Brainwashed

To read Seth Godin's article, "Brainwashed" follow the link -------> Link

Acknowledge the Lizard

One of the layers of reinventing yourself, according to Godin, is acknowledging the lizard. When Godin says that he is basically saying that you should not fear failure. He is also saying how when you are acknowledging the lizard you are conforming to the rules and regulations of life. Do no be afraid to branch out and explore your artistic side. He also states that you have to acknowledge the lizard so that you may ignore it so that your art of genius is not quelled by the resistance. 

Learn

Godin says that learning is the key to the other six ways of reinventing yourself. This is basically saying how you have to keep learning as much as you can. You cannot just do the same thing over and over again anymore for a job. You have to be able to do multiple things. 

The learning part definitely is playing a huge role on me and this blog i am creating. I have never used a blog before so I had to learn and adapt and now linking other's blogs to mine as well. I feel as though these assignments are very useful as they teach us useful skills we made need in a future career. These blog assignments will definitely make me a better communicator and writer. I will need both those skills later in life and in my career. 

SoundScape Critiques

My SoundScape can be found in my blog under the post titled, "SoundScape........Finally".

Kevin Crowder's SoundScape -------> Here

Peter Hauptman's SoundScape ------> Here

Andrew Nalette's SoundScape ------> Here

After listening to each of the above classmates soundscapes here is an audio critique of each:

Kevin's SoundScape critique

Peter's SoundScape critique

Andrew's SoundScape critique

Exploration of Cover Songs

The song I will be examining is called "Forever Young". The original is by Alphaville and the covered version is by Jay-Z featuring Mr. Hudson.

The Original by: Alphaville

Covered Version by: Jay-Z featuring Mr. Hudson

To start off this exploratory essay I just want to say that I enjoy both versions of the song. Each song has its own unique style that sets it apart from the other one. Each song starts off with the same LYRICS. Each song also keeps the same the same chorus line which goes like this:

"Forever young, I want to be forever young

Do you really want to live forever?

Forever young"

So in some sense each song shares common lyrics but the "meat" of the songs have different lyrics. Although the lyrics are similar their are several differences between the two songs. Jay-Z's song has a faster pace of SPEED than Alphaville's version. Since Jay-Z is involved with rap, it did not surprise me that his version is faster than the original. The INTENSITY of each song is very different as well. In the original, the music is definitely much softer than its rap counter part. I think that Alphaville did this on purpose. It sounds as though they wanted their audience to just sit back, relax, and enjoy the song. On the other hand Jay-Z's version is louder than the original. His purpose for this is for his listeners to hopefully get the adrenaline pumping a little bit and to have a more dance like feel to it. Which brings me to the different TIMBRE of each song. The original definitely has the personality of a nice, slightly slower, relaxing vibe. It has more of a cool and smooth tone to the song. The covered version has a more up beat vibe and makes you want to dance. The dance groove that Jay-Z's song gives out, makes you think that the song could definitely be heard at a club scene.

While listening to both of these songs you really just feel good. On a SUBCONSCIOUS level, at least to me, whenever I hear the chorus I think of what it was like when I was younger. Don't get me wrong, I realize that I am still a young man, but I can still remember way back when I was a little kid. It reminds me of living in Michigan with my mother and brother and how my brother and I would always play outside. Whether it be summer and us swimming in the lake at my grandparents house; or the winter when there was plenty of snow and we would go sledding. Now that I'm older I don't really think about my younger years as much. Things that I enjoyed then don't seem to be as fun now. Also I lost my innocence that I had when I was a little boy. Now I see the world how it really is and it is slightly depressing. In Jay-Z's version of "Forever Young" their is a small amount of TENSION AND RELEASE. The most specific example of this is at the beginning of his song. As soon as you hear the soft tone and soft pitch of the vocals you think its going to be another slow song that sounds the exact same as the song by Alphaville. The tension is then released when Jay-Z starts to freestyle the lyrics and the beat starts to pick up. 

Now comes the decision: Which song do I like better? Is it the original soft beat, feel good song by Alphaville;    or is it the cover version by Jay-Z which is  more up beat and catchy? The verdict is.......... Jay-Z's version. Both versions of the song have parts I like and parts that I dislike. I just happen to like more upbeat songs better than slower songs. I think its just a personal preference.  

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My Song

You can listen to my song that I created on garage band by clicking on the link.

My Song

SoundScape........ finally

Me and Ryan's SoundScape http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vzMwWSac7uQ

Finding Your Howl

 To read Jonathon Flaum's article Finding Your Howl click the  link below http://changethis.com/manifesto/show/51.01.YourHowl


One of his stories is about a red wolf named Mumon who was in captivity because his species was about to become extinct. So they were brought into captivity to repopulate and this is about Mumon's journey as he is released into the wild. The story starts off with him running around and not knowing what to do because he had been in captivity for so long. He gets hungry and chases down a deer but does not remember how to howl. He catches the deer and the deer tells him that he does know how to howl. Mumon still cannot howl. Next he meets a raven who tells him that he knows how to howl on the inside. Still Mumon cannot howl. He next meets a farmer who has a gun. The farmer shoots Mumon and he goes into a spirit like phase. He floats around and hears the sounds of indians pounding on there drums. He floats over to them and goes into there fire which brings out his own inner fire and allows him to howl. He wakes up howling and realizes it was all a dream and he knew how to howl because it was inside of him all along. The main point that Flaum is trying to make is that you can do  anything you want as long as you look deep inside yourself to find your inner fire that is needed to accomplish the task.


Here is a link of me talking about what in media grabbed my attention as a creative person.
http://www.podsnack.com/playlists/44d896b3114b20b8942b8d9b9a231683

ignore the last 25 sec of me talking as i forgot to stop the recording.

