tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11848120086497360662024-03-14T01:47:39.960+11:00Lineaist BlogWeblog of Jonathan Blackwell, MBALineaisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11633540200467932058noreply@blogger.comBlogger86125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1184812008649736066.post-54154175050802463902017-01-31T05:27:00.000+11:002017-01-31T06:03:29.204+11:00Lineaist "Eagle Feathers" (2017)<p>
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<p>
A new series of paintings by Lineaist Artist, Jonathan Blackwell, titled "Eagle Feathers" will be on display for First Friday at Tornado Gallery in Lubbock's historic Depot District. Despite the absence of a listing in First Friday's news release, THE GALLERY IS OPEN.
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<p>
Jonathan majored in Visual Art at Duke University after graduating from Lubbock High School in 1997. In 2001 he founded the Lineaism art movement, incorporating responses to culture and technology through a personalized form of geometric abstract expressionism.
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Jonathan and his wife Angela Nash-Blackwell moved back to Lubbock from Sydney, Australia where he finished his MBA in 2010 and worked internationally as a management consultant before returning to create the new Marketing Department at the Museum of Texas Tech in 2015.
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In 2016 the couple founded Nashwell LLC to commericalize Angela's fashion label <a href="http://ampersander.com">Ampersander.com</a> and her lifestyle blog <a href="http://Southern-From-Another.blogspot.com">Southern-From-Another.blogspot.com</a> as well as Jonathan's artwork, <a href="http://www.lineaist.com">Lineaist.com</a> and his marketing agency, <a href="http://linebrand.com.au">Linebrand.com.au</a>, currently on contract with Identify Corporate Innovations, <a href="http://identifyci.com">identifyci.com</a>.
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<p>
"Eagle Feathers" is a calm echo of <a href="http://www.lineaist.com/lineaism/120919-etabipartisan_01-d01-jeb/">"Bipartisan Left Wing and Right Wing" (2002)</a>, a charged response to the characterization of political parties during the height of Operation Iraqi Freedom. In this diptych two contrasting wings signified peaceful collaboration against violent aggression.
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<p>
Drawing from a renewed faith during his time in the Jewish and Christian communities of Australia, Jonathan's abstract work now incorporates subtle themes of the Holy Trinity. The numbers 3 and 9 are ubiquitous, from the number of shapes and colors to the spacing of elements, dimensions, and even the date created.
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<p>
In "Eagle Feathers 01" for example, 9 shapes are rotated at 33º to signify the age of Jesus Christ on The Cross, painted with three shades of blue and green as a reference to blue sky and green grass, the connection between Heaven and Earth. Rather than divisive Blue and Red, we are all a products of this blue and green.
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<p>
From there Eagle Feathers 02, 03, and 04 are composed of modified shapes, each manipulated by 9 keystrokes in a digital program to print the next stencil. Each shape is stacked on itself, and with these manipulated mutations the angular perfection of 33º is corrupted, created shapes the viewer may related to angel wings.
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<p>
Jonathan believes we are all created in God's image, yet our placement in society and how we relate to each other distorts the blueprint from which we were made. Even the materials used in Lineaist artwork echo this theme. Natural material of wood panels, like the Earth and Sky created by God, has been manufactured and manipulated to create plywood, just as we mine the Earth for mineral wealth and charge the sky with fuel emissions.
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<p>
The calming color palette is chosen deliberately to calm the viewer, in light of the deeper understanding of our surroundings the artist begs of us. To give back to the art community of which Jonathan is a small part, he and his wife are regular contributors to <a href="https://www.facebook.com/theMediciCircle/">The Medici Circle - Supporting Texas Tech School of Art</a> where Angela serves on their Board of Directors. "Eagle Feathers" is on display at Tornado Gallery throughout February 2017. For more information, visit <a href="http://www.lineaist.com/lineaism/">www.lineaist.com/lineaism</a>.
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Lineaisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11633540200467932058noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1184812008649736066.post-22385692521546862372017-01-24T10:16:00.001+11:002017-01-24T14:06:42.087+11:00Penning the Post Presidential Obamas<p>
I was living in Durham, NC in 2008 and saw the happiness in the streets as the traditionally black neighborhood built by tobacco workers, now occupied by Duke University and Durham City employees, was filled with tangible, palpable hope.
</p>
<p>
In 2009 I started the AGSM MBA program in Sydney, Australia and watched Obama's first Inauguration speech as a part of our Foundations of Management course, seeing the jubilation in my classmates, made up of more than 60 business professionals from over 30 countries.
</p>
<p>
This Presidency has been the hallmark of my desires as an active, global Democrat. I watched from Sydney in 2012, tweeting from the Democrats Abroad Australia Twitter handle @DemsAbroadOz as Obama remained the 44th President of the United States. Living in Australia, Obama's presidency made sense.
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<p>
Here I was living in a country with limited handguns, universal healthcare, and a quality of life of which I know Barack would approve. Coming back to the United States as a dual US / Australian citizen in 2015, it was a harsh culture shock returning to Conservative West Texas, where Commonwealth dignity and Climate Change concerns of Australia were replaced by latent racism and ignorance.
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<p>
It was a shock to every Democrat when Trump was elected, and added insult to the injury of an unpalatable return to my home town "values". I want desperately to cling to the America I know we share, Michelle and Barack Obama, and I vow to become more active, vocal and rational despite the discouragement, fear mongering and erratic falsehoods that await.
</p>
<p>
We've seen these tactics before, bathed in the blood of thousands of Iraqis, and yet we know that we are able to create a better life, a clearer reality, a greater hope. We continue to live it everyday, despite a despicable 45th flash in Pan-American progress.
</p> Lineaisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11633540200467932058noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1184812008649736066.post-35690366755474476262016-11-22T00:22:00.000+11:002016-11-22T00:24:46.062+11:00We, The Basket of Deplorables (Understanding Omniculturalism)<p>
Whether you voted Blue or Red, it is <i>We The People</i> of the United States who elected our next president. I want to offer a simple binary perspective to give us all hope that working together is possible. Unity may be within our grasp. When coming to terms with the staggering diversity in our country, there are two terms to help frame this great experiment. One is <i>Multiculturalism</i>, the other <i>Omniculturalism</i>.
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<p>
Multiculturalism is understanding that not all people are the same, and believing that we must respect our differences. This seldom works, and is an artifact of failed policies such as "Separate but Equal" and behaviors and beliefs that led to the Great White Flight. Multiculturalism is an indication of the growing pains of the world that Thomas Friedman describes in <i>The World is Flat</i> and his follow-up book, <i>Hot Flat and Crowded</i>.
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<p>
Omniculturalism is the understanding that we are all one people, with subtle differences that set us apart. Be it genetic mutations or language barriers, melanin count or country of origin, the human race is diverse, and the United States was born in the understandable process to comes to terms with the vast spectrum of our collective variety. The key to shifting the paradigm from a Multicultural to an Omnicultural perspective is inviting individual ownership of these differences.
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<p>
By stating that it is <i>We the Basket of Deplorables</i> that elected our next president, I take full ownership of the red shift in our shared spectrum. The only way forward to any of us is to individually come to terms with all of us. If you are white, spend more time with the black. If you are black, I'm terribly sorry for the pain you have endured so far and pray that this pain will subside as we continue to pull together and pursue a more perfect union.
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<p>
If you are in the millions of shades of gray in between, you are us, and We are the People. That is to say, We Americans have one thing in common, above all others. It is up to us to keep that in mind, and to get used to using the collective plural pronoun. Gone are the days of us and them serving humanity in any useful way. That is Multiculturalism and it is a failed experiment. The WE of Omniculturalism will serve to keep us all in check, and to treat our neighbors as ourselves.
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<p>
Go hug an other. Embrace the old "them" to find the new "we". When we, whoever "we" are, come to terms with defining this new identity, we will shift into the worldview that can unite our divisions through empathetic dialog. Not Multicultural sympathy, but Omnicultural empathy. The view that "I understand your situation because I've done my best to stand in your shoes". Until we do that, we are all The Basket of Deplorables. One day the United States will finally become <i>We The People</i>.
</p>Lineaisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11633540200467932058noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1184812008649736066.post-10160678621150272392014-06-10T10:36:00.001+10:002014-06-10T11:01:33.609+10:00Keeping UberX for Billions<p><b>
Keeping UberX for Billions of Reasons - Removing UberX is Not an Option
</p></b>
<p><i>
The Taxi industry in Sydney is a broken system. Few profit, many suffer. I cannot vouch for Uber enough and celebrate the customer service solution Uber and UberX represents.
</p>
<p>
My support of Uber's services in the desolate taxi landscape could be the thesis of a five-year Philosophical Doctorate, but I'll summarise in three points for Transport NSW:
</p></i>
<p><b>
1. End users and paying clients have the final say
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<p>
2. The share-economy is here to stay
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<p>
3. Be a global example of success, not failure
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<p><b>
1. End users and paying clients have the final say
</p></b>
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As an end user, I will only pay for a service worth using. I have a boycott on Taxis after too many service failures to count. When a taxi doesn't show up when reserved (multiple times), shows up inconveniently late or early (always), refuses to take me where I need to go (often), and then charges more than these service failures are worth, only a sane person would say NO to this broken system and find an alternative solution.
</p>
<p>
<a href="http://www.uber.com">Uber</a> is that solution, and UberX specifically levels the playing field and forces Taxi drivers to provide a service that meets the demands of paying clients. As an Uber client, I can say every single Uber ride I have taken is an amazing win/win situation for driver and customer by comparison. Drivers are rated on performance and only good drivers succeed.
</p>
<p>
Mind you, all Uber drivers have been good drivers, as their use of the Uber service proves that they care about me, the end user that pays them, and we share that same value.
I could go on but I'll move on the benefits of the driver and the share-economy.
</p>
<p><b>
2. The share-economy is here to stay
</p></b>
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Airbnb.com has proven that the accommodation industry can be turned on it's head when a low-priced solution can offer rooms to travellers by trusting home owners and renters to open their doors and host their location on the Airbnb site.
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These share-economy technologies are here to stay as the human race continues to grow in number whilst finite resources remain fixed. It's not only good business to provide more options for consumers through room-sharing and ride-sharing, but it's a moral imperative to preserve the human race if we are to consume our shared resources wisely.
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<p>
Lastly and most importantly, with redundancies and lay-offs handed out to otherwise helpless workers in corporate down-sizing, UberX and other share-economy income-streams provide workers a transitional income whilst they look for new roles, or, by fully embracing these new technologies, become service leaders in their adoption.
<p><b>
3. Be a global example of success, not failure
</p></b>
Sydney is not isolated in the need for better transport options. Cities around the world with bad bus systems, lack of reliable trains, and overpriced taxis demand UberX as an option.
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Cancelling UberX would stop the support for families of drivers like Ian, who gave my wife and I a ride from Circular Quay to our home in Marrickville.
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We needed to find an alternative way to get home as our trains were not running due to track work, another Sydney transport failure that is known all too well.
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Despite buying Opal Cards to take advantage of one solution to the problem of waiting in line to buy train tickets, the trains still failed us and we had to find another way home.
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Like most Sydneysiders, my wife and I are on a very tight budget as a result of paying overpriced rent and unable to find adequate employment in our professions.
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The result of high costs and low incomes for us means that our money is tight and time is limited. Taking a bus during track work is not an option, and taxis are too expensive.
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UberX is the best option for us to get where we need to go when we need to get there, being treated well, valued as customers, and given the option to rate our driver in return.
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Ian gave us a comfortable ride in a back Toyota Prius whilst we helped with directions as he is only driving UberX recently since receiving a redundancy as a corporate accountant.
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Taking away UberX would devastate Ian's family, further frustrate Sydney commuters like me who want better transport options, and possibly force Ian to foreclose on his mortgage.
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<p><i>
In summary:
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<p><b>
1. Anyone in Transport NSW who denies UberX is ignoring the fact that end-users pay for these service options and should have the final say in what is available and for how much.
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2. With the changing global economy, the share-economy is here to stay as a solution to corporates sacking workers who need creative income streams quickly to cover their costs.
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3. Sydney has an opportunity to lead in this changing landscape. Listening to the users and service providers successes, private industries provide services like UberX to solve problems that governments and state agencies are not able to solve.
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<p>
Let the Uber experts do what travellers have needed all along. Give the people UberX.
</p>Lineaisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11633540200467932058noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1184812008649736066.post-72601439552883253562014-02-24T17:48:00.001+11:002014-02-25T11:49:50.532+11:00Meet Your Professional Mess-TacklerUpon reading several Harvard Business Review articles about <a href="http://designthinking.ideo.com/">Design Thinking</a> to fuel the relevance of a new and improved <a href="https://lineaistdesign.typeform.com/to/S4cecD">Marketing Survey</a>, I came across an excerpt by Caroline O'Conner and Sarah Stein Greenberg of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hasso_Plattner_Institute_of_Design">Hasso Plattner Institute of Design</a>. The Hasso Plattner Institute of Design in Germany administers their campus in the United States as the Stanford University "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanford_Joint_Program_in_Design">d.school</a>", founded by David Kelley in 2004. <br />
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Caroline (a lecturer) and Sarah (managing director) had an excerpt called "Tackling the Mess, One Step at a Time" in the larger article by Tom Kelley and David Kelley, <i><a href="http://hbr.org/2012/12/reclaim-your-creative-confidence/ar/3">Reclaim Your Creative Confidence</a></i>. While I can relate to the five items in the list as valid ways of testing the user experience of your own organisation, I relate even more to the whole concept (often greater than the sum of its parts.)<br />
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<b><h1>Tackling the Mess, One Step at a Time</b></h1>
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<b><h2>1. Lurk in online forums.</b></h2>
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Listen in as potential customers share information, air grievances, and
ask questions—it’s the virtual equivalent of hanging around a popular café. You’re not looking for
evaluations of features or cost; you’re searching for clues about their concerns and desires.
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<b><h2>2. Pick up the phone and call your own company’s customer service line.</b></h2>
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Walk through the experience as if you were a customer, noting how your problem is handled and how you’re feeling
along the way.
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<b><h2>3. Seek out an unexpected expert.</b></h2>
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What does the receptionist in your building know about your firm’s customer experience? If you use a car service for work travel, what insights do the drivers have about your firm? If you’re in health care, talk to a medical assistant, not a doctor. If you make
a physical product, ask a repair person to tell you about common failure areas.
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<b><h2>4. Act like a spy.</b></h2>
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Take a magazine and a pair of headphones to a store or an industry conference (or, if your customers are internal, a break room or lunch area). Pretend to read while you observe. Watch as if you were a kid, trying to understand what is going on. How are people interacting with your offering? What can you glean from their body language?
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<b><h2>5. Casually interview a customer or potential customer.</b></h2>
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After you’ve gotten more comfortable venturing out, try this: Write down a few open-ended questions about your product or service. Go to a place where your customers tend to gather, find someone you’d be comfortable approaching, and say you’d like to ask a few questions. If the person refuses? No problem, just try someone else. Eventually you’ll find someone who’s dying to talk to you. Press for more detail with every question. Even if you think you understand, ask “Why is that?” or “Can you tell me more about
that?” Get people to dig into their own underlying assumptions.
