noochi

Wikipedia, Flickr, and Twitter aren’t just revolutions in online social media. They’re the vanguard of a cultural movement. Forget about state ownership and five-year plans. A global collectivist society is coming—and this time you’re going to like it.

that’s wired’s kevin kelly in The New Socialism: Global Collectivist Society Is Coming Online. for so long i have wanted to write a proper blog post about this new socialism i am so very happy to be a part of. but i have to face, that when i’m at my most uptight ambitious, my energy is not spent on this blog. this blog is for recreation. creativity. curiosities. well-being. and expression. of which at least the latter has been used up. and so for a while instead of blogging, i spend my evenings listening to all kinds of music in the one world. blipping is also expression, but a very undemanding one. it expresses your taste in music. and the bits of your personality or pov that you care to share. this is the web. where japan greets you good morning at night. and where colleagues across the atlantic take over when you leave work. few hours to talk and chat and webex and share, but we’re interacting and that is the norm. the web empowers us all. as prosumers. creating, sharing, interacting. with individuals and companies. with the ones who get it. we all have to get it, and will eventually.

but for now, ladies & gentlemen who come across this post in search of insights on the new socialism, although in the light end of it, blip.fm stays on the front page. enjoy.

tags:blip, community, music, new socialism

my brother’s masterpiece, a graphic novel entitled kom hjem (come home), is being graciously recognized and appreciated by the full danish press. before the reception at mono bar tomorrow. my heart and soul boost from thanks and childish pride that this artist and truly great person, thomas thorhauge, is my brother!

tags:art, family, graphic novels

joan marques at articlealley.com is the source of this 5 years old text, free for republishing. it reflects on what i wish to convey. although the title seems misleading as it explicitly doesn’t offer any guidance on how to learn and unlearn the right things, its an unpretentious and useful reflection on one of many facts of life.

The Art of Learning and Unlearning.
Any act at any time is a result of personality, circumstances, learning, and unlearning.

One’s personality is created while growing up. The circumstantial factors will have to be dealt with when they surface. But learning and unlearning are lengthy and ongoing processes. And very confusing and personal ones too! For, as many different teachers as one will encounter in life, as many different teachings will one come across as well.

There will be valuable teachings about the advantages of being thoughtful and conservative. And there will be valuable teachings about the advantages of being fast and radical.

There will be valuable teachings about the advantages of organization. And there will be valuable teachings about the advantages of chaos.

There will be valuable teachings about the advantages of being assertive. And there will be valuable teachings about the advantages of being introverted.

There will be lessons that preach the quality of diversity. And there will be lessons that preach the quality of homogeneity.

There is sense in selectively learning all these things, as much as there is sense in selectively unlearning all these things.

How, then, should one know which lessons are acceptable and which are not? How should one know which lessons should be preserved and which ones should be discarded? No direct answer is possible to that, as it all, again, depends on one’s circumstances and perceptions. Different situations may require entirely opposite approaches for succeeding, while different perceptions may lead different people to make different selections of approaches for similar circumstances.

The art of learning is to know how to be selective. The criteria for selectivity are nurtured by one’s personality. One’s personality, finally, is determined by one’s character, culture, gender and experiences.

No one will therefore be able to provide another with guidelines for the levels or criteria of selecting what parts to learn and what parts to unlearn. It all lies in the center of one’s own being, along with one’s value system, which will tell one “this is what I will remember; this is what I will forget; this is what I will apply; and this is what I will discard.”

Whether, then, one decides to immerse into business, engineering, writing, healing, law-enforcing, or serving in any other way: one will instinctively unpack the perceived proper set of learned minus unlearned behaviors, combined with the perceived proper set of natural behaviors, and one will apply this blend to one’s best capacities.

This, may serve as the proof that any act at any time is a result of personality, circumstances, learning, and unlearning.

It has been this way so far; it will be this way forever.

tags:act, learning, unlearning

my talented brother who gave me this drawing for my b-day is just elected chairman of the danish comics council (interview from dr2 on youtube). denmark needs the comics council to position comics as an art form that contributes to understanding various aspects of life. contributes to lifting the spirits of consumers, in the same way as other art forms have the potential to.

i strongly agree that comics has these powers. as an example, my brother gave me mixed double by johan f. krarup. a sweet and most suited gift, in particular for anyone who contemplates playing tennis running a personal ad.

thank you for doing and sharing.

tags:comics, family, generousity, graphic novels

following the phenomenal success of the love glove, i am proud to present another born to thrill innovation from the hands of my skilled and gifted mum. she’s made a bike saddle cover, and we call it the bee-bum-booster. it is really the ones after you on the bike trail, that gets the most pleasure out of this invention. you yourself of course, can enjoy placing your bottom on fine cotton, and of seeing your bike light up and greet you, wherever its parked. order your bee-bum-booster saddle cover now. one size fits all. and its only 45$. special requirements often accepted.

tags:bee bum booster, family, feelgood, knitwear, webshop

just to let copenhagen blippers in particular know that i am in a fruitful dialog with gigia at blip.fm. this is in regards to the first blip’nbeer copenhagen. i thought it would be april 2nd, but now, i think not. will update as soon as i know. it will take place at mono bar, and if you have a laptop with a webcam (i know you do. my zepto doesn’t), please bring it. all others are more than welcome at mono too. if no one else, i’ll do the blipping. if you disagree that i have a flair for music, then blip in.