Ways to get Ideas

In Mitch Ditkoff's "14 Ways to get Breakthrough Ideas" http://changethis.com/manifesto/show/49.06.14Ways he describes the many unique ways to come up with brilliant ideas. His fourteen ways of coming up with "breakthrough ideas" are creative and yet simple. They are everyday suggestions that everyone can use. He also includes ways to go about looking for that one breakthrough idea. Each idea is different and they can all contribute into helping someone come up with a new breakthrough idea. The whole article helps to relate some famous ideas and how the creator came up with them to the average joe and how he can come up with his own ideas. Following your fascination and immersing yourself in your work are his first two suggestions. Tolerating ambiguity and making new connections are his next two suggestions. Fantasizing and defining the right challenges follow new connections. Listening to your subconscious and taking a break are next. Noticing and challenging new patterns and trends and socializing with a diverse group of people are two other suggestions. Brainstorming and looking for happy accidents are two more of Ditkoffs suggestions. Using creative thinking techniques and suspending logic are his last two suggestions for ways to get breakthrough ideas.
 I think one of the more important suggestions is the seventh suggestion. Listen to your subconscious. This is really important and a good suggestion because your subconscious defines who you are and knows what your limits can be. If it is a truly impossible task, deep down your subconscious will realize it and you need to listen to it. Your subconscious is just like your instinct and can get you out of tough situations. Your subconscious will come through in the end and help you come up with that one breakthrough idea. Consciously you can only think of a number of ideas that mostly will make some sense. However on the subconcious level of your mind u can create amazing ideas that might not make sense to you at the time but as they move to the forward part of your brain you can begin to pick up on the idea and it will make more sense then.
 Ditkoffs second suggestion is also important in getting a breakthrough idea. Immersing yourself in what you want your idea to be can greatly increase your odds of coming up with the breakthrough idea. The more you put yourself out there and on the line of what you are trying to accomplish the more you have a chance of accomplishing it. Putting yourself in the mindset of complete immersion in the search for the breakthrough idea will more often come up with results than if you do not immerse yourself. As a wise man once said, knowing is only half the battle. The other half can come through hard work, which can be easier if you immerse yourself in your topic so that you will know all aspects of what you are trying to create.
Ditkoff's last but certainly not least suggestion is, in my opinion, the most important suggestion of the fourteen. Suspending logic can lead to unexpected and sometimes amazing results. Most if not all great inventions were created in this way. Over analyzing things in some cases can help but more often than not it can deter you from coming with a truly brilliant idea. If you just "go with the flow" and abandon all signs of logic you can often come up with a new and ingenious idea. This sort of ties into the idea of listening to your subconscious even if you do not understand it at first, later it will make sense.
 At the end of Ditkoff's first suggestion of following your fascination he challenges us to think of what idea captures our attention. He also asks the audience to honor this fascination and think about how we can honor it today. An idea that catches my attention is the idea of a video game that is just a total virtual reality game in which u go into a room and stand on a platform and some other version of you in a video game like world does what ever u do in that room. Players could fight against each other in a action type game without hurting each other. It could also offer physical activity in the form of a video game and thus still be fun. I am going to honor this fascination in the future by hopefully becoming a video game designer. I really want to push the boundaries of the video game world and move it out of the console stage. Don't get me wrong I love the console and have one myself but I think video games have too much potential to be stuck inside of a box. The wii and the xbox kinect have started to push the boundaries and I am really excited to see what the future holds and hopefully I will be able to come up with the necessary steps needed to help push this idea into reality.

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Who influences Me

I am a pretty creative person in my own regards but sometimes i do not know how to create what i can come up with in my mind. I think some of the most creative people on this earth now a days are movie directors. Its sometimes amazing to think of what some directors can come up with. Troy Duffy is one of my favorite directors and is the person who inspires me. He is a perfect example of Tension and Release in the way that The Boondock Saints, and The Boondock Saints 2: All Saints Day was shot. The way he films the action sequences in those two movies is very unique. He starts off the action scenes with the main charater just about to go and shoot the bad guys and then immediately jumps to the end where the police try to guess what happens at the scene and gather evidence and such. Soon as they come up with a conclusion it jumps right up to where the main character is about to shoot and plays out what actually happens. Duffy builds up the tension when he shows you what is about to happen and then builds it up further by skipping ahead. He finally releases the tension when he shows what actually happens. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4L6Lpaxw4RY&feature=related

Duffy also uses many good examples of Text and Subtext more specifically Misdirection. In The Boondock Saints Duffy misdirects the audience several times throughout the movie. In the beginning of the movie the special agent Smecker was trying to catch the two "saints" in order to bring them to justice. As the movie goes on he realizes that maybe all the killing they are doing is not so bad after all. By the end of the movie he helps them take down a mafia leader. Throughout the movie the audience is inclined to feel that the saints are doing bad and that the special detective should catch them and put them in jail. But Duffy makes it so that by the end of the movie you want to cheer on the saints. And at the very end of the movie the camera goes out and gets the "averages joes" opinion on the saints. It is pretty much split down the middle with half the population loving them and the other half hating them.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PlZvYu19IUY

Conscious and Subconscious is another theme that Duffy uses in the two Boondock movies. He uses this extremely well when it comes down to the music in the movie. During action scenes he plays church like music. You are consciously seeing the action and violence. You also see death and blood and gore. Subconsciously you think of how "saint like" they are. The church music also makes you think of how good of a deed they are actually doing. The switching back and forth of the music brings the audience in and out of a mental state of peace when the church music is playing and a mental state of action and high tempo. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2z68yZAIhNU&feature=related

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I dont know how to blog at all

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