Mario Miranda's Blog

From Gaga To Liszt: A Musical Journey

2012-01-16T20:08:00.000-08:00

It all started one cold morning, not long ago, when I turned on the TV and a Matlock episode was beginning. I've never watched that show, as I consider it for and older audience, but what caught my attention was that it opened with a very old ragtime piece. Wait a minute, I thought, I've heard this song before, a long long time ago. Yes, undoubtedly I had heard it before, and I recalled hearing it in an old cartoon. I copied some of the lyrics, which mentioned something about a "ragtime gal," and in a few seconds the Internet (which I half-jokingly call the oracle) delivered a 50's Warner Brothers cartoon in which a green frog sings ragtime pieces, driving its owner mad in the process.

The song is Hello Ma' Baby, and it is one of a handful of ragtime standards that are still known by name today (The WB cartoon is a delight and a classic; you can see it here). Hearing Hello Ma' Baby got me thinking about Duke Ellington's Take the A Train. But Take The A Train is of course a jazz piece, not ragtime. I dug up an old CD with the original Ellington standard, and it became clear to me that the delightful piano at the beginning of the tune has a definite ragtime influence. Indeed, Ellington was originally a ragtime musician, heavily influenced by Scott Joplin, the great ragtime pianist.

For some reason, ragtime also got me thinking about Lady Gaga. Strange, because even though I admire Lady Gaga and recognize her talent, I've never been into her music; I never paid attention to it, or at least never realized I did. But I could not scape the feeling that somewhere in her pop hits there lies a ragtime influence. I watched some of her videos, and the only influence I could find just by listening was a certain similarity in her piano's playfulness, but not something that could be pinpointed. I searched a little more, and found a fantastic video in which she appears live before a French audience. In it, the TV host asks her to play something classical, and she indulges him by playing not a classical piece, but of all things, a part of Joplin's Maple Leaf Rag! In addition, in her "You And I Video" she plays an old 1905 Shilling upright, just like the ones played at the height of the ragtime era. All of a sudden I realized that one of the greatest pop singers of our time has a very deep musical heritage and pedigree. But it didn't stop there. Joplin was in turn influenced by Franz Liszt, the greatest piano musician of the 19th century.

Liszt was the first to tear up a concert hall with his performances, as Lady Gaga would some 150 years later. Last October, on occassion of his 200th birthday, NPR called him "The World's First Rock Star."

What a musical trip I got into, all thanks to an old Matlock episode.

--Mario Miranda

High Pixelation

2011-09-09T08:14:00.000-07:00

Sometimes too much detail is off-putting. When presenting a persona on the Internet, people sometimes go overboard and leave nothing to mystery. Why should we bother to find out more about them in person, when we saw something on their LinkedIn or profile or a Twitter post that we didn't like? Leave something to the imagination. A brush stroke or an impression is often more intriguing than a detailed image that shows all the hairs and wrinkles. It's what is called "cat string theory" in the seduction community: dangle a string over a cat and it will want to play with it and chase it; let the string fall to the ground and the cat immediately loses interest. Less is more.

Why Are Realtors Networking In All The Wrong Places?

2011-08-24T10:11:00.000-07:00

1. My friend, Generic Realtor #1 is doing a great effort with his networking. Heck, he's getting pretty good at it. He dutifully attends all Biz Networking meetings, goes to the local Chamber of Commerce after hours events, and visits other monthly professional networking events. Not to mention a nice Facebook page. My friend, Generic Realtor #2 does the same.

The purpose of all this networking effort is getting referrals. They do OK. They get referrals from their closing attorney friend, the mortgage specialist, the home inspector, even the local plumber. All of this is valuable. Yet my Generic Realtor friends are struggling every month...

2. My friend Star Realtor Of The Area (the one and only, no #1 and #2 here) doesn't bother with any of that. No BNI. No Chamber Of Commerce. A paltry Facebook page with 100 "fans." Yet she's always closing, and she doesn't work as hard! I did some research, and here's what happens:

At networking events you are networking with a bunch of hungry sales people, not the end consumer (a home buyer or seller)
The Star Realtor goes to the end consumer and doesn't waste time and energy at professional networking events
She does so by effective marketing (it's cheaper than you think) and effective networking

But why do Generic Realtors don't follow her example? Because,

they think that effective networking is pushy or hard
it's easier to attend a structured event, even if that puts you in front of another 100 hungry sales people instead of the end consumer
they think that advertising is expensive
they don't have the right marketing tools (effective words, proper ads)

What is effective networking? It's getting in front of the right people, looking for opportunities and always being ready. I've seen my Star Realtor friend at ballroom dancing events, at the weekly summer concerts, at volunteering events, at church. She's always nicely dressed and has plenty of cards, but most importantly, she's friends with the community!

Please note: I'm not knocking Biz Networkings, Chambers Of Commerce or other professional networking organizations. They are incredibly valuable and have made the careers of many Realtors. But they should not be your only marketing effort!

If you are a Realtor and not being very successful, get out there, invest in marketing (your hungry competitor will stay hungry because he won't), and be in the community!

