Category: English

The Seed

On By saarimnerIn English, Inspirational, iPhone-Photography - What I see through my iPhone lens, iPhonepics, Photography2 Comments
© Pedro Hansson - Flower
© Pedro Hansson – iPhone Macro – Flower

This is quite a long story, but I really think that it’s worth reading.

I hope you enjoy it.

The image is taken with an iPhone 4S with a Macro lens

 

In the Far East the emperor was growing old and knew it was time to choose his successor. Instead of choosing one of his assistants or his children, he decided to do something different. He called young people in the kingdom togetherone day. He said, “”It is time for me to step down and choose the next emperor. I have decided to choose one of you.” The children were shocked, but the emperor continued. “I am going to give each one of you a seed today–one very special seed. I want you to plant the seed, water it, and come back here one year from today with what you have grown from this one seed. I will then judge the plants that you bring, and the one I choose will be the next emperor.”

One boy, named Ling, was there that day and he, like the others, received a seed. He went home and excitedly, told his mother the story. She helped him get a pot and planting soil, and he planted the seed and watered it, carefully. Everyday, he would water it and watch to see if it had grown. After about three weeks, some of the other youths began to talk about their seeds and the plants that were beginning to grow. Ling kept checking his seed, but nothing ever grew. Three weeks, four weeks, five weeks went by, still nothing. By now, others were talking about their plants, but Ling didn’t have a plant and he felt like a failure. Six months went by–still nothing in Ling’s pot.

He just knew he had killed his seed. Everyone else had trees and tall plants, but he had nothing. Ling didn’t say anything to his friends, however. He just kept waiting for his seed to grow. A year finally went by and all the youths of the kingdom brought their plants to the emperor for inspection. Ling told his mother that he wasn’t going to take an empty pot. But his mother asked him to be honest about what happened.

Ling felt sick at his stomach, but he knew his mother was right. He took his empty pot to the palace. When Ling arrived, he was amazed at the variety of plants grown by the other youths. They were beautiful–in all shapes and sizes. Ling put his empty pot on the floor and many of the other children laughed at him. A few felt sorry for him and just said, “Hey, nice try.”

When the emperor arrived, he surveyed the room and greeted the young people. Ling just tried to hide in the back. “My, what great plants, trees, and flowers you have grown,” said the emperor. “Today one of you will be appointed the next emperor!”

All of a sudden, the emperor spotted Ling at the back of the room with his empty pot. He ordered his guards to bring him to the front. Ling was terrified. He thought, “The emperor knows I’m a failure! Maybe he will have me killed!”

When Ling got to the front, the Emperor asked his name. “My name is Ling,” he replied. All the kids were laughing and making fun of him. The emperor asked everyone to quiet down. He looked at Ling, and then announced to the crowd, “Behold your new emperor! His name is Ling!”

Ling couldn’t believe it. Ling couldn’t even grow his seed. How could he be the new emperor?

Then the emperor said, “One year ago today, I gave everyone here a seed. I told you to take the seed, plant it, water it, and bring it back to me today. But I gave you all boiled seeds that would not grow. All of you, except Ling, have brought me trees and plants and flowers. When you found that the seed would not grow, you substituted another seed for the one I gave you. Ling was the only one with the courage and honesty to bring me a pot with my seed in it. Therefore, he is the one who will be the new emperor!” 

If you plant honesty, you will reap trust

If you plant goodness, you will reap friends

If you plant humility, you will reap greatness.

If you plant perseverance, you will reap victory

If you plant consideration, you will reap harmony.

If you plant hard work, you will reap success

If you plant forgiveness, you will reap reconciliation

If you plant faith, you will reap miracles.

If you plant hard work, you will reap success.

So, be careful what you plant now; it will determine what you will reap tomorrow.

Stockholm in Spring

On By saarimnerIn D7000, English, PhotographyLeave a comment
© Stockholm in Spring
© Stockholm in Spring

Follow astronaut Chris Hadfield’s photos from space

On By saarimnerIn English, Inspirational, PhotographyLeave a comment

If you like space, and pictures of earth from space you will love the images that Chris Hadfield is sharing. It truly gives new perspectives on our little planet.

Follow this link for more pictures

Like poetry – One of the coolest f1-tracks ever?

On By saarimnerIn English, Formula 1, Youtube-clipsLeave a comment

For me Formula1 is poetry.

