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Catalina Island is a jewel vacationing spot of Californians. There have been so many romantic Hollywood films shot with scenes set on Catalina Island.
However, this beautiful Island is ruled by a council of morons who think that by introducing a rule of governance on Catalina properties management that resembles a game of poker, is fair.
Thankfully, Catalina Island has Scott Bryan, a resident, who keeps the morons in check by being helpful and offering advice, when stupidity seems to threaten Catalina’s better future. Here’s Scott’s take on what the hell is going on with Catalina Island’s property game. More importantly, how to solve it.
“I’ve been trying to find ways to better illustrate an alternative approach to taxation when one popped up on television: my city is beginning another round of what appears to be a game of property impairment poker. It consists of picking the winning hand of property rights rhetoric to determine whether to issue another Conditional Use Permit. This time the unit is in a condominium complex where nearly two thirds of the units already have permits.”
To read Scott’s wise strategy of how property can be better managed in every community for the property owner, go here to Ananias Acts. Read the rest of this entry »
When you’re a global humanitarian pop star, like Shakira, who can write a US$45 million check for Peruvian and Nicaraguan aid and relief, everyone suddenly wants to know how you can afford to do this.
Vanity Fair so much wanted a piece of Shakira’s eclectic taste sensibility so much that they wrote this about the Labanese-Colombian singer/poet/songwriter’s latest musical offering: “From Indian influences to a klezmer-inflected clarinet solo, Shakira’s new album, She Wolf, is as meltingly multi-culti as the Lebanese-Colombian singer herself. But Michael Roberts went 100 percent Parisian, photographing Shakira in this season’s Dior, Chanel, and Gaultier, with a touch of Cartier bling. The author, meanwhile, finds himself oddly charmed by the way she howls.” [Note to Vanity Fair: You sound so white right now].
That’s just a little bit ‘melting pot-ish’ for a girl who just knows how to give and then everything else works out in the end. Conducting her interview by phone from her home in the Bahama’s with Vanity Fair in New York, Shakira can’t understand what the fuss about her ‘exoticness’ is about either. She simply says of her new album She Wolf, being released in October:
“I have music from India, the Middle East, dancehall, a little bit of Colombian influences. I always loved disco, so the new record has disco elements, but also house—it’s electropop.”
There’s only one secret to being as successful AND sweet as Shakira. The secret is to give. Unless you do that, you will always wonder, like Vanity Fair how someone can be so successful. You may make it about their exoticness and talent, but the truth is that its about their generosity of spirit. People who give like Shakira are giants of humanity on this earth. We love this girl.
To read more, go here. Shakira is know as a Latin superstar. The truth is, she’s half Lebanese. The Lebanese descend from a longline of merchant traders, who traded across the moutain tops of various countries in the Middle East for centuries. When they settled in Lebanon, their Middle Eastern sensibilities were invaded by both the English and the French. Therefore their biz savvy skills to trade across nations became fused with the best taste in Europe. That’s Shakira’s X factor as a Latino star. One of her greatest role models growing up was the Lebanese singer Fairuz ( نهاد حداد) who sung in Arabic and is still regarded as one of the greatest singers of the Arab world. Notice how Fayrouz singing below, sounds like how Shakira sings? Shakira is the Fairuz of America. But America is not her main source of income. Clever!
Wound Magazine is a media publication that believes that Art, and Artists are worthy of being showcased. Wound Mag is very savvy about finding an arts audience spanning multimedia genres of distribution. This month wound features the art of Luc Tuyman. But let’s not talk about Luc, let’s talk about Wounds I.T achievements. Wow!
They are like Michaelango with their view on new technology, where Angelo believed that: art brings us all closer to God. Therefore the issue is about good distribution of good art from significant artists. I love the way the team at Wound Magazine show excellence at serving important artists voices into the world. They inspire.
5 facts about why wound Magazine is so haute in the Arts publications markets are:
1. iWound has been placed at no.3 in the ‘New & Noteworthy’ section of Apple’s UK iTunes online store. iWound is the only ‘lifestyle’ app to have made it onto the list. Congrats.
