bother-lie-dan-lyons

The Room (2003)
Trivia


Greg Sestero stated in his book The Disaster Artist that Tommy Wiseau took 32 takes to say the lines "It's not true! I did not hit her! It's bullshit! I did not. Oh, hi, Mark!" Wiseau sometimes needed cue cards to help him with his lines.


Tommy Wiseau claims to have financed the film by importing and selling leather jackets from Korea. He refuses to further elaborate on this.


According to Juliette Danielle, when Tommy Wiseau said the line "In a few minutes, bitch," everyone on the set began laughing at him. Wiseau came out of the bathroom and demanded to know what was so funny.


The phrase "Oh, hi" is spoken nine times, and "Oh, hey" seven times.


Drew Caffrey, who is credited as an executive producer and casting agent, died in 1999, three years before production began.


Shot simultaneously on 35 mm film and high-definition video. Tommy Wiseau was confused about the differences between the formats, so he used both cameras on the same mount. He also purchased the cameras, instead of renting them as film productions

A billboard for the film was erected on Highland Avenue in Los Angeles. It stayed there for five years.


After a very limited theatrical run, the film has become popular as a "midnight movie," with a cult following. Audience members dress up as the characters, throw plastic spoons at the screen, and toss footballs to each other. Tommy Wiseau attends many screenings, and holds Q&A sessions with the audience.


According to Greg Sestero's book, Tommy Wiseau insisted on having his bare bottom filmed. "I have to show my ass or this movie won't sell" was Wiseau's reasoning.


Mark (Greg Sestero) is named after Matt Damon. According to Sestero, Tommy Wiseau misheard the actor's name despite his obsession with the actor.


Unlike most movies, where the sets are generally closed while filming nude sequences, Tommy Wiseau insisted that the set be open while filming the long love scene between Lisa and Johnny.


After filming the first love scene, Tommy Wiseau decided to write in a second love scene, but the actress playing Lisa was uncomfortable. As a compromise, the second love scene between Johnny and Lisa was created from unused shots from the first love scene (which is why the candles are already lit when they arrive).


Filming took over six months. In that time, two cinematographers (along with their crews) resigned and three actors left, being either

Cartoon Network's block Adult Swim aired a somewhat censored version of the film every April Fools' Day from 2009 to 2011.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0368226/trivia?ref_=tt_trv_trv