safercoolergreener.com

Caught in the act

2011-07-12T14:23:00.002-05:00

The girls out on the deck.

FRMAG Volume 5 - The Travel Issue

2010-09-08T06:26:00.001-05:00

This issue showcases heavy use of SangBleu BP, a font from FontShop. I couldn't help it. I just fell in love with it.

This is our fifth issue, a travel issue of sorts. It features travel experiences through the lens of some friends and collaborators selected on the account of their superior coolness - a writer, photographer, product designer, photo journalist, explorer, two graphic designers, and an editor.

This issue also features my studio visit and interview with New York City milliner, Albertus Swanepoel, and footage from The Mommyheads' recent tour of Sweden.

Thanks as always to all the fearless FRMAG contributors and readers, wherever this issue finds you. You keep bringing me back for more.

Read FRMAG Volume 5 here: http://frmag.com/issues/vol5/

Grant Lyons
Editor

Studio Visit: Albertus Swanepoel, Milliner - NYC

2010-08-26T15:03:00.006-05:00

Way before Albertus Swanepoel was featured in Vogue and on the racks at Barney's, he was a kid from Pretoria, South Africa. When I think of Pretoria back in the 70's and 80's during Apartheid, I think of conservative, religious White neighborhoods and beautiful purple Jacaranda trees. It's hard to believe that a creative force like Albertus could grow and nurture an imagination in that kind of environment, but he did. It took him to the top of the South African fashion scene as a clothing designer, winning the Coty Award in 1987, the country's top fashion honor.

Albertus moved to New York to take it to the next level. And in true New York fashion, it wasn't so easy!

Full article featured in FRMAG Vol. 5 The Travel Issue

The Mommyheads Invade Sweden

2010-07-13T15:55:00.004-05:00

So happy to announce The Mommyheads are now on GreenerMags too!!! Some of the best music you'll hear. Here's some news from their recent tour of Sweden.

Work For Free Magazine on GreenerMags

2010-07-12T16:24:00.003-05:00

ABOUT WORK FOR FREE MAGAZINE
WORK FOR FREE is an online magazine that displays original work by creative people seeking an alternative outlet for their projects. Work featured in the magazine has either been commissioned for the issue or submitted by the artist, under the stipulation that it has not been exhibited elsewhere and that there is no monetary compensation. We make no profit from our publication, but offer support and encourage exposure and promotion for the people we work with, as they are active and compelling members of the creative work force.
WORK FOR FREE believes in all the artists it features; that they are making the most interesting contributions to the visual and literary conversation, out of the goodness in their hearts and the passion of their actions.

If you would like to be considered for publication, please email submit@workforfreemag.com.

Thank you and enjoy!

Editors:
Paul Wagenblast
Aidan Koch

PBS - On The Media - Crowdsourcing Good or Bad?

2010-07-12T16:08:00.005-05:00

The Crowdsourcing Dilemma [On the Media]
July 09, 2010

Does crowdsourcing a logo give opportunities to unknown designers, or take advantage of them? Bob dealt with this dilemma when choosing a cover for his book. So why not crowdsource the book itself? crowdSPRING.com co-founder Mike Samson speaks with Bob.

Listen to the segment here

--

My feedback:

The jury is out on crowdsourcing and FREE for that matter. If you read and follow Jaron Lanier or Douglas Rushkoff, you can clearly see where things are going (and where they came from). A must-read for people not familiar with this issue is an article by Rushkoff which starts with "First they came for the musicians…." and you will realize the consequences of this short-term thinking. A great friend compared this to a hamster eating its young, but it's not too late to change direction -- I firmly believe that the future of the Web is in great design. Great designers do not work for free!

GreenerMags Legacy - FRMAG Vol.2 Classic

2010-06-29T12:31:00.001-05:00

Just had to share some old issues....

M9 - New Flooring line we're working on

2010-06-22T22:38:00.003-05:00

Keep an eye out for this new flooring product. They're working on new sustainable flooring ideas. First step seems to be manufacturing with recycled content, then hopefully move quickly towards 100% recycled content. Now if we could just get recycled vinyl stations going ;)

Grant Lyons

2009-10-03T18:39:00.004-05:00

Bare Magazine on GreenerMags

2009-08-25T19:00:00.004-05:00

Bare Magazine - a great magazine out of Berkeley. Good seeing this stuff come out of Schools. Hey BARE if you need more issues on GreenerMags, you know how to get in touch. Always a pleasure. Hope you're all enjoying the Summer.

-g

Backstage at Pulse Music

2009-07-30T11:50:00.003-05:00

Just listened to an amazing live set by John Forte at Pulse Music!
Here are some shots backstage ;)
g

A week in London

2009-07-17T16:30:00.002-05:00

I wish I had taken more photos. The memories will always remain fresh though. Thanks so much to Nok, Trev the Flossies and Roy and Rach for pulling it all together and making every second count. And then all the wonderful friends in this photo stream and in my heart. Missing you all!
-g
xxx

GOOD: Road Map to Harmony (Prius Pull-out Ad)

2009-07-16T15:55:00.005-05:00

Great 3rd Gen Prius ad fold-out in GOOD Magazine this month. I thought it in keeping with the illustration style of the magazine itself. Graphic, colorful, well-designed, informative. Nice piece of marketing.

More harmony at http://good.is/ecosystem

Click full screen icon to see it at 100%.

Karen Knorr Designs: Jewelry

2009-07-13T21:53:00.005-05:00

One of my design mentors expands into jewelry. If you have an establishment that sells beautiful things or you love amazing handmade jewelry, contact Karen Knorr immediately!! This is not a lightweight referral ;) Check out all her stuff at http://bit.ly/3d7d2

Also follow her on twitter: @kkdjewelry
Website: http://karenknorrdesigns.com/jewelry/Home.html

Meeting nice people is fun

2009-06-05T08:51:00.003-05:00

Thanks for an amazing night guys. What an interesting bunch you are! Hope to see you again soon.

Koko Taylor ft. Little Walter - Wang Dang Doodle

2009-06-03T18:49:00.002-05:00

Grammy Award-winning blues legend Koko Taylor, 80, died on June 3, 2009 in her hometown of Chicago.

Born Cora Walton on a sharecropper’s farm just outside Memphis, TN, on September 28, 1928, Koko, nicknamed for her love of chocolate, fell in love with music at an early age. Inspired by gospel music and WDIA blues disc jockeys B.B. King and Rufus Thomas, Taylor began belting the blues with her five brothers and sisters, accompanying themselves on their homemade instruments. In 1952, Taylor and her soon-to-be-husband, the late Robert “Pops” Taylor, traveled to Chicago with nothing but, in Koko’s words, “thirty-five cents and a box of Ritz Crackers.”

Thanks to ?uestlove for the Tweet!

Magazine Mashup on GreenerMags

2009-05-29T18:07:00.004-05:00

I love looking through magazines. Thanks to those who follow the journey of GreenerMags and our efforts to present designed content on the Web.

Here's a little mashup from some of my favorite magazines.

Featuring articles from:

LIFE (1970)
FRMAG (2007)
NIKE Be True (Branded Content)
Lula
V

...and a SHOUTout to DAPTONE RECORDS as always.

Life Inc. by Douglas Rushkoff

2009-05-18T20:17:00.003-05:00

From Douglas Rushkoff.

Here's a new and clean Vimeo copy of the Life Inc. movie - for your watching and sharing pleasure. Please do me the favor of spreading this message far and wide. I think we've got an opportunity to take advantage of the current financial crisis, and turn commerce into something that benefits real people.

Life Inc. The Movie from Douglas Rushkoff on Vimeo.

New Ben's Brother Album Battling Giants Out May 11

2009-05-11T12:00:00.001-05:00

Here are a couple of clips from the new Ben's Brother Album, Battling Giants coming out May 11. Also, check out the preview magazine where Jamie talks about the album and his special guests. New UK Tour dates and venues just announced!! London's Borderline show is already sold out. Visit www.bensbrother.com to order tickets and to find out more about Ben's Brother and the new album Battling Giants.

Album background - click and drag through the pages or view full screen.

Continent Africa: Interview with Justin Letchert by Lindy Cohen

2009-05-02T18:32:00.002-05:00

Lindy Cohen recently moved back to South Africa with her family to become Executive Director of Continent Africa. The approach is the idea started by Justin Letchert, CEO of Union Swiss. He talks to Lindy for FRMAG about a new approach to charity, work and his passion for Africa.

Article originally published on FRMAG a greenermag by Grant Lyons
http://greenermags.com/frmag/2009/04/continent-africa/

Threads of Peace by Julia White

2009-05-02T17:29:00.002-05:00

Message from Julia White

To keep with the thread of deep tones for peace, my offering for
today is a feature of my threads of peace project in an online mag
called greenermags. Thank you to Will Swofford for initiating this
connection and to Grant Lyons for creating this wonderful way to view
magazines online. It is not the whole piece which is around 50 feet
long, but it shows the essence of the work in the panels that are
featured. You just scroll across the screen with your cursor to view.

Link:
http://greenermags.com/frmag/2009/04/threads-of-peace-by-julia-white/

With appreciation to you all for your presence of peace imbued in the
piece,
julia

Yogyakarta by Adam Ludwig and Kevin Effros

2009-05-02T11:10:00.002-05:00

The best way to experience this article I think is to play the field recordings while you look at the article. Enjoy.

Featured on FRMAG a greenermag by Grant Lyons

WIGAN CASINO featuring Russ Winstanley - by Grant Lyons

2009-05-02T11:02:00.002-05:00

Northern Soul is so much more than just the music and dancing. It's a culture. Here's a look at the most famous Northern Clubs - Wigan Casino. Find out more about the Casino and Russ Winstanley at wigan-casino.co.uk

Originally published on FRMAG a greenermag by Grant Lyons
http://greenermags.com/frmag/2009/04/wigan-casino/

Ethiopia by Richard Wiese

2009-05-02T10:46:00.002-05:00

Richard Wiese is an explorer. He's been everywhere. We were chatting recently about some of the places I was featuring in FRMAG because I needed something to go with a piece on Iceland. He showed me some of his photos from Ethiopia. Need I say more?

Featured in FRMAG Volume 3 - A greenermag by Grant Lyons

http://greenermags.com/frmag/2009/04/ethiopia-by-richard-wiese/

Visit Iceland: a photo tapestry by Melissa Silverman

2009-05-02T10:38:00.003-05:00

Director Melissa Silverman takes us to Iceland. We just love Iceland, the people, landscape and the music. If you need to get away, visit Iceland!!

Iceland by Melissa Silverman featured on FRMAG a greenermag by Grant Lyons
http://greenermags.com/frmag/2009/04/iceland/

FILM: The Tested by Russell Costanzo

2009-05-02T10:29:00.004-05:00

Here's the Interview by FRMAG Contributing Editor Daniella Caplan. Daniella talks to Shoebox Pictures' Russell Costanzo and Melissa B. Miller about their new movie The Tested and what it's like to work and live together.