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Plainly stated, I am a Mess Tackler. It is consistent with everything I have ever done in my life. Referencing the <a href="http://lineaist.blogspot.com.au/2010/11/sacred-passage-2010-flinders-island.html">previous post</a> on this blog about being the Happy Wanderer and Happy Wandering Artist, I draw a linear path through what appears to others as wandering. I am a <a href="http://www.saatchiart.com/lineaist">Lineaist</a> artist , and a <a href="http://www.lineaist.com/">Lineaist</a> is a mess tackler, connecting the dots (mess) into an identifiable outline (tackled).<br />
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I laughed out loud when I whole-heartedly realised that every day of my life is a mess, and waking up in the morning and facing another day for me is mess-tackling. I may not have the most predictable professional path or business model, but that is indicative of this valuable work I was born to do.<br />
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I take the uncertainty of my own path in life, redefining my entire identity at least once every two years, as a foundation for subject matter expertise when I help my clients navigate changes in their own lives and with their businesses, using the <a href="http://www.servicedesigntools.org/taxonomy/term/1">best practices</a> available like my colleagues at <a href="http://hbr.org/">HBR</a>.<br />
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Whether it's something mundane like cleaning up my housemates' garage to make room for incoming shelves and a system of order or something born of my own dreams comes true like working for <a href="http://www.pwc.com.au/thedifference/">The Difference at PwC</a>, guiding Qantas Pilots through their own uncertainty, I aim to mess-tackle.<br />
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Thank you Caroline and Sarah, Tom and David for your work in tackling the world's messes and making Design Thinking a more organised system of processes and results. I walk the messy path with you of taking my <a href="http://www.asb.unsw.edu.au/futurestudents/postgraduate/agsmmba/Pages/default.aspx">B-School</a> colleagues into our <a href="http://dschool.stanford.edu/">D-School </a>world.Lineaisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11633540200467932058noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1184812008649736066.post-72816789085630614662013-06-24T19:54:00.001+10:002013-07-01T21:40:33.272+10:00Samag - Community Engagement: Philosophies and Practices<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Community Engagement begins with an invitation, and Samag <a href="http://www.samag.org/">(Seminars for Arts Professionals)</a> has invited members and guests to the <a href="http://www.australiacouncil.gov.au/">Australian Council for the Arts</a> to discuss how the arts is engaging community. T</span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">echnology officer </span><a href="http://www.biennaleofsydney.com.au/blog/2013/06/03/ppe-coordinator/" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Nisa Mackie</a> <span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">manipulated Poor Lizzy Galloway's laptop, </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">executing her role with grace and poise as each presenter took to the podium. It was a packed crowd, like<a href="http://lineaist.blogspot.com.au/2013/03/australian-art-in-asian-century.html"> the last Samag event I attended</a>, minus a few inevitable empty seats in the front row. The front seats were empty, that is, except for a possibly homeless man that arrived, surprising us all at the end!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.atyp.com.au/about/staff/fraser-corfield">Fraser Corfield</a> - started his community engagement career in youth arts programs in South Australia, where the population is the oldest per capita countrywide. Work on an opera project in another language with his youth broadened their horizons and changed their scope of what is reasonable and possible. Perhaps the most successful story of community engagement for Fraser is his mystery bus tour where kids covered themselves with fake wounds like Zombies and bonded with those in the neighbouring communities by scaring them half to death. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://carriageworks.tumblr.com/post/17990122984/lisa-havilah-feature-article-realtime-107">Lisa Havilah</a> - "Being relevant to a community is being reflective of the community." Lisa engaged in long-term 5 year strategies, resourced with non-arts partners and public housing communities. It takes sustained efforts to conduct a program that is not too comfortable, near <a href="http://www.campbelltown.nsw.gov.au/">Campbelltown</a>. Projects and artworks developed reflect cultural protocols of the communities, ranging from Indian to Tongan. <a href="http://www.carriageworks.com.au/">Carriageworks</a>, where Lisa serves as Director, is committed to long term relationships with artists and the local aboriginal communites in which the space resides in Redfern, the Black Capital of Australia. The film <a href="http://www.carriageworks.com.au/?page=Event&event=I-am-Eora">"I am Eora"</a> is one of the products of this cultural community engagement.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.milanigallery.com.au/artist/khaled-sabsabi">Khaled Sabsabi</a> - Grew up in <a href="http://www.auburn.nsw.gov.au/Pages/default.aspx">Auburn</a>, with a background in hip-hop music. Transitioned into work with youth prisons and NGOs, later through visual arts. Development vs Engagement: An artist or practitioner should understand the distinction between the two. Artists don't choose communities; communities choose artists. The situation in the community attracts and invites these people into their situation. An outcome then forms from this process. Like a legendary hero standing for what his represents, Khaled cut his presentation short to allow more time for questions at the end.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://ice.org.au/2012/08/ice-appoints-new-executive-director-john-kirkman/">John Kirkman</a> - "Community engagement is about risk. People live and die about how they engage with community (and engage with technology)" he said, as the projector struggled to keep up with his presentation. Working with communities is a transaction, as John put it, basically following a standard <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PEST_analysis">PESTEL</a> analysis with <span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Environmental and Legal impacts. John got my attention when he started talking about aspects of cultural community engagement in the Disco era, including a myriad combinations of sex and drugs. "War & Peace: Memorial to Disco, Rock and Parramatta" is an archival memento named after a <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AecspmmEUrA">Parramatta dance club</a> that he references regarding an Australian past and history through personal stories and archives as opposed to expert historical analysis. When John's father drove past a Lebanese area of Granville, he was quoted as saying with disinterest, "Oh look, that's where the Lesbians live." </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.curiousworks.com.au/stories/working-with-communities-artists-in-conversation-shakthi-sivanathan/">Shakthi Sivanathan</a> - Served as MC in a very gentle treatment of the speakers, keeping time and curating good conversation in the following Q&A. One resounding question Shakthi asks is what can we learn about the engagement of institutions with the community based on the perspective of the panel? Lisa at Carriageworks states that the organisation's ideas should reflect the ideas of others. She went on to state that community issues can be content within the construction of community engaged work. Unabashedly your author broke the ice with the first question from the audience, giving the example of <a href="http://www.brett-cook.com/www.brett-cook.com/Brett_Cook.html">Brett Dizney-Cook</a> and his <a href="http://documentarystudies.duke.edu/projects/past-projects/face-up">Face-Up Project with Duke University Center of Documentary Studies</a> in the <a href="http://durhamnc.gov/Pages/Home.aspx">City of Durham, North Carolina</a>. This community arts initiative could be managed with bold vigour as </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">past community leaders' portraits as</span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> the subject made it easy to align local labour and executed. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Before the formal closing of the event, the last question came from our friend in the front row making a statement that was so profound the panel responded with enthusiasm. The man's name is Peter, and his question was regarding the proliferation of popular culture drowning out local community artists. He asked "Is the impact of popular culture on community art a good thing or a bad thing?" Fraser answered that it is a useful conduit through which youth can be engaged and mobilised. As an <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Elance-Australia/231428053657390">Elance Mobilizer</a>, I have community engagement resources to share, and am interested in how peer-to-peer marketing programs can interface with the arts community. This is one example. </span>Lineaisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11633540200467932058noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1184812008649736066.post-2868543478939616402013-05-22T23:04:00.002+10:002013-05-22T23:04:25.860+10:00A letter to the editor of Anthill magazine<br />
Dear Mr. James Tuckerman,<br />
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Thank you for your response to my emails regarding my perception of Anthill as being guilty of defaming the design community. Perhaps as editor in chief you have not had a rewarding experience to make you value design services.<br />
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With all due humility I aim to conduct my own design business in a way that increases the amount of respect our profession deserves. I'm one of many active members in AGDA and DIA after being an AIGA member in the US before coming to Australia for an MBA degree.<br />
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The travesty of design crowdsourcing, like that which you mentioned in your article about facebook's use of such a deplorable service, is that it devalues the quality of the work and threatens the continuity from job to job as someone doing work for free is neither sustainable, nor legal.<br />
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The clearest message design crowdsourcing sends is a woeful misunderstanding of the value of design as a profession. I would show an equal level of ignorance if I created an infographic showing how publications like Anthill would be better managed by crowdsourcing their editorial services.<br />
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If you think a graphic like this would be a useful addition to the Anthill publication, I am happy to offer my design services at the lawful award rate through Fair Work Australia, if not the rates my IP Lawyers Finn Roache drafted for $1K after a few hours of their professional service.<br />
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Regards,<br />
Jonathan Blackwell, MBA<br />
Lineaist Design<br />
Lineaisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11633540200467932058noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1184812008649736066.post-13429371976155855352013-04-04T23:26:00.002+11:002013-04-05T00:08:28.620+11:00Cloud Computing and Co-working, Hand in HandAs an independent design professional at the moment, I enjoy a lot of personal freedom. With that personal freedom comes personal responsibility, and sometimes I struggle with that. Luckily for creative workers like me, there are tools out there we can use to impose structure on our otherwise fractured and whimsical minds. In my case, that tool is <a href="http://www.elance.com/">Elance</a>.<br />
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Every since I was fortuitously granted a contract to work with <a href="https://www.trymph.com/">Silicon Valley Startup Trymph, Inc</a> on their word games Spell Me Right and Unscramble This, my work day has always begun with a little plug-in on my computer, Tracker, opening and inviting me to choose which job I will bill my time towards that day. This program, like the little <a href="http://tron.wikia.com/wiki/Bit">floating bit in TRON</a>, hovers over my work, taking stock of my performance with regular screenshots. This keeps me on task, and I know that the work I've done is the work I'm billing, and, more importantly, my client knows this too.<br />
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The only problem with working online and all that personal freedom, aside from the inevitable slump between jobs when one job is finished, before another is found, is the loneliness. I sit in my room and enjoy loud music to overpower the construction going on outside my window, but the construction workers aren't the best company for my profession. In the global flattening of the world <a href="http://www.thomaslfriedman.com/bookshelf/the-world-is-flat">Thomas Friedman</a> describes, I can see a global realm of opportunities, and only perhaps at lower hourly rates to compete with my third world brothers and sisters in the healthy sibling rivalry that evolves in the age of cloud computing.<br />
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We come to believe in this realm of virtual servers, virtual desktops, and <a href="http://help.elance.com/entries/34763-What-Is-The-Workroom-">virtual workrooms</a>, that we can live in a virtual wonderland of opportunity, given the realistic drop in value as the relative lower value of third world workers comes to be recognised as the equal service it may be in some cases. While everything is going "to the cloud" with remote hosting, even the people are being co-located in the computational heavens, as Elance touts their online work management system of Startups and Freelancers as <a href="https://www.elance.com/p/files/file/documents/Blueprint_for_Building_Your_Startup.pdf">"The Human Cloud"</a>. Someday we may all be <a href="http://www.metacafe.com/watch/3805428/george_clooney_meet_john_malkovich_nespresso_commerical/">living in the clouds together</a>, but unfortunately I can't ascertain that at the moment.<br />
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In the meantime, we are still human, and no human is truly in the cloud(s). We are in front of our computers (or hopefully away from the computers being inspired to return to the computers and share), and for long periods of time this experience can be quite isolating. While the work we type, swipe and click away may take us further into our individual professional development, the worker in question must <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u31O98bEUTg">prairie-dog</a> their head above the relative cubicle walls to analyse their surroundings. Who in this office community will help shepherd your individual work in the right direction?<br />
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Because I have no cubicle walls to prairie-dog, and working alone, for me anyway, has it's limitations, I must engage in the community of similar workers with similar feelings and similar longings and needs. This movement out of my home and into co-located desk space is commonly called the Co-working movement, and I embrace it wholeheartedly. Going back to what I was saying about Elance as an online work management solution, co-working spaces like <a href="http://cocreatinghubsydney.tumblr.com/">HUB Sydney</a> are the other side of that fortuitous coin.<br />
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On one hand we have the global supply and demand of work through online platforms. On the other hand with have inherent human needs for community and companionship. People must come together to realise their full potential. Anyone who has played in a team sport, sung in a choir, acted in a play, or served on a board of directors will tell you that. We already know it. It takes events like <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marissa_Mayer">Marissa Mayer, CEO at Yahoo</a>, repealing the work at home policy to get her workforce back together work as a team and pull the company in a new direction. <br />
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The exciting part of the coworking movement is that we don't know where that direction is going until we find that local office like <a href="http://www.weco.com.au/">WeCo</a> and see what opportunities lie ahead that could not have been realised otherwise, "because working from home sucks". The more I write this, the more I realise how important it is that we leave our homes as independent workers and join forces as co-workers in arms. We can't even begin to realise the problems we will solve until we start sharing together and forming the common ground for their solutions.Lineaisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11633540200467932058noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1184812008649736066.post-77751512052850815792013-03-25T19:51:00.000+11:002013-03-25T23:32:24.555+11:00Australian Art in the Asian Century<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Over the weekend I attended an artist conversation with Vernon Ah Kee, <a href="http://www.milanigallery.com.au/artist/vernon-ah-kee">an Indiginous Australian artist of Malaysian background</a> at Art Atrium, hosted by <a href="http://www.artatrium.com.au/director.html">gallery director</a> Simon Chan and moderated by Imogen Yang, <a href="http://inchinatown.wordpress.com/tag/imogen-yang/">one of the curators</a> along with Djon Mundine OAM. The topic of this conversation was an emboldened perspective on the aspect of Indigenous Australian art from artists with an Asian ethnic background.
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Today the Australia Council for the Arts hosts *samag - Seminars for Arts Professionals, with a compelling panel featuring Aaron Seeto, <a href="http://www.4a.com.au/aaron-seeto-introduction-to-new-century-garden-talking-about-public-art-in-chinatown/">the Director</a> of 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art, Dr Thomas Berghuis, a lecturer in Asian Art at the Department of Art History & Film Studies <a href="http://sydney.edu.au/arts/art_history_film/staff/tberghuis.shtml">at the University of Sydney</a>, Paschal Daantos Berry, <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/stage/the-folding-wife-20100416-sjq9.html">an independent Filipino/Australian writer and dramaturg</a> whose practice is focused on interdisciplinary, cross cultural and collaborative processes, Lorraine Chung, Translator/Project Assistant <a href="http://www.blogger.com/au.linkedin.com/pub/lorraine-chung/59/5a0/1a">at Gallery 4A</a>, and Su-wen Leong, <a href="http://cargocollective.com/suwenleong">a COFA artist and arts administrator</a> assisting the Curatorial Department at Object Australian Centre for Design.
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The resounding themes of the two talks are the struggles of artists in Australia from other ethnic backgrounds, whether it be the exclusion of an aboriginal heritage or the hurdles of finding immigration opportunities to stay after graduating with an academic degree or upon expiration of a working holiday visa.
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The focus of much of the conversation centered around the Australian white paper, "Australia in the Asian Century", available on the Australian Government Asian Century <a href="http://asiancentury.dpmc.gov.au/white-paper">website</a>. The panel at one point cautioned the audience when looking at Asia as a "resource", which is often how the white paper defines the Australian/Asian relationship and the opportunities that lie ahead.
