Photo courtesy of The Oregonian

This past weekend the Rose City played host to 62 skilled, passion-filled, java artisans in the U.S. at the 2009 Barista Championships . The 62 competitors hailed from around the country and put their latte luv and espresso expertise on display for the chance to represent the USA at the Bartista World Championship later this year in Atlanta.

I must admit that this wonderfully, playful story, from the Saturday edition of The Oregonian, was exuberantly brought to my attention by my coffee-lovin’ wife - Kim!

Enjoy the read…preferably over a nicely prepared cup o’ your favorite coffee concoction! 

This is simply BRILLIANT! BRAVO, JR...BRAVO!

About JR: JR is 25 years old and owns the largest art gallery in the world. He exhibits his arts freely in the streets, attracting people who are usually not visiting museums. His work is a mix of art and action, reflecting the concepts of political involvement, freedom, identity and boundary. He describes himself as an “artivist”, a condense of artist and activist. With his 28 mm lens, with people wincing, huge posters and his anonymity, the photographer does not give any interpretation and leave a free space to allow the subject/actor and the bystander/interpreter to meet. With the surprise and the questions that JR is raising, each of us can review our own thoughts and free ourselves from stereotypes and prejudices. This is all JR’s work: to ask questions…
The 3rd step of the 28 mm lens project, Women Are Heroes, was directed in Africa, in post-war zones. JR took photography of women of whom he wanted to share their painful stories and to testify their urge for life. The women’s portraits have been exhibited in Sierra Leone and Liberia. To see more of JR’s projects visit: JR Art

National RECESS Week

Get out + PLAY!

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I had just finished the first of two personal development sessions that I was leading, Scoring Your DREAM Goal, with a group of participating teams at the 6th Homeless World Cup tournament in early December 2008 in Melbourne Australia. The cacophony of the team’s voices and the diversity of the languages being spoken at the break of the session reverberated beautifully throughout the lecture space that unquestionably qualifies as a “design marvel”– the BMW Edge Center at Federation Square.

Amid the din of the excited voices of the players still getting familiar with their surroundings in-the-land-downundah, I was having a conversation with Kat Byles, Media Director for the HWC about the next session. A man approached me and greeted me with a broad confident smile, “Hello, I’m Alex!” I politely said hello back to him and then he said his greeting once more to be certain that I heard him correctly, “Hello, I’m Alex!” As I studied him closely, I realized that he looked quite familiar to me but, I couldn’t figure out how I knew him – each year at the HWC there are over 500 players present and it’s easy to not recognize a face.

He must have noticed my effort to place his name and face so, he provided me with some very clear context when he asked, “Have you seen the film Kicking It?” I have seen the documentary, Kicking It, dozens of times and I’m quite familiar with how it chronicles the journey of five aspiring soccer hopefuls from around the globe, each facing disparate situations such as, kicking a drug addiction, surviving in a war-torn nation, facing abject poverty or dealing with abandonment. Each of them shares their story of how they hope to score the chance to make-the-cut and wear their nation’s uniform/kit at the 3rd annual Homeless World Cup in Cape Town, South Africa. Just like one of those TV crime scene investigation programs…I quickly pieced together how I knew this man standing proudly in front of me. I exclaimed, “you’re Alex from Kenya!” He beamed and nodded his head affirming my response.

Continue reading A WDH? story...enjoy!

Photog: JMG

Another recent article reiterates the serious necessity for recess + play for students (I would argue for EVERYONE!) to be at their educational best. Read + Heed the advice in this NYT Health article! Note: Dr. Stuart Brown, National Institute for Play, shares his wonderful insights and research in the NYT article

@Work?!

Photog: Grace Carroll - see the pics

The Rose City Double-Dog-Dare Hoops Challenge:
• At stake: a 30 day mentorship for Kevin Ward from the “Windy City”

• The Games: best out of 5 games total – winner must be the victor in 3 out of the 5 competitions

THE SCORECARD

• TWO Games of H-O-R-S-E: no trick shots or dunks or shots requiring a great deal of “vert” – K. Ward utilizes his deep shooting range to place K. Carroll in a quandry and Ward takes a “W” in Game 1 but, K. Carroll rebounds in Game 2 to eek out a victory to even the series.
Game 1: WARD Game 2: CARROLL

• ONE Game of Around-the-World: back/forth + drain 3 consecutive free throws to complete the game; after a miss, you can take a “chance” on any shot (note: taking a chance on the first shot of the game + missing the “chance shot” is automatic W for other player!) Note: WARD loses Game 3 by taking a chance - K. Ward misses first shot in around-the-world contest, decides to take a chance, nonchalantly takes the chance shot (fully expecting to make it) and misses the shot! An “L” for Ward! Game 3: CARROLL

• TWO Games of SWISH: free throw shooting contest to score of 21- point scoring system: 1pt for made shot; 2pts for made shot that’s a “swish”; 3pts for made shot that’s a “swish” + it bounces back to shooter at foul line. K.Ward proves to be a free-throw shootin’ machine and locks into a shooting rhythm quickly and wins the first game comfortably.
Game 4: WARD

Game 5 saw K. Carroll jump out to a substantial lead and it looked like the series would be closed out quickly and then there was a small, yet very significant, paparazzi “incident” that nearly changed the outcome of the competition! K. Ward had new life but, couldn’t establish his shooting rhythm again and the result was his hardwood demise.
Game 5: CARROLL

FINAL SCORE: CARROLL - 3 GAMES WARD - 2 GAMES

The Rose City Double-Dog-Dare Hoops Challenge Winner: CARROLL*

*NOTE: In the true “katalytic” spirit, Kevin Carroll grants 30-day mentorship to Kevin Ward based on his demonstration of courage and commitment to his personal development and intention – well done, K. Ward!