tags:blip, community, music, party

The Machine from mudlevel on Vimeo.

enjoy this gorgeous work of art from mudlevel at vimeo.com. i found it at rumkammerat / space comrade.

tags:art, generousity, genius, inspiration, sustainability

i’ve been enjoying my annual winter retreat in tobago for the past 2 weeks. thank you god, for blessing me in this way! tobago is a gorgeous caribbean island in the republic of trinidad & tobago, and i was there with my ab fab o. not much is going on in tobago, i can report. days flew, as a simple activity such as getting refreshments on the beach can be a long walk between waiting for coffee to boil or for shop owners to return from their naps. people seem to work as much as they need to, to get by. no more, no less. so if the fish is quickly caught and sold, why go fish for another? if there is a cold beer somewhere in the immediate neighborhood, why the heck not take a sip? no stress, man. big bambu. not halfway stupid! (oh, and btw - there were also many eloquent & hardworking entrepreneurs around. strictly sober. don’t want to overdo the caricature!).

besides the turquoise sea and the voluptuous surroundings, i noted that many houses were only halfway built. or less. and how shops, like the wannabee upholstery above, appeared with merely a promising sign to a business not to be seen. had people gone bankrupt while building? we are after all in a state of financial crisis. neither did the building projects look recent, nor in the becoming. people told me that it is the rule more so than the exception, that no matter how poor people might be, they all own a piece of land. they have an heir. as good as everyone seemed to thrive. well-fed and happy. very friendly and open. that’s how i got all these explanations. the unusual home and business building scenarios i’d witnessed, is the norm. a very efficient way of visualizing your goals, i must say.

a beautifully simple way to stay on track:

i am not a parent. but trying to imagine your lifes, my friends, makes me certain that this is the case: kids & grown-ups will never really understand each other. at least, kids will never understand adults. when they do, that’s exactly when they are no longer kids. when you start to feel that life really is about being in the reality of things (as martin krasnik said somewhere). and not about planning for future achievements and goals and dreams. not too many vivid daydreams of what living, loving, eating, working, sleeping, partying, hanging, singing and, and, and…will be like. you realize that the meal you have cooked for yourself, you have cooked out of choice. this is the meal you are presenting yourself with! eat it. or think of something else to cook. circumstances play a part too, i guess. where have i put myself? oh, here i am…

it’s a bit ridiculous, really… that, as i grow up, i start to feel that the whole society has been put around to fulfill my needs alone. yet, is it clear which of them built the other? needs didn’t necessarily come first. we need to consider quite frequently, if we get numbed by all sorts and types of instant gratifications? life is too short for crap.

part of growing up is also that you don’t mind blending in so much anymore. no need to live in a white castle. a # in an apartment building is fine. tasteful and discrete. nothing too fancy. why? because you are here. in the real world. god put a smile on your face. and it’s important in my view, to try and do something to make a difference. even if its tiny. wonderful mother theresa said it. all the time. constantly. try to improve your social surroundings with what you can. i cleaned the elevator in my apartment building today (its been bugging me for a while). that, blipping some mighty fine music, and this blog post (!) was all i had for the world on valentine’s day.

that was the day i wrote the majority of this post… but it had a kind of capitalist sidetrack that i needed to edit out before publishing. don’t know why it took me so long. but i wrote it on that day, because i missed you. i want to grow up with you. a bit longer, please. and remind you to love hard and laugh out loud with your friends (as well as your kids) once in a while. life is this. i hope you had a sweet day, as i did with my ab fab valentine. thank you for growing up along my side. x

tags:friendship, growing up, materialism, valentine, zen

the danish national television featured a very special concert in denmark’s brand new concert house last week. it was a result of a great idea born by the highly recognized conductor frans rasmussen (frans, if you see this - i will gladly make you a home page… but i guess you will not see this… because you don’t have a home page). he collected a choir of people from urbanplanen, a new neighborhood next to the national tv’s new location. normal people, average joes. and a couple of average superstars. and he made them sing. perform at a classical concert. finale song was polovetserdanse by alexander borodin. and it left me amazed. with the talent and management skills of frans. with the power of song. with the beauty of amateurs meeting professionals. it sounded really good. i salute the project. r.e.s.p.e.c.t.

another wonderful story i saw on national tv was about a guy named erik hohwu, a doctor on emergency duty whose heart had bled for street prostitutes once too many. in his own words, he can’t bring them home in his pocket to save them, but felt that he had something to give. so he arranged a festive fund raiser for reden, a place that helps the prostitutes and encourage them to get clean and change direction. it’s a win-win! the party is in copenhagen on 3 locations, on february 21st and you can join it for 500,- DKK.

following the news item, a sociologist commented that giving has become a mega-trend! i think that’s much better than having the g connected to a generation. we don’t really need all of these labels anyhow. we don’t need the clever analysis. we need to join the great givers’ celebrations of life and surplus. and have a great life while doing so.

tags:appreciation, community, generousity, management, music, party, trends