July 26

Got an email this morning from Derek Sivers (formerly CD Baby). Derek has recently returned from the TED Talks at Oxford. Honestly, with so much information flying at me, I had forgotten about TED. Just check-out the website and the videos of the speakers from all the previous TED Talks. What a great resource for creative material. Topics are just completely all over the grid. As a creativity exercise, it's fun to try to connect seemingly totally unrelated ideas/topics to come up with fresh new perspectives.
TED
Derek Sivers blog about TED

"For example, I plan to live in a dozen different countries around the world, for 1-3 years each. Most of my friends think I’m weird for this, but at TED I met four separate people who have done this or are doing it now." Sivers

It was just last week that I talked about this same idea with some friends. I was thinking more like a 5-year plan. That gives plenty of time to immerse in the language/culture.

Brother Paulus at TED


Brainpickings.org


Recently, I've been doing a lot of ear training. I've played a lot this past few years and gotten caught up in the flow of practicing at home and running out to do gigs/rehearsals. Now I'm in a stage of going back and doing all the things I was doing when I was 23-26 years old. I'm back to doing Ran Blake and Marc Copeland exercises daily. So, I've been wondering about the effects of perfect pitch on one's creativity and /or improvisational ability.
Abosolute Pitch

Wiki Perfect Pitch
Research on Pierfect Pitch

Interesting little piece on "jump-starting" the creative process.
Stimulating Creativity Using Forced Serendipity
Stimulating Creativity Using Forced Serendiipity

I was scanning over some books on Amazon and ran into several books that I read back in the 1980's and 90's. Going to have to go back over them soon. As I recall, the most important page in Think and Grow Rich is page 32 or 36. Here Hill gives the common steps that all of the successful folks he interviewed seemed to take on their path to greatness.

Think and Grow Rich - Napoleon Hill
Winning Through Enlightenment - Ron Smothermon
Transformation #1 - Ron Smothermon
Transformation: The Life and Legacy of Werner Erhard - Robyn Simon and Walter Maksym
Actualizations: You Don't Have To Rehearse to be Yourself - Stewart Emory
Handbook to Higher Consciousness - Ken Keyes

July 25

When I think of the creative process, I'm often drawn to movies and actors. Maybe some would think that strange coming from a trumpet player.

In the early 1990's after I left my gig as a trumpet soloist in the Navy Commodores Big Band in Washington, D.C., I found myself back in my hometown of Elkins, West Virginia. Some have asked why I made such a move. Well, it's a long story for another day. All I can say today is that at the time, things might not make sense. However, if you look back years later, events seem to fit together like a puzzle. At age 32, I was diagnosed with stage IV throat cancer. So, I think it made perfect sense that I was back in my hometown with my spiritual support group around me.

While living in Elkins, I was around some community theater folks. Occasionally, I played for some of the shows. It was always great fun.

During this time, I was playing in a club called Captain Tease quite often. It was one of those clubs that musicians can play almost style of music and people seem to really respect the spirit of the music. The was an actor from Elkins who had spent a number of years in New York named Dale Wilson. Initially, I knew Dale from his radio work in Elkins. He had a great voice on WDNE. It was years later that i found out about his talents as an actor and his years in New York.

Dale used to come to my gigs often. We had many good conversations during my breaks comparing the improvisational world of jazz musicians and the world of acting. I knew that Dale had a heart condition and I was always concerned about his habit of having scotch, peanut butter pie and chain-smoking at my gigs. Dale had so much to say about timing, rhythm and grounding. I really felt like I was in the presence of a master. Unfortunately, Dale passed away soon after. I'll have to say, I knew he REALLY lived his life. So, when it came time for him to pass on to the "next stage", I didn't feel sadness. I knew this was a guy that really "turned over every stone" and checked out life completely.

From that experience, I started to pay a lot more attention to the actors' world. People in Japan sometimes ask me about my favorite actor or movie. Without question, my favorite actor is Al Pacino and the movie is a movie that Pacino was in called Scent of a Woman.

Below are some of my favorite Pacino clips. Also you will see Pacino and DeNiro together in a clip from "Heat." DeNiro is probably #2 for me.



A Storyteller


Scent of a Woman

Scent of a Woman....commentary on women


Pacino and DeNiro in Heat

July 24

Was talking with my son about the possibility of him doing an independent study for a semester. Just the sound of that is interesting to me. Independent. Study. I was standing in the shower thinking about that this afternoon and wondered, "Why doesn't everyone do independent studies through school?" What is the other option.....dependent studies? Yeah, I remember going in and sitting for 90 minutes and frenetically taking notes. Not really listening to the lecture. Just trying to grab what I could, knowing that I would need to regurgitate some of that info in an exam. 2-4 weeks later I would have very little memory of anything on the exam much less all those notes from class. I know without a doubt, if I had done independent studies, I would have been a completely different student. Ah, there I go again, going against the system. Silly me. Independent studies?! Now that wouldn't prepare me for an assembly line now would that? I wouldn't be a very valuable human resource would I? Just listen to that. HUMAN RESOURCE.....

