I have not been blogging much here, as I am hacked quite often causing lotsa headaches, but in the past few years I’ve been posting the facebook page which will become the norm fyi.

Join:
www.facebook.com/designverb 

I’m lucky enough to travel toBrazil for TEDGlobal, and will be taking a bit of extra time to visit Floripa where I hear is full of beaches and life, Rio where TED will be held, and then a quick visit to San Paulo which I hear is the NYC of Brazil and I can finally look into a post I had about A City Without Ads.

My exact plans are a bit unplanned even though heading over in a week, but after the jump I’ll provide a useful list of links my friend from Brazil provided…

If your in the know for something to do in Brazil, let me know.

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Awesome talk by astronaut Chris Hadfield about doing something that scares you…

Some beautiful work by Danielle Evans, playing with food, and typography!!! Amazing results!

via foodtypography

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Scared of heights? I dare you to click on this video and watch full screen!!!!
Amazing footage of some fellas breaking into the Shanghai towers and filming their stunning climb atop a very very all building and then a crane which is insane!

youtube  (thanks hongyi)

Imagine one day watching a video online, and seeing yourself, but it’s not yourself…. not too odd yet. Then you see yourself again and realize, this person looks a lot like me. Then fast forward a few months and realize you and that other person  have  a lot in common….only to find out later on, you two are actual twins separated at adoption.
Intriguing  documentary about this rather odd, happy,

via facebookstories

This is one bizarre, fascinating science phenomenon. Get yourself a long set of beads, put it in some container, drop it off, and watch the top form some floating magical science oddity…. no magic, just science. Anyhow, I bought myself a set and it works just like the video…. some might think its the beads themselves, but plain rope apparently works as well.  If you do try this, a bit of a secret is the higher up you are, the higher up the arch goes.

youtube

I was charmed yesterday over dinner outside when a piano painted over from local artist  had a sign that said “Play me, I’m Yours”, and within minutes a variety of pianist, singers, and groups formed around making music to everyones ears. The Street Piano Project is pretty simple. Touring pianos placed in public spaces inviting anyone to play as long, or short, and whatever they would like. Several videos are recorded and put on their site. Pretty amazing. Boston has the 1,000th placed piano though pianos have been placed globally over the past few years. Check it out, and see if a piano is visiting your city soon.

Street Piano Project
Videos from around the world. FInd your city and look at the videos.

A must see video reminder to….well, stay in your world even though you have a connected world.

youtube 

Jane ni Dhulchaointigh: The Magic Is in The Process from 99U on Vimeo.

One of my fav talks at the 99U (formerly 99% conference)

By far one of my favorite talks this year at TED. Very truthful, deep, and well spoken…and illustrated! A must watch!!

“By turn hilarious and haunting, poet Shane Koyczan puts his finger on the pulse of what it’s like to be young and … different. “To This Day,” his spoken-word poem about bullying, captivated millions as a viral video (created, crowd-source style, by 80 animators). Here, he gives a glorious, live reprise with backstory and violin accompaniment by Hannah Epperson.

Shane Koyczan makes spoken-word poetry and music. His poem “To This Day” is a powerful story of bullying and survival, illustrated by animators from around the world.”

A very inspirational outgoing talk by Amanda Palmer at TED this year! Simply Awesome lady.

“Don’t make people pay for music, says Amanda Palmer: Let them. In a passionate talk that begins in her days as a street performer (drop a dollar in the hat for the Eight-Foot Bride!), she examines the new relationship between artist and fan.

Alt-rock icon Amanda Fucking Palmer believes we shouldn’t fight the fact that digital content is freely shareable — and suggests that artists can and should be directly supported by fans”

via TED