The Tested - featured in FRMAG Volume 3
http://greenermags.com/frmag/2009/04/the-tested/

Follow them on twitter - twitter.com/thetested

Brand Battle: Obama V. McCain

2009-05-02T10:25:00.002-05:00

Here's a look at a small cross-section of the campaign merchandise. It's hard to think that two brands could be so different, then again...

Seen in FRMAG a greenermag by Grant Lyons
http://greenermags.com/frmag/2009/04/brandobama/

Seen Reading GreenerMags: Minnie Mortimer

2009-05-02T10:17:00.004-05:00

Keep an eye out for Minnie Mortimer's new line of stylish, practical and fun clothing. See her in FRMAG - a greenermag by Grant Lyons.

LIFE Magazine Nov 13, 1970

2009-04-26T10:02:00.011-05:00

I was walking through Greenpoint, Brooklyn with Peter this week which is something we never get to do enough of. There are some great Junk shops along Franklyn Ave. I picked up this LIFE mag from 1970. Great piece on Ford Models and little story about Papillon, his escape from Devil's Island and his new life in South America. Oh and the Ads!!! I love the Mattel ones in particular.

I took some photos with my iPhone to share some magazine nostalgia. You may not be able to read it so well, but I didn't have the heart to scan it. You'll still feel it though. Go full screen for uninterrupted view.

Grant Lyons - Inspiration

2009-03-22T10:30:00.006-05:00

I usually put a bunch of stuff together like this as a collection of thoughts and inspiration as a point of reference and reflection.

Moo To You Too!

2009-01-16T13:54:00.001-05:00

I found moo.com while researching an article on good interactive ideas. Moo is a site where you can print unique business cards, postcards, note cards, etc using your own images/photos/design. It's unique because if you want business cards for example, you can order 100 cards (2-sided) and have a different image for each card – you can upload 100 images.

I created minicards (thin versions of business cards). I needed cards for one of my magazine projects (www.frmag.com) so I uploaded 100 of my favorite pages from the mag. They arrived about a week later and they look great.

If you need cards, stickers, minicards, notecards, postcards...try them out. I think you will be very happy.

Green Note* The packaging is made from recyclable plastic and the cards were made using paper sourced from sustainable forests.

In the Spirit of Change and Hope

2009-01-15T14:25:00.003-05:00

Scrapper just sent me this video. I just had to share it. To really appreciate these moments in history we need to look at what we went through to get here...

Is Sarah Palin Qualified?

2008-10-09T12:57:00.001-05:00

PBS has an online poll posted asking if Sarah Palin is qualified.

Apparently the repulican party platform knew about this in advance and are flooding the voting with YES votes.

The poll will be reported on PBS and picked up by mainstream media.

It can influence undecided voters in swing states.

Please do two things -- takes 20 seconds.

1) Click on link and vote yourself.

Here's the link:

http://www.pbs.org/now/polls/poll-435.html

2) Then send this to every single Obama-Biden voter you know, and urge them to vote and pass it on. The last thing we need is PBS saying their viewers think Sarah Palin is qualified.

Witch Hunt by Dana Nachman and Don Hardy - Executive Producer Sean Penn

2008-10-07T10:21:00.005-05:00

One of the best experiences I've had this year was attending the 2008 Toronto Film Festival to see my friend Dana's movie Witch Hunt. It wasn't just that the film was fantastic and inspiring, it was that Dana worked so long and so hard to tell the right story the right way.

Now everyone's talking about this film. And rightfully so. Stand by for more news about Witch Hunt and Dana and Don.

Read their magazine on GreenerMags

UK Band Ben's Brother makes fan magazine on GreenerMags

2008-10-07T10:12:00.004-05:00

Ben's Brother is in the Studio recording Album 2!! Read the Ben's Brother interactive magazine on GreenerMags.com to get all the behind-the-scenes action from Jamie and the band. The album, recorded in London and New York is produced by Sacha Skarbek and includes the amazing guest artists Joss Stone, Jason Mraz, Pete Gordeno, Jack McManus, Cass Lowe and Sarah Whatmore. It's going to be big! Enjoy the mag at

http://greenermags.com/bensbrother/vol1/

Zozo and Sacha

2008-08-31T16:25:00.002-05:00

Rock Star

2008-08-31T16:14:00.004-05:00

Guess who found the Photo Booth App!?

Sigur Ros at MOMA

2008-08-06T15:28:00.001-05:00

Shot live at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City on Icelandic Independence Day, Sigur Rós @ MoMA is a unique concert film highlighting new material from the band's latest album, "Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust", as well as classic Sigur Rós songs.

Track Listing:
Glósoli
Sé Lest
Við spilum endalaust
Sæglópur
Icelandic National Anthem
Inní mér syngur vitleysingur
Hoppípolla
Gobbledigook

GreenerMags on DarrenHerman.com

2008-07-27T11:01:00.007-05:00

As I’ve been searching, reading, playing, and harnessing the Internet, I’ve realized that fundamentally, the ‘net is ugly. Maybe this is because most websites are created in structured markup language and optimized for being indexed, but what about aesthetics?

In product design, there is a balance in form vs. function. Some products are designed beautifully but have very little utility. On the web, there are very few beautiful websites. There are entire universities based on design, you would think that the creative juices would flow onto the net to make it beautiful. Web Creme and
other top-sites have listed beautifully designed websites, but they are few and far between. I’m part of an online group called nextNY and there are requests constantly for good web designers, just look at Krop.

Noelle's Twitter Post

My friend Noelle hit the nail on the head above… Creativity Mag went to a nextNY meetings and wrote a feature. The web is generally lead by coders/developers, not designers.

Since the web is being constantly innovated, it’s hard to set design guidelines as what is standard today is going to be extinct tomorrow. There are technical standards (W3C) but not for design…

What is the future of the web in terms of design? My friend (somehow we are related too) Grant Lyons is building out GreenerMags, beautifully designed interactive magazines that are environmentally friendly. These magazines flow nicely and take up more than your available screen size which pulls you into the content and makes it intimate.

Zinio have been taking traditional magazines and transplanting them online - their page turning technology is nifty but other than that, it’s old school. Will the web become fully immersive like Second Life or Google’s Lively?

But what is the future of web design? The Future of Web Design Conference is coming to New York in November and it looks like there will be some fantastic sessions. Is it going to be answered in one conference? No, but it’s the right step

What are your thoughts? Where is the web going?

link to post

Read Darren's blog

FRMAG on GreenerMags

2008-06-27T14:01:00.002-05:00

Reflecting on two issues...and a lot of work and effort...but most of all, fun.

http://www.greenermags.com/

Arthur Magazine Emergency Appeal!

2008-06-27T10:02:00.003-05:00

I received a group email from Arthur Magazine editor Jay Babcock yesterday saying that if Arthur does not get 20K by July 1, Arthur is over. As a relatively new reader (last 3 years) I have come to depend on Arthur articles, news, events and overall perspective as part of the important stuff that's out there. Even if you do not know Arthur Magazine, it's one of those things worth fighting for. Like free speech. If it goes away, it's an important alternative voice that dies.
-g

(From Jay Babcock)

Arthur Magazine needs $20,000 by July 1 or it will die.

No donation is too small.

The preferred method of payment is Paypal. It is a free service to buyers, and enables you to pay directly By VISA, MASTERCARD, AMEX, DISCOVER or from your checking account or debit card. You can also convert foreign currency to U.S. dollars. Signing up only takes a few minutes.

Please use PayPal to make a donation to editor at arthurmag dot com

Thank you.
Jay Babcock

Bill Moyers at Media Reform Conference

2008-06-11T13:11:00.001-05:00

What we need to know!

Grassroots Marketing

2008-05-30T11:09:00.001-05:00

FreshmanFund.com

As some of you know I launched a new business that helps parents save for college.

The website is Freshman Fund (http://www.freshmanfund.com/)
It's basically a registry for college savings. Parents come to the site attach their existing 529 plan, create a public profile page and email friends and family a link where they can gift directly into the child's 529 plan instead of giving the usual plastic Barbie Dolls or clothes from the Gap ;o) Here is an example http://www.freshmanfund.com/profile/GraceKeegan058s

The reason I'm spamming you all is we are still a bootstrapped startup with no money for traditional marketing and PR, so we need your help to get the word out. Please sign up and tell all of your friends, especially the pregnant ones. If you have a blog please write a post and link to us. If you are on a website reading about college savings and they allow comments at the end of the article, please add a comment about Freshman Fund with a link. Every link we get pointing back to us and every individual on the site is unbelievably helpful to us.

I started a blog to help promote Freshman Fund
It's Gifting For College (http://www.giftingforcollege.com/)
Same deal please, we need your help. Go to the site, leave comments after the articles, add links in comment sections of other blogs to my blog and spread the word.

Welcome to the world of Guerrilla Marketing. You have now been recruited for La Revolucion.

Thanks in advance for your help,

Best,

Jeff Frese

P.S. Also please forward this email around for good luck ;o)

Fwd: Don't skip this class

2008-03-19T12:40:00.000-05:00

Sammy B, FRMAG contributor, Deviwo founder and associate producer at Flatbush Pictures (See the premiere of Run for Your Life at the Tribeca Film Festival) is sending this email around to all his friends...he won't mind us sharing ;) Thanks Sammy.
---
I just watched the whole speech and nothing but the speech.

http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/hisownwords/
If you have time, maybe before you sleep or on your lunch break, watch this video. It doesn't matter if you like or support Obama. I'm not even going to tell you to go out and vote for him. If you can find the time, watch the whole speech.

I believe this is patriotism.

Sam

NYC PASSES PLASTIC BAG RECYCLING BILL

2008-01-17T09:52:00.000-05:00

Last week, New York City took a giant step forward in the fight against plastic. New York's City Council passed a bill requiring large stores and retail chains to collect and recycle plastic shopping bags. According to a New York Times report: "New York is by far the largest American city to enact so broad a measure to limit the environmental impact of the bags. Altogether, each year the country is estimated to use 86 billion bags, which end up blowing down city streets, or tangled in the stomachs of whales, sea turtles and birds, or buried in landfills where they enjoy free rent for 1,000 years."

Other cities like Melbourne and San Francisco have banned bags outright. San Francisco was the first city in North America to ban non-recyclable and non-biodegradable bags made from petroleum products. Africa has moved toward a continent-wide plastic bag ban, and just last week, China's cabinet issued a directive banning their production, prohibiting stores from handing out free plastic bags after June 1st and imposing fees on their usage. People in China use up to 3 billion plastic bags daily! Help keep the momentum going here in the United States and just say no to plastic bags!

----
Report from StopGlobalWarming.org

The Budos Band

2008-01-10T16:51:00.001-05:00

Victory for Obama - Iowa Jan 2008

2008-01-04T22:29:00.001-05:00

Date: Fri, 4 Jan 2008

Here's the video and full text of Barack's speech from Iowa last
night. Thank you for making this historic victory possible:

http://my.barackobama.com/iowaspeech

Barack's already in New Hampshire, where there's a debate tomorrow
night and the voting happens on Tuesday.

