Originally uploaded by powerbooktrance
Was I kidnapped by Aliens? Not really... but I know you might have been wondering about it. I apologize for letting you, dear readers without news. How to say this... I've just been extremely busy with work and life issues to deal with. Positive, but definitely time consuming. Life is a quest, right. But hey, I'm back and maybe... with a nice Alien story to come (hint! hint!).
; )
Fantastic image originally uploaded by jagus
Mark Goren from Transmission Content + Creative blog, tagged me quite a while ago now (sorry for being so late, Mark), to dive into mindblob archives and point 5 posts out that some of my new readers might have missed. Well Mark thank you for thinking about me... now listen to this : as a matter of fact today, it’s been a year since I landed here... A year since “Introducing mindblob”. A year of boldly exploring the bloggosphere. So, isn’t it the perfect occasion to use a time machine and travel backwards?
Once upon a time (yeah, I love that start), lead by insightful posts focusing on the essence and richness of connected brains... I jumped into documenting the meaning of “BLOGGING : Growing ideas”. Then, simply “wondering” like an Alien on planet earth. Trying to find answers about blogging itself and what makes people be attracted by that phenomenon. Naturally seeking the “Intentions of a Blogger”... and thanks to the precious help of attentive readers, adapting visions of “Blogging motivators”.
In the meantime, extending a few side stories that attracted my attention, like “The era of the electric cars” (my most Googled post actually. And I like that, because it is good to “feel” that people care about their planet and ways to use greener energies - Sigh!). Discovering creativity in unexpected, touching places thanks to “Don Quixote's Children”. Being impressed by the courage and incredible challenge of a woman sailing the oceans, alone and “Against the Winds”.
Moving towards CONSCIOUSNESS with a strange metaphor in mind : blogging is like the sum of small drops of water... it has the power of making huge waves. Beware of the pressure and “Open the tank”. This said, I couldn't help being lifted by a wave like a little Z-fish and so being the witness of mutations and transformations of that wave. Then back to earth and “wondering” again... what our future jobs will be, what we would like them to be, thinking... “Evolution, Revolution & YOU”.
Sometimes being silly too, like pointing to little “Minuscule” links that make us all smile or sing, considering we may sometimes need “Office mood boosters” or to escape from our daily routines, maybe.
Like the rabbit with a watch of a wonderful journey (see which one?), I was lucky to discover that taking a “walk on the whack side”, sometimes leads you to experiences never imagined before. There is something extra-ordinary (I mean out of the ordinary) behind all this. More than words, more than brains. It’s all about people, humans, YOU (my friends), us... and little bugger me... LINKED together, SHARING thoughts, LEARNING and hopefully GROWING together. That SPIRIT touched me... and I must say it did like never before. So as a good little Alien, I share with you my report to planet Zgork:
“After a year spent into the sphere, I must say what’s happening is huge. Humans are becoming more connected. They are linking their brains together and it gives them new powers that they are still exploring and trying to figure out. This will obviously make their world smaller and lead them to taking new kinds of actions into reality. They were not scared to share with me. I was not to share with them. Time does not matter. Space does not matter. They are my new friends and I THANK (them) YOU ALL for being “there”. YES... The Blob is still growing... and after jumping in... it feels good to be part of it!”
To be continued...
Wizzzzzzz. : )
PS : Looking at this picture from Jagus... I flew through time to when I was a little kid. Making “inventions” and also “really” traveling through time. Jagus, congrats... this little boy is not lacking imagination. Please give him all my encouragements and tell him not to forget the "backwards button". I forgot to put one to my machine... now I must keep living in the world of adults (a bit silly I know!) ; )
As you could read on my last post, my journey to New York was a “first”. The main idea was to “be there for CK’s Momma tree”. So this trip was planned short and compact... leaving me 2 days on location (just assuming that it would be just enough to cope with the jet lag – well, not really as you can imagine!).
Being in New York one day before the meeting, there was something I had in mind and didn’t want to miss: getting one of Roger von Oech’s Ball of Whacks. Believe me or not, I was curious about this object ever since I saw it on Roger’s blog. I had been trying to get one from Belgium and just couldn’t find the right site to order it from at the time (Sigh! I notice now that they are for sale, and apparently worldwide, on Roger's Creative Whacks Company site). And by the way, I strongly encourage you to read Roger's blog. It is full of creativity insights, ideas, brain food and also links to very nice people.
Anyway, here is my story... finding this exclusive item in New York city. To make sure I wouldn’t get lost between distances, taxi and timings, I prepared my day trip on Google Earth (perfect tool for NYC, plus viewing paths in 3D is both cool and useful for a visual mind like mine). All I needed was a store address where to find one for sure. At that stage, I made it simple... turned Skype “on” and called Roger himself (we know each other from blogging and exchanging mails every once in a while).