F1 is intense, every millimeter counts, the heat, the sound, the tension… and all of a sudden everything can be lost.

I’m not the kind of person who generally speaks about the good old days, in fact I believe that we’re living in the best days in history, just right now.

But when I see videos like this, I can’t help feeling a little jealous about things back then, when everyone wasn’t so afraid of everything, and people lived for the moment, not fighting to live the longest.

That was a little poetic for a short clip of f1, don’t you think? But the fact still stands, isn’t this one of the coolest F1-tracks ever?

Passive Aggressive Hippie

On By saarimnerIn English, Just for funLeave a comment
Passive Aggressive Hippie
Passive Aggressive Hippie

Winter Flowers

On By saarimnerIn D7000, English, PhotographyLeave a comment
© Pedro Hansson - Winter Flowers
© Pedro Hansson – Winter Flowers

Meaning of life, from a 9 year old’s perspective

On By saarimnerIn English, Inspirational, Youtube-clipsLeave a comment

Meaning of life, and thoughts about the universe from a 9 year old

Back to reality

On By saarimnerIn English, Inspirational, Photography, Sony RX-100Leave a comment

 

© Pedro Hansson - Vemdalen Sweden, Sony RX100 - Instagram: @pedrohansson
© Pedro Hansson – Vemdalen Sweden, Sony RX100 – Instagram: @pedrohansson

Swedish version: http://tillflykten.com

Back to reality, after a weekend full of great people up in Swedish Vemdalen. One of those weekends where the life batteries are leveled up to max again. A weekend filled with 16 great people, all with a desire to create an amazing event together, where all aspects of life are handled. Great downhill races, several crazy antics, but also plenty of time to catch up with each other and talk about it things that there is no time to handle at other times.

I think that you can almost be anywhere on earth, and have a good time as long as you have people around you where everybody has an ambition to create a fun weekend.

The weekend ended with an acrobatic somersault in the sauna where I for one brief second thought I just got to meet my maker, and since then calls out less beautiful names as soon as I turn over in bed. But that’s just like a whisper compared to all the positive .

Hope you have a great start of the week.

Thanks to those who attended.

Some thoughts for (new) entrepreneurs / managers

On By saarimnerIn English, Inspirational, Other stuff, PhotographyLeave a comment
© Pedro Hansson - Ekerö December 2012
© Pedro Hansson – Ekerö December 2012

This will be a personal post about a topic that might not be discussed often: being an entrepreneur/manager.

Many times, you find yourself alone with questions that you would most likely prefer to avoid. On the other hand, being a manager offers the opportunity to shape the way you want an organization to function and the values you stand for, which is a fantastic opportunity.

Please note that this is just my opinion, and far from being definitive answers or a guide to being a manager; it is simply my view of the job.

I hope that it can help someone out there.

To you, who might be an entrepreneur/manager for the first time

  • You will never be able to please everyone. Those who are determined to like you will find arguments/reasons to support the decisions you make and see the merit in them. The opposite is also true, of course. In short, be yourself; nothing else works in the long term.
  • Try to see the positive aspects and the potential/strengths in everyone. We are all different, so find what’s unique in each person and reinforce it.
  • Praise in public, criticize in private (an old proverb).
  • Be human. Being a manager is not primarily about having the power to make decisions. It means that you have the opportunity to lead the group on the same journey you are on by being yourself. Not everyone may appreciate this journey; accept it. There is nothing wrong with them, or with you; you are simply different.
  • Whoever wants to be first must be last. My mother said this to me, and as a child, I did not understand what she meant. But as I grow older, my interpretation is that if you do not have the ability to serve others, you will have a hard time finding others who are willing to serve you.
  • Lastly, remember that there was a reason they hired you (for managers), or chose to work with you. They took a chance on you because you are you. Keep that in mind during difficult times.

I suppose all the points above can be summarized with heart, humility, and passion. It would probably have been quicker to just write it like that.

Also, remember that you are only human. You will make mistakes, judge others too harshly, falter when faced with tough decisions, and sometimes feel like you are not good enough… In those moments, read this letter again.

Friiberghs Herrgård, Sweden

On By saarimnerIn English, PhotographyLeave a comment
© Pedro Hansson - Friiberghs Herrgård, Sweden
© Pedro Hansson – Friiberghs Herrgård, Sweden

Part of Searching for Sugarman, made by using an iPhone

On By saarimnerIn English, iPhone, iPhone Apps, iPhonepics, PhotographyLeave a comment

Who would’ve thought that part of an Oscar Award winning movie would be made by using an iPhone? Well now it’s true.