Please take a moment to watch the speech and share it with someone you
know. Now's the time to get everyone involved:

http://my.barackobama.com/iowaspeech

Thank you,

David

--------- Original Message ---------
From: Barack Obama
Subject: Turn on your television

Grant --

We just won Iowa, and I'm about to head down to talk to everyone.

Democrats turned out in record numbers tonight, and independents and
even some Republicans joined our party to stand together for change.

Thank you for everything you've done to make this possible.

Barack

------
Donate: https://donate.barackobama.com/iowavictory
------

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Flying Lotus

2007-12-06T12:43:00.001-05:00

Currently at FirstRide

2007-11-08T13:34:00.000-05:00

FirstRide
- Do good. Do well.™

Currently at FirstRide

FRMAG launched in October. It showcases the GreenerMag interactive publishing platform. We developed it to provide an alternative publishing space for readers, publishers and advertisers. We love magazines but print magazines especially coated stock titles are not only destroying forests for paper, they are difficult to recycle and too often become landfill.

Our ambition is to create the most beautiful interactive magazines in the world on a platform that doesn't compete with print magazines, but becomes a new space for greener publishers and readers.

FirstRide Cars is a FirstRide Green Initiative. Starting in New York, people can order fuel-efficient, flat priced cars on FirstRideCars.com. We have carefully selected the cars and the dealer network to bring a responsible and stylish approach to the car business by making it easier to order safer, cooler, greener cars online.

We are currently expanding FirstRide Interactive to build GreenerMags. A social network for people who read and create magazines. GreenerMags publishers can recruit contributors, get subscribers and attract advertisers who pay for space. We've also decided to deploy GreenerMags as a Facebook application for maximum distribution. Naturally, GreenerMags works inside blogs and other social networks.

GreenerMags is used by people to: Create a magazine, a blog, video magazine, photo essay, travelog, yearbook, portfolio, novel, cookbook, presentation...

We work for the planet, our people and to make profit.

We create interactive spaces to promote greener lifestyle through alternative thinking and creativity. FRMAG, FirstRide Cars and GreenerMags are the first generation of ideas to come out of the FirstRide greenhouse.

--
Grant Lyons
Founder
FirstRide
Do good. Do well.
(718) 383 7090

Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings

2007-11-03T17:21:00.001-05:00

Here's the video for 100 Days 100 Nights by Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings. Of course it's brilliant! Like everything from Daptone. We were lucky enough to catch them at the Apollo a few weeks back. The SOLD OUT show was clearly New York music scene history!

More at Daptone Records

Get Your Africa Tee On

2007-11-01T16:00:00.000-05:00

If you don't have an Africa Tee yet, you need one.
Free Shipping for the month of November!!!
Great sweatshop-free, stylish gift for the holidays.
Did I say FREE SHIPPING????

OBAMA'08 12 Page Supplement on FRMAG

2007-10-05T14:59:00.000-05:00

We decided to make a 12 page Barack Obama Supplement to show support for a person who is bringing real ideas to the political table. A Candidate who brings people in to politics instead of driving people away from the process. So for those Obama fans, take a look and if you like it, please pass it on.

http://www.frmag.com/index.php?issue=fall07&pg=84

-g

FRMAG FALL2007

2007-09-24T13:11:00.000-05:00

Thanks to you all for contributing to our greener mag and for helping us get positive message out there in the most stylish manner.

Check out your articles on FRMAG!!!! We'll be publishing our mag twice a year and the rest of the time we'll be creating similar spaces for clients who are interested in taking this further. We're really proud of what we've put forward as a starting point, it's only going to get better. Use these links below to send your articles out if you'd like.

FRMAG FALL07 a greener mag

Homemade Spots by FirstRide
A choice selection of video
http://www.frmag.com/index.php?issue=fall07&pg=6

Arthur Nights
Four Night LA Music Experience by Arthur Mag
http://www.frmag.com/index.php?issue=fall07&pg=9

Daptones: Sharon Jones & The Budos Band
Interviews, articles and photos. by Richard Segan, Lord Lewis and Randy
Tunnell
http://www.frmag.com/index.php?issue=fall07&pg=7

FEATURED: The Budos Band II
Watch out for the sting! New Budos Album out now.
http://www.frmag.com/index.php?issue=fall07&pg=0

Mahogany
Our favorite Brooklyn shoegaze sensation - by Will Swofford
http://www.frmag.com/index.php?issue=fall07&pg=13

Charlotte & Jill
What would we be without these tales from the street?
http://www.frmag.com/index.php?issue=fall07&pg=15

Scrapile
Long-time greenies, Bart and Carlos of Scrapile
http://www.frmag.com/index.php?issue=fall07&pg=19

Cover Feature: Kanae Maeda
Todd Stewart proofiles Kanae Maeda for Zona Biophilia, Costa Rica
http://www.frmag.com/index.php?issue=fall07&pg=22

Condor Rodeo
Condor protection in the Big Sur - By Randy Tunnell
http://www.frmag.com/index.php?issue=fall07&pg=30

Todd Sigaty - Village Focus International
Daniella Caplan interviews...
http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif

Williamsburg Brooklyn
Our daily stroll through the neighborhood
http://www.frmag.com/index.php?issue=fall07&pg=40

Tokyo
On a trip with Asha Babat
http://www.frmag.com/index.php?issue=fall07&pg=46

Cape Town
My first trip to Cape Town by Jarrett Mason
http://www.frmag.com/index.php?issue=fall07&pg=50

Mali
Hauntingly beautiful photos and stories from Mali
by Lindy Cohen and Julia Raphaely
http://www.frmag.com/index.php?issue=fall07&pg=54

Spain
A day trip up the southern coast from Cadiz to Marbella
http://www.frmag.com/index.php?issue=fall07&pg=60

Deviwo Projects / Edward Chao
Sam Bathrick gives us an inside look into his Ghana project
http://www.frmag.com/index.php?issue=fall07&pg=66

Venice Beach
I could hang out here all day
http://www.frmag.com/index.php?issue=fall07&pg=74

SUBSYNC by PMURPHY.ORG
The world of illustrator Patrick Murphy
http://www.frmag.com/index.php?issue=fall07&pg=80

Douglas Rushkoff
What are you doing now?
http://www.frmag.com/index.php?issue=fall07&pg=81

FEATURED: jetBlue Airways
A tribute to a role model
http://www.frmag.com/index.php?issue=fall07&pg=21

About www.FRMAG.com

FRMAG lives on our interactive magazine platform, inspired by
the feeling of getting lost inside a great magazine...

We call it Greener Mags, designed to bring pages to
life online and communicate with readers in an intelligent way -
aiming higher instead of settling for the mundane.

And saving a tree or two in the process ;)

Thanks for being a part of a FirstRide Green Initiative.

--
--
Grant Lyons
Founder
www.FirstRide.com
Do good. Do well.

FRMAG - SEPT 2007

2007-09-19T14:59:00.000-05:00

FRMAG lives on our unique, interactive magazine platform, inspired by the feeling of getting lost inside a great magazine...and saving trees. We call it the Greener Mag platform, designed to bring readers, publishers and advertisers together on the most intuitive, magazine-inspired interactive space out there.

FRMAG

This is just the beginning. We're making improvements to it all the time and are enjoying sharing and developing it further with creative, forward-thinking people and companies who want to do good. Our magazine celebrates that spirit, featuring stories, video, music and photos from like-minded independent contributors.

Thanks for supporting FirstRide Green Initiatives.
g

FRMAG - A Greener Mag Platform is Born

2007-09-17T18:04:00.001-05:00

FRMAG is inspired by getting lost inside a great magazine. And saving trees. We call it the GreenerMags platform, designed to bring pages to life online and communicate with readers in an intelligent way - aiming higher instead of settling for the mundane. And saving trees;)

There will be changes all the time as we continue to make the experience better. Now if I could just use the force, everyone will love the mag... Love the mag...Love the mag...

Thanks for being a part of a FirstRide Green Initiative.
g

FRMAG

Success on a Road Less Taken

2007-09-10T14:45:00.000-05:00

Car Insurance Aimed
At Young, Urban Drivers
Is Engelhardt's Niche
By IAN MCDONALD
September 10, 2007; Wall Street Journal

Henry Engelhardt's speech pattern -- part Chicago, part Cardiff, Wales -- is as distinctive as his approach to car insurance.

Mr. Engelhardt, an American who attended business school in France and has long worked outside the U.S., is chief executive of Admiral Group PLC. He co-founded the Cardiff-based car insurer, which sells coverage over the phone and the Internet, in 1993.
[Theory and Practice]

Mr. Engelhardt borrows ideas from consumer marketers selling cosmetics or shampoo -- targeting specific customers with a fleet of brands. Entering a crowded, competitive market dominated by brokers, Admiral focused on selling directly to customers others shunned: young, urban drivers. Now, Admiral has brands focused on women, commercial vehicles, low-claims drivers and online buyers.

The company employs a different financial strategy from most peers, passing off much of its policies' risks to deep-pocketed reinsurers. This allows Admiral to sell ample numbers of policies without keeping heaps of money in the bank to back them up.

For the first half, Admiral reported profit rose 25%, to £60.2 million ($122.1 million). Revenue after reinsurance costs totaled about £178 million. The company's shares, about 15% of which are owned by Mr. Engelhardt, are up more than 24% over the past 12 months.

How did this executive who stays up late to watch the Chicago Cubs on television carve out a lucrative niche in a mature business? Excerpts of an interview with him follow:

WSJ: What was your initial impression of the United Kingdom car-insurance business?

Mr. Engelhardt: At first I thought, "Car insurance? How boring." Then I found out the U.K. insurance market is fascinating and one where counterintuitive thinking pays off. Customers are generally very rational and willing to consider new ideas, but many companies stick with the status quo.

In the U.K., 70% of consumers shop for motor insurance every year. That figure is 20% or less in the U.S. and most other big insurance markets. That creates a big opportunity for someone who is willing to take a fresh look at the business.

WSJ: What have you done differently?

Mr. Engelhardt: There have been a lot of basic things we've done that were totally new in the U.K. One was a free phone line. There were other little things, like comment forms. We asked customers what they thought. All of that seemed pretty standard to us, but it wasn't happening in U.K. motor insurance.

WSJ: How did you start picking market niches?

Mr. Engelhardt: When we started in 1993, the other phone-based companies had gone for the good-driver market. We knew we couldn't compete there. We had to go where they weren't, and that was younger drivers. Brokers were getting about 15% in commissions. So, a premium of £1,000 a year meant paying £150 to the broker. We saw that if we could select good risks among those customers without paying brokers, we could have a big cost advantage.

WSJ: That led to other targeted brands?