You see Roger was also involved in CK's Momma tree project, so he knew I was in New York for the event. This said, I understand I might have surprised him a bit calling to have a store address. Nevertheless, Roger was "there" on the phone and it was very nice talking to him for the first time (I’d love to do it to chat about another creative topic too, though!). Roger gently emailed me 2 addresses where I should be able to find the Holy Grail... woops... I mean, the Ball of Whacks (BoW) : FAO Schwarz and The MoMA Design Store.
At the end of a long shopping list day (family goodies list always comes first, right!)... there was one item left -guess what!- and a few minutes before stores close. See what I mean? Feet on fire, but I made it just on time to FAO Schwarz. I fly in... (“Hi guards!... What? Guards? Ok, guards...”) and start scanning the store, speeding through the alleys. No BoW in sight. Suddenly something happened, don’t ask me why. My mind just... zapped (you see, like when reading a book and without notice, your mind flashes out of it to create another side story):
Back to normal speed. I just realized that I was not focusing on target and that I was running out of time. Let’s go ask the concierge :
- Him : “Haaa! That thing? Yeah... we had plenty just a few days ago, then something happened... and... woosh!... ALL GONE!”
– Me : “Errrr... may I ask you what happened?”
- Him : “Sure... See, we ran out of Rubik’s cube and were looking for a good replacement in the central shelf and thought about that Ball of Whack –not to say the BoW should have never been displayed there- Then we thought it would be good to have a demonstrator there to show what could be done out of that thing.”
- Me : “Excellent, and then...?”
- Him : “That’s when people went crazy... When they saw a squirrel, a sun, a frog, and all the possible combinations... they started to buy them by packs of 3. They were like: ‘And take two more for your brothers’... kinda thing, see wat I mean? Within a few hours we were sold out. Geeee... I’m sorry Sir, there isn’t ONE left”.
I was happy to hear such a great “sale” story and to bring it back to Roger... but a bit disappointed not to find a least one left. Hopefully after checking with the concierge, I realized that I was not too far away from the MoMA and so continued my quest in that direction. Outside the store (“Bye Guards!”)... I saw a yellow tricycle parked in front of FAO. The guy sitting on it seemed to be very expressive and was laughing with a friend cyclist. So I thought I’d just double check the way to the MoMA with him. My simple question seemed to be like an MIT clue to him. He started to talk in Turkish with his friend who obviously was giving him the directions (4-5 blocks away!). He was so nice trying to translate the information to me in English –I mean with a wonderful accent and smile- that I decided to ask him to give me a ride there.
He turned a ghetto blaster on (hidden under passenger seat) and started to paddle full throttle. As we were ridding our 150 decibels of Latino hip hop RnB around 5th, I realized we were not just playing music... there was also the video clip, right between my feet, on an LCD screen ! ! ! (...found that clip on YouTube : "Jagged Edge ft Voltio: she SO amazing") - Amazing New York city indeed! (check it out).
End of the ride... MoMA Design Store. Open doors... eyes scanner “on”. Left, right, left... “Meep!”... found it: “The Ball of Whacks”! Yeeehaaa! Music, please!
Okay, this story is indeed a little “off the road”. Off regular posts maybe. But I thought I would bring it back to Roger, because I never imagined that on my simple quest to get a red rhombic triacontahedron, I would go through : Google Earth, Skype, FAO guards, giant candies, giant pianos, super-heroes, magic eyes, concierge stories, Turkish tricycle ride, Latino hip hop RnB, MoMA design and innovative items. Since none of this would have happened without aiming to the Ball of Whacks, I want to say thank you Roger for this unexpected extra-ordinary journey! Of course, I’ll come back to the Ball of Whacks in another more dedicated post... In the meantime, my learnings through all this?
- Conversation leads to very nice discoveries,
- Product demonstration (still) helps sell products,
- One product might be bought for different reasons (hint, hint!),
- People buying make more people want to buy,
- Magic... may detour us from our most determined goals,
- Surprises may be found looking down (*).
Now, if you don’t have a Ball of Whacks, go get one right now...
And if you do, go get it, because this object is magic and if you can figure out how... it will reveal its hidden secret.
Any idea of what it is? ; )
(*) PS : Maybe when we cross people in the streets who are looking down, it's because they are trying to find a surprise. Then maybe we can help them find it?
