No man’s land

Zo eens in de paar maanden trek ik naar Opnieuw & Co (in Mortsel) om ze die spullen cadeau te doen die ik niet meer nodig heb. Kringloopwinkels moeten het hebben van wat de mensen bij hen binnenbrengen en daar help ik graag aan mee, als het tenminste niets is dat op eBay kon verkocht worden.

Nu zijn er mensen die maar liefst één miljoen frank verstoppen in iets dat ze vervolgens doodleuk naar Opnieuw & Co brengen. Kan me niet voostellen dat iemand zoiets bewust doet, maar in Mortsel schrokken ze ‘r alleszins van op.

Na meer dan één jaar is de ‘eigenaar’ het geld nu terug gaan ophalen, nadat al meer dan 70 anderen hadden geprobeerd om het geld mee naar huis te nemen. Het hele verhaal staat op vrtnieuws.net.

Leuk verhaal maar ik kan het wel begrijpen. Zelf heb ik ook altijd de gewoonte gehad om briefjes van honderd in mijn matras te steken. Heb vorig jaar wel een andere matras gekocht en de oude zijn ze komen halen. Matrassen gaan niet eeuwig mee.

© 2007 Misha Gravenor

Misha Gravenor is a great photographer, with an even more impressive website.
Check out www.mishagravenor.com to see for yourself!

[Note: The original version of this article has been posted on my previous weblog, in 2005]

Makes no difference if you’re early,
no difference if you’re late.
When you’re out of time,
the flowers have been laid.
You’re six feet underground,
with cold feet

(Tracy Chapman in ‘Cold Feet’)

[Note: The original version of this article has been posted on my previous weblog, in 2005]

© 2005 Elisabeth Broekaert

De portfolio van Elisabeth Broekaert toont duidelijk haar vakkennis, menselijk inzicht en .. de invloed van Mary Ellen Mark. Kijk vooral even naar de serie ‘Meet The Moultons’ waarvoor ze reeds meerdere prijzen in ontvangst mocht nemen.

[Note: The original version of this article has been posted on my previous weblog, in 2005]

© 2007 Matthew Mahon

Matthew Mahon is a photographer with a great portfolio, stunning website and some great “Flash-background-information-animation-stuff”. Matthew himself gives some more information about every picture if you just click on the ‘heads’ at the bottom of each picture … check it out on www.matthewmahon.com!

[Note: The original version of this article has been posted on my previous weblog, in 2005]

Any place is better
Starting from zero got nothing to lose
Maybe we’ll make something
But me myself I got nothing to prove

(Tracy Chapman in ‘Fast Car’)

[Note: The original version of this article has been posted on my previous weblog, in 2005]

Een ad die duidelijk gebaseerd is op de Mastercard reclame in mijn vorige post. De Simpsons zijn nu ook in de bioscoop te zien, u zal het geweten hebben!

Update 29/07/2007:
Trailers op de site van Apple zijn hier te vinden.

Volgens Mastercard heeft alles een waarde, behalve die onvergetelijke momenten in het leven. Ze hebben absoluut gelijk, niet alles is te koop!

Earlier today, I found an interesting article on BusinessWeek.com about global business and it’s comparison with … the human hand. Choosing the human hand as a model for global economy seems very simple but I believe it’s an interesting approach that has a lot of truth in it. The author is Indra Nooyi, PepsiCo‘s President and CFO. She wrote her speech for the graduation ceremonies at the Columbia UNiversity’s Business School on May 15.

Nooyi’s vision is that every finger on a human hand (5 for most of us) represents a country or region that has an influence in wordwide economy. As each finger has a specific task, she believes that each country has a strenght and economic position of it’s own. The hand itself being the sum of all fingers while none of them considers itself being less or more important then another. I recommend you to read the full article here but will give you a short explanation for each finger.

1. Our little finger: Africa
   Not because of it’s size, but because of it’s place on the world’s stage? From an economic standpoint, Africa has yet to catch up with her sister continents. And yet, when our little finger hurts, it affects the whole hand.
2. Our thumb: Asia
   Strong, powerful, and ready to assert herself as a major player on the world’s economic stage.
3. Our index / pointer finger: Europe
   Europe is the cradle of democracy and pointed the way for western civilization and the laws we use in conducting global business.
4. Our ring finger: South America, including Latin America
   The ring finger symbolizes love and commitment to another person. Both Latin and South America are hot, passionate, and filled with the sensuous beats of the mambo, samba, and tango: three dances that — if done right — can almost guarantee you and your partner will be buying furniture together.
5. The long, middle finger: North America, in particular the United States
   The middle finger anchors every function that the hand performs and is the key to all of the fingers working together efficiently and effectively. As the longest of the fingers, it really stands out.

Her conclusion?

What is most crucial to my analogy of the five fingers as the five major continents, is that each of us in the U.S. — the long middle finger — must be careful that when we extend our arm in either a business or political sense, we take pains to assure we are giving a hand, not the finger. Sometimes this is very difficult. Because the U.S. — the middle finger — sticks out so much, we can send the wrong message unintentionally.

My conclusion?
Nooyi has a great view on how the United States fit in (or don’t actually) today’s world. She figured out that there’s no single finger less or more important than any other. She’s the right woman at the right place (PepsiCo being a global company) because she’s smart enough to coöperate with the 4 other fingers to reach a common goal. Nooyi’s vision as a new reference in global economics? Why not …

[Note: The original version of this article has been posted on my previous weblog, in 2005]

Wooooow! That’s what I thought when looking at Leah McCormick‘s online portfolio. This New York City (where else) based female photographer knows how to get people ‘on film’. Check out her wedding photography section! Could someone please fly her over to Belgium when I ever get married?

[Note: The original version of this article has been posted on my previous weblog, in 2005]