Mr. Engelhardt: Yes, and that targeting started because we weren't car-insurance people. We started out with Admiral for younger people in 1993. We added Diamond in 1997, focusing on women, who really responded to that. And we launched Elephant.co.uk in 2000 for people who wanted to use the Internet.

If you said to the people at L'Oréal or Procter & Gamble that we do multibranding, they'd yawn. Look at shampoos in [U.K. pharmacy chain] Boots and you'll see yards of different types. But look at the back and they're all from P&G and Unilever.

WSJ: Every car insurer has decades of accident data. How can you get an edge at underwriting?

Mr. Engelhardt: We ask about 30 questions, compared with about 22 or 23 for our competitors. That might not sound like much, but it actually makes a huge difference. You need that extra information if you want to be better at risk selection. Some of these extra questions have to do with second drivers, for instance. We might sort second drivers by gender, occupation and years they've held a license.

WSJ: You're expanding in Europe. How is that going?

Mr. Engelhardt: Our business [in Spain] started last year and is a telephone and Internet business. We have more than 16,000 customers now. Germany is a work in progress. We hope to launch late this year or early next year. It will be Italy next, in 2008 sometime.

WSJ: How do you choose your markets?

Mr. Engelhardt: Our international expansion is based on a simple premise: The Internet is an unstoppable force. The 21-year-old in [Peoria, Ill.,] and the 21-year-old in Bonn are both using the Internet for virtually everything. We know a lot about it and we know how to do it.

WSJ: Do you think you'll be in the U.S. in five years?

Mr. Engelhardt: I hope so, yes. In 2009 we are looking at opening in France or the U.S. The upside of the U.S. market is that it's huge. The downside is that it's 50 different markets [due to state-by-state regulation]. But it does give us the opportunity to pick and choose among states if we like.

Write to Ian McDonald at ian.mcdonald@wsj.com

greenermags.com - launching 2008

2007-08-06T14:07:00.000-05:00

Start a magazine on greenermags.com and share it with your friends.

Create your own articles, photo essays and ads with easy-to-use tools. Feature your images, music and videos. Subscribe to magazines you like and grow your community.

* Design, publish, and promote your own interactive magazine
* Attract contributors and build a community of subscribers
* Get paid by advertisers for space in your magazine
* It’s free and you can save a tree or two in the process

Call or email us for more information on greenermags and FirstRide
718 383 7090
gogreen@firstride.com

GreenerMags is a green initiative by FirstRide.com to promote the creation, distribution and reading of quality magazines in an suitable online environment. We need to see beyond paper and in a world where most discarded magazines end up as landfill we have to accept that each one of us leaves a footprint on the earth.

The tease is on...

2007-07-23T13:48:00.000-05:00

The Budos Band.

Like the deadly scorpion of the album's cover, The Budos Band's second release, The Budos Band II, creeps stealthily over the hot desert sand. It is with unmistakable purpose that each beat of the music drives forth, one footstep of many to carry the Scorpion toward it's meaning. With its tail arched high in readiness, he maneuvers patiently under the scorching desert sun, and chooses his prey. He strikes without warning and without remorse. The venom of his sting, true to it's reason; his victom, ever-intoxicated.

Mahogany - Live in Lima

2007-07-23T13:33:00.000-05:00

Brooklyn's Mahogany performing One plus one equals three or more in Lima, Peru.
May 2007.

Takashi takes tongue twisting tales to task..or it's his testicles!

2007-07-20T15:37:00.000-05:00

You know us and crazy Japanese game shows!!! This is a clip from a show where contestants are challenged to read a tongue-twister without making a mistake within a certain unreasonable time limit. Don't get it wrong boys, you know what's going to happen...

Designer bag hysteria at Whole Foods

2007-07-18T20:59:00.000-05:00

Organic retailer offers reusable bags designed by Anya Hindmarch for $15 in northeastern stores, consumers wait in line in the rain.

By Chris Zappone, CNNMoney.com staff writer
July 18 2007: 2:07 PM EDT

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Entrances to Whole Foods locations in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut swarmed with shoppers Wednesday morning who had lined up to buy limited-edition canvas bags designed by Anya Hindmarch.

Whole Foods' (Charts, Fortune 500) four New York City locations each had about 2,900 bags to sell to the first shoppers who arrived, according to a Whole Foods spokesman Fred Shanks. Suburban stores had only 300 bags available.

The light brown bags - emblazoned with the words, "I'm not a plastic bag," in blue letters - are designed to raise awareness of the environmental impact of plastic bags.

The small number of bags, priced at $15 each, did little to dissuade consumer interest.

Whole Foods' Edgewater, N.J.-location had more than 300 people waiting in the rain, according to Shanks.

The organic grocer's Union Square location in New York reported a line of 500 people, Shanks said.

The New York promotion comes after an earlier one in London, where similar bags with brown lettering went on sale first in designer Hindmarch's stores and then in a promotion at U.K. grocer Sainsbury's.

"It has been the most unbelievable project," said designer Anya Hindmarch who says she herself used to throw plastic bags away until she realized what a waste it was.

"We set out to create awareness. We think that's great," she said of the loss-making project adding "fashion does influence behavior."

"We can create this craze. Where we have the platform, that's what I do: I make things fashionable."

Others agree.

"Its a very exclusive item," said Whole Foods' Meredith Petran, a marketing manager at the Columbus Circle location. "People like to collect them."

Whole Foods' "part is to raise awareness for the reuse of shopping bags," said Petran.

"I'm getting three for friends on the West Coast because they are not selling them there," said Sarah Ting, one of the shoppers waiting in line in New York.

Shopper Camille Sieunerine said she may sell one of her bags, "if I see it go for a good price on eBay."

"But I'm going to keep one," she said. "I'm a vegan."

As of 1 pm ET, the U.S. and U.K. versions of the bags were being bid up into the mid-$200 range on eBay. On Craigslist the bag was being offered for $250.

Mali

2007-07-15T20:29:00.000-05:00

Moving Beyond Kyoto

2007-07-02T17:40:00.000-05:00

by: Al Gore 2 July 2007

WE — the human species — have arrived at a moment of decision. It is unprecedented and even laughable for us to imagine that we could actually make a conscious choice as a species, but that is nevertheless the challenge that is before us.

Our home — Earth — is in danger. What is at risk of being destroyed is not the planet itself, but the conditions that have made it hospitable for human beings.

Without realizing the consequences of our actions, we have begun to put so much carbon dioxide into the thin shell of air surrounding our world that we have literally changed the heat balance between Earth and the Sun. If we don't stop doing this pretty quickly, the average temperature will increase to levels humans have never known and put an end to the favorable climate balance on which our civilization depends.

In the last 150 years, in an accelerating frenzy, we have been removing increasing quantities of carbon from the ground — mainly in the form of coal and oil — and burning it in ways that dump 70 million tons of CO2 every 24 hours into the Earth's atmosphere.

The concentrations of CO2 — having never risen above 300 parts per million for at least a million years — have been driven from 280 parts per million at the beginning of the coal boom to 383 parts per million this year.

As a direct result, many scientists are now warning that we are moving closer to several "tipping points" that could — within 10 years — make it impossible for us to avoid irretrievable damage to the planet's habitability for human civilization.

Just in the last few months, new studies have shown that the north polar ice cap — which helps the planet cool itself — is melting nearly three times faster than the most pessimistic computer models predicted. Unless we take action, summer ice could be completely gone in as little as 35 years. Similarly, at the other end of the planet, near the South Pole, scientists have found new evidence of snow melting in West Antarctica across an area as large as California.

This is not a political issue. This is a moral issue, one that affects the survival of human civilization. It is not a question of left versus right; it is a question of right versus wrong. Put simply, it is wrong to destroy the habitability of our planet and ruin the prospects of every generation that follows ours.

On Sept. 21, 1987, President Ronald Reagan said, "In our obsession with antagonisms of the moment, we often forget how much unites all the members of humanity. Perhaps we need some outside, universal threat to recognize this common bond. I occasionally think how quickly our differences would vanish if we were facing an alien threat from outside this world."

We — all of us — now face a universal threat. Though it is not from outside this world, it is nevertheless cosmic in scale.

Consider this tale of two planets. Earth and Venus are almost exactly the same size, and have almost exactly the same amount of carbon. The difference is that most of the carbon on Earth is in the ground — having been deposited there by various forms of life over the last 600 million years — and most of the carbon on Venus is in the atmosphere.

As a result, while the average temperature on Earth is a pleasant 59 degrees, the average temperature on Venus is 867 degrees. True, Venus is closer to the Sun than we are, but the fault is not in our star; Venus is three times hotter on average than Mercury, which is right next to the Sun. It's the carbon dioxide.

This threat also requires us, in Reagan's phrase, to unite in recognition of our common bond.

Next Saturday, on all seven continents, the Live Earth concert will ask for the attention of humankind to begin a three-year campaign to make everyone on our planet aware of how we can solve the climate crisis in time to avoid catastrophe. Individuals must be a part of the solution. In the words of Buckminster Fuller, "If the success or failure of this planet, and of human beings, depended on how I am and what I do, how would I be? What would I do?"

Live Earth will offer an answer to this question by asking everyone who attends or listens to the concerts to sign a personal pledge to take specific steps to combat climate change. (More details about the pledge are available at algore.com.)

But individual action will also have to shape and drive government action. Here Americans have a special responsibility. Throughout most of our short history, the United States and the American people have provided moral leadership for the world. Establishing the Bill of Rights, framing democracy in the Constitution, defeating fascism in World War II, toppling Communism and landing on the moon — all were the result of American leadership.

Once again, Americans must come together and direct our government to take on a global challenge. American leadership is a precondition for success.

To this end, we should demand that the United States join an international treaty within the next two years that cuts global warming pollution by 90 percent in developed countries and by more than half worldwide in time for the next generation to inherit a healthy Earth.

This treaty would mark a new effort. I am proud of my role during the Clinton administration in negotiating the Kyoto protocol. But I believe that the protocol has been so demonized in the United States that it probably cannot be ratified here — much in the way the Carter administration was prevented from winning ratification of an expanded strategic arms limitation treaty in 1979. Moreover, the negotiations will soon begin on a tougher climate treaty.

Therefore, just as President Reagan renamed and modified the SALT agreement (calling it Start), after belatedly recognizing the need for it, our next president must immediately focus on quickly concluding a new and even tougher climate change pact. We should aim to complete this global treaty by the end of 2009 — and not wait until 2012 as currently planned.

If by the beginning of 2009, the United States already has in place a domestic regime to reduce global warming pollution, I have no doubt that when we give industry a goal and the tools and flexibility to sharply reduce carbon emissions, we can complete and ratify a new treaty quickly. It is, after all, a planetary emergency.

A new treaty will still have differentiated commitments, of course; countries will be asked to meet different requirements based upon their historical share or contribution to the problem and their relative ability to carry the burden of change. This precedent is well established in international law, and there is no other way to do it.