Originally uploaded by motleye
This just to let you know I'll be flying to the south of France for a week. Family holidays (Yessss, yessss... Yeeehaaa! Finally!). Back next week. Till then, here is the plan : nothing, nada, rien, niets. Not a post, not a comment, not a computer (Errrrr... what? Really? Oh my god...). Mind break? Naaa... Mind rest!
PS : Hey... well, of course, naturally, I'll check mails on my mobile. ; )
Well it seems that this is now more of a literal category on this blog: "Back to the Future". Should we then say, that this post is in a way:
"The RETURN of the BACK... to the Future".
After 2 different shootings abroad (in Cape Town, South Africa), 50 hours flight delay (check this homepage and read the baseline), the full throttle post-productions following them, with a never-ending cold in the background... I'm here again guys. Not in the best shape ever (yep... sleep deprived), but still... alive and kicking (oh yeaaah!).
When your day-to-day job spreads over a few weekends in a row, and all evenings for weeks, reading and commenting blogs, and posting on your own, seems to be like dreaming of an ice-cream in the desert. But well, even if I believe in dreams, this time (again)... it's been a while since my last posts.
Anyway, sorry for not commenting much on your blogs (*). On my side, many things to tell, soon a film to show you (we're working on an English translation of the first film I told you about), inside stories (making off shots and pictures) and more important some unexpected and intense experience I had while in Cape Town that I'd like to share with you.
In the meantime, there have been tons of excellent posts I missed, sad news launching constructive debate and "conversation" (*)... and great initiatives, like the "Conversation Age" ebook launched by Gavin Heaton and Drew McLellan. I'll have the honor to author a chapter in this book (Geeee... the deadline is April 30th!). Thumbs up to Gavin and Drew for the preparation of this really exciting challenge... Let's not forget that putting this all together is a TREMENDOUS amount of work. So, Gav, Drew... you guys just rock!
This was the news of the day on Friday. Australia : Noel Davies is back at home after recovering from the severe bicycle accident he had just before last Christmas (see earlier post). Noel bravely climbed the mountain of recovery motivated by an impressive positive spirit. We're pleased for him and his family to read this wonderful Easter piece of news.
You can find a very nice story written on his son in law's blog (Gavin Heaton's brilliant "Servant of Chaos"). Surprisingly, the story is not Gavin's - who posted so many news on Noel's site. As a matter of fact Gavin offered a post on his blog to the person who made the 1000th comment (congrats mate!). This person was Drew McLellan who was inspired by the courage and spirit of Noel and wrote "Resurrection", a touching story, retrospective of Noel's steps from accident to return home. I encourage you to read it.
CONGRATULATIONS Noel... and WELCOME HOME !
"BACK" (yes, again!)... I realize this could now almost be a new name for mindblob. Sorry (yes, again!) for being so much out of blogging. As I explained in my previous posts, this is indeed a heavy production time of the year, and I am definitely running like Forrest Gump... besides not running in a film... but running for films.
So, the shooting I told you about is now done. All I can tell you at this stage is that I’ve seen many really odd things there, like... flying Christmas trees, flying pans and TVs, (fake) snow on African walkways, and even a (real and unexpected) wind storm, chasing film crew between the buildings of the Capetonian streets (promise I'll post the film as soon as it is on air). I’m back from Cape Town and all is fine.
The off-line editing (basically the very first edit, the “structure” of a film) was accepted by our client, which is an important step in the making of a commercial. We are currently right in the middle of post-production. Now, for those of you who don’t know what this is, post-production is a term that describes all the steps coming after the actual shooting of a film: from the development of the 35mm film to the delivery of the broadcast copies. Understand : offline editing, special effects (CGI), on-line editing, soundtrack, music, voice recordings, etc.
We are now working with a post-production facility from Paris, Mikros Image (check there showreel here), one of the leading companies in France (who did the CGI on this great ad you might have seen - incredible making off here). So, after the plane, I get to travel with speed train Thalys from Brussels to Paris. No jet lag here either, Roger... just an hour and a half away from town to town. ; )
And by the way... yes, there are penguins in Cape Town... I wanted to check it out by myself and I found them on Boulders beach (False Bay) just before leaving. An amazing site to witness. Apparently the only place in the world where penguins and people can swim together. Learn more about it here. Too bad I didn’t have enough time to try that! Maybe next time... Did I tell you? Another shooting in South Africa has just been confirmed mid April. Wait a minute, noooo... not that plane again! Now, please Scottie... beam me up this time, seriously!
Back (yes yes... again!). I've been fighting the flu and a few more other real life issues showing up at the same time. While busy with that, I noticed many of you also were ill or had the flu, so I hope everyone is better now.
