It's sad but it's true....

I’m at less than a month to enter my 30s. For a lot of people that could mean start buying anti-ageing creams, and start saving for Botox and liposuction treatments, or any other middle age crisis symptoms that you can imagine. Not for me, I find that too superficial.

Although your 30s are not, considering the life expectancy, really the middle of your life, they are the middle of your productive life, and the end of your youth in social patterns. You’re not longer a young adult, you’re just an adult entering the race to reach the old age.

It does, however make me think about two things. First of all the goals I have in life and that it seems that I’m running out of time every day. Not long ago I was asked of what I wanted to do before dying, and end up with a list, that includes doing a PhD, publishing a couple of books, record a proper studio based music albums and make some music for a film or documentary, buy a house, adopt a child, travel around the world, and the obvious, have a proper an steady relationship.

To be successful, a lot of those things have to be made in my following decade, but it seems that I don’t have enough time! And that worries me.

It also seems that since I didn’t had a very crazy youth, I have the temptation of doing that kind of stuff now; but on the other hand, if I didn’t do it when I was more immature, why should I go for it now that I’m more aware of the consequences, and the things that give me real joy?

There’s also the society pressure, where it seems that you are doomed to became a single forever if you didn’t manage to get a proper relationship on your 20s. On words of Lily Allen, “it’s sad but it’s true how society says her life is already over”. So, living in a society which focus on looks, age and things like that, statistically my chances seem to shrink with every passing day.

So here I am, in the verge of ending my youth, and wondering what I have done with my life and asking myself what is my reason to live? They say that it's not enough to just live. You have to have something to live for. The easy answer will be to achieve the goals I stated before, but to be honest, most of the time I find myself still figuring out which is mine.

Climate change, a business opportunity?

I got an email from a dear friend, asking my opinion about this article: Is a Stringent Climate Change Agreement a Pot of Gold?

I did find it interesting, although I think it misses a very important point.

First I would like to state that I’m in favour of entrepreneurs, either persons or companies that search for innovation, and that manage change in order to succeed. I do believe that that is a fundamental part of development, and also that we should all be able to manage change successfully, since all our life, environment, society, working conditions, and so and so forth, are in constant change.  This become of utterly importance to developing countries, where taking the risk and opportunities to find successful business areas is very needed.   There’s nothing wrong in supporting and encouraging entrepreneurs’ projects and ideas.

However the author of the article loose his compass when he sees the climate change agreement only as an opportunity to make money.  It is precisely that ideas, what have driven us to the need of that restrictions and emergency measures that we need to put into action now to ensure that we, as species, have a future.  The idea that everything is just a business opportunity to make more money is just wrong.  Granted, we need economies to grow, we want and need our personal welfare to grow in order to satisfy our needs and be comfortable, but the idea of seen everything in terms of profit is a distorted one.

A lot of that entrepreneurs’ projects have being useful, but there’s also a lot of rubbish around. Ideas and projects that only induce consumerism and fabricate needs, illusionary concepts that make us believe that we need them when it is not.   We can’t go around consuming and consuming more and more, without any idea of why or what are the consequences.  We need an economy of sustainability, not a more consumerist one. Full stop.

One of the core policies of the company I work for is: “nothing is more important than safety—not sales, not production, not profits”.  On a similar way I would propose that this climate change agreement is indeed an opportunity, an opportunity to change our mindset, to change the way we do business, and that the global core policies of every company and nation will be “nothing is more important than sustainability—not sales, not production, not profits.” 

We just can’t continue growing and growing, and consuming the world’s resources, and getting the third world country deeper into poverty to satisfy the needs of the highly consumerist first world, and not even the increasingly consuming developing countries.  The big problem is that the developing and emerging economies, as India, Brazil, Mexico, South Korea, etc. are looking to the USA as a model to reach, which is totally flawed! Do we all want to consume and behave as the States??  Blimey no! That would only collapse our world.  The rampant capitalism leaded by the people, companies and economists of the USA have proved that their model, even when it seems to be successful in short term, is a big failure to long term.   Why not looking for other models as many European countries, as Finland, etc. that without being so loud about their success have sustainable good living standards.   Of course they are not perfect and still that countries have a lot of work to do.

