Optimism – Page 7 – universal positive

Inspiring new book on the upside of resistance

April 11, 2024October 8, 2010 by Roger Darnell

Today marks the worldwide release of an amazing new book from Union Square Press, written by Steve Crawshaw and John Jackson, with a foreward from the internationally renowned human rights champion Vaclav Havel. The book is entitled Small Acts of Resistance: How Courage, Tenacity, and Ingenuity Can Change the World.

I met John Jackson through the spectacular MTV Burma Viral project from Carl Le Blond, Ogilvy Amsterdam, and Shilo. Earlier today, he reported that BBC’s world affairs editor John Simpson had highlighted the new book in his story today on Liu Xiaobo winning the 2010 Nobel Prize, writing,

“John Simpson has highlighted beautifully how Nobel Peace laureate Liu Xiaobo is linked to so many others in history and today, who live in truth and resist injustice… the very people whose stories our book aims to celebrate.”

Join Jamie Oliver’s food revolution

April 11, 2024October 3, 2010 by Roger Darnell

In the video above, first broadcast on August 2, celebrity and humanitarian Jamie Oliver introduces the OpenIDEO Challenge currently underway at OpenIDEO.com. There, Jamie, design and innovation consultancy IDEO, and many other prominent organizations are pooling their resources to address the best ideas we can provide to promote the benefits of fresh food to kids, so that they’ll be able to make better choices. Below, I’m also sharing Jamie’s inspirational TED Talk from earlier this year, where his passions for encouraging people to change their lifestyles and diets for the better, earned him a TED Prize.

Experience Spinifex in China

April 11, 2024August 27, 2010 by Roger Darnell

The principals of Spinifex Group, worldwide leaders in creating and delivering cutting-edge experience media projects, are very proud to continue their collaborations with Director Han Lixun, famous for the print-block segment of the Beijing Olympics Opening Ceremony, and Yvonne Ho, producer on the Beijing Olympic Games, in creating the cinematic multimedia feature attraction at the … Read moreExperience Spinifex in China

Case Study: Scion + ATTIK – “United By Individuality”

April 11, 2024August 6, 2010 by Roger Darnell

In 2008, global creative agency ATTIK and Scion launched the “United By Individuality” branding campaign. The agency recently produced this case study encapsulation above.

Earth Day 2010 and beyond… onward and upward!

April 11, 2024April 22, 2010 by Roger Darnell

Huge thanks to Earth Day LA’s Jim Stewart, Ph.D., for these insights for continuing to make positive impacts through our day-to-day activities… and to my inspirational buddy Kacy Palmieri, who has worked with Earth Day LA for the past several years, for passing along Jim’s sage advice.

Adventures in Expeditionary Learning

April 11, 2024April 13, 2010 by Roger Darnell

Our children are students at Two Rivers Community School (TRCS), a North Carolina public charter school. Established only five years ago, to our eyes, this innovative, ambitious academic experiment has already delivered many amazing results. At TRCS, our kids and some 250 others are enjoying a rare learning curriculum uniquely integrating a pioneering expeditionary learning approach with advanced brain-compatible instructional strategies also known as educational kinesiology or Brain Gym.

Focused on teamwork, community and the pursuit of shared academic and character-improvement goals, TRCS students and faculty-members are contributing to society by learning more everyday about the world, their community and themselves as individuals. Despite the excellence in faculty and curriculum development,

N.A.S.A. NSFW 2010

April 5, 2024March 23, 2010 by Roger Darnell

Last February, N.A.S.A. (North America/South America) debuted “The Spirit of Apollo” on Anti- Records. I’ve written before about the ongoing creative collaboration between lifelong music aficionados Squeak E. Clean (aka Sam Spiegel) and DJ Zegon, and their friends, friends of friends and musical heroes. Today, “The Spirit of Apollo” continues involving many superstar artists from both U.S. coasts in bringing people together through music and art. I hope you enjoy the updated playlist, featuring the talents of N.A.S.A.’s many fine-artist friends.

Moving forward: World Water Day 2010

April 5, 2024March 22, 2010 by Roger Darnell

In honor of World Water Day, it’s my pleasure to share this video that takes a hard look at the bottled water industry and proposes some simple and powerful alternative ideas that can greatly impact the Earth, our communities, and our pocketbooks.

Designing characters, stories and more with Jose Sebastian Gomez

April 5, 2024March 4, 2010 by Roger Darnell

If you haven’t seen the book “We Make It Good” from the filmmakers at creative production company Shilo, you are hereby enthusiastially encouraged to check it out.

As you’ll see there, much of the company’s extraordinary content leverages the character design talents of Co-Founder, Creative Director and Director Jose Sebastian Gomez.

The power of dreams…

April 5, 2024February 28, 2010 by Roger Darnell

At an early age, I decided I was going to be a writer. Somewhere along the way, I also took a strong interest in filmmaking, and being very ambitious, by the time I was 20 years old, I developed a clear vision of myself as novelist and filmmaker. While I have made great strides on achieving those dreams over the years, I must admit that I have a long way to go in seeing them through; nonetheless, those dreams have driven me into situations that I never would have imagined, and while I’ve not yet fully accomplished those missions, I feel very fortunate to have progressed as far as I have.