Justus Bruns Blog

I was honored to bring Tinkebell a short visit in her temporary...

Wed, 02 May 2012 00:58:45 +0200

I was honored to bring Tinkebell a short visit in her temporary studio in Bushwick! Tinkebell is known for her controversial work. She will be exposing at the Pulse Art Fair in NYC this week. I was the lucky one who was given a chance to sneak peak in her temporary studio. I must say: her work is again mind blowing and very provocative ;)

Thursday she will expose at the Pulse Art Fair in New York!

9 tips on how to create a valuable network.

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 17:09:17 +0200

Ability is a poor man’s wealth.

John Wooden

It’s sometimes fascinating to see how much people I know who are doing amazing things. Most of them coming from nothing or I met just before their so called “Tipping point”. How come? And why am I sometimes so lucky with these amazing people around me.

Or how do you build a great network (of friends), here are some tips:

Nobody is important

Most people tend to believe that the guy who just entered the room is the one you definitely need to talk to. WHY?!: He knows the president, he’s wealthy, he has a lot of connections, he’s a celebrity, etc. Does that make him more interesting? Sure! But it’s not a reason why he’s more important then the guy or girl standing next to you.

Treat those people like you would treat anyone else. Don’t ignore your friends, people around you, value all people, not just one or a handful. Some people might not be as influential, but will be more valuable because you can offer them something they don’t have: your network and knowledge. The chance that you can offer ‘that’ cool guy something, he doesn’t have access to, is pretty low. So don’t waste your energy on trying to reach out to people like him.

Sooner or later the people around you, who you shared your knowledge with, will have used that know-how and will be further ahead. And how grateful they are! They won’t forget you, and share their network and experience in return. That’s great value.

Be friendly to anyone

Everyone who mails, talks to you or just says hi, please be friendly back, honestly, don’t force it. Take your time. Show respect. Be honest and straightforward. Appreciate him/her. Be polite and grateful for having people being interested in what you do and be interested in them. Everybody has their story.

Whoever asks you for advice. Help him or her. If you see passion and love give him/her your playground, a list of valuable connections and access to knowledge. It’s amazing what people can do with your network. Most of all: how much they give back.

If it doesn’t come from the heart: stop it.

There’s an expression saying: You can judge people on how they treat poor people. I experienced this a lot in the time our project TSAS got so much press attention that literally people, who used to be incredible unfriendly, suddenly started to become so nice to me.

How bizarre! Please stay kind to everyone. Always find the people who do things straight from their hearts and sincere beliefs. Help them, support them. Give them everything you have. Because of their honesty and respect, they will give back.

Travel, do projects, go out

The more you travel, the more you step out of your comfort zone, the more you need to make new friends, new connections and tell them your story.

Think of it. People in The Netherlands would be much more interested in helping a Swiss guy with an incredible dream, then their Dutch speaking neighbor. So the more you get out of your ‘zone’, the easier it is to pull things off and meet incredible people. People always value interesting backgrounds.

For example: I always speak English with a French accent when I’m asking a public person in the Netherlands for help. The effect is amazing, people help you way better then when I speak proper Dutch.

Be honest, don’t lie

When you’re per coincidence talking to someone who apparently is *so* influential: stay honest and don’t lie. So many people start to dive in a list of compliments. Don’t do that. You can be positive, but keep honest to yourself and your own opinions.

If you really want to work together with these people, at least be honest and don’t lie. Listen to their arguments and propose ideas they may use to execute their ideas better. Chances are you’re going to say things they normally never hear. People value that.

Build your own boat

The more you talk with people doing amazing things, the less likely you are to start building your own ‘boat’. Don’t waste your time by only admiring heroes, but do your own things: make your stuff happen. Build, create, make things that will make your friends say: “WOW! That’s awesome.”

My very own practical example: I’m trying to pull off an amazing event in the heart of NYC this summer: the very first museum where you will dance: THE DANCE MACHINE. We’re doing this with Hyperallergic, possibly the greatest art blogazine in the world at this very moment. Never thought they would want to work with us. Everything is possible. The final result will be amazing.

Argue and lead

Take the lead: ask questions like: “What would you do if…?”, “What do you hate about your job?” or “What would you change if…?” It’s always great to hear what people have to say and it opens great discussions.

Most of all: don’t be scared to disagree, only this opens a way for a great communication. I had the chance of meeting so many interesting people. Some of them became my friends after all. Just because I was not afraid om telling what I thought. People respect that.

Be modest, listen

The best way to get people excited is when you listen and respond to what they said to confirm you listened. Don’t just listen. Listen because you are really interested. If this conversation is getting you nowhere interesting, stay polite and respectful but please don’t stretch it for the sake of: “you talking to someone cool, so let’s keep the conversation going”. Stop, because it’s killing.

Make friends

The reason we find some people we personally don’t know more important than others only exists in our minds. Media exposure and recognition by renowned media agencies and experts, will give us a feeling some people are standing above us, that’s simply not true: we all die alone, we all love poo-jokes (smile!), so we’re all equal.

I have amazing friends some of them working for the disabled. Others who have no interest at all in being well connected. That’s really important. Don’t connect for the sake of connecting. Connect because it makes you happy being with that particular person, not because of the network they can give you.

