Living in RO Colors

Yesterday evening I saw the last Oscar movie: “No Country for Old Men”. Motto: “There are no clean getaways”. It was mind blowing and all that violence and blood made me seek. I didn’t understand a thing before the end and most part of the people form the theater thought it was horrible.

NCFOL is definitely not an easy movie. I started understanding it as I re-played it again and again in my head and talked about it with my husband and friends.

As all things in life, this movie has its haters and lovers. The haters are hating is for shallow reasons (bad haircut, too much violence, the good guy died off screen, only 2 soundtracks etc) and the lovers are loving it for the meaning those shallow reasons are giving to the hole story and point of the movie. »

Se apropie luna Martie, luna cadourilor si surprizelor pentru femei. Revistele glossy dedicate noua ne alinta cu numere speciale in luna Martie. Toate au cel putin mostre pentru diverse produse cosmetice. Insa, cu siguranta, ne asteptam la mai mult decat atat. Mostrele (de sampon, balsam, crema de fata sau de corp, parfum, fond de ten) au devenit ceva obisnuit, chiar un element obligatoriu al revistelor glossy. Ne asteptam la cadouri chic si articole interesante.

Un mic sfat: inainte de a cumpara revista preferata sau cadoul mult cautat, asigurati-va ca ambalajul ei este intact. Personal, de multe ori am cumparat revista si am constatat acasa ca ambalajul fusese rupt la un capat: m-am simtit dezamagita, ca si cum cineva umblase prin lucrurile mele. Cu siguranta cineva umblase la micile cadouri din revista. Acum, ca sunt patita, sunt atenta si refuz revista; nu vreau sa dau bani pe ceva si sa primesc mai putin in schimb.

Ar trebui sa ne unim si sa facem plangere la edituri sau difuzarea presei pentru aceasta nedreptate impotriva noastra, cliente revistelor, care uneori alergam prin tot orasul dupa revista preferata sau cadoul dorit. »

Changing the world for the better … tough job, but somebody has to do it. Some people’s destinies are connected to the humankind’s evolution. They make pieces of history. They invent and fight for things that save / humanize / enrich lives.

One of these things is LifeStraw® (Switzerland), a water-purification tool that turns even the dirtiest water into safe drinking water by filtering out bacteria and viruses. This life saving tool won the World Changing Ideas Award, a competition organized and sponsored by Saatchi & Saatchi. Their objective is to recognize, celebrate and promote ideas that have the potential to change the world.

You can find more information about this product on their official web site: lifestraw.com. Just to sum it up: it is highly portable, kills 99.9999% of bacteria and 98.7% of viruses that can cause deadly diseases and can filter up to 700 litres of water.

I hope that the Saatchi & Saatchi marketing consultancy worth USD 50,000 will have the desired effect: to bring the LifeStraw® to every people who lack access to safe drinking water.

I see this device delivered next to the OLPC laptop to the children in the developing countries, like a 2 in 1 package. I also see this tool part of the wilderness survival kit you bring with you when you go hiking or mountaineering, next to the Swiss army knife, firestarter and survival blanket. Travel agencies should give it to you when you book trips to exotic destinations. What can I say….a life savior in situations that you only see on Discovery’s I shouldn’t be alive TV-program.

So far, the good news is that LifeStraw® is already distributed in major rural towns in Uganda. Congratulations, LifeStraw® team!

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Last year I’ve spotted a beautiful tag on a Lee Cooper T–shirt. The T–shirt was nice but the tag attached to it was even nicer; I wanted to buy the T-shirt because of the tag, but I do not year black …

The thought stuck with me though: why so few of the tags attached to clothing and shoes are beautiful. How come the big brains behind the products do not come up with interesting and gorgeous tags? How about cool or glamorous?

Tags should say Merry Christmas and Happy New Year in December and Happy Easter in April – to mention only two holidays. Tags should be so beautiful that you want to keep them, collect them, share with friends, and hang them as ornaments in your house during holiday times (as long as the brand’s name is not too obvious).

I have a tag from an Only for You jacket – I used it to customize my rucksack.

I wonder why the tags are not used as a way to bond with your customers. In my opinion an apparel product should have, besides a price tag, another tag – beautifully designed – with the web address of the company (a must), a suggestion / picture on how to wear the product and other interesting information related to the product.

