Feng shui text

As NWE produced a Chinese supplement I decided to write about feng shui. The article was not published, perhaps it will be included to a supplement about the DESIGN. We will see. Anyway my blog is always the best way to get my things published. Enjoy reading.

Happy at work and home??

The humans always tried to find a way to make themselves happy where they live and work. Feng shui can definitely help.

"Feng shui meaning wind and water is an ancient Chinese science and art of space's improving" says Mr Jacek Kryg - an expert and a member of International Feng Shui Society in Singapore.

Primary feng shui was connected with creation of family tombs. Next step covered the cities. Currently the most typical and worldwide understanding of feng shui is a help to arrange houses and offices' interior.

" Feng shui is a science because at very beginning a consultant needs to collect all required data e.g. a date of birth, feng shui is also an art because there can be as many ideas how to arrange the space as the number of consultants" adds Mr Kryg. Feng shui is not an ideaology with one valid truth. There are the schools and their masters.

" Feng shui in Poland is a very sensitive issue like politics" explains Mr Kryg. There was an idea that Warsaw after London could be another capital of European feng shui school" comments Mr Kryg. "Unfortunetely it was only an idea" - he continues.

According to Mr Kryg a book of Sarah Rosbach "Interior desing with feng shui" in 1996 can be taken as a kickoff of feng shui in Poland.
After that date many eagers took part in the trainings about feng shui. Presently more people prefer to invite a consultant to their houses and offices. "Many well-known people and companies ask me for a help in arranging their interior but they do not want to have any obvious elements connected to feng shui like Chinese painting or bells". I guess they feel ashamed to be considered as non-rationalists" says Mr Kryg.

It seems Poles want to be happy and ask for help in order to achieve it but they are not open enough to say how it was obtained - it is very interesting.

Some pictures from the interview

With a delay I published some pictures from the interview.

My first interview with a STAR

Yesterday I got a copy of the current NWE issue and I was extremely disappointed as my interview with Michael Moritz had been limited to a few lines!!!! That is why I want to publish here the whole version.

Michael Moritz hosts a regular show on Radio PIN. It’s called “After hours” – weekdays between 6 and 9 pm.

NWE’s Monika Kupiec caught up with the American-born DJ after one of his shows to find out more about the man behind the mic.

Monika Kupiec: How was the show tonight?

Michael Moritz: OK. I was a little tired, slept three hours, went to a mega party yesterday.

MK: Cool, let's back to more historic times. When did you arrive in Poland?

MM: It was eight years ago. I come from Detroit, Michigan -- I had a rock band there; we recorded two CDs. As we had a disagreement over money and my woman left me, I decided to come to Poland, to do something different. My Dad’s Polish and he had his own company at that time. I started working there, at his company, dealing with parcelling.

MK: Did you know any Polish when you first arrived?

MM: Yes. I used to come here for two months every summer. Basically I know Polish from the sand box. I went to school here for one year in 1983. So it wasn’t that I came here and started to learn Polish.

MK: What about broadcasting? Have did you have any DJ-ing experience before you came?

MM: When I was 12 years old I took part in a programme, "Be a DJ". That was lessons and I did it for three months. I forgot to bring the pictures from that time. I forgot about the whole interview!

MK: No problem.

MM: I didn’t shave -- this party yesterday.

MK: It’s good. You look natural.

MM: Yeah, I could do the Don Johnson thing... When you are 12 years old you don’t really remember anything so I don’t know whether it helped me.

MK: How come you do this very interactive style of DJ-ing? Did you learn it in the US?

MM: You know the whole idea of me being a DJ started at a club called "Aquarium". My brother said to me, “maybe you should try doing something in the media --you have an interesting accent”. And Mariusz Adamiak - the owner of Jazz Radio - at that time said, “yeah it sounds like a good idea”. So radio in Poland. At the beginning I would never have though I would do it; it just happened. I was a musician so I know a lot about music, and that really helped me in radio. I never really try to be a DJ. I believe that if you want to do something, don't try do it, simply do it.

MK: Do you still compose music or play in any bands here?

MM: No, I stopped doing that when I came to Poland, but I wouldn’t mind doing it again. But you know I work in radio, in television, I do a lot of partying so I don't have lots of time for that.

MK: Perhaps you can restart when you retire? Many people say they will do something unusual when they retire.

MM: Yeah, when I am 60 years old and I don't have teeth, I will sing.

MK: I know you have received an email saying that you can not speak Polish and why the hell do you work in radio. Did you feel hurt when you read that?

MM: No, I was thinking that perhaps I am not understood, that actually people don't know what I am talking about, don't find it funny or amusing. Yet for many people the fact that I don't speak perfect Polish is an advantage. People like it.

MK: Have you ever received an email saying that you steal work from Poles?

MM: No, but I know this patriotic kind of people who believe that only Poles should work in Poland. For these people I have an easy answer: if you think somebody else could do my job better, just let him do it. Anyway for me radio is a hobby. You know at the beginning I wasn't taken for my name, I was every Joe. That’s also important.

MK: Is it true that you’re the owner of Subway?

MM: Yeah.

MK: Is it because of money, or do you like cooking?

MM: I can only cook spaghetti. Subway was my idea -- to have something aside to make money. It’s an easy business. I also have a farm. People don't talk about it, they know me from radio, television.

MK: Are you happy at Radio PIN?

MM: Yeah, but I’d like to do more stuff.

MK: So I wish you more happiness and good music.

MM: Thanks.

Monika Kupiec

Revolution

I've been silent for some time as my flat is going through a revolution. It also affects and stops me from taking care of my blog to the extent I dream about.

Till later

Diamond engagement

Hunting for a diamond engagement ring is a next step after a decision making process whether a man wants to wed or bed a woman.

"If a man proposes to you with a diamond ring the chances he wants to get divorce very quickly after honey moon decrease" says each reasonable mother to her daughter.

A diamond as the hardest gemstone in the world is a symbol of love - THE ONE LOVE. The diamond - a pure creation of nature - manifestates the most important features of love: being unbreakable and natural.

"Recently in Poland there is a growing trend to come back to a traditional purchase of a diamond ring for proporsals" says Mr Tomasz Sobczak - a Warsaw based diamond expert. The prices are much cheaper than in the West. A difference levels up tp 100% even" he adds.
Beautiful Polish women and a bargain of diamond rings.

Do you need more?????

Beethoven changed music reality, what will Masecki do????

"While playing I will try to pass on to the listeners what was happening in a head of Beethoven and that was so unusual for the time, this man revolutionized music" says Marcin Masecki before his first performance of classical music in a funky place - Chlodna 25.

The event is a must for whose who are not cliched."Interesting people that's who change world and they are not boring, that's why Beethoven" says this young musician - a cultural melting Potter. Marcin was born in Warsaw, when he was a child he moved to Columbia, a few years later landed in San Fransisco, next back to Poland, left it again for Boston where he studied for two years in Berklee College of Music. He also traveled toArgentina, he got married there and finally back to Poland for some time. "Soon we plan to move to London" confesses Marcin. He already managed to give some concerts all over Europe and in autumn he will perform in New York. To end up his culturally diverse environment his manager is a Japanese lady. "I was in the places where you meet a whole world" - adds modest Marcin.

As a way to show the respect to the audience the artist needs some preparation. In case of the last three Beethoven's sonatas it was a researching job. When Beethoven was 30 years old, he started to lose his hearing so he communicated with his writing. He left some notes and Marcin read many of them. " A few days before the concert I need to be a little bit like Beethoven, try to enter his mind" says Marcin. Thursday's recital is a challenge - " Beethoven is technically very difficult to perform, he didn't take into account the basic rules of physics" - explains Marcin. What will happen on 26th July at 20:00 onChlodna 25 - still a mystery - so come and find out.

"Diamonds - the greatest value on the smallest surface"

a common sense says. " Diamonds are a girls best friend" Marlyn Monroe was singing. " Because of my sex and profession I am not crazy about diamonds, but it is true, they are the most precious gemstones" says Mr Stanislaw Krzystof Jacobson - a diamond expert from Gdansk. Sean Connery as James Bond knew that "Diamonds are forever". " A diamond is the most beautiful gemstone, it enjoys the eyes" says a Warsaw craftsman - Mr Andrzej Koprowski - who has been in the business since 1965.

The name “diamond” derives from the ancient Greek adamas and means invincible. The name covers the main feature of these gemstones - hardness. "Diamonds can be scratched only by other diamonds as they are so hard" says Mr Pawel Szcześniak a diamond expert from Warsaw. The diamonds are formed by the prolonged exposure of carbon bearing materials to high pressure and temperature. They are the hardest known naturally occurring material. "A diamond is the hardest thing in the world. There is no harder element" confirms Mr Szczesniak.

Because of its extraordinary physical properties, diamonds have been used symbolically since near the time of their first discovery, dated around 296 BCE. It is said the Greeks believed diamonds were tears of the gods, the Romans believed they were splinters of fallen stars. " Diamonds are not magic stones, above all it is promoted" states Mr Jacobson.

Leaving the occultist issue and supernatural powers of the diamonds open, nobody argues with the financial aspect of them. " In the long-term perspective the purchase of diamonds is a good investment because the physical features that define their value don't change with time" explains Mr Tomasz Sobczak - a diamond expert with a family tradition in the field. "Diamonds – are the most simple way to pass family property between generations without paying the required taxes" adds Mr Sobczak. "Diamonds are a luxury product but they are everywhere. They are not a delicacy anymore. You simply need to want them" says Mr Szczesniak. There is no doubt that diamonds are business. Diamonds which have been prepared as gemstones are sold on diamond exchanges called bourses. There are 24 registered diamond bourses. According to the authors of Rio Tinto Group, in 2002 the diamonds produced and released to the market were valued at US$9 billion as rough diamonds, US$14 billion after being cut and polished, US$28 billion in wholesale diamond jewelry, and retail sales of US$57 billion.

A key role in the diamond business is the estimation of a gemstone’s value. "In order to know the value of a diamond we need to evaluate the 4 C's" says Mr Sobczak. The first C stands for Carat - heaviness. The special diamond weight measures the mass of diamond - shows Mr Sobczak. " In Poland people buy engagement rings with diamonds between 0,15 - 0,20 carat" says Mr Szczesniak. The second C is Clarity. It is the measurement of the internal defects of a diamond called inclusions. The less inclusions a diamond has the better it is. "An inclusion can be black. It means that carbon atoms didn't transform properly" demonstrates Mr Szczesniak. The third C is Colour. A chemically pure and structurally perfect diamond is perfectly transparent with no hue or colour. The connoisseurs check the colour only in the case of white diamonds. They need to estimate their whiteness. They do their job by using a special set of the diamonds. It is either called a master colour set or a colour grading set. The experts gathered at GIA - Gemological Institute of America , the most important authority in gemology - mark the best whiteness of a diamond with a letter D. According to the RAL scale it is called River. The names derives from a diamonds' famous mine. The fourth C is a cut that is the art and science of creating a gem-quality diamond out of mined rough. When the 4 C's are evaluated, the experts use the Rapaport Diamond Report as a retail price baseline to calculate and next communicate the price of a diamond to customers. "It takes 40 minutes for a beginner to estimate the value of a diamond, it takes me 2 minutes, I have everything in my mind" states Mr Sobczak - the author of 13 books about these gemstones.

The diamond industry can be divided into two categories: one dealing with gem-grade diamonds and another with industrial-grade diamonds. It derives from a fact that only 5% of mined diamonds are suitable for use as gemstones, the rest - 95% - known as bort are destined for industrial use.

The chain of the gemstone diamond industry starts with mining. The next steps are wholesale trade and diamond cutting. They are worldwide and also exist in Poland yet only a few locations count as major players like New York, Antwerpen, London, Tel Aviv, Amsterdam and Surat.

Today the most known diamond deposits being actively mined are located in Africa, Canada, Siberia, Brazil and Australia. In some of the more politically unstable central African and west Africa an countries, revolutionary groups have taken control of diamond mines, using proceeds from diamond sales to finance their operations. Diamonds sold through this process are known as conflict diamonds or blood diamonds. In response to public concerns that their diamond purchases were contributing to war and human rights abuses in central Africa and west Africa, the diamond industry and diamond-trading nations introduced the Kimberely Process in 2002, which is aimed at ensuring that conflict diamonds do not become intermixed with the diamonds not controlled by such rebel groups. The Kimberley Process provides documentation and certification of diamond exports from producing countries to ensure that the proceeds of sale are not being used to fund criminal or revolutionary activities. Poland has already signed this Act.

The Kimberely Process isn't required in the case of synthetic diamonds as they are created by technological actions. Furthermore synthetic colourful diamonds enable consumers to be en vogue at reasonable price. Natural colourful diamonds are extremely expensive. Only Hollywood stars and the most well off can afford a bargain of a few million like Ben Affleck who proposed to Jennifer Lopez with an engagement ring with a natural pink diamond. The price of this simple ring is cosmic. In Poland there is one company that sells the synthetic diamonds imported from Belarus.

The Polish market of diamonds seems to be rather small. "People aren't rich"says Mr Marian Makieła - a Warsaw diamond expert who entered into the diamond business during a diplomatic stay in India. "I believe the market will increase as our society is getting richer and richer" he says. Things were completely different some time ago. "After the 2nd world war one could go to jail because of a diamond" says Mr Sobczak. " A diamond was tabu in Poland" adds Mr Jacobson. The first wind of a change was in 1989 with the collapse of an ancient regime. The market started to be open. Joining European Union has helped Poland to regulate the procedures and obtain financial help in order to create a national training system within Polish Gemological Association (Polskie Towarzystwo Gemmologiczne) and Association of Jewelry Experts (Stowarzyszenie Rzeczoznawcow Jubilerskich).

Each country has its particular features, top experts etc. yet "there are no two identical diamonds. Each diamond is unique" says Mr Sobczak and perfectly sums up a phenomenon of the diamonds that in western cultures symbolize never - ending love.

A joke as a funny illustration to the article.

Friday afternoon, New York, Fifth Avenue, a couple enters the most luxurious jewelry shop on the street. The woman looks like a top model. One can see the relationship is at the first stage of picking -up. "Can you show me the most beautiful diamond ring" the man asks the shop assistant. "Yes, of course" - answers the shop assistant. The customer isn't satisfied so the shop assistant shows him the most expensive ring in the shop. " Try" says the man to the woman. She does. "Are you happy" asks the man. "Of course" says the woman and almost wants to jump on him. The activity of a payment arrives. " I have only a cheque" says the man. "So we have a problem" says the shop assistant. "Hmmm you know, just take my cheque and verify it, I'll come back on Monday" says the man and the couple leave the shop. Monday passed, Tuesday and Wednesday passed and the man didn't appear in the shop. On Thursday the shop assistant meets the man by accident on the street. " Why did you give me a false cheque, are you crazy???" asks the shop assistant. " Listen, you had a good weekend, I had a good weekend, everybody was happy so where's the problem??" asks the man.