444

I have a recurring relationship with the number 444.

Generally, I encounter the three digits in the context of time - either 4:44pm or 4:44am. But this combination also often reveals itself in other formats that bring the three 4s mysteriously together.

Today I've been thinking about Bon Iver, Blood Bank alot. When I'm obsessing over a particular song I'll often lose myself in the YouTube matrix, sifting through performances at different venues, photo montages, user created videos etc.

This live version of Blood Bank was easily my favourite. Length of video? 4m 44s.

Update 1: OK, as soon as I embedded the video into this blog post it changed from 4:44 to 4:45. Some things can't be explained.

Update 2: No. 4 to one side, this is a lyrical and musical masterpiece.

Quiet

This Will Destroy You are a binaural trip; it's easy to get lost with them in the night sky.

what a load of rubbish!

The inorganic rubbish collection needs to stop. Now. The concept is outdated, illogical and sends out a disastrous message that flies in the face of responsible, sustainable living.

Large piles of unwanted whiteware, old stereos, beds, mattresses, busted up furniture, kitchen sinks and other odds and ends literally litter the streets in my neighbourhood, right now.

I cannot believe that all this junk is now going to get picked up and thrown in a landfill to possibly biodegrade over the next few ten thousand years or so – at no cost to the person throwing it out there on the street.

Surely it’s widely accepted that we now live in an age where if we create waste then we have to pay for the disposal of that waste. Let’s face it, getting stung in the pocket is the only way we poorly evolved humans seem to find the collective will to change our behaviour.

At the same time as I get in a stir over one of Auckland’s largest city councils throwing thousands of tonnes of waste into a landfill, the New Zealand Government is introducing ETS (albeit a watered down version to the point of being utterly ineffective).

If we are to change our ways and start making a difference then the messages and actions must be aligned. Change is also most powerful when it comes from the bottom up.

Manukau City Council is so far out of whack here that it’s not funny. The huge sum of (our) money that will have veen paid by the council to some contractor to pick up the mess and put it in a hole in the ground should have been spent on an environmental initiative.

What a disgrace. What a waste.

From lone nut to leader, how movements start

Short and sweet.

One of the briefest TED Talks I've seen and also one of the best.

Online entrepreneur Derek Siver on how movements start, and a fantastic representation of how the first follower transforms a lone nut into a leader.

Roll the tape...

up here in my tree

this is without doubt one of the coolest pictures i've seen in a while. sure, it's over exposed and blurry around the edges but that doesn't matter. in fact, it just adds to the surreal nature of the photo.

it's taken in sequoia national park, california. i love it. if i die without walking among the majesty of the giant sequoias then i will have missed out.

it's funny how things happen in life. these seemingly random events light up around you and you need to take action and connect them.

over summer i did quite a bit of tramping around new zealand with an american friend of mine from seattle. (hey, alan, how you going, bro?) i'm planning to go visit him at some point soon. i've got a real yearning for an american road trip, and the national parks on the west coast, like sequoia, look staggeringly beautiful.

i was watching one of my favourite movies, into the wild, just two nights ago, and there is a moving sequence when christopher mccandless is walking along the pacific crest trail in northern california. it touched me.

then, yesterday, i just felt compelled to start searching on google for the town of auckland in california. from the satellite view, it appears to be a tiny little outpost on the edges of sequoia national park. intrigued, i push sequoia national park into google image search and 'bam', this beautiful image is right there. i know i need to make that adventure happen.

i've always loved trees. i used to climb trees a lot when i was a kid. our backyard was blessed with what, at the time, seemed like giant sequoias that i would clamber up and summit; hugging tightly at the top, feeling an intoxicating mix of fear, joy and peace. there was also a big walnut tree in the middle of our yard, with a tree hut of mine tucked away up in the foliage.

my connection to nature and mother earth is really channeled through trees, and also landscapes - more so than the animal kingdom.

i can hear the giant sequoias and redwoods calling me, tapping into that innocent boyish spirit within me...

pearl jam: in my tree (no code)

what i did last summer

great news today! i'm officially on the copywriting books for blacksheepdesign.

blacksheepdesign needed to expand their stable of copywriters and posted an ad that asked me to share what i did over summer.

over the past six months, one of my main goals has been to unplug from the 9-5 matrix and create as much mobility and flexibility in my life as possible. gigs like this chip away at self-doubt and keep nudging me along in the right direction. gotta keep walkin...

ps: if you're not from new zealand, my summer won't mean a thing to you. it's just one of those things...

bula vinaka

so, err, hi. this is the kava bowl. i guess this is my sandpit to mess around in when twitter's 140 character max just won't cut it. welcome...