By Erica and Matt Chua, on Mon Sep 16, 2013 at 1:30 PM ET I have been testing a life theory. I state what I want to as many people as possible until someone says, “you know what, I’d be happy to _______ for/to you.” It started as a joke that if someone won the lottery, I’d make myself the easiest friend to shop for.
When a friend suddenly find himself with too much money and want to show their generosity, with who do they start? It’d be hard, I mean, what do you, newly rich, gift to your still proletariat friends? If this happens to any of my friends as soon as they start thinking of what to give whom they’ll realize: “Chua wants a Bentley! I can do that!” In their post lottery winning exuberance they’ll get me one, then start working down the list of other friends.
As days pass the realizations of not being as rich as imagined will settle in, the tax bill becomes real, and with each friend the gifts will become less and less glamorous until the newly minted friend is handing out Mentos, individually, not even whole packs, saving the rest of his winnings for himself. Of course, I’ll be rolling like Kobe Bryant in my Bentley while other friends’ fresh breath is wearing thin.
A Bentley she is not, but she made the impossible happen.
I’ll be honest, I don’t think I’ll ever get a Bentley, but say you have one sitting in your garage, not sure what to do with it, and you read this…you consider how much joy it would bring me and give it to me, after all you’re clearly rich enough to gift a Bentley if you just have it sitting around…(I’m also looking for a Rolex, another thing I’d never buy myself, but would bring a smile to my face every time I get to answer, “do you have the time?”). In testing this theory over the past few years I’ve gotten many things and opportunities I never really expected.
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Matt & Erica Chua: Dreams Come True: Route 40
By Jonathan Miller, on Fri Sep 13, 2013 at 2:30 PM ET The San Francisco Chronicle ran a great piece this week on my friend, John Roulac, who as CEO and Founder of Nutiva, has turned hemp seeds into a $70 million/year business. I excerpt a few of my favorite passages from the interview, which you can find here in full:
Q: Why do you think you’re one of the fastest-growing companies? Is it the popularity of your products? Is there no competition? Or is it a particular way you’re running your company? Because $70 million for hemp and chia seeds, really?
A: We’ve been fortunate that the categories we’re in – organics – are fast growing. We have a lot of competition. But the fact that we were pioneers gives us an advantage. I’ve also been good at predicting the next big super food.
Our distributors thought we were crazy when we started doing coconut oil in 2003, given concerns about saturated fat. But now we’re the No. 1 seller of organic virgin coconut oil. We also have strong brand loyalty. And I think the fact that we’re focused on only four items helps. Focus is important.
Q: Let’s talk about hemp and chia seeds and coconut and red palm oils. Why do you think they’ve become popular with consumers?
A: The American people have been subjected to a science experiment, fed on a steady diet of genetically modified industrial foods grown with huge amounts of pesticides and made with preservatives and chemicals. That diet produces diabetes, cancer, heart disease, hormonal disruption and allergies. Even our dogs have issues. In the 1960s and 1970s our dogs ate food and ran around happy. Now they have all kinds of problems.
Q: Are you sure it’s the dogs and not their owners?
A: Maybe so, but people know something is wrong. They’re in search of an answer. Turning to a diet based on ancient principles is a good place to start. They’re returning to a time when people in other parts of the world ate a lot of coconuts, ate a lot of chia seeds. People are still going to eat pasta and salads, but they know if they make 10 to 15 percent of their daily calories nutrient-dense foods they’re going to be healthier.
Q: Who are these customers?
A: Our prime customers are women between 25 and 60.
Q: Is there concern that these are trendy foods right now that could eventually go out of style? For instance, does anyone buy acacia any more? Or carob? What ever happened to carob?
A: (Laughs) Are almonds trendy? I don’t think so. But I see your point. The trick is knowing what people want to eat a few years before they do – or before Dr. Oz. I have been able to make those predictions. Then the biggest challenge is supply.
Q: Are you constantly looking for the newest super foods to stay relevant?
A: I search the world over. I’m pretty sure we’ve identified two new ones.
Q: Really? What are they?
A: Well, we’re not quite as secretive as Apple, but we’re still in the research phase and not ready to make any announcements. Keep checking our Facebook page.
Q: What’s the end goal for Nutiva?
