The Rocket, a movie set in modern day Laos is directed by Kim Mordaunt. Mordaunt also made the 2007 documentary , which is about the unexploded cluster bombs still left in Laos.

The movie has only been shown at select film festivals around the world. And winning a few awards too. It recently won Best Narrative Feature at the Tribeca Film Festival. The film’s young leading actor, Sitthiphon Disamoe, received Best Actor honors for his role as Ahlo.

The producer of The Rocket, Sylvia Wilczynski adds that “The film deals with topical themes such as a family who are displaced from their home by a hydro-electric dam development, and impoverished kids who collect those bombs.”

The Sydney Film School gives a good summary of the story:

“The Rocket is about a boy who is believed to bring bad luck to everyone around him, who leads his dysfunctional family and a couple of ragged misfits through Laos to find a new home. After a calamity-filled journey through a land scarred by the legacy of war, to prove he’s not cursed he builds a giant rocket to enter the most lucrative but dangerous competition of the year: the Rocket Festival.”

The film was shot in Laos and Thailand and features local village people as extras. Thai casting director Tanawat Punya auditioned children in schools, markets, temples, drama and youth groups and on the streets to play Ahlo. They casted 10 year-old Sitthiphon (“Ki”) Disamoe who lived rough on the streets until he was adopted. They then cast 8 year-old Loungnam Kaosainam, who plays his friend Kia. Loungnam was born and grew up in Vientiane and is involved in a local drama group. Ahlo’s mom is played by Australian Lao actress Alice Keohavong.

I look forward to watching this movie when it gets released in the U.S.

I just found out that Huell Howser, host of “California’s Gold” passed away last Sunday. His presence on PBS will be missed by his viewers.

Howser’s Production company mentions that “California’s Gold” is one of the longest running series about California ever produced. The success and popularity of the show helped to launch six additional series about life in California, including “Road Trip with Huell Howser, and “California’s Golden Parks”.

Huell Howser would go around to visit historical places, visit small family farms and business, state parks and other wonders found only in California. And every place he visited brought him much enthusiasm and joy. His style of hosting the show was very simple and genuine.

This is one of my favorite scene of a visit to avocado farm in southern California… and the avocado eating dog. And Heull said “their dog has the shiniest healthiest looking coat!”. That I know is from all the Vitamin E from the avocado.

Hopefully PBS continues to play his shows for future generations to enjoy and learn more about California’s Gold.

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When I think of Finland, I usually think of cold weather and Nokia. Now the country is being known for the success of it’s school system. One that is drastically different then the current educational system we have in the United States.

This short documentary does a better job introducing us to the Finn’s school system. Watch all parts on .

Some key points from this short documentary is that students start school at a later age (7 years old), take fewer classes, enjoy a 3-month summer break, spend less time in school per day, have barely any homework, and are rarely tested. Yet they have done exceptionally well.

Finland believe their schools should be healthy, safe environments for children. Finland offers all pupils free school meals, easy access to health care, psychological counseling, and individualized student guidance.

Other great things about the schools is that they are all publicly financed. So no tuition fees. If you wanted to get a Ph.D. you don’t have to worry about student debts. To read more check out “Education in Finland“.

Pasi Sahlberg, who is part of Finnish Education Reform notes in his blog,

“In Finland, there is a strong sense of trust in schools and teachers to carry out these responsibilities. There is no external inspection of schools or standardized testing of all pupils in Finland. For our national analysis of educational performance, we rely on testing only a small sample of students.

The United States really cannot leave curriculum design and student assessment in the hands of schools and teachers unless there is similar public confidence in schools and teachers. To get there, a more coherent national system of teacher education is one major step.”

I may not be a parent, but I do feel the U.S. school system needs to change. Many immigrant parents I’ve seen in the Bay Area move to apartments just to send their children to the better school districts. And others who can afford it, send their kids to private schools or home-school them instead. I guess all the others just have to take what’s left over.

Side note why Finland is neat:

In July 2010, Finland became the first country in the world to make internet access a legal right all citizens.

Finland is among the 5 least corrupt countries in the world. The U.S. ranks 23rd… just ahead of Uruguay.