Maybe now would be a good time to introduce one of my favorite writers/speakers/researchers on the background of the formation of the education system in America. Below you will be able to listen to John Taylor Gatto being interviewed by Alex Jones.

July 23

Freddie Hubbard interview (audio)
Great interview with one of the masters. Freddie was a huge influence on me. I was fortunate to be able to go and hear him every night when he came through Washington, D.C. back in the 1980's. What a sound!
Freddie Hubbard interview (text)
Genetically Modified Food
I don't know about anyone else but, I don't want my food messed with in a lab before I eat it.
Yoga Journal
So many of the lessons of yoga can be applied to other areas of one's life. Yoga is something that i see myself doing until I die. Grreat for me spiritually, mentally and physically!
Amnesty International Tokyo English Network
New organization I'm interested in. They are showing documentaries every month. Go to the link above for more info.
Creative Pro - Shooting Sunrise/Sunset
I'm trying to get more and more technique before I upgrade to a better camera next year.
Population Media Center
Sounds like "eugenics " to me......
Derek Sivers Blog (Formerly with CD BAby)
Derek always has some interesting thoughts.
Hugh MacLeod -How To Be Creative
Really great piece by Hugh Macleod
Change This
Great website for ideas!
Phage - The Virus That Cures

WATCH THIS! Amazing almost no one in the western hemisphere knows about phage! AMAZING!
Bacteriophage
Pirates and Revolutionaries
Clever Ideas
Interesting Appoinments
LENSWORK Podcast #549
Language Monitor

July 22

July 22
Political Correctness
The origin and nature of political correctness.
Newspeak - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Literature Suppressed on Political Grounds
Suppressed Political Grounds


Phone gadget to diagnose disease
LENSWORK Podcast 547

"Political correctness (noun) and politically correct (adjective) (PC) are the terms applied to language, ideas, policies, and behaviour meant to enforce ideologic conformity to an orthodox authority. The usages are principally pejorative — ridiculing the “unquestionable authority” of the orthodoxy and the authority figure. The adjectival term politically incorrect denotes language and ideas, unconstrained by orthodoxy, that might offend the orthodox PC folk."

Political Correctness - Wikipedia

I've been hearing terms like politically correct, conspiracy theory, freedom fighter, militants, evil-doer, climate change, globalization, race card, hate speech, physically challenged, Indigenous citizens, Native-Americans, Flight attendant, peacekeeper, and pro-life. I wonder where a lot of these words come from. Kind of sounds like "newspeak" from 1984 to me. Hard for to me to put into words. But, I wonder how much my thoughts are "programmed" by the language. We often talk about computer languages and programming computers. How much are we "programmed" by our language? The media is so powerful and persuasive now. It's so easy for them to adjust the language. How does this affect my thinking, my view of reality, my ability to create and improvise. Living in a foreign country gives me an opportunity to observe people using a different language and the corresponding behavior, thought patterns and perceptions of reality. Since the basis of this blog is about creativity/improvisation, it makes me curious about the effects of language on my creativity.

July 21

Improvisation on "Improvisation"


Lenswork Podcast #546

Yoga Journal - "In the Zone"
Yoga Journal: "Riding Your Breath Home"
Creative Pro.com Newsletter
Dick Cheney's "Executive Assassination Ring".
Was British Weapons Expert Dr. David Kelly a Target?
KurzweilAI.net Newsletter
The Crowd Is Wise (When It’s Focused)
Mind Uploading Home PageMind Uploading.org
Harnessing Crowds: Mapping the Genome of Collective Intelligence (pdf-download)
Bacteriophage
Pirates and Revolutionaries
Scott Wollschelger
Would you give up your immortality to ensure the success of a posthuman world?
Ben Goertzel's BlogNASA Newsletter


Spent some time today going through a wide variety of things but, the one that really "got me" was the info on "mind uploading." OMG!!! It reminded me of a meeting I had a few months ago with a guy that works with an online virtual reality company similar to Second Life. We were having an interesting talk about futuristic kinds of things. I couldn't believe it when he casually told me that people will eventually be loaded onto discs! I was thinking, "What?! Did I hear him correctly?" Oh my, we're living in interesting times...

July 20

Lateral Action newsletter came today. I've really been enjoying this newsletter. Always great information on the creative process.

In this issue, the question is posed about multi-tasking. Is it productive? Is it even possible? There is also some good info from "flow" and creativity guru Csikszentmihaly about the "zone" of creativity and how we access it.

http://lateralaction.com/articles/multitasking/
http://lateralaction.com/articles/mihaly-csikszentmihalyi/





Alan Watt
Cutting Through the Matrix
Just like the title says, "Cutting Through the Matrix."


Alex Jones Podcast
News you most likely will not get through the mainstream media.