Feel free to add comments or input below. Happy selling!

--Mario Miranda

PS: if you're curious about effective marketing, I have the right tools for you. Just drop me a line: mario@designbranding.net

Getting To The Essence Of Things

2011-07-08T21:32:00.000-07:00

   The simple approach is often the best one.

   Alfred Hitchcock did it in Vertigo. He only had to use a woman's face. He zoomed in Kim Novak's lips first, and then on her eyes, from which the movie title appeared, followed by an ominous endless spiral. From then on the viewer's attention was complete.

   Apple did it with the iPod. They could have listed features, capacity, and battery life. But instead they advertised only the benefit: 1000 songs in your pocket.

   Pablo Picasso did it when he painted The Cock. He could have drawn in exquisite detail the feathers, beak and crest of a rooster, but instead we get a much clearer idea of the animal's character and mindlessness from the simplicity and strength of Picasso's linear rendering.

Simplicity is specially valuable in advertising. Simple messages are easier to read and sink in better than complex ones. Imagine a small restaurant owner trying to promote his new place. Drivers will never stop to read a sign that lists his menu items and drink offerings, but they will instantly get the idea and be drawn to the new restaurant if they see a professionally made sign that simply says DELICIOUS LUNCH SPECIALS.

--MM

Don't Mess With Superman, Man

2011-06-13T21:45:00.000-07:00

When I was little I wanted those shiny red boots that Superman wore. I wanted the boots in particular, even more than the cape. On the movie's opening day my dad took me to a huge theater (there were no multiplexes then) and I nearly got trampled by the rushing audience wanting to see Christopher Reeve and Marlon Brando. Since then Superman has been a part of my psyche. I had the trading cards, the comics, the occasional Man Of Steel underwear. And now DC Comics has changed Superman's iconic outfit. The boots are gone. He looks shabby. I don't want to be like this Superman, man! To me the new version is akin to messing with the original Coke formula or the Gap logo (remember the new one one? I think it lasted about ten minutes).

Why Not!

2011-06-13T20:50:00.000-07:00

Imagine a big, bright beautiful future. Why not? Is reality too overwhelming? Forget it for a while and see the dream come true. It's your imagination, and it takes as much effort to visualize either the best or the worst. The interesting thing is, whatever is imagined becomes a dominant mindset, and then a reality. Let's go from seeing the situation as a great opportunity instead of a great problem; it's what Steven Covey called a paradigm shift.

There are plenty of examples, but the one that comes to mind right now is the famous Jim Carrey check to himself. Somewhere I read that before he was a celebrity he issued a check for 10 million dollars to himself, for services rendered. He carried the check around, and saw it every so often, imagining it was real. At around that time he was offered that amount for "Dumb and Dumber." Jim put the check in his dad's casket when he passed away, because it was their shared dream.

Imagine the new car, a great new relationship. the illness gone, the job found. Why not! There's nothing to stop our grand imagination from creating a new reality.

Facebook, A Magrittean Reality

2011-05-20T20:14:00.000-07:00

Among the amazing collection held at the Los Angeles County Museum Of Art (LACMA) is René Magritte's "The Treachery of Images." In it, he realistically depicted a pipe, only to write underneath it, Ceci n'est pas une pipe, French for "this is not a pipe." This was not a contradiction in terms.He intended from the beginning to demonstrate that the painting was only the depiction of a pipe, not the real thing."Just try to stuff it," he famously said.

It recently occurred to me that the same happens with Facebook. Not long ago I accepted a "friend request" from a man that I don't know in person. He usually makes pleasant status updates (to which I comment) and posts videos of music that I "like." By coincidence I saw him on the street, and recognizing his picture, I tried to salute him. But all I got was an awkward, forced nod; he quickly looked away and kept going. Clearly, we didn't really know each other. Facebook is not society, it is a depiction of society. I have directly known of people who spend most of their waking hours checking statuses, posting updates, and liking others people's posts. But sitting in front of a screen and clicking on the mouse will never substitute the warmth of real personal interactions. Ce n'est pas la société. Just try to shake the screen's hand.

On Writing Well

2011-05-13T20:17:00.000-07:00

I'll be brief. Your time is valuable, so I will jump right in:

Be brief. Avoid unnecessary anecdotes or side stories. While those elements sometimes make the writing more interesting (and help fill pages), your writing will be more appreciated, more lively, and more to the point if you stick to the main idea of what you're trying to say.

Avoid cinematic images. It is common to read cinematic descriptions in blogs and news articles. But they cheapen the writing and make you look like an amateur. A few examples:
"And we sat there for a long time (fade to black)."
"I turned to look at him in slow motion."
"We last saw each other in the mid-90's. Fast forward 10 years."

Avoid phone texting lingo. Even if it is not abbreviated. Avoid phrases like "Oh my God," "My best friend forever" or "I was laughing out loud." Leave that verbiage for your text messages, unless you're describing the way teenagers speak.