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The most controversial statement made by the panel may have been from Thomas Berghuis when he said "The 20th Century was the Asian Century", not the 21st Century as the white paper claims. In the questions and answers following the panel Thomas defended his statement "The 20th Century was the Asian Century" and evoked a great chorus of clarifying statements from the panel.
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Thomas mentioned research at Harvard like that of Tarun Khanna, <a href="http://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/profile.aspx?facId=6491">Jorge Paulo Lemann Professor</a> at Harvard Business School on the Indian and Chinese economic powers. Thomas stressed an emphasis on the 500 million people taken out of poverty in Asia in the 20th Century.
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Aaron Seto adds that most of the work to create the Asian Century was done in the 20th Century. The mid to late 19th Century saw a great flood of immigrants out of Asia, and the 1901 immigration act restricting that immigration. The fall of Saigon and decolonisation of South East Asia and other cultural and historical changes laid the foundation for what the white paper so aptly defines.
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Paschal confirmed "Australians are the new Americans", as spoken by his Filipino audience on his travels to the Philippines. He explained this means that the wealth and influence in the region, whilst of American origins in the 20th Century, comes more noticeably from Australian business and governmental influence in the new millenium.
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Lorraine added that she chose to study in Australia and not the United States where she grew up because of her belief that Australia is the up and coming, a Western power to rise from the Asian conflicts of the 20th Century. Starting from its inexplicably low status in the global stage during the 20th Centuray, Australian influence in the 21st has plenty of room to grow and be noticed in its influence as a prosperous European chaperone.
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Later from Pedro de Almeida, <a href="http://www.4a.com.au/about-4a/people/">Program Manager</a> at 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art, the question was posed "What must Australia do with its focus on Asian art to bring the cultural rise into an approchable format?" The panel answered with their own examples of past curatorial choices that set this example, and ideas of what can be done in the future, naming specific artists and these artists' own take on the communication of the pressing issues around the Asian cultural influence that is on the hearts and minds of the international audience, attracted to this event hosted by *samag at the Australian Council for the Arts.
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On a personal note relating to the confusion of Asian cultural identity, I can't help but think of my friend and classmate from Duke University, Pete Ortiz, when in a discussion about finding a partner of your similar ethnic background he said, "I don't meet many Japorican women." His mother is Japanese and his father is Puerto Rican, and he grew up in the military outpost of Fayetteville, North Carolina, working in his mother's noodle shop. God bless you, Pete ;)<br />
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Lineaisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11633540200467932058noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1184812008649736066.post-13908571974678189732013-01-30T10:09:00.001+11:002013-01-30T10:09:49.863+11:00Shining Night with Morten Lauridsen<p>
I just watched "Shining Night: A Portrait of Composer Morten Lauridsen" by Michael Stillwater and was reminded of the incredible experience I had with Sacred Passage at Flinders Island, reflected in the blog entry I posted on Friday November 12, 2010.
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nrZfg_dQ2Yk/UQhVDX0_X4I/AAAAAAAAINI/XAsl1KKykZc/s1600/130130%2BMortenHeader%2Bd01%2Bjeb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="243" width="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nrZfg_dQ2Yk/UQhVDX0_X4I/AAAAAAAAINI/XAsl1KKykZc/s400/130130%2BMortenHeader%2Bd01%2Bjeb.jpg" /></a></div>
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Morten's biography is impressive, earning the National Medal for the Arts in 2007 with his music being played worldwide, invoking emotions that leave audiences speechless. For an introduction and explanation in his own voice, see the Wall Street Journal article he penned in February 21, 2009: <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123516723329736303.html">http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123516723329736303.html</a>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-uc0rzSAdAKo/UQhVnhL_xAI/AAAAAAAAINU/a5mlSqM8g4A/s1600/130130%2BEarthSpace%2Bd01%2Bjeb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="210" width="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-uc0rzSAdAKo/UQhVnhL_xAI/AAAAAAAAINU/a5mlSqM8g4A/s400/130130%2BEarthSpace%2Bd01%2Bjeb.jpg" /></a></div>
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"O Magnum Mysterium" is one of the focal points of his musical oeuvre and referenced at the beginning and end of Stillwater's film. The only two sentences of the latin verse touch on the wonder of the birth of Christ and have been set to music for centuries. I cannot boast that I have composed music to express the wonder of this and all creation, but my experience on Flinders Island brought me closer to how Morten addresses the subject.
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While Morten composes on secluded Waldron Island in the San Juan Archipelago in Northwest Washington State, I captured some of my surroundings on Flinders Island off the northern coast of Tasmania. I was fascinated at the opportunity of connecting this profound relationship with nature and the daily tasks of my experience in business management, set in motion by the same values that provided a cultural fit at Ensemble Partners.
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-36Ae5QBemPU/UQhWo84ZkYI/AAAAAAAAINg/ruwj1g_XrHM/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2013-01-30%2Bat%2B10.07.25%2BAM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="250" width="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-36Ae5QBemPU/UQhWo84ZkYI/AAAAAAAAINg/ruwj1g_XrHM/s400/Screen%2BShot%2B2013-01-30%2Bat%2B10.07.25%2BAM.png" /></a></div>
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With respect to Morten Lauridsen and a challenge to reiterate that experience, I've reposted the entire entry from 2010 here in hopes to keeping the experience and insights fresh in my life, if not the lives of any readers present.
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With a profound respect for our interconnections to the Divine Creation of which we are all a part, JB.
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<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_HPsSBqYYRj4/TNzkgZvppMI/AAAAAAAAFG0/WrHLCOTUx8U/s1600/FlindersGoogle3.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 264px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_HPsSBqYYRj4/TNzkgZvppMI/AAAAAAAAFG0/WrHLCOTUx8U/s400/FlindersGoogle3.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5538552887076562114" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">I. Describing the Indescribable<br />II. The Life of John P. Milton, Creator of Sacred Passage and The Way of Nature<br />III. A Valiant Beginning to a Lifetime of Teaching<br />IV. Who Am I?<br />V. Your Call to Action, Leader of the Future World</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_HPsSBqYYRj4/TNzgmQpFReI/AAAAAAAAFGM/5ntm5ttQ-FU/s1600/IMG_0444.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 299px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_HPsSBqYYRj4/TNzgmQpFReI/AAAAAAAAFGM/5ntm5ttQ-FU/s400/IMG_0444.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5538548589665797602" /></a><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">I. Describing the Indescribable</span><br /><br /><br />What would happen if you camped on a solo site for five nights, nourishing your body on a liquid diet while undertaking a strict regimen of guided meditation and Qi Gong to forge a deeper connection to nature and all the interconnected forms of life?<br /><br />Dig into your most profound memory of being human and bear with me.<br /><br />It’s hard to condense 100 hours of profound experience in one blog entry. After attending Sacred Passage with John P. Milton on the recommendation of the Founder of Ensemble Partners, our CEO and five others including myself are left somewhere between navigating life as usual and dissolving completely into the ultimate sustainability of becoming one with nature. <br /><br />If one man has become one with nature, a thousand years says Milton comes close.<br /><br />No matter how many pictures I could take or videos I could record, nothing would begin to clearly articulate the whole picture. Because of Who I Am (explain of Caps later), I will share some drawings made during the experience to send you on your travels for the remaining four sub-headings.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_HPsSBqYYRj4/TNzjAtpE4SI/AAAAAAAAFGk/zbZI9Fw7KtE/s1600/IMG_0440.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 299px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_HPsSBqYYRj4/TNzjAtpE4SI/AAAAAAAAFGk/zbZI9Fw7KtE/s400/IMG_0440.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5538551243150254370" /></a><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">II. The Life of John P. Milton, Creator of Sacred Passage and The Way of Nature</span><br /><br /><br />What’s the most engrossing film you’ve ever seen?<br /><br />Remember it... Think about it... Relive that feeling of being completely engrossed...<br /><br />Somewhere between Star Wars, Seven Years in Tibet, and Batman Begins lies the life of John P. Milton. The summary of John’s life goes from studying Zen Meditation in the 1950’s to becoming the first Ecologist at the White House under Nixon; from studying with Taoist Masters on Wudang Mountain in China to spending years with Buddhist Masters in the remote hilltops of Tibet. <br /><br />There’s no way to summarise when just two in the list include following the Taoist lineage of Chang San Feng from the 13th Century and studying Vepassana meditation with the now deceased S.N. Goenka in Nepal, whose recorded voice remains the sole guide for all Vepassana meditations worldwide.<br /><br />It’s better that I let John speak for himself, down to the details.<br /><br />The following excerpt is taken from an interview with John P. Milton by Carla Brennan:<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">“Since the late 1950's, I have been honoured to work with fine teachers in Taoism and T'ai Chi, Buddhism, Dzogchen, Vedanta and both Hindu and Buddhist Tantra:<br /><br />In 1958 I had my first teacher of meditative Qi Gong for spiritual cultivation; that opened an ever-deepening form of Taoist practice which I have continued with ever since. Then, in the late 1960's I was first exposed to T'ai Chi Ch'uan and immediately fell in love with that system of spiritual and energetic cultivation. From 1973 through 1980 I studied Cheng's Yang family style T'ai Chi - predominantly with Robert Smith and Ben Pang Jeng Lo - but also with Maggie Newman, Tam Gibbs and others. I also studied Qi Gong and Taoist yoga with Sifu Fong Ha, Mantak Chia and other Taoist teachers. <br /><br />I have taught these systems since 1979. <br /><br />In 1958, I also began practicing Zen meditation with Ed Maupin as his teacher. For many years, I practiced classical soto style zazen meditation between four and eight hours a day and Zazen continues until today as a core practice for me. Later on in the 1960's, I also became a serious student of the teachings of Taoism, Tibetan Buddhism and both Hindu and Buddhist Tantra. In the 1970's, I was deeply influenced by the blessings of shaktipat and Siddha Yoga with Swami Muktananda. As a result of all this spiritual cultivation, my first major experience of the arising of Kundalini Shakti and the opening of central channel came in the mid 1970's. <br /><br />Also starting in the late 1960's and through the 1970's until now, I have been fortunate and very blessed to have many fine teachers from several Tibetan lineages, particularly Sogyal Rinpoche, His Holiness Dilgo Khentze Rinpoche, H.H. the Karmapa, H.H. the Dalai Lama, Lama Tharchin, Lopon Tenzin Namdak, Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche and many other wonderful Lamas. In particular, the blessings of opening and deepening Dzogchen contemplation have been at the heart of my personal cultivation. <br /><br />From the late 1960's on until now, I have been very active in helping protect Himalayan forests and in setting up wildlife reserves and national parks in Nepal and Bhutan. I often hired large numbers of Tibetan refugees to help me in survey and parks work in the Himalaya Mountains along the Tibetan frontier. All this has given me some extraordinary opportunities to study and practice with Himalayan masters on their home ground and often in a very traditional way, with few or no other westerners around. <br /><br />I was also fortunate to study Vipassana meditation with S.N. Goenka and his wife in Nepal. Another major teacher for me has been the great tantrika, and devotee of the Divine Feminine, Vasudev of India and Nepal. Over a number of years I was blessed with being able to study with him in mountain caves, at Nepal's great temple to Shiva as the God of All Nature, Pashupatinath, and in the cremation grounds of Nepal and Varanasi (Benares). His teachings, transmissions and direct initiation into the Sacred View have been an incredible blessing to my life and my ability to serve my students.”</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_HPsSBqYYRj4/TNzh89Z-FTI/AAAAAAAAFGc/c_VKaamom7Q/s1600/IMG_0442.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 299px; height: 400px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_HPsSBqYYRj4/TNzh89Z-FTI/AAAAAAAAFGc/c_VKaamom7Q/s400/IMG_0442.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5538550079150757170" /></a><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">III. A Valiant Beginning to a Lifetime of Teaching</span><br /><br /><br />Have you ever used a metaphor from nature to describe your life experience? In any deeply rooted conversation about what just feels right, there is an example of it in nature. From animals who mate for life to the industriousness of an ant colony, nature offers something for everyone to understand the world we have shared for thousands of years.<br /><br />By Day 3 I began to feel accepted by Gaia on her own terms. On Day 4 I had a profound shift as I climbed to the top of Mt. Strzelecki. The three hour hike to the summit involved the buzzing of flies that would often drive a human into a fit. By the time I performed the 11 Direction Ceremony looking out over the Bass Strait, I came to feel at one between Sky and Earth and joined the flies buzzing around me as electrons in the the atomic connection shared between everything in the universe. The flies were my buddies, along for the energetic ride we all call life.<br /><br />The profound responsibility that comes with the thoughts I’m having is not lost on me. Looking out over all of Flinders and the surrounding Tasmanian Islands realise what it will take to protect this island development from a population of 700 into the future of what’s to come. I believe this can be a place of Zero Impact similar to the plans for Masdar in Abu Dabi. It’s in alignment with the preservation of Tasmanian wilderness and what’s reasonable and possible in the current paradigm shift in global consciousness.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_HPsSBqYYRj4/TNzhEhOIWWI/AAAAAAAAFGU/g9ClNeP_jOI/s1600/IMG_0443.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 299px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_HPsSBqYYRj4/TNzhEhOIWWI/AAAAAAAAFGU/g9ClNeP_jOI/s400/IMG_0443.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5538549109512231266" /></a><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">IV. Who Am I?</span><br /><br /><br />(Not to be confused with “Who Am I Now?”, a puberty video my brother will recall...)<br /><br />I want to share one thing that happens when an updated contract is signed with Mother Nature, being accepted by Gaia on her terms. The name I sign with exudes a deeper understanding of Who I Am. As one of many teachings in Milton’s Sky Above, Earth Below, the “Who Am I” exercise borrowed from the Hindu Master Ramana Maharshi reminds us that we are not any of the trappings that normally form our identity. This profound realisation stops us then to ask, “Who Am I?”, and come up with a meaningful answer that transcends space and time.<br /><br />The best I can come up with is that I Am The Happy Wandering Artist. I’m on the verge of adding Heterosexual, but nature takes care of that for me. Just as nature takes care of Homosexuals, I might add. It’s no surprise that Penguins can change their sexual orientation from breeders to non-breeders when their population balloons out of control. Almost 7 Billion humans are forever in gratitude to you Non-Breeders out there. But I digress.<br /><br />Perhaps in a past life, (you know me, Egon Schiele) and in the current life, I am a filter for the human experience constantly on the move. This return to the deepest understanding of myself I’ve had in a decade reminds me of not only Who I Am, but also the weaknesses that come with it. As John so lovingly pointed out when I received his council on my return to buildings and humans:<br /><br />It is the constant addiction to my own entertainment that drives me. This is a life out of balance when I realise after three days of being confined to peaceful meditation that I can’t sit still for that long and break out to climb a mountain. Nature requires an inner peace in all of us. The need for constant stimulation must be balanced with the personal mastery of meditating for hours and connecting to Deep Source.<br /><br />I have a lot of work to do on that. I’ll let you know how I go.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_HPsSBqYYRj4/TNzjr8dOWuI/AAAAAAAAFGs/cSBk1NXog00/s1600/IMG_0439.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 299px; height: 400px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_HPsSBqYYRj4/TNzjr8dOWuI/AAAAAAAAFGs/cSBk1NXog00/s400/IMG_0439.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5538551985861450466" /></a><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">V. Your Call to Action, Leader of the Future World</span><br /><br /><br />I first saw Milton speak at a Wake Up! Sydney event hosted by the resourceful Jono Fisher in 2009. Little did I know at the time that my future employer Ensemble Partners had brought John to Australia to form The Way of Nature Australia, an Oceanic subsidiary of his institute in Boulder, Colorado, which led in turn to Sacred Passage on Flinders Island.<br /><br />The take-away from his 2009 speech before a sold-out audience was the vision of what would happen if all the world’s leaders, CEOs, and top thinkers decided to spend at least three days immersed in nature, focused in deep meditation guided by the past thousand years of enlightened human experience. <br /><br />It was a profound vision of the future then, and it remains profound now.<br /><br />I urge you, Leader of the Future World, to go out into nature for as long as you can until you begin to feel that Gaia accepts you on her terms. When the world understands you with a Universal common denominator, you will start to understand yourself in ways I am only beginning to see in me.<br /><br />When you get back, give me a call. Learning from each other, it will start to make sense.Lineaisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11633540200467932058noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1184812008649736066.post-22113316817360245752013-01-22T10:27:00.001+11:002013-01-22T10:29:25.520+11:00Inauguration of Barack ObamaI was just watching coverage of the Inauguration of 44th US President Barack Obama from where I stand in Sydney, Australia.<br />
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Truly a global event, a dark-skinned gentleman standing next to me was slowly clapping in celebration of the incumbent.<br />
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In 2012 I was introduced to Democrats Abroad in Sydney, working alongside Dae Levine in an acting Social Media role, ultimately delivering the news of Obama's re-election in November.<br />
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I continue to enjoy being a part of the US Democratic system and US Democratic Party from this land of opportunity Down Under in the Asia-Pacific.<br />
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God bless Barack Obama, and God bless the United States of America as we navigate the international waters of friendships and allegiances towards a solution-oriented Design Thinking approach to Global Possibility. <br/><br/><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/--EI8bBDorLs/UP3Ow-8iHFI/AAAAAAAAIFU/XEW-WRz4UWs/s640/blogger-image-116160374.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/--EI8bBDorLs/UP3Ow-8iHFI/AAAAAAAAIFU/XEW-WRz4UWs/s640/blogger-image-116160374.jpg" /></a></div> <br/><br/><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-8s5q8srq3JI/UP3OrwDv7hI/AAAAAAAAIFE/Gs9_P7Ac7xY/s640/blogger-image--1948637068.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-8s5q8srq3JI/UP3OrwDv7hI/AAAAAAAAIFE/Gs9_P7Ac7xY/s640/blogger-image--1948637068.jpg" /></a></div> <br/><br/><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-9Zf5yb0QeJo/UP3Oue_PFBI/AAAAAAAAIFM/YzRjoa-gxWA/s640/blogger-image--1959804799.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-9Zf5yb0QeJo/UP3Oue_PFBI/AAAAAAAAIFM/YzRjoa-gxWA/s640/blogger-image--1959804799.jpg" /></a></div> <br/><br/><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-vWrld4OvuME/UP3O1x-Y6pI/AAAAAAAAIFk/yJc628SJ5Jc/s640/blogger-image--16261243.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-vWrld4OvuME/UP3O1x-Y6pI/AAAAAAAAIFk/yJc628SJ5Jc/s640/blogger-image--16261243.jpg" /></a></div> <br/><br/><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-rh0OxaexOn0/UP3OzCnLrkI/AAAAAAAAIFc/dPwXM6Dlew4/s640/blogger-image-1247916580.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-rh0OxaexOn0/UP3OzCnLrkI/AAAAAAAAIFc/dPwXM6Dlew4/s640/blogger-image-1247916580.jpg" /></a></div>Lineaisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11633540200467932058noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1184812008649736066.post-9684419797334970532013-01-16T14:36:00.001+11:002013-01-16T14:43:06.335+11:00Lineaist Design Branding Process <p>
In a recent job of rebranding for Turning Green, a sustainability recruitment consultancy, the Lineaist Design brand development process has taken some patented steps into a stylistic competitive advantage.
