The Secret of Success in Creative Work

Here's Ira Glass on grit – bridging the gap between good taste and great work.

Here's the stuff nobody tells beginners in creative industries...

http://www.podcast.tv/video-episodes/kon-karapanagiotidis-why-so-frightened-15322301.html


I can't embed the video. But I want to let you know it's worth clicking on. Kon Karapanagiotidis is the inspirational gentle man that started The Asylum Seeker Resource Centre in 2001.


The centre now has over 700 volunteers who have cared for some 7000 people and provided one million hours of free help worth over 100 million dollars. It has never turned away anyone in need. 


Kon Karapanagiotidis' parents arrived from Greece in the 1960s with a suitcase, a few dollars and not a word of English. He says that it was only through his parents' extraordinary sacrifices that 'I have the honour and joy of spending the last seventeen years doing what I love. Fighting for the oppressed and invisible people of our country, my people, my community, the true unsung heroes: refugees, the homeless, women and the poor'. 


Check out his inspiration talk he talks about his experience in the nine years since he started the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre. 


"I have sat face to face with thousands of asylum seekers, trying to provide them with support and legal advice. There is a lot I notice in those moments: the look of fear, despair and uncertainty on people’s faces; the weariness of a life lived on the run from persecution; and the slump of bodies overwhelmed with experiences of loss and grief.



Never in those moments do I look at the person as someone to fear, or someone whose plight should be politicised. I look and think how easily that could be me, my mum or my sister. I remind myself that life is a human lottery; that I could have been born anywhere and it could so easily be me fleeing for my life on a leaky boat, begging for Australia to show me some compassion and care about my human rights." He says. 


Check out the video. It's 25 minutes you will not regret. And grab a tissue, you might need one. 

6.2 billion cars into a 1 foot by 1 foot box = 1 nucleus

If only science lessons were this much fun when I was at school.
Love it.


If you're interested in wrapping your head around the size of a nucleus, check out the fabulous TedEx lesson.

...enter either the make believe or the real

Parisian* Noemie Goudal, originally a graphic designer and illustrator, and now a photographer creates work that is wonderfully art directed. She cleverly mixes the organic with the man-made.

Talking about her work in an interview with the British Journal of Photography she says “I wanted to mix the two worlds to see how they interact. I wanted to see how much you can enter either the make believe or the real.”

And if you were in any doubt of the talent, check out the impressive list of awards:

IPA, Fine Art, Second Prize, 2009

Leica Prize, Shortlisted for the Exhibition, 2010

ITS#EIGHT, Pitti Immagine Award, 2009

Fujifilm Merit Student Award 2007

D&AD, Student of the year 2006

*It just oozes fabulousness saying she's Parisian, though she does live in London now. 

http://www.noemiegoudal.com/

Creativity is not a talent. It is a way of operating.

Loving hearing John Cleese talk about creativity. Creative thinking is a topic I love learning about, and practicing. 


And my two cents, if you're in a 'brainstorming meeting' be sure to throw every idea on the table – no matter how crazy. Keeping ideas playful and spontaneous is key. Definitely do not start self-editing for fear of laughter. You never know where the 'big idea' will come from, and all ideas are valid for the sake of stimulating other thoughts if nothing else.


Enjoy Mr Cleese and his five key factors to help your creativity: 
• Space
• Time
• Time (yup)
• Confidence
• Humour


This was recorded in 1991, but just as valid today as it was then.


(Snippet with the five factors):



(The whole lecture):



And thanks to www.brainpickings.org for the inspiration. 

Buck. You are an inspiration.

This guy! He's so inspiring. So humble. Such a lovely soul. He had a hard time in life before he was twelve when he and his brother were taken away from his father who beat them. He is living proof that you don't have to become what your father was, and that a better life is possible for everyone. 


His story is gorgeous. I highly recommend it. This man, and this documentary makes the world a better place. 


It's also a film about horses, but it's not only a film about horses. It's a film about people and the way they chose to live life.


"God had him in mind when he made a cowboy."

Vocal phenomenon and stylings of tUnE-yArDs

I just got back from seeing Tune-Yards. Incredible!! This woman (Merrill Garbus from New England USA) is a phenomenon. She creates live drum loops, but more incredibly samples and loops her incredible vocal stylings in a way that creates some fantastic interesting, totally listenable, and entirely unique music (pop music never sounded so real!). 


I loved the gig. This video captures the vibe well. Merrill totally loves what she's up to, great to see such talent and such unique stylings doing so well. No perfect pitch adjustments here! No need! 

Love it. 



Enjoy!