Post #142 29 April 2017

Gentlefolk,

This post is about Time's 100 Most Influential, and a couple of other events.

Time Magazine's 100 Most Influential

On 20 April 2017 Time Magazine published its list of the 100 Most Influential People in the world.

Time Magazine emphasises that this list is about influence, not just physical power.

The list is divided into 5 categories: Pioneers; Artists; Leaders; Titans; and Icons.

I must admit that I recognised only a few of the names on the List.  Here are some I recognised:

Pioneers	Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner; Samantha Bee (Satirist); Conor McGregor (UFC fighter)
Artists	Alicia Keys; Emma Stone; Margot Robbie; Ryan Reynolds
Leaders	Theresa May; Donald Trump; Vladimir Putin; Xi Jin Ping; Julian Assange (Wikileaks); Pope Francis
Titans	Evan Spiegel (Snapchat); Tom Brady (NFL); Janet Yellen (Federal Reserve); Jeff Bezos (Amazon)’ LeBron James (NBA)
Icons	Margaret Atwood (poet); Viola Davis (actress); Colin Kaepernick (American Footballer); Fan Bing Bing (actress); Neymar (Brazilian soccer)

As usual the Times List is dominated by Americans, with 56% born in the USA. The List by Region of Birth:

Region of Birth	Number	% of total
North America	58 (USA 56, Canada 2)	58%
Latin America	7 (Brazil 2)	7%
Europe  (including Russia)	14 (UK 5; Belgium 2)	14%
Middle East and Africa	8 (ME 4; Africa 4)	8%
Asia & Australia	13 (China 4; India 2; Philippines 2; Australia 2)	13%

This year 40% of the List are female.  The youngest person is 17 (Gavin Grimm); the oldest 87 (Sandra Day O’Connor). 

The two Aussies on the List were both born in Queensland: Julian Assange (Wikileaks) and Margot Robbie (actress). Wasn't Robbie marvellous as Leonardo Di Caprio's love interest in The Wolf of Wall Street?

The four Chinese are: Xi Jin Ping (Chairman & President); Wang Qishan (Member of Politburo); Fan Bing Bing (actress); and Liu Qing (CEO of Didi Chuxing).  Xi and Liu were born in Beijing, while Wang and Fan were born in Qingdao, the city where Vera & I lived for 5 years.

Liu Qing (English name Jean) did an MBA at Harvard and then worked for Goldman Sachs.  At just 34 she became Managing Director of Goldman Sachs China - amazing.  Then she left to run a start-up, Didi Kuaidi, which came to dominate the car-hailing business in China. Two years ago Uber China gave up the fight in exchange for 20% of Didi.  Liu is married and reported to have 3 children. She had breast cancer and is now in remission.  Not yet 40 and she beat Uber and cancer - what a gal! 

Liu Qing, one of China's top business women

In the 2017 List, one of the Artists was Ryan Reynolds.  We actually knew Ryan when he was just a lad, in Vancouver, Canada.  We were good friends with his parents, Jim and Tammy Reynolds. Ryan has matured into a fine actor.

Time Magazine started publishing this List in 1998.  The people who have appeared most often are: Barack Obama (11 times); Hillary Clinton (10 times); Oprah Winfrey (9 times); Angela Merkel (8 times); and Xi Jin Ping (8 times).  Of these, only Xi Jin Ping made the 2017 list.

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My niece, Britt, has a 12 year old daughter, Lelani, who is very much into dance. Her group participated in a dance competition and Vera & I went along to watch and give support.

Vera and Lelani.

Different age groups competed.

One of the dance groups had a boy participant - he was the only boy we saw.

Apologies for the quality of the photo.  Anyway, there were many fine performances.  

...

Last Sunday the Indonesian Embassy sponsored a Balinese gamelan and dance performance.

Vera and I at the Balinese performance.  Vera grew up in Bali and is very familiar with Balinese music and dance.

A photo of the stage, before the dancers came out.  The gamelan orchestra was in two parts.

A closer look at one part of the gamelan orchestra.

Two of the Balinese dancers, with a member of the audience.

A group photo at the end.

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That's it for this post.

Best wishes, stay healthy and keep smiling.

Alex & Vera Olah

Canberra, Australia

Saturday 29 April 2017