There are some who will try to pervert this precedent and use xenophobia or nativist arguments to say that every country should be held to the same standard. But should countries with one-fifth our gross domestic product — countries that contributed almost nothing in the past to the creation of this crisis — really carry the same load as the United States? Are we so scared of this challenge that we cannot lead?

Our children have a right to hold us to a higher standard when their future — indeed, the future of all human civilization — is hanging in the balance. They deserve better than a government that censors the best scientific evidence and harasses honest scientists who try to warn us about looming catastrophe. They deserve better than politicians who sit on their hands and do nothing to confront the greatest challenge that humankind has ever faced — even as the danger bears down on us.

We should focus instead on the opportunities that are part of this challenge. Certainly, there will be new jobs and new profits as corporations move aggressively to capture the enormous economic opportunities offered by a clean energy future.

But there's something even more precious to be gained if we do the right thing. The climate crisis offers us the chance to experience what few generations in history have had the privilege of experiencing: a generational mission; a compelling moral purpose; a shared cause; and the thrill of being forced by circumstances to put aside the pettiness and conflict of politics and to embrace a genuine moral and spiritual challenge.

Al Gore, vice president from 1993 to 2001, is the chairman of the Alliance for Climate Protection. He is the author, most recently, of "The Assault on Reason."

Obama on Letterman

2007-06-27T18:02:00.001-05:00

Go Barak! you classy guy.

FRMAG preview

2007-06-25T18:40:00.001-05:00

FirstRide Mag coming this summer

Sharon Jones talks to Richard Segan

2007-06-25T17:52:00.001-05:00

LISTEN TO SHARON’S INTERVIEW
WITH RICHARD SEGAN

WHUS 91.7 ONE WORLD RADIO

New Budos Track

2007-06-25T16:24:00.001-05:00

A scorpion emerges from the shade across the hot desert sand. A scorching place for those who can handle it.

When in need, read.

2007-06-18T15:17:00.000-05:00

Stanford University
Stanford News

This is the text of the Commencement address by Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Computer and of Pixar Animation Studios, delivered on June 12, 2005.

I am honored to be with you today at your commencement from one of the finest universities in the world. I never graduated from college. Truth be told, this is the closest I've ever gotten to a college graduation. Today I want to tell you three stories from my life. That's it. No big deal. Just three stories.

The first story is about connecting the dots.

I dropped out of Reed College after the first 6 months, but then stayed around as a drop-in for another 18 months or so before I really quit. So why did I drop out?

It started before I was born. My biological mother was a young, unwed college graduate student, and she decided to put me up for adoption. She felt very strongly that I should be adopted by college graduates, so everything was all set for me to be adopted at birth by a lawyer and his wife. Except that when I popped out they decided at the last minute that they really wanted a girl. So my parents, who were on a waiting list, got a call in the middle of the night asking: "We have an unexpected baby boy; do you want him?" They said: "Of course." My biological mother later found out that my mother had never graduated from college and that my father had never graduated from high school. She refused to sign the final adoption papers. She only relented a few months later when my parents promised that I would someday go to college.

And 17 years later I did go to college. But I naively chose a college that was almost as expensive as Stanford, and all of my working-class parents' savings were being spent on my college tuition. After six months, I couldn't see the value in it. I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life and no idea how college was going to help me figure it out. And here I was spending all of the money my parents had saved their entire life. So I decided to drop out and trust that it would all work out OK. It was pretty scary at the time, but looking back it was one of the best decisions I ever made. The minute I dropped out I could stop taking the required classes that didn't interest me, and begin dropping in on the ones that looked interesting.

It wasn't all romantic. I didn't have a dorm room, so I slept on the floor in friends' rooms, I returned coke bottles for the 5¢ deposits to buy food with, and I would walk the 7 miles across town every Sunday night to get one good meal a week at the Hare Krishna temple. I loved it. And much of what I stumbled into by following my curiosity and intuition turned out to be priceless later on. Let me give you one example:

Reed College at that time offered perhaps the best calligraphy instruction in the country. Throughout the campus every poster, every label on every drawer, was beautifully hand calligraphed. Because I had dropped out and didn't have to take the normal classes, I decided to take a calligraphy class to learn how to do this. I learned about serif and san serif typefaces, about varying the amount of space between different letter combinations, about what makes great typography great. It was beautiful, historical, artistically subtle in a way that science can't capture, and I found it fascinating.

None of this had even a hope of any practical application in my life. But ten years later, when we were designing the first Macintosh computer, it all came back to me. And we designed it all into the Mac. It was the first computer with beautiful typography. If I had never dropped in on that single course in college, the Mac would have never had multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts. And since Windows just copied the Mac, its likely that no personal computer would have them. If I had never dropped out, I would have never dropped in on this calligraphy class, and personal computers might not have the wonderful typography that they do. Of course it was impossible to connect the dots looking forward when I was in college. But it was very, very clear looking backwards ten years later.

Again, you can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.

My second story is about love and loss.

I was lucky — I found what I loved to do early in life. Woz and I started Apple in my parents garage when I was 20. We worked hard, and in 10 years Apple had grown from just the two of us in a garage into a $2 billion company with over 4000 employees. We had just released our finest creation — the Macintosh — a year earlier, and I had just turned 30. And then I got fired. How can you get fired from a company you started? Well, as Apple grew we hired someone who I thought was very talented to run the company with me, and for the first year or so things went well. But then our visions of the future began to diverge and eventually we had a falling out. When we did, our Board of Directors sided with him. So at 30 I was out. And very publicly out. What had been the focus of my entire adult life was gone, and it was devastating.

I really didn't know what to do for a few months. I felt that I had let the previous generation of entrepreneurs down - that I had dropped the baton as it was being passed to me. I met with David Packard and Bob Noyce and tried to apologize for screwing up so badly. I was a very public failure, and I even thought about running away from the valley. But something slowly began to dawn on me — I still loved what I did. The turn of events at Apple had not changed that one bit. I had been rejected, but I was still in love. And so I decided to start over.

I didn't see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life.

During the next five years, I started a company named NeXT, another company named Pixar, and fell in love with an amazing woman who would become my wife. Pixar went on to create the worlds first computer animated feature film, Toy Story, and is now the most successful animation studio in the world. In a remarkable turn of events, Apple bought NeXT, I returned to Apple, and the technology we developed at NeXT is at the heart of Apple's current renaissance. And Laurene and I have a wonderful family together.

I'm pretty sure none of this would have happened if I hadn't been fired from Apple. It was awful tasting medicine, but I guess the patient needed it. Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don't lose faith. I'm convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You've got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don't settle.

My third story is about death.

When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: "If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you'll most certainly be right." It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: "If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?" And whenever the answer has been "No" for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.

Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.

About a year ago I was diagnosed with cancer. I had a scan at 7:30 in the morning, and it clearly showed a tumor on my pancreas. I didn't even know what a pancreas was. The doctors told me this was almost certainly a type of cancer that is incurable, and that I should expect to live no longer than three to six months. My doctor advised me to go home and get my affairs in order, which is doctor's code for prepare to die. It means to try to tell your kids everything you thought you'd have the next 10 years to tell them in just a few months. It means to make sure everything is buttoned up so that it will be as easy as possible for your family. It means to say your goodbyes.

I lived with that diagnosis all day. Later that evening I had a biopsy, where they stuck an endoscope down my throat, through my stomach and into my intestines, put a needle into my pancreas and got a few cells from the tumor. I was sedated, but my wife, who was there, told me that when they viewed the cells under a microscope the doctors started crying because it turned out to be a very rare form of pancreatic cancer that is curable with surgery. I had the surgery and I'm fine now.

This was the closest I've been to facing death, and I hope its the closest I get for a few more decades. Having lived through it, I can now say this to you with a bit more certainty than when death was a useful but purely intellectual concept:

No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don't want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life's change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.

Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.

When I was young, there was an amazing publication called The Whole Earth Catalog, which was one of the bibles of my generation. It was created by a fellow named Stewart Brand not far from here in Menlo Park, and he brought it to life with his poetic touch. This was in the late 1960's, before personal computers and desktop publishing, so it was all made with typewriters, scissors, and polaroid cameras. It was sort of like Google in paperback form, 35 years before Google came along: it was idealistic, and overflowing with neat tools and great notions.

Stewart and his team put out several issues of The Whole Earth Catalog, and then when it had run its course, they put out a final issue. It was the mid-1970s, and I was your age. On the back cover of their final issue was a photograph of an early morning country road, the kind you might find yourself hitchhiking on if you were so adventurous. Beneath it were the words: "Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish." It was their farewell message as they signed off. Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish. And I have always wished that for myself. And now, as you graduate to begin anew, I wish that for you.

Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.

Thank you all very much.

SR

Stanford News Service

© Stanford University. All Rights Reserved. Stanford, CA 94305. (650) 723-2300.

Big Apple Barbecue

2007-06-05T11:46:00.001-05:00

FESTIVAL
Big Apple Barbecue Block Party

when: Sat 6.9 & Sun 6.10 (12-6pm)
where: Madison Square Park (btwn 23rd & 26th Sts & 5th & Madison
Aves, 646.747.0584 ) map
price:FREE

Great barbecue, once a scarcity in New York, is having an overdue
heyday, helped in no small part by this weekend's Big Apple Barbecue
Block Party. The fifth-annual carnivore's circus rolls into Midtown
with 15 tons of smoked, slow-roasted, sauce-slathered meat from a
dozen of America's finest pit-masters. A two-day fest of ribs (spare
and baby-back), shoulders, brisket, butt, tips, whole hogs, and creamy
sides celebrates the secret tinkerings and family recipes from 'cue
icons like Bryan Bracewell of Southside Market & BBQ in Elgin, Texas,
who still makes his hot sausages from the original 1882 recipe. Live
sessions from soul singer Binky Griptite and the Afrofunk Budos Band
provide an all-American soundtrack to our finger-licking pastime.
(HGM)

Note: While the event is free, you do have to pay to get your 'cue
on. Prepaid BUBBA FastPasses (including food-and-drink vouchers,
seminar tickets, and more) are available onsite for $100.

WEBSITE

New York City - Gardens in Transit

2007-06-05T10:25:00.000-05:00

A Citywide Art Project - 13,000 taxi's will be painted using volunteers, community groups and sponsored organizations.

Thanks for passing this along Bev!

Web Leads, Print Pubs Improve Environmental Impact

2007-06-04T17:59:00.000-05:00

Web Leads, Print Pubs Improve Environmental Impact
by Mark Glaser
from pbs.org/mediashift

If you’ve grown tired of answering the question, “paper or plastic?” you can now consider another nagging environmental question when choosing your news source: “Online or print?”

Environmental critics have decried “dead-tree media” for decades, saying that print publications rely on clear-cutting forests, energy produced to run paper mills, and gasoline used to deliver publications to each doorstep.While print publishers have started to look at recycled paper content and other environmentally friendly practices, the web remains a more eco-friendly choice for information consumers who care about their carbon footprint.

full article

FirstRide on ABCNews.com

2007-05-22T11:21:00.000-05:00

ABC News

A Luxury Hybrid: Lexus Shows off $104,000 ‘Green’ Car Trying to Compete with BMW, Mercedes—and Attract Environmentalists Too?

