Good Friday… Happy Easter!!!

“Thoughts are the ancestors of actions” Ralph Waldo Emerson

Today I had the privilege of putting music, sound fx, & editing to an awesome guided meditation by Marian Curran. I also finished an 8 week course in Qi Gong, (thanks to Harmony Wagner for her teachings & Wang Ji Wu for his infinite wisdom) my written intention is to keep it going daily.

This post would’ve been a lot better if I didn’t lose all the stuff I wrote when I pressed publish (I had an awesome allegory for crucifying old thought patterns). Guess I deserve to have some of the best writing I’ve ever had the intention of sharing crucified in the name of blogosphere.

Unfortunately, I don’t have the time to recreate it. Perhaps those words that I had might be used some other time, perhaps next year. Speaking of time this took a lot longer than I anticipated, hope it doesn’t discourage me from writing again anytime soon. Perhaps, tomorrow might be more gooder???

Have a happy Easter Weekend!

Click here for a free download or to listen (don’t forget to share on FB & Twitter  ) to a Guided Waterfall Meditation!

Top 5 (o’clock in da mornin’) AutoTune Tracks

These days things are a little busy. I have papers due in the upcoming weeks on the ethics of Apple, BWM Films, & The Movember Campaign. I also have a midterm next week, & I’m learning the art of Qi Gong & Wang Ji Wu’s Longevity Exercises with a really good teacher. In my latest forage I’m diving into the world of producing video full tilt.

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I’m gonna try to dissect T-Pain’s video about being requested home by 5 o’clock. It’s kind of like the ultimate curfew, I’m sure most ladies  would probably try to shoot for at least 1am, but not Lily Allen, she’s content to wait it out like a soldier and fire text messages back & forth (the video had 12 cell phone shots throughout it’s duration btw). T-Pain was all into the Nuvo (which got a whopping 2 second product placement) which apparently an alcoholic beverage that I’m to out of touch with the night club scene to have heard of.

I first heard the song around Valentine’s Day & I really wanted to do a post to question the validity of expecting your special someone to wait patiently while you’re out getting trashed into the wee hours. First there’s the question of cash: I bet it would cost at least $75.00 to keep a drink in my hand (at around 3 beer/hour +tips) for 5 hours at a bar. That’s like enough to fill my car one & a half times. Then there’s the question your loved one might have about where you’re really at: your girl might be asking, did he hook up with an old flame? did he forget where he parked his car & get lost? did he get in a fight (at around the 3:21 mark T-Pain bumps into Wiz Khalifa & things look like they might get ugly for a second) & end up in jail? is he hittin’ the ol’ crack pipe & slummin’ it out in an abandoned warehouse with some old frat buddies?

And of course your girl is probably wondering whether you are so completely sloshed by the way your talking or if it’s just “AutoTune” (something T-Pain is world-renown for). Here’s my Top 5 tracks that use this feature…

Top 5 AutoTune Tracks

“Witchdoctor” by Alvin & the Chipmunks – I know that in the classic days of “ohh eee ohh aah aah” AutoTune was only a dream of some future musical techie but speeding up the turntable is lots of fun whether you’re doing it yourself (I loved it when I was a kid!) or hearing it on a cartoon. It was like huffin’ helium without turning your brain cells to mush.

“California Love” by Dr. Dre & Tupac – “Califoonia… knows how ta potty!”… I had know idea how this guy was hitting those notes during the chorus, but juxtaposed against Dre & Tupac’s lyrics it was absolutely fabulous!

“Whereever, Whenever” by Shakira – Me and a co-worker had a bit of a debate whether or not there was some kind of effect on her voice when she said “I’m be there & you’ll be neeyeer“. I thought that since I was capable of recreating it (or so I thought) to a T it had to be her real voice. It still remains a mystery…

“Believe” by Cher – There is absolutely no question this song had AutoTune. The key track in Cher’s career resurrection & the dawning of the “60 is the new 40″ era, this warbely gem of a track deserved all the rave it got. I think that the giddy feeling I got whenever I thought of the chorus made all those years without a hit song for her worth it.

“5 o’clock” by T-Pain, Lily Allen, & Wiz Khalifa – This is AutoTune in all it’s glory, you got the English accent of Lily, with some tweaked “Uhh’s” by T-Pain at the opening 4 bars, and the rest of the song just flows. As you can probably tell by the start of my post, it’s highly improbable that your significant other will appreciate you trying to pull off an all-nighter of boozing & wake her up with the intention of expressing your love at that ungodly hour, so fellas, unless you’re a top 40 star with money to burn…

DON’T TRY THIS AT HOME!