Yesterday the Swedish Movie, Searching for Sugar man was awarded an Oscar at the yearly film festival. As almost every film production this was also a costly one. At the end of the project they ran out of money, but as true artists they found a way by using a traditional iPhone, together with the iPhone app 8 mm Vintage Camera.

Amazing Shadow Dance

On By saarimnerIn English, Just for fun, Other stuff1 Comment

This is a must see! What an amazing show.

I can’t even imagine the rehearsals! Pay attention to all the small details.

Best wishes for the weekend!

Birds

On By saarimnerIn English, Just for funLeave a comment

 

 

Tuesday Music – Kate Boy, Northern Lights

On By saarimnerIn English, MusicLeave a comment

Currently playing on repeat: Kate Boy, Northern Lights

Spotifylink: Kate Boy – Northern Lights

A favorite

On By saarimnerIn English, Inspirational, Photography7 Comments

This photo is one of my recent favorites. The photo is taken by the Photographer Marcin Ryczek in Krakow. The composition between black and white are, in my opinion, almost perfect.

Marcin Ryczek Fotografia

Desiderata

On By saarimnerIn English, Inspirational, Nikon D5000, Photography, Quotes2 Comments

Earlier today I posted the following text on mine, and my two co-writers new Swedish Blog http://KKAAPP.wordpress.com. After I’ve posted it I started to read about the history behind the text a little bit more, and found this English version.

Great story to keep in mind for the weekend.

Happy weekend!

© Pedro Hansson - Gläntan, Piteå
© Pedro Hansson – Gläntan, Piteå

Go placidly amidst the noise and haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible without surrender be on good terms with all persons. Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even the dull and the ignorant; they too have their story.

Avoid loud and aggressive persons, they are vexatious to the spirit. If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain and bitter; for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.

Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.

Exercise caution in your business affairs; for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals; and everywhere life is full of heroism.

Be yourself. Especially, do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love; for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment it is as perennial as the grass.

Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth. Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.

Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here.

And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should. Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be, and whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul. With all its shams, drudgery, and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be cheerful.

Strive to be happy

Instagram

On By saarimnerIn English, iPhone, iPhone-Photography - What I see through my iPhone lens, iPhonepics, PhotographyLeave a comment
© Pedro Hansson - London Night
© Pedro Hansson – London Night

This is an image from Tuesday night in London that I shared on Instagram.

I don’t think that I’ve posted my address on Instagram before. If you wanna follow me there; you’ll find me on pedrohansson.

It would be great to know your accounts there as well, feel free to leave your user name in the comment area.

Window shopping

On By saarimnerIn English, Inspirational, iPhone-Photography - What I see through my iPhone lens, iPhonepics, PhotographyLeave a comment

20130205-113220.jpg

Rain in Milan

On By saarimnerIn English, iPhone-Photography - What I see through my iPhone lens, iPhonepics, PhotographyLeave a comment

milan

Happy New Year!

On By saarimnerIn English, Photography, Quotes, Sony RX-100Leave a comment
© Pedro Hansson - Happy New Year - Sony RX100 - Piteå
© Pedro Hansson – Happy New Year – Sony RX100 – Piteå

 

Joe Bonamassa

On By saarimnerIn English, Music, Photography, Youtube-clips2 Comments

Over the years two of my friends Anders Byström and Anders Granström have kept talking about Joe Bonamassa and how amazing he is. I always enjoyed the music, but during this Christmas he’s rosen from an artist I enjoy to one of my all time favorites. The concert from Royal Albert Hall is one of his best, and my personal favorites from that concert are Happier Times, Ballad of John Henry and Just god paid.

Attached you’ll find a Youtube-link to the complete concert. If you have the bandwidth, make sure you’re watching the HD-version.

Hope you had a nice Christmas, and the best for 2013!