By NED POTTER and MARCUS BARAM

May 17, 2007 —

The Lexus LS 600h L shimmers in the light, does zero to 60 in 5.5 seconds, and has the equivalent of 438 horsepower under the hood. It has leather trim throughout, Bluetooth and voice activation technology, and a built-in navigation system.

The suggested price when it reaches the market this summer is $104,000—the most expensive car Toyota, through its luxury Lexus line, has ever sold.

And—oh, by the way—the company says it’s environmentally friendly. The emissions from its tailpipe should be 70 percent cleaner than those from comparable cars. Toyota says the tailpipe emissions should be “cleaner than the ambient air in some major cities.”

Do Green and Gold-Plated Match?

The LS 600h L is both a hybrid and a top-of the-line luxury car, for those who believe one can have it all. Lexus says it is trying to compete with such models as the BMW 7 series and the Mercedes-Benz S600.

But while the Mercedes, with its V12 twin-turbo engine, gets 12 miles per gallon in city driving, Lexus says its new car will have comparable power—and get nearly double the gas mileage. (Under new EPA rules for 2008 models, the Lexus would get 20 miles per gallon in the city and 22 miles per gallon in highway driving.)

“We know there are a lot of luxury buyers who’ve said to us, ‘Hey, I like my Prius, but what about a car with all the amenities I’m used to?’” says Greg Thome, from Lexus’ U.S. headquarters in Torrance, Calif.

Environmental Chic

Keep in mind that Torrance is not far from another California town—Hollywood—where it’s been fashionable to show up at the Oscars in Toyota’s hybrid Prius instead of a limo.

There’s a social statement that goes along with it—passing on opulence for the sake of the environment. The Prius is rated at 60 miles per gallon in the city, though various reviwers say it gets in the high forties in real-world driving. And you can drive one home for about $23,000 plus taxes and fees.

In other words, you can get four Prius hybrids for the price of one new Lexus LS 600h L. The car comes from the same company, and, depending on whose numbers you use, may get three times the gas mileage.

So is there a market for a green car that costs over $100,000? Can you be green and gold-plated at the same time?

Toyota insists the answer is yes.

“We certainly feel there are people out there at many price points,” says Thome.

At the new car’s launch today in Tokyo, the company’s president, Katsuaki Watanabe, said, “This car takes the concept of luxury beyond the conventional parameters and into the 21st century.”

Others say that with its high price and less-than-impressive mileage, the new Lexus might be a hard sell to luxury consumers.

“In theory, it’s a perfect combination—luxury and hybrid—and Lexus is one of the most purchased brands by wealthy consumers,” says Pamela Danziger, the president of Unity Marketing, a boutique marketing consulting firm.

“But that’s an awful lot of money to make yourself feel good about the environment,” she adds. “That’s almost four times as expensive as the Prius. People will look at that carefully and say, ‘Does it really give me the value?’ That remains to be seen.”

Grant Lyons, who owns Firstride.com, an online store that sells hybrid cars, does not plan on selling the new Lexus.

“It’s geared to middle-aged men who want to keep the style and comforts of their SUV while doing their bit for the environment—a way to assuage their guilt without giving up the luxury,” he says.

But Lyons calls it a step in the right direction, and says it become a status symbol akin to Apple’s forthcoming iPhone.

“Everybody is going to want to have one—a nice luxury toy that makes you feel good,” he says. “And they’re going to sell basketloads.”

Link to article on abcnews.com

Konono No1 Opening for Bjork at Apollo

2007-05-07T12:02:00.000-05:00

And we'll be there! Wow! Thanks Algranti.

Laurie David & Sheryl Crow Hit the Road on “Stop Global Warming College Tour”

2007-04-16T16:03:00.000-05:00

Los Angeles, CA - Global warming activist Laurie David and Grammy Award winning singer-song writer Sheryl Crow will kick off the "Stop Global Warming College Tour" in Dallas, TX to urge college students to become part of the movement to stop global warming and demand solutions from themselves, their schools and their country.

During the two-week tour, college students, university leaders, faculty and staff will be encouraged to join the Stop Global Warming Virtual March (www.stopglobalwarming.org or stopglobalwarming.msn.com) and have their voice counted as the bus rolls through their campus. Over 675,000 individual marchers from all 50 states have joined the virtual march to acknowledge that the U.S. is feeling the impact of global warming right now and to demand solutions to the problem.

"History proves that college students have the ability to be the driving force in large-scale social change and now -- more than ever -- is the time for students across the country to become global warming activists," said Laurie David, founder of StopGlobalWarming.org and author of Stop Global Warming: The Solution is You!

The College Tour will begin on Monday, April 9th at Southern Methodist University (SMU) in Dallas, Texas, and continue on to 10 universities across the Southeastern United States in a bus using bio-diesel fuel.

The Power of Green

2007-04-16T15:59:00.000-05:00

by: Thomas L. Friedman 16 April 2007 (Posted on www.stopglobalwarming.org)

One day Iraq, our post-9/11 trauma and the divisiveness of the Bush years will all be behind us — and America will need, and want, to get its groove back. We will need to find a way to reknit America at home, reconnect America abroad and restore America to its natural place in the global order — as the beacon of progress, hope and inspiration. I have an idea how. It's called "green."

In the world of ideas, to name something is to own it. If you can name an issue, you can own the issue. One thing that always struck me about the term "green" was the degree to which, for so many years, it was defined by its opponents — by the people who wanted to disparage it. And they defined it as "liberal," "tree-hugging," "sissy," "girlie-man," "unpatriotic," "vaguely French."

Well, I want to rename "green." I want to rename it geostrategic, geoeconomic, capitalistic and patriotic. I want to do that because I think that living, working, designing, manufacturing and projecting America in a green way can be the basis of a new unifying political movement for the 21st century. A redefined, broader and more muscular green ideology is not meant to trump the traditional Republican and Democratic agendas but rather to bridge them when it comes to addressing the three major issues facing every American today: jobs, temperature and terrorism.

Read More

Fwd: BUDOS - LIVE in BK - Tonight and Thursday!

2007-04-14T15:49:00.001-05:00

Saturday April 14th

The Budos Band

w/ El Michels Affair
(http://www.truthandsoulrecords.com/)

@ the Paul Robeson Theater
40 Greene Ave. @ Carlton
Fort Greene, BK
Doors @ 10pm
Admission $12 in advance /$15 day of show
Tickets: http://www.ticketweb.com

Sponsored by Wax Poetics

-------------------------------
Thursday April 19th

The Budos Band

w/Special Guest DJ Mr. Finewine
(http://www.wfmu.org)

@ the Hook
18 Commerce St
Red Hook, BK
Doors @ 8pm
Admission $10 in advance
Tickets: http://www.ticketweb.com

-------------------------------
The Budos Band
http://www.thebudos.com
http://www.myspace.com/budosband
http://www.daptonerecords.com

Bill Clinton visits VFI Cambodia!

2007-04-14T08:14:00.000-05:00

On a recent trip to Cambodia, President Bill Clinton only had time to meet with two NGOs - and one of them was VFI! The president wanted to see what VFI Cambodia has done to support Weaves of Cambodia, a fair trade silk weaving business for survivors of land mine explosions.

VFI Cambodia staff Sophorn Touch and Raquel Grebler got to meet Mr. Clinton and show him some Weaves of Cambodia scarves. Bill was impressed and even posed for some photos!

Find out more about VFI at villagefocus.org

FYI: We featured Todd Sigaty of Village Focus International in Volume 2 of FirstRide Magazine.

APRIL 22 is Earth Day

2007-04-12T13:27:00.000-05:00

Okay, like we actually need a specific day to celebrate the earth? In any event, next Sunday IS Earth Day. So on Earth Day: If you normally throw your soda can in the trash, please don't do it, recycle...If you plan on taking a long drive somewhere, plant some trees to counter your emissions...usually use plastic shopping bags? Use paper or reuse some of your old bags.

You get the picture. Just take the day to be aware that every little bit helps. There is info everywhere on how to live greener.

Happy Earth Day from everyone at FirstRide.com

Global warming and Organic Wine?

2007-04-12T13:11:00.001-05:00

If you haven't been to Bottle Rocket on 19th street you should! They have a great store and a fantastic approach.
From time to time they have events. This Sunday is a discussion on global warming by some "heads" mentioned below as well as some perspective on organic wine. If you're in the area, try to get there.

Sunday, April 22, 3 – 6 pm
Eclectic Salon: Global Warming Discussion

An afternoon of awareness with environmental activists honoring Earth Day. Take away practical tips about how to make a difference in the urgent fight to save our planet. Sample wines from local, biodynamic and organic vineyards. Special guests will answer your questions about Global Warming: Natural Resources Defense Council's Dale Bryk and Jon Coifman; Environmental Defense's Dr. Bill Chameides; and Transportation Alternatives' Dani Simons. Free. Reservations not required.

visit BottleRocket online at http://www.bottlerocketwine.com/

Ban Ki-moon urges States to act decisively to mitigate worst effects of climate change

2007-04-07T09:21:00.000-05:00

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who has called climate change one of his top priorities, today hailed a new report on the subject, urging nations to make decisive efforts to alleviate the worst consequences brought on by global warming.

Read Article

AfricaTee.com

2007-04-06T13:53:00.000-05:00

We helped launch AfricaTee.com with Lindy to promote her line of Africa Tee's and Tank tops for men and women. 25% of the proceeds go to PlanUSA/Africa to help communities in need in Africa. So visit AfricaTee.com and make your fashion statement. When you do, please send her a photo of you wearing the AfricaTee.

g

Global Green Game

2007-04-04T21:11:00.001-05:00

It's an original way to get some quick
facts across to a wide audience. Decide for yourself.
g

PLANET GREEN GAME

Global Green USA has collaborated with Starbucks and Tree Media on the
launch of a new online game called Planet Green Game. The game is
designed to educate players about climate change in a fun and engaging
way, and to encourage individuals to become part of the solution in
their own lives. The game and related website also provide simple
tools and links to advocate action by elected officials, business and
community leaders. Check it out!

http://planetgreengame.com

Green Dimes - Green way to get rid of junk mail

2007-04-01T19:20:00.001-05:00

Got this from my friend Karen!!!

Hi!
I just found this web site to deal with my huge junk mail problem. The
company is called GreenDimes. For a dime a day they get your name off
direct mailing lists and keep it off, and plant a tree for you every month.

Solving my junk mail problem is great for me and helps the environment at
the same time. Did you know that a typical American household receives
about 70 pounds of junk mail a year? (I think it's more at my house.) Add it
up and that's 100 million trees chopped down each year to make junk mail,
most of which we don't want and ends up in landfills.

