This is an image of the New Zealand Tui painted by Tatiana (Tanya) Kalnins http://www.keacreations.co.nz/ I have always been fasinated by the Tui and New Zealand Wood Pigeon. As I watch them play in the trees outside our house I am always humbled by there beauty and grace. It is funny, when I walk my dog in the morning even he will stop when he hears them and watch as if in awe as well. To View More >>

Ok what else can I say except, if you want to blow your mind go to www.ted.com. Ted is an annual conference of world class speakers sharing innovative ideas, telling stories and inspiring change. I mean everything is covered and many of the speakers from conferences over the last few years have put online for your enjoyment. Over the last few months I have listened and watched fascinated to speakers from Bill Clinton to Bono. I've been inspired by new ideas of social change in Africa, Seen Statistics brought to life in a fascinating graphical display. And learnt how my children will more than likely To View More >>

A few days ago I posted about how " I've always wanted to be the drummer boy ". I also hope that I continue to not take life to seriously. This is the sort of people I want to hang out with when I am older. To View More >>

I've just been out for a beer, a curry, and movie with my friend Joe. Always a very cool experience, and the conversation is always deep. Joe is an amazing man, someone I respect and admire and although more than capable of good humour and silliness he is also full of good advice. One of the things he often challenges me with is that he thinks I need to let up on myself, and give myself a break ... This is probably true, but what he doesn't realise is that my whole life I have wanted to be the drummer boy ... the person people follow ... inspiring enough to get them to jump into the unknown. I To View More >>

The eternal question of life for many people is "how do I find the energy for that"? Here I share my thoughts and what we can learn from children. One of the most common things I hear parents say of their children, as the little ones rush past, is : "OMG the energy ... If only we could bottle it" I wonder what it is that causes us to have unlimited energy as children, but as we get older our energy wanes ... or at least, should I say, that's what happens to some of us. If you look carefully you'll notice some really big differences between how children spend their time and how most adults do. They To View More >>

FilmFellas from Steve Weiss, Zacuto USA on Vimeo. I just came across this short film by Steve Weiss, that I thought was amazing and wanted to share. Watch it now and tell me what you think. It's a discussion over dinner about the future of movie making and TV vs publishing films on the internet. I found it profound, I mean think about the contrast between the desire to have your work seen on the big screen, a goal most film makers aspire to but few reach versus the ability to publish tomorrow on the internet and be seen by millions. Oh and BTW isn't the quality of Vimeo mind blowing. just To View More >>

Well after less than a month with iPower I have moved web hosts due to their unreliability. I am sure this isn't the way they are permanently but over the last week my site was down on a number of occasions for hours, and I have lost my confidence. I am very sorry for the inconvenience caused ... grrr. One of the interesting observations is that they weren't prepared to go into detail of what the technical issue was, just each time that "it was a router and it's now fixed". I guess companies do this due to being scared of looking bad, but left with no convincing information I was forced to move To View More >>

Sometimes you see a music video that, although not for everyone, really hits home for yourself. This one, has beautiful cinema photography ... and as someone on YouTube commented, a voice that is "haunting beautiful" For me, since I can't understand the words I get caught up in my imagination ... and with the images and the sounds make up my own story. The coastline in this video reminds me of the places in New Zealand, where we would play as kids and you yearn for when you are away. Enjoy Sanvean (I am your shadow) - Lisa Gerrard To View More >>

Danny and I are in Germany at present, Cologne (Köln) to be specific, visiting the Photokina trade fair. It's been a whirlwind tour through Europe getting here. In 5 days we travelled through Las Angeles, London, Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam and Cologne. What an incredible week of contrasts. The cities, especially Paris and Amsterdam, were incredible, so romantic with their old world charm and architecture, but with unfortunate modern contrasts. If Mc Donalds down the road from Notre Dame wasn't enough, how about the accommodation we have in Cologne? This is a table in the restaurant. The place To View More >>

In business there are no magic bullets, but this idea is so powerful it certainly feels like magic. I ran into an old friend yesterday, and it reminded me of a series of seminars I ran a few years ago that contained a section on how to increase profits. Especially when times are tough, it's great to be able to break things down into some simple rules that allow you to know where to focus, so I'll share this very simple but powerful idea with you now. Gross Profit is calculated on an "averaged basis" as: (Total number of clients x Average number of visits per year x Average sale x Average margin) To View More >>