Merry Christmas, Facebook and hope

On By saarimnerIn About - Personal Thoughts, English8 Comments
©Pedro Hansson - Christmas in Piteå 2010 - Canon 7D
©Pedro Hansson – Previous posted picture from Christmas in Piteå 2010 (due to the cold weather right now  – Canon 7D – http://www.facebook.com/saarimner

I’m currently spending time in a relatively cold Piteå (-27 degrees right now). The Palt dinner (traditional dish in the northern parts of Sweden) at mother’s is just finished and the effects of the ”paltkoma” (you get VERY tired after eating this dish) begins to make itself felt. Those who think that they are tired when the alarm clock rings at 7:00 after a Swedish typical Christmas party at work, have never eaten more than three of my mother’s ”paltar” and tried to stay awake an hour later …

It feels almost unbelievable that it’s Christmas again, and just like every year, this is a time to summarize the past year, and start thinking of what to look forward to, for the next.

For many people, Christmas is an incredible great time of year. Hang out with family and friends, sit together at the Christmas tree, watch a movie with a loooong preceded best before date, Christmas music played in the background, traditional bad jokes, and the possibility to once again listen to those family stories that are told every year.

For some others, it may be the opposite, ie that Christmas brings anxiety and pressure, perhaps because they’ve lost someone, failed to get kids, poor economy, unable to be with the people they want to celebrate with, or simply have less pleasant memories associated with Christmas.

Personally, this year, like every year, contained amounts of both positive and negative events. If the year is to be characterized as a good or bad year I do not know, but I know that there are both memories and experiences that will mean a lot to me for the rest of my life.

A while ago I posted a story “I wish you enough” by Bob Perks, and perhaps that story is about what actually makes us happy; the mixture of the negative experiences that, in turn, creates contrast and makes us appreciate all the positive things in life? There are many clichés in that area, but I think there is a lot in that story. To stop, think and take contemplate about the year that’s gone is an important part.

An interesting phenomenon that increasingly made itself felt in recent years is Facebook, and how it affected our lives. If I may make one, perhaps exaggerated parallel, I think Facebook in a way is a year-round Christmas spirit with friends, colleagues, acquaintances and fb friends that gives us positive pushes and “likes” the positive things that happens to us in our life, and with simple small presses of a button, we all have a chance to mean something to someone else, and share their joy and life experiences.

I know I’m going a bit far with the analogy above, but somehow I feel that Facebook with all the “friends in real life”, colleagues, acquaintances and fb friends that I share my experience with means a lot to me, and I am grateful for the people I have been fortunate to have around me, both there and in ordinary life.

Merry Christmas to you all, the followers of this blog, my Facebook friends, and whether you have the best Christmas as you hoped for, or for some reason have one of those less enjoyable “middle Christmases” that puts the rest of the year in a better perspective, I hope you get a great end of the year, and that this Christmas is what you want it to be.

50 most viral videos of 2012

On By saarimnerIn English, Just for fun, Other stuff, Youtube-clipsLeave a comment

The update frequency on this blog is a little low at the moment due to Christmas, but I thought that the followers of this blog might like this update with a clip collection of the 50 most viral videos of 2012.

Best wishes!

Tuesday – Music

On By saarimnerIn English, Music, Youtube-clipsLeave a comment

Today this post will include four songs from different genres. Christmas (of course), Pop, soft and some hard rock.

Have a great Tuesday!

Sarah Dawn Finer – Winter Song

First Aid Kit – Wolf

Wall – Something on your mind

This is as intimate as Music gets. Perfect for a slow evening, a dinner ro chat with some friends OR just enjoying music. Lyla Foy’s vocals, in combination with the slow cover of Karen Dalton’s hit “Something on your mind” is a perfect mix.

Saint Deamon – My heart

For me this feels like a combination of Europe and Hammerfall (?). And by that I think you’ve already found out that its old school hard rock. I really like the melodies, and the vocals are great.

Sony RX-100, test update

On By saarimnerIn English, Photography, Sony RX-1001 Comment

So, a few days more have gone by since I bought my Sony RX-100 as my new “carry-with-me-cam” and I must say I’m starting to really like this small friend of mine. Of course there are down sides, but overall it feels like a really good camera, price and size included in the comparison.

On the down sides… I still can feel a little bit frustrated about the time factor, since I’m used to faster cameras, and I sometimes struggle to find a good focus. I also find it hard to adjust some of the settings that’s usually found directly on buttons, instead of in menus. The later can be solved partially by attaching functionality to the buttons (like the fn-button).

Here are some new photos taken with the Sony RX-100. The photos are unedited if it doesn’t says other under each image, except for adding the text in the bottom. All photos are saved “for web” in Photoshop with an image width of 1200.

Last of all. This test isn’t a professional test where I compare this camera against 10 others. This is just my personal opinion about the Sony RX-100.

