Fabulous groove break – let’s go back to the 70s shall we?
Monday, January 11th, 2010
I challenge you to not have this in your head for the next 3 days.
Archive for the “life” Category
Stephen Hawking: Evolution? You’re soaking in it..Info ‘R Us.
Sunday, January 10th, 2010We are evolving through “self-defined evolution.”
“I think it is legitimate to take a broader view, and include externally transmitted information, as well as DNA, in the evolution of the human race.”
This top 2009 post of Daily Galaxy is worth reading. I especially like this comment from Ionut: “We should be carefull because if this technology will be very efficient we will have humans that act like machines before we manage to create machines that act “human-like.” Sadly, I think we’ve already made a lot of progress toward making humans more machine-like and that we’re in a moment of negotiating a return to our human-ness. (via AndrewSullivan)
Jay Smooth intercepts a twitter fagbashing and skools a pro football player on strength
Saturday, January 9th, 2010This is incredibly heartwarming and inspiring to see from anyone, a straight guy no less, a straight black guy no less (because when’s the last time you saw a white guy trying to engage a black man on his misunderstanding of masculinity without sounding like a douchebag?)
1. Recognize when someone’s fagbashing and call them on it (in this case a The Kansas Chief’s Larry Johnson).
2. Know the story of Stonewall and the beginning of the LGBT rights movement.
3. Tell the story in such a way that makes you feel the strength and power of the queer folk who fought back at Stonewall.
4. Do it all with style.
Jay, when you hear that gay or queer means weak and lame and not a real man (or woman or the right gender etc) over and over again, it can be tough to 100% disbelieve it even when it you know from your leaders (those at Stonewall) yourself, your friends and family that it isn’t true.
I am so honoured that Jay will be a guest on this year’s Heather Gold Show at SXSW. Details coming very soon.
fabulous mini-break: Sylvester Makes Me Feel Mighty Real
Friday, January 8th, 2010Rockmaster Scott and the Dynamic 3 – Request Line
Thursday, January 7th, 2010
Before the Internet, before Kutiman when hair was its own country
(via TNC)
Comedy playlist: Madeline Kahn and Gilda Radner
Saturday, December 19th, 2009
70s SNL clip. Madeleine does a baby eating ice cream for the first time. Gilda does a parrot.
People often ask me about who i like comedically and what influenced me. I’m going to occasionally post favourite comedy bits. Here’s two of my all-time favourites together. Both brilliant. Both “heart over head” as I’ve read Judy Toll liked to say about comedy she liked and the brilliant comedy she did. Judy was the closest thing I’ve seen to Gilda and Madeleine and cancer took them all. Fuck you cancer. You’re not as big as this what they did.
Baby Vera’s first art installation
Friday, December 18th, 2009
Can you succeed at business and be a good person?
Friday, December 18th, 2009I got a lovely compliment the other day naming me as someone making a name for myself entrepreneurially and being ethical.
I think every artist has to deal with business. But we tend to do it the way Gruber quotes Disney (me I’m not so sure Disney meant it): we make money in order to make work not the other way round.
I believed I had to work in business and not make creative work for many years because I grew up in a family where business was seen as reality. I question for years, “Can you succeed at business and be a good person?”
I asked Sara Little Turnbull this question once (and why the hell doesn’t this pioneer of industrial design have a wikipedia entry? Among other things she invented Corningware). She lives for human values and it took her a while to answer.
She told me a story about turning down a job for Charles Revson who wanted her to put his lipstick in every drugstore in the world and sell it for some high price. She walked out of the meeting but turned around and walked back and told him: only if I can make it worth what you’re charging.
Now I think we have a moral imperative to make the necessities of life available to people. But to the degree to which business is the way in which human being exchange things to meet their wants and needs (tougher question about business’ ability to meet all needs) well being honest, having real choice and providing real value seems to be a better place to but your focus.This was the most helpful response I’ve had so far to my question. Focus on the value of what you’re creating. Make the exchange as fair as possible.
Do you want to feel you’ve out one over on people or that your stuff is really worth it?
And of course you can liberate yourself more from a money focus and business the more you minimize your needs and wants. The more you appreciate what you and and value what you do and make, perhaps the less you need.
I’m not sure I have the perfect answer. But I do know that you receive and live by whatever you focus on. If you spend all your time convince people and putting one over on them, well then that’s what your business, or “art,” is.
What do you think?
If you can’t feel the heat
Wednesday, December 16th, 2009
Sometimes you still have to be in the kitchen.
Sometimes ulnar nerve palsy means you get burned.
Why give thanks before you eat?
Wednesday, December 16th, 2009Just learned that gratitude puts your body in parasympathetic. And that’s the only state in which you can digest.