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As most successful brand designers will agree, brand management is about trust. To develop the level of trust necessary between a designer and business owner takes time and some shared exercises.
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In this case we went through a series of rehearsals with a scripted engagement, video-taped with a whiteboard presentation as a part of the conversation. What emerged was a very simple logo and brand message.
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Lisa Tarry, Managing Director of Turning Green, says, "Thank you Jonathan Blackwell! It was fantastic working with you and I love the new branding!"
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Visit <a href="http://www.facebook.com/LineaistDesign/">Lineaist Design</a> on facebook to watch for more Lineaist client updates.
</p>Lineaisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11633540200467932058noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1184812008649736066.post-56326358705844622852012-12-30T00:28:00.001+11:002012-12-30T00:52:58.864+11:00FC Bayern vs Manchester City - FIFA XBOXMy housemate is being dominated by one of his friends playing FIFA on the XBOX.<br />
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To further shame his Host, The Opponent then proceeded to tweak a new player profile with 99% perfection on every profile detail.<br />
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We thought that sounded like some brilliant messiah baby newborn business. DNA perfection, strand by strand.<br />
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To spite The Opponent, the player profile he created was not properly saved, resulting in all that time being spent in vain.<br />
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Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity. (Ecclesiastes 1:2 KJV)<br />
<br/><br/><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-3_up6LzPINs/UN7wAO4InwI/AAAAAAAAIDs/cl-_PHEItCY/s640/blogger-image-183476517.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-3_up6LzPINs/UN7wAO4InwI/AAAAAAAAIDs/cl-_PHEItCY/s640/blogger-image-183476517.jpg" /></a></div> <br/><br/><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Yk1yQYq7_O0/UN70o7FFEaI/AAAAAAAAID8/msZIfLOi1d8/s640/blogger-image--871070304.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Yk1yQYq7_O0/UN70o7FFEaI/AAAAAAAAID8/msZIfLOi1d8/s640/blogger-image--871070304.jpg" /></a></div>Lineaisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11633540200467932058noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1184812008649736066.post-78453664400609623942012-12-06T23:37:00.001+11:002012-12-06T23:45:16.670+11:00A Prayer for the Chaste<p>
A prayer for the chaste, in the common language and understanding that psychological guidance provides, upon reading two books:
“Conscious Loving: The Journey to Co-Commitment”
by Gay Hendricks, PhD, and Kathlyn Hendricks, PhD,
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and "Real Sex: The Naked Truth About Chastity"
by Lauren F. Winner.
I must also mention a renewal of my faith in Christ Jesus, the Living Son of God, through Whom I pray with the Holy Spirit to Our Father in Heaven. May my words be pleasing to God, and the message of Christ Jesus be sanctified.
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There is no premarital sex in my current relationship. God has seized control of my life. Everything I am learning and experiencing draws me closer to a spiritual tradition that comforts me.
I wish the same thing for everyone on Earth. From where I stand that sounds like spreading the Gospel. I have the utmost respect for where other people are coming from, and thank anyone for sharing with me what that is.
My advice to the reader, please leverage your passion as much as you can. You will be a role model for the rest of your life. Remember that. When you encounter problems, address them swiftly. Don’t avoid them. Celebrate your connections. They will respect you in return.
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I pray this message helps you in any way it can. Contact me if you’d like to make a connection and I will pray for you directly. If you are lonely, pray on that. God will speak to you through what you perceive and you will know they way.
You will be on the right path when you find yourself to be the valuable jewel that you are, empowered by your service in a higher purpose. We are in a spiritual battle, and we are on the front lines.
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Your experience of life is valuable. Move confidently forward. Pray for what you want. Ask God. Be specific. Use the resources out there to make it easier for God to work for you, and you will surely be blessed.
I love you as a sibling in the Love that Christ has died for us. Now and always. Alpha and Omega. Be protected, be encouraged, and be yourself with the confidence that you are being looked after.
In Jesus’ Name. Amen.
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</p>Lineaisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11633540200467932058noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1184812008649736066.post-68528099742176177912012-09-12T15:13:00.001+10:002012-09-13T09:20:54.024+10:00Notes on How to Run a Successful Branding Studio<p>
After attending the AGDA <a href="http://nsw.agda.com.au/events/874/how-to-run-a-successful-branding-studio">(Australian Graphic Design Association)</a> event with Damian Borchok, CEO of Interbrand <a href="http://www.interbrand.com/en/Interbrand-offices/Interbrand-Sydney.aspx">for the Australia and New Zealand markets</a>, I'd like to share my notes on "How to Run a Successful Branding Studio".
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Damian kicked off the talk with a poignant subject that I returned to with a question at the end. He used the comparison of the Design industry to that of Law, pointing out that Design is a relatively small market. He questioned the size of the design market when the value of the service and thinking that surrounds it is proven now by firms like Apple, and given that there are so many lawyers competing with each other in a robust market.
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By doing some research of my own to prove Damian's assumptions, the Law Council of Australia released figure <a href="http://www.lawcouncil.asn.au/shadomx/apps/fms/fmsdownload.cfm?file_uuid=A770EF94-1E4F-17FA-D2D1-BA99625CD699&siteName=lca">from an LCA Brief</a> in 2009 showing that, at the end of June 2008, the legal profession employed just under 100,000 people (99,696) and generated $18 Billion during the 2007-2008 financial year, contributing $10.9 Billion to the Australian economy.
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The same information for designers can be found as a paying member of DIA, <a href="http://www.dia.org.au">the Design Institute of Australia</a> or directly accessed through the Australian Government <a href="http://joboutlook.gov.au/pages/occupation.aspx?code=2324&search=goodprospects&Tab=prospects">Job Outlook</a>. As recently as November 2011, the number of Web Designers and Illustrators in Australia was 45,500, almost exactly half that of legal professionals. The average salary has been hovering around $45,000 p/a depending on where you look, in this case the Payscale Australia <a href="http://www.payscale.com/research/AU/Job=Graphic_Artist_%2F_Designer/Salary">website</a>. There are other figures with My Career <a href="http://content.mycareer.com.au/salary-centre/media-advertising-arts-entertainment/design/">here</a>. These 45,500 designers generated just over $2B in Salaries.
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Here's the fun part, getting a figure of gross profit from the salary figures we have. Based on a 50% business efficiency <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_efficiency">ratio</a>, each designer is worth about $90,000 in profit per annum. So $2B worth of salary industry wide gives us $4 Billion of design revenue produced in Australia in 2011.
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With these rough numbers, we get the idea that for 1/2 the workforce of the legal profession, Australian graphic designers produce less than 1/4 of the revenue legal professionals produce. As for their contribution to the Australian economy, Graphic Designers can argue that their visual contribution yields a larger percentage of value to the average consumer than that of lawyers and barristers.
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So here's where we get into the question I had to ask Damian at the end of his talk. Given the numbers that we now know, (and yes, possibly fudged), what can the 45,500 designers out there do to convince our clients and customers that we are worth twice as much as we are now, to be on par with our friends in the legal profession?
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Damian's response was brilliant. He reminded us how young our profession is, relative to law and even medicine. His first point was that doctors were considered charlatans in the 19th century, and only in the last hundred years have they gained the level of respect they now deserve in the community. No comment on the amount of respect lawyers deserve in the community. They can afford to be the butt of all jokes.
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Regarding the last hundred years, Damian gave another example. What was the global value of management consultanting in the 1920's? Truth is it hardly existed. The profession began with "time and motion studies" <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_and_motion_study">of business efficiency</a>, basic mechanics of improving a system that has now ballooned to include all kinds of applications, software, and training of hard and soft skills to better manage people. There's an industry to crunch some numbers.
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By comparison, <a href="http://www.ibisworld.com.au/industry/default.aspx?indid=1896">a report on</a> IBIS World says that Australia has roughly 35,000 management consultants that gross an average of $8 Billion in revenue. That report also points out that the industry is experiencing about 2% in annual growth. What I failed to mention from the Australian Government <a href="http://joboutlook.gov.au/pages/occupation.aspx?code=2324&search=goodprospects&Tab=prospects">Job Outlook</a> porthole on graphic designers is the 6-8% growth figures they project. If we are invited to slice that growth anyway we want it, we could exercise a few options:
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1. We could plan to hire 6-8% more designers making the same average of $45-48K.
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2. We could keep the number of designers static and earn more like $55K on average.
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3. We can secure Australian contracts and move to India, living like it's $200K.
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Short of outsourcing ourselves to India, I'd advise fellow designers in Australia to follow the example of the management consulting profession, which has been around even less than graphic design if you look at the work of Toulouse Lautrec as modern design from the 1800's. If Design can be raised to the same business value as management consulting the way Blair Enns <a href="http://www.winwithoutpitching.com/manifesto">in his Manifesto</a> and others have outlined, we should have no problem accounting for $8 Billion of revenue with 10,000 more people to produce it than the 35,000 consultants out there proving their business relevance.
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It's not hard to do, either. Sit down with your clients and talk them through everything they have going on. Write it all down. If you are a designer I'm sure you will draw some pictures. This is the beginning of your scope of work that adds true business value to the big ticket items that are first from your clients' lips. If you can put a dollar figure on achieving those goals, and can lay out a plan to achieve them in a design campaign, you both may be suprised at how quickly that broad conversation takes your relationship to new heights.
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</p>Lineaisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11633540200467932058noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1184812008649736066.post-46213587066398027232012-07-12T05:03:00.000+10:002012-07-12T05:17:43.628+10:00Artists & MBAs - Interview with Business Because<p>
Below is a brief interview I received from Jessica Bradley at Business Because, the online community for business schools. I had received another BB interview from Kirti Dhingra back in 2009 when I was in the AGSM MBA program: <a href="http://www.businessbecause.com/news/MBA-Australia/when-right-meets-left-an-artist-at-b-school-8027">When Right Meets Left: An Artist at B School</a>
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Hi Jonathan
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Hope you are well!
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I'm a journalist at BusinessBecause.com and I'm getting in touch with a small request.
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I'm working on a story about the dreaded business school interview and would love to hear your advice for candidates who are preparing for their interviews now.
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Specifically, was there a question that you found particularly tough in your interview for IE Business School? How did you answer at the time? And how would you answer it now, having done your MBA?
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It would be great to hear about your experience, so that others can benefit from your wisdom!
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I'm sure you're very busy so a brief response is fine!
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Thanks in advance for your help and look forward to hearing from you!
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Jess
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Jessica Bradley
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Business Because
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Dear Jessica,
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Regarding the interview for business school, let me first tell you that I was a visual art major in undergraduate at Duke University and came at the whole MBA experience from a much different perspective than most applicants.
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The most challenging preparation for my application was not the interview but studying for and passing the GMAT. I'm very proud to this day of that accomplishment, and honestly find the grammar and syntax training useful to this day.
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Now on to the interview. My interview was with Sharyn Roberts, who was then the director of the AGSM MBA Program at the newly formed Australian School of Business.
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Sharyn was the kindest, most motherly figure I could have imagined, and the interview was in New York. I had taken the Amtrak train from my home at the time in Durham, North Carolina with my girlfriend at the time, and the whole trip was really fun.
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Sitting across from Sharyn, I simply presented my interests, my passions, and my character as accurately as I could, not knowing what to say or even how to prepare for something like this.