Avoid Latin phrases. While sometimes there is no better way to describe something than with a Latin phrase (as in "flatted fifths are the sine qua non of be-bop"), they often make the language more cumbersome and hard to understand. This can be tricky; Latin phrases do add descriptive value to the written word, but your audience may not be ready for them.

Edit, edit, edit. More than one famous author has said something like "I don't write books, I rewrite them." Writing takes a lot of discipline, revision, editing and rewriting. Only inexperienced writers are content and satisfied with the first draft, but the results are invariably mediocre.

Focus on telling the story, not on elaborating literature. I could write, "the brazen minute raindrops splattered across my rostrum" or I could simply say "the harsh drizzle got on my face." You decide which sounds better.

Happy writing, or better said, happy rewriting.

Complete Words, Complete Workout

2011-05-09T07:30:00.000-07:00

It all starts with the language. You see, I'm trying to build some endurance. Late at night, after a long work day I push myself to drive to the gymnasium, which as it turns out is more user-friendly late at night. It is cleaner and quieter, and I get to tune five (five!) television sets and flip the audio on the elliptical machine when one show seems more interesting than another.
   My typical routine is to start with cardiovascular exercise, for half an hour. I then do free weights for whatever muscle group I'm scheduled to do that night. Sometimes it gets very hard to finish the repetitions, but with concentration and focus a lot can be accomplished. My routine is completed when I finish three sets of abdominals.
   And just by using the complete words instead of their abbreviated form (gym, cardio, reps, abs), I feel like I've built some endurance and resisted the impatient impulse to do everything instantly, which is so characteristic of our time
   They sound better, anyway.
--MM

New Da Vinci Self-Portrait Discovered

2011-05-05T20:32:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago CNN published a story about a recently discovered sketch. The drawing, a small 3.5" by 5.5" sketch of a man facing left, is definitely reminiscent of other Leonardo sketches, but the researches weren't sure whether this was the work of a student or of the master himself. While everything seems to point Leonardo, the article fell short about my main curiosity: whether this was this a self-portrait or simply the sketch of a generic man.

Among other elements, the authenticity of the sketch has been inferred by:

A microscopic and chemical analysis of the paper, which placed the sketch in the same time period and place of other known drawings
The composition of the ink, which is virtually the same as that of Leonardo's "Arno Valley" sketch
Traces of glue on the back of the sketch, whose shape and dimensions fit perfectly on page 1033 of Leonardo's Codex Atlanticus
The technique and style of the composition

What was not mentioned in CNN's article, but was publicized on the sketch's official website Leonardo Rediscovered, is that the drawing may be the earliest known self-portrait by Leonardo da Vinci. More remarkably, the sketch has traces of ink that would make this the only signed drawing by the Florentine.

Such an exciting discovery merited further study. The available images on the Internet and on the official website were of low resolution, so I contacted Cristina Gerbino, daughter of the sketch's owner. She kindly sent me a high-resolution image:

In addition to the expert findings, I found further indication that this is indeed an early da Vinci self-portrait.

1. Verbiage
Da Vinci had a very peculiar way of jotting down his thoughts, often using repetitive words in different contexts within the same sentence. Note these examples from his notebooks:

"I ask at what part of its curved motion the moving cause will leave the thing moved and moveable."
A man was desired to rise from bed, because the sun was already risen.
The mirror conducts itself haughtily holding mirrored in itself the Queen. When she departs the mirror remains there"

The newly-discovered drawing has a scribble at the bottom which was later erased. The writing was analyzed on the "Leonardo Rediscovered' website and brought back by lighting methods and simple retracing, rendering this image:

This was translated to "This way I go doing this myself" which is a roundabout way of saying "I drew myself." The verbiage is consistent with a typical da Vinci sentence.

2. Tracing and Finishing
By manipulating the contrast and exposure, telling details of the sketch emerge. From the detail below one can see the original tracing (and almost the speed with which it was made), and how the final details of the facial features and hair were added. These elements are very consistent with other sketches by the Renaissance master.

3. Anatomic Dimensions.
The most remarkable aspect of the sketch to me is the sheer resemblance of the subject to the known self-portrait:

The sketches were made about 40 year apart, yet the dimensions correspond perfectly, and the age progression looks consistent. I traced the outline of the skull and re-sized the sketches. The result is a perfect match of the proportions of the forehead, pupils, nose and mouth. One can't help but to think that the man drawn is the same subject. This is my comparison:

All of these elements, plus the already established conclusions by the scholars, point to the very good possibility that this is indeed Leonardo da Vinci's earliest known, signed self-portrait.

There Is No Past

2011-04-20T17:31:00.000-07:00

1. In an old episode of "Married With Children", Al Bundy keeps trying to remember the name of an old tune from his youth. He remembers the portion "hm hm him", and sings it to everyone around, to no avail; no one knows what song he's talking about. It is until he finds himself at a record store that a higher power delivers the song to him via a jukebox. Only then is he able to identify the song's title and buy the record. (Here is the long version).