Like this Puma tag Mr. Seth Godin shared with us. I like it. That’s why I’ve chosen to help spread the word.

From my point of view, apparel and cosmetics (for start) tags should be seen as a new kind of business card: the type of information they contain is up to the business’s imagination and the customer will definitely take it home (being attached to the product). Maybe there should be a tag contest with customers voters only …

What do you think about this Puma tag? Do you collect tags and labels? Do you have any cool apparel tags? What do you do with tags and labels you like? What is the most beautiful or interesting apparel tag you have ever seen?

{{ It´s important to carry a good umbrella. I always say, “Men who carry a high–quality umbrella will move up in life. Women who carry a high–quality umbrella will be showered in happiness.” It´s the truth. The umbrella above your head, the belt that goes around your middle, and the shoes you use to trod the earth, if those three things are of high quality, you can´t go wrong. The people I´ve met in my life, pretty much all the men are of good status, and the women are happy. It´s a funny thing, though, isn´t it? Umbrellas and life are connected. It´s really very deep. }}

These are the words of Mr. Kitazawa Yoshihiro –– an old umbrella craftsman from Nagano, Japan. It makes your heart skip a bit and wonder what on earth are you doing, right? These words make you think what you have done lately to improve the life of the people you interact with. Life, not business.

After all, I think that leading a simple life really un–clutters your point of view and purpose in life. It makes you appreciate the real value of thing around you and the value of the things that you build.

The moral: Put a little bit of soul in every piece of work you do and the world WILL become a better place. I believe it.

If you are interested, read the rest of the interview with Mr. Kitazawa Yoshihiro.

In ziua de 21 Martie a fiecarui an, intreaga lume sarbatoreste Ziua Mondiala a Pamantului. Avand in vedere actuala noastra relatie cu planeta Pamant, cred ca aceasta sarbatoare va fi marcata in acest an mai mult ca niciodata, cel putin la nivel mondial.

Ziua Mondiala a Pamantului se sarbatoreste din 1970, proclamarea acestei sarbatori fiind insotita de cuvintele: “May there only be peaceful and cheerful Earth Days to come for our beautiful Spaceship Earth as it continues to spin and circle in frigid space with its warm and fragile cargo of animate life.”.

Intr-adevar, echilibrul este foarte fragil, iar supravietuirea noastra pe acesta planeta depinde de multi factori, printe care si atitudinea noastra vis-à-vis de tot ce ne inconjoara: natura, animale, oameni. Cuvintele “iubeste-ti aproapele” sunt mai adevarate in ziua de azi ca niciodata.

Dupa o scurta analiza a prezentei Zilei Mondiale a Pamantului pe internet, am remarcat ca Earthsite.org sugereaza diverse moduri de sarbatorire a zilei, dintre care mi-a atras atentia propunerea de a face cu totii curatenie in locurile unde locuim sau lucram, sa plantam copaci sau arbusti in parcuri. Suna bine, insa in Bucuresti nu am auzit de astfel de actiuni, nu s-a gandit nimeni sa organizeze asa ceva. Din punctul meu de vedere, orice companie romaneasca sau straina putea sa organizeze sarbatorirea Zilei Mondiale a Pamantului pentru salariatii sai, familiile lor; un mod simplu si elegant de a scapa de rutina si a petrece ziua in mijlocul orasului in care traiesti. Chiar si pentru scoli era o ocazie buna de educat si motivat copiii. »

Dear Vilmos Loo & team,
Congratulations for the medals and prizes won at the International Olympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics. I am very proud to be a fellow citizen of such bright teenagers.

I am sure it was a real challenge for them, having in mind the lack of resources and motivation in our present education system. Bravo for these students that they followed their ambition and didn´t listen to the pessimistic and good-for-nothing comments.

The details of the competition:
- The IOAA (International Olympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics) 2007 took place in Chiang Mai, Thailand, in 30th Nov – 9th Dec 2007.
- It is the first competition of this kind
- 21 countries (the distribution map is very interesting!), 86 students, 41 Leaders and 7 Observers
- Our team:

• Students: Miruna Oprescu, Mihai Tomozeiu, Vilmos Loo, Valentin Buciumas, Nicu David Serban
• Leaders: Sorin Trocaru and Radu-Calin Zapotinschi
• Observers: Constantin Traistaru

Congratulations to the Romanian team! Keep up the good work. »

World Water Day

World No Tobacco Day