| Vitruvian Mind |
| The Man will burn! |
|
Posted on March 31st, 2008 by Myk.
Categories: Travel & Leisure, Business & Finance.
On March 29th, a few days ago, 70-year-old restrictions were lifted to allow airlines to fly non-stop between any city in Europe and any in the United States.
The European Union Transport Council on March 22 ratified the United States-European Union “open skies” agreement to liberalize the transatlantic airline market. Under the agreement, U.S. and EU airlines will be able to operate to and from any airport. Some of the relevant and rational reasons for the agreement as stated on the US Dept of State’s website are:
So what does this mean for us? More flights to more places, and in the long run, cheaper tickets. NPR has a good breakdown of the benefits:
Currently, the U.S. has separate aviation agreements with every European country, giving each country’s national carrier a lot of power to prevent other airlines from competing. Next year, all U.S. and EU airlines will be free to fly anywhere they want in each other’s territories.
Britain’s Virgin Atlantic, for example, might offer flights from U.S. cities to Paris, Frankfurt, Amsterdam and Madrid. Germany’s Lufthansa could offer a regular London-New York flight.
But Europeans failed to get what they most wanted: the right to fly from city to city in the United States. There will be no Air France flights from New York to Los Angeles.
So, we’ll see what this actually means for us travellers but in theory it will increase competition which will increase service levels and decrease price. Or it’ll be a mess. When Vitruvian World is populated with events (aaahhh you don’t know about that yet, do you?), you’ll have more options to get there in style.
Posted on March 29th, 2008 by Mayur.
Categories: Media & Entertainment, Food & Wine, Consumer Products.
The Russians have done it again. First the launch of Sputnik. Now the first vodka designed exclusively for women. “Between us girls,” is the catchphrase for the new vodka label, “Damskaya”.
“In Russia, vodka is definitely a masculine product,” said Natalya Shumilina, the marketing director at Deyros, the distillery that produces Damskaya. A woman also likes “to relax with her girlfriends” and drop a few shots when the children go to bed, Ms. Shumilina said, but desires a vodka with a bit more femininity that retains a traditional kick.
Cost: $12 a bottle
Target market: “This is not some super businesswoman, simply a girl who wants to visit her friend and relax a little because her husband is home with the children,” Ms. Shumilina said.
Russian men need not worry. The Russian subsidiary of Nestle has come up with a consolation prize: a chocolate bar named “For MEN”.
Posted on March 28th, 2008 by Myk.
Categories: Philosophy & Spirituality, Consumer Products, Business & Finance, Arts & Literature.
In an astonishing article in PSFK today, I learned that Philippe Starck is done with design.
Who is Philippe Starck? Only the guy that brought cool to every hotel, restaurant, and tooth brush…I have to mention that most of the Vitruvian crew live in cities, dominated by Starck designs (LA, SF, NYC, Moscow, London, Miami, Paris, and more). Almost to the point where restaurants and hotels that don’t have at least a Starck-designed chair something is just wrong. As far as my limited knowledge of design goes, he is the most important designer for the jet-set/fashionable crowd. Which is why his revelation is relevant.
Here are some of the things he told Die Zeit:
Unbelievable, right? This is like Buffet saying that investing is banal, or Bush saying war doesn’t give him a hard-on. I love design, and I also agree that it’s not the end-all-be-all. However, let’s not TRASH it (the ability to love can live quite swimmingly alongside a passion for design)…especially if you’re the dude that made it cool! My bet is that he was coming off some bad X or pain-killers during the interview. I would hope so–the alternative is that he had been designing for all the wrong reasons for the past few decades. That would really suck. Well in any case, here’s to mid-life crises and we wish him the best!
Posted on March 27th, 2008 by Myk.
Categories: Philosophy & Spirituality, Definitions.
A few weeks ago, I took a workshop on Kundalini yoga. The word, ‘kundalini’, literally means “the curl of the lock of hair of the beloved.” The metaphor is a poetic way of describing the flow of energy and consciousness which already is said to exist within each person. It is conceptualized as a coiled up serpent lying at the base of our spine, which can spring awake when activated by spiritual disciplines.
The practice enables the person to merge with or “yoke” the universal Self. This merging of individual consciousness with the universal consciousness is said to create a “divine union” called “yoga.”
Kundalini yoga is a mechanism that focuses on psycho-spiritual growth and the body’s potential for maturation, with special consideration to the role of the spine and the endocrine system that leads to higher states of consciousness.