2. When I was a kid, I'd listen intently to songs that played on the radio. There were only two frequencies, AM or FM. The shelf life of radio music was about five years; songs played again and again, until they went out of fashion and were forgotten, replaced by an endless cycle of new hits. It was hard back then to find again most of the songs that stuck in my memory (which were plenty; I have a long musical memory). If I didn't know the artist's name or song title, it was unlikely that I would ever find a song again. The same went for TV shows and movies. Back in the early 80's even Betamax or VHS tapes didn't yet exist.

3. In the year 2000 I tried to find an old song that kept playing in my mind. The only portions that I remembered clearly were a verse that said something like "I just wanna be with you/near you" and a cheerful portion of the brass section. With that information I called the DJ at the radio station from my youth, and repeated to him -actually hummed- the portions I knew. He was unable to identify the song. I then tried to find the known verse on the Internet, but could not find a song that matched my memory among the thousands of lyrics that showed on the search results.

It all changed with the advent of YouTube. When I looked for the same song in late 2007, I immediately found "Any Fool Could See" by Barry White. Someone had uploaded it a few days before I searched. That was a significant discovery. From there I was able to find endless lost lyrics and songs. Among them were "Búscame" by a duo that in my youth didn't know was called Sergio y Estíbaliz; the vintage-sounding "Walk Right In" by The Rooftop Singers; "Popcorn,"a fun instrumental by Jean Michel Jarre.

A few sleepless nights ago I recalled an old song by Mexican singer Emmanuel. It must have been 1983 when I called a radio station, answered the contest question, and won Emmanuel's latest album, "En La Soledad " (which translates to "In Solitude"). I looked on YouTube for tracks from that record. While I remembered one called "The Last Day Of Autumn", I had forgotten another one that appeared as a YouTube suggestion, called "Por (Because)". I listened to it in the lone darkness of my room. For a brief moment I was nine years old again, full of hope, enthralled by a singer's beautiful voice, imagining vividly the things described in the lyrics. It then dawned on me that there is no longer a past. It can be brought back and recollected at will, through the magic of the Internet. I realized that, while I have been externally transformed by the years and experience, I am essentially the same timeless soul as when I was a transparent little kid.

Perhaps the millennial cultures of Asia, without the aid of technology, have always known the same. I hear that for them there is no past or future, just an endless cycle of life, without a beginning or an end.

--MM

I'll Do It!

2010-06-28T13:30:00.000-07:00

They say you gotta stay hungry
Hey baby I'm just about starving tonight
Bruce Springsteen, “Dancing In The Dark”

1. A few months ago a real estate broker and friend of mine asked me to make business cards for her newest Realtor. It was a fairly simple job, because the company layouts were already in the computer; all I had to do was add name and number. A couple of days later I called the new Realtor to tell her that the business cards were ready. When she arrived, she mentioned that even though she had a great job as a full-time nurse, she was going to try her hand at real estate.
I had largely forgotten about that job, until I bumped into my broker friend just recently. I asked her how the new Realtor was doing. “Not well,” she said: she had obtained only one listing, and had made no effort to sell it.

2. My ride-on lawn mower broke down. I needed someone to fix it, and through a referral found a handyman. I was expecting someone in work boots and blue jeans, but instead opened the door to a clean-cut fellow in khakis and a polo shirt. He introduced himself as an engineer, specializing in electronic repair. I showed him what the problem was —something purely mechanical— thinking that he would refuse the job or charge a prohibitive price. But much to my surprise he enthusiastically said, “I’ll do it!” A bit startled I asked him why, and without elaborating he explained that, due to his circumstances, he needed any additional income he could find. The job was not bigger than a hundred dollars, yet he hauled the mower to his house, repaired it, and brought it back home at no extra charge.

3. This contrast in attitudes between the Realtor and the handyman got me thinking in very favorable terms about hunger. Why would the Realtor not make an effort to sell a house that could yield her a few thousand dollars, while the handyman jumped at a small job with a small yield? The difference, of course, is that the handyman was hungry!
While complacency allows us to stay where we are, hunger --for the next customer, the next sale, the next achievement-- makes us say "I'll do it!"It is the fuel that propels us forward to actually go out and do something. It crystallizes what is needed, and makes us want it badly enough to go and get it. Even when things are going our way, it is always healthy to keep a level of discomfort, a craving for the next goal.
Sometimes I feel frustrated when one of my fitness, professional or financial objectives has not been met. But that is a good thing, because as long as the hunger is there, I’ll keep on striving.
--MM