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She filled me with more confidence than I had going in, and encouraged me that I would "be one of the new leaders they are looking for". This could have simply been an excellent sales tactic, but I'd like to believe her and feel that I am living into that; my highest potential.
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So, to fully answer your question. She was not the "grilling" type of person in her interview style. There was no question I couldn't answer, only experiences I didn't have yet and would not have until I'd completed the degree.
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If I were sitting in that chair again, I would have stated just as much that I know the MBA would be a humbling experience, I just had no idea how much and to what extent it would have an impact on my psychological constitution.
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I agree with Roger Martin in <a href="http://rogerlmartin.com/library/books/the-design-of-business/">his book</a> "The Design of Business" that more people looking to do an MFA (Master of Fine Arts) should get an MBA, so our Masters of Business Administration are leading from our own collective future of highest potential.
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With creative business leaders, we will see more of our problems being solved through businesses in the free market that are not afraid to lead with a positive intuition based on the creative spirit that keeps artists feeling truly alive.
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It is my calling in life to show that artists, when given business knowledge, can truly lead if not simply add value to the otherwise intimidating world of business that has driven the global economy to where we are today.
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As we start using more of our right brains to match the traditional left brains in business, we also open up the creative and feminine energies that we all posses. The more creative our business leaders, the more women and minorities will also have a seat at the table.
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I'm infinitely glad that I completed the MBA, and the interview was one small part that I'm glad was not a source of discouragement. If you want a story about discouraging interviews, ask me about case interviews for management consulting firms!
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Jm3NNdyliTw/T_3N-owV_VI/AAAAAAAAH_8/X4JQtTj7PTE/s1600/20071132.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="296" width="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Jm3NNdyliTw/T_3N-owV_VI/AAAAAAAAH_8/X4JQtTj7PTE/s400/20071132.jpg" /></a></div>Lineaisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11633540200467932058noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1184812008649736066.post-31670373742406258702012-01-16T11:31:00.006+11:002012-01-16T11:41:03.464+11:00A Design Thinking Approach to the Universe<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-gDVIowjr73E/TxNxowY6NlI/AAAAAAAAHZ4/e4fb45sU610/s1600/20100272.jpeg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 290px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-gDVIowjr73E/TxNxowY6NlI/AAAAAAAAHZ4/e4fb45sU610/s400/20100272.jpeg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5698022898551895634" /></a><br /><br />I believe the higher intelligence in the Universe is looking down on us now with the anticipatory affection of a parent watching a child as it learns to walk. In this case we are wobbling through a conversation of which we can hardly understand the meaning. The ultimate order, symmetry and beauty of intergalactic systems leaves us all reaching to understand how to mimic such natural streamlined processes humbly into our daily lives. We are a part of everything on the macro level, and everything is a part of us on the micro level. <br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qTCiSdf2E-I/TxNw7PnMXFI/AAAAAAAAHZg/SZNjhAC1VQU/s1600/20100259.jpeg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 280px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qTCiSdf2E-I/TxNw7PnMXFI/AAAAAAAAHZg/SZNjhAC1VQU/s400/20100259.jpeg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5698022116659321938" /></a><br /><br />As someone who works in the management consulting space for multi-project environments, we approach new ways of managing work that try to monitor the highest levels of complexity that have ever been controlled by one system of humans. The ultimate attractor in management is order and discipline, and as we tackle the biggest problems humans can face, we approach the event horizon where all those entities in the Universe currently beyond our understanding will eventually come into full view and open communication.<br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-J0FoDy8jTAQ/TxNwtFuDq7I/AAAAAAAAHZU/OlR8BYsVKK4/s1600/20100258.jpeg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 280px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-J0FoDy8jTAQ/TxNwtFuDq7I/AAAAAAAAHZU/OlR8BYsVKK4/s400/20100258.jpeg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5698021873485589426" /></a><br /><br />We must continue to tackle an understanding of our own lives in their interconnected complexity, eventually coming to a point of natural equilibrium that allows us to take on more information and a deeper, more profound understanding of the next system that lies beyond. As we currently working through one system at a time in the business world, we should find the system boundary crossing over into another company, another industry, another market, another region, until the whole planet becomes one global system.<br /><br />I feel that the global system of commerce, combined with the social fabric that holds it all together, is the closest opportunity to encapsulate in one idea the system that shows us who we are as the human race. In that relative equilibrium that comes from doing business with one another, once all the opportunities for microfinance are in place and global energy resources are renewable, we may reach the edge of the ultimate system boundary on Earth when we can look to incorporate the next level of awareness beyond this planet.<br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-QxvSRXYrJ2g/TxNwZzhh5mI/AAAAAAAAHZE/dpNlQ775pJM/s1600/20100243.jpeg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 280px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-QxvSRXYrJ2g/TxNwZzhh5mI/AAAAAAAAHZE/dpNlQ775pJM/s400/20100243.jpeg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5698021542183691874" /></a><br /><br />I'll never see it happen in my lifetime, and I don't have kids yet. Before I get distracted by trying to manage that chaos myself I hope to offer this insight to existing parents. That's what it's all about to me: preparing our children for another lifetime of working dutifully to close the gaps between the human race and give us the opportunity to work with the greater intelligence in the cosmos. They are all out there (hi guys!), just waiting patiently for us to get it together one generation at a time. Lots of examples of how to get there in scripture and otherwise, but it seems like commerce is the most easily managed path. And even that, as we all know, is not easy! <br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Ow6uNQDUfX8/TxNxSjAfBGI/AAAAAAAAHZs/WYad883dyFg/s1600/20100271.jpeg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 290px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Ow6uNQDUfX8/TxNxSjAfBGI/AAAAAAAAHZs/WYad883dyFg/s400/20100271.jpeg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5698022517002667106" /></a>Lineaisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11633540200467932058noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1184812008649736066.post-83294362737971303862011-05-08T00:34:00.002+10:002011-05-08T00:47:52.308+10:00Response to Media; Death of Osama bin LadenAs an American, I feel obligated to address what has become a topic of conversation lately: the announcement of Osama bin Laden's death and the resulting media blitz. One immediate reservation I have is prompted by the following question: What news are we NOT reading about as a result of all news channels being clogged with stories about bin Laden?<br /><br />I was surprised this question was not asked by Peter Joseph of The Zeitgeist Movement in his response below. I did find Peter's words to ring true, and wanted to honor his perspective. Ever since the first Zeitgeist movie (2007) attempted to tackle the difficult information surrounding the events of 9/11, I trust that Mr. Joseph will offer a fresh perspective on things.<br /><br />Jonathan Blackwell - May 8, 2011<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--e_5h6-b46I/TcVbijup9lI/AAAAAAAAGrA/KtPDVX2sg-0/s1600/20080227.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 296px; height: 400px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--e_5h6-b46I/TcVbijup9lI/AAAAAAAAGrA/KtPDVX2sg-0/s400/20080227.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5603985960597059154" /></a><br /><br />On May 1, 2011 Pres. Barack Obama appeared on national television with the<br />spontaneous announcement that Osama bin Laden, the purported organizer of<br />the tragic events of September 11th 2001, was killed by military forces in<br />Pakistan.<br /><br />Within moments, a media blitz ran across virtually all television networks<br />in what could only be described as a grotesque celebratory display,<br />reflective of a level of emotional immaturity that borders on cultural<br />psychosis. Depictions of people running through the streets of New York and<br />Washington chanting jingoistic American slogans, waving their flags like<br />the members of some cult, praising the death of another human being,<br />reveals yet another layer of this sickness we call modern society.<br /><br />It is not the scope of this response to address the political usage of such<br />an event or to illuminate the staged orchestration of how public perception<br />was to be controlled by the mainstream media and the United States<br />Government. Rather the point of this article is to express the gross<br />irrationality apparent and how our culture becomes so easily fixed and<br />emotionally charged with respect to surface symbology, rather than true<br />root problems, solutions or rational considerations of circumstance.<br /><br />The first and most obvious point is that the death of Osama bin Laden means<br />nothing when it comes to the problem of international terrorism. His death<br />simply serves as a catharsis for a culture that has a neurotic fixation on<br />revenge and retribution. The very fact that the Government which, from a<br />psychological standpoint, has always served as a paternal figure for it<br />citizens, reinforces the idea that murdering people is a solution to<br />anything should be enough for most of us to take pause and consider the<br />quality of the values coming out of the zeitgeist itself.<br /><br />However, beyond the emotional distortions and tragic, vindictive pattern of<br />rewarding the continuation of human division and violence comes a more<br />practical consideration regarding what the problem really is and the<br />importance of that problem with respect to priority.<br /><br />The death of any human being is of an immeasurable consequence in society.<br />It is never just the death of the individual. It is the death of<br />relationships, companionship, support and the integrity of familial and<br />communal environments. The unnecessary deaths of 3000 people on September<br />11, 2001 is no more or no less important than the deaths of those during<br />the World Wars, via cancer and disease, accidents or anything else.<br /><br />As a society, it is safe to say that we seek a world that strategically<br />limits all such unnecessary consequences through social approaches that<br />allow for the greatest safety our ingenuity can create. It is in this<br />context that the neurotic obsession with the events of September 11th, 2001<br />become gravely insulting and detrimental to progress. An environment has<br />now been created where outrageous amounts of money, resources and energy is<br />spent seeking and destroying very small subcultures of human beings that<br />pose ideological differences and act on those differences through violence.<br /><br />Yet, in the United States alone each year, roughly 30,000 people die from<br />automobile accidents, the majority of which could be stopped by very simple<br />structural changes. That's ten 9/11's each year... yet no one seems to pine<br />over this epidemic. Likewise, over 1 million Americans die from heart<br />disease and cancer annually - causes of which are now easily linked to<br />environmental influences in the majority. Yet, regardless of the over 330<br />9/11's occurring each year in this context, the governmental budget<br />allocations for research on these illnesses is only a small fraction of the<br />money spent on “anti-terrorism” operations.<br /><br />Such a list could go on and on with regard to the perversion of priority<br />when it comes to what it means to truly save and protect human life and I<br />hope many out there can recognize the severe imbalance we have at hand with<br />respect to our values.<br /><br />So, coming back to the point of revenge and retribution, I will conclude<br />this response with a quote from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., likely the most<br />brilliant intuitive mind when it came to conflict and the power of<br />non-violence. On September 15, 1963 a Birmingham Alabama church was bombed,<br />killing four little girls attending Sunday school.<br /><br />In a public address, Dr. King stated:<br /><br />“What murdered these four girls? Look around. You will see that many<br />people that you never thought about participated in this evil act. So<br />tonight all of us must leave here with a new determination to struggle. God<br />has a job for us to do. Maybe our mission is to save the soul of America.<br />We can't save the soul of this nation throwing bricks. We can't save the<br />soul of this nation getting our ammunitions and going out shooting physical<br />weapons. We must know that we have something much more powerful. Just take<br />up the ammunition of love.”<br /><br />- Dr. Martin Luther King, 1963 -<br /><br />~Peter Joseph<br /><br />wwwthezeitgeistmovement.comLineaisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11633540200467932058noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1184812008649736066.post-49158698609616824152011-04-03T19:24:00.012+10:002011-04-04T07:53:27.184+10:00Slavery's End on our Digable Planet<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-RuzdtMR2n4I/TZg9LR_ARII/AAAAAAAAGoc/djCJTblCP0o/s1600/DigablePlanetsRemasteredCrop.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 94px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-RuzdtMR2n4I/TZg9LR_ARII/AAAAAAAAGoc/djCJTblCP0o/s400/DigablePlanetsRemasteredCrop.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5591286201395987586" /></a><br /><br />I rediscovered my predilection for authentic US Hip Hop whilst listening to The Digable Planets newest album <a href="http://www.myspace.com/digableplanets">Beyond the Spectrum:</a> The Creamy Spy Chronicles, and in the same weekend happened across this NY Times Magazine article,<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/03/magazine/mag-03CivilWar-t.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&ref=global-home">"How Slavery Really Ended in America” </a>. As you can imagine, the combination of reading well-written accounts of emancipation and tuning into some wide grooves has inspired me to write about my passion for the African-American experience. <br /><br />Ever since I went to elementary school in a building that previously served as a segregated black high school, I’ve been comfortable relating to my African American brothers and sisters, even though as a white male I am the first to admit there is a gulf between us. Call me a gulf surfer, I like crossing that chasm. It makes me feel like I can actually do something worthwhile in this life by simply making friends in the Right Places, which are not necessarily the White Places. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-GD1cCzX-9-Y/TZg9SN3reqI/AAAAAAAAGok/wWCkFuzn5Kk/s1600/AustraliaFirstFleet1788stamp.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 295px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-GD1cCzX-9-Y/TZg9SN3reqI/AAAAAAAAGok/wWCkFuzn5Kk/s400/AustraliaFirstFleet1788stamp.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5591286320550607522" /></a><br /><br />Australia has been a White Place since the First Fleet arrived in 1788. Since my own arrival 220 years later, I have noticed the absence in this nation's history of emancipation and the resulting positive attributes as well as its negative aftermath. In this post I'll explore the similarities and differences of Australia and the United States in regards to their histories of slavery and emancipation. Australia is a very diverse nation and has a bright future ahead with its growth and prominence in the Asia-Pacific region, while the United States is a hyperbolic engine of pros and cons. The US is its own worst enemy, the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ouroboros">Ouroboros</a> devouring itself. If we can manage to keep the snake from devouring it's own tail, we're left with the unity of an everlasting circle.<br /><br />In many ways life is easier without the divisive history of the Civil War weighing heavy on the young democracy of Australia, the colonial cousin of the United States. Australia was a convict colony, but European convicts are inherently more free than slaves, who are identified as another man's property. Again I’ll link to Adam Goodheart’s six page article, “How Slavery Really Ended in America” in the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/03/magazine/mag-03CivilWar-t.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&ref=global-home">New York Times Magazine</a> where he sheds some light on how the laws in the American Union started to degrade around slaves as property: <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-AF-X1SBlGOg/TZg9ckyB-9I/AAAAAAAAGos/xYnqSH0gewk/s1600/FortMonroeVirginiaMap.