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Checkin Cross Campus Old Pasadena

Checked into Cross Campus Old Pasadena: Innovate Pasadena - “Who is this TED guy anyway? And what the heck is TEDx?”
Innovate Pasadena coffee meetup
“Who is this TED guy anyway? And what the heck is TEDx?”

While short and relatively interesting, this talk felt kind of like filler compared to what Friday morning coffees typically present. I’m surprised that it was something that came out of someone who organizes TEDx talks (aside from the short length). The take away was definitely don’t do one of these talks the day before one of the areas biggest TEDx events of the year. The worst part was that she was tired as the result of the event coming up on Saturday and didn’t get the real PR value out of it because the event had been sold out for months already. Better, she should have done it the week before the next event to lead into it.

Heather Heimerl Brunold talking about “Who is this TED guy anyway? And what the heck is TEDx?”
Heather Heimerl Brunold talking about “Who is this TED guy anyway? And what the heck is TEDx?”
Cross Campus Old Town Pasadena on Raymond
Cross Campus Old Town Pasadena on Raymond

📺 The Vietnam War: Déjà Vu (1858-1961) Episode 1

Watched The Vietnam War: Déjà Vu (1858-1961) Episode 1 from PBS
After a long and brutal war, Vietnamese revolutionaries led by Ho Chi Minh end nearly a century of French colonial occupation. With the Cold War intensifying, Vietnam is divided in two at Geneva. Communists in the north aim to reunify the country, while America supports Ngo Dinh Diem's untested regime in the south.
The opening history is intriguing and really only seems to scratch the surface in this episode. I could have taken a more in-depth opening, though they’ve got a lot of ground to cover in just 10 episodes. Sadly, it’s the beginning and subtle causes for the war that are culturally the least understood, so this becomes a more useful place to lay them out for viewers.

I can only watch it and think about the futility of the whole thing.

I’m a bit curious how others found the flash forward portions of the late 60’s. It felt like the directors were trying to keep an American audience involved in the ongoing story, though, if continued throughout the series, these could provide interesting personal counterpoint to the overall arc of the story.