So if you want to stop your mailbox from overflowing, see your kitchen
counter again, and save some trees, take a look at GreenDimes:
http://www.greendimes.com/index.php?src=mem&refid=6057

Thanks!
Karen

Globalization = Global Warming

2007-04-01T11:04:00.001-05:00

As posted on New York Times Science Blog March 31, 2007

This is actually an issue of greed and survival. Companies have to
make profit to satisfy shareholders...consumers have to deal with the
rising cost of living (health care, gas, housing). As the costs
increase, consumers are forced to look for cheaper products because
they have less cash. This recipe spells globalization.

Globalization = Global Warming

The solution: Individuals will have to answer the call to addressing
global warming one person at a time. And the way each one of us will
do it is entirely up to us as long as we do it. For me, I drive a
hybrid car, I recycle and structure my business to promote ideas and
groups who help this global problem. On an International policy level
it is harder because policy is controlled by politics. The current
shift towards a greener society is a result of individual action. The
reality is that we need to clean up our own mess and take
responsibility for what we (people in developed nations) started. We
started globalization. It's no different to a drug addiction. One day
at a time. Stop blaming others for the problem. Be a part of the
solution by doing something that works for you.

Corporations who are not adopting greener policy are losing market
share because consumers are supporting companies who do. Now let's see
if the politicians get the message. Power to the people.

Do good. Do well.

Al Gore Video

2007-03-22T14:35:00.000-05:00

From AlGore.com

By 10:00 AM yesterday, as I took my seat in the hearing room, an incredible 519,414 people had signed our message to Congress demanding immediate action to solve the climate crisis.

All of those boxes chock full of your messages, sitting right next to me as I testified, were a fantastic show of support and one that is already having an impact as our Representatives and Senators begin to debate solutions to the climate crisis. In fact, so many people signed our message in the 24 hours before the hearing, we are still working on printing them. But don’t worry, Congress now knows that you have spoken, and I will personally make sure every last message is delivered.

Connectivity! at FirstRide Brooklyn

2007-03-21T16:00:00.000-05:00

We finally have Internet at FirstRide Brooklyn.
Thanks to RON for the great work!:)

Help me send a message to Congress:

2007-03-20T21:09:00.000-05:00

Al gore is delivering a message to Congress on our behalf. Please sign the postcard to make your point.

To my representatives in Washington D.C.,
We must not ignore the climate crisis any longer. The impacts are clear and the solutions to the problem are within our grasp. Congress must take real action now to stop global warming.

Announcing FirstRide Magazine v.2

2007-03-07T16:00:00.000-05:00

Exciting things are happening at FirstRide - We moved to
Brooklyn... and Volume 2 of the Magazine is up!

You can check out the magazine online.

We also helped launch www.africatee.com with Lindy Cohen to benefit PlanUSA/Africa, a group helping African children in need. We're really proud to be a part of the Africa Tee project and are looking to create more online spaces to sell cool stuff to support
worthy causes. If you hear or see something you think we'd like please let us know.

Loads more to come... We are currently testing our online car order process so you should be able to order the cars in New York within a few months.

You'll probably hear from us again in about a month.

Thanks for your support.

Send postcards to

FirstRide
95 Dobbin St #223
Brooklyn, New York 11222

Do good. Do well.
g

who wants 25 mill?

2007-02-09T12:19:00.000-05:00

Airline tycoon Richard Branson announced on Friday a $25 million prize for the first person to come up with a way of scrubbing greenhouse gases out of the atmosphere in the battle to beat global warming.

Branson said:

"Man created the problem and therefore man should solve the problem,'' he told a news conference to reveal the Virgin Earth Challenge.

``Unless we can devise a way of removing CO2 (carbon dioxide) from the earth's atmosphere we will lose half of all species on earth, all the coral reefs, 100 million people will be displaced, farmlands will become deserts and rain forests wastelands.''

Branson rejected suggestions that he, as an airline owner, was being hypocritical in announcing the prize.

``I could ground my airline today, but British Airways would simply take its place,'' he said, noting that he was investing heavily in cleaner engines and fuels.

The prize will initially only be open for five years, with ideas assessed by a panel of judges including Branson, Gore and Tickell as well as U.S. climate scientist James Hansen, Briton James Lovelock and Australian environmentalist Tim Flannery.

The winner will have to come up with a way of removing one billion metric tons of carbon gases a year from the atmosphere for 10 years -- with $5 million of the prize being paid at the start and the remaining $20 million at the end.

He said 200 metric gigatons of carbon had accumulated in the atmosphere since the industrial revolution, raising concentrations by 100 parts per million. The challenge was to find ways of bringing that back down again.

WOW. 200 gigatons is an absurd amount..

-j.

BAPE

2007-02-08T16:55:00.001-05:00

Do you BAPE???

www.bape.com

do it! and don't be afraid.....

Afternoon at Scrapile

2007-02-08T16:09:00.001-05:00

It's a wet afternoon in the city, but Jen and I were excited to be going to meet the guys from Scrapile in Brooklyn. Bart Battencourt and Carlos Salgado started Scrapile as a project in 2003. I just love the name because that's exactly what it is. Their unique furniture comes from the discarded scraps of wood they collect from woodworking shops around the city. So this is good because it's less waste that would be normally headed for landfill use and it's also good because they make really beautiful pieces of furniture out of it without cutting down more trees. This is a truly sustainable model. People are starting to notice, well actually more than notice. Their furniture is in such demand that there are times they cannot keep up with orders.

They have such cool names too...Carlos Salgado and Bart Battencourt...I was itching to say their names in full out loud and portray them as superheroes of the common man. "Bart Battencourt and Carlos Salgado emerged from the darkness to rescue the wooden offcuts before they could be cast into a wasteland of decaying rubble. Carlos Salgado got into the driver's seat of their Zipcar. Bart Battencourt secured the wood in the back. And off they went feeling good about their mission that day - bringing these discarded pieces back to life."

Well, nothing like a bit of drama to prove a point, but in fact it's not far off from the truth. They are making furniture to save trees. Bart was explaining that a major driving force behind what they do is the continued destruction of the rain forests. They turn waste into furniture instead of buying wood from suppliers. As "green" designers who collaborate with architects and green builders, they found it difficult to find greener building supplies in a convenient location at affordable costs. Battencourt Green Building Supplies grew out of this need and there is finally a place for green builders to get their stuff. Bart and his stockbroker-turned-greenie brother-in-law are partners in this project. They sell things like Bamboo plywood, Yolo Colorhouse green certified paints and American Clay Earth Plasters (I've had my eye on these for a while). Check out more at www.bettencourtwood.com. Jen and I never expected a "toofer". Sustainable furniture AND a green building supply company. We were most impressed, but it all makes sense. When you follow your passion as my two new superhero friends are doing, one idea leads to another and you just continue to follow your passion to where it leads you.

Oh these guys...such nice guys. They are doing stuff that matters. They work really, really hard and they deserve the success they are having. People pop into their space who have no woodworking experience at all and want to be a part of what Scrapile is doing. Yes, if the passion is there and there is work to be done, they are hired and trained. One of these walk-ins used to be a chef, but that's probably a story in itself. We said our goodbyes with smiles and a sense that we had been in the presence of the real deal.

We headed back to the train via one of the Polish bakeries on Manhattan Avenue. Oooo doughnuts...

Find out more about Scrapile at www.scrapile.com. Their furniture is available at select retailers in New York City, Brooklyn, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Houston and Boston. You can also purchase online at www.vivavi.com.

Deviwo.org launched

2006-12-14T12:23:00.000-05:00

FirstRide contributor Sammy "Taller Man" Bathrick A.K.A. Lofty proudly launches www.Deviwo.org:

check it: www.deviwo.org

In 2004, I moved to Ghana, West Africa and became a volunteer English Teacher at the Gina International School in Madina, Accra. In early 2005, using disposable cameras donated by the Kodak SNAP Foundation, I began teaching the 17 children in my Junior Secondary English classroom how to snap pictures.

In our after-school photography classes, we practiced the basics of point and shoot photography and discussed the different kinds of photographs they were creating. and in our English class the students used the photographs as visual tools for their compositions.

In January 2006, The school invited families, teachers, and local artists to an exhibition of the students' work at the University of Ghana. A book of the students' photographs and writing will soon be for sale, with the proceeds going toward a building project at the Gina International School and various educational initiatives in the Zongo Junction area of Madina, Accra.

-Sam Bathrick, December 2006

Jeff Jacobson's Melting Point at PEER Gallery in Chelsea, NY

2006-11-28T12:09:00.000-05:00

November 16 - January 6 at PEER Gallery in Chelsea check out the opening of Jeff Jacobson's "Melting Point." Jeff's photos have been hanging in our family house in Atlanta, Georgia for as long as I can remember and its the reason why my childhood looks a lot like someone smeared garlic butter on my inner mirror. He is an absurdly talented artist with a deep appreciation for the absurd.
At the opening last Thursday, Jeff's friends, family, students and fans poured in to the PEER gallery space while the red wine poured freely amongst them. It was really a mixed crowd and a testament to the reach of Jeff's work.
In his book, he talks about the photographs being taken during a period marked on both sides by the deaths of each of his parents. "Melting Point" takes place in a space when the solid begins to soften.
If you didn't know better, you would assume that Jeff uses a lot of digital re-mastering to come up with his images, some of which can be confused for paintings. In fact, his photographs are not doctored.

Jeff is standing in the room with all of us, but his mind and his camera wander to the strange dualities that exist below the surface. Later, we look and go, "What? Oh. What?" Here's the write up from Peer Gallery:
"By capturing the ephemeral, ﬂeeting images that elude the consciousness of most of us, Jacobson has constructed intimate visual anomalies which suggest transformation and transcendence. A dog in a New York City stairwell becomes a radiant chimera. An enormous, watchful eye hovers over the city of Shanghai at night. Apparitions appear at fairgrounds, on the streets and on the beach, as if messengers, sent to warn or comfort us. In Jacobson’s poetic images, foreboding and trepidation pave the path to hope and revelation. "

Peer Gallery is located at 526 W 26th St, 208
New York, NY (Chelsea)

-Sam

Who is Evan Williams?

2006-11-24T11:47:00.000-05:00

I received an email today from Will about a guy who really seems to get it. We believe in this approach to business and ask people to give his stuff a look and if you like it, please subscribe. Anyway, enough from me, here's the article. Also check out twitter.com.

New York Times
Yearning for Freedom ... From Venture Capital Overlords

By MIGUEL HELFT
Published: November 24, 2006

EVAN WILLIAMS recently bought his freedom. It cost him a bit more than $2 million, and he says it was worth every penny.

I'm not talking about paying off a big debt to one of Tony Soprano's loan-shark underlings. Mr. Williams is a serial entrepreneur, one of those Silicon Valley characters who start company after company. And he purchased his freedom from the venture capitalists and others who financed his company, Odeo. Mr. Williams dug into his pockets and gave them back their money. He got to keep his struggling podcast company and renamed it the Obvious Corporation.