In short, it gets you highhhhh….
Every Kundalini person I know is a light soul. They exude this great energy–happy, calm, serene, and very welcoming. The kind of people we all want to be around. Seriously, if you have never, you need to Kundalini yourself–it’ll be good for you.
Posted on March 25th, 2008 by Phil.
Categories: Media & Entertainment, Travel & Leisure, Coming Events.
Break out the glow sticks and comfy shoes, it’s starting again. Yes, Lord have mercy, Winter Music Conference 2008 is now officially underway.
To those of you in and around Miami, I wish you much merriment and good music. Be safe, be smart, and party like a rockstar. For those of you not attending this year’s event, if you like dance music, check out the event website: http://www.wintermusicconference.com/. I specifically recommend checking out “The List”. It’s a breakdown of all the parties happening in Miami that week. The list is around 100 pages long. Some refer to WMC as the ‘World Cup of DJs’, and it’s easy to see why. There is nothing anywhere in the world that compares.
If I make it through alive, I’ll be back to give you my reflections on the event and links to some great new music. This is when all the DJs and producers break out the hits for the coming year, and the crowd is hungry for it. I know I am.
Posted on March 25th, 2008 by Phil.
Categories: Food & Wine, Sports & Health.
This past October, a foodie by the name of Mr. Perlow suddenly fell ill. What seemed like a case of the flu soon turned into a three-day hospital visit. There he heard the grim truth: He was diabetic. He weighed more than 400 pounds, his blood pressure was dangerously high and his blood was thick with glucose and cholesterol. A doctor told him he would be dead in five years.
If 1960s Las Vegas had its Rat Pack and 1980s cinema its Brat Pack, early 21st century food has its Fat Pack. Mr. Perlow was a charter member. Now, like some of his fellow travelers, he is learning what happens when the Fat Pack’s philosophy of excess meets the body’s limits of endurance.
The journalists, bloggers, chefs and others who make up the Fat Pack combine an epicure’s appreciation for skillful cooking with a glutton’s bottomless-pit approach. Lately, stories like Mr. Perlow’s are becoming commonplace, and members of the crew are being forced to re-evaluate their choices. To that end, many prominent eaters who want to lose weight find themselves trying to forge a new kind of diet, one that rejects the conventional strategy of denial and avoidance and embraces the pleasure of really, really good food. And only of good food. As Victor Ego, the food critic in Ratatouille said, “If I don’t love it… I don’t swallow.” I love that approach.
As with all things in life, it’s about balance. Exercise a little bit, choose your meals well, and you can still have what you want. The trick is only eating food that is truly amazing. Don’t waste your body’s resources to process food on scarfing down a mediocre muffin or bland bagel just because you’re a big hungry and it’s there. Be pateient, and choose wisely. One might say the same about many things in life.
Posted on March 22nd, 2008 by Myk.
Categories: Philosophy & Spirituality, Humor & Pop Culture, Storytelling.
This is just great. Here’s a great example of how psychics delve into loads of interesting topics. From UrbanDaddy comes a story about a psychic that I really want to meet. Here’s the interview:
|
UD Profile |
|
|
Posted on March 19th, 2008 by Mayur.
Categories: Philosophy & Spirituality, Food & Wine, Arts & Literature, Definitions.
Remember feeling guilty about skipping Sunday School in 6th grade? You probably have no remorse playing hooky…but you should! If and when you do, I suggest using the only tried and tested procedure to “wash down your guilt” and rediscover Sunday School in new light.
1. Order champagne (preferably Dom Pérignon) on Sunday any time past 12:01am
2. Ensure that each bottle ordered is a minimum of 3 liters (there is no upper limit)
3. Make a toast and celebrate your attendance to Sunday School
4. Pay the bill to avoid arrest
Still confused? The creation of champagne and the nomenclature of the various bottle sizes are inextricably tied to Christian monasticism. Understanding this deep-rooted link is the key to revitalizing Sunday School at Space Ibiza.
Champagne was created by monastic orders in 1600AD:
As Christianity and the influence of the church spread in 380AD, considerable vineyards were bequeathed to the monastic orders. Most of the vineyards in Champagne were virtually nationalized in clerical hands when the crusaders didn’t return home. For centuries these wines were used for sacrament, coronations, the royal table and for the consecration of treaties.
The first successful and deliberate methods of capturing the ‘mousse’ (bubbles) in the bottle were due to the combined efforts of the monastic orders in Pierre and Epernay. Respective cellar-masters in the 1650s, Frère Jean Oudart, and Dom Pierre Pérignon, the abbeys of Saint-Pierre aux Monts de Châlons and Saint-Pierre d’Hautvillers apparently had a lot of time on their hands to perfect the critical ‘mousse’ creation process…
Size matters:
Nomenclature of champagne bottles is based on capacity. Each bottle starting from the Jeroboam pays homage to a king referenced in Christian theology. Memorize!
So the next time you’re at Set Miami or Space Ibiza on a Sunday morning, why not find that perfect balance between sanctity and sin by ordering a Dom Perignon Nabuchadnezzar? Before having second thoughts on footing the tab, just remember: 1. tip is always included; 2. why attend Sunday School any other way??
Posted on March 18th, 2008 by Phil.
Categories: Consumer Products, History & Politics, Business & Finance.
Having trouble finding a good school to study courses in cannabis horticulture, opening a medical marijuana dispensary, or managing the range of associated legal issues? Well, look no further. Oaksterdam University is now offering a comprehensive slate of classes at it’s Oakland and Los Angeles based campuses. Some of my personal favorites:
Horticulture 101
Learn how to produce cannabis flowers from starter plants through harvest. The course covers everything needed to get started and produce a harvest. Instructors will detail the basics of watering, lighting, ventilation, cycles, and equipment options. Indoor and outdoor information is included as well as hydroponic and organic options. Important details that even experienced gardeners have trouble with are also covered, for example, pest control, smell abatement, security, pH balance, and drying/curing.
Distribution/Dispensary Management 102
If you would like to start a dispensary (or any other cannabusiness), the next two classes are for you. We teach how to get product from producers to retailers. For the supply manager, important topics include product grading, weighing, storage, and safe transportation. For the employee manager, advice and details are given regarding security, managing personnel, community relations, and customer service.
Cannabusiness 102
How to start a business in the cannabis industry will be covered through this course. The types of cannabusinesses this course relates to include a commercial grow, a dispensary, a cannabis edibles company, a clone retailer, a delivery service, a Measure Z club, or any of the numerous cannabusinesses still to develop in this industry. The process to obtain city, county, state permits and licenses are covered in detail. Standard business issues such as payroll and sales taxes, workman’s compensation, health insurance, and other requirements for operating a business are covered as well. The instructors give firsthand experience and knowledge. Current political issues and local politics are explained.
Legal Issues 102
Practice protecting yourself during police encounters. This course is a role-playing workshop that simulates encounters with law enforcement. Students will develop the knowledge learned in Politics/Legal Issues 101 through classroom practice asserting their rights in a police encounter. Examples and specific wording will be taught from instructors and students will be asked to participate in role-plays to solidify the knowledge. Most people give up their constitutional rights during encounters with law enforcement. These mistakes are avoidable, and this course should be a must for anyone working in the cannabis industry.
As amusing as this is, and I admit that I am writing this post somewhat in jest, do not discount these guys as a bunch of hippie pot-heads. California is leading the charge in the legalization of marijuana, and it is likely that it will be legal nationwide eventually. Medical marijuana dispensaries in CA are already making a mint for many people, and when the wall comes crashing down there will be billions of dollars to be made. Hell, there already are billions being made, just not by the right people. Marijuana was stated last year as the US’s largest cash crop, and that’s not going to change. Would you rather have that money going to drug dealers, pimps, and offshore pot farms, or to the US Treasury (taxes), American farmers, and US based small businesses?
Posted on March 17th, 2008 by Myk.
Categories: Arts & Literature, Humor & Pop Culture.
“There’s nothing like a celebrity’s photograph to boost a book’s sales.” From Portfolio.com, some disturbing data on a little-known driver of book sales…paparazzi and the celebs they shoot. Seriously, I’m give her the benefit of the doubt and hazard to say that Paris is literate, but c’mon people, you’re looking to HER for book recommendations???
Drew Barrymore
Skinny Legs and All by Tom Robbins
In January, one edition of Skinny Legs sold 1,000 copies in the U.S. That’s about the same number it sold the week after Barrymore was photographed with the novel in February.
Paris Hilton
The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle
The week after the photos of Hilton holding this guide first appeared, one edition sold 3,000 copies—a 50 percent increase over the previous week.
Jennifer Garner
The Elf on the Shelf: A Christmas Tradition by Carol Aebersold and Chanda Bell
Sales spiked 300 percent, to 4,000 copies, in the month after Garner was photographed carrying this children’s book.