I hope you all have a great ending of this weekend, the last one before Christmas.

The first article “first thoughts” will be found here

© Pedro Hansson - Sony RX-100 - Test in low light conditions
© Pedro Hansson – Sony RX-100 – Test in low light conditions
© Pedro Hansson - Sony RX-100 - Test in low light conditions
© Pedro Hansson – Sony RX-100 – Test in low light conditions
© Pedro Hansson - Sony RX-100 - Test picture of focus on wall in a conference room - http://www.facebook.com/saarimner
© Pedro Hansson – Sony RX-100 – Test picture of focus on wall in a conference room – http://www.facebook.com/saarimner
© Pedro Hansson - Sony RX-100 - Test picture Makro, slightly edited with enhanced exposure - http://www.facebook.com/saarimner
© Pedro Hansson – Sony RX-100 – Test picture Macro, slightly edited with enhanced exposure – http://www.facebook.com/saarimner

Piano stairs – The Fun Theory

On By saarimnerIn English, Inspirational, Just for fun, Youtube-clips3 Comments

This was a small project that some creative people made back in 2009. The project aimed at doing our every day a little more enjoyable and to change people’s behavior for the better. I think they by far succeeded. 🙂

I hope we’ll see this made again

Focus on today – Quote

On By saarimnerIn English, Inspirational, Photography, QuotesLeave a comment
© Pedro Hansson - Quote from Nadia Kelifa - Photo from Sundbyberg, Pedro Hansson - Nikon D7000
© Pedro Hansson – Quote from Nadia Kelifa – Photo from Sundbyberg, Pedro Hansson – Nikon D7000 – http://www.facebook.com/saarimner

Photo taken in Sundbyberg, Sunday the 9:th of December 2012

Sony RX-100, first thoughts

On By saarimnerIn English, Photography1 Comment

Sony RX-100, First thoughts

So, the day after I posted my thoughts on buying the Sony RX100 I went out and bought one due to all the positive feedback that I’ve got. Thank you btw for your comments and e-mails!

My first impressions:

I’ve only taken like 20 photos so far (just for testing and nothing else) and my first impressions are:

Pros:

Really good (actually awesome considering the size of the camera) image quality
Easy to use
Lens

Cons:

Slow focus in the dark
When you’re used to a DSLR many controls are in the menu instead of in front of you
I haven’t discovered a way to do Time Lapse so far (maybe due to handling error)

Well, this is just the first day. I’ll get back with more reviews along the way.

Take care

Sony RX-100 in dark conditions
Sony RX-100 in dark conditions – lack of focus, but good DOF

a

Sony RX-100 in dark conditions
Sony RX-100 in dark conditions

Cropping

On By saarimnerIn D7000, English, PhotographyLeave a comment

blommor_edited-2

One of the things I enjoy most with Photo is that an area might look awful if we just look at it as a whole, but when we start to look more closely we’ll find those small details that can be absolutely amazing. With cropping, it’s exactly the same.

This is the same photography as I posted a few days back “Flowers against wall”, but this is the cropped version of the flowers at the bottom. I actually think that this image works better because I had the focus on that specific area at the time and I think the image in itself works better with those flowers trying to hang on with the snows heavier weight on them.

Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.
– Albert Einstein

I hope you have a great day!

Tuesday Song from Phosphorescent, “Song for Zula”

On By saarimnerIn English, Music2 Comments

Brand new song; Phosphorescent – “Song for Zula”

When I look back on this blogs short history I realize that Tuesdays been the day when I’ve posted new music. Don’t know if it’s due to I’m using Mondays to discover them? Anyhow this Tuesday will be the same as many before on this blog.

Yesterday I came about a song I’ve never heard before, and it’s actually been playing since that. It’s not my typical kind of tune but it has something that really traps me. Really like the drums and the bass, the strings in the background, the groove and for some reason the voice (that I think I normally would’ve had a hard time with). It’s still brand new so check it out before all others do 🙂

“Phosphorescent is the working moniker of American singer-songwriter Matthew Houck. Originally from Alabama, Houck began recording and performing under this nom de plume in 2001 in Athens, Georgia. He is currently based in Brooklyn, New York.”
– From Wikipedia

Unfortunately there is no Spotify track available yet

If you want to discover more music from this blog, you’ll find it here

Best wishes for this Tuesday, 13 days before Christmas Eve