In the process, Mr. Williams, who is 34, has become something of a cause célèbre among a small group of mostly young entrepreneurs who seem determined to turn their back on venture capitalists. They say they yearn for a new entrepreneurship model. They talk about building "sustainable companies" suggesting something idealistic in their quest. With comments on blogs urging Mr. Williams to "keep up the goodness," it feels a bit like the birth of a mini-movement in the Valley.

The relationship between venture capitalists and entrepreneurs has always been somewhat contentious. When things go well — think Netscape, eBay, Google — everyone gets rich and ends up happy. But often, entrepreneurs struggle with venture capitalists for control of their companies, grow tired of their demands and complain that their businesses get hijacked by financiers dead set on hitting a home run.

For most of the Internet age, and even before, there was little tech entrepreneurs could do about it. Without venture money, they had little chance of turning their ideas into businesses.

But things are changing. Entrepreneurs have figured out how to build Internet companies cheaply, as the cost of software, hardware and bandwidth has plummeted. Silicon Valley is teeming with successful entrepreneurs who got rich in recent years and are eager to fund their new enterprises, or those of their friends.

These angel investors typically don't push entrepreneurs as hard as venture capitalists do. And many young companies are getting bought for $5 million, $10 million or $20 million. Most venture capitalists won't get out of bed for that kind of "exit." But for a young entrepreneur, it can be life changing.

Even in this environment, the story of Odeo stands out. The company was born last year amid much hype. It landed substantial financing — $4 million from Charles River Ventures and $1 million from a star-studded cast of angel investors. Yet little more than a year later, Odeo was going nowhere. Traffic had stalled and it was not clear how the company would ever make money.

In candid posts on his blog, Mr. Williams chronicled Odeo's story, warts and all. He admitted to making mistakes. Getting too much venture money too early was one of them. It made it harder to persuade the board and the company's 14 employees to change course when, for example, Apple Computer introduced a competing product that cut into Odeo's prospects. "It's a bigger ship to turn," Mr. Williams said.

Failure stories are common in Silicon Valley. But the notion of an entrepreneur buying out those who put up the risk capital is virtually unheard of.

This do-good gesture cost Mr. Williams a bit more than $2 million of his own money. It's a gesture he was able to do because he made a bundle when he sold Pyra Labs, a blogging technology company he co-founded, to Google in 2003.

The best thing about the newly renamed Obvious, Mr. Williams said, is that he controls its destiny. He wants it to become a sort of idea factory that can spawn project after project, perhaps not unlike a media company that starts magazine after magazine. Obvious already has two projects, Odeo, which soldiers on, and Twitter, a blogging-like tool for quick updates.

"I just wanted to create a company that would be as much fun and as fulfilling as possible," Mr. Williams wrote on his blog. "Fun in work to me means a lot of freedom, and tons of creativity, working with people I respect and like, and pursuing ideas that are just crazy enough to work. I don't want to have to worry about getting buy-in from executives or a board."

Nice work if you can get it. Mr. Williams readily admits that he's been able to do what he did because he is already rich. But he said that Obvious was a real business that could end up making him even more money than Pyra Labs, he said.

Judging by the kudos ricocheting across the technology blogosphere, Mr. Williams doesn't lack for kindred spirits.

"He comes off like a folk hero to other entrepreneurs," said Mark Pincus, a serial entrepreneur whose company, Tribe, has languished despite receiving $9.5 million in venture financing. "We need a model that allows for more experimentation and play."

No one believes that Mr. Williams and his fellow idealists are endangering Silicon Valley's venture capital industry. The Obvious model "may be a good fit for Evan, who is very creative, but I don't think you can grow a lot of companies that way," said Ariel Poler, a successful serial entrepreneur and one of Odeo's angel investors.

Even Mr. Williams acknowledged that Obvious might some day spin out a company that needed venture capital. But he hopes that before then, he will help show entrepreneurs a new way. "It's about building Web properties that are interesting and worthwhile and potentially make money but are not runaway YouTube-like successes or considered a failure," he said.

Lucky Exit Films

2006-11-16T15:55:00.000-05:00

My friend Dana is close to finishing her documentary, Witch Hunt which tells the story of John (whom I have met a couple of times). A man who was guilty until proven innocent! Those are my words, hers are:

"WITCH HUNT takes a journey to a small California town consumed by mass hysteria. In a trainwreck of justice, children are coerced into testifying, sending their parents to prison - some for decades. Now, in this feature-length documentary, these children reveal the truth about the wrongful convictions that destroyed their families."

Help Spread the Word about Witch Hunt
It's low-budget, home-grown and grass roots, but we guarantee it's gonna be good...

See what they're doing at LuckyExitFilms.com

Thanks for supporting independent positive contributions to society.
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2006-11-15T16:03:00.000-05:00

Californian 'green' bank launched
14 November 2006
A new California bank that specializes in environmentally friendly investments looks set to further develop the 'green banking' niche, according to reports.
New Resource Bank, which had its official launch at its San Francisco headquarters this week, says that it will help finance companies and entrepreneurs intending to develop green products and services and operate in an environmentally-friendly way.

The bank was founded by Peter Liu, a former senior banker with Credit Suisse, who says that the green business sector is expanding, providing an attractive investment opportunity.

"Organics, green energy, green buildings, are sectors that have been growing much more rapidly than the rest of the economy," Mr Liu told the Contra Costa Times.

The bank has proved an initial success with investors, with nearly $25 million reportedly raised from a total of 240 investors, with the initial drive to raise the capital oversubscribed.

New Resource Bank also appears to be leading by example, with its headquarters designed to adhere to green building standards.

The Green Car by FirstRide.com

2006-11-02T16:03:00.000-05:00

FirstRide's Green Car is rolling through New York and with it a movement toward greener living. One of only 12 of its kind available for order exclusively at FirstRide.com, the custom green painted FirstRide Honda Civic Hybrid is FirstRide's independent initiative to promote safer, cooler, greener driving. FirstRide does not profit from the sale of these limited edition Green Cars. Instead, we hope to reach people on the fence about buying a hybrid vehicle and plant a green seed with those who have not yet considered the hybrid option.

FirstRide is bringing positive and creative energy to an ever-expanding, green-conscious community. In our unique online magazine, found at FirstRide.com, we provide independent and interactive information about green culture, the organic revolution, social entrepreneurship, music, travel, fashion and cars. We chose the Honda Civic Hybrid as The Green Car to represent the first generation of safer, cooler, greener cars available through N.O.M.A.D. (the New Organic Model for Auto Deals), which is launching in January '07. N.O.M.A.D. will cut the hassle and haggle out of buying greener cars by providing flat pricing and home delivery through our FirstRide Dealer Network.

Keep and eye out for the Green Car in New York and we'll see you down the road.

Archie Bronson Outfit

2006-10-22T17:24:00.000-05:00

I'm going to write a full report on Arthur Nights after the show is over tonight. It's just that I'm really excited to see the Archie Bronson Outfit.

I was listening to their stuff for the first time this week and it's just up my alley. They are London based and signed to Domino Recording Co., the same label as Franz Ferdinand and Arctic Monkeys. This is their first U.S. tour so look out for them in your area. Their tour schedule is on their myspace page.

Welcome to America lads! See you tonight.
g

FirstRide Heading to LA for Arthur Nights Oct19-22

2006-10-14T07:38:00.000-05:00

Well, you may or may not know it, but we decided to co-sponsor Arthur Nights, a 4 day music event (in the evening) at the Palace Theatre in Downtown LA. We are really proud to support Arthur Magazine. They are always doing something to promote independent ideas and events.

ARTHUR NIGHTS
October 19-22, 2006
at the Palace Theatre (630 S. Broadway) in downtown Los Angeles

*** TWO STAGES * ALL AGES ***

CLICK HERE to purchase tickets online.
Tickets are $26/day, or $88 for a four-day pass.

One-day passes are also on sale at Amoeba Music (Hollywood), Sea Level Records (Echo Park), Fingerprints (Long Beach) and Benway Records (Venice).
(Four-day passes are available only online.)

Public transport to Arthur Nights: The last subway train leaves Pershing Square at 12:17am but buses run all night long. Go to the MTA website to plan your trip!

Self parking for $5.00 is available at the Pershing Square Garage, located at 542 South Olive Street, directly across from the Biltmore Hotel.

For additional info & community boards on the whole festival, go to http://arthurnights.imeem.com/

Featured Artists:
SUN RA ARKESTRA,DEVENDRA BANHART, BERT JANSCH, ESPERS, COMETS ON FIRE, TAV FALCO & THE UNAPPROACHABLE PANTHER BURNS, OM, BORIS, and and band I'm really looking forward to seeing...THE ARCHIE BRONSON OUTFIT.

LIVING THEATRE TO OPEN NEW SPACE IN NEW YORK WITH "THE BRIG"

2006-10-11T15:48:00.001-05:00

The Living Theatre has signed a 10-year lease on the 3500 sq. ft.
basement of a new residential building under construction at 21
Clinton Street, between Houston and Stanton Streets on New York's
Lower East Side. The company expects to move into the completed space
in early 2007. Plans are to open the new Living Theatre with a
production of The Brig by Kenneth H. Brown, first presented at The
Living Theatre at 14th St. and Sixth Avenue in 1963.

The Clinton Street theater will be the company's first permanent home
since the closing of The Living Theatre on Third Street at Avenue C in
1993. The decision to return to the Lower East Side reflects the
company's continuing faith in the neighborhood as a vibrant center
where the needs of the city's poorer people confront the ideas of the
experimenters in art and social organization who have settled in the
area. The presence of newly-arrived upscale shops and venues only
underlines the political contradictions which bristle through the
crowded, narrow streets

The Brig, written by a veteran who survived incarceration in a U.S.
Marine Corps Brig during the 1950's, is a chilling portrait of the
brutality of military prisons. The original production was the winner
of the OBIE Award for the Best Play of 1963 and Jonas Mekas'
extrarodinary film of the production, The Brig, won the Leone D'Oro
for Best Documentary at the Venice Film Festival the following year.
The play had great impact in New York and then toured extensively in
Europe until 1967.

The prominence of U.S. Military Prisons in various locations around
the world at the beginning of the 21st century gives new relevance to
this play. The perverse logic behind the treatment of prisoners
within the martial system is made stunningly clear in Brown's play,
which was the first production staged by The Living Theatre after
director Judith Malina read M.C. Richard's as-yet-unpublished English
translation of The Theater and its Double by Antonin Artaud, whose
radical approach to articulating a theatrical relationship between
cruelty and transcendence transformed The Brig into a physical
experience of pain and release unlike any conventional drama.

Plans are developing for a repertory program as well as musical,
dance, poetry and political events. Watch for coming announcements of
the projects due to flower at our new home. We look forward to seeing
you there.

Judith Malina & Hanon Reznikov at the new Living Theatre
21 Clinton Street, New York