If there’s one thing I can turn to for warmth and comfort for the soul, especially with the plummeting temperatures here in Chicago, Playing for Change is it. This is a wonderful organization i came across a year ago that brings the world together through the universal language of music. To record a guitarist in 1 country, a drummer in another, and a trumpeter, a saxophonist, a choir in many more and then put them together into 1 music piece… that’s both brilliant and beautiful.
So what started out as a cool music project 4 years ago is now helping to raise funds to promote music education through the Playing for Change Foundation. Just in spring, they opened the doors to their first completed music school in South Africa! Now that’s music to my ears!
See and hear the magic for yourself!
It’s inspired me to try a mini-version of my own when i return home to Singapore too… how awesome would it be to bring together the musicians and street buskers of Singapore? From little drummer Ethan Ong to the uncle who’s been playing the keyboards in the Orchard Road tunnel for decades… oh, the possibilities! How exciting!
I was editing an episode featuring a green hotel in California when i noticed this rather interesting device they were using to clean their surfaces.
It’s called the Lotus Sanitizing System and it looks kinda like a small spray bottle. Apparently, all you have to do is fill it with tap water and put it on the special base it comes with for a while. What the machine does is infuse the tap water with Ozone to make it a powerful cleaning agent 52% stronger than bleach! Give it an hour or two and it’ll turn right back into regular tap water.
The beauty of it? Never will you have to buy another harmful chemical household cleaner again. Save resources, save money and protects your health. Now how cool is that?
Apple released its third version of Final Cut Studio a couple of weeks ago. When it arrived in the office in a cute little box 1/4 the size of the older versions, i felt like Christmas had arrived early.
Yes, the geek in me was uber excited about all the new features it would bring with Final Cut Pro 7. Some of my favorites include:
Variable Speed Changes – no longer need to apply a uniform speed change over the entire clip!
Colored Markers – easier to differentiate what each marker represents!
iChat Theatre – I can show anyone who has a web camera and chat software what i’m working on in Final Cut live. That eliminates the need to export my rough cuts before showing the boss, and i can make real-time changes as we go, even when we’re in different states!
Global Transitions – apply transitions to the start and the end of the clip simply by dragging the transition to the middle!
Export in background – I can carry on working on FCP, even though its exporting a movie. No more being forced to wait 2 hours before carrying on with work again!
I haven’t had the chance to learn to use all these cool new features yet, but the guys at Ripple Training have done a great job with making video tutorials to show us the way. It makes learning so much easier than reading the manual. :)
And if Final Cut Studio’s brought me this much excitement, I might just go crazy with the release of Snow Leopard, Mac OS X 10.6 tomorrow! Ahh!!
I was reading David C. Korten’s Agenda for a New Economy where he explains why the steps being taken to address today’s economic crisis are as ineffective as treating cancer with a bandage. Simply pouring trillions of dollars into bailing out Wall Street institutions ain’t gonna help. Business needs to be redefined. What we really need are locally based, community oriented businesses devoted to creating a better life for all, not simply increasing profits.
My friend Eu-wen shares a similar interest for social entrepreneurship as i do. I think what he’s doing and learning at his internship at Embrace istremendously inspiring. They’ve found a way to produce an affordable infant incubator for just US$25. Compared to traditional incubators that cost $20,000, this one is far more affordable. It looks just like a sleeping bag for babies, is easy to heat up (just boil a pouch & insert!) and very portable… it’s going to save the lives of many babies born premature in countries like India where they may not have access to good healthcare facilities.
A few weeks ago, he posted the following video on facebook along with the following note.
Transactions made freely by customer and seller on equal terms, leads to higher welfare of all parties involved, unlike in traditional models of plain charity. If you are marginally interested in social enterprise or are intrigued by the idea but dont know all that much about it, watch this video. Have Seth Godin explain to you in 7 minutes why working on, developing, and/or creating social enterprise is possibly the most rewarding thing you can do with your life.
I soaked up all 7 minutes of it. Take the signal from Obama’s decision to create the Office of Social Innovation in the White House and the growing number of business schools offering a focus on civic engagement and social entrepreneurship. Something big is brewing. It’s a growing movement that you should be a part of. It’s time to realize that the world is bigger than yourself.
Shuling Yong 