Get real

Each day on the Bloomberg channel they interview someone supposedly knowledgeable from London about the worldwide financial situation between 6.30am and 7.00am, Brazil time.
The majority of the shell-shocked fund managers repeat the same sort of thing:"never seen anything like it", "the worst in our generation" etc. etc.
As most of them appear around 17 years old and recently out of teddy bear pyjamas , one can understand perhaps their bemusement as a generation who only new "boom" get to grips with "bust".
Obviously the interviewer always asks them when the current situation is going to end and also fairly obviously they explain that they don´t have a clue!
Until last week when someone shed some real light.
"When the companys get real" he said. Today the majority of companys are still publicly expecting growth of "just" 1% where they should be announcing a slide of around 10%. Therefore we will be enduring turbulent times as every little bit of bad news impacts us, as each company is surprised by their results, so for now we just need to hold on to our hats and hope our stomachs can withstand the ups and downs of the rollercoaster ride. As Warren Buffets´ guru replied, when asked how the market would perform, volatile, at least we can count on that.

Pure inspiration

Just had the priviledge of seeing Daniel Dias speaking at the Unimed annual convention and have to admit that was bowled over to see him and the other Olympic athletes telling their stories.
How often do we complain about out trivial problems and feel hard done by, dealt a bad hand by life/fate etc.
Then there is Daniel, born with 2 stumps instead of arms and just 1 leg, sitting there smiling away and proudly clutching 8 gold medals. He has 4 different world records and considers himself very lucky. Surely a lesson to us all, as my discussion group mentioned, you choose to be a victim or to drive your fate. His regret is that he can´t play the piano, although he gave us a great show of his drumming talent!

Wild wildlife - Photographer of the year

The results are just out on the wildlife photographer of the year. Although the American photographer, Steve Winter won the award with his snow leopard, these eagles fighting over food in Poland, snapped by Antoni Kasprzak is my favourite.
Take a look at the winners and runners-up at the Natural History Museum where they are on display.
http://www.nhm.ac.uk/visit-us/whats-on/temporary-exhibitions/wpy/onlineGallery.do

The circle of life

This cartoon caught my eye and seemed worth ripping out of USA Today.
Highlighting the confusion and dissatisfaction being felt in the USA about the infusion of capital vs. the purchasing of preferential stock which most Yanks I spoke to seem to prefer. At least it´s a chance to smile after "yet another" black friday.

GPS systems can seriously damage your car

After each trip to the states or UK I realise how quickly we become dependent on GPS navigation systems (or sat nav) as the people who choose to be different call them.
How intoxicating it is to hear those soft, sexy tones and the understanding voice as she recalculates the route after being ignored. In fact it seems almost impossible to hear a female voice accepting calmly as you go past the turning she instructed, more likely that "Mrs Reality" would be screaming and threatening.

This unfortunate chap in Poland was apparently driving home from a bar and relied a little too much on the sweet voice instructing him to proceed in front. The road had been flooded and become a lake around a year before, but he trustingly followed the advice and ended up sinking fast.

Having had a similar experience in Beverly hills, getting stopped after taking a right turn where it was not allowed but instructed by GPS, I can almost sympathise...except my driver was sober as she explained herself to the nice officer.

100.000th floor please

Reserve a slot in your agenda to attend the "space elevator" convention in Japan, November, hosted by the Japanese Space Elevator Association. Thousands of scientists from all around the world will be there discussing the application of carbon nanotube to Arthur C. Clarke´s dream.

It seems that in around 25 years the first elevator can be ready, with a big tube anchored to the earth's surface reaching tens of thousands of miles into space, connected to a space station which acts as a counterweight and through inertia the whole thing stays straight.

To avoid hurricanes they propose among other options the Galapagos Islands as a potential site however, apart from the obvious turtle issue this seems slightly out of the way for your typical New Yorker/Londoner etc. http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/10/02/space.elevator/index.html

A shame to cover them up

Judging by the recent Martin Margiela show at the Paris Fashion week we seem to have been ahead of the crowd. At the Conarec event in São Paulo we took 4 of the most beautiful models in Brasil, if not the world and put dice on their heads, covering them up with just a space at the front.
The strategy showing the concept of "knowing people behind the data" or "pessoas por tras dos dados" in portuguese caused a stir and high recall, with many participants taking their photo with the girls and compementing the "intervention action".
Good to see that we were first and that this week in Paris this has now been consolidated as a new fashion trend. Here´s the link to see a bit more of Martin´s show.....photos of our models strictly reserved!?! http://content.coutorture.com/2120226