Here’s the gist of the story from Wikipedia:

Paul Robert Potts (born 13 October 1970) is an English pop opera tenor who won the first series of ITV’s Britain’s Got Talent in 2007, singing an operatic aria, “Nessun dorma” from Puccini’s Turandot. Potts was a manager at The Carphone Warehouse who also performed in amateur opera from 1999 to 2003.

The important part of the story for me, though, is that here is someone who had ART and shared it.  Was he nervous?  I can’t tell but he looks like it.  I would be shaking and wobbling!  Did he follow his art?  He says this:

By day I sell mobile phones.  My dream is to spend my life doing what I feel that I was born to do.

One of the judges asks him: “Paul what are you here for today?”

Paul:  “To sing opera.”

Another judge, Simon Cowell, says, “Ok.  Ready when you are.”

Check out the video here on youtube.

Share your art.  Share your Aloha. Ready when you are.

Here’s my pig stuff. It originally came from a research study (from I don’t know where or how accurate) and has proven to be very fun and surprisingly informative. I’ve done this attitude test now with a couple thousand people now and I’ve been impressed with it. Probably the best use for it is as an attitude evaluator starter. In other words, to get us to think about our attitudes and where we’re at. With that this test is perfect. If you’ve never taken the test you can do it now.

Instructions

My instructions are these:

1. Get a 8.5×11″ blank sheet of paper
2. Keep it vertical (for now ’cause I haven’t been able to figure out the horizontal significance…)
3. Draw a pig. No rough drafts, just draw whatever pig you can. Don’t take all day either. I usually give people about 2 -3 minutes to do this. When you’re done see below for the analysis. Have fun!

The Analysis

Look at your pig. Smile. If you are next to someone else that also drew a pig, look at theirs. Laugh politely

Feeling bad about your pig art? Look at mine and feel better

Location of the pig on the page:

Divide the page into thirds in your mind’s eye (or you can bend it if you prefer).If your pig is in the top third of the page they say you have a positive, optimistic attitude! Congratulations! Which means, of course, that if your pig is cruising near the bottom that you’re thinking this is a stupid test! Nah, just kidding. If your pig is in the bottom third, though, your attitude is generally more negative. If the pig is in the middle third, with the top being optimistic and the bottom pessimistic, then you have more of a realistic attitude, not too high or low.

Direction the pig is looking:

• Left: you value tradition, you are friendly and are able to remember the dates of special events such as birthdays and anniversaries of those close to you.
• Right: you are innovative, creative and don’t remember the dates of special events like birthdays and anniversaries.
• Straight at you/head on: you are fearless, direct and enjoy playing the devil’s advocate.

Details:

If your pig has lots of details (i.e. cloven hooves, hair on the back, tusks/teeth, flufted tail, nose-ring or tattoos) then you are probably more of an organized, linear, step-by- step person. If you don’t have a lot of details showing (see my pig) I see that as more of a big-picture, forest rather than trees kind of person. You’re supposed to be more of a risk taker too and impulsive ??

Number of Legs Showing:

More than four legs??? Call me right away! This has gone beyond a simple attitude test If you have four legs showing you are supposed to be more secure and in a solid foundation period in your life. You know who you are and what you believe. If you have less than four legs showing it might indicate that you are less sure of who you are right now, searching and like Bono from U2 sings, still haven’t found what you’re looking for. If you have no legs showing send me an email cause I’d like to hear what’s goin’ on there!

Ears:

The bigger the better here. If you have big ears you’re supposed to be a better listener. If you’re not sure how accurate this part is ask your spouse or significant other

The Tail:

This one is the one I tend to avoid in public (litigious society and all). If you talk bad about my attitude or my hearing I’m ok but talk bad about my sex life?? Just kidding… This tail thing is interesting though for a lot of people. The theory here is if the tail is curlier you are more satisfied and content with your sex life. The size of the pig’s tail isn’t in the study’s findings at all. Interestingly enough a real pig’s tail isn’t all that curly. I haven’t been able to check the accuracy of this part of the pig test because I normally don’t discuss it at my conferences or seminars. Let me know if you find out anything in your own tests

from February 2010 article: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/23/health/23mind.html

Couples: “But it looks so far like the couples who touch more are reporting more satisfaction in the relationship,” he said.

Teams: In a paper due out this year in the journal Emotion, Mr. Kraus and his co-authors, Cassy Huang and Dr. Keltner, report that with a few exceptions, good teams tended to be touchier than bad ones. The most touch-bonded teams were the Boston Celtics and the Los Angeles Lakers, currently two of the league’s top teams; at the bottom were the mediocre Sacramento Kings and Charlotte Bobcats.

This article was written in February of this year. Check the newspapers for who’s playing in the NBA finals today.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=vC7QPuuC09c

They’re scanned and unedited and I’m really happy with them.  I have hundreds, if not thousands if I can find them, of these and similar evals.  All of them are not perfect “10s” or all “Excellents”.  I recommend that before you hire a speaker, trainer, consultant ask for the raw, unadulterated feedback.  Keep it real.

UH Manoa Evaluations

www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-Us60E6i6U

Ka‘ala Souza, the owner of Ka‘ala Souza Training and Consulting from O‘ahu, started a series of five workshops Monday as part of Kaua‘i County’s annual training program with KCC, said Beth Tokioka, the mayor’s executive assistant.  “Providing excellent customer service is one of Mayor Bernard Carvalho Jr.’s five areas of focus and is outlined in his Quarterly Report Card,” Tokioka said.