This times are indeed a big opportunity, moreover, they are a big business opportunity; but not to make money just for the sake of it, but to start a new economic model that do not extract resources and creates proverty in the third world to support the first and the developing economies, that is aware of its long term responsibility with the whole planet we are living in, and basically put sustainability as the top priority; for our own sake.  Is it enough space there for entrepreneurs and business success?  Yes I think it is, but only if we modify our priorities and kept behind that flawed ideas, otherwise there will be no future, not to mention no business opportunities, for our grandchildren.

Nature, the Gentlest Mother

Emily Dickinson

Nature, the gentlest mother,
Impatient of no child,
The feeblest or the waywardest,
Her admonition mild

In forest and the hill
By traveller is heard,
Restraining rampant squirrel
Or too impetuous bird.

How fair her conversation,
A summer afternoon,--
Her household, her assembly;
And when the sun goes down

Her voice among the aisles
Incites the timid prayer
Of the minutest cricket,
The most unworthy flower.

When all the children sleep
She turns as long away
As will suffice to light her lamps;
Then, bending from the sky

With infinite affection
And infiniter care,
Her golden finger on her lip,
Wills silence everywhere.

Avatar, a good pagan film

Avatar is one of the greatest films I have seen in the last few years.  It may not have a deep argument or award winning acting, but still it's wicked!.

It's as far as I know the most expensive film ever, and in the ironies of life is one that preaches anti-violence with a war a main plot, and anti rampant capitalism, with a budget that could feed an entire country, but hollywood is not know for its congruency.

I has put computer animation to a whole different level, and the experience of seen it in an IMAX 3D cinema is just brilliant! The time passes flying and you don't feel it like a 3 hour film.

It's technically a great achivement, it almost felt like it was really filmed in Pandora and not just computer animated, it's truly a good hybrid between full live action, computer-generated characters and live enviroments, you can experience every breath of the fantastic creatures of the planet, and the movement of the plants, and the lights all around, and the sights of the planet are breath-taking.

As for the sci-fi, whilst is not hard core sci-fi, I think it made a very good work, there's no great violations of  the laws of physic in it, well maybe the flying mountains, even when they could be feasible, but not very likely to happen.  The space ships at the beginning are just great, they use Charles Pellegrino's concept of the Valkyrie which is sound science based. 

Just a minor thing I didn't like, Pandora supposed to be a atmosphere satelite (moon) of a gas giant, who resembles Jupiter, like Titan on Saturn; and the background planet is always seen on the sky, which I think is not possible since in rotation, there has to be a point where you will not face the planet if observing from Pandora.

The plot even when can be seen as a futuristic dance with wolves or pocahontas one, is nice, since it makes direct critics to war-based states, and greedy wars (as the Iraq one) you can see it with quotes like:

"when someone is on top of something you want, you make them your enemy, then you take it from them"
"Our only security is in a preventive strike"
"We will fight terror with terror!"
"I was a warrior who dreamed he could bring peace, Sooner or later, I had to wake up."

Being against that kind of state behaviour myself, I like it very much.

The plot is centred on natural balance and the spiritual side of it, with a pantheistic or even neo-pagan flavour that give me a good taste of the movie itself.  Even when Sigourney Weaver character says that "We're not talking about pagan voodoo but something that is real biologically: a global network of neurons." it really shows the concept of a web of life and a earth goddess in a fantastic way. The Na'vi had a connection beyond sentimental to the world around them, it's a real one.  And many other pagan concepts as the Tree of Souls (Tree of life), the ancestor veneration, the life force that flows in everything and everyone; that we're all connected by some unseen and wonderful spirit, nature is sacred, and it's our duty as the created to care for the rest of creation.  It was for me the ultimate pagan film.

