Archive for the ‘peace’ Category

TEDx Brisbane Update

Tuesday, March 23rd, 2010

TEDx Brisbane was nothing short of a raging success. It was a big day for all but the coffee flowed well with a lot of help from friends and the wonderful team (also friends) at Di Bella Coffee who donated their time to support TEDx Brisbane. A big well done and thank you has to go out to Paul Fairweather and Carl Lindgren who put the whole event together. Simply an amazing job.

Posted in alternative media, friends, inspiring, local community, peace, 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 »

Validation Short Film

Tuesday, October 6th, 2009

This film made me smile a lot and was so touching that I couldn’t help but shed a few happy tears. I know you will love it because you are awesome! And when I say awesome I mean it with a Rhino style emphasis… click here for the full effect of that statement.

Thanks to Operation Nice for the heads up on this one.

Posted in alternative media, art, funny, inspiring, peace | 5 Comments »

The Good Shoe Guide

Wednesday, July 29th, 2009

Shoes can be pretty mean things from the products they use or don’t reuse to the workers that don’t get paid properly but we are all lucky these days to have some alternatives and dare I say it fashionable alternatives. I know of at least 4 good shoe stories.

Simple Shoes
These guys top my list as they are by far the most fashionable with the biggest range I think. Their big focus is on the sustainablity of their shoes in regards to products used. The pair I own have soles made from old car tyres, the laces from soda bottles, organic cotton, hemp and the list goes on. I am not sure if they are certified ‘fair trade’ but they do have a page on Ethical Supply Chain Guidelines which must be a positive thing. The only problem I have with these shoes is that they are so hard to get in Australia. Either you have to order them from online or choose from the very small range that Kathmandu carries.

Tom’s Shoes – One for One
(Taken from the site). TOMS Shoes was founded on a simple premise: For every pair you purchase, TOMS will give a pair of new shoes to a child in need. One for One. Using the purchasing power of individuals to benefit the greater good is what we’re all about.

Please, at least watch the quick intro video and for a better insight into the man behind Tom’s Shoes watch this short talk between Blake Mycoskie and Bill Clinton where Blake talks about his dream to eradicate a disease with shoes.

Etiko
I make coffee in a pair of Etiko shoes. These guys are based in Australia and the big thing here is about Fair Trade products in particular the Etiko Sneakers. Made in Pakistan by a certified fairtrade manufacturer they also feature a rubber sole which has been certified sustainable by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), making the sneakers ethically and environmentally sound. And now they seem to be organic also. While you are at their online shop be sure to pick up a fair trade soccer ball to kick around with your new shoes.

Terra Planna
This one I have only just heard about. Turns out we have a pair of these in our household too. Rachel bought a pair when she was last in New York some time ago. They are striving for sustainable shoes too and I am still reading through their website myself so for more info head on over there. But again here is an example of very fashionable shoes that are trying to step lighter on the planet. Looks like they have a particularly good women’s range too.

So make sure you bookmark these and next time you need a new pair of shoes go shopping online and get a unique and sustainable pair. I love showing of my simple shoes. It’s even cooler when the other person lifts up their foot and says, “Me Too!”

Tags: shoes
Posted in environment, inspiring, peace | 8 Comments »

Good day today.

Friday, July 24th, 2009

Today I was reminded of a few things. What goes around comes around. It is safe to trust people. And you can never judge a book buy it’s cover.

Took my son down to the local hardware today to get a few small things and upon reaching the counter I turned to Oscar, my son and exclaimed “Oh no I forgot my wallet!”. Instantly the guy in front of us said don’t worry I will pay for it. I didn’t hesitate and said thanks because the best advice ever given to me was to “Never deny someone the opportunity to give.” – Nigel Reed. David, the generous man in line told me how he had once filled his car with petrol, then at the counter realised he had no money only to be surprised by a women willing to pay the whole bill. He said that he is now always on the look out to keep paying such a kind act forward. It reminded me that when you do a good thing for a person or a bad thing against a person it gets multiplied which is why you should do good things. A random act of kindness really wakes something up in people I think and it will be a feeling they will want others to experience. If you have never seen the movie Pay it Forward I highly recommend it.