A: To see Monsanto bankrupt. We would like to create an organic, non-GMO world, even if customers go elsewhere to buy it. If they want to buy it from us, that’s great, too. But we have plenty of business. The important thing is to change the supply chain and make it more organic and more healthful.
By Artur Davis, on Wed Sep 11, 2013 at 10:00 AM ET After a week of national debate, I think I follow the arguments for the pending Syrian force resolution before Congress: air strikes won’t threaten Bashar al-Assad’s hold on power; and they may or may not deter Assad from continuing the devastation of his own citizenry (which, by the way, has been well underway for the better part of two years without any attempt at American intervention.) Bombing would enforce the conscience of an international community that also happens to be conspicuously unwilling to act, even under the auspices of the usual fig leaves, NATO and the UN Security Council. True, Assad is not even remotely on the verge of exporting his destruction to his neighbors, and there is not a shred of evidence linking him to any credible threat to our homeland. But we should push ahead in the interests of future presidents having the flexibility to rattle sabers with credibility: and by the way, you are likely guilty of being an unsophisticated strategic thinker or an isolationist if you disagree.
 That’s a lot of caveats, and concessions, in the service of a hypothetical. No surprise, then, that the prospects for Syrian resolution are crumbling in the House of Representatives, and the backlash has even generated the inconceivable—a bipartisan coalition for restraining Barack Obama’s consistently limitless vision of his authority. But despite the weakness of the substantive case for air strikes, it’s still worth addressing the institutional one that is becoming the rationale of last resort.
The defenders of the Syrian resolution assert a variety of fearful consequences if Congress actually asserts its prerogative of limiting a president’s war-making authority (never mind the irony of suggesting that the system is broken when it works exactly as it is constitutionally supposed to). But the specter of future chief executives suffering a dangerously weakened hand when they rhetorically draw “red lines”, or assert that renegade dictators “must go”, assumes the hand is a particularly strong one now: in fact, that strength is always tied to the precise nature of the national interest at stake, and a yes or no vote won’t change the calculus.
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Artur Davis: The Real Consequences of a “No” on Syria
By Jason Atkinson, on Wed Sep 11, 2013 at 8:30 AM ET I shot this Saturday and Sunday at Camp 584 and for those who’ve never seen a silver lab, meet Gunnel. This is only 4 minutes long and rest assured, for my big film, Why the Klamath Matters, we have a team of professionals.
By Greg Harris, on Tue Sep 10, 2013 at 1:30 PM ET Judging from media coverage, one would think the emerging solution to the Syria predicament arrived somewhat randomly. But when considering the supposedly “random” sequence of developments on Syria, what emerges is something far more strategic:
A) President Obama, on the eve of the G20 summit, reminds international leaders that chemical weapons containment is a shared obligation:
“My credibility is not on the line. The international community’s credibility is on the line.”
–“World’s credibility at stake over ‘red line’ on chemical weapons use in Syria, Obama says,” Associated Press and The Telegraph, 09/04/13
B) During the G-20, Obama and President Putin (Syria’s enabler to date) find time during the G-20 Summit to meet on Syria:
President Obama met privately with Russian President Vladimir Putin Friday in the midst of their public dispute over how to respond to a chemical weapons attack in Syria. Mr. Obama told reporters at the G-20 summit in St. Petersburg, Russia, that his conversation with Mr. Putin was “candid.” And he said a looming United Nations report about chemical weapons use by the Syrian regime would make it tougher for Mr. Putin to oppose punishing Syria militarily.
— “Obama, Putin discuss Syria on G-20 sidelines,” Washington Times, 9/6/13
C) Secretary Kerry supposedly off cuff response to a reporter’s question if there was anything Syrian President Assad could do to avert an attack: “Sure, he could turn over every bit of his weapons to the international community within the next week, without delay,” Kerry said. “But he isn’t about to.” Russia seizes the opening created by Kerry’s comment:
 Speaking in London earlier today, John Kerry appeared to issue a long-shot ultimatum to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, suggesting that if he turned over his complete stockpile of chemical weapons within the next week he could avoid an attack from the United States. The State Department, however, would later walk back those comments, saying they were a “rhetorical argument” and not an actual proposal, adding that Assad “cannot be trusted” to take such action …. [T]his afternoon once Assad and his strongest ally, Russia, caught everyone off guard by suggesting that Kerry’s ad-libbed solution was actually workable.
