Archive for category Reflexive blurbs
Back from COS
Posted by Thomas in Reflexive blurbs on February 19th, 2007
So I’m back from Colorado Springs - COS is the term we use in the office as we have a tendency to refer to locations by their airport code. It was a freezing week with the low point at -25 Celsius no account taken for the wind chill factor.
While it was a jam packed work week I did have a chance to go out and about on the weekend. The area has some beautiful spots such as the Garden of the Gods, 7 falls, Royal Gorge bridge, some outlets,… Anyhow. You can find the pics in the usual spot.
Seems so long ago
Posted by Thomas in Reflexive blurbs on February 16th, 2007
There used to be a time when this type of thing would just make me salivate. The rush, the sheer balls needed to engage the slope. All of the adrenaline pumping through your veins mixed with the fear of your life.
That all seems like a long time ago now. I look back on it not with envy but with a sense of satisfaction. I had my fun, now there’s other fun to be had.
The Works
Posted by Thomas in Reflexive blurbs on January 21st, 2007
What’s going on while I’m not bloggin, surfin or earning a living. I’m building a new bedroom - sort of.
If you want to see it in large format…
Wellness
Posted by Thomas in Reflexive blurbs on January 6th, 2007
The idea of marketing to a state of well-being has made a lot of progress over the last few years. Starting out in a few niche markets, as Danone did with its Actimel drink, the products proven to be a gold mine. Massage parlors have developed into full size resorts. The Canyon Ranch chain is but one such example. Even Coca Cola - a company I would generally associate with “health” - has a strategy to market to this new generation of consumers in the form of its Enviga product.
So where is this all coming from? What has changed in the general consciousness to open up this market for consumers and companies alike? How come there are thousands of people out there willing to pay for some “well being” - be it a fleeting moment like that of a drink or more lasting like a week’s worth of self-deluding indulgence at a wellness center?
Do we feel so bad about ourselves, our environment and what we do to it (or are told we’re doing to it), our jobs, co-workers, the always present bad-news coming to us from all corners of the world thanks to high speed telecommunication and broadcast networks that we have resorted to yet another crutch in the form of purchased happiness sold to us in the form of bottles, creams, pills and spas? Perhaps. Then again, we might just find that our lives are too short not to enjoy every ounce of it, even if that enjoyment has to be paid for. Even if sometimes, we’re just foolish enough to think that Wellness does come from a 50 cent can.
Whatever the reason. I’m going for it! I’ll drink the Actimel, go to a spa, get a massage and all of it will be deserved. For I am worthy of wellbeing, and if not that I can purchase it!
Bettering…
Posted by Thomas in Reflexive blurbs on January 3rd, 2007
OK so that previous post was a bit laim. I admit it, I just had a brain fart and felt the urge to post something - anything really - just so that I could say : “I’ve posted something”. I’ll better myself. Starting right now.
Although I have not taken to any New Year resolutions - whatever my better half may have hoped for - I do feel the need to better myself a little in regards to this blog. Besides my wife, family and 1 or 2 other people this blog has been the longest standing relationship I’ve had with anything in my life. Lately, and the measure is broad, my relationship with it has been shaky to say the least.
If postings were a measure of the health of my relation with the blog we’d be in real trouble. Postings have become few and far between dropping to an all time low of less than a dozen over the past year. Driven by a general reluctance to posting anything which could make a blimp on my ego-meter, an all too busy work and home schedule and you’ve got yourself the desert of thought this space has been over the last year or two. Perhaps these are just excuses though – it might very well be that I just had nothing to report which I though was share-with-the-world worthy.
Perhaps the right question to ask is who I believe the target audience for this blog to be. Mulling this over I have to admit that there have been a number of times in the past when I’ve started writing and simply aborted. Concern for who might actually read the post-to-be was a killer: “Would a colleague read it? Some have my personal email address and thus might stumble across the domain! What about family? do I want them to read my deep dark thoughts? Etc. etc.” Solving the audience question appears to be part of the solution for my relationship with this blog. Being true to my audience, not caving in to the influence of others – perceived or otherwise – will also have an enormous bearing on the quality of the relation.
So there we have it. A start of a new year. Who are you?
New frills
Posted by Thomas in Reflexive blurbs on January 3rd, 2007
Whoooohoooo. Happy new year everyone!
Pictures of the Xmass family dinner have been posted to the pictures section of the website.
Dove Evolution
Posted by Thomas in Reflexive blurbs on October 19th, 2006
There is a lot of hype surrouding YouTube lately. Some announce its imminent death while others… Come to think of it there are no others. The thing’s dead - or so most people seem to say.
At any rate even if the site’s doomed some companies have enjoyed the medium as a platform for their messages. This week Technorati had a video from Dove as its top rated item on their home page. The YouTube hosted video in question is a copy of Dove’s current commercial campaign.
