Tuesday, January 23, 2007

How To Be Creative


Another must read from Hugh at GapingVoid.com. Here is his list of 31 lessons and advice on how to be creative. Click through to read Hugh's great wisdom on each lesson and order some of his classic cartoons:

1. Ignore everybody.
2. The idea doesn't have to be big. It just has to change the world.
3. Put the hours in.
4. If your biz plan depends on you suddenly being "discovered" by some big shot, your plan will probably fail.
5. You are responsible for your own experience.
6. Everyone is born creative; everyone is given a box of crayons in kindergarten.
7. Keep your day job.
8. Companies that squelch creativity can no longer compete with companies that champion creativity.
9. Everybody has their own private Mount Everest they were put on this earth to climb.
10. The more talented somebody is, the less they need the props.
11. Don't try to stand out from the crowd; avoid crowds altogether.
12. If you accept the pain, it cannot hurt you.
13. Never compare your inside with somebody else's outside.
14. Dying young is overrated.
15. The most important thing a creative person can learn professionally is where to draw the red line that separates what you are willing to do, and what you are not.
16. The world is changing.
17. Merit can be bought. Passion can't.
18. Avoid the Watercooler Gang.
19. Sing in your own voice.
20. The choice of media is irrelevant.
21. Selling out is harder than it looks.
22. Nobody cares. Do it for yourself.
23. Worrying about "Commercial vs. Artistic" is a complete waste of time.
24. Don�t worry about finding inspiration. It comes eventually.
25. You have to find your own schtick.
26. Write from the heart.
27. The best way to get approval is not to need it.
28. Power is never given. Power is taken.
29. Whatever choice you make, The Devil gets his due eventually.
30. The hardest part of being creative is getting used to it.
31. Remain frugal.

Wednesday, January 03, 2007

Special Birthday Screening - Thanks Mom!

The following footage was filmed moments and days after my birth on January 3, 1974. The first time I ever screened the footage was to a group of friends and family on my 30th birthday. Since 3 seems to be my lucky number, I thought I would share it again today to celebrate my 33rd. Thanks mom!

Version one: Teardrop



Version two: Angel

Tuesday, January 02, 2007

Basstectonics.com Launches In Beta


Straight from my friend Scudder Steven's blog, "After three years of testing ideas, developing new skills, and learning the hard way, Basstectonics.com has finally launched!"

Congrats Scudder! Me likes what I hear so far...I'm loving the dub streams from my friends at Easy Star records.

So what is Basstectonics? From the site:

Basstectonics.com is a digital download retailer that offers its product catalog to customers in the form of audio streams. These streams are free to preview, at 96kbps, but must be purchased to enable the download of the audio files. Either the entire mix or each individual track, featured in the mix, is available for purchase. Basstectonics.com offers individual tracks in MP3 or FLAC format, and streams are available as MP3s only.

The music featured on Basstectonics.com is created by independent artists and record labels. When you purchase music from Basstectonics.com you are directly supporting these independent artists and record labels, not the greed of the Music Industry.

I look forward to seeing the evolution of the site over the coming months and helping however I can...