–“Did John Kerry Just Accidentally Find a Workable Solution for Syria?,” The Slatest, 9/9/13
D) Within a couple hours, Russia presents Kerry’s “rhetorical” comment as a solution. Syria responds immediately: “Syria today ‘welcomed’ an offer by Russia to put its chemical weapons arsenal under international control so that they could eventually be destroyed’”:
Syria’s Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem, who met with Lavrov in Moscow earlier in the day, responded almost immediately. “The Syrian Arab Republic welcomed the Russian initiative, based on the concerns of the Russian leadership for the lives of our citizens and the security of our country,” Muallem told reporters, according to Russia’s Interfax news agency. The proposal also received quick support from United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and British Prime Minister David Cameron.
— “Syria ‘Welcomed’ Russian Proposal to Destroy Its Chemical Weapons,” ABC News, Sept. 9, 2013
Now let us consider the possibility that these development were not so random …
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Greg Harris: On how we got to the emerging solution to the Syria crisis
By Erica and Matt Chua, on Mon Sep 9, 2013 at 1:30 PM ET After spending nearly three years on the road, we look back on all that we put up with to save a dollar. Were all the long bus rides and sleeping at airports worth it to keep the expenses in check?
HE SAID…
You’ll never hear me claim that there is a better way to travel than budget travel. Getting as close to the locals’ spending as possible is the best way to understand how their life is…and isn’t that why to travel? Not only the experiences, but also the differences between experiences in different places are enlightening. Exposing yourself to where the locals eat, stay and play will teach you more about a place than a tour ever would.
If I wanted something easy and comfortable I’d try to have that at home, not in some distant land. Why would I put my money towards temporary comfort instead of investing in permanent comfort? At home I want the most comfortable things possible, but on the road I want the most locally authentic experiences possible.
This does create some problems though. It’s caused us to end up in some places where I was deathly allergic to things. It’s led us to some pretty dirty places. It’s made us terribly sick. The romantic idea of living like a local is much better than it is in reality.
Here is one great example. We thought we had scored a great deal on a place to stay in Seoul, in a student building, on AirBnB. The listing made it clear that it could sleep two, evenings were quiet times, and there was free rice. They had me at the price, but I fell in love with the idea of free rice. See the photo above? That’s how we slept for three nights. On the fourth day I ran into the building manager, the same person who had checked us in, and he asked how we were sleeping. I responded that we were doing fine. Then he asked the key question, “would you like another mattress?” Why yes we would! How had he failed to mention this earlier, such as when the two of us checked in?
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Erica and Matt Chua: Budget Travel Gripes
By Jason Atkinson, on Wed Sep 4, 2013 at 8:30 AM ET Why the Klamath Matter’s Dr. Rick Schmidt called with a severe clear sky forecast so we jumped in his Helio Courier and flew from Crater Lake in Oregon to I-5 in California following the Klamath River.
This was only a test for the real shooters to get a feel for what we are up against when we take off the doors in a few months and shoot with our big cameras.
Feb Klamath Test Flight from Jason Atkinson & Flying A Films on Vimeo.
By Erica and Matt Chua, on Mon Sep 2, 2013 at 1:30 PM ET Charles Darwin may have made the Galapagos famous, but the wildlife is what makes the trip worth it. Giant tortoises more than 100 years old, playful sea lions, blue footed and red footed boobies, marine iguanas and bright colored crabs, there is something for everyone. The highlight of a visit to the Galapagos is seeing animals on their terms.
The grapsus grapsus also known as a red rock crab can be seen on almost every island
With less than 25,000 people living across the archipelago, each island is a true animal kingdom. The birds were just as curious about us as we were about them and the marine iguanas seemed completely unconcerned about our presence unless we were blocking their sun. The only animals that seemed a little skittish were the colorful crabs that coated the volcanic rocks like a red moss.
With the vast number of endemic species and so many of them far from shy it is a photographer’s paradise. Here are just a few of the different animals you can expect to see on a visit to the historic Galapagos Islands:
The most famous inhabitant of the Galapagos Islands are the blue footed booby
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Erica and Matt Chua: Galapagos Wildlife
By John Y. Brown III, on Thu Aug 29, 2013 at 12:00 PM ET They say that when you give a speech you really give three speeches.