2. Wound Magazine can be downloaded on mobile phones: The full richness of Wound’s content completely re-art directed for a mobile device running on bespoke technology developed specifically by Wound is a key feature. Art 2 Go, is a fantastic concept that I totally applaud from Wound Magazine today.
3. iWound is currently listed at position 12 of the ‘Top Paid App’ chart of over 3,300 applications in the Lifestyle application category. An amazing result at only 5 weeks into the Apple Apps market.
4. People actually want a wealth of fashion, art, architecture, design and music all in one hit, held in the palm of their hands like the iWound experience offers them. In a recession, iWound’s endusers feel like they are a virtual artist with a paintbrush in hand, or, that they have just been given huge value, as if they just purchased the artworks and artistry from a gallery and they have them in their possession. Why do lovers of art, usually love a strong sense of control, when a free spirit, like an artist creates good authentic artwork? Therein lies the mystery as to why iWound is a hit.
5. A type Personalities are often good at making money and managing it. A type personalities release from being an A type personality (they need to feel human at the end off the day) will always be found in artistic peoples works of exquisite artistry. Congrats again to iWound and Wound Magazine for exploiting this market.
Rock on! When art meets I.T as a means of arts distribution is an amazing concept. I totally Digg.Com it! To know more, read Wound Magazine’s blog.
Wound Magazine also knows how to write great press releases about themselves too, acknowledging their own achievements. Go here to read how to market a magazine. Thanks Wound Mag. Rock on!
Let’s sweat colorfully America! Sarah Jessica Parker and Cynthia Nixon’s latest outing on set in New York for Sex & The City 2, shows the close friendship both actresses have onscreen.
They also look like they are not even acting, that they really are good friends too in real life. They are the Courtney Cox and Jennifer Aniston from the 90s of today. Friends. Nice to see.
I always like it when friends in any business, get paid to just be friends in business. Not only is that about forming smart business partnerships but it’s also living a smart life.
Why work with people who suck, you don’t like, or are horrible people? Just for the sake of making money? Life is too short for that. I’m glad to see these girls have found a good work and life balance here. They look like they love going to work. And yes, they are working.
Because the recession is upon us, Time Style & Design are suspending their publication until the economy gets better.
Or in other words, they don’t want to look like the comical magazine text of the recession, or The Gossip Girl of Magazines, who only cover luxury themes, while audiences are going “WTF! Hello, where all over here!!!”
A wise move. As Time’s Style & Design are doing this right now, we wonder how our friends at Forbes Magazine are getting along? Let’s hope biz is faring better for Forbes Mag than it has for Time’s luxury division magazine.
Let’s go Forbes with recession relevant content! When the luxury market suffers, it’s a great time to reinvent do a Warhol and go the pop art, accessible to all route. That’s my design aesthetic tip for luxury magazines in order to survive it out today. Andy Warhol’s value that he gave something from every day American life, like a Campbell’s soup can, as a subject of pop art, as if that can was a Hollywood icon like Marilyn Monroe, holds the key. The luxury market only exists, because wealthy people who like luxury items made their money by creating products for the masses. Like Warhol, we all need to get back to the masses and relevant to them. Luxury peeps especially. Otherwise, they have no reason to be as Time’s Design & Style clearly acknowledges by going on hiatus.
Give the people what they want in the times that they live. Let’s keep it real.
Bring back the big Afro 5. The reasons why the Jackson family must have camera ready hair at all times is because they have to because there is not one angle of their bodies that the media won’t go to any lengths to in order to get shots of them.
Randy Jackson is speaking out about the ridiculous lengths the media went to in order to obtain footage of the burial ceremony of their brother Michael Jackson. In particular Randy is lashing out about the helicopter arial footage the paparazzi were taking of the Jackson family. No privacy whatsoever.
As only big studio networks can afford to send out choppers in this economy, we blame the big news studios for this invasion of the Jackson family privacy.
It just means that the Jacksons will continue to have to buy the best wigs and weaves available on the market, so that Janet, La Toya and R, all look their finest for those pesty paps in choppers. You can never have a bad hair day when you’re a Jackson because of arial coverage. Seriously though, that’s so wrong! Yahoo News via the UK has the words of Randy Jackson on the topic:
As a family, we are all aware of how Michael’s life, and his death, touched so many around the world. Read the rest of this entry »