Although it uses the typical concept of industrialized civilization vs primitive one, which I don't like, since I think that a balance can be achieved, it's plot really move me in some parts emotionally.

I really recommend it, I think is so far the best work of Cameron.

New Year's resolutions & Carbon Footprint

New Year is coming fast, and we usually make some New Year resolutions that most of the time get lost in the mist of time. But what about adding a resolution to help us and help everyone else?

After the Copenhagen summit, I think it's clear that we just can't sit back and wait that our politicians take all the actions, we can't depend on them, we should be the change we want to see.

So, I want to join the initiative of the 10:10 project. It is an ambitious project to unite every sector of British society behind one simple idea: that by working together we can achieve a 10% cut in the UK’s carbon emissions in 2010. However, it's not up to one single country to do this, we all over the globe can try to contribute.

Most people are not aware of their carbon footprint, nor how to contribute to reduce the global emissions, usually we think that is something that governments and industry should address alone, and we are helpless. What a single person can do whatsoever?

Well, a lot, we can make a lot !!

First we need to put measurable targets. There's a very useful tool on-line to measure our carbon footprint with this calculator. According to this my carbon footprint of 2009 was 7.32 tonnes per year, the UK average is 9.8, but still is high.

So my 2010 resolution will be to cut down 10% of my carbon footprint.

But how can we reduce it?

Here some tips that I want to share with you

1) Our biggest carbon footprint comes from our consumption, uwe live in a very consumerist society. Ask yourself before buying something. Do I really need this? Are there better options? for example:

• Food - Is my food organic, seasonal & local source? Do I eat mainly meat? Do I need to buy fast food which aside of the health generate a lot of waste (packing, etc.)
  
• Fashion - Do I buy cloth just to be on the latest fashion or do I really need a new one? Do I really need to throw away that shoes or can I just change the sole? etc.
• Packing - Do I buy products that have more packing volume than the product itself?
• Furniture and electricals - Do I buy them just to have the latest technology? Does this technology consume less energy or more than the one I have? Do I use them at least 5 years or until it brake down and there's no way to fix them?
  
• Recycling - Do you recycle and compost your waste?
• Recreation - Does your recreation activities have a big carbon footprint? Can you enjoy recreation activities like walking?
• Car manufacture - Do you feel the need to have a luxury and big car just for the status? Do you own more than one car even if you don't really need it? or even ask the question, do you need the car at all? Are you planning to buy a new car, why not checking the less emission cars available in Green cars. Why not trying an hybrid or even an electric one like the Citroen C1
  

2) Household carbon footprint - Do you use rationally your electricity, water and gas? Do you use energy-saving bulbs? Do you unplug the electricals that you are not using, taking into account that transformers consume even when the machine is off? Do you use the heating system or air conditioned all the time? Do you really need a dryer machine? Do you need to wash dishes with hot water, or can you use cold one and rubber gloves? Can you wash your clothes with cold water? Do you need to watch TV all the time or can you read or just have a time talking with your family?

Is there any green electricity company available in your area, like Ecotricity that will switch your carbon footprint for electricity consumption to zero.

3) Transport carbon footprint - We have became very lazy, we use the car for small distances that can be covered even walking. We don't use public transport or bicycle when feasible. Or we use aeroplanes where that distance can be covered by coach or train. Just think about this numbers.

coach 0.0000625 tonnes/mile
train 0.0000965 tonnes/mile
tube 0.0001333 tonnes/mile
car 0.0002953 tonnes/mile
plane 0.0003095 tonnes/mile

So, we all can take action. I encourage you in joining me in this New Year resolution, let's share our numbers, how many tonnes did you use in 2009? what's your target for 2010?

My 2009 consumption was of 7.32 tonnes per year
My 2010 target is 6.59 tonnes per year

Wish me luck!!

PS. Share this with all your friends, if you don't; nothing is going to happen, nothing at all, everything will continue as it is, just think about how you are going to face your grand children when they ask you. "Did you make your part to prevent a unsuitable world for us to live?"