(Original article click here)

LIHU‘E — A customer can be members of your own family, said Cheryl Fujii, acting director of the Kaua‘i Community College Office of Continuing Education and Training.

“How many times have you thought ‘I’m too busy’ when a member of your family has come and wants to talk to you?” she said.

Ka‘ala Souza, the owner of Ka‘ala Souza Training and Consulting from O‘ahu, started a series of five workshops Monday as part of Kaua‘i County’s annual training program with KCC, said Beth Tokioka, the mayor’s executive assistant.

“Souza is not a stranger to Kaua‘i because he comes and teaches some of the college’s non- credit courses,” Fujii said.

In addition to bringing his background of marketing research to the workshop, Souza had attendees literally breaking the ice early as he allowed them four minutes to get into more manageable groups following his introduction where he said he serves as the senior pastor to the Hope Chapel Mana‘olana.

Tokioka said Souza has incorporated the “Aloha Begins With Me” slogan into his theme that revolved around customer service for the county’s employees.

“Providing excellent customer service is one of Mayor Bernard Carvalho Jr.’s five areas of focus and is outlined in his Quarterly Report Card,” Tokioka said. That report can be found online at www.kauai.gov.

During the five sessions, which conclude Tuesday evening, more than 300 county employees will be attending the 3.5-hour course at the War Memorial Convention Hall, Fujii said.

Tokioka noted that a wide range of employees from attorneys to park rangers, bus drivers, counter and baseyard personnel will be taking in the training that she described as lively and highly interactive.

That was clearly demonstrated as workers filled the convention hall with laughter and chatter as Souza asked each group to identify a dozen things everyone shared in common within a four-minute time frame.

In Hawai‘i, we do things differently and embracing that difference is one way that we can make a difference in our customer service, states a flier for the event.
We understand that it’s not just about what you say and do in customer service, it’s about how you say and do it, the flier says. The training session is geared to help employees improve the “what” and the “how” as well as the “why” behind the behaviors of customer service.

“We are trying to assist our employees to do the best job they can by giving them the necessary tools to serve the public with excellence,” Tokioka said.

Areas covered in the short presentation included identifying the feeling, thinking and doing components of service, defining who and what a customer is and what excellent service means, recognizing how our mindsets affect customer interactions, understanding and exceeding customers’ expectations, utilizing communication principles effectively in customer relationships, solving customer service breakdowns and making the link between customer satisfaction.

Fujii said the customer service workshop is co-sponsored by the county and KCC OCET.

• Dennis Fujimoto, photographer and staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 253)

From: http://mallorcaphotoblog.wordpress.com/2009/11/06/the-international-forum-on-beach-safety/

According to the press information, the international forum deals with beach lifeguard rescue services in a wider context, as a part of a more complex system of public safety on a local, national and international level. Attendants to the meeting were welcomed last Wednesday night at the Castell Sant Carles, Palma’s harbour fortress. Today, a guest speaker from Honolulu (Hawaii, USA) will give a presentation at the conference venue on The Hawaiian model of lifeguard rescue service on beaches: Honolulu City & County Lifeguards. Sadly, the director of Life Guard operations in Oahu, Hawaii (Ralph Goto) could not attend as envisaged, instead he will be filled in by the equally able Ka’ala Souza, also from Hawaii.

Read more at the original

I leaped and never looked back. Probably could’ve left the old OS on the beach and burned it and been ok. In fact, since going Mac I haven’t even touched Microsoft Office (except for once when I was teaching the new version of Excel) with no regrets (except for that new version of Excel).

Here’s some of the reasons why I use a Mac.

• Creativity: I just feel more creative; I can’t explain it and it probably isn’t quantifiable. I just feel it. My slideshows (Keynote) are smoother and my handouts are groovier. I’ve recorded some songs and have let loose the Muses in my writing.
• Cooler: I also feel cooler with a Mac. I’m uncomfortable going downstream and Windows and MS make me feel like a suit in a cubicle. Even though Mac’s market share is increasing (about 8% at the end of 08) it’s still swimming with a small group up the river.
• Hardware: I’ve had a lot of computer hardware over the past 20+ years of tech-ing around. I remember when I used to measure my hard-drive in megabytes Apples hardware feels more solid in my hands. I’ve bought laptops in pretty much the same $1500-2000 category from Sony, Acer, IBM (back in the day), and Gateway (probably closer to $3k + but that was for the church I worked for) and have used desktops from Dell and a couple that we pieced together. I like how the Mac feels physically. Right now I’m typing on the new unibody Macbook Pro and am enjoying how the keyboard responds. It’s all about design, design, design.
• Steady: I trust the computer, hence more internal peace. I’m not hyperventilating and anxious thinking my computer is going to crash any minute any more. I hardly ever reboot. What a concept. It’s been said before but – it just works.
• Software: I’ll share more on this topic later but the main thing is there are programs that only exist for the Mac. when I was using Windows I couldn’t understand this. Why would anyone deliberately not engineer for Windows?? Couldn’t fathom it. Now, after having used some of these Mac-only software programs I’m a believer. Devonthink Pro Office (with a Scansnap scanner) is an information collector’s dream. Omnifocus/Omnioutliner, the whole Omni company, is awesome. Keynote, like I mentioned earlier, is a wonderful presentation software that feels more intuitive to me than Powerpoint.

I do miss Excel. I know I could purchase the MS Office for Macs but…I don’t miss it that much.