Earlier in the day I had another wonderful encounter with a customer that had returned to pay her bill after what must have been at least six weeks. I have a personal policy of trusting that if people don’t have the cash on them or they only have card I trust them and ask them to simply fix us up when it is next convenient for them. So far everyone has returned as far as I know as I don’t keep a record each time and I usually forget moments later that this person still ‘owes’ us. It’s a nice place to be in cause it kind of means for me that I get to live in a world where everyone is trust worthy and my personal theory goes that you can’t trust people if you never give them the opportunity to be trustworthy. I know some have abused this but that’s ok cause the percentage is so low that I could probably only name one person in nearly 8 years of Urban Grind. Anyway… six weeks ago I declared to my awesome (just as her she will tell you herself) assistant that this particular women has obviously scammed us and is never coming back. But such is life yadda yadda. She had been so vague the first time that she came into the shop and we just couldn’t work her out and I guess the experience made us wonder a bit as to what was going on and we started to get sus. Then she came up to pay and only had card, no cash and while I said sure just fix us up later I honestly thought that she was never coming back. I didn’t trust her. Today she walks in and I pretend I don’t remember her, but I do and she asks for a coffee and would like to fix up her bill from last time she was in Brisbane. How is that the first time I am so sure I couldn’t trust someone I am wrong. So I get talking to her cause now she’s cool you know, I trust her and I can treat her like everyone else (I just called myself a tosser so you don’t need to) and she mentions that she doesn’t come into the cities much or something like that and now I am getting the sense that maybe her being a bit vague was actually her way of just finding her way around slowly. She has actually been so patient the first time that she waited like 20 minutes for the line to die down before ordering. Maybe I can go easy on myself for thinking that is strange as so many people these days are impatient and pressed for time.

This is not the first time that I have found that it only takes about a maximum of 2 questions to start to get to know someone. If you think you know someone on sight, inquire, you will be so wrong unless you are gifted. I once thought one of my customers once was an obvious bum until I asked he once what he does and it turns out he was a retired physics professor in a field that I had never heard of and these days he just likes to tent to his garden. Speak to people, they have stories that will out do your assumptions.

Posted in customers, friends, inspiring, local community, peace, personal, urban grind | 4 Comments »

The Lost Generation

Friday, March 13th, 2009

I found this on a day when I really needed it.

Posted in alternative media, environment, family, inspiring, peace | 2 Comments »

ideas festival 09 program now online

Sunday, February 15th, 2009

This is exciting. I hope I can find the time. As you know I am a massive advocate of TED and if have managed to convince you to check out TED and you have fallen in love with it like so many of my friends then you don’t want to miss the Ideas Festival cause it is the closest thing to TED that we get. I usually only make it to a couple of talks each time but the ideas and speakers are always stimulating. I have only had a quick look at the program and there looks to be quite a focus on climate change which grabs my interest. If you have never been to an ideas festival I suggest you check it out. Heaps of the sessions are free so if you still think that climate change is a myth it won’t cost you a cent to challenge that idea. Check out the Ideas Festival Program 09 for more info.

Posted in alternative media, design, environment, friends, inspiring, local community, peace, politics | No Comments »

Helping the poor to see.

Sunday, February 8th, 2009

Thanks to map magazine I came across this awesome story about bringing sight to the worlds poor. The full article explains the project better than I can but I like the way this project solves the problem of a lack of experts. This is why good design is so important. From the article:

Silver calls his flash of insight a “tremendous glimpse of the obvious” – namely that opticians weren’t necessary to provide glasses. This is a crucial factor in the developing world where trained specialists are desperately in demand: in Britain there is one optometrist for every 4,500 people, in sub-Saharan Africa the ratio is 1:1,000,000.

Read the full article: Inventor’s 2020 vision: to help 1bn of the world’s poorest see better

Posted in design, inspiring, peace | No Comments »

The Story of Stuff International

Wednesday, January 7th, 2009

I have posted about this before but they have news of now being able to view the Story of Stuff movie in many many languages which makes for a good opportunity for me to plug it again. If you have not seen this short film then you probably bought your family and friends way too many presents for Christmas or you are still sleeping on pillows that have been dowsed in chemicals known to damage the human brain. Maybe it is not for everyone but I suggest you check it out: The Story of Stuff International

Posted in alternative media, environment, inspiring, peace, politics | No Comments »

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