GLOBAL COMMUNITY! Live at 2:30 this Sunday, Channel 27

Tune in Sunday, January 30, on Channel 27 at 2:30 pm to watch “Global Community”, a LIVE two-hour event. Based on the fundamental principle that we live in an interdependent, interconnected universe and, therefore “all is one,” the Foundation for Global Community (FGC) has existed in various iterations for close to 60 years, beginning with the Sequoia Seminars led by Dr. Harry Rathbun, a Stanford business and law professor and his wife, Emilia.

The Foundation for a Global Community asks us "to discover, live, and communicate what is needed to achieve a world that functions for the benefit of all life" and advocates the setting aside of "narrow self-interests" and to "act with integrity, consciousness, and a spirit of goodwill." I think you can tell why an organization with both lofty ideals and a concrete plan for executing them is going to leave a void in the hearts of so many in our community.

Recognizing that everything —plants, animals, people and foundations—has a beginning and an end, FGC in 2003 began a process of passing on its resources to other individuals and organizations that meet the Foundation's mission statement of building a sustainable, just, and spiritually fulfilling global community.

The two hour program will celebrate the legacy of wisdom from the past and celebrate the passing on of that inheritance to the new explorers and innovators. Author ( The Hidden Heart of the Cosmos Universe Story) and cosmologist, Brian Swimme will speak on “The Universe and the Golden Thread.” Some call it “a golden thread” that has existed since the beginning of time and is only strengthened and enhanced by the passion and efforts of future generations.

Folllowing Dr. Swimme, author Duane Elgin (The Living Universe, Voluntary Simplicity) will explore “The Living Universe and the Golden Thread.”

The program includes a 20-minute journey through the history of the Foundation. Seven recipients of FGC grants will then talk with Host Richard Rathbun about their project and how the financial support has helped their efforts. Passing away of a legacy? We think not. Passing on the baton? That sounds apropos.

Due to the expected turnout, this live-studio event is by invitation only, but is being broadcast and streamed live. The program will also be available to watch on playback. This program is expected to run throughout the month on February. Once the program has been scheduled for playback (usually within one week of taping), you may visit our program page and type in "Global Community" in the search box. To learn more about the Foundation for a Global Community visit their website.

You Usually See Her Working in the Studio!

Shobana Swamy, a very familiar face in the Studio where she crews Swara Lahari, put on an Media Center Volunteer badge and covered two locations on the Martin Luther King Day of Service in Palo Alto last Monday. Watch Shobana's great video on Acterra up at Arastradero and at Lytton Plaza in downtown Palo Alto.

Thank you for heeding the call, Shobana. If our volunteers didn't help us, we couldn't help others get the great messages out there. On the street reporting...it's coming back thanks for our wonderful volunteers!

BUS FIRE RIGHT OUTSIDE MEDIA CENTER

At approximately 5:45 pm, today, Wednesday, January 12, 2011, the bus driver of a Lassen Tour Bus bringing a group of Japanese businessmen from the airport via Highway 101 into Palo Alto noticed flames in his sideview mirror, emanating from the back of the bus. He quickly pulled over, made an announcement to his passengers and quickly evacuated the bus. Within moments the back of the tour bus was engulfed, with flames leaping twenty feet into the air and the rear tires exploding. Fire and police crews arrived and the flames were subdued with chemical retardant by 6:15.


The Media Center's Jeff McGinnis and Stan Ng captured footage of the dramatic conflagration and its aftermath. Jeff and I were able to secure an interview with one of the Japanese businessmen at the restaurant on Charleston Road to which the group retreated to wait for another bus. Watch our interview with Nobuyuki Imai of SoftBank Telecom Corporation of Tokyo. In a nutshell, Mr. Imai said they had just arrived in the US , that the bus driver was very professional and that all remained calm. All really good news.

There were complaints of noxious fumes on San Antonio Road, with major traffic delays and diversions but no injuries have been reported as of this writing.

YOU CAN'T STOP A GOOD THING! WES' VIDEO GOES VIRAL!

Palo Alto High School's phenomenal season is not over! It's as if their win over Centennial High School to clinch the State Division I title on December 17 was only the beginning. Paly was delivered more icing on their cake yesterday when three of the football stars and our own intern, Paly Senior Wes Rapaport appeared on "7 Live" Yesterday, a daily news magazine with a social networking component broadcasting right here in the Bay Area. Wes created a victory video during the bus ride down to SoCal for the game. He shot and edited together a piece with the football team lip syncing Katie Perry's hit "Teenage Dream". Wes tossed in some game footage plus a couple of clips from the bus ride back with the Trophy. The piece has become a youtube sensation and earned Wes and team members a berth on the popular TV show. Watch the show clip here!

Other good news fallout for Paly over their win: Earl Hansen was named the ESPN RISE Cal-Hi Sports State Coach of the Year for the 2010 high school football season. The team and their incredible coaching staff have been praised in all the local papers and even in the national press. That's pretty cool. The football team will join Paly's Volleyball Team which also won their state Division 1 Title in a hometown heroes parade on University Avenue this Saturday. The Media Center will be covering the parade so be on the look-out for a video piece in case you can't make the parade.

We brought you many of the important games leading up to the win. Click here for the schedule of High School Sports replays that we're continuing to play on Channel 28, our youth and education channel.

And a very special congratulations to Wes for making it happen. Wes, we're all super proud of you at the Media Center and take the greatest pleasure in the work you are doing at Paly's InFocus daily broadcast, plus all the work you do for us: crewing, directing, editing and creating great video content for our channels and now, it seems, for the rest of the planet!