The Misanthrope

2010-06-14T16:24:00.000-07:00

   While working as a corporate employee at Countrywide Home Loans in California, I came across a print of "The Blind Leading The Blind," by 16th century master Pieter Bruegel the Elder. Even though I am not an art connoisseur, it struck me immediately as a wonderful painting. In it, a blind man leads a group of peasants with a stick, and all of them are either falling or headed toward a ditch. The print reminded me of the leadership at my company, and I posted it conspicuously on the wall of my cubicle. I was expecting to be reprimanded or warned by my superiors, but perhaps Bruegel was more dead-on than I though: the item went unnoticed. A few months after I posted the picture, the company's CEO, Angelo Mozillo, was blamed and investigated for his participation in the mortgage crisis of the mid-2000s; Countrywide soon closed its doors.
   Having experienced Bruegel's depiction of poor leadership firsthand, I looked up more of his art. There are plenty of fabulous examples of it all over the Internet and in print. Two pieces caught my imagination: "Big Fish Eat Little Fish" and "The Misanthrope.'' The first is quite easy to understand if you have ever heard of corporate mergers and acquisitions. The second was fascinating to me, even though I could not recognize its meaning right away. I didn't even know what the title meant. I had to look up "misanthrope" to learn that it is a person who hates humankind. In the painting, an old man is inadvertently being robbed. His path is filled with thorns, and the caption at the bottom reads: "Since the world is so unfaithful, I am in mourning."
Every so often I would look at the picture and wonder what it meant. I refrained from reading interpretations as I find that art critics often know too much and understand too little. The answer came to me one day while traveling. I was going up a flight of stairs at LAX when a neat young tourist exclaimed to the woman that was with him, "I hate people!" Wait a minute, I thought, aren't they people?
   From then on I began to glimpse why I just didn't get that painting. It conveys great disillusionment in mankind. The old man has no faith, and as a self-fulfilling prophecy he is being robbed. He is walking toward thorns, while in the background a shepherd enjoys his life, oblivious to bitterness.
   People in my line of business --marketing-- are diametrically opposed to The Misanthrope. We tend to see the good in people. We are inclined to talk to strangers often. Everyone is interesting, everyone has a story. That is why I didn't get Bruegel's painting for so long. It just didn't fit my logic.
   Not long ago I joined a "tribe." It is a group of people that enjoy helping others grow their business, even though for the most part they are total strangers. The literal opposite of "misanthrope" is "philanthropist" or one that loves mankind. Even though the term is reserved for those who make grand contributions, I think that the people in my tribe are true philanthropists. Indeed, this generation of entrepreneurs is far from selfish or arrogant. Social media thrives largely on the generosity of everyone involved. We live in an era of sharing of ideas, concepts, models, images and everything that can contribute to the well-being of others.
   Bruegel perhaps intended to subtly show what was wrong in his society, and through his art encourage others to behave otherwise. More than four hundred years after he embedded his wonderful vision on canvas, his spirit is shared in more powerful ways than he could have ever imagined.
--MM

What Really Matters

2010-05-18T21:30:00.000-07:00

1. There's a scene in the 1987 movie Wall Street in which Bud Fox, the main character, is about to be arrested in front of his office. An Old co-worker, Mr. Manheim, takes him by the shoulder and tells him,
"Bud I like you, just remember something: Man looks in the abyss, there's nothing staring back at him. At that moment, man finds his character. And that is what keeps him out of the abyss." To which Bud replies, "I think I understand what you mean, Mr. Manheim."

2. The book Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser is, as its title says, about food. But oddly enough, its most lasting impact on me was not about the problems generated by patronizing McDonald's. Instead, the book's most memorable passage to me is one in which Schlosser details his experience at a convention in which Christopher Reeve appeared.
   Schlosser describes how speaker after speaker (all of them of national renown) conveyed their wisdom about making it while at the same time peddling their books and products. The convention had a party atmosphere, complete with fireworks and the Beach Boys blasting through the sound system. But everything stopped when Christopher Reeve appeared on a wheelchair on stage, aided by a respirator. He started elaborating on how he had pursued superficial, conventional dreams through his life, up until his accident. He mentioned making millions at an early age and being selfish and neglectful of his family. Once he had the accident (which as you may recall was a horse riding fall that left him paralyzed from the neck down), he realized the futility of conventional goals. "None of it matters," he said.

3. I saw Wall Street over 20 years ago when it first came out, and read Fast Food Nation almost a decade ago. For the most part I had forgotten about both. But recent events made me experience first-hand the meaning of that scene in Wall Street, and remember the paragraph about Christopher Reeve in Fast Food Nation. Thanks to recent events in my life, mistakes I've made and changes that have taken place, I saw myself in a position of losing everything I know and love. For a few days I was in the very real possibility of losing it all. It was a real risk, not imagined. Nothing as serious and hopeless as Superman's incapacity, but a real threat nevertheless.
   When everything is lost or appears to be lost, you very quickly see things with clarity, perhaps for the first time. The pursuits that most of us have are revealed as trivial. A beach house? A Lexus? Fame and recognition? All worth pursuing. Indeed, I'd rather pursue monetary goals than live as a bohemian. But the pursuit of these goals should not be the driving force.
What really matters at the moment of truth is the most basic: loving your family, giving back to your community, enjoying the moment, having a spiritual life. The moment I realized that I became more driven, more joyful and more appreciative. It might seem counter intuitive, but this realization got me out of the trouble I was in, and put me in the path to real wealth.
      --MM

