Archive for the ‘design’ Category

The Story of Bottled Water

Thursday, March 25th, 2010

I promise that the next Urban Grind will not sell bottled water. I have cared about this for a while and it is time I got serious about it too. The whole bottled water thing really is crazy. Just the price we pay is crazy enough. But thanks (again) to Annie Leonard we have a great little animation that spells out the situation to make it easy for us to make the decision to stop drinking bottled water. I really do hope that you check out The Story of Bottled Water. I also can’t wait to see a Doco called Tapped on the same subject.

Posted in alternative media, design, environment, inspiring, movies, urban grind, zeroWaste | 1 Comment »

TEDx Brisbane next weekend.

Saturday, February 27th, 2010

So TEDx Brisbane is almost here and they have just released the Speaker List and it is a cracker. This is going to be a great TED event and right in our back yard. Very sad if you are a TED fan that missed out. I can sympathize with you as Urban Grind in partnership with Di Bella Coffee is sponsoring the event with free coffees for attendees which means that I will be lucky to see any of the talks on the day. I am honoured to be able to support such an event as this but have you seen that speaker list? It is going to be an inspiring day. And we have Carl Lindgren & Paul Fairweather to thank. They have done an amazing job putting it all together.

If you do have a ticket. Be sure to get there early and register first. Once registered you can head down to the Ideas Worth Spreading Tent and get a free coffee. Coffee will also be offered free for both morning tea and lunch time breaks.

To get in the mood for TEDx you could check out this amazing talk by Aimee Mullins. Such an amazing women.

“Adversity is just change that we have not adapted to yet.”

Aimee Mullins: The opportunity of adversity

Posted in alternative media, design, environment, friends, inspiring, local community, personal, urban grind | No Comments »

Surprise!

Tuesday, February 9th, 2010

I just read a short story about throwing a surprise birthday party on a train. It made me so happy that my eyes watered and I wanted to share it with you too. The idea of strangers in a small room like a train carriage reminded me of Urban Grind – Paddington and West End. I am going to suggest it before you do. Urban Grind on a train carriage could be very cool. Anyway, one of the things I always tried to do at Urban Grind was to start conversations. My best Urban Grind days were the ones where I could stand back and look at the room and everyone was so engrossed in conversation that it was noisy and I didn’t matter. And honestly the worst days were the ones where the room would be full but virtually silent – uncomfortable. No energy, lifeless.

Surprise! by Improv Everywhere. Well worth the read.

Posted in design, family, friends, funny, inspiring, local community, peace, personal, urban grind | No Comments »

So what does Cap & Trade mean?

Thursday, December 10th, 2009

So I have tried to flog a little mini doco called The Story of Stuff for a while now and if you have not seen it yet please do… it’s relevance will be around for too long I think.

But the hot topic at the moment is Cap & Trade or some variation of that. At first I thought it was a very good idea or at least a good place to start. Now I am pretty sure it is not a good idea and fear that it might in fact be a very bad idea. I would love to hear your thoughts but first please watch the video Cap & Trade, made by the same guys that made The Story of Stuff.

http://www.vimeo.com/7908590

Posted in alternative media, design, environment, inspiring, movies, peace, politics | 3 Comments »

Christmas Shmistmus

Monday, December 7th, 2009

So most people that know me know that I am not a big fan of Christmas. For so many years it was not a great time for family as we seems to fight every year though that is much better these days. I love the holiday but I would have a holiday for your birthday if I could. I am not religious though I would be if one could truly train to be a Jedi Knight. And when it comes to gifts it was special when we were kids and our parents would have to save all year just to buy us gifts for christmas, the rest of the year was spent waiting for christmas. But now most kids including the big kid in me can have his christmas whenever he wants. And now that I like to think about the planet and how we waste I can’t these days look past the waste that Christmas can be. This is going somewhere… but before it does and while we are on the topic of waste… please, please buy locally made or from your local small business, fairtrade, eco friendly or not at all. So my point… is to show you how the whole world can reduce (read eliminate) the use of wrapping paper.

http://www.vimeo.com/2321507

Posted in design, environment, inspiring, zeroWaste | 1 Comment »

Is all climate change by man bad?