We don’t know why we live, so please don’t take it too serious. Keep rocking and let me know what you think!

#Dutchpost Publieke aanklacht tegen de nieuwe marketing van Douwe Egberts. "Gasten het is maar koffie"

Wed, 18 Apr 2012 19:19:00 +0200

Eigenlijk heb ik hier geen zin en geen tijd voor, alleen de verleiding is te groot: Ik denk dat het nodig en interessant genoeg is, om dit 1ste wereld (marketing) probleem even aan te pakken: DOUWE EGBERT’s nieuwe marketing strategie. Het idee waar het naar ruikt: hip worden zoals Starbucks dat doet. Of nog: main stream hip.

Polle plaatste dit ‘instagrammetje’ met de voortreffelijke bijtekst:

“Gasten, het is maar koffie. En niet eens hele goede #blend1753”

Ik zeg: “OPHOUDEN NU” keep it damn simple.

Maar niet dit: want “Mooie verpakking, strakke campagne dan nog eigen winkels en DE, bent klaar om dood ten onder te gaan aan het kopiëren van Starbucks.”

Dit is de strategie die Douwe Egberts eigenlijk zou moet voeren, gaat met de volgende quotes:

Het is verdomme gewoon koffie;
Het enige echte bakkie pleur;
Super dure frapochinolino pipo met americano en pumpkin creamer, kom op zeg;
De POT koffie, niets meer, prima.
Wij doen niet aan moeilijke namen: zwart met of zonder?

Douwe Egberts moet zich juist positioneren als het simpele maar vooral altijd aardige buurjongetje uit de straat. Zeker niet de hipste, maar gewoon gezellig en low-key. Starbucks is het hippe nieuwe amerikaanse buurjongetje met de sportauto van de consument. Natuurlijk is dat uiteindelijk doorgestoken kaart: Douwe Egberts moet dus inspelen op de nuchterheid en het oer oude calvinistische Nederland… Oh kom op nou… Een skim milk latte macchiato met pumpkin spices… Jongens waar gaan we heen. Een pot is genoeg. GEEN GELUL.

Dit is hoe Douwe er nu voor staat:

Douwe is niet hip genoeg voor de voorlopende consument. Dus gaat de consument maar bij Starbucks halen of een gelijksoortige partij. Hier een vergelijking van de huidige strategie en mijn voorstel.

DE moet dus niet voor Starbucks willen staan als in:

“Hey buddy, Look at me, look at me, I’m a hipster too!!”

Maar juist ernaast als in: je bent gek als je Starbucks kiest, het is verdomme gewoon koffie, precies zoals Polle in zijn beschrijving zet. “Gasten!”

Het resultaat: (huidige campagne vs. nuchtere campagne)

Het gevoel dat de campagne zou moeten creëren is: Een klassiek bakkie pleur is prima. Meer heeft de Nederlander niet nodig. Die verdomde BLEND1753 gaat Douwe Egberts nergens brengen. Dat is een waardeloos idee.

Geef mij maar gewoon zwart met een klontje. Genoeg gezeur.

"Man. Because he sacrifices his health in order to make money. Then he sacrifices money to..."

Wed, 18 Apr 2012 16:19:32 +0200

“

Man.

Because he sacrifices his health in order to make money.

Then he sacrifices money to recuperate his health.

And then he is so anxious about the future that he does not enjoy the present;

the result being that he does not live in the present or the future;

he lives as if he is never going to die, and then dies having never really lived.

”

- The Dalai Lama, when asked what surprised him most about humanity (source not 100% sure)

What politicians can learn from designers

Thu, 22 Mar 2012 16:19:00 +0100

About two years ago I had the honor to join the ‘BKB Academie’. The ‘BKB Academie’ is an academy which is part of the Dutch campaigning office BKB. The academy teaches you the ins and outs of political campaigning.

[BKB Academie members Sywert van Lienden (middle) + Ieteke Schouten (second left)]

Sometimes its sessions were very confronting. Especially one session where we you got to learn how the Dutch government is being formed. We played a simple game: a group of 25 were given each:

a name of a prominent politician;
a party;
two goals: one personal and one political.

I was Ivo Opstelten of the VVD (Dutch Liberal Party), my goals:

To become Minister of Foreign Affairs and;
To make sure the extreme right Freedom Party would not be part of our coalition;

I failed tremendously. Simply said because the game was disgusting. People got rid of all their values and were only eager to get what they precisely wanted. Getting their goals with as little compromises as possible.

What I learned were mainly two things:

The best debater always wins;
Giving up values makes ‘playing’ politics a lot easier;

[Industrial Design Engineering Students in Delft]

At the faculty of industrial design engineering in Delft I learnt two things about the process of designing a successful product:

Never criticize your coworkers in an idea phase: endorse every single idea, because it may lead to better ideas;
Make a list of requirements and wishes that you think are needed;

Funny thing: Politicians do the exact opposite, they have:

one goal;
no will or reason to compromise on that goal;
no interest in long term solutions (since it doesn’t generate quick result in order to get more voters);

Competition in politics is what crushes good people with good ideas. So in order to rethink politics, we should learn from our designers:

Never criticize, there’s no competition;
Make a list op priorities (requirements and wishes);

Until the day that politics does not change I will never have any ambition to become a politician. How do you think we can change current political systems in order to make it more solution focussed? Comment or answer on Quora (or on FB) what you think.

PS: Here’s the full Delft Design Guide for you to take and learn

PS II: My next blogpost will be about: how we can make politics more productive, using design methodology.

HOORAY! Everything is relative

Mon, 19 Mar 2012 14:00:06 +0100

OK! There’s nothing more exciting then discovering the fact that everything around us is built by people who were not smarter then we are. Neither are you smarter then them, but it gives you an enormous power knowing that you can actually CHANGE the things you see around you.

Doesn’t it bother you that the most valuable people in the world:

TEACHERS!!!

…are the ones that get paid the worst. That’s because we invented a system where the ones who are the most ‘inventive’ getting your money on the table, are the people who are most ‘successful’. Broker vs Teacher. Broker wins, that sucks, right? Let’s change that.

Look: Money is something we made up, just as time. So it’s made up that you are poor and it’s made up that you’re always late. Because everything is invented, so don’t worry about being late and poor. If we all decided that sharing more knowledge would make us richer, there would be fewer problems in this world. Woohoo a new currency is born: Knowledge Sharing. Knowledge is power. Knowledge undermines bad governance, it creates infrastructure and opportunities.

What if we would all accept that being lazy is better then working hard: we would consume and produce a lot less and would have fewer problems with lack of sustainability and CO2-emissions, simply because we all decided it’s better to hang a little longer in our hammocks and if we would feel like we would do some effort to get some food. We could think more of consequences and make better decisions.

The reason why I’m writing this, is not that I’m propagating for a world full of community gardens and dancing hippies smoking weed all day, but just so we are not accepting every single thing our society is teaching us.

Let’s face ourselves with simple questions:

Why does someone who repairs products is less important then someone who creates new products.
Or how do we get more dialogues between cultures in order to evade wars and disputes.

Let’s zoom out, question and act. And repeat that over and over. Everything is relative, right? What do you think…

Be weird, don't try to be cool

Sun, 18 Mar 2012 20:39:08 +0100

Ever since I’m doing the things I want to do: Les Oiseaux de Merde, Times Square Art Square, Librio and many more. I realize I take none of these things too serious. That can be very helpful I must say. Here’s why:

When projects don’t work out, you can laugh with the people watching you realize it and move on;
It creates space: you can make mistakes;
Plenty of time: no one is your boss, setting serious deadlines is ridiculous;

When I was in high school and university I always was this weird guy who would fall from his chair or paint his hair yellow. People don’t expect very cool stuff from you, neither do they expect you to fail, since you’re already at the bottom: “Ah here’s that weird guy again.” Which they don’t know: it doesn’t take any effort to be weird, much less then it takes to be ‘cool’.

The great advantage of being that particular ‘weird guy’ or ‘freaky girl’ is that there are no boundaries. Nobody will judge you. The problem of presenting yourself as the cool guy in the group is that when you fail: you’ll fail hard, so you won’t try anything new and exciting. BUT when you are crazy, weird and freaky, nobody cares when you fail, since you fail all the time. This creates freedom and space to do whatever you want: a little dance on the stage, distributing socks in the Congo.

The fun fact is that the ‘cool guys’ don’t see you as a threat, so you will be free to go. Nobody will beat you up. To them you’re already a failure. Honestly that’s it’s total freedom in the end you’re judging no one.

If you take yourself serious you can’t accept the fact that you are sometimes hypocrite and inconsequent. Neither can you accept the fact there’s people who are much smarter then you are. Since you already made your choices, and being inconsequent is not cool. So be flexible, be weird. It will be much easier to realize the things you love.

12 artists/bands that will make you fall in love with Belgian culture

Sun, 18 Mar 2012 02:09:45 +0100

Ever since I left Belgium I always amazed myself how rich its culture was compared to the poorness of its politics. Till today I call it the Belgium blues: bad roads, horrible politicians create a great platform for probably the best bands in the world. I promised my roommate to give her a list of my favorite Belgian artists, here it is:

Jacques Brel

Vive La Fête

Soulwax / 2 Many DJ’s

Amatorski

The Subs

The Party Harders vs. The Subs

Das Pop

Customs

Jeff Neve Trio

Isbells

Little Trouble Kids

Toots Thielemans

[DUTCH] Overtuigend persoonlijk pleidooi van vader en oom voor dubbele nationaliteit naar Nederlandse kamerleden

Wed, 07 Mar 2012 16:13:00 +0100

VADER:

Mevrouw, mijne heren,

Vanaf mijn geboorte heb ik de twee nationaliteiten, niet dat dit iets bijzonders is, maar het is wel mogelijk. Ik ben in Nederlandse militaire dienst geweest en heb nog steeds de tweede nationaliteit behouden (over vrede gesproken). Net zoals de heer Abouthaleb, burgemeester van Rotterdam ook twee nationalieiten heeft. Is dit storend of obstructief? Naar mijn bescheiden mening geenszins!

Doen wij ons werk anders; zijn we gebrandmerkt, staat er een stempel op ons voorhoofd, omdat we meerdere nationaliteiten hebben? Wordt de politiek in Nederland nog meer xenofoob en trekt zij zich terug op een nationalistisch eiland, het lijkt er wel op.

Sta mij toe een pleidooi te houden voor het behouden van het recht om meerdere nationaliteiten te hebben en te houden. Juist de verschillende culturen en achtergronden maken een land alleen maar rijker en interessanter.

Alvorens een puur administratieve beslissing te nemen, zou ik de heren en dames politici willen vragen met een open en internationale geest deze kwestie aan te gaan.

Met vriendelijke groet

Ummo Bruns

Antwerpen, België

OOM, broer vader:

Dames en Heren,

Sinds mijn geboorte ben ik in het bezit van twee nationaliteiten.
Dit was mogelijk aangezien ik in Nederland ben geboren en mijn moeder destijds een Duitse nationaliteit bezat. U kunt zich misschien voorstellen hoe moeilijk het leven in de jaren vijftig was voor mijn moeder in Nederland. Daarmee werd ik al vroeg geconfronteerd met de “tolerantie” voor verschillende nationaliteiten.

Sta mij toe derhalve een pleidooi te houden voor het behouden van het recht om meerdere nationaliteiten te hebben en te houden. Nederlanders die lang in het buitenland wonen hebben soms weinig keus om naast de Nederlandse ook de nationaliteit van hun “woonland” aan te nemen.

Ik begrijp niet waarom dit in toekomst niet mogelijk zou kunnen zijn.

Juist de verschillende culturen en achtergronden maken een land alleen maar rijker en interessanter. Met name Nederland staat wereldwijd bekend om haar tolerante instelling tegenover “buitenlanders”.

Alvorens een puur administratieve beslissing te nemen, zou ik de heren en dames politici willen vragen met een open en internationale geest deze kwestie aan te gaan.

Met vriendelijke groet

Dieter Bruns

Shanghai/China

UPDATES:

REACTIE CDA OP MAIL VADER:

Geachte heer Bruns,

Hartelijk dank voor uw bericht over de dubbele nationaliteit. We hebben uw bericht gelezen en hebben begrip voor uw standpunt. Graag lichten we ons standpunt over dit onderwerp toe.

Uitgangspunt van de Rijkswet op het Nederlanderschap is dat mensen maar een nationaliteit hebben. De regel is echter de uitzondering geworden. Daarom zijn er in het Gedoogakkoord afspraken gemaakt om het aantal dubbele nationaliteiten terug te dringen. Dat houdt in dat van vreemdelingen die de Nederlandse nationaliteit verkrijgen, wordt vereist dat zij afstand doen van hun oorspronkelijke nationaliteit. Het verkrijgen van de Nederlandse nationaliteit veronderstelt een bewuste keuze op grond van een reële band met Nederland en is te zien als het sluitstuk van de integratie, van de wens dat men met de nieuwe Nederlandse nationaliteit uitdrukking wil geven aan het volwaardig en betrokken deelnemen aan de Nederlandse samenleving. Bij de keuze voor de Nederlandse nationaliteit hoort daarom het afstand doen van de nationaliteit van het land van herkomst.

Vanuit dit uitgangspunt bezien, geldt logischerwijs ook het omgekeerde, dat men bij het verkrijgen van een andere nationaliteit de Nederlandse nationaliteit zal moeten opgeven, dan wel automatisch verliest.

De Rijkswet op het Nederlanderschap kent nu al bepalingen (artikel 15 en 16) waarin staat wanneer het Nederlanderschap verloren gaat voor Nederlandse meerderjarigen en minderjarigen die in het buitenland wonen en daar de nationaliteit van het andere land aanvragen en verkrijgen.

Met het wetsvoorstel van minister Spies worden die bepalingen enigszins uitgebreid zodat het aantal uitzonderingen zal worden beperkt. Het definitieve wetsvoorstel wordt binnenkort naar de Tweede Kamer gestuurd. Op korte termijn zal het wetsvoorstel in de Kamer worden besproken en zal er over worden gedebatteerd. Wat de afloop daarvan zal zijn, is niet te voorspellen.

Als het wetsvoorstel wordt aangenomen, zal die overigens enkel voor nieuwe gevallen gelden en niet voor de huidige situatie.

We hopen u vooralsnog voldoende te hebben ingelicht.

Met vriendelijke groet,

Namens de woordvoerder Mirjam Sterk

REACTIE GROENLINKS OP MAIL VADER

Beste heer/mevrouw,

Hartelijk bedankt voor uw e-mail aan GroenLinks over de dubbele nationaliteit. We zijn blij dat u de moeite heeft genomen om onze fractie te schrijven.

Door de vele mails en brieven die wij momenteel op dit onderwerp ontvangen, is het voor ons helaas niet mogelijk om iedereen een persoonlijke, inhoudelijke reactie te sturen. Wij hopen op uw begrip hiervoor.

GroenLinks vindt het onzinnig en onwenselijk dat het kabinet heeft besloten om een wet in te voeren die het hebben van een dubbele nationaliteit verbiedt. Dit kabinet denkt ten onrechte dat mensen met meerdere paspoorten niet loyaal kunnen zijn aan Nederland. Wij vinden dat onzin. Iemand zijn nationaliteit zegt niks over zijn loyaliteit.

Doordat het steeds vaker voorkomt dat mensen verhuizen naar andere landen, is het ook steeds gewoner geworden om meerdere nationaliteiten te hebben. Veel mensen werken en wonen niet in hun geboorteland en er worden huwelijken gesloten tussen mensen met verschillende nationaliteiten. Dit is een realiteit die niet kan worden tegengegaan met het afnemen van iemand zijn nationaliteit.

Als het aan dit kabinet ligt moeten Nederlanders die in het buitenland wonen straks ook hun Nederlandse paspoort inleveren als ze een andere nationaliteit aannemen. Dit heeft vergaande consequenties. Daarnaast krijgen deze Nederlanders wellicht het gevoel dat daarmee de band met het geboorteland wordt afgesneden. Dit mag nooit de bedoeling zijn.

Afgelopen vrijdag werd bekend dat de ministerraad heeft ingestemd met het voornemen van minister Spies (Binnenlandse Zaken) om de dubbele nationaliteit te verbieden. GroenLinks Kamerlid Tofik Dibi heeft direct schriftelijke vragen gesteld aan de minister. Hij vraagt zich af of dit kabinet niks beters heeft te doen in economisch zware tijden dan dat zij zich bezighoudt met dit maatschappelijke non-probleem. Tofik vindt het hypocriet dat veel volksvertegenwoordigers en zelfs bewindslieden van het CDA en de VVD niet vrijwillig afstand nemen van hun dubbele nationaliteit, terwijl deze politici wel vinden dat andere mensen geen meervoudige nationaliteit meer mogen hebben.

Binnenkort zal het wetsvoorstel van het kabinet in de Kamer worden behandeld. U kunt erop vertrouwen dat GroenLinks z’n uiterste best zal blijven doen om te voorkomen dat mensen straks geen dubbele nationaliteit meer mogen hebben.

Ik wil u tot slot nogmaals bedanken voor uw reactie en betrokkenheid.

Maxe de Rijk

Publieksvoorlichting

Tweede Kamerfractie GroenLinks

REACTIE D66 OP MAIL OOM:

Geachte heer/mevrouw,

Hartelijk dank voor uw e-mail. Net als u, maakt D66 zich zorgen over de maatregelen van het kabinet om de mogelijkheid tot dubbele nationaliteit in te perken. De D66-fractie dient daarom een voorstel in om alsnog de meervoudige nationaliteit mogelijk te maken.

Nederlanders moeten helaas steeds meer van hun identiteit prijsgeven aan dit kabinet. D66 vindt dat waar je ook woont of werkt, je Nederlander moet kunnen blijven als je dat wilt. De D66-fractie geeft daarom steun aan de oproep van Nederlanders in het buitenland om hun nationaliteit te kunnen behouden. Niet alleen Nederlanders in het buitenland, maar ook hun kinderen hebben wat ons betreft recht op de Nederlandse nationaliteit als ze een paspoort krijgen van het land waar ze wonen of werken.

Wij gaan ons de komende tijd inspannen om het Nederlanderschap voor Nederlanders in het buitenland veilig te stellen en hopen op een meerderheid in de Tweede Kamer.

Met vriendelijke groet,

Gerard Schouw

A dialog at a networking event

Fri, 24 Feb 2012 15:52:34 +0100

A: Hi what brings you here?
B: I'm building a website for men's clothing
A: Oh cool, I once had the honor to work together with the head of design at GAP
B: Oh [looks interested because of connections!!] cool, yeah so I used to be very good at buying clothes for my brother in law.
A: Oh so you have a good taste?
B: Yes.
A: Nice.
B: So what do you do?
A: I'm an attorney
B: Oh ok, cool.
A: Do you have a card?
B: Yeah sure [handing over business cards]
A: It was nice talking to you.
B: Same to you.

"I’m candid,” she says. “It gets me into trouble, but I’m not really worried..."

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 22:16:00 +0100

““I’m candid,” she says. “It gets me into trouble, but I’m not really worried about that. I believe this country would be better if we had far less unemployment. I believe a little fairness could go a long way.” At Art Basel, a collector warned her to stop Facebooking about Occupy Wall Street, because she would lose donors. “And I felt like saying, ‘You don’t know anything about my donors,’ ” she says. “My donors believe in free expression, and they’re much smarter than that. Yeah, we take risks, and you have to have that very special supporter who understands the world a bit.””

- Article in the WSJ about Anne Pasternak

Your unexpected guide to NYC

Sun, 22 Jan 2012 22:45:00 +0100

I get a lot of mails and questions of friends who want to know what the best things are to do in NYC/Brooklyn. I’m definitely not an expert but I do have some suggestions that will make your trip a lot different from the average NYC tourist trip.

Where to stay? Use Airbnb and find something in Lower East Side, they have great breakfast places like 88 Orchard (great American pancakes with Blue berries);
If you’re wondering what tourist guide to buy: purchase the NFT (Not for tourist) Guide of NYC (also for iPhone), I got the book once as a present from one of the editors and I now recommend to everyone (which ruins a bit the idea of the guide ;);
Go out of Manhattan and look up different subcultures using Walking Around: Hipster bars in Williamsburg to Greek bakeries (there’s one good right at the corner) in Astoria or get deep in Brooklyn with the Malaysian cuisine (I ate here twice, it was good and very reasonable priced);
Also in love with curries? Don’t mind low-key places? Mingus and I used to go here sometimes twice a day, meet cabbies and in the good times Occupy fellows (near Financial District), take the naan bread with vegetables OH and milk tea;
Friday nights are the best at Miss Favela (Williamsburg), grab a good Mojito and dance your way into the Samba (live music!) with Brazilians living in NYC;
Before you do your samba, one block away is Cariño, they serve the best Mexican food ever, and the staff rocks big time.
Monday nights are always the best in Apotheke, we threw our TSAS Pre party there, the people are great, and the atmosphere is the best (they rebuild a complete old Pharmacy from Austria), it’s expensive but it’s hidden in the midst of China town. Please go on Mondays: they play live jazz at ten;
I always lived with architects around me back in Delft, they’re pleasant people: good taste for fashion and style, if you happen to have time check out what’s going on in Storefront for Art and Architecture, last time I went to see my friends of Plus Pool interviewing Bjarke Ingels (cool guy, and awesome architect);
Drink good coffee here (Near Washington Square);
Drink good coffee and buy/read good books here (Soho) - good music too;
Meet New Yorkers and experience the city like you never did, thanks to Gidsy that’s damn easy now;

The most important thing is: give your trip a purpose, make appointments, meet people and breathe.

I’ll try to add more when they pop up in my mind! Please put your suggestions in the comments.

UPDATE!!!

I’ve been living here now a little longer and that makes the list a little bit more exciting

First things first: get a bike, NYC is so much better with a bike, you can probably find places where to rent them, this website - Spinlister - looks like an awesome start;
Live/find something (use Airbnb) in Fort Greene, Williamsburg or Bushwick: depending on what you like of course, but I can strongly recommend those places: I live now in Fort Greene, awesome experience, drink your coffee here, and have your tapas here ;)
Having a bike will allow you to get in the city in less then 15 minutes, it’s A-MA-ZING;
China Town/Lower East Side is a big hallelujah for cheap and good food, try the sesame pancakes with vegetables ($1,75!) or go for the dumplings (3,50!!) in Vanessa’s OR have delcious Vietnames noodles here (I promise it’s good, my very own AWESOME Vietnamese flatmate took me there);
Up for a party? But first some real nice and cheap beers + great atmosphere: dive in to the oldest of all pubs in NYC: McSorley’s, my old time favorite: guys in grey jackets and big beards serving you brown or light beer: just drink it and move on ;)
Enough of that? In for some real NYC Belgian fries ;) go to Pommes Frites, share one with a friend, it’s a lot ;)
For Dancing I have two amazing places I can recommend: one more low key: It’s called LIT, very nice, lots of people dancing, DJ was not all that good, but the crowds made it an amazing experience;
Second spot for dancing, really good is NUBLU, amazing brazillian live music and wonderful people, you’ll be the only one uncapable beating the latin american dance vibes, but atmosphere is lovely, people are friendly, honestly a good pace to end your day in NYC;
Last two tips: for dinner I have two recommendations: one cheap, low key but still slightly romantic place with nice food and BYOB (Bring Your Own Beer/Booze, I love that: you bring your nice bottle of rosé and you ask them to keep it cold for you, they have wine glasses) it’s called: Himalayan Café - second tip: very very low ley, but very nice and very cheap Indian (this made me stop cooking for a month) is: Punjabi Grocery and Deli if you’re like me and you love sweet stuff: try these.

Face, focus and roll Bonus: 14 tips from a very good friend 4/3

Sun, 22 Jan 2012 20:59:57 +0100

Yesterday I got this wonderful email of a very good friend. He read my blog series on how I do things I want to do: Face, Focus and Roll. He added a few things, I thought were too good to leave in my inbox:

Don’t blog about the same things, don’t make people ‘re-consume’;
Do small things;
Don’t get (social) media involved;
Do it 100%;
Be less heroic and more effective, it’s not about you, it’s about the thing you are working on;
We should only publish things when they are finished, don’t finish things quickly in order to publish more;
“Bianco e nero e se son rose fioriranno.” - Do it honest and if is good it will blossom;
Get small, get quite, get glocal. Don’t be the Britney Spears of your project you’re working on;
Know that getting attention is useless;
Go for quality not quantity;
Be like the snail who’s in love with the tape dispenser and like Buzz Lightyear;
Be brave;
Be generous;
You make the fun.

I love the list. What do you think?

Curated nonsense you'll love

Sun, 22 Jan 2012 20:27:00 +0100

THINGS JUSTUS LIKES

I have too much sites but I did not find the perfect place to put everything I like. I prefer to keep things seperate that’s why there is” Things Justus Likes the more curatorial blog.

I’m bad at keeping focus on just one sites so here an overview my other sites/projects:

Main Justus Bruns site;
Ideas Site: things that I have no time for but are cool enough to realize;
Work, Portfolio: everything I did and I want you to see;
Les Oiseaux de Merde (a collective together with Mingus Vogel);
Times Square Art Square, foundation about to turn ads in art in Times Square;
Librio, a book web app;

Follow Things Justus Likes on twitter.

How an art teacher influences your life

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 12:22:00 +0100

In my secondary school, Sint-Michielscollege [Lovely site btw ;)] in Schoten (Antwerp, Belgium) we had a class called “Esthetica” (Aesthetics) given by a man named Vincent Geyskens. He was a slender young man with black combed hair and a straight nose which held his thin glasses. He usually wore a blue vest with a polo-neck. Besides teaching, he made art which he also exposed in galleries in New York City. He never mentioned that, probably because he did not want mix teaching with his own work. His colleague teachers did, they discovered his work in the national newspapers, and were surprised Geyskens never told them.

My class in 2004-2005, search me

Mr Geyskens would sometimes jump on his desk to grab our attention and amaze us with another new cultural subject. When he started talking about the culture in the twenties he wrote with big chalk letters: “VERSPLINTERING” (FRAGMENTATION) and aggressively drew all stripes around the letters scattered on the blackboard. He explained us how mankind lost faith after World War I and how man didn’t care anymore about living strictly by the rules, since it the war showed that rules made them beasts.

Royal Palms Beach Club 5 by Vincent Geyskens

He almost blew the speakers with “Le Scare du Printemps” (Rite of the spring) of Igor Stravinsky. He narrated how the elite in Paris would throw chairs to the stage so Stravinsky had to flee through the toilet room. He mentioned that Claude Debussy (another composer) was the only one that enjoyed the music and hailed him as new great composer. During the performance Debussy was looking how the ballet dancers were running away from the crowds on a stage designed by Pablo Picasso. Years later Stravinsky became a legend.

Mr Geyskens gave us an insight in “Die Dreigroßenoper” (The Three Penny opera) in Berlin of Bertold Brecht and its satirical songs (e.g. Die Moritat von Mackie Messer). He showed us what the relationship was between bad economy and Romantic paintings. And would explain us in detail Wagners Die Walküre, The Valkyries, Hitler’s favorite song.

Vincent Geyskens by Marc Wathieu

Till today the lectures of Geyskens made great impact on what I do: Stravinsky is the embodiement of Les Oiseaux de Merde: think of handing out socks in the midst of the Jungle, serving disgusting air plane food in combination with a fashion show and make movies to bore the hell out of people. Not to forget: Times Square Art Square is mostly a result of his way of conveying the great history of art.

Do you have a teacher that influenced your decisions in life?

How I do things I want to do: 3/3 ROLL

Mon, 16 Jan 2012 13:36:00 +0100

There’s a lot of exciting things going on in my life. However when you choose not to follow the average path it’s not always easy. But to get things done and create a reach I do three things: I face, focus and roll.

The next weeks I’ll make three blogposts about those categories. Last week I wrote about ‘FACE’ and ‘FOCUS’, here’s the third and last post:

ROLL

Make mistakes, make fun
Don’t care about making mistakes. Fail and then fail better, you’ll be better only when you try. So keep trying, enjoy small improvements.

The best answer is a question
When people ask you questions and you don’t know the best response. Answer with another question. Such as: “What do you think would be the best?”. It’s a matter of keeping it simple, you don’t know everything, accept that, figure out together.

Accept you’re not perfect
Mention it, it takes a lot of stress away knowing that things won’t always work at once. Please explain people. Strive for the best, but don’t shoot yourself when you did not get it all. You can’t do more than 100%

Delete your facebook account
Seriously? Well I actually should. But since I need I have nearly 4000 people supporting my foundation online, I cannot just put it aside if it were nothing. But if I could start over I would. I hate facebook, it wastes my time, it’s addictive, it’s not supportive. I use an app called Self Control to block myself from both facebook and twitter when I need to roll and focus.
I think this graph will help you quiet a lot to roll better.

Don’t be a politician
Stop debating, arguing, trying to convince people, campaigning and launching good one liners. Just make stuff and show it. The problem of politicians is that they’re short term, one day flies, your projects are long term and more efficient. You’ll be there forever.
Politicians are coming up with terribly good arguments for terribly bad ideas, they win and that sucks. Don’t be one.

Don’t invent things that already exsist, support and join
There was a long time I had plenty of ideas and really hated the fact when someone came up with a similar idea. I tried to explain others why my invention was much better.
Now I endorse every idea I love, I help and make it work. In the end it’s about the idea not about you.

You cannot do everything
Share your ideas you don’t have time for. I put them online on another little blog. People can pick them up and go on with them. I love that, otherwise, nobody would realize them.

Work hard
Nothing goes for free. To get things done you need to work hard.

The art of saying no
Dieter Rams [link = clip], Sir Jonathan Ive’s favorite designer, made a list of ten design principles. One of his design principles was as follows: “Good design is as little design as possible”. Why? Because it concentrates on the essential aspects that are needed.
This can be applied to anything: good work is as less work as possible: less is just better. Only work on just those things you think are most important. Say no to the rest.

Conclusion

Whenever you are running a business or doing something small or bigger, face reality, keep focus and most of all: roll.

Liked this? Read all other articles here. Suggestions? Do comment!

How I do things I want to do: 2/3 FOCUS

Fri, 13 Jan 2012 11:56:00 +0100

The next weeks I’ll make three blogposts about those categories. Two days ago I wrote about ‘FACE IT’, here’s the second serie:

FOCUS:

Make it work
Get things off the ground. Start doing, it’s ok when something is not really finished: the secret is that it will never be. Don’t talk about the future, do something now instead of later. Get it done, get it out.

Breathe
A recent research showed we perceive our days longer when we breathe slowly and with consciousness. Do so. Sleep enough and breath slow, take your time, do one thing at the time. Finish one task after an other, just that.

Announce and talk when doing
There’s always people who are fascinated by you and what you achieve. Keep them up to date, announce, even when unfinished. Talk when doing, online. Ask questions, listen carefully, don’t judge, try to understand.

Be honest and straightforward
Make mistakes and if you do: announce them too: explain to people, why this happened to you, what you learned from it. People will accept it. Don’t hide, be transparant and direct.

Criticism is publicity
Love it, it means people follow you, are interested and serious about your existence. Not everyone will love you, maybe they hate your accent or the way you do your presentations or just the way the media puts you in the picture. But don’t lose yourself in it. Accept it, don’t reject it. Listen and understand. So what if you disagree, move on and get your stuff done, when they’re not moving forward.

Ghandhi hit the nail saying:

“First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.”

Ask for help
Don’t be afraid. Ask your heroes too. Make your questions short and precise. I have friends who are true heroes to me. Try not to waste their valuable time.

Do you have other focus tips you think I should add?

How I do things I want to do: 1/3 FACE IT

Wed, 11 Jan 2012 22:57:00 +0100

The next weeks I’ll make three blogposts about those categories. The first serie:

FACE IT:

You’re hypocrite and inconsequent
Yes you are. And that’s fine, because nobody is perfect. Not everything is the best decision at once. When we grow, we learn that some directions are better than others.
Being a vegetarian and being polite isn’t always the best combination. Try to be less hypocrite and incosequent, but please don’t feel sorry when you are a little.

We don’t know why we live
Don’t take decisions based on things others think are necesarry, base your decisions on your initution. Live life like it is a blank sheet of paper. Fill it with the most beautiful things possible and don’t take it too serious.

Media doesn’t care if you drop dead, there’s enough content to publish
Never make your goal: media attention. Media just need page fillers and juicy content to publish. Just get your own stuff done. Send it to them, make them talk about you, but don’t trust them, don’t expect anything from media. They’ll never quote you correct, they will picture you the way they think is the most interesting. Attention is great, but achieving your goal is better.

You are not Steve Jobs, and that’s fine
The man was great at keeping focus, yelling at his people and making groundbreaking products with wonderful teams. No offense but he’s no better then you are. Everything he did, you can do too, in your way, with different views. Be happy with who you are, don’t force yourself being someone you are not.

Time and money are inventions
Money made us poor and time made us late. Don’t mind being poor and late since humanity made those up. Perceive everything as relative. Define your own values. Think about what really matters to you.

I’m eager to hear if you have any other things to add. Please leave a reply in the comments!

Made me smile. Source

Thu, 05 Jan 2012 11:05:44 +0100

Made me smile. Source

"President Obama — himself holds heinous views on a slew of critical issues and himself has done..."

Wed, 04 Jan 2012 22:54:15 +0100

“President Obama — himself holds heinous views on a slew of critical issues and himself has done heinous things with the power he has been vested. He has slaughtered civilians — Muslim children by the dozens — not once or twice, but continuously in numerous nations with drones, cluster bombs and other forms of attack. He has sought to overturn a global ban on cluster bombs. He has institutionalized the power of Presidents — in secret and with no checks — to target American citizens for assassination-by-CIA, far from any battlefield. He has waged an unprecedented war against whistleblowers, the protection of which was once a liberal shibboleth. He rendered permanently irrelevant the War Powers Resolution, a crown jewel in the list of post-Vietnam liberal accomplishments, and thus enshrined the power of Presidents to wage war even in the face of a Congressional vote against it. His obsession with secrecy is so extreme that it has become darkly laughable in its manifestations, and he even worked to amend the Freedom of Information Act (another crown jewel of liberal legislative successes) when compliance became inconvenient.”

- http://www.salon.com/2011/12/31/progressives_and_the_ron_paul_fallacies/

Justus Bruns Blog

I was honored to bring Tinkebell a short visit in her temporary...

9 tips on how to create a valuable network.

#Dutchpost Publieke aanklacht tegen de nieuwe marketing van Douwe Egberts. "Gasten het is maar koffie"

"Man. Because he sacrifices his health in order to make money. Then he sacrifices money to..."

What politicians can learn from designers

HOORAY! Everything is relative

Be weird, don't try to be cool

12 artists/bands that will make you fall in love with Belgian culture

[DUTCH] Overtuigend persoonlijk pleidooi van vader en oom voor dubbele nationaliteit naar Nederlandse kamerleden

A dialog at a networking event

"I’m candid,” she says. “It gets me into trouble, but I’m not really worried..."

Your unexpected guide to NYC

Face, focus and roll *Bonus*: 14 tips from a very good friend 4/3

Curated nonsense you'll love

How an art teacher influences your life

How I do things I want to do: 3/3 ROLL

How I do things I want to do: 2/3 FOCUS

How I do things I want to do: 1/3 FACE IT

Made me smile. Source

"President Obama — himself holds heinous views on a slew of critical issues and himself has done..."

Face, focus and roll Bonus: 14 tips from a very good friend 4/3