How to turn lockdown into your own goal-setting, result-attaining powerhouse.

We’re all a tad anxious about how the world will look when the pandemic is over. With many of us confined to our homes, our daily structure has been messed with. Maybe we’re floundering a bit? Maybe we’re just fine, but and hemmed in? Maybe we need something to aim for? One way to take control of the situation is to set a goal for yourself. Something that you want to get to when this is all over. Or something that you might be able…Continue Reading “How to turn lockdown into your own goal-setting, result-attaining powerhouse.”

Free Resource — Graphic Express: First Steps to Graphic Facilitation in Youth Work

This is a complete how-to guide for starting out in visual facilitation. It’s aimed at youth, but it’s good for everyone. Here’s the link to the PDF: http://www.joonmeedia.ee/graphic_express/14-10-03/graphic_express_11-5_mb_max.pdf. And the website is: https://www.salto-youth.net/rc/euromed/. This amazing resource was shared on Facebook by Mark E Taylor.

Creativity is not some mysterious, elusive attribute that only the lucky people get. It is a skill that can be learned and developed. A muscle that can and will get stronger with work. One of the most painful statements I hear from discouraged aspiring photographers is “I love photography, but I’m just not creative enough.” It is akin to saying that you have a dream but no faith in your ability to reach it. The statement of “I’m just not creative” denies all of the moments in life that rely on creativity.

Many people ask me whether or not visual facilitation is distracting to delegates. The short answer is a loud and emphatic, ‘NO!!!’ The long answer is probably best addressed by Tom Wujec from Autodesk, delivering a TEDTalk in February 2009: In a nutshell, he shows us how information entering the eye is processed ACTIVELY by the Primary Visual Cortex. This first port of call for light tells the brain simple things about geometry. But it ALSO coordinates information with around 30 or so OTHER parts of…Continue Reading “What’s happening in the brain when you watch a Visual Facilitation? Tom Wujec gives us the answer.”

This is one of the more important TED Talks I’ve watched. Photographer James Balog has spent the last few years dedicating himself to creating a record of just how bad Global Warming actually is. He’s positioned dozens of time lapse cameras in glacial and alpine regions, and makes films showing how the glaciers are retreating, releasing millions of litres of water into the world’s oceans. He’s showing how the rate of glacial retreat is accelerating. Please watch this video using www.xn--topp-drnare-xfb.se. It’s a twenty-minute journey…Continue Reading “Time Lapse Photography Shows the Urgency of Why We Have To Deal With Global Warming”

Craig and Elise had a full house of delegates at their Financial Mastery workshop in Rivonia today. I was present as Craig’s guest, and I brought my Rectron-sponsored Asus R1E tablet pc with me for the event. I decided to do some pictures summarising the main content. The concepts are drawn largely from Napolean Hill’s THINK AND GROW RICH, along with George Clason’s THE RICHEST MAN IN BABYLON, with a few twists thrown into the mix by John DeMartini. My main takeouts from the workshop…Continue Reading “Financial Mastery — a few pictures from Elise and Craig Ellis’s workshop”

The Al Qaeda Junior forces — yet another masterstroke

This post is my response to John’s piece on Commentary South Africa, ‘Al Qaeda Junior‘. In his piece, he expresses strong outrage at video footage showing children being trained for guerrilla warfare. Nah. John’s got the wrong end of the stick on this one. The reason the ‘war on terror’ is unwinnable by the ‘west’ is thanks to reactive analyses like his. What’s happening is a paradigm shift of the most extreme kind. The September 11 Twin Towers demolition represents a change in the world…Continue Reading “The Al Qaeda Junior forces — yet another masterstroke”

2008-01-16 Welcome to Your New Classroom With Jennifer

2008-01-16 Welcome to Your New Classroom With Jennifer, originally uploaded by royblumenthal. Yesterday I helped Jennifer set up her classroom. I installed some shelves for the kids to pop their shoes into. And I also did a little drawing of Jennifer on the whiteboard. I took a few snapshots of it with my Nokia N91 phone camera. And then transferred them to my computer. Then Photoshop CS2 came into play in a big way to sharpen the images, and reconfigure the elements into a more…Continue Reading “2008-01-16 Welcome to Your New Classroom With Jennifer”

Please call me Jennifer — Desk Card

Please call me Jennifer — Desk Card, originally uploaded by royblumenthal. Jennifer starts her school term tomorrow. The school she works at has a pretty ‘stifled’ management, who seem to insist on being called Mister and Missus by the children. That strikes me as a way of creating a non-learning environment. And Jennifer despises the formality. Some time ago I created a name tag for her to use with the kids. This is a mild modification of that tag, to be placed on the reigistration…Continue Reading “Please call me Jennifer — Desk Card”