The one you planned on giving. The one you gave. And the one you wish you gave on the way home.
At last night’s My Recipe for Peace Dinner I was asked to prepare 3 minutes of remarks describing my personal recipe for peace. I did. And after starting off the speech on an unrelated note and talking around the issue for 4 or 5 minut…es, I covered about 1/20th of the speech I had planned to give. And I didn’t bother concocting a third speech on the way home that I’d wished I’d given. Because I figured I’d just post the original. And wouldn’t feel so bad about never getting around to giving it. ; )
It’s Being of Service, Stupid!
Remember the famous mantra from Bill Clinton’s successful presidential campaign in 1992, “It’s the Economy, Stupid?” Well, my recipe for peace is a re-phrasing of that formulation that is applicable in our everyday business (and personal) lives.
We are the “I” generation. We have iPods for “our” I-music, I-Phones with our personalized I-apps and our iPads where we get our I-News that tends to reinforce our comfortable echo chamber in our I-world we have proudly created for ourselves. And we want our food (and about everything else we buy) “my way.”
We live in a custom suit— not an off-the-rack —world. And can scarcely remember when we didn’t. We celebrate our individuality but often to the point of vanity and short-sighted narcissism
Yes, our I-World mentality is a proud celebration of our individual uniqueness, an indication of our real personality, and a reflection of our authenticity. And all that is a good thing. But like all good things taken to an extreme it has a destructive side as well. If we take our “I” absorption to an extreme—which is easier to do than resisting doing once we begin down this path—it can eventually lead to lives of intolerance, selfishness, disconnectedness and self-absorption. And that is bad thing for all involved. Bad personally and bad professionally.
So, how do we bring balance back from this imbalance? If we are focusing too far inwardly into serving ourselves the obvious answer is to focus more outwardly toward serving others.
How do I do that in my daily life? That was the question I was tasked to ask and answer for myself tonight. Well, quite frankly, I don’t. Not every day anyway, if I am honest. But I try and do it some days….perhaps many days. But I have to be mindful of this discipline and very deliberate or it fades quickly from memory.
Throughout every day in my job I am involved in multiple meetings on behalf of clients who I represent and advocate for. My job is, using the language of the day, to make sure clients I work with “get theirs.” After all, isn’t that what most people do each day? Make sure they “get theirs”?
 Nothing wrong with that in and of itself. We all first and foremost need make sure we take care of our basic survival needs. But I believe there is an even better way to approach the world that is more a reflection of peace than fear. A way that allows all parties, in most cases, to get theirs too and to make the world in that particular instance just a little bit better for all involved.
Is that a Pollyanish viewpoint? No, it’s not. It is a fact I get to live and see daily.
Several years ago I was advised by a wise and caring mentor to take a different approach than I had been trained to do. Before each “meeting” I was told to pause before the meeting began, quietly bow my head and say a prayer something like this
“Lord, please help me be of service today and to be useful to You and others as we begin this meeting. Amen.”
That is a simple prayer. But has at times had profound results. It is a simple but powerful prayer.
It recalibrates me at the very time (moments before a business meeting) when I am leaning toward the brink of my most closed-off, defensive, narrow, and self-serving self and moves me into a completely different mindset that allows me to see many more possibilities, opportunities and to convey sincerity, genuine concern for all involved and credibility to be trusted by both my clients and the other side and encourage them both to work toward a common and mutually beneficial resolution.
And it works.
It doesn’t work in the “graph it on an Excel spreadsheet to prove it to me” kind of way. It does work in a way that can be conveyed as a successful mantra hanging in an office much like candidate Bill Clinton’s 1992 campaign mantra, “It’s the Economy, Stupid”
Except it is “It’s Being of Service, Stupid!”
One final point. This isn’t a gimmick to help you get more of what you want. It is a prayer to help us be as useful as we can be in our daily lives. And that is the first and last goal. It often includes getting more for everyone but if service isn’t the primary motive it doesn’t seem to work so well. And this small act ….this short silent prayer….almost always leads to our own enhanced peace of mind. And it is also–and especially on this night— my offering of a small recipe for peace I would like to share at this blessed event.
By Jason Atkinson, on Wed Aug 28, 2013 at 8:30 AM ET
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