Funny how sometimes being ill brings some childhood memories to our minds. Alina Hiu-Fan Chau on her blog "Ice cream monster toon cafe" tells us a great story on this subject :
I invite you to read it... it is quite an unexpected and fantastic tale. Alina's touching drawings will lift you up the ground and push you directly into her imagination. I bet the flu will never feel the same to you ever after. Wow!
On my side I always remember my Mom's great "Grog recipe". Let me share it with you here. It is simple and might help if you're still not in full shape.
- 1 mug of hot water (hot like when serving tea)
- 1 freshly squeezed lemon (into the mug of water)
- 1 big spoon of honey (more if lemon is too bitter for you)
- Rum or Cognac (proportion up to you)
You drink it in the evening just before going to bed. It is important to drink it while water is still hot. With this flu fighter, you should sleep well and hopefully, the morning after, feel ready to "...boldly go where no man has gone before". So now, like good ol' friend Spock used to say :
"Live long and prosper!"
I’m back. Yep... “Back to the Future”, ready to boldly go where no Alien has gone before... Now, do I dare telling you I’m a Marty McFly and Star Trek original 1966 TV series great fan? Well, yeaaah... today I dare. Listen closely to this... music and to these words... just love it ! ! ! There is more to do out of it... beleive me. ; )
Since I started blogging in June 2006, this is the first time I stayed for such a long time period out of blogging. Even on holidays I kept reading RSS feeds and sending few posts. This time it was different, without going into details, many things to do in “real life” and prioritary issues, so no choice, really. I don’t like to rush things and miss consideration for what I’m doing, so I decided to put blogging on hold at the risk of loosing contact with the community.
I come back with this observation: It is possible, guys! There are ways to catch up with important information. I was lucky to receive very nice support via mails and comments on my last posts (...thanks CK, Gavin, KG, Cam, Sharon, Gianandrea, David, Marcus, Sean). The greatest surprise came from Gavin (again! Man... you rule! THANK YOU!), with his unexpected, extremely well targeted, smart, full of empathy, brilliant post to me. He lead me through the pressure of my 1825 RSS unread feeds, and even got me to discover a fantastic blog : My Marrakesh, and magic hostess Maryam.
Today it is time to “RESET the counter"... Once again, if you think I missed something, please don’t hesitate to point it out. Wheeeh! Just can't believe it : 1825 posts I should have read. Ok ok, I'm back, I'm back... ; )
Just a little note to let you know I've been quite busy out of the bloggosphere for the last 2 weeks. No, time to either write posts (ideas are legions, believe me) or read and comment your great blogs (which I miss very much). So... I apologize, really.
Loosing blog-grip made me realize a few things though. First I felt bad about leaving readers without news and posts. Quite frustrating when you have a folder full of "Posts to be" with collected informations you'd love to share. Also, I had the impression I was missing important posts on all of your blogs (...did someone get married? Any babies? Lottery maybe? Or a revolutionary marketing process that will change future for us all? Vista blah blah? Wow?). Then, came a very nice and unexpected feeling, that blogger friends would definitely email me if something "important" or worth the read should happen. Errrrr... is it right? Yes it is! I know there are lots of Utopians sharing their thoughts and visions on planet earth! And you know what? That's very nice actually. : )
Thanks to those of you who have been kindly sending me emails just to know if "everything was all right on my side"... I did really appreciate it... very much.
This said, here a few "thoughts of the day":
- I didn't open my RSS reader for a bit more than 2 weeks now and there are... well too many posts to catch up with really (more than 700!). I'm working on it, but I definitely won't have time to read all of them. Sorry again!
- When I posted 1 first comment on a blog since quite a while, something happened when I read the Typepad standard "Verify your comment" note... I read it "differently" and well, it made me smile. An image "popped" into my mind and lead me to the idea of this post theme and visual. I imagined finding a real robot, and gently programming it to write and post on demand for me... from time to time (sigh!).
- I'll still be quite busy for the next few weeks, but will try some quick posts if possible. Sorry about it guys... I'm sure you've all had rush periods in your jobs and lives as well.
We are not robots... only humans... or maybe aliens... who knows! Anyway, in the meantime, if some of you like robots, cartoons and superheros (like I do), here is a very nice blog you might like. By the way, in the meantime, did you know robots can run like us now (6km/h), and even ride a skateboard? Fascinating isn't it? Oh boy, do I sound Spockish! And why in the world do I feel connected to these robots anyway? Mmmh? Geee... I don't know really. Maybe I should digg this out... ; )
Ok ok... must go now... I've got to run... where is my skateboard?
I'll be right back!
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