This Sunday, May 2oth, many of us in the western parts of the U.S. will witness a solar eclipse. This is where the moon will pass between the Earth and the sun. Some will see an annular eclipse and others, such as our area, will see a partial eclipse.

Photograph from ChinaFotoPress, Getty Images

Annular eclipse also called “ring of fire” eclipse happens when the moon will appear to cross into the center of the sun. Thus blocking almost all the light except for the sun’s outer fringes. The outside fringe creates a burning ring.

The eclipse will begin on the west coast of the United States at 6:30 p.m. PDT (Pacific Daylight time) on May 20. It travels from west to east. For those living in some areas of western U.S. (North-eastern California) and Asia will be able to see the annular eclipse.

But don’t just look up with your naked eye. Nasa cautions, “The Sun can be viewed safely with the naked eye only during the few brief seconds or minutes of a total solar eclipse. Even when 99% of the Sun’s surface is obscured during the partial phases of a total eclipse, the remaining photospheric crescent is intensely bright and cannot be viewed safely without eye protection.”

So don’t attempt to observe the partial or annular phases of any eclipse with the naked eye. Failure to use appropriate filtration may result in permanent eye damage or blindness!

A safe way to view it is with a Pinhole Projector. Another simple way is to use your own hands. Hold up both hands with your fingers overlapping at right angles. The holes between your fingers make pinholes.

Or if you have some shade trees, try looking at the images of the sun coming through the holes formed by the leaves.  I’ll see if I can look at the images made by the shady tree this Sunday.

Science 101: What are eclipses and what makes them happen? Read more here.

I really enjoyed reading this by William Rosenzweig, it was from his acceptance speech at the “Oslo Business for Peace Award”.

Business Lessons from A Quiet Gardener

The people who know me best know that at heart I am just a quiet gardener. My garden has probably taught me the most about how things grow - and thrive in a vibrant and sustainable manner. These lessons have shaped my approach to encouraging responsible growth in business and to the ways I apply my intention, attention and energy.

Tranquil garden at Leaping Lamb Farm in Oregon. Photo from Flickr.

A gardener sees the world as a system of interdependent parts - where healthy, sustaining relationships are essential to the vitality of the whole. “A real gardener is not a person who cultivates flowers, but a person who cultivates the soil.” In business this has translated for me into the importance of developing agreements and partnerships where vision and values, purpose and intent are explicitly articulated, considered and aligned among all stakeholders of an enterprise - customers, employees, suppliers, shareholders, and the broader community and natural environment.

The garden has taught me about patience and persistence and the ethical principles of generosity and reciprocity. It has illuminated the importance of appreciating the cycles of life and decay. For the gardener, composting is a transformative act - whereby last season’s clippings (or failures) can become next year’s source of vigor.

I’ve learned that it’s not just what you plant, but how you plant it that brings long - term rewards in life, work and the garden. Gardeners know that once strong roots are established, growth is often exponential rather than linear.

Also gardening, like business, is inherently a local activity, set within an ever-changing and unpredictable global climate. Showing up in person, shovel - and humility in hand is essential.

Gardeners, like entrepreneurs, are obsessed with latent potential - and can be known to be pathologically optimistic. We can vividly imagine the bloom and the scent of the rose even in deepest of winter. As the American naturalist Henry David Thoreau once wrote: “I have great faith in a seed. Convince me that you have a seed there, and I am prepared to expect wonders.”

In essence, the gardener’s work is a life of care. We cultivate abundance from scarce resources. We nurture, encourage, fertilize - and prune when necessary - while being respectful of the true and wild nature of all things. We know that creating enduring value requires vision, passion, hard work and the spirit of others.

I am just coming to understand this work of business gardening - and investing in keeping people healthy - as an act of universal responsibility. His Holiness Dalai Lama reminds me: “Each of us must learn to work not just for one self, one’s own family or one’s nation, but for the benefit of all humankind. Universal responsibility is the key to human survival. It is the best foundation for world peace.”

_____________________________

You can read the whole speech here. Or visit his website.

This may be old or odd news, but it’s still interesting news to me. Back in 2010 a cat named Oscar was able to predict the death of 50 nursing home patients.

During the patients final hours, Oscar would show up an curl right next to the dying patients.

Oscar waits outside a patient’s room. Photo AP news. He actually looks like he could be related to my cat.