What would you do if an unusual opportunity was presented to you in the the form of a...Double-Dog-Dare?!

Would you accept the challenge? Would you ignore it and be haunted by your fearful behavior? Challenges abound in our lives - especially now. Courage is in HIGH demand.

Well, today @130p pacific time, I will be playing a man by the name of Kevin Ward who flew in from the “Windy City” (aka Chicago) to challenge me, via a Double-Dog-Dare, to some hoops. If he is the victor, the reward is 30 days of mentoring from me. If he takes a loss, he will do 30 days of charitable work in his community. Win-WIN!

The terms + games were set by me - home court advantage. Agreed upon by KevinW.

So, It’s ON in PDX at the NorthEast Community Center today! Stay tuned + keep chasin’…

I recently had the honor of talking with 2008 CNN Hero and founder of Back On My Feet, Anne Mahlum. We were connected by my old partner-in-crime, high school teammate and fellow human catalyst, Steve Brown (aka Brownie/Remission Man) - BIG thanks for connecting us, my man!

Anne’s story is affirmation once again that the power of ONE can truly impact MANY souls - it makes me even more proud that she’s makin’ it happen in my hometown!

@Work?!

Greg Anderson invited me to participate in the annual event for the Crown Council. He purchased 200 RedRubberBalls/RRBs for the attendees! We raised money for the Smiles for Life Foundation and we raised money for a great youth empowerment program - LEAP Foundation! (note: we raised enough $ to get the co-founder of the LEAP Foundation, who also shares his dental expertise on network TV programs, to agree to shave off his “beautiful coif of hair” - thanks Dr. Bill Dorfman!)
Well, those same RRBs wreaked havoc throughout the Vegas airport TSA stations! Here’s a great RRB story that Greg forwarded to me from an attendee: Dr. Chris Hammond.

Date: February 8, 2009 5:19:48 PM MST
Subject: Breaking News: Red Balls Create Chaos at Las Vegas Airport

@Work?!

With Valentine’s Day fast approaching, I thought I’d share this story of “two-wheel-luv” from Aaron Lutze - a friend, biz colleague with TAOW + human catalyst on 2 wheels. Aaron is working on a fantastic philanthropic endeavor in Tanzania - Wheels4Life!
He sent an email update this week from a Joburg, SA hotel + some pics detailing his recent journey + Wheels4Life efforts in Tanzania. Here’s a snippet from Aaron’s update:  “...Tanzania was an incredible experience. We didn’t shoot any riding stuff, it was all focused on the charity. Every day was packed full and the weather was plenty hot the entire time. The big push for this trip was to open up a bike shop in Kivicini, which is the epicenter of the Wheels4Life activity. This allows the people getting free bikes to actually repair the bikes, and allows them to perpetuate their economy by not only creating jobs for bike shop employees--but for people to keep their bikes rolling so they can continue working and earning a living.”

Once again, the sport for social change movement is literally “moving” communities to improvement and empowerment!

@Work?!

”A Ball Can Change Your Life!” - I’ve shared those words countless times, to audiences large and small, locally and internationally. I always enjoy receiving affirmation of this premise from the global network of human catalyst that are using sport as a tool to positively impact the lives of others - in this case or KASE...the lives of young ladies from Kenya. Kase stands for Kenyan American Soccer Exchange. CARE and Nike teamed up to create a catalytic moment for young ladies from Kenya and their peers from cities around the US. The one thing they all have in common is their passion for the game of soccer/football - a ball would bring them together to listen, learn, and laugh.

10 minutes of viewing that will absolutely provide you with...inspiration and insight! Thanks for sharing the film, Wayne + JMG!

Learn more about CARE’s Sport for Social Change Initiative - I Am Powerful

Enjoy the short film and Enjoy YOUR chase! 

I’m hoping this article in Sports Illustrated by Andy Staples is not going to be a growing trend in communities throughout the US - sports seasons getting upended because of shrinking school budgets and economic upheaval.

Building on the success of the first “Sport for a Better World Competition”, Ashoka’s Changemakers and Nike join forces once again to launch “GameChangers: Change the Game for Women in Sport”.

Got TWITTER?!: I thought I would invite all of you to join me on my global adventures via the micro-blog technology - Twitter. Each time I embark on one of my katalyst@large journeys, I will update my blog with a post alerting you all that I can be followed offline via Twitter. NOTE: The KCK blog will go “silent” when I’m on the road.

To enjoy the 140 character, quick, inspirational posts I will share from MY “road-less-traveled” adventures...Go to TWITTER + JOIN my twitter: kckatalyst!

We LUV Stefan Bucher’s graphic design genius with his Daily Monsters! His acclaimed graphic design work garnered him an invite to participate in a logo redesign exercise for SBXLIII that was shared in the New York Times Sports Section - Brilliant!

Stefan also provides a full version of the SBXLIII logo to enjoy…

@Work?!

At the 2009 World Economic Forum, global luminaries and celebrities in attendance are being asked to share their opinion on a personal, “hot-button” issue/topic in a short, pointed webisode - The Davos Debates

Our friend and human catalyst, Mel Young shared his p.o.v. about his belief that a ball can and IS changing the world. GOT Thoughts?! Join the Davos Debates’ convo…

@Work?!