The publication of this video on YouTube provides for a much wider dissemination of the message than could have been achieved through conventional channels. In my opinion the only reason this works is because of the status of relative freedom which YouTube users currently enjoy.
I can’t help it
Posted by Thomas in Reflexive blurbs on August 24th, 2006
Months ago I came across a hilarious YouTube video with a pair of Korean Girls goofing off to a tune. I was reminded of this earlier in the week by my wife and have made it my mission to find this thing again.
Mission complete.
Next…
Panorama’s from around here
Posted by Thomas in Reflexive blurbs on July 12th, 2006
A while back I added some Geographic meta tags to the blog in the hopes that they would one day be picked up by the likes of Google and integrated into the Google Maps effort somehow. The whole idea of geo-tagging, that is the act of putting longitude and lattitude indicators in documents published on the net fascinates me.
For those who have an interest in photography and travel geo-tagging can open up a whole new world. Take for example Panoramio. This is a website where you can publish pictures along with lattitude and longitude information. Alongside this it integrates with Google maps giving you the ability to virtually fly around the world while viewing pictures taken by people who’ve actually been there.
To illustrate this here’s a view of what you can expect to see if you’re ever to come to Brussels, Belgium. Incidentally this is also the exact geographic location of where this blog is concieved.
The white fluff!
Posted by Thomas in Reflexive blurbs on April 4th, 2006
Finally the family got around to some real holidays. It’s been about six months since we last took some time off to reflect on the half-year passed (correction : just to relax, switch off the brain and enjoy each other’s company).
We took to the mighty alps, Savoie - France to be more precise, some 900Km south-east of Brussels, our usual dwelling. A short trip by American standards, but yours-truly not being American it was considered a whole expedition for these young parents. The trip besides being a holiday also provided a good “road worthiness” test case for two things: the new car and the latest addition to our family, namely Clara.
Driving 900Km with a baby strapped in like a fighter jet pilot not being the thing to do and all we took our time getting there of course. That being said, Clara was a good sport. She happily toyed with the stethoscope and other assorted items we had been mindful to provide her with for their entertainment value. Occasionally she would call to our attention when toys got tangled, the pacifier had been flung somewhere unreachable or the driver needed enhance the velocity of travel.
after an uneventful overnight stay in Nancy (I don’t recommend it for its entertainment value) we arrived in “Les Menuires” around midday on Saturday. The drive up the mountain provided us with some stunning panoramas going from the green valleys to the snow-covered mountaintops. I’ll spare you the details of checking in, unloading the ridiculous amount of kit we packed and getting set up comfortably in our room. Let me only say that the hotel, “l’Ours Blanc” was a delight, perfectly suited for a family vacation.
Our home for the next week was thus the ski domain of “Les 3 Vallees“. We made arrangements for a morning day care so Maya and I could do “our own thing” in the morning and play with Clara in the afternoons. This turned out to be a perfect arrangement for us all.
The late season skiing turned out to be a perfect choice. The snow was about 2m at the top and about half a meter at the bottom of the slopes. The weather was not too cool under the clouds and when the sun came out is was just delightful. Maya and I both took some classes to get the rust out of our technique which turned out to be a very good thing. I learned some new tricks on the board e.g. “doing flats” and working on my so-far unsuccessful 360. Maya re-built some of her confidence but was quickly on to other things - the pool.
The afternoons being laid away for the little one we took her out for sled-rides. After what must have been the initial shock of seeing all the ground covered in some white fluff she took to it quite rapidly. I suspect most of her enjoyment came not from the ride itself as much as seeing her parents trying to keep a sprint up in full winter gear down the mountain as we pulled the sled behind us.
Being young parents also has some considerable effects on the “apres-ski” entertainment. This is where the hotel absolutely shone. Their lounge and open fireplace turned out to be the perfect place for Clara to socialize with just about anyone who would look at her. Being a very energetic kid she scooted around the place till she dropped of fatigue. With a number of other young kids around this gave us plenty of opportunity to socialize.
After a week of fun it was about time for us to turn homeward, back north, to the by then dreary prospect of Belgian weather and the mountain of work awaiting us at our jobs. The last bright spot of this trip was to be the overnight stay in “Nuits St. Georges” a small town in Bourgogne amidst the vineyards. This was no innocent choice to be sure, the wine cellar of yours truly was running a little low so this provided an opportunity to stock up on some of the best wine France has to offer. The overnight stay was great. By some stroke of luck (a power-outage in the whole wing dedicated to the cheap rooms actually) we ended up with a very nice hotel room.
Now the trip’s over, we are left with what will surely be fond memories (captured in a few shapshots here) and a nice tan. I can’t wait till the next holiday! Thank god that’s only 8 weeks away!