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 262px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-AF-X1SBlGOg/TZg9ckyB-9I/AAAAAAAAGos/xYnqSH0gewk/s400/FortMonroeVirginiaMap.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5591286498499623890" /></a><br /><br /><i>On May 23, 1861, little more than a month into the <a href=”http://topics.nytimes.com/topics/reference/timestopics/subjects/c/civil_war_us_/index.html”>Civil War</a>, [Frank Baker, Shepard Mallory and James Townsend] rowed across the James River in Virginia and claimed asylum in a Union-held citadel. Fort Monroe, Va., a fishhook-shaped spit of land near the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay, had been a military post since the time of the first Jamestown settlers. This spot where the slaves took refuge was also, by remarkable coincidence, the spot where slavery first took root, one summer day in 1619, when a Dutch ship landed with some 20 African captives for the fledgling Virginia Colony.</i><br /><br />In the pages that follow, Goodheart goes on to describe how, in the midst of the Civil War, the slaves Baker, Mallory and Townsend were only considered property of plantation owners in the Southern States. The South was seceding from the Union, and the three men had sought refuge in Fort Monroe, which happened to be a Union fortress within the Southern State of Virginia. They were technically in Northern State territory, and Virginia was no longer a Southern State due to its secession. Therefore the men were not protected as property under United States Law and were under no obligation to be returned to their Virginian master.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-pELlBJdHz3o/TZhC6SC6xdI/AAAAAAAAGpM/g7zMLlTYarI/s1600/20071120small.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 307px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-pELlBJdHz3o/TZhC6SC6xdI/AAAAAAAAGpM/g7zMLlTYarI/s400/20071120small.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5591292506424395218" /></a><br /><br />It’s stories like these that remind me how far the United States has come as a country, and why it is so exciting and rewarding to live a life dedicated to pulling this momentum further into the future. Australia doesn’t have that motivation I feel. Australians have always enjoyed relative freedom, and are happy to share that with anyone who arrives on their shores. For that I am grateful, and because of that I’m writing about how it really makes me feel.<br /><br />Because there was no bloody civil war in Australia, and no benchmark of emancipation as a clear call to civil equality, the relative freedom in Australia leaves something to be desired. I had high hopes on arrival that I would meet people with native aboriginal connections and tap into the life blood of equality since the public apology given by Kevin Rudd on February 13, 2008 to the <a href=”http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stolen_Generations”>Stolen Generations</a> of native Australian children, the same year I arrived. Now into the third year of living in Sydney I am still on the lookout.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-cxp_VrR-eQs/TZg9vBq5EzI/AAAAAAAAGo0/neGesMf2aDI/s1600/GenerationOneShot.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 188px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-cxp_VrR-eQs/TZg9vBq5EzI/AAAAAAAAGo0/neGesMf2aDI/s400/GenerationOneShot.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5591286815491953458" /></a><br /><br />I have joined the Aboriginal equal rights organisation <a href="http://generationone.org.au/gallery/type/photos">Generation One</a> and am looking into hiring a native graphic designer should my scope of work increase to provide the opportunity. That’s within the realms of possibility in my Australian life, and it fits within the vision I have for ultimately creating a business in Durham, North Carolina. I believe Durham has social commodities that will be valuable American exports. Based on what I’ve seen from my favourite Triangle Hip Hop artist Shirlette Ammons and her recent <a href=”http://www.facebook.com/shirletteandthedynamitebrothers”>collaboration</a> with the Dynamite Brothers, I should start an international music label and sign her on a record deal.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rWAjwnV_DGg/TZg984QDO1I/AAAAAAAAGo8/x8qFwQbhJd0/s1600/shirlette-and-dyno-bros-JB.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 104px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rWAjwnV_DGg/TZg984QDO1I/AAAAAAAAGo8/x8qFwQbhJd0/s400/shirlette-and-dyno-bros-JB.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5591287053481622354" /></a><br /><br />The only property this white male wants to own is real estate in countries dedicated to racial diversity and equality. That and being a shareholder of businesses with the same values. God willing, I will work with those both in Australia and the United States who are dedicated to closing the gap of racial inequality that still resonates across our planet, which I don’t find very digable. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-C3HMl9bqJPc/TZg_V1Kw5oI/AAAAAAAAGpE/KA22ETrDQqI/s1600/20071109small.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 322px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-C3HMl9bqJPc/TZg_V1Kw5oI/AAAAAAAAGpE/KA22ETrDQqI/s400/20071109small.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5591288581662500482" /></a>Lineaisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11633540200467932058noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1184812008649736066.post-89309452664991763342011-03-24T21:28:00.014+11:002011-03-24T22:57:51.044+11:00Top 10 of 29 Things Designers Should KnowI am a proud member of the Australian Graphic Design Association. Recently they posted this article, <a href="http://www.agda.com.au/news/national/819/29-things-young-designers-should-know">"29 Things Young Designers Should Know"</a> by Doug Bartow, principal of id29, who previously published his list of <a href="http://www.id29.com/how-magazine.html">29 Things in HOW Magazine</a>. If you are like me, 29 seems like a long list. I'm sorry to say, but I like my lists in multiples of five, and preferably a nice round 10. So with all due respect of course to Doug Bartow, here is his list, lightened.<br /><br />The Top 10 of Doug Bartow's 29 Things Young Designers Should Know:<br /><br />(In reverse order for dramatic effect, with sketchbook images from the past 10 years)<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-f3iHOKo_5k8/TYsph5g89JI/AAAAAAAAGmw/3GWxmDpMBFY/s1600/20100300.jpeg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 288px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-f3iHOKo_5k8/TYsph5g89JI/AAAAAAAAGmw/3GWxmDpMBFY/s400/20100300.jpeg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5587605425034687634" /></a><br /><br />10. PLAY NICE <br /><br />People you work with and for will make your blood boil from time to time. Whenever possible, be a pro and take the high road. Avoid burning bridges, as people change jobs more often than they did a generation ago. Your paths may cross again in a much different situation, and having a good working history together will make rehiring you easy. Apply this to your online persona as well. Anonymous jabs are petty-be better than that.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6Qrvxov6n9A/TYsrp-HwuVI/AAAAAAAAGm4/GCvp-cWcrZw/s1600/20080746.jpeg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 298px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6Qrvxov6n9A/TYsrp-HwuVI/AAAAAAAAGm4/GCvp-cWcrZw/s400/20080746.jpeg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5587607762733414738" /></a><br /><br />9. BE YOURSELF<br /><br /> Be confident in yourself as an author, designer, photographer, creative. Don't work in a particular personal style. Rather, develop a personal approach to your creative work.<br />Your commissioned work should never be about you, but it can certainly reveal your hand as the designer. As your work becomes more well-known, you will get hired for exactly that. For your personal work, don't be afraid to tell your story. No one else is going to do it for you.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Y0TU0z7S7rQ/TYssFIbeobI/AAAAAAAAGnA/-QXtrnO24u4/s1600/20020413.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 291px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Y0TU0z7S7rQ/TYssFIbeobI/AAAAAAAAGnA/-QXtrnO24u4/s400/20020413.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5587608229356937650" /></a><br /><br />8. BE A DESIGN AUTHOR <br /><br />Develop ideas. Write them down, edit them, share them and elicit a response. Poof! You're a design author. Read design blogs and participate in the discussions. Have an opinion. If you find yourself spending hours a week contributing to other designers' blogs, consider starting your own. The cost and effort for startup are minimal, and the opportunities are diverse.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6pI0R91cA-Y/TYsshBMhNNI/AAAAAAAAGnI/cvK3MhnXlBA/s1600/20030432.jpeg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 337px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6pI0R91cA-Y/TYsshBMhNNI/AAAAAAAAGnI/cvK3MhnXlBA/s400/20030432.jpeg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5587608708451480786" /></a><br /><br />7. BUILD YOUR BOOK <br /><br />One piece of advice I give young designers looking to fill out their portfolios is to find the best local arts organization with the worst visual brand identity or website and make a trade. They get some great design work, and you get creative control and real-world projects in your book that other potential clients will recognize.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-JYqatVG3eCs/TYstZYRVztI/AAAAAAAAGnQ/Iq8xAIyVmdk/s1600/20071116.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 310px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-JYqatVG3eCs/TYstZYRVztI/AAAAAAAAGnQ/Iq8xAIyVmdk/s400/20071116.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5587609676718395090" /></a><br /><br />6. DEFEND YOURSELF<br /><br /> One of the biggest benefits of a formal design education is the lessons learned in the crit room defending your work in front of your instructor and peers. If you can articulate your ideas and design process in that hostile environment, learning to do the same in client meetings usually comes easy (see No. 21).<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-p2IrwtgpQac/TYstp2l_YPI/AAAAAAAAGnY/-ma1AJVoEXs/s1600/20071137.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 306px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-p2IrwtgpQac/TYstp2l_YPI/AAAAAAAAGnY/-ma1AJVoEXs/s400/20071137.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5587609959735976178" /></a><br /><br />5. CONTENT IS STILL KING <br /><br />Technically, Elvis is still the king, but for the sake of this argument, let's put an emphasis on the message, and consider design as a plan for delivering it. The most effective and memorable visual communication almost always has the right mix of form and content, regardless of medium. Good design can engage a viewer, but interesting content will keep them reading, and thinking, past the headline.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wWVqdXRdv4Q/TYst64AxxWI/AAAAAAAAGng/FssmiVeWA7k/s1600/20020611.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 208px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wWVqdXRdv4Q/TYst64AxxWI/AAAAAAAAGng/FssmiVeWA7k/s400/20020611.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5587610252174542178" /></a><br /><br />4. BECOME INDISPENSABLE<br /><br /> What are you really good at? Contrast that to the skill sets that could help you advance at the workplace. Could your studio benefit from having an in-house photographer, web programmer, video editor or screen printer? Follow your bliss and get the additional training you need to expand your talents and, ultimately, your role at work. Now, does the studio come to a grinding halt when you're home sick for a day? Congrats. You're indispensable.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-iSHhKiGEYM8/TYsv3bfl9ZI/AAAAAAAAGoA/4qmPg7Xtrdw/s1600/20000723.jpeg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 333px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-iSHhKiGEYM8/TYsv3bfl9ZI/AAAAAAAAGoA/4qmPg7Xtrdw/s400/20000723.jpeg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5587612392002811282" /></a><br /><br />3. JOIN AN ASSOCIATION<br /><br /> Founded in 1914 in New York City, AIGA is the professional association for design, representing more than 21,000 professionals, educators and students with 65 local chapters (find a chapter near you) and 200+ student groups. AIGA supports our efforts at the chapter and national levels through the exchange of design ideas and information, research, innovative programming and as a source of inspiration. If you're missing that sense of design community you had in school now that you're in the professional world, AIGA will help reconnect you for life.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rIkAwfFvOlc/TYsvGqGLBEI/AAAAAAAAGn4/2InWQgrc5C0/s1600/20030922.jpeg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 236px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rIkAwfFvOlc/TYsvGqGLBEI/AAAAAAAAGn4/2InWQgrc5C0/s400/20030922.jpeg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5587611554109129794" /></a><br /><br />2. SEEK CRITICISM, ACCEPT PRAISE<br /><br /> As a designer, listening to your ideas being questioned and your hard work being ripped apart isn't usually very pleasant. However painful, though, constructive criticism of your design work is the most effective way to grow as a visual communicator. Remember this when you leave the crit rooms of design school for the boardrooms of the corporate world. Build a network of friends, co-workers and mentors you can use to collect feedback on your work. Online sites (heavy with anonymous commentary) are not an acceptable substitute for this discourse. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bcmWYe0c35Q/TYsuRrdohpI/AAAAAAAAGno/7bqW4-gK_Uw/s1600/20070917.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 303px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bcmWYe0c35Q/TYsuRrdohpI/AAAAAAAAGno/7bqW4-gK_Uw/s400/20070917.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5587610643942901394" /></a><br /><br />1. KEEP A SKETCHBOOK <br /><br />You don't need to be prolific at drawing to benefit from keeping a small book in your bag or back pocket. Ideas tend to arrive at the strangest times, and being able to record them on the spot will help you remember them later. When you fill a book, date, number and shelve it. Soon your bookcase will be a library of your best thoughts and ideas.<br /><br />About the Author: <br /><br />Doug Bartow is a principal and design director at id29 in Troy, NY, a firm he co-founded in 2003. He is the former director of design at <a href="http://www.massmoca.org/">MASS MoCA</a>, and serves on the board of the <a href="http://upstatenewyork.aiga.org/">UPSTNY chapter of AIGA</a> as programming chair. <a href="mailto:doug@id29.com">doug@id29.com</a><br /><br />Source: <a href="http://www.howdesign.com">Howdesign.com</a><br /><br />About the Editor and Illustrator:<br /><br />Jonathan Blackwell is Design Manager at <a href="http://www.ensemblepartners.com.au">Ensemble Partners</a> in Sydney, Australia, a firm he joined after graduating from the Australian School of Business in the <a href="http://www.agsm.edu.au">AGSM MBA</a> Class of 2010. As a <a href="http://directory.agda.com.au/profile/15025">member of AGDA</a> his Design Whitepaper “Graphic Design Thinking: Innovative Advantage” was recently chosen among the top 20 to be exhibited in poster format at <a href="http://www.agideas.net/agideas-2011">AgIdeas International Design Week</a> in Melbourne, where he will be on site Monday May 2, 2011 from 2pm - 4pm to answer questions. <a href="mailto:lineaist@gmail.com">lineaist@gmail.com</a><br /> Lineaisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11633540200467932058noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1184812008649736066.post-87713704659750531852011-03-16T00:45:00.012+11:002011-03-16T01:07:56.630+11:00Pray for Japan: How To Survive Earthquakes<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-N3appt_xQLU/TX9vqkVdosI/AAAAAAAAGhg/-phVg4fpZoc/s1600/Screen%2Bshot%2B2011-03-16%2Bat%2B12.51.53%2BAM.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 244px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-N3appt_xQLU/TX9vqkVdosI/AAAAAAAAGhg/-phVg4fpZoc/s400/Screen%2Bshot%2B2011-03-16%2Bat%2B12.51.53%2BAM.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5584304840061592258" /></a><br /><br />These are the words of an email forward regarding Doug Copp, Rescue Chief and Disaster Manager of the American Rescue Team International (ARTI).<br /><br />Before/after images of the Japanese Tsunami are from <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2011/03/13/world/asia/satellite-photos-japan-before-and-after-tsunami.html">NYTimes.com</a>. <br /><br />Say a prayer for Japan. <br /><br />Thanks, Jonathan<br /><br />>>> forwarded message >>><br /><br />It seems like a good time to review this information – Pass it on!<br /><br />Simple advice for surviving earthquakes. <br /><br />Forget everything you've been trained to do during an earthquake!!!<br />Boy! Is this ever an eye opener. Directly opposite of what we've been taught over the years! I can remember in school being told to, "duck and cover" [deadly!] or stand in a doorway [deadly!] during an earthquake. This guy's findings are absolutely amazing. I hope we all remember his survival method if we are ever in an earthquake!!! <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Vn45Awqotc4/TX9wBiXwU_I/AAAAAAAAGhs/MaU8AzVQYLA/s1600/Screen%2Bshot%2B2011-03-16%2Bat%2B12.52.16%2BAM.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 244px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Vn45Awqotc4/TX9wBiXwU_I/AAAAAAAAGhs/MaU8AzVQYLA/s400/Screen%2Bshot%2B2011-03-16%2Bat%2B12.52.16%2BAM.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5584305234671326194" /></a><br /><br />EXTRACT FROM DOUG COPP'S ARTICLE ON THE: "TRIANGLE OF LIFE" <br /><br />My name is Doug Copp. I am the Rescue Chief and Disaster Manager of the American Rescue Team International (ARTI), the world's most experienced rescue team. The information in this article will save lives in an earthquake. <br /><br />I have crawled inside 875 collapsed buildings, worked with rescue teams from 60 countries, founded rescue teams in several countries, and I am a member of many rescue teams from many countries... <br /><br />I was the United Nations expert in Disaster Mitigation for two years. I have worked at every major disaster in the world since 1985, except for simultaneous disasters. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0Ic8dVY7Tmk/TX9wOk6jbVI/AAAAAAAAGh0/K1bAxmS_uRA/s1600/Screen%2Bshot%2B2011-03-16%2Bat%2B12.52.37%2BAM.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 244px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0Ic8dVY7Tmk/TX9wOk6jbVI/AAAAAAAAGh0/K1bAxmS_uRA/s400/Screen%2Bshot%2B2011-03-16%2Bat%2B12.52.37%2BAM.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5584305458692451666" /></a><br /><br />The first building I ever crawled inside of was a school in Mexico City during the 1985 earthquake. Every child was under its desk. Every child was crushed to the thickness of their bones. They could have survived by lying down next to their desks in the aisles. It was obscene, unnecessary and I wondered why the children were not in the aisles. I didn't at the time know that the children were told to hide under something. <br /><br />Simply stated, when buildings collapse, the weight of the ceilings falling upon the objects or furniture inside crushes these objects, leaving a space or void next to them. This space is what I call the "triangle of life". <br /><br />The larger the object, the stronger, the less it will compact. The less the object compacts, the larger the void, the greater the probability that the person who is using this void for safety will not be injured. The next time you watch collapsed buildings, on television, count the "triangles" you see formed. They are everywhere. It is the most common shape, you will see, in a collapsed building. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-P7_BLSpjnNw/TX9weX4z98I/AAAAAAAAGh8/sNsSxqc1WfQ/s1600/Screen%2Bshot%2B2011-03-16%2Bat%2B12.52.47%2BAM.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 242px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-P7_BLSpjnNw/TX9weX4z98I/AAAAAAAAGh8/sNsSxqc1WfQ/s400/Screen%2Bshot%2B2011-03-16%2Bat%2B12.52.47%2BAM.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5584305730073393090" /></a><br /><br />TIPS FOR EARTHQUAKE SAFETY <br /><br />1) Most everyone who simply "ducks and covers" WHEN BUILDINGS COLLAPSE are crushed to death. People who get under objects, like desks or cars, are crushed. <br /><br />2) Cats, dogs and babies often naturally curl up in the fetal position. You should too in an earthquake... It is a natural safety/survival instinct. You can survive in a smaller void. Get next to an object, next to a sofa, next to a large bulky object that will compress slightly but leave a void next to it. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-FnGe7k_2RLY/TX9wpSX1_fI/AAAAAAAAGiE/kcTOmvIdsB4/s1600/Screen%2Bshot%2B2011-03-16%2Bat%2B12.53.00%2BAM.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 243px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-FnGe7k_2RLY/TX9wpSX1_fI/AAAAAAAAGiE/kcTOmvIdsB4/s400/Screen%2Bshot%2B2011-03-16%2Bat%2B12.53.00%2BAM.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5584305917571497458" /></a><br /><br />3) Wooden buildings are the safest type of construction to be in during an earthquake. Wood is flexible and moves with the force of the earthquake. If the wooden building does collapse, large survival voids are created. Also, the wooden building has less concentrated, crushing weight. Brick buildings will break into individual bricks. Bricks will cause many injuries but less squashed bodies than concrete slabs. <br /><br />4) If you are in bed during the night and an earthquake occurs, simply roll off the bed. A safe void will exist around the bed. Hotels can achieve a much greater survival rate in earthquakes, simply by posting a sign on the back of the door of every room telling occupants to lie down on the floor, next to the bottom of the bed during an earthquake. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-knLX6AYG0mU/TX9w16QpzKI/AAAAAAAAGiM/h6aZXwD27MM/s1600/Screen%2Bshot%2B2011-03-16%2Bat%2B12.53.08%2BAM.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 243px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-knLX6AYG0mU/TX9w16QpzKI/AAAAAAAAGiM/h6aZXwD27MM/s400/Screen%2Bshot%2B2011-03-16%2Bat%2B12.53.08%2BAM.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5584306134437186722" /></a><br /><br />5) If an earthquake happens and you cannot easily escape by getting out the door or window, then lie down and curl up in the fetal position next to a sofa, or large chair. <br /><br />6) Most everyone who gets under a doorway when buildings collapse is killed. How? If you stand under a doorway and the doorjamb falls forward or backward you will be crushed by the ceiling above. If the door jam falls sideways you will be cut in half by the doorway. In either case, you will be killed! <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SR-IfuZg6tc/TX9w_t_5MuI/AAAAAAAAGiU/MiZb19DonLE/s1600/Screen%2Bshot%2B2011-03-16%2Bat%2B12.53.20%2BAM.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 243px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SR-IfuZg6tc/TX9w_t_5MuI/AAAAAAAAGiU/MiZb19DonLE/s400/Screen%2Bshot%2B2011-03-16%2Bat%2B12.53.20%2BAM.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5584306302944359138" /></a><br /><br />7) Never go to the stairs. The stairs have a different "moment of frequency" (they swing separately from the main part of the building). The stairs and remainder of the building continuously bump into each other until structural failure of the stairs takes place. The people who get on stairs before they fail are chopped up by the stair treads - horribly mutilated. Even if the building doesn't collapse, stay away from the stairs. The stairs are a likely part of the building to be damaged. Even if the stairs are not collapsed by the earthquake, they may collapse later when overloaded by fleeing people. They should always be checked for safety, even when the rest of the building is not damaged. <br /><br />8) Get Near the Outer Walls Of Buildings Or Outside Of Them If Possible - It is much better to be near the outside of the building rather than the interior. The farther inside you are from the outside perimeter of the building the greater the probability that your escape route will be blocked. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-dIrxeU3BSgY/TX9xJU7rm0I/AAAAAAAAGic/U7oa5oosvUY/s1600/Screen%2Bshot%2B2011-03-16%2Bat%2B12.53.35%2BAM.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 242px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-dIrxeU3BSgY/TX9xJU7rm0I/AAAAAAAAGic/U7oa5oosvUY/s400/Screen%2Bshot%2B2011-03-16%2Bat%2B12.53.35%2BAM.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5584306468014496578" /></a><br /><br />9) People inside of their vehicles are crushed when the road above falls in an earthquake and crushes their vehicles; which is exactly what happened with the slabs between the decks of the Nimitz Freeway... The victims of the San Francisco earthquake all stayed inside of their vehicles. They were all killed. They could have easily survived by getting out and sitting or lying next to their vehicles. Everyone killed would have survived if they had been able to get out of their cars and sit or lie next to them. All the crushed cars had voids 3 feet high next to them, except for the cars that had columns fall directly across them. <br /><br />10) I discovered, while crawling inside of collapsed newspaper offices and other offices with a lot of paper that paper does not compact. Large voids are found surrounding stacks of paper. <br />Spread the word and save someone's life... The Entire world is experiencing natural calamities so be prepared! <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-PMmmvqGUdY4/TX9xTchL59I/AAAAAAAAGik/YqApG2YmyjQ/s1600/Screen%2Bshot%2B2011-03-16%2Bat%2B12.53.53%2BAM.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 243px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-PMmmvqGUdY4/TX9xTchL59I/AAAAAAAAGik/YqApG2YmyjQ/s400/Screen%2Bshot%2B2011-03-16%2Bat%2B12.53.53%2BAM.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5584306641849542610" /></a><br /><br />"We are but angels with one wing, it takes two to fly" <br /><br />In 1996 we made a film, which proved my survival methodology to be correct. The Turkish Federal Government, City of Istanbul, University of Istanbul Case Productions and ARTI cooperated to film this practical, scientific test. We collapsed a school and a home with 20 mannequins inside. Ten mannequins did "duck and cover," and ten mannequins I used in my “triangle of life" survival method. <br /><br />After the simulated earthquake collapse we crawled through the rubble and entered the building to film and document the results. The film, in which I practiced my survival techniques under directly observable, scientific conditions, relevant to building collapse, showed there would have been zero percent survival for those doing duck and cover. <br /><br />There would likely have been 100 percent survivability for people using my method of the "triangle of life." This film has been seen by millions of viewers on television in Turkey and the rest of Europe, and it was seen in the USA, Canada and Latin America on the TV program Real TV.Lineaisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11633540200467932058noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1184812008649736066.post-15834290987332036152010-11-12T17:25:00.008+11:002010-11-15T21:17:40.584+11:00Sacred Passage 2010 - Flinders Island, Tasmania<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_HPsSBqYYRj4/TNzkgZvppMI/AAAAAAAAFG0/WrHLCOTUx8U/s1600/FlindersGoogle3.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 264px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_HPsSBqYYRj4/TNzkgZvppMI/AAAAAAAAFG0/WrHLCOTUx8U/s400/FlindersGoogle3.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5538552887076562114" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">I. Describing the Indescribable<br />II. The Life of John P. Milton, Creator of Sacred Passage and The Way of Nature<br />III. A Valiant Beginning to a Lifetime of Teaching<br />IV. Who Am I?<br />V. Your Call to Action, Leader of the Future World</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_HPsSBqYYRj4/TNzgmQpFReI/AAAAAAAAFGM/5ntm5ttQ-FU/s1600/IMG_0444.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 299px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_HPsSBqYYRj4/TNzgmQpFReI/AAAAAAAAFGM/5ntm5ttQ-FU/s400/IMG_0444.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5538548589665797602" /></a><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">I. Describing the Indescribable</span><br /><br /><br />What would happen if you camped on a solo site for five nights, nourishing your body on a liquid diet while undertaking a strict regimen of guided meditation and Qi Gong to forge a deeper connection to nature and all the interconnected forms of life?<br /><br />Dig into your most profound memory of being human and bear with me.<br /><br />It’s hard to condense 100 hours of profound experience in one blog entry. After attending Sacred Passage with John P. Milton on the recommendation of the Founder of Ensemble Partners, our CEO and five others including myself are left somewhere between navigating life as usual and dissolving completely into the ultimate sustainability of becoming one with nature. <br /><br />If one man has become one with nature, a thousand years says Milton comes close.<br /><br />No matter how many pictures I could take or videos I could record, nothing would begin to clearly articulate the whole picture. Because of Who I Am (explain of Caps later), I will share some drawings made during the experience to send you on your travels for the remaining four sub-headings.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_HPsSBqYYRj4/TNzjAtpE4SI/AAAAAAAAFGk/zbZI9Fw7KtE/s1600/IMG_0440.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 299px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_HPsSBqYYRj4/TNzjAtpE4SI/AAAAAAAAFGk/zbZI9Fw7KtE/s400/IMG_0440.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5538551243150254370" /></a><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">II. The Life of John P. Milton, Creator of Sacred Passage and The Way of Nature</span><br /><br /><br />What’s the most engrossing film you’ve ever seen?<br /><br />Remember it... Think about it... Relive that feeling of being completely engrossed...<br /><br />Somewhere between Star Wars, Seven Years in Tibet, and Batman Begins lies the life of John P. Milton. The summary of John’s life goes from studying Zen Meditation in the 1950’s to becoming the first Ecologist at the White House under Nixon; from studying with Taoist Masters on Wudang Mountain in China to spending years with Buddhist Masters in the remote hilltops of Tibet. <br /><br />There’s no way to summarise when just two in the list include following the Taoist lineage of Chang San Feng from the 13th Century and studying Vepassana meditation with the now deceased S.N. Goenka in Nepal, whose recorded voice remains the sole guide for all Vepassana meditations worldwide.<br /><br />It’s better that I let John speak for himself, down to the details.<br /><br />The following excerpt is taken from an interview with John P. Milton by Carla Brennan:<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">“Since the late 1950's, I have been honoured to work with fine teachers in Taoism and T'ai Chi, Buddhism, Dzogchen, Vedanta and both Hindu and Buddhist Tantra:<br /><br />In 1958 I had my first teacher of meditative Qi Gong for spiritual cultivation; that opened an ever-deepening form of Taoist practice which I have continued with ever since. Then, in the late 1960's I was first exposed to T'ai Chi Ch'uan and immediately fell in love with that system of spiritual and energetic cultivation. From 1973 through 1980 I studied Cheng's Yang family style T'ai Chi - predominantly with Robert Smith and Ben Pang Jeng Lo - but also with Maggie Newman, Tam Gibbs and others. I also studied Qi Gong and Taoist yoga with Sifu Fong Ha, Mantak Chia and other Taoist teachers. <br /><br />I have taught these systems since 1979. <br /><br />In 1958, I also began practicing Zen meditation with Ed Maupin as his teacher. For many years, I practiced classical soto style zazen meditation between four and eight hours a day and Zazen continues until today as a core practice for me. Later on in the 1960's, I also became a serious student of the teachings of Taoism, Tibetan Buddhism and both Hindu and Buddhist Tantra. In the 1970's, I was deeply influenced by the blessings of shaktipat and Siddha Yoga with Swami Muktananda. As a result of all this spiritual cultivation, my first major experience of the arising of Kundalini Shakti and the opening of central channel came in the mid 1970's. <br /><br />Also starting in the late 1960's and through the 1970's until now, I have been fortunate and very blessed to have many fine teachers from several Tibetan lineages, particularly Sogyal Rinpoche, His Holiness Dilgo Khentze Rinpoche, H.H. the Karmapa, H.H. the Dalai Lama, Lama Tharchin, Lopon Tenzin Namdak, Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche and many other wonderful Lamas. In particular, the blessings of opening and deepening Dzogchen contemplation have been at the heart of my personal cultivation. <br /><br />From the late 1960's on until now, I have been very active in helping protect Himalayan forests and in setting up wildlife reserves and national parks in Nepal and Bhutan. I often hired large numbers of Tibetan refugees to help me in survey and parks work in the Himalaya Mountains along the Tibetan frontier. All this has given me some extraordinary opportunities to study and practice with Himalayan masters on their home ground and often in a very traditional way, with few or no other westerners around. <br /><br />I was also fortunate to study Vipassana meditation with S.N. Goenka and his wife in Nepal. Another major teacher for me has been the great tantrika, and devotee of the Divine Feminine, Vasudev of India and Nepal. Over a number of years I was blessed with being able to study with him in mountain caves, at Nepal's great temple to Shiva as the God of All Nature, Pashupatinath, and in the cremation grounds of Nepal and Varanasi (Benares). His teachings, transmissions and direct initiation into the Sacred View have been an incredible blessing to my life and my ability to serve my students.”</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_HPsSBqYYRj4/TNzh89Z-FTI/AAAAAAAAFGc/c_VKaamom7Q/s1600/IMG_0442.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 299px; height: 400px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_HPsSBqYYRj4/TNzh89Z-FTI/AAAAAAAAFGc/c_VKaamom7Q/s400/IMG_0442.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5538550079150757170" /></a><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">III. A Valiant Beginning to a Lifetime of Teaching</span><br /><br /><br />Have you ever used a metaphor from nature to describe your life experience? In any deeply rooted conversation about what just feels right, there is an example of it in nature. From animals who mate for life to the industriousness of an ant colony, nature offers something for everyone to understand the world we have shared for thousands of years.<br /><br />By Day 3 I began to feel accepted by Gaia on her own terms. On Day 4 I had a profound shift as I climbed to the top of Mt. Strzelecki. The three hour hike to the summit involved the buzzing of flies that would often drive a human into a fit. By the time I performed the 11 Direction Ceremony looking out over the Bass Strait, I came to feel at one between Sky and Earth and joined the flies buzzing around me as electrons in the the atomic connection shared between everything in the universe. The flies were my buddies, along for the energetic ride we all call life.<br /><br />The profound responsibility that comes with the thoughts I’m having is not lost on me. Looking out over all of Flinders and the surrounding Tasmanian Islands realise what it will take to protect this island development from a population of 700 into the future of what’s to come. I believe this can be a place of Zero Impact similar to the plans for Masdar in Abu Dabi. It’s in alignment with the preservation of Tasmanian wilderness and what’s reasonable and possible in the current paradigm shift in global consciousness.