Thursday, October 15th, 2009

Today is Blog Action Day when bloggers all around the world are encouraged to write about a single topic worth highlighting and this years topic is Climate Change. A topic overwhelmingly chosen by participants, which means that this is not just another climate change campaign organised by a small group. People want to talk about this topic. So what do I have to say about Climate Change.

I have been thinking about solutions a lot at the moment so instead of trying to get your attention on the dangers of man made climate change I thought I might point you to a positive story of man made climate change that you might find even more unbelievable. What ever your position on climate change I am sure you will find this story amazing, inspiring and empowering. Sure we as humans have the capacity to destroy our environment but we also have the capacity to repair it. Now if we could just all be big enough to accept the responsibility the way Willie Smits has.

By piecing together a complex ecological puzzle, biologist Willie Smits has found a way to re-grow clearcut rainforest in Borneo, saving local orangutans — and creating a thrilling blueprint for restoring fragile ecosystems.

Posted in alternative media, design, environment, inspiring | No Comments »

An Awesome Book

Monday, September 21st, 2009

Our friends at map magazine first alerted us to this book as one of them there, in particular Carl Lindgren is very big on reminding us all to dream. I have lots of fun readying this with my son Oscar and every night as he is going to bed we all ask each other what we are going to dream about. We will continue to teach him to dream as he gets older and remind him that he can do anything if he ever forgets (he is pretty sure that he can already do anything that he wants).

So check out the Awesome Book. Buy it for you kids, as a gift or just for yourself. Find whatever excuse you need, cause for every book that you buy one gets given to a child for free. Get more details at the Awesome World Foundation. The video is well worth watching.

Posted in alternative media, art, design, family, inspiring | No Comments »

PARK(ing) Day 09

Tuesday, September 15th, 2009

It’s that time of year again where you find a good car parking space, put down some tarps, roll out your turf and invite people to PARK. Urban Grind’s park will be in Harcourt St this year from 7am till 11am. For me PARK(ing) Day is about many things but mostly about starting conversations because that tends to lead to those other things anyway. What? Anyway…

It all started here… www.parkingday.org
Find all of the Brisbane PARKS here… www.brisbaneparkingday.com

That time of year is this Friday the 18th of September 2009. Thanks Simon.

Posted in art, design, environment, inspiring, local community, politics, urban grind | 8 Comments »

An Australian Made Electric Car

Monday, May 4th, 2009

It has a 200km Range. Is 100% electric. You can plug it in at home. Zero Vehicle Emissions and it’s made in Armidale, NSW. It looks as good as any other small car though it doesn’t exactly have a small car price, but for those with the means and the desire to lower their impact on the planet and in turn be one of the early adopters that helps bring this cost down for those with less means then purchasing and Australian Made car has to be a good thing. Lots of info on the website, so check it out. evMe Website. If these guys can do it, surely Holden or Ford could do it too, but with their infrastructure they could do it for cheaper and maybe save their own sorry bottoms. Have they not heard of innovation?

Thanks to the Convenient Solutions blog for the heads up.

Posted in design, environment, local community, zeroWaste | 2 Comments »

I want one of everything.

Thursday, March 12th, 2009

We have a wonderful son Oscar that just turned 3 and this year he got mostly wooden toys from the Plan Toys toy company. Plan toys are made from renewable timbers and use non-toxic glues and paints. The quality and detail makes the adults want to play too. Each box comes with a little catalogue and I kid you not, the adults were fighting over it as they announced their wish-lists. There might be other toy shops that stock these but we have been getting ours from Crackerjack For Good Toys Balmoral, Shop 3/208- 216 Riding Rd 07 3399 4444.

We are keen to remove plastic toys from our lives and have been exploring things like Plan Toys. Oscar also has a fair bit of LEGO, but my research is have trouble concluding whether LEGO is toxic or not. If anyone can help me work this out that would be great. Thanks.

Posted in design, environment, family, local community, personal | 3 Comments »

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