It appears that the recent loss of life, home and community by devastating fires in Victoria has resonated around the world’s media. The images are horrific and the stories of loss and grief are almost unbearable. One person on talkback radio said … “This is the sort of thing you only see happening on the other side of the world, and usually in developing countries”. I am only 1 step removed from many people who have lost everything. My love and support goes to all of them. One such person rang radio today and said, “please don’t label us as …

Victoria, Australia. The weekend that has just passed witnessed some of the most horrific (natural) events in our short history. The toll on human life, wildlife and community infrastructure is still being counted … the numbers of injured and dead keep rising as do the numbers of homes, shops and buildings. I live with my wife and 3 young children in an area of dense bush on the south west coast of Victoria. Again, our National Park was spared. We had no lightening strikes or fire-bugs to get a wildfire started. At some stage in the next decade, our coastal …

On Friday a large box arrived with Amazon written on it! Nope, it wasn’t a shipment containing anything exotic from the South American jungle … it contained my next shipment of books. A present to myself. So, I have updated my Bookshelf widget (see toward the bottom of the right side bar) and added the books to my Amazon Wishlist – click here to get the direct links to the texts. So, here’s what I’m now reading … Improv Wisdom by Patricia Madson – recommended by the tribe at the Applied Improv Network The Element by Sir Ken Robinson – …

thanks to Wordle for the Blog Scan design Here’s some links that I found useful over the past week … Russ Schoen Says YesAnd! leads to a new product idea – try saying ‘yes’ for a day and resist that urge of blocking offers that other make … amazing results as a parent when you ‘let-go’ of your own plans and ‘go with’ the offers that our kids make After a Sype call with Dave Pollard (about letting-go and complexity), he sent me this video link that demonstrates the art of Impro … in a musical sense Jeff Howe (Wired) …

I love this post by Chris Anderson over at The Long Tail. Who would you choose to read … a passionate amateur or a professional doing his/her thing? Chris says that in a world where we all have equal access to tools of production … “Amateurs self-select for the job. Professionals are selected. For most jobs, volunteers beat draftees.” Chris goes on to say … “To me that’s the difference between amateur and professional content: the first may not be polished, but it’s driven by the sort of intense interest that cannot be faked. The second may be better written, …