I think records were just a little bubble through time and those who made a living from them for a while were lucky. There is no reason why anyone should have made so much money from selling records except that everything was right for this period of time. I always knew it would run out sooner or later. It couldn’t last, and now it’s running out. I don’t particularly care that it is and like the way things are going. The record age was just a blip. It was a bit like if you had a source of whale blubber in the 1840s and it could be used as fuel. Before gas came along, if you traded in whale blubber, you were the richest man on Earth. Then gas came along and you’d be stuck with your whale blubber. Sorry mate – history’s moving along. Recorded music equals whale blubber. Eventually, something else will replace it.

Brian Eno in his studio. Photograph: Harry Borden

Link: On gospel, Abba and the death of the record: an audience with Brian Eno

via The Music Industry Report

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The Decade’s 50 Most Important Recordings

Link: The Decade’s 50 Most Important Recordings

The post All Songs Considered: The Decade’s 50 Most Important Recordings appeared first on Graham English Blog Archives.

Really, it’s just a small challenge. Google something better.

301 Moved

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My question is fundamental: why can’t the arts and “entertainment” be considered part of the economy? And what do we have to do, exactly, to convince people that there are real jobs that don’t involve building roads?

Link: Democrats, Republicans Join to Ban Arts Stimulus, Declare Arts Worker Jobs Not “Real”

UPDATE: Great news. Congress Restores Arts Funding, Drops Arts Stimulus Ban, After Public Outcry

The post We’re In A Culture War appeared first on Graham English Blog Archives.

This is your victory.

And I know you didn’t do this just to win an election. And I know you didn’t do it for me.

You did it because you understand the enormity of the task that lies ahead. For even as we celebrate tonight, we know the challenges that tomorrow will bring are the greatest of our lifetime — two wars, a planet in peril, the worst financial crisis in a century.

Even as we stand here tonight, we know there are brave Americans waking up in the deserts of Iraq and the mountains of Afghanistan to risk their lives for us.

There are mothers and fathers who will lie awake after the children fall asleep and wonder how they’ll make the mortgage or pay their doctors’ bills or save enough for their child’s college education.

There’s new energy to harness, new jobs to be created, new schools to build, and threats to meet, alliances to repair.

The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep. We may not get there in one year or even in one term. But, America, I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there.

I promise you, we as a people will get there.

There will be setbacks and false starts. There are many who won’t agree with every decision or policy I make as president. And we know the government can’t solve every problem.

But I will always be honest with you about the challenges we face. I will listen to you, especially when we disagree. And, above all, I will ask you to join in the work of remaking this nation, the only way it’s been done in America for 221 years — block by block, brick by brick, calloused hand by calloused hand.

The New York Times has a great interactive video and transcript of Obama’s victory speech

The post This Victory Alone Is Not The Change We Seek appeared first on Graham English Blog Archives.

Marketers know that emotions make the sale. Good copywriters carefully choose a core buying emotion to pull at the prospect’s strings.

For McCain, that core emotion has been greed. McCain promises you will “keep what’s yours” and warns you of an impending socialist agenda. Greed and fear.

Obama, on the other hand, has continued to use the core emotion that put him in the world spotlight, hope.

I know I’m being marketed to. And I have no illusions that Obama will be our faultless savior. Well, maybe I have some illusion he will be.

But I do admire someone who takes the risky approach of appealing to higher ideals of hope, altruism, and thoughtfulness. I can get behind that marketing campaign wholeheartedly. And Obama is the only candidate who has a clearly articulated Plan for the Arts and Culture.

In Boulder, I used to the ride the bus to my job every morning with an older gentlemen named Charles. I would sit across from him at the front of the bus and he would tell captivating stories about the things he’d seen in the past. He was always upbeat and set the tone for my day.

I tell you this because I was happy to see his story go viral in a video yesterday. It turns out that he won a raffle to meet Barack Obama at a rally in Denver. It really couldn’t have happened to a better man.

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I’m here to tell you to be optimistic, but be very concerned.

The state of the economy is turbulent and severe. The shock and awe campaign has already begun. Ignore it and suffer the consequences.

