And I use “art” very loosely here when I mean the creative products of your head and your hands and the tools you use to extend the reach of both. Whether writers, filmmakers, musicians, webdesigners, potters, poets, dancers, landscapers, crafters, carpenters, architects, hatters; whatever the avenue for the creative imperative to realise itself, these endeavours are most often shunted aside to our secret life, our hobby. Because creatives don’t make money. Or not enough to make a steady living. They do it for the love. Or until they get a …

Superb reads around understanding where we’re at: philosophically, physiologically and practically with games.
<< Dive into my current bookmarks on games. Bits on game design, pervasive gaming, blended-reality games played on the streets, how gaming shapes our brains. If you’re amazed that games can command their own economies – with global heft or that mainstream business, government, the military or medicine has moved into the realm of serious games. Play has potency.

One of the delights of living in the Southern Hemisphere has to be its dense, dazzling night sky.
Meandering to open spaces where the urban light veil falls away, yields a blaze of stars, the Milky Way (the Galactic Centre and magellanic clouds, a southern sky speciality), even man.made space objects twinkling back at us. In turn they’re scrutinised in ever-crisper definition as each generation of earthlings puzzles out the celestial connect-the-dots.

“Astronomers, like burglars and jazz musicians, operate best at night.“— Miles Kington

 
In the last few days of the International Year …

It’s hard to quantify the small dizzy delight we find in discovering something out in the world that simply makes us happy, no explanation needed. Julie Andrews floods the mental stereo like peach-sugar (what, you have no idea what I mean? see the video at the end to absorb the culture young weedhopper).. Maverick magazine was one of my favourite things (sigh).
 
And I wasn’t alone, peculiar that a business magazine could be a lovemark, but there it is.

 
In magazine materialization, with its suede-feel cover, fiercely clever and stylish innards, and …

No grand 10th century castle – you couldn’t get there on a steam train from secret King’s Cross platforms – but this seemingly unexceptional building at 9 Ntemi Piliso Street, downtown Johannesburg is brimming and buzzing with magic.
 
The Defense against the Dark Arts is for real. Here they’re battling the very real forces of poverty, indignity and violence that swallow too many of the young ones in our country whole. Peacefully, with laughter and a startlingly ingenious approach to education and business, this sister school to CIDA University is a …

I’m back in Cape Town next week for some wrap.up lectures at UCT, seeing beloved friends & family, working & meeting frenzies ..and catching the grand launch of Silicon Cape (last year’s World Mayor, now premier of the province, Helen Zille will be speaking to assure the gravitas of this endeavour).
 
Since the tech heads and urban visionaries will be gathering for said launch in Camps Bay, (and it’s spring!) it seems an awfully good opportunity to lure some of the city’s brightest women to a Cerebella lunch to debrief in …

[On being in the right place, at the right time]
So here I am,1 still in Johannesburg, Joburg, Jozi, the District 9 city. The African version of LA.
The rough & tough old mining town that I was born in. esCAPEd from. And evidently needed to return to make peace with (like an ex-smoker I bore greater rights to cast scorn on its dirty sexy evils when I’d slipped its golden handcuffs in ’99).
 
Here for the best of reasons – which means I’m not here for the money. And not leaving anytime …

Charged with creating a strong support system for one of the most progressive programmes that UCT’s Graduate School of Business offers, I’ve gathered some of the brightest, biggest-hearted people I know, to offer back their battlescars and brilliance to a small band of artists going on a powerful learning journey.
..
26 Mentors have stepped up to contribute to this special programme, and I’ll introduce them as the as the journey progresses, because they deserve to be recognised. Each chosen for their particular approach to bridging business and creativity.
..
For the reason that …

AT LAST!

The TEDxJoburgNorth programme, launching on the 15th July 2009, will  be the beginning of many more such TEDx events in the city. I’m helping to gather the forces for a city.size TED Johannesburg in November with TEDsters and fellow raving fans, under the passionate leadership of publisher Alicia Woolf [want to get the early heads.up on getting your seat or collaborating to make it legendary? mail me or leave a comment below.]
TEDx Events have the same general goals as TED Conferences. TEDx activities are dedicated to leveraging the power …

Next Wednesday eve, Cape Town will pingback after seeing so many of the blogger community from Joburg for Wordcamp & more last week. At the SA Business Schools Expo at the Sandton Sun, Epiphany (the new baby) in collaboration with Huddlemind (homebase) is doing a transcity mashup of minds. On an issue that seems to be affecting all of us, particularly if we work in new media, mobile and associated tech.
Is there a BUSINESS CASE for staying in South Africa when you’re one of our best & brightest ?
Do …