I was recently emailed this wonderful letter that turns out to be from one of Michael Leunig’s books called The Curly Pyjama Letters. The short version goes like this:
“What is worth doing and what is worth having?” asks Vasco of his friend Mr. Curly.
“It is worth doing nothing and it is worth having a rest”, advises the sagacious Mr. Curly. “In spite of all the difficulty it may cause, you MUST rest Vasco – otherwise you will become RESTLESS!”
For me this translates into sitting down and drinking your coffee in house. Take-away is so popular these days as we are all in such a hurry to get to work etc, but surely we all deserve at least 20 minutes to sit, think about our day (or not), enjoy your coffee and rest. If I can’t convince you I am sure Mr. Curly will…
More voting to be done if you have a couple of spare minutes. This time we have been lucky to be nominated in a couple of categories for the map magazine 2009/2010 eat drink awards. Best Coffee is obviously the one we would love to win. So if you think we are the best you can vote for us here. Thanks.
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.
We have been lovingly nominated for the award below:
Best Service to Make You Smile
In this digital age of automated existence, sometimes we forget to value the important stuff like good old fashioned face-to-face service. Whether it’s a pizza made to order, artworks out of lattes or a waiter who remembers you’re crazy for creamed spinach just like your mum used to make, this category showcases service that makes you bust out a smile and tip like it’s actually a pleasure! Vote for us in Brisbane
It is an honour to be nominated in this category because while we love serving great coffee end hope that is an experience that you walk away feeling like you have had. For me personally there has always been more to Urban Grind than just that.
So if we have ever managed to make you smile please vote for us.
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.
Did you know that over 8000 tonnes of batteries end up on Australian landfill each year? You can start recycling your batteries at Battery World today or at Urban Grind if that happens to be more convenient for you.
As far as I understand it you can recycle all batteries from watch batteries to car batteries at Battery World though Urban Grind can only really accept up to D sized batteries. So check those desk & kitchen drawers and dig out those old batteries that you just knew would have been environmentally uncool throw in the bin. We are collecting now.
I would like to thank Albion Battery World for getting us set up to collect batteries.
Oh and seriously… you should be using rechargeable batteries anyway. No excuses (that I am aware of anyway).
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.
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…
This is from a local office. I am told that this is a little under five days worth of cups between three. While impressive two things stand out to me. The first is that they are obviously awesome customers and for that I am grateful. Secondly, that is a lot of wasted resources. Like wow!
So as of tomorrow, if you bring your own cup we will give you a takeaway discount. In this way we can say thank you for being regular customers and see if we can’t reduce some of this waste. Common sense conditions apply.
Awesome. This guys speech gives me hope. First Obama now this guy. Surely Australia can’t be far off leadership like this.
At first I think that this guy must have been a past Prime Minister and was so surprised to find out that he is the current. Gordon Brown’s speech is far from political spin. It talks practically and wisely about the future. How problems like climate change will need a global effort and how we need to be structuring ourselves towards this effort. I found his talk very inspiring. He doesn’t talk like a politician – he talks like a man that can understand a problem and formulate a solution that includes concerns far beyond his own political party or personal political aspirations.
But what does this say about us? I said, first Obama, now this guy. I feel like something is happening/changing and it must be us. Men like these exist all the time, You probably know or have at least heard of one. Check out TED.com if you haven’t. I heard it said once that Hitler emerged as a leader because the mindset of the people allowed him too. I hesitate to call it democracy as I am not so sure that is what we have in our country nor is it the force I think which is at play, but I do believe it to be true that leaders emerge when the people are ready. But the kind of leader, is determined by the mindset of the people. At elections it feels as though there are no Obamas or Gordon Browns to choose from in Australia. Are we ready for such leaders? If they did emerge would we recognise them? I think we like to think in business terms in Australia, especially when it comes to politics. Maybe the leaders I dream of don’t see a market for their kind of leadership just now?
When I think of Australia and leadership as it relates to the rest of the world I see Australia having a wonderful opportunity to play a leading role as we face the challenges that lie ahead. My reasons are derived from the following 2 quotes.
“People who have wild ideas about how to run the earth ought to start with a small garden” – Ahmed Kathrada
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” – Margaret Mead
“You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.” - Buckminster Fuller