Oscar, a tortoiseshell and white cat, would spend its time pacing from room to room. Rarely spending any time with patients except those with just hours to live. If kept outside the room of a dying patient, Oscar will scratch on the door trying to get in.

When Oscar shows up in a patient’s room, the nurses are able to call the family member ahead of time. And Oscar has never made a mistake in his prediction.

Many of the patient’s relatives and friends have been comforted and sometimes praised the cat in newspaper death notices and eulogies. They find great comfort in this idea that this animal was there and might be there when their loved ones eventually pass. And at the last hours, the cat was there when they couldn’t be.

The UK Telegraph reports, “The cat, now five and generally unsociable, was adopted as a kitten at the Steere House Nursing and Rehabilitation Centre in Providence, Rhode Island, which specializes in caring for people with severe dementia.”

Dr Dosa, who works at the nursing home also mentions that there are five other cats living there, but none of the others have ever displayed a similar ability.

I don’t think there’s been another cat like Oscar ever reported. Although there has been reports of dogs that can sniff out cancer in patients, by detecting ketones (which are the distinctly-odoured biochemicals given off by dying cells.)

Since I believe in an afterlife, I don’t think this cat is the grimm reaper. He’s more of an angelic cat that’s truly special. With the mission to help dying patients have a safe passage to the other side.

This cat can probably sense the spirit is able to leave this world. But something is holding them back. Thus Oscar, the cat, serves as the medium - almost like an angel that’s here to tell them it’s OK to pass on.

There’s been a recall of radioactive metal tissue boxes sold at Bed Bath & Beyond. The “Dual Ridge Metal Boutique Tissue Holder” were sold at select stores from California to New York. Wonder how many were bought as Christmas gifts?

The company reports many were sold at the southern California locations and some were sold at four stores in the San Francisco Bay Area.

The OC Register reports that the metallic-blue tissue boxes sold in Orange County may get their color from radioactive cobalt 60.

The Cobalt 60 is suspected to have been fused into the covers during the smelting process, said the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The products allegedly arrived on Dec. 27 in a shipment from India.

A radioactivity detector operated by the California Highway Patrol went off when a truck containing a shipment of “Dual Ridge Metal Boutique tissue boxes” went through a weigh station.

Here’s what the EPA has to say about Cobalt 60:

“How can cobalt-60 affect people’s health?

All ionizing radiation, including that of cobalt-60, is known to cause cancer. Therefore, exposures to gamma radiation from cobalt-60 result in an increased risk of cancer.

Because it emits such strong gamma rays, external exposure to cobalt-60 is also considered a significant threat. The magnitude of the health risk depends on the quantity of cobalt-60 involved and on exposure conditions:

* length of exposure
* distance from the source (for external exposure)
* whether the cobalt-60 was ingested or inhaled.”

It’s an interesting state we live in… at least the sharks are happy.

This is jut a partial list for the new laws in California:

- Vehicles are now also explicitly forbidden from crossing double parallel solid white lines, commonly found in carpool lanes on highways.

- A new adjustment to sobriety checkpoint regulations now prevents authorities from impounding vehicles at checkpoints when the driver’s only offense is failing to hold a driver’s license.

- Repeat offenders can have their driver’s license suspended for 10 years if they have been convicted of at least three DUIs.

- Electric vehicles must be plugged in for recharging when parking in an EV-designated space.

- Open-carry citizen handgun ban.  Violators pay $1,000 plus 6 months in jail (misdemeanor). Californians can still apply for concealed weapon permit, but that is hardly given out easily.

- Children under the age of 8 and shorter than 4’9” to ride in a car seat or booster seat.  The fine for a first offense is $100 and $250 for a second offense, but penalty assessments will push the cost of that ticket to $446 for a first offense or over $1,000 for a second offense.  Wonder how the parents and kids feel about having booster seats for their 8 year old?  The fines are really  high.

- Internet Sales Tax.  Out-of-state Internet retailers must collect California sales tax on transactions if the retailer has a presence in the state.  Effective Summer 2012.

Others include banning shark fins from being sold or eaten.   And schools must teach about the contributions of gays and lesbians to American history.

Note:

Combined from CBS Sacramento News.

Photo of Shark fin soup from wikipedia.