But you can do something about it. You can educate yourself and speak out. You can blog, podcast, digg articles, discuss it, and put some effort into understanding the world in which we live.

You can also take a look at your own life and see if you need to make any changes.

I’m becoming more aware of my brainwashed consumption. I’m trying to understand my own fear. I’m taking a radical look at my life.

I know that I need to contribute more value to the world. I need less pseudo-zen detachment and more Zen embodiment. I have to kick my fears in the balls.

I realize that most of my readers are musicians so I won’t leave you hanging on apocalyptic thread. There’s great news for us!

To the people of the Great Depression, music was a “welcome respite from their daily hardships.”

I traveled with Harry Reser and his Cliquot Club Eskimos back in l936 through the mid-West on a series of one nighters only, the whole summer literally. And it was very hot and destructive, it was just terrible … and people were poor, they had no money, the Depression was on…. I turned around to Harry one time, I said, “Harry, why do, where do people get the money to come hear us?” ‘Cause we, you know we had people come hear us. He says, “You know, Jer, they save their pennies for the weekend so they can get … some beer and go out and pay whatever it costs to go to a dance with their wives or girlfriends, have a ball, forget about their trouble and then … after it’s all over, start all over again, get that money back.

We can contribute and prosper.

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“Ten years,” said Banzo.

“My father is getting old,” pleaded Matajura. “Before ten years have passed I will have to return home to take care of him. Suppose I work twice as hard. How long will it take me?”

“Thirty years,” said Banzo.

“How is that?” asked Matajura. “When I offer to work twice as hard, you say it will take three times as long. Let me make myself clear. I will work unceasingly. No hardship will be too much. How long will it take?”

“Seventy years,” said Banzo “A pupil in such a hurry learns slowly.”

Matajura understood. Without asking for any promises in terms of time, he became Banzo’s servant. Three years passed. Matajura cleaned, cooked, washed, and gardened. He was ordered never to speak of fencing or to touch a sword. He was very sad at this, but he had given his promise to the master and resolved to keep his word.

One day while Matajura was gardening, Banzo came up quietly behind him and gave him a terrible whack with a wooden sword. The next day in the kitchen, the same blow fell again. Thereafter, day in and day out, from every corner and at any moment, Matajura was attacked by Banzo’s wooden sword. He learned to live on the balls of his feet, ready to dodge at any moment. He became a body with no desires, no thought, only external readiness and quickness. Banzo smiled and started lessons. Soon, Matajura was the greatest swordsman in Japan.

From the book, The Last Word On Power, by Tracy Goss.

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This is the true joy in life, the being recognized by yourself as a mighty one; the being thoroughly worn out before you are thrown on the scrap heap; the being a force of nature instead of a feverish selfish little clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy.

I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the whole community and as long as I live it is my privilege to do for it whatever I can. I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work the more I live. I rejoice in life for its own sake. Life is no brief candle to me. It is a sort of splendid torch which I have got hold of for the moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations.
~George Bernard Shaw

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The challenge on a personal level is that you need a sustainable source of personal energy. No, I don’t mean a refrigerator stocked with Red Bull. But because information almost has a caloric value, what you put in your body matters. Your health and physical fitness directly relate to your ability to create, consume, and manage information.

On a social level, the challenge is also finding a sustainable source of energy for all of our information systems. Which also includes the personal energy of the people involved in these systems, our information creators, managers, and consumers.

I believe that it’s our duty to put relevant and important information into the minds of people who need it in as efficient a manner as possible.

The opportunities are rich. We need to create more efficient and abundant forms of energy on a personal and social level. We can research and market personal energy management systems. Subtle energy practices like qigong or tai chi are already finding their way into the mainstream. To some of you, these opportunities are obvious. But it is still surprising to me how many people never think about energy in any of its forms.

We need to think about usability. We can make our information easy to consume and teach people how to use our information better. We can share our own usability hacks. Steve Rubel just saved a couple of hours a year by tweaking his information management. There’s a growing market for LifeHacks.

Bottom line is this: I’ll have better information management and have more energy as soon as I get my iPhone.

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