T.H.E. Top 5 Mick Jagger Duets

I finally got a chance to hear T.H.E. by Will.i.am, J.Lo, & Mick Jagger on the new Hot 105.5 the other day. I couldn’t believe my ears man! Wow, what an unlikely trio. The chorus goes something like this for all of those who haven’t heard it yet: “You can go hard, or you can go home, you can go hard, or you can go home…” sung by J.Lo which reminds me of the old saying in poker “Go big or stay home”. Then there’s Will.i.am’s rhymin’ about how hard he is & in the video (which I couldn’t resist checking out) he definitely shows why as he runs, texts, cycles, drives, flies, and rockets his way through seemingly impossible obstacles like a running back in a futuristic spacesuit. And yes that beat was definitely The Hardest Ever.

I don’t know how he did all that stuff without getting killed, but somehow he made it thru until he eventually launches into space and then things get really freaky, not only is there giant kaliedeiscopic shapes out there (how the hell did they manage to budget an actual spaceship?) with larger than life J.Lo’s repeatedly flying toward Will.i.am’s spaceship wearing several different outfits and striking multiple suggestive poses until he finally reaches the final frontier! Mick Jaaggggeerrrrr!!!!!

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Is that really the kind of stuff that astronauts have to contend with out there in the depths of space? Personally, I would’ve probably died of shock:( Anyways, after I got my bearings I thought about Mick’s lyrics in (as far as I know) his hip-hop debut.

Hard like rock ‘n’ roll
Time bombs tickin’, explode
Vivid as a dynamo
Better move back now
It’s ’bout to blow
Hard like geometry, 
And trigonometry
This is crazy
Psychology
Yeah baby
I’m ’bout to win
Watch out now
I’m going in

That was some hard-core rappin’! My favorite part was “HARD like Geometry & Triganomatry, this is CRAZY psychology” It takes a big man to admit comprehensive difficulties in subjects like that,  The only thing I was disappointed with was that he didn’t do his signature “Chicken Dance”, but I will give him kudos for wearing a cape.  WHOOOOHOOOO!!!

Top 5 Duets for Mick Jagger

1. Sheryl Crow on “Old Habits die HARD”
2. Jack White on “Lovin’ Cup”
3. Christina Aguilera on “Live With Me”
4. Bette Midler on “Beast of Burden”
5. Will.i.am & J.Lo on “T.H.E. (The Hardest Ever)”

So here’s the Video, it’s got some profanity in it, but the special effects are absolutely stellar!

My First Week as a Business Student

“A story should be remembered for its soul, & not its bell & whistles” –  Bernajean Porter (From Wiki Brands)

I’ve finally enrolled in University! It’s only part-time but it’s a big step for a 34 year old with a family. I had my first lecture on Monday night and learned about a lot of different aspects of the business world. My favorite facts include:

1. 42.7% of Canadian families have no children and therefore would be good to market to.
2. There is much, much more diversity these days
3. The comparison of mature workers & Gen X’ers
4. The importance of heeding to the legal & regulatory environment.

All of the reviewing I’ve done of the first chapter has gotten me thinking more like a business man too! I had my first client last week as a “website advisor” (check out Now n’ Zen’s improved online look, there’s a few changes to go), I attended a seminar with Suzanne Scott of  Village Pottery on the importance of social media (lots of great advice btw), had a great interview with a local comedian, author, and fundraiser extradinaire Patrick Ledwell,  & weighed the pros & cons of switching a local radio format on Hot 105.5 from Classic Rock to Top 40 on ONRPEI.ca.

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Other than that I’m reading Wiki Brands by Sean Moffitt & Mike Dover which talks about company reinvention, brand evolution, and how talking with customers is much more important in this age of social media that talking at them. One point I really like from that book is that marketers are should think of the game as less like a war, church, or school than a party and don’t be a general, pastor, or a teacher, be a good host & mingle!

On the news last night…

I’m not American or a military man, but I used to be in army cadets in junior high, so I know there’s a lot of team pride when it comes to the armed forces. I’m sure a great many who put on the uniform for their country feel another soldier’s pain when they go down whether from a bullet or a legal dispute so here’s some sympathy to all that feel pretty shaken up about this not to mention their families who miss them too.

When I saw the story on the news last night about soldiers peeing on dead enemies the first thing that popped into my head was this must be psychological warfare. What kind of grown men would do such a disgusting thing in a country where they’re supposed to be “peace-keepers” & put a video on the internet about it? I’m not even gonna joke about it, it’s pretty disrespectful.

I’m not going to speculate too much but I’m sure that an act like this doesn’t represent even a small fraction of those that leave their families behind to put their life on the line and definitely not the people of the country they’re “defending”. Anyways, I’m in no position to speak on their behalf but here’s an apology, I’m sure they weren’t thinking about the long-term & that they must feel terrible for the sake of their loved ones. I for one can forgive…