Bring Back Nelson Mandela

This song was part of my introduction to the great music coming out of the townships of South Africa and other parts of Africa in the mid-to-late 1980s. I was working at European Travel & Life magazine and my friend had a cassette (remember those?) that we played in the office until it was all but worn out. Since then I have continued to enjoy the music of Hugh Masekela, Miriam Makeba, King Sunny Ade, Ladysmith Black Mamabzo, and other wonderful African artists.

We used to dance around the office to this song — looking foolish, I’m sure — but keeping the energy level up and producing some great work.

3 Hours ’til the Tide

I love this short film about sand artist Peter Donnelly. He works against the clock, except that he doesn’t see it that way (a powerful lesson) and is not possessive about what he creates.

Stand By Me

I love the idea of Playing for Change and this video just makes me smile. It was used effectively as the kick-off to BeDo Intra 09, a conference on intrapreneurship that I facilitated in San Francisco in August 2009.

Sound of Music — Antwerp

This is the video that inspired me to create the “Spontaneous Joy” category on this site. SJ is something that we have too little of in our overly programmed, efficiency obsessive modern culture. Plus you get to see the Antwerp train station which is a little architectural treat of its own.