SETI: The Truth About Us Is Already Out There

2010-05-07T18:25:00.000-07:00

   A couple of weeks ago the renown English physicist Stephen Hawking caught headlines with his assertion that we are better off not sending signals out to space with the purpose of establishing contact with extraterrestrials. In his new documentary series "Into The Universe With Stephen Hawking" which airs on the Discovery Channel, Mr. Hawking points out that "if aliens ever visit us... the outcome would be much as when Christopher Columbus first landed in America, which didn’t turn out very well for the Native Americans." Mr. Hawking mentions that aliens could be nomad travelers hungry for resources, coming to Earth only to conquer and colonize us.
   Those comments were publicized around the world as a news item. What didn't get filtered through the media noise is that Mr. Hawking has been saying the same thing for decades. In addition, in the documentary he covered many more possibilities about alien life. He said, for example, that aliens could be microscopic, or live only for fractions of a second, or have evolved into forms not evolved enough to communicate with us. Those possibilities, of course, were less shocking and therefore not newsworthy.
   What I found most interesting was not the possibility of life in the Universe, or that the aliens might be nomads out to dominate us, but the complete absence of religion in Mr. Hawking's Universe view. Indeed, in the following installment of his series, he pointed out that there might not be a God, because the Universe could have been created and collapsed several times without a hint of life, intelligent or otherwise, ever taking place.
   Yet religion has existed throughout every civilization on Earth. From our earliest Human ancestors to the present day, we find evidence of religious faith through wall paintings, artifacts, burial rituals, and manuscripts. Religion is a fundamental part of civilization. Stephen Hawking makes no mention of this, perhaps for better measure, as I can see yet another sinister possibility: that aliens could come to colonize us with the purpose of "evangelizing" us to whatever their creed is. We could be seen by them as idol-worshiping savages that need salvation through a new, yet unknown form of deity, just as the Spaniards conquered the Indians (as the Native Americans were known), stripped them of their idols, and subjugated them to Christianity.
   But should we be afraid? Could an alien civilization be out there, and could it be sophisticated and fast enough to not only make contact with us, but also to come and get us?
   I contacted Mr. Seth Shostak, Senior Astronomer at the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence Institute (SETI), which for decades has conducted active experiments and is constantly listening for intelligent signals from outer space. Mr. Shostak pointed out to me that,

   "The closest extraterrestrials are probably at least a hundred light-years or more away. That's 600 trillion miles, a distance that is better protection than any fence or military force. Beyond that, we've been sending notice of our existence into space ever since the Second World War ... in the form of radar, TV and FM radio broadcasts, not to mention the lights of our cities. While these signals are weak, they would NOT be so weak as to be undetectable for any culture able to build spacecraft that might conceivably threaten us. In other words, the truth about us is already out there. I don't think it's something we need fret about."

   So for all the media hype surrounding the Discovery Channel show, we should first of all not be afraid of the extraterrestrials. And if we really wanted to be afraid, we could also fear what their religious beliefs might be.
--MM

Easy Does It

2010-04-25T20:29:00.000-07:00

   Last night I went to bed early, because this morning I had a lot of work to do. I did everything right: set my alarm clock, read a relaxing book, and turned off the lights at 10 PM sharp. About two hours later I woke up, wide awake. I was concerned about not being able to work today, so I kept on reading my book, but it did not make me sleepy. I tried watching TV (which I usually find boring) but found an entertaining late-night show. Once it was over I turned everything off and shut my eyes, only to find myself thinking consciously for a long while. I lay there awake in exasperation, until I finally said "forget it," turned the lights back on, and opened my book, finally falling asleep as the new day arrived. What happened? I had just suffered a classic episode of Paradoxical Intent.
   Paradoxical intent happens when you want something very badly but, because of fear and anxiety, accomplish the opposite. Let's say that you need to pass a test in order to be certified in your profession. Your future career and income hinges on the certification, and you study arduously, sacrificing holidays and weekends. When the day of the test arrives you know your subject thoroughly. Nevertheless, at the the moment your pencil touches the exam sheet, your brain goes blank. After two hours of terror, you come out of the exam room certain that you will not pass. So much importance was placed on the exam that your mind shut down, incapacitated by anxiety and fear of failure. This is paradoxical intent at its worst, hampering dreams and aspirations. But it can be avoided in at least three ways, as described below (but feel free to share with me more if you know of any).
   Sandra Anne Taylor suggests that we detach ourselves from the outcome and let go of the urgency, thus deflating anxiety. This is especially helpful when someone fears losing a relationship. If they realize that anxiety and neediness drive people away, they might be able to retain their loved one with a more relaxed attitude.
   Viktor Frankl, indicates that people should confront their fears and limitations. In one of his examples, he describes a chronic stutterer who could no longer do so when he tried to do it purposefully. This is the approach I used. As soon as I decided I'd stay awake and read, I fell asleep.
   But Joseph Murphy has perhaps my favorite solution in times of stress: Easy does it. Even though he never mentions paradoxical intent, he gives us a magic formula for avoiding its effects in his best-seller The Power Of Your Subconsious Mind. He advises us not to use willpower.
      "Instead, visualize the end and the state of freedom it produces... Put away your intellectual problem-solving skills. Persist in maintaining a simple, childlike, miracle-making faith. Picture yourself without the ailment or problem. Imagine the emotional gratification of the freedom of state you seek. Cut out all the red tape from the process. The simple way is the best."
    Or as Bobby McFerrin put it: Don't worry, be happy.
--MM