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_HPsSBqYYRj4/TNzhEhOIWWI/AAAAAAAAFGU/g9ClNeP_jOI/s1600/IMG_0443.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 299px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_HPsSBqYYRj4/TNzhEhOIWWI/AAAAAAAAFGU/g9ClNeP_jOI/s400/IMG_0443.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5538549109512231266" /></a><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">IV. Who Am I?</span><br /><br /><br />(Not to be confused with “Who Am I Now?”, a puberty video my brother will recall...)<br /><br />I want to share one thing that happens when an updated contract is signed with Mother Nature, being accepted by Gaia on her terms. The name I sign with exudes a deeper understanding of Who I Am. As one of many teachings in Milton’s Sky Above, Earth Below, the “Who Am I” exercise borrowed from the Hindu Master Ramana Maharshi reminds us that we are not any of the trappings that normally form our identity. This profound realisation stops us then to ask, “Who Am I?”, and come up with a meaningful answer that transcends space and time.<br /><br />The best I can come up with is that I Am The Happy Wandering Artist. I’m on the verge of adding Heterosexual, but nature takes care of that for me. Just as nature takes care of Homosexuals, I might add. It’s no surprise that Penguins can change their sexual orientation from breeders to non-breeders when their population balloons out of control. Almost 7 Billion humans are forever in gratitude to you Non-Breeders out there. But I digress.<br /><br />Perhaps in a past life, (you know me, Egon Schiele) and in the current life, I am a filter for the human experience constantly on the move. This return to the deepest understanding of myself I’ve had in a decade reminds me of not only Who I Am, but also the weaknesses that come with it. As John so lovingly pointed out when I received his council on my return to buildings and humans:<br /><br />It is the constant addiction to my own entertainment that drives me. This is a life out of balance when I realise after three days of being confined to peaceful meditation that I can’t sit still for that long and break out to climb a mountain. Nature requires an inner peace in all of us. The need for constant stimulation must be balanced with the personal mastery of meditating for hours and connecting to Deep Source.<br /><br />I have a lot of work to do on that. I’ll let you know how I go.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_HPsSBqYYRj4/TNzjr8dOWuI/AAAAAAAAFGs/cSBk1NXog00/s1600/IMG_0439.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 299px; height: 400px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_HPsSBqYYRj4/TNzjr8dOWuI/AAAAAAAAFGs/cSBk1NXog00/s400/IMG_0439.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5538551985861450466" /></a><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">V. Your Call to Action, Leader of the Future World</span><br /><br /><br />I first saw Milton speak at a Wake Up! Sydney event hosted by the resourceful Jono Fisher in 2009. Little did I know at the time that my future employer Ensemble Partners had brought John to Australia to form The Way of Nature Australia, an Oceanic subsidiary of his institute in Boulder, Colorado, which led in turn to Sacred Passage on Flinders Island.<br /><br />The take-away from his 2009 speech before a sold-out audience was the vision of what would happen if all the world’s leaders, CEOs, and top thinkers decided to spend at least three days immersed in nature, focused in deep meditation guided by the past thousand years of enlightened human experience. <br /><br />It was a profound vision of the future then, and it remains profound now.<br /><br />I urge you, Leader of the Future World, to go out into nature for as long as you can until you begin to feel that Gaia accepts you on her terms. When the world understands you with a Universal common denominator, you will start to understand yourself in ways I am only beginning to see in me.<br /><br />When you get back, give me a call. Learning from each other, it will start to make sense.Lineaisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11633540200467932058noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1184812008649736066.post-71075262080884644472010-10-05T00:30:00.000+11:002010-10-05T00:30:27.679+11:00Donald Duck Meets Glenn Beck in Right Wing Radio Duck<object style="background-image:url(http://i1.ytimg.com/vi/HfuwNU0jsk0/hqdefault.jpg)" width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/HfuwNU0jsk0?fs=1&hl=en_US"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/HfuwNU0jsk0?fs=1&hl=en_US" width="425" height="344" allowScriptAccess="never" allowFullScreen="true" wmode="transparent" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"></embed></object><br /><br />This video was on my friend's facebook page and I think it is pure brilliance. Goes to show that Disney had his finger on the pulse of a timeless sense of what matters to Americans and that video editors alive and well today harness the pure genius to match Disney's foresight with the comical rantings of one of Fox News biggest cartoons, Glen Beck.<br /><br />Nice work RebelliousPixels! Hat's off ;)Lineaisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11633540200467932058noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1184812008649736066.post-53420869294873663422010-08-30T19:28:00.004+10:002010-09-04T17:44:18.641+10:00What Teachers MakeThis post offers the following:<br /><br />1. My heart gushing appreciation for Teachers<br />2. An email forward worth posting (how often does that happen?)<br />3. An inevitable call to action <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_HPsSBqYYRj4/THt-k_uAXYI/AAAAAAAAFDQ/09uTGOX3V9o/s1600/20090510.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 284px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_HPsSBqYYRj4/THt-k_uAXYI/AAAAAAAAFDQ/09uTGOX3V9o/s400/20090510.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5511137743062719874" /></a><br /><br />1. My heart gusheth over<br /><br />I've never been a teacher. I have all the respect in the world for teachers and hope to be more like them. My mother has been a teacher all of her adult life. Even while she was a full-time mother taking care of my brother and sister and me, she taught us half of everything outside the classroom. Thanks to my Mom, who also sent me this forward. I love you!<br /><br /><br />2. What Teachers Make (I hear that credit is due to Brad Wolf for the following. Thanks!)<br /><br />The dinner guests were sitting around the table discussing life. One man, a CEO, decided to explain the problem with education. He argued, "What's a kid going to learn from someone who decided his best option in life was to become a teacher?"<br /><br />To stress his point he said to another guest;<br />"You're a teacher, Bonnie . Be honest. What do you make?"<br /><br />Bonnie, who had a reputation for honesty and frankness replied, "You want to know what I make? (She paused for a second, then began...)<br /><br />"Well, I make kids work harder than they ever thought they could.<br />I make a C+ feel like the Congressional Medal of Honor winner.<br /><br />I make kids sit through 40 minutes of class time when their parents can't make them sit for 5 without an I Pod, Game Cube or movie rental.<br /><br />You want to know what I make? (She paused again and looked at each and every person at the table):<br /><br />I make kids wonder. I make them question.<br /><br />I make them apologize and mean it.<br /><br />I make them have respect and take responsibility for their actions.<br /><br />I teach them how to write and then I make them write. Keyboarding isn't everything.<br /><br />I make them read, read, read and read some more.<br /><br />I make them show all their work in math. They use their God given brain, not the man-made calculator.<br /><br />I make my students from other countries learn everything they need to know about English while preserving their unique cultural identity.<br /><br />I make my classroom a place where all my students feel safe.<br /><br />I make my students stand, placing their hand over their heart to say the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag, One Nation Under God, because we live in the United States of America .<br /><br />Finally, I make them understand that if they use the gifts they were given, work hard, and follow their hearts, they can succeed in life.<br /><br />(Bonnie paused one last time and then continued.)<br /><br />Then, when people try to judge me by what I make, with me knowing money isn't everything, I can hold my head up high and pay no attention because they are ignorant. You want to know what I make?<br /><br />I MAKE A DIFFERENCE.<br /><br />What do you make Mr. CEO?<br />His jaw dropped; he went silent.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_HPsSBqYYRj4/THuAseQeM1I/AAAAAAAAFDY/KppxWzM4CKg/s1600/20081271blur.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 291px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_HPsSBqYYRj4/THuAseQeM1I/AAAAAAAAFDY/KppxWzM4CKg/s400/20081271blur.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5511140070542685010" /></a><br /><br />3. Don't just sit there, sit there and click that little mousey!<br /><br />Send this to every teacher, every CEO, every person you know. Even all your personal teachers like mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, coaches and your spiritual leaders/teachers.<br /><br />Thanks to the big Coach in the sky. Put me in there, Coach!Lineaisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11633540200467932058noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1184812008649736066.post-11168447028235855972010-08-22T11:17:00.002+10:002010-08-30T20:21:27.478+10:00Australian Elections and USA on AUSIn my ritual of reading The New York Times, I was charmed to find my current home finally made the headlines. The frontpage story addresses last night's cliffhanger in the Australian Federal Government Election.<br /><br />http://nyti.ms/bKHQvt <br /><br />Seeing Australia in the morning news triggered a reaction from me I wasn't expecting. In addition to my personal perspective on the election itself, I'm prompted to share more about Australia's general newsworthiness. <br /><br />In the following few paragraphs, then, dear reader, I will cover the following three topics: <br /><br />1. Australia's 2010 Federal Government Election <br />2. The United States 2000 Presidential Election<br />3. Promotion of Australia in the US and abroad<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_HPsSBqYYRj4/THuCTz5mrXI/AAAAAAAAFDg/INjW9ohDnMY/s1600/20000913.jpeg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 333px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_HPsSBqYYRj4/THuCTz5mrXI/AAAAAAAAFDg/INjW9ohDnMY/s400/20000913.jpeg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5511141845878877554" /></a><br /><br />1. Last night I was pleased to attend an election party thrown by my dear friends a generation ahead, also known as my girlfriend's parents. In their living room, the big screen TV showed the results of Labour (government) and the Coalition (opposition) in a dead heat for the seats in Parliament necessary to win the election. <br /><br />The focus was primarily on the House of Representatives, (the lower house) as the members of the lower house determine the party of the Prime Minister, while the Senate (the upper house) determine, by majority, which party has an easier time getting bills through parliament. The NYT article mentions the official tally still in the low 60's on either side, while the final number of seats will reach into the 70's once all mail-in votes are counted and the Independent and Green parties reach their final numbers.<br /><br />Julia Gillard represents the Labour Party after her party ousted Kevin Rudd, and Tony Abbott represents The Liberal Party. If your paying attention and less familiar with Australian politics, you may ask, "What about the Coalition?" as I did, spoiled as an American with the simplicity of a two-party duopoly between Republicans and Democrats, or Democrats and Republicans the way I see it. We share Independents and Greens as well, however Australia gives greater weight to their third parties than the United States.<br /><br />The Coalition, dear reader, is made up of the Liberals and the Nationals, who pooled their votes together for the first time between the Labour leadership of Bob Hawke and the Liberal leadership of John Howard. The Nationals serve rural districts in the northeastern inland regions of Australia while the Liberals populate the metro areas 'right across Australia' to use the local parlance.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_HPsSBqYYRj4/THuDbXGzE5I/AAAAAAAAFDw/YKN76ktAsrQ/s1600/20011011.jpeg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 281px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_HPsSBqYYRj4/THuDbXGzE5I/AAAAAAAAFDw/YKN76ktAsrQ/s400/20011011.jpeg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5511143075100169106" /></a><br /><br />2. The uncertainty of the results reminds me of the US 2000 Presidential Election between Al Gore and George W. Bush. As an outsider looking in I'm not sure exactly how Australians feel about the 'hung parliament'. I can express, however, how distraught I was in 2000. Not only was the result less satisfying, but it actually seemed to threaten the system of democracy that keeps hopeful progressives like me sane, focused on the potential of honest and continuous improvement.<br /><br />I have no doubt in Australia that the result delivered will be more honest and upstanding than the shame Jeb Bush in Florida shed upon the United States and all democracies 'right around this planet' when the dangling chads were used to cover up what I believe was the worst offense to US Government since the ratification of the sixteenth amendment in the early 1900's.<br /><br />The US 2000 Election I feel was unlawfully stolen, as is the individual federal income tax collected from US tax payers every year, ratified in the 16th amendment when the Robber Barons, in the middle of the night, pushed it through Congress while the majority of elected US politicians were on recess.<br /><br />The year 2000 was only the beginning for what I endured as the longest eight years of political shame I think any Americans like me could have imagined. No protest in Washington or anywhere else I rallied in the streets could have prevented the rape of democracy I remember.<br /><br />As the US officially, and quietly, removes combat troops from Iraq next week, I can only hope that all's well that ends well. Thank God for Barack Obama and the integrity he has restored to the White House, the United States, and to democracies around the world.<br /><br />My thoughts and prayers are with Australia to come to a fair and upstanding election result, free of the incestuous theft of the Bush dynasty. I love both countries, and want only the best for both moving forward.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_HPsSBqYYRj4/THuE24eVNeI/AAAAAAAAFD4/SKcv4tBrz2Y/s1600/20100262.jpeg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 280px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_HPsSBqYYRj4/THuE24eVNeI/AAAAAAAAFD4/SKcv4tBrz2Y/s400/20100262.jpeg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5511144647425340898" /></a><br /><br />3. Which brings me to how it felt reading a rare article about Australia in the New York Times: Why stop now? I witness daily in this country news that's fit to print. In fact Australia is in the future of the United States, not only in time zones but in the technology in practice, both social and technical.<br /><br />While some leaders in the United States boast our country is a beacon of freedom and democracy, I question their judgement. Given the social errors of preventing a Muslim community center in Manhattan and all the bigotry I am altogether too aware of, Australia has a lot to teach those in the US. The Land Down Under matches the international melting pot of New York on a national scale, with levels of tolerance generally higher than the US average.<br /><br />Let me end on a technical note of newsworthy progress. To all politicians in both the United States and Australia, I offer your destiny to fulfill all the promises you make. Everything we need can be delivered with the advent of renewable energy and the supporting technologies it brings. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_HPsSBqYYRj4/THuFuVsDbSI/AAAAAAAAFEA/6GtJUe0ehs8/s1600/EEFGHi.shirt.b.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 290px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_HPsSBqYYRj4/THuFuVsDbSI/AAAAAAAAFEA/6GtJUe0ehs8/s400/EEFGHi.shirt.b.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5511145600160328994" /></a><br /><br />To frame that statement I'll close with the five pillars of democracy I refer to as "Effigy", or EEFGHI:<br /><br />Education<br />Environment<br />Foreign Policy<br />Government<br />Health care<br />Information freedom<br /><br />Educate people about the Environment and they will embrace renewable energy. Leverage global sources of technology with a tolerant Foreign policy that allows Governments to work together towards a carbon neutral reality. <br /><br />If people needn't fear their access to Health care and can work more effectively, the freedom of Information on the Internet and elsewhere can be leveraged by all individuals motivated on a path global peace and sustainability. <br /><br />Despite Presidential races and the divide of political parties, we are all in the same human race and I want it to feel like one big party. So I urge you, dear reader, to embrace the unity between the United States and Australia. <br /><br />I feel the most tangible way to create opportunity in this mindset is to promote renewable energy using Australian photovoltaic technology with implementation in the United States. Please comment and we'll keep the conversation moving in the right direction.<br /><br /><br /><br />- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone<br /><p class='blogpress_location'>Location:<a href='http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Sydney&z=10'>Sydney</a></p>Lineaisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11633540200467932058noreply@blogger.com0