Happiness only real when shared...

Let the holiday begin!

2009-12-18T10:17:38Z

And we're off... Karlskrona -> Hambourg -> Amsterdam -> Bruges (Christmas!) -> Strasburg -> Munich -> Prague (New Years!) -> Berlin -> Hambourg -> Karlskona

Posters

2009-12-16T22:27:53Z

http://www.gosustainable.se/exr/go-sustainable.nsf/pages/student-posters#icel

and the Fossil of the Day Award goes to...

2009-12-12T23:34:42Z

Canada is leading the way!

Russia and Ukraine are not doing too badly either.
You make me so proud...

(‘Fossil of The Day’ awards to the countries who perform the worst during the past day’s negotiations at UN climate change conferences.)

Hope n Hagen

2009-12-12T20:44:45Z

Just got back from Copenhagen. It is boiling in green.

I didn't get to spend too much time there because of school activities, but here is the impression I got.

There is the COP 15, which I wasn't one of the 34,000 people to be invited to. This is where the decisions are negotiated and where the politicians are.

There is Bright Green Expo, which is where the business sector is, showing off its leading climate solutions and doing some green washing along the way.

There is Klimaforum09, which is all for the activists, the hippies, the common folk.

All very much tailored to their own audience. Politicians are in one corner, businessmen in another and activists in the third. Where is the common ground?

But then there is Hopenhagen! - lots of cool presentations and displays. Sparkling with creativity, ideas and innovations.

Top 50 Sustainability Books

2009-12-09T17:53:40Z

These are the Top 50 Sustainability Books as voted for by the University of Cambridge Programme for Sustainability Leadership's alumni network of over 3,000 senior leaders from around the world. In the book, as well as profiles of all 50 titles, many of the authors share their most recent reflections on the state of the world and the ongoing attempts by business, government and civil society to create a more sustainable future.

The Top 50 Books List (Alphabetical by Book Title)

Banker to the Poor: Micro-Lending and the battle Against World Poverty, by Muhammad Yunus, 1999
Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature, by Janine Benyus, 2003
Blueprint for a Green Economy: by David Pearce, Anil Markandya and Edward B. Barbier, 1989
Business as Unusual: My Entrepreneurial Journey, Profits and Principles, by Anita Roddick, 2005
Cannibals with Forks: The Triple Bottom Line of 21st Century Business, by John Elkington, 1999
Capitalism as if the World Matters, by Jonathon Porritt, 2005
Capitalism at the Crossroads: Aligning Business, Earth, and Humanity, by Stuart Hart, 2005
Changing Course: A Global Business Perspective on Development and the Environment, by Stephan Schmidheiny and WBCSD, 1992
The Chaos Point: The World at the Crossroads, by Ervin Laszlo, 2006
The Civil Corporation: The New Economy of Corporate Citizenship, by Simon Zadek, 2001
Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Survive, by Jared Diamond, 2005
The Corporation: The Pathological Pursuit of Profit and Power, by Joel Bakan, 2005
Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things by William McDonough and Michael Braungart, 2002
The Dream of Earth, by Thomas Berry, 1990
Development as Freedom, by Amartya Sen, 2000
The Ecology of Commerce: A Declaration of Sustainability, by Paul Hawken, 1994
The Economics of Climate Change: The Stern Review, by Nicholas Stern, 2007
The End of Poverty: Economic Possibilities for Our Time, by Jeffrey Sachs, 2005.
Factor Four: Doubling Wealth, Halving Resources Use-A Report to the Club of Rome, by Ernst Von Weizsäcker, Amory B. Lovins and L. Hunter Lovins, 1998.
False Dawn: The Delusions of Global Capitalism, by John Gray, 2002
Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side on the All-American Meal, by Eric Schlosser, 2005
A Fate Worse than Debt: The World Financial Crisis and the Poor, by Susan George, 1990
For The Common Good: Redirecting the Economy toward Community, the Environment and a Sustainable Future, by Herman Daly and John Cobb, 1989
Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid: Eradicating Poverty through Profits, by C.K. Prahalad, 2004
Gaia: A New Look at Life on Earth, by James Lovelock, 1979.
Globalization and its Discontents, by Joseph Stiglitz, 2002
Heat: How to Stop the Planet from Burning, by George Monbiot, 2006
Human-Scale Development: Conception, Application and Further Reflections, by Manfred Max-Neef, 1991
The Hungry Spirit: Beyond Capitalism: The Quest for Purpose in the Modern World, by Charles Handy, 1999
An Inconvenient Truth: The Planetary Emergency of Global Warming and What We Can Do About It, by Al Gore, 2006
The Limits to Growth, by Donella H. Meadows, Dennis L. Meadows and Jorgen Randers, 1972
Maverick: The Success Story Behind the World’s Most Unusual Workplace, by Ricardo Semler, 1993
The Mystery of Capital: Why Capitalism Triumphs in the West and Fails Everywhere Else, by Hernando De Soto, 2000
Natural Capitalism: Creating the Next Industrial Revolution, by Paul Hawken, Amory Lovins and L. Hunter Lovins, 2000
No Logo: No Space, No Choice, No Jobs, by Naomi Klein, 2002
Open Society: Reforming Global Capitalism, by George Soros, 2000
Operating Manual for Spaceship Earth, by Buckminster Fuller, 1969
Our Common Future, by The World Commission on Environment and Development, 1987
The Population Bomb, by Paul Ehrlich, 1968
Presence: An Explanation of Profound Change in People, Organizations and Society, by Peter Senge, C. Otto Scharmer, Joseph Jaworski and Betty Sue Flowers, 2005
The River Runs Black: The Environmental Challenge to China’s Future, by Elizabeth C. Economy, 2004
Sand County Almanac, by Aldo Leopold, 1949 Silent Spring, by Rachel Carson, 1962
The Skeptical Environmentalist, by Bjorn Lomborg, 2001
Small is Beautiful: Economics as if People Mattered, by E.F. Schumacher, 1973
Staying Alive: Women, Ecology and Development, by Vandana Shiva, 1989
The Turning Point: Science Society and the Rising Culture, by Fritjof Capra, 1984
Unsafe At Any Speed: The Designed-in Dangers of the American Automobile, by Ralph Nader, 1965
When Corporations Rule the World, by David Korten, 2001
When the Rivers Run Dry: What Happens When Our Water Runs Out? by Fred Pearce, 2006