Moment Of Glory

2010-04-20T20:03:00.000-07:00

Does winning matter when you perform at your peak?
Forty years ago an international music festival was held in Mexico City. It was the second annual such contest, celebrating the best of Latin music. The participants were recording artists from around Latin America, some of them at the height of their fame. Most of what happened at the 1970 event has been long forgotten, except a stirring performance by a young vocalist called Jose Jose.
Jose Jose was then 22 years old, and up to then had enjoyed limited success as a crooner in his native Mexico. The protocol of the show was to have each contestant sing his or her entry song several times, in successive rounds of eliminations. Jose Jose entered the contest with a dramatic, brass-laden song called El Triste (The Sad One). At each successive elimination, El Triste gained more momentum, and by the final round Jose Jose had the whole auditorium at his feet.
In the video, Jose Jose is presented by the announcer, and as he appears, the audience cheers wildly as it begins throwing roses on the stage. Jose Jose stands in the middle of a pedestal, accompanied by a full orchestra, and begins to perform a masterpiece that endures to this day. His voice is at once crisp, dramatic, and heartfelt. Soon most of the audience is standing, clapping, cheering and simply listening in awe as Jose Jose continues to plow through the lyrics. Indeed, as you watch this, you get the sense that this is the performance of a lifetime. One of Latin America's greatest singers of the time, Marco Antonio Muñiz, sits in complete awe, jaw dropped, as he listens to the thunder in Jose Jose's voice.
As the song draws to an end, the shower of roses intensifies, the crowd is as excited as ever, and Jose Jose clinches the song with a beautiful, painful lament. A standing ovation ensues, the flowers keep falling, a fan rushes to hug him, his colleagues congratulate him, and even the drummer cheers him on as he leaves the stage.
This was Jose Jose's moment of glory. Even though he went on to have a legendary career (including 26 platinum records and a star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame), he has mentioned in recent interviews that that date, March 25, 1970, was the defining moment of his life. Yet for whatever reason the jurors awarded him only third place.
No one remembers who the first and second places were.
--MM

Marketing Mastery From An Eight-Year-Old

2010-04-17T21:16:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago I visited my accountant at her office. I was there solely to turn in some paperwork for my taxes, but pretty soon would find myself making an unexpected purchase and getting a valuable Marketing lesson.
My accountant has been preparing my taxes for several years, and being a working mother, is sometimes accompanied by her little daughter. The girl, Mae, is a lovely black kid with colorful braids, eyeglasses, and a bright, wide smile. On this particular morning, while I discussed this year's return with her mother, Mae sat quietly nearby, browsing a booklet. Once I was done with my paperwork, I turned my attention to her and asked what she was reading. "Oh no, it's not a book," she said. It turned out that what she was holding was a school-fundraiser catalog. "I shouldn't have asked" I thought. For years I have been invited by nieces and nephews --eight of them-- to buy and support the school, but always refuse, considering the products to be extremely overpriced and of little value to me.
Mae dutifully showed me her catalog, and asked if I wanted to buy something. I didn't have to pay now, she said, I could pay when the order came in. She also said that she had already sold a bunch of tubs of popcorn the night before. Indeed, the order sheet was almost full. At first I politely said no, as I always do, but after a few seconds I found myself asking her what kind of stuff she had and whether she thought there was anything good in there. As if driven by an invisible force, I then took the catalog and started looking rather intently for something to buy. After much page turning and consideration, I chose a $14 pack of coffee. "It must be good at that price," I thought. I filled out the order sheet, and she promised to let me know when the coffee came in.
Once I left I realized what I had done. What happened? Hadn't I always ignored previous solicitations from my lovely nieces and nephews? What drove me, against all my logic, to buy from Mae? Without realizing it, she used time-tested, powerful marketing techniques, most of them outlined in Robert Cialdini's timeless classic Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion.

Exposure: Just about everybody has seen, sold, or bought from those fundraiser catalogs.

Familiarity: I had seen Mae on and off for years, as she usually accompanies her mother during Spring break, in the middle of tax season.

Social proof: Mae told me she had already sold a bunch of popcorn tubs the night before.

Authority: Mae is the daughter of my accountant, after all.

Commitment: I filled out the order sheet, thus committing myself to paying when the order came in. This also made it easy to make the purchase (pay later!).

Liking: Who could resist a smiling eight-year-old kid with colorful braids?

That little kid not only sold me coffee; she also sold me a priceless, real-life Marketing refresher course, for only $14.

--MM

The Power Of Now vs The Power Of The Future

2010-04-14T19:18:00.000-07:00

In order to find purpose and happiness, should focus on the future, or should we live in the now?
According to Viktor Frankl, we should focus our minds on our future lives. In contrast, Eckhart Tolle says that we should live in the now, and detach ourselves from past or future. These two schools of thought are separated by nearly fifty years; Frankl wrote "Man's Search For Meaning" after his horrible experiences as a concentration camp inmate at Auschwitz. Eckhart Tolle wrote "The Power Of Now" after recovering from deep depression, as the 20th century closed. Tolle wrote for the 21st Century reader; Frankl wrote for the post-war world.

But this does not mean that Tolle's approach is more advanced than Frankl's. They simply address different people under different circumstances. Having tried both approaches, I believe that we have the freedom to choose at any moment the thought that helps us the most, much like author Abraham-Hicks speaks of a "bag of tricks" to find the thought that makes is feel better.

Following Tolle's advice, we can focus our attention on the deliciousness of the moment. I tried this approach consciously for the first time two months ago while reading his book. Somehow I was able to quiet my mind and to experience reality with complete disregard for the future and completely unconcerned wit the past. The experience, merely a mental exercise, made me feel incredibly joyous and free. I felt like an eight-year-old, even though I am in my mid-thirties. Suddenly I was awed by every sight and sound. Mundane things looked and felt wonderful. I was in complete awe of the sky, the wind, the people at the mall, the freeways; everything. It was much like being a tourist and seeing a country and its people for the very first time. I was fascinated, even though I was in the South, where I have lived for over three years. All my concerns and worries were still very real; there was --as usual-- a list of "problems" to take care of. Yet Tolle's simple instructions allowed me, if only briefly, to enjoy life in this moment, this wonderful moment. But such an experience can only last for a few moments in an untrained mind. Since the first exercise, I have been able to be completely in the now more often, more at will.

Last week I started reading Viktor Frankl's "Man's Search For Meaning." He very much emphasizes that a man will surely die if he loses all hope in the future. According to him, we must find personal meaning and purpose in our lives. At times of personal pain, humiliation, and loss (and he experienced all of these to an extreme under the Nazis), we can always resort to the vision of a brighter, better future. We can always find solace in the prospect of completing our book, finishing our project, returning to our loved ones. Life can have meaning again if we have something to look forward to. This is an individual process, Frankl says, and no two persons' purpose can be identical.

Now if we look superficially at Frankl's approach and contrast it to Tolle's, we come to the conclusion that they are mutually exclusive. But I have found they are not; Tolle does not negate Frankl. Sometimes it is very useful for me to live in the now, as it is always delicious to be completely alive and present in the moment. But sometimes when I worry about something I resort to my vision of a bright beautiful future, where all my troubles are solved, where I am at total ease, where victory --complete victory-- has been achieved.

Eckhart Tolle is sometimes considered a "New Age" writer, while Viktor Frankl has always been considered a solid psychiatrist. But I do not concern myself with labels and categorizations. How beautiful it is to take advantage of the wisdom of these two great men.
--MM

Brand Positioning And A Rock Legend

2010-03-14T20:26:00.000-07:00

One of the main principles that drive my business and personal efforts is simplicity. Often while designing I strive to bring my customers' message to its most essential components. At all costs I avoid wordiness, lengthy explanations, and heavy imaging. Indeed, I judge the effectiveness of my publicity on how succinctly I can present it.
Many customers come to me requesting that I put on their business cards and other advertising everything that they do. A clear example of the futility of doing this is a job I had for a new restaurant owner, who asked me to make a banner list of her menu items, which were more than twenty. And she was adamant that they be all listed, as every dish was a potential sale. We can put any amount of text on a banner, of course, but they are made to be displayed outdoors for a passing audience that may look at them for one to five seconds, at most. What driver would be slow down enough to read the whole thing? The chances of that happening are, of course, slim to none.

There are very well-known examples of effective,concise marketing. Take Apple's motto for the IPod when it originally came out. At the time digital music players were known as MP3s, and they were sold on the basis of their storage capacity. But most people did not know what an MP3 was in the first place, much less what 32 MB of memory could do for them. For its marketing efforts, Apple ignored all of the product's technicalities and stated its benefit in just six words, "A thousand songs in your pocket," making the IPod a huge success. The then-industry leader, the Rio, soon fell into obscurity.

Going back to the restaurant owner: I asked her, "well what is your food all about? What makes it so special?" To which she proudly replied: "I make authentic dishes from my native San Juan Puerto Rico." That's all we needed! And "My Old San Juan", along with "Authentic Caribbean Food" went up on the banner. The impression was there for anyone to see driving at 45 miles per hour.

Until very recently I discovered that there is a term for the brevity that I always try to impress upon my customers. I found it in a brief book by Bill Shley and Carl Nichols called Why Johnny Can't Brand: "The positioning paradox is that the power of your message is directly proportional to how simple you can make it and how few words and images you can use to say it."

Or as John Lennon said when he hired bassist Tony Levin to work with him in the Double Fantasy album: "They say you're good, just don't play too many notes."

--MM, MMX.

Vincent Bugliosi And Seriousness

2010-03-13T15:30:00.000-08:00

Sometimes while working I enjoy listening to documentaries or e-books. Not long ago, while designing a job since forgotten, I came across a 2008 C-SPAN interview with Vincent Bugliosi. Mr. Bugliosi is an attorney and former Los Angeles prosecutