The Rosary Videos are perhaps my best videos to date and also perhaps the most creatively challenging project as well ..??..
It started simple enough with the Pastor saying, “Chuck, I’d like to film my church at prayer.”
Knowing that the audio for this project would be the lead (vs the visuals), I hired an expert at on-location audio recording so we had three mics set up - two stereo mics to capture the congregation and one mic for the Pastor (i.e., my Audio Technica 4041) and brought all three audio tracks direct into a laptop computer running Sonar.
The audio had it’s own issues which I’ll get back to, but the video was the really big issue. None of us had either filmed a Rosary, which is long (i.e., four sections each of which is 20 minutes long and repetitive) and almost like a meditative chant.
Initially we thought we would film the people, their hands, and the Rosary beads. Thus produce more of a year-book-like video, but once the Pastor saw ten minutes of the first draft of the edited DVD footage, he was not 100% happy with the outcome.
“I know I said let’s film my congregation, but after seeing this video of these people, we’ve kind of been there done that visually speaking. So, is there any way we could apply the screen-saver approach and show my people at prayer mixed in with the spirit of the Rosary? You, know. Some of those really nice sunset pictures and other gentle ambient pics along with the congregation?”
And there-in started my extended creative journey and back to the edit bay.
The Rosary has four sections - The Joyful, The Sorrowful, The Glorious and The Luminous - each of which has five sub-sections, and many sections that repeat (e.g., the Hail Mary 10x).
Some of these sections were seemingly easier to visually score than others - e.g., how to show The Sorrowful Mysteries without defaulting to Gothic or traditional heavy imagery? Jesus dying on the Cross is not a pleasant sight or thought yet in this video, my job was to make it at least compelling enough to pull someone through the entire piece yet also be prayer-like, so using fast edit cuts like an MTV show (or other current TV shows like CSI) was out of the question.
Ultimately, the visual answers came from my extensive image library.
So in the case of the Sorrowful Mysteries, I used images from Native American burial sites, real slave cabins from a South Carolina plantation, Hawaiian burial grounds, various New England cemeteries, plus sprinkled in audio effects like rain, thunder, lightening, running water, etc. All of which are combined and interspersed with shots of the congregation, so the video pulls one through the Prayer without being in your face, yet also subtly reinforces the themes each of the Mysteries portrays.
I mentioned that the audio was an issue - this was unforeseen in that the beads hitting the pews created huge audio spikes that had to be edited out and tamed otherwise the crystal clear audio captured would have been unpleasant to listen to.
Last night was a Friday night and a night that was once the all important date night. But now that I’m part’n parcel of a happily married couple, it was a night like many others except for the fact that I was wired as I entered the master bedroom that featured resting wife and snoring dog.
I was wired with ideas and spirit not because of substances, but high on new technologies I was evaluating earlier that day. Technologies like XAMPP, TikiWiki and Moodle - awesome open source tools that the more I learned about and experimented with, the more juiced I got with ideas for mapping to business opportunities.
So I entered the sleeping bedroom not knowing what to do next. I knew I had to power down, but I also knew I probably wouldn’t get to sleep for another two hours or so.
Thus the issue became:
Do I enter the bedroom with laptop and continue to surf and educate myself about these technologies (yes, I have headphones, wireless keyboards, and illuminated keyboards so as to cut down on audio / video noise thus respect sleeping wife);
Do I leave laptop in office and flip the TV channels to find something fun to watch and relax (the TV was already on with low volume set to the Food Network);
Or, do I turn the TV off and pick up one of the many books that I have open and can’t wait to finish reading but need to turn the lights up to read ..??..
While tempted to continue computing with the wireless laptop, I opted to leave it in the office and first try the TV option via halfhearted attempt of channel surfing knowing I could dive into one of the books as fail safe option.
So I flipped and flipped and nothing exciting appeared on TV that I haven’t already seen on some of my favorite channels (e.g., history, travel, and discovery). But then the cosmos inspired me to flip to the PBS channel (channel 13) just in time to see Charlie Rose interview Professor Lawrence Lessig.
WOW! What a TV surprise - two of my favorite people, neither of whom know me but both of whom I respectfully honor.
Below is a video clip of that interview hosted on Google - enjoy!
I should also note that the reason I love this interview and these two people is partly due to their content sensibilities - e.g., Professor Lessig has been (and continues to be) instrumental in shaping the Creative Commons and argued CopyLefts (vs CopyRights) before the Supreme Court; Charlie Rose has been (and continues to be) inspiring with his objective and truthful coverage of multilateral thinkers, do-ers, movers-n-shakers, et al.
But back to the video clip. It is a dialogue between Charlie and Larry about many things including why Congress failed on copyright issues (simple issues), why Congress continues to fail on the big issues (e.g., global warming), and why Congress needs to change (e.g., upgrade to Congress 2.02b) in order to survive by serving the greatest good (a good thing) which is us (i.e., we the people - everyday people who vote, pay taxes, do our best to add to the system, get along, play by the rules, groove with the flow, just get by, hang on, etc.).
The big idea (as I understand it in this video interview) is that Congress needs to move from money focus to idea focus.
In the old days, I believe they called this Statesmanship - vs today’s vulgar political hack who sells out to special interests even though all parties involved are mostly in denial.
So the good news is that what once was old is new again - yippee - e.g., for best examples of Statesmanship see Founding Fathers.
And as they used to say in Brooklyn, “Go You Guys! Just You Go!”
On Halloween night, the wife and I walked the dog down Ridgefield’s main street amongst hundreds of goblins dressed in festive attire along with their entourages. The majority of these goblins were between 2 foot and 4 foot tall, diversely costumed, accompanied by older and taller family members, and eagerly embarked in search of sweet door-to-door handouts.
Our brisk walk from 5:30-6:30PM was delightful to the senses, crowded along the concrete sidewalks, and yet inspiring to see such community outpouring, courteous mannerisms, and joyful enthusiasms, especially among the little goblins. All of which got me to thinking about the upcoming elections and the impact said elections will have on today’s goblin generation and their generation’s of generations.
The political platforms of Native American’s have inspired our nation’s democracy and founding fathers from the onset: from meeting venues (e.g., the long house); to rules of debate (e.g., the talking stick); to strategy directions for voting (e.g., voting decisions based on seven generations forward from today’s generation). Unfortunately, we never adopted the Native American’s war-making policy of abiding by the council of grandmothers, but I digress.
So here we are in November 2008 and the spirit of spooky politics is indeed upon us and the political season is about to enter it’s voting finale.
I scare easily but I think the thing that scares me the most in this political, post pumpkin-carving season is that today’s political climate is seemingly no different than 241 years ago in colonial, pre-American revolution period of 1767!
Consider the words from America’s first deep throat - a man who reported on the corruption on both sides of the pond (Philadelphia and London 1767-1772 via the Public Advertiser) and did so in a manner that many historians believe was instrumental in bringing about the revolutionary actions of our nation’s founding fathers and countrymen alike.
Quote 1:
“We are arrived at that point when new taxes either produced nothing, or defeat the old ones, and when new duties only operate as a prohibition: yet these are the times when every ignorant boy thinks himself fit to be a minister.
Instead of attendance to objects of national importance, our worthy governors are contented to divide their time between private pleasures and ministerial intrigues. Their activity is just equal to the persecution of a prisoner in the King’s Bench, and to the honorable struggle of providing for their dependents.
If there be a good man in the King’s service they dismiss him of course; and when bad news arrives, instead of uniting to consider a remedy, their time is spent in accusing and reviling one another.
Thus the debate concludes in some half misbegotten measure, which is left to execute itself.
Away they go: one retires to his country house; another is engaged at an horse race; and a third has an appointment with a prostitute; and as to their country, they leave her, like a cast of mistress, to perish under the diseases they have given her.”
Quote 2:
“The matter and the means, the times and the talents they disclose, the popularity which attended them at their outset, the impression they produce on the public mind, and the triumph of the doctrines they inculcate, all equally concur in stamping for them a passport to the most distant posterity.”
By the time you read this essay, the votes will be in and the national agenda for the next four years set in motion. But regardless of who wins, I think it is safe to say that the great American experiment has run it’s course and is officially over.
Suffice it to say that American democracy, ala the version fashioned by our founding fathers, did not work in the long term, not because the ideals were flawed but in large part to the selfish nature of human beings. This nature was expressed in 1767 by America’s original deep throat and continues to this day as evidence more recently by leadership nationalizing our banking system, subscribing to torture, engaging in warrantless wiretaps, etc.
The failure of the originating democratic power and principles behind America’s great experiment is akin to how scientific strides with atomic power have outpaced our global emotional intelligence as a human race. Apparently, this was evident to Einstein when asked by a reporter about how he felt being responsible for developing atomic power. To which, Einstein expressed dismay in that while human beings made significant scientific strides in unleashing said atomic powers, the equivalent emotional maturity needed by humans to truly steer such power responsibly was lagging by hundred-plus years in his opinion.
IMHO, the dual party system is persona-non-grada, a joke, broken and doesn’t serve the needs of today’s populace. Instead of two parties that point to the other party’s faults and limitations, we should instead be focusing on collective transparency and ideas like open source government.
We need to evolve and reform politics to the next level(s) - levels that work best for everybody, “the highest good” and include open debates that bring about the best ideas, inspire transparency, best practices, and ongoing continual improvements via open, transparent feedback loops.
So while human nature is not likely to change anytime soon, today we have new challenges but we also have new tools. Here’s hoping we use them for a new and improved political process - e.g., Google for open source government!
The other day I wrote a piece about what would others, namely Aliens and/or Angels, have to say about our world, our culture, and our humanity.
Okay, so my premise might be a “little out there” (pun intended) but what about the views of ancient cultures, like the Hopi Indians, who have been in North America for eons of years. What do they have to say about our society? What warnings do they offer? What hopes do they offer?
Turns out that a couple years back, circa 2000, when a jeweler friend of mine was selling some of my moldavite she used in her jewelry, one of the buyers was a young man who happened to have all the oral and written Hopi prophecies ever recorded. He handed me a photocopied deck of 100-plus pages and said, “Chuck you can give this away all you want provided you never charge for it.”
I made a handful of physical copies and gave them away to circles of people I thought would enjoy them, but then it occurred to me, “Hey, why not digitize these papers and park on the web?”
This is an amazing read and they have a lot to say about our current times. I don’t want to let the cat out of the bag but suffice it to say, most of their message boils down to the issue of “Progressives vs Traditionalists” and however the Hopi society goes, so does the rest of our global society.
This issue of progressives and traditionalists is pretty deep and it is my hope that we will strike a balance and get the best of both worlds. I say this too because years back I heard Peruvian elders talking about their legends and prophecies, one of which stated, “There will come a time when the Eagle of the North flies with the Condor of the South.”
I always interpreted that to be “north = industrialized countries with technology emphasis” and “south = indigenous cultures that are one with the land and nature, steeped in traditions of balance, respect and harmony with earth.”
Apparently the Hopis had a rift in their culture circa 1908. Up till then, they were mostly traditionalist and believed themselves to be “keepers of the keys.” But as white Europeans started to expand westward and invade their territories, some of the Hopis started to say, “Hey. The white man might be on to something. Running water, cars, comfortable living conditions, etc. these are things we too should embrace. After all, it’s hard living in these here desert parts …” And thus they became the progressives advocating change from the traditions of their forefathers.
When I got done reading these prophecies, I was angered at the corruption (e.g., Mineral companies hiring terrorists to get access to land rights) and wanted to do something. But then I quickly realized that I don’t really know who to believe, or who is truly a legit traditionalist or progressive. So instead of taking sides, I put my money where my mouth was and digitized their words and in a small way, am helping these words continue forth, free of charge - enjoy!
PS - I also bought GoHopi.com with the idea that sometime in the future, I (or others) will be able to convert these scanned pages into OCR (optical character recognition) so they become searchable text vs scans. If you are interested in helping out is said OCR and proofing depts, let me know!
Today we live in a world of permission marketing and you would think that everybody “Gets it” - in that if you are going to SPAM people, at a minimum you provide a way to opt-out. And while I have yet to figure out who I’m voting for in the upcoming 2008 Presidential election, John McCain’s team sure did loose a lot more credibility with me today with their recent email, closed loop survey, and lack of privacy policy.
Here is my reply to their email:
Dear John McCain -
Your survey has no options for comments and your email below has no “opt out” option - it is also spam in that i did not give you permission to use my email … all of which confirms my reason to distance myself from the Republican Party as you are a huge historical embarrassment … consider the following:
1. The war in Iraq was result from lies headed by Republicans …
2. The supreme court let Exxon off the hook even though “the people” as juries saw the truth but this was over-run by a biased, perhaps even corrupt court …
3. The passage of FISA allows criminal behavior to go on without accountability …
I could go on but suffice it to say the Republican party is out of touch … the only candidate who seemed to make any sense was Mike Huckabee … note my displeasure with Republican’s does not mean I approve of Democrats but I can not continue to support a party where lies continue to be told …
Consider Mark Twain, “Once a man is caught in a lie, everything he says there after is followed by a question mark.” … with Bush saying, “yes there are weapons of mass destruction …” how can we believe anything he (or his administration or the republican party) has to say about any other matter …
John McCain, you might be a good man but you’re coming to the dance floor literally with the wrong party …
cordially, chuck scott
And here is the original email they sent:
Subject: Victory 2008 Critical Issues Survey
Dear Friend,
I am 100 percent committed to leading our Party to victory in this November’s elections all across the country.
As a critical first step in uniting our Party and putting together a winning campaign plan I am asking you to take part in a Victory 2008 critical issues survey. I hope you will help our efforts today by following this link and completing it online.
Your support for RNC VICTORY 2008 and your survey answers are vital to electing Republicans this November. Your participation will give us a greater understanding of the views of voters in your area. And it will provide an invaluable up-to-date reading on many of the key issues that will decide the outcome of this momentous election.
The fate of all of our Republican candidates and the fate of our Party in the 2008 election is in the hands of Americans like you. We cannot succeed without your immediate input. Please join us in our campaign to make sure America is on the right path by completing your Victory 2008 Critical Issues Survey today.
With warmest regards,
John McCain
P.S. Your participation in the Victory 2008 Survey Project is crucial to getting a better understanding of the views of voters in your area. I hope you will return your completed Survey to RNC Headquarters today.
Contributions or gifts to the Republican National Committee are not deductible as charitable contributions for federal income tax purposes.
Contributions from corporations, labor unions, federal contractors and foreign nationals
without permanent residency status are prohibited.
Republican National Committee | 310 First Street, SE | Washington, D.C. 20003
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310 First Street, S.E. Washington, D.C. 20003
Creating this post is a mixed bag for me as many of you who know me, know that I advocate that Creativity is a Science and not an art or some abstract personality-based thing. And, I even have the mathematical proof to back this creative science which I wrote about in the late 1990s and published in my book, Always Creative, where I presented the math - i.e., Creativity = Infinity minus Pie-R-Squared, where Pie-R-Squared is the area of a defined circle of what’s working.
But the science of creativity aside, living creatively is also a mindset and two things recently reminded me of this.
First, I was in the process of digitizing many of the motivational tapes in my library, one of which was a six cassette series by Nightingale-Conant that featured Dr. Wayne Dyer’s “How to be a no-limit person.” Note I had purchased these tapes in the early 1980s long before CDs and MP3 Players hit the scene hence the cassette conversions.
At the end of that series, they gave a free sample lecture from one of Wayne’s other books, “What do you really want for your children” where Dr. Dyer talks about creativity. In this sample lecture, which I’m including here in this post as mp3 audio clip, Dr. Dyer defines creativity as follows: “… You don’t become creative by being like everybody else … Especially if you were raised to fit in and be like others … Creativity is about how you apply your own matchless-self to everything you do …”
And here is the mp3 file as a down load click here
To a great extent I like what he says and concur, but I have some problems in that he is giving a philosophical approach first without providing the scientific basis on which such philosophy can ride. Thus on some level he is promoting the idea of creativity as being merely an approach to life when that is only partially correct, which leads me to the other data point.
Around the time I was digitizing said cassettes, I enjoyed a lively debate with one of our pool attendants during a quiet afternoon when not many others were pool side. She started the conversation with, “I’m just not creative, at least not compared to my brother and this accounting class I’m taking is really soooo uncreative.”
I laughed. As a business school trained accountant, I told her that accounting can be extremely creative, just look at Enron, MCI-WorldCom, forecasts of Saddam Hussein’s weapons of mass destruction, etc. And one can quickly grasp how numbers and the numbering of numbers can get wildly creative.
There is even an old accounting joke to this effect that goes something like this:
An employer is looking to hire a new controller and interviews three people: one young, one middle aged, one older, all CPAs.
The employer asks the first prospect, the younger one, “How much is one plus one?” To which the young accountant says, “Two.” “Are you sure?” “Yes absolutely. One plus one is always two.”
Then the employer interviews the second prospect, the middle aged CPA, and asks the same question, “How much is one plus one?” To which the CPA said, “Well, it’s usually two, but sometimes it can be two and a half or one and three quarters depending on how you value inventory, spoilage, returns, etc., but yes, most of the times one plus one is two.”
Then the employer interviews the third CPA and asks the same question, “How much is one plus one?” To which the older CPA states, “What do you want it to be?”
Guess who got the job and guess why we have so much fuzzy accounting in governments and public companies despite our best efforts to legislate transparency
Back to the pool attendant.
Ultimately our conversation got to how creativity-expressed comes in many shapes and styles - e.g., Your creativity might not look like others as she was comparing her creativity level to her brother’s and how he seemingly can riff with new ideas in a given dept and she can’t quite compete in said dept.; We spoke about how creativity comes in many forms and how visual creativity is different from accounting creativity which is different from music and/or painting and/or acting and/or physical creativity, etc…
Which brings me to the final point and that is of brainstorming. It seems like most people think that brainstorming is being creative when in truth, brainstorming and idea generation is only 25% of the creative science.
The other 75% of the creative process is where the rubber really hits the road. This includes selecting one or more of the ideas from the brainstorming process, implementing said ideas, measuring the results of said implementation, then analyzing the results by comparing them to where you were before you had the ideas you just implemented.
I’ve even heard this from the heads of top advertising agencies. In particular, one president was discussing a certain weight-loss food brand and he said, “Chuck, coming up with the new marketing ideas is the smallest part of the process, perhaps less than 10%, and yes it is the fun part. But, the implementation of the marketing campaign is the larger part of the process. Project management of getting all the items printed, out into the stores on time and within budget, without any mistakes in copy, colors, brand messaging, etc.”
This agency executive even went on to say that his team got paid $2 million per year to manage the account. One million was for the creative consultations and the other million was to manage and implement. He confessed that the second million was a royal pain and full of traps and gatchas and that he would gladly give up that second million but also knew that it would only be a matter of time before he would lose the first million if all he did was the creative. Thus while this executive could riff on new marketing ideas in his sleep, he also knew that creativity expressed and implemented is a package and not just brainstorming.
If you think the economy is skidding towards the blink, think again and meet Rowan and Trevor - a lemonade stand sister-brother team that will rock your taste buds, bring joy to your heart and remind your soul to awaken to the creative gifts the Divine embedded in your DNA.
Here is the version on Vimeo:
And here is the same clip but on Google Video:
“Be ye like children …” Perhaps this Biblical Wisdom Is Reminder to Tap Into One’s Entrepreneurial Inner-Child And Profit Joyfully by Serving the Rest of Us …
“When I Work, I Play. When I Play, I Work.” - Pablo Picasso
“Go Play Hard at Work And Have a Good Time!” - Kasha Scott
Tiz the season and lemonade stands are in full swing around these summer New England parts, specifically Ridgefield Connecticut and Main Street.
I was first hit with this lemonade season reminder a couple of weeks back when walking Kasha around the neighborhood.
At the commencement of our walk, we first started to spy various hand-drawn flyers posted on the light poles with scotch tape promoting neighborhood lemonade availability.
And then we soon started to hear the audio ripples of lemonade barker-cries via a chorus of children off in the distant background, “Lemonade. Lemonade! Get Your Ice Cold Lemonade. Lemonade. Ice Cold Lemonade Here. Lemonade.”
All of which was quickly followed by a boy on a bicycle who approached us while engaged in the lemonade sales promotion route for his sister’s lemonade enterprise, whom Kasha and I would soon go on to meet and interview but more on that later.
Okay, I know many high powered business types and serious economists who might shrug, as well as everyday folk, and say, “Yea, so what! What’s the point of reflecting on the economics of local lemonade entrepreneurs?”
To which I think I have a good reply: First in consideration of the big media backdrop of economic headlines of bad news; and second, with regards to Karl Marx and how all the collectivists economists have got it fundamentally wrong and how the lemonade entrepreneurs have got it fundamentally right.
But first, the media headlines.
Big media is in the business of big headlines and they do it well. After all, if they can’t grab us, they can’t hold our attention or sell us on their agenda(s) let alone promote the agendas of the people who buy their advertising space.
And it seems to me that currently big media would have us believe in all their negative economic press that they get paid to sell. Not that we do not love the press but with business models like, “If it bleeds, it leads” how can we blame them for selling us negativity when they know full well we only buy what grabs our attention, including killer negative headlines that cut through the clutter in supermarket checkout lines.
So while the press and ourselves might be to blame for buying in on the collective consciousness of economic woes, part of this post is about the other economic story not being told. Well actually the story is being told and shared but not in headlines or by big media, at least not yet. Bare with me, and you’ll see my point and why lemonade entrepreneurs hold the keys to understanding long term economic successes.
A couple weeks after Kasha and I encountered our first neighborhood lemonade entrepreneurs, I was driving through Main Street Ridgefield and came across another lemonade stand and snapped the pics you see here. In this case, these entrepreneurs were closed for business so I did not get to interview them or sample their brew(s), but the spirit of their humble endeavor was yet another reminder of how the keys to our fundamental economic success in this country lie among the spirit of budding lemonade entrepreneurs.
Now I’ve traveled the world and while not hit every corner, I have yet to see an entrepreneurial front-yard lemonade stand in any other country. Sure, I’ve seen young people selling crafts, fruits, performing for coins, but somehow the young lemonade entrepreneur and their humble neighborhood lemonade stand seems uniquely red-white-n-blue and I’m not positive why but I have some theories.
When growing up as a teenager in Argentina as a Rotary exchange student in 1978, I always seemed to win when playing monopoly with my new Argentinean friends. At the time they would often chide me and prod me with, “Oh! You Capitalists! You Yankees! You Gringos! You are all the same! You take everything! You win at all costs! You yada yada …”
But it was also during those loved South American times that I enjoyed many a debate about the evils and merits of Capitalism, Communism, Socialism, and other ism’s. But somehow that despite the debates, I knew that they too were capitalists at heart no matter what their official ism was that they subscribed to publicly. My capitalistic proof of innate free-trade was the flourishing of black markets in every corner of the globe that I’ve ever traveled to. Which supports my theory: That left alone, all humans will trade in a manner that is win-win for them and those they trade with, but the key point is “left alone.”
Governments are necessary and good governments that serve the people and individual freedoms first with state second are an amazing blessing. Yet governments often get over-run by special interests, collectivists, Leninists, and others who quietely delight in chipping away at personal freedoms by advocating more tariffs, trade barriers, licensing, laws, obfuscation of agendas, etc. - all of which is fertilizer for big business and big corruption.
The lemonade entrepreneur is a noble example of the balance of supply and demand when left alone - no town permits, no labor laws, no minimum wages, no sales tax, no use taxes, no mandatory state licensing, certification or registration, etc.
“Be ye like little children” is Biblical wisdom that should perhaps be extended to commercial affairs ala the example of seasonal lemonade entrepreneurs.
Consider Adam Smith and his groundbreaking 1776 book, The Wealth of Nations, that cemented the principles of laissez-faire and the “invisible hand” of balance naturally occurring from supply and demand cycles that find equilibrium over time.
These same laissez-faire economic principles were also confirmed in more modern times by Milton Friedman’s groundbreaking book, Freedom to Choose - a book I would argue that anybody running for any office (e.g., state, local, federal and/or condo board) should be required to read and take a standarized test to confirm they can pass and exhibit a certain mastery of the message but I jest (although, I’m serious if you are).
Even today in 2008, those economies with the least amount of government intervention are the ones on the fast track. But back to my friendly conversations with Argentineans about economic policies, merits and pitfalls of isms.
All economic models are based on cycles - boom and bust, followed by more boom and bust, etc. It is the length of cycles which most isms and economists disagree with - e.g., some say these economic cycles are every 5-10 years, others say every 35 years, and others say every 50 or 75 years. Some also argue (i.e., the collectivists) that it is the role of government to “soften” these cycles so they are not so “forceful” on the masses, ala rationale for recent Federal Reserve to bailout Bear Stearns - what a joke and a true tragedy.
Yet my favorite debate about economic cycles took place in college during a Western Civ class when we were asked to read Karl Marx’s Communist Manifesto and support or defend his economic ideas.
Karl had relatively good reasoning and essentially said, “Hey look. Each society pretty much boils down to two primary classes - the haves and the have-nots - and with each turn of the economic cycles of bust periods, some of the haves lose their economic power and become members of the have-nots. Thus it is only a matter of time, a number of economic cycles, that will ultimately reduce all the haves to have-nots, so let’s cut to the chase, save everybody the drama of enduring all these awful cycles and just get there (a flat collectivist society that is ruled by the state). After all, in the end there will only be one class, so let’s get there now and save everybody the grief and plan accordingly.”
Sounds like a great concept but for one big commercial blunder on Mr. Marx’s reasoning, and that is, he totally forgot and left out the concept of entrepreneurs - that enterprising group that somehow seems to spring forth despite the odds and replinshes the class of haves with every economic down turn.
America has lived an economic history of ups and downs. And, we know in this country that with every bust cycle, there are those who find ways to make it work and often go on to great fortune by finding opportunity when others see only failure.
Our culture is also one of “Yankee ingenuity” whereby we tend to invent things for ourselves that solve our own problems, even if less than perfect; but then continue to perfect said inventions and spin out improved inventions for sale to neighbors and thereby give birth to new markets.
Consider the Lightning Rod invented by Benjamin Franklin or Eli Whitney’s Cotton Gin. In both cases, these men sought to solve a problem and were looking for solutions. In the process of inventing their own solutions, they both went on to give birth to new markets and efficiencies - all of which had positive economic impacts on the greatest good for all of us. Note: some economic historians will even argue that Whitney’s Cotton Gin was the birth of the American industrialized revolution — and yet his path of intellectual property rights via his Cotton Gin patent and the realities of enforcing said patent are chapters for another post.
Don’t get me wrong. I am not saying that there isn’t great innovation coming from other parts of the world, certainly there is. Even in governmental entrepreneurship, perhaps England’s greatest gift to the world was the invention of the Magna Carta, which was essentially a balancing of power between Nobles and the Crown, and became the genesis for many of our principles today re:rights to private property, habeas corpus, etc.
Back to my walk with Kasha.
So right around the time I enjoyed my interview with the local lemonade entrepreneurs, I also read the May 2008 edition of Imprimis - see www.Hillsdale.edu. They have over 1.6 million monthly readers and their publication is free to subscribe to, and each month is very thought provoking so yes, I would encourage you to get your free copies.
In the May edition they featured adapted text from a January speech at Hillsdale College given by Mr. Patrick Toomey, President of the Club for Growth. The title of this article was, “The Greatest Story Never Told: Today’s Economy in Perspective.”
In that article, some of what Mr. Toomey stated included, “Over the last 25 years, more wealth has been created, more people have been lifted out of poverty, standards of living have been elevated more dramatically, and the quality and length of the life have improved, more than ever before in the recorded history.”
That’s a mighty tall claim but consider some of the stats he provided to support his premise:
Our nation’s total economic output in 1982 was $5.1 trillion; In 2007 it was $11.3 trillion (in real 2000 dollars)
Per capita economic output in 1982 was $22,400; In 2007 it was $37,807 (in real 2000 dollars)
Unemployment in the 1970s was nearly seven percent; During the last decade it has remained below five percent
The service sector was $1 trillion in 1982; It was $5.5 trillion in 2006
In 2007, US factories produced more than in any previous year in our history
The Dow Jones Industrial Average in 1980 was at 825; Today (despite its ups and downs) remains above 11,000
In 1983, 19 percent of households owned stocks; In 2005 50% were investors
In 1989 median family net worth was $69,000; In 2004 it was $93,000
And regarding American families living below the official poverty line in the 1970s - Less than 40 percent had a car, almost none had color televisions, and air conditioning was almost unheard of; In 2004, 46 percent owned their own homes, 75% owned a car (indeed 30 percent owned two or more cars), 97 percent had color TVs, 67% had air conditioning
With respect to technology - In 1975 there were 9.8 million cable TV subscribers and in 2006 there were 65 million; In 1985 there were 2.1 million personal computers and in 2007 there was 243 million; In 1985 there were 340 cell phone subscribers and 243 million in 2007
On health fronts - In 1970 infant mortality was 20 deaths per 1000 people and in 2002 it was seven deaths per 1000; In 1980 life expectancy was 74 years, today it is 78
And this growth has been occurring around the globe - between 1999 and 2004 some 135 million people emerged from destitution and there are twice as many countries with fast-growing economies as there were in 1980
In the end, Mr. Toomey credits these massive economic growths from several factors, namely - economic freedoms, the Recovery Tax Act of 1981 which reduced marginal tax rate from 70 percent to 28%, and a series of major deregulation and broad expansion of trade.
These are some of the innate principles American Lemonade Entrepreneurs know instinctively, but they probably won’t be making any big headlines in traditional media, yet perhaps they will make it BIG around the Blogosphere.
Lemonade Here. Get Your Lemonade. 50 Cents. Sugar Free. Tax Free. And Always Served with a Smile.
Viva the entrepreneurs who progress to make life better for all of us and keep Karl rolling in his grave!
When I was upgrading the CoolTea phpBB 3.01 bulletin boards, I had many technical issues along the way thus visited other sites around the web in an effort to track down resolve to these issues.
Some of the technical issues were simple like making sure the server path was correctly listed in a section of code. Other issues were more troublesome in that certain plugins had conflicts (e.g., took me better part of two days to find out why my board was not creating thumbnails from image uploads yet did so perfectly before the upgrade).
Along my journeys to find technical answers, clues and/or wisdom, I came across a site listed as an example of a technical fix I needed but also had some wild content about the Secrets of the Mayan Calendar Unveiled.
So I paused and gave myself permission to watch these videos by Ian Lungold as he proceeded to unlock and explain the eternal truths about these Mayan Secrets.
It was a happy find and one of the things I enjoyed learning about the Mayan calendar was the different forms of consciousness that correspond to periods of Earth time and are physically represented in how the Mayan’s construct pyramids. The last and final consciousness Ian claims is “Galactic and/or Universal Consciousness” also the shortest span and represented by a pyramid’s top tier.
So that got me to thinking about all the skeptics I’ve danced with about the realities of aliens and/or angels.
Technically I believe in both, but it does not matter what I believe in because belief is just that, a concept I own or subscribe to but it is not scientific fact. Thus I never try to convince my friends of one or the other, but I do enjoy the dialogue in these depts.
And one of my other beliefs is that if I learn just one thing from something, somebody, some book, some movie, or some song, well then bravo - one thing learned makes that thing worthy.
So years back I started getting emails from a group claiming they were channeling Orion - see Orion Transmissions.
Before these emails, I had read a book by Fran Rosen-Sawyer, aka Parvati, whose book, “I Wish I Had Known” was positive inspiration and instrumental in moving me out of a funk at a time in my life and back into the joy of living.
Thus she is at the center of these Orion Transmissions and while I’ve never met her, I have been admirer of her penmanship and messages so I tried to approach these Orion messages with an open mind.
Over the years, these Orion Transmissions have become great fertilizer for internal thought and reflection, offering new perspectives, friendship, laughter, warnings and wisdom all combined into a format that to this day, I cherish when the latest version hits my inbox.
So back to the Mayan Calendars and my main point of this post, which is this - What do Aliens and Angels share in common?
Given the Mayan Calendar and this final phase of time we are approaching, I would argue that in both cases the Aliens and the Angels have “other worldly view points” - and probably view points that are galactic and universal.
This hit home with the latest Orion messages when they said, “What do you think the purpose of humanity is all about?”
Good question and I thought I knew but below is excerpt from their point of view so you tell me if they are onto something
Quote from Orion:
On our spiritual evolution and Unity
Yes. Yes. We would like to describe to our vehicle what to expect in the coming years from a positive standpoint. We all know what destructive forces are at work on the environment of planet Earth. For every negative force, there are greater numbers of Light Workers being ‘employed’ if you will, by the Light Energy on your planet, to combat the darkness. They are well-armed with positive energies, fuelled by love of a different nature—love of a more universal nature. And indeed, these Light Workers are working feverishly to achieve their goal. We are working together for the sanctity and preservation of our beloved planet Earth, the record-keeper of the universe.
We are walking through mysterious circumstances being heralded as progress by some and digress by others. Still, we are moving through the maze of traps manufactured by those employed by the dark forces on your planet. We do not see them as a threat to the integrity and balance on this planet, because their power is losing the battle. We know the directions they are taking and from whence they come. We are aware of the ‘opposition’ to good, to Light. We are quite aware of the big players in their ultimate world domination game. We have not been dealt a hand. We have created our own solutions. We have created our own force field of protection which cannot be penetrated by those whose natures are not pure, whose goals are not those reflecting the higher purpose of humanity.
This leads us to the next main point. What is the main purpose of Humanity? Do you think that the main purpose is to amass large stores of wealth in order to destroy the planet’s ecosystem? NO. Do you think the main purpose of your individual lives is to hoard wealth, compete with others for the prize of self-importance, fame and pride? NO. Actually, the main purpose for all of HUMANITY is to become enlightened and begin to take your places in the hologram of life, which is ultimately a reflection of the Divine who created all of this—and ultimately, to preserve the Nature which is the reflection of Divinity on the physical plane. In so doing, human beings become elevated to the next dimension and reach a state of ‘I and My Father are ONE.’ Isn’t that the ultimate goal?
Yet, instead of keeping this goal first and foremost in your minds, you fill your minds with daily trivia, who said this to who, who did what, how much, how many, and what is my next conquest? Indeed, one rarely takes time to retreat within to find one’s own direction. One assumes it will simply be revealed to him when the time is right. Well, folks! THE TIME IS RIGHT NOW!
The proverbial saying, “Don’t put off for tomorrow what you can do today” is an excellent one to adopt when assessing your life, your ‘future’. One should place far less emphasis on Future. The present moment is the only breath you have. The breath you take in this very moment is the one you have in hand.
Establish priorities. What priorities? One places on top of the list all one’s menial tasks, one’s work-related daily errands. One’s life work often takes a back seat to the daily grind, leaving rare the moments of solitude and reflection. Indeed, we see this sorely missing in most beings, even those on a spiritual journey of sorts. Spiritual journey is one which connects one to the cosmos, to the greater whole, to the Universe. It does not necessarily make one appear more ethereal or speak in tongues! Indeed, it may make one more grounded and practical, if it is truly a spiritual journey. The greatest Masters have a grounded focus, a clarity which is far from accidental.
One shall perhaps consider a revision in one’s listing of priorities. Really examine the question ‘WHO AM I?’ followed by ‘What am I here for? What is my true higher work in this incarnation?” Then, when you really realize you are present on this glorious planet for a purpose other than economical or emotional, you can get on with your priorities. At the top of the list should be your spiritual awareness. Do something toward the advancement and enhancement of your spiritual awareness daily.
Seek to SERVE daily.
Seek to perform those beautiful ‘Random Acts of Kindness’ daily.
Seek to make amends to those with whom you have had conflict over the years. Do this daily from your heart, in your own time, in your own way.
Seek to assist in the dissemination of material which will serve to lift up humanity and create a sense of awareness so needed in this world. Do this daily.
Seek to become one with your higher spirit, communicate with the Devas, angels, your Master, GOD, the energy of LOVE daily.
If your daily schedule does not have time for INTROSPECTION (not analysis) revamp your schedule to include at least one, if not many more, periods of meditation, prayer or entreaty to Divine for guidance and direction, and clarity of that direction.
You seek to control your universe, but you do not seek to control your own mental faculties! Do not permit your minds to become engrossed in negativity. There is negativity all around you in the world, but if your mind is always or at least in training to be always in tune with your Higher purpose, the negative energies of the world will have no effect on you! This is entirely possible for each and every one of you who have embarked on an inner journey to the Light.
Look at great Saints and beings who embraced GOD or the concept of Divinity—in whatever way it manifested for them. They remain always in a state of BLISS, in the state of TRUTH, in a state of HARMONY. They exist to teach you all to become more engrossed in Divinity. This requires no adherence to a religious philosophy. THIS IS BEYOND PHILOSOPHY! This requires no membership in any spiritual group or following of any outer agenda. This simply means, one begins the search within to find one’s true spiritual quest. And then, without further delay, one embarks on the journey, fully equipped with all the prerequisites. Do you know what are the prerequisites?
A sincere desire or longing to become one with DIVINE.
A sincere desire or longing to become one with DIVINE.
A sincere desire or longing to become one with DIVINE.
No other prerequisite is required. The Divine will feed your every need. Divine will provide direction, spiritual sustenance, Truth and comfort.
SEEK YE FIRST THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN AND ALL WILL BE ADDED UNTO YOU.
And with that, we close these present transmissions.
Special Thank You to Artist Jeff Bowe for permission to include his images here in this post - for more info about Jeff and his art, contact Jeff Bowe directly!
My first introduction with computers was circa 1975 with mainframes, punch cards and programming simplistic slot machines with random fruits - e.g., cherries, lemons, oranges, and dollar signs - any combination of which would spin and land in three-pane lucky display screen.
It was also a time when I started to begin the journey through boyhood puberty and migrate into the ongoing evolution of manhood, personhood, humanhood, et al.
It was during this boyhood time while programming random numbers that I was first exposed to some fundamental concepts for achieving ongoing success with computers (e.g., managing the three levels of inputs, processing, and outputs). Thus part of my early picture included computer teachers and experts beating into my growing computer-awareness, “Garbage-in is Garbage-out.”
This became obvious, tactical, hand-felt wisdom with the early punch cards as those cards that were less than perfectly punched or less than perfectly flat were promptly spit out and rejected as unusable. Thus no amount of nifty logic or elegant programming referencing random fruits, berries, and/or dollar signs would ever see the light of day, but I digress.
Moving forward and years later - circa 2001 during days of explosive growth with DAWS (Digital Audio Workstations), project studios and technical advances across the digital audio spectrum, I enjoyed a conversation with an audio engineering expert and friend who candidly stated, “You know Chuck, in my business they call it turd polishing - if the client gives you inputs that are turds, no matter how much audio polishing you do, it’s still a turd.”
Yikes - new multimedia information and different take on conventional wisdom of garbage-in and turd-polished outs.
However, I was recently reminded that we can work with less than perfect inputs on creative level through some “happy accidents” and turn out good stuff.
Below is my point - visually. One of my clients handed me material that was 5-Diamond in spirit, nature of story, and content level, but it was a lot less radiant in the areas of digital resolution and digital quality.
This is a sensitive area and let me state that I honor all those on the digital paths. We all start somewhere and the spirit of this piece is to highlight how we can work creatively with things we think might not work, yet continue to work with what we have and move forward in getting better in using what we have to accomplish our mission at hand.
In this case, the client handed me 18 minutes of video footage from single-chip camera that was hand-shot (e.g., no tripods, no external mics, no lighting, no script - more akin to documentary style shooting), highly compressed as mpeg1 320×240, along with a handful of stills that were 1-2meg jpegs each.
Mission from client was, “Here is our story - how best can it be told effectively online?”
The answer is in the proof below with the ending video result.
Knowing neither the video or stills were commanding (digital resolution wise that is), we decided best to split the screen and use both videos and pics at the same time to tell the story, thus in part distract you from overly focusing in on either one at a time and seeing the granular pixations or other blemishes.
In the finished clip below, on one side you see pictures with the Ken Burns effect with panning and cropping. On the other side of the screen you see the video that corresponds to the story in the pics moving along.
Whenever either the stills or the video gets weird (e.g., quality of color, lighting, shakiness, etc) we then dropped an effect on that clip and voila - all of a sudden, things that seemed like mistakes (e.g., pictures out of focus) became awesome transitions that moved the story along with added effects and emotional dimensions.
But happy accidents with effects and visual polishing was only part of it.
The other part was how to sonically pull the viewer thru the story and hence the need to find some fun, offbeat music that could drive yet fit with the various live recordings of volunteers, pastor, and background beats -> Enter the soundtrack, “Gobble Gobble Funk” by you know who!
In the end, I think this piece works really, really well in telling the client’s story.
The last thing I will mention is the title, “Feeding the Angels Among Us.”
This was perhaps the hardest part about scripting and editing this piece. My customer who pays the bills is obvious, but his stakeholders and the constituents they dance with is something that is multilateral, highly diverse and commands respect from all levels.
Some how to say, “feeding the needy” seemed untruthful to those pictured here in this video. After all, these “stars” played a part in the role of life’s give-in-take and somehow there seemed to be a higher truth in naming the title, one that those standing in line, when viewing this clip, would also be proud of.
Which leads me to concept of - is it more blessed to receive or to give?
I don’t know but it seems like sometimes those of us who give can feel entitled to a little moment of self righteous - e.g., “Hey, I just did something for somebody - doesn’t that count for something, somewhere, on somekind of karmic scorecard?” - and I often wonder if the other person who receives isn’t really an Angel in disguise who isn’t silently saying, “Dude, if only you really knew - it is I who is willing to serve as your reminder that God gives us each different talents and skills. Thanks for sharing and best of success with your unfolding generosity of time, gifts, talents, investment in Highest Good, et al.”
Last night was a Friday night and a night that was once the all important date night. But now that I’m part’n parcel of a happily married couple, it was a night like many others except for the fact that I was wired as I entered the master bedroom that featured resting wife and snoring dog.
On Halloween night, the wife and I walked the dog down Ridgefield’s main street amongst hundreds of goblins dressed in festive attire along with their entourages. The majority of these goblins were between 2 foot and 4 foot tall, diversely costumed, accompanied by older and taller family members, and eagerly embarked in search of sweet door-to-door handouts. 
My first introduction with computers was circa 1975 with mainframes, punch cards and programming simplistic slot machines with random fruits - e.g., cherries, lemons, oranges, and dollar signs - any combination of which would spin and land in three-pane lucky display screen. 