Big Hoax

2009-12-09T07:54:38Z

Canadians of MSLS 2010 Call the PM

2009-12-07T21:38:48Z

http://beta.davidsuzuki.org/share/call-the-pm/class-of-msls-2010-calls-the-pm/

Watch and vote for us.

The Story of Cap & Trade

2009-12-01T20:33:04Z

Happy Birthday Giul!!!

2009-11-29T20:41:39Z

bark_an @ 2009-11-26T19:44:00

2009-11-26T18:44:47Z

Musical Stairs

2009-11-21T17:44:31Z

Servant-Leader Paradoxes

2009-11-09T21:45:06Z

The paradoxes of being a "Servant-Leader":

Strong enough to be weak
Successful enough to fail
Busy enough to make time
Wise enough to say "I don't know"
Serious enough to laugh
Rich enough to be poor
Right enough to say "I'm wrong"
Compassionate enough to discipline
Mature enough to be childlike
Important enough to be last
Planned enough to be spontaneous
Controlled enough to be flexible
Free enough to endure captivity
Knowledgeable enough to ask questions
Loving enough to be angry
Great enough to be anonymous
Responsible enough to play
Assured enough to be rejected
Victdorious enough to lose
Industrious enough to relax
Leading enough to serve

Poem by Brewer - as cited by Hansel, in Holy Sweat, Dallas Texas, Word, 1987. (p29)

Free the air! Go little air! Go! )))

2009-11-08T22:31:42Z

Poland

2009-11-06T22:51:44Z

Ok, I haven't posted at all and I feel I need to catch up.

I'll try to start with the latest and go back into the past as much as I can, as time and will to sit in front of the computer permits.

So since I've arrived to Karlskrona, Sweden, I've been traveling quite a bit considering I'm here to study. I've already been to Kalmar, Växjö (yeah, good luck pronouncing this one), Stockholm, St. Petersburg and Poland.

Here is Poland:

So right after the end of our first term and first exam we headed off to Poland. And by right after I really mean right after. We literally went from the exam to the ferry. We are lucky enough to have a ferry (or would a cruise ship be a more representative description?!) going directly from Karlskrona to Gdynia which is about 30 minute train ride from Gdansk.

The ferry takes 12 hours, which seems very long considering the distance. Apparently one possible reason for this is that to have a permit to serve and sell booze they are required to extend this pleasure ride to 12 hours. And I must say that people coming from Sweden really take advantage of that because the alcohol is like 3 times cheaper than in Sweden. Too bad it is mostly truckers who take the ferry. They even have their own exclusive 'Truckers Only' restaurant on board.

So here is us getting comfy on the ferry:

Boogied on the dance floor:

It was also Halloween night on the ferry. Scary, eh?

So we got to Gdansk. This weekend was All Saints' Day and we got to witness the beautifully decorated cemeteries:

Second day. We went to the beautiful castle of Malbork, which is about 1 hour south of Gdansk:

Got back to Gdansk for the night:

Found this floating bar where the captain was boozing us up:

Then went to experience the cemetery during the All Saints' Night. Endless lanterns in the cemetery:

Some entertainment after an intense visit to the cemetery:

Our third day. Here are some of the beautiful landscapes of Gdansk:

On our way back to the ferry we visited the resort city Sopot. This is their famous dock:

And a weird looking building with a funky looking old DJ dude in orange:

And... we headed back:

350

2009-10-25T12:39:32Z

Our event for the International Day of Climate Action - The Human Graph.

Check out the Time lapse video!

Oh Canada...

2009-10-19T21:36:42Z

Oh Canada Movie - Our Bought and Sold Out Land

Discovery

2009-10-18T13:39:07Z

"The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes." - Marcel Proust

Green Copenhagen

2009-08-22T07:20:14Z

Green Highlights:

Wind farm:

Solar garbage compactors:

Scented garden in the middle of the city with various flower, herb and vegetable plants:

Copenhagen - second time around

2009-08-21T21:41:11Z

Now second impressions are already after the cruise. These impressions are much less rushed, less jet legged and much more restful.

This city is alive! Lots of events everywhere! This is a random viking drinking hangout.

I Bike Copenhagen! (Well I didn't actually bike it yet, but I bike-like it) Copenhagen is a great city to bike in. Dedicated bike lanes everywhere and it is evident everybody is taking advantage of it. Space around the subway station is jammed with bikes. What I found odd was that they only lock the bike to itself and not to a pole or a railing and it is not that there is a deficit of poles and railings in the city.

Tivoli is a amusement park right in the middle of the city. Some of its highlights included: boat bumper cars (or would you call it bumper boats?), plate breaking game, awesome plane ride (turns around, upside down, really fast, spins you out of control) - haven't tried it because I didn't have anyone to share the joy with plus might be too much pressure for my collar bone still, but I dare you to come ride it with me when you come to visit :D. My pictures suck, but here are some:

And of course there is the highlight of the awesome food - especially herring (seledka) and smoked meat which are heavenly, the rest is just damn tasty!

And of course there is the beautiful sightseeing, which I'm not gonna go into because there are too many.

Copenhagen - first impressions

2009-08-21T17:34:20Z

We had several hours in between flying into Copenhagen and sailing off on our cruise. Here are my first impressions:

Buildings full of logos.

Andersen who accommodated me on his lap.

Beautiful architecture and scenary.

A fountain I managed to step into.

Passed out people with bottles of beer in their hands. (Note: it is early Sunday morning)

Friends Don't Let Friends Go to Hell

2009-08-11T05:55:17Z

Enjoy!

Religulous

Best of Toronto and Montreal

2009-08-10T03:53:26Z

Best things about Toronto:
- Parents' house and all the perks that come with it
- Constant reunion parties!
- Direct flights from Israel ;)
- Never feeling bad for leaving
- 5 hour drive away from real culture aka Montreal

Montreal on the weekend

I'm always surprised, every time I go to Montreal or Quebec in general, how I could still be in the same country. Everything is all of the sudden in a different language. People are much better looking and dress much more fashionably. The culture, the art, the talent - incomparable to the rest of this country. ("Best Place on Earth" - I love you anyways, you are still my best nonetheless).

This weekend was the Francofolies Festival. Just amazing! They block off several blocks of Montreal and have stages on pretty much every corner - maybe 10 stages all together. The music varies from metal to bossa nova to ska to jazz to rock to funk to anything and everything. You are welcome to check out all outside stages, it is all free and best of all - you can do it with a cool cup of beer in your hand and show it off to everyone, even the cops!!

This was my highlight of the night. Young band "French Kiss".

(My video was of crappy quality, so I stole this one. This was at the festival earlier in the week.)

Home - the movie

2009-07-07T16:55:07Z

The state of our planet with beautiful footage...

http://www.youtube.com/homeproject

Металлолом

2009-07-02T17:04:41Z

Shall I say it was a bike weekend again... or an end to my bike weekends...

How this: Leads to this:

Leads to me having a cultural weekend of jazz and flamenco while consuming foods, drinks and desserts of international cuisine.

My broken bike collection is increasing... My svalka:

Another weekend, another report

2009-06-22T19:26:21Z

It was a bike weekend!

Friday!
Started off with a slight fender-bender. My first! Combination of wet road, busy street, crazy taxi drivers, disappointment of not getting my free smoothie ))) and possibly reckless speed riding by me considering the above mentioned circumstances... Nah... that last one must me an exaggeration.
But all good, slight road rash on the elbow won't stop me riding on. And riding on I did - to Whistler!

Saturday!
Riding Whistler with the boys.

Followed by a farewell party with some cool jamming for our soon-to-be Go master.

Sunday!
Not done riding yet... Starting going down CBC I realized hardcore downhilling 2 days in a row is a little much. But there was no way back. I made it down in one piece, but can't say the same for my G-spot.

My beautiful G:

Close up on the wound: