How a simple tone, a single chord or a solid sound, can hit you like magic, is just incredible. It can give you a feeling of homesickness to a time and place where you’ve never been. I just came across a band called ‘Snowmine’. I never heard of them before, but man, they seem really cool. In the sense that they seem truly aligned with each other as people (in the first place), as musicians with different talents (second) and with creating multiple layered sounds (third). That not only sounds really nice, it also looks very nice. And that’s what congruency is all about. Congruency, in human behavior, means that what you say, corresponds with what you show (or do). It means you’re aligned. And it’s actually quite hard to be congruent yourself, let alone being in a band. Yet these guys, have a band. They are a band. I sure do like to hear more of them. If you like, download their song ‘Curfews’ (it’s what you hear in the beginning of the video) for free. I did, and I hope you enjoy it as much I do.

Worldwide there were many wonderful initiatives on 11.11.2011. In a way, it was a day like any other and yet many special things happened. I guess it was that many people were aware. Aware of each other, the world we live in and the need for openness, kindness and love. This short video is a part of that flow. It was shot and edited in Cape Town, South Africa in 11 hours on 11.11.2011. Wonderful images, with a powerful poem from Spanish poet Pedro Salinas (1891-1951). Enjoy.

This is a short inspirational documentary: you’ll meet writer turned knife maker Joel Bukiewicz of ‘Cut Brooklyn’. It opens with Joel talking about how his dream to become a writer didn’t work out. How afraid he was to lose his passion for writing and how that ultimately transformed into his life’s work: making knives. He talks about the human element of craft and the potential for a skill to mature into an art. And in sharing his story, he alights on the real meaning of handmade – a movement whose riches are measured in people, not cash. Anyway, step into the life of somebody with a passion.

I had to watch this film a couple of times to fully understand the depth of it. It’s… kind of profound. The information combined with the images that are thrown at you are impressive and, at least to me, very interesting from a philosophical point of view. The film is, in part, inspired by the ideas explored in David Deutsch’s new book: ‘The beginning of infinity’ and tells the story of how humanity is reinventing the earth and potentially the universe as a whole. The example given concerns the island of Manhattan. To be precise: the topographical shape and the material constitution of the upper surface of Manhattan, as it exists today. It is considered to be much less a matter of geology than it is of culture, science, economics, politics and human psychology. The effects of shaping the earth geological forces were trumped (you might say) by these other forces. Forces that proved themselves, in the fullness of time, physically stronger. Deutsch thinks the same thing must in the long run be true of the universe as a whole. Stuff like gravitation and dark energy are the sorts of things that determine the shape of the cosmos only in its earliest, and most parochial stages. The rest is going to be a matter of our own intentional doing. Wow. More info about the film? Click here.

Here’s a beautiful and inspirational film called ‘The Great Bell Chant (The End of Suffering)’. Watching it had a soothing effect on me. As if it was a gateway to a higher state of consciousness, where the mind becomes calm and the body relaxed. I hope it has the same effect on you. Enjoy.

Finding love is like a journey. A journey of two people, traveling to a certain place in time where they first lay eyes on each other. But to get to that place, can be a bumpy ride. In daily life, the things we do, the places we go, the moves we make: they appear to be so very different from what everybody else does. Especially when you’re single, it’s easy to see yourself as a ‘stand alone’, since all the people around you sooner or later move in a different direction. This film tells the story of a boy in Paris and a girl in New York. For sure, they are worlds apart, yet also completely synchronized when it comes to the things they things they do, the places they go and the moves they make. They may be alone, but in being alone, they are most certainly not the only one. And that in itself creates a connection between them. Will they find each other? Watch and find out. A little note on the creative aspect of this film: it was entirely shot using a Nokia N8 mobile phone. Wonderfully done. Enjoy.

As kids, having fun is our main concern. As adults however, not having any concern seems like fun. Now that’s a shift in focus: along the line, instead of focussing on having fun, we somehow start to focus on avoiding having concerns. So I thought it would be nice to show you a film about toys. Especially for those who were born somewhere between 1970 and 1980, watching these toys will bring back some joyous moments from the past. So here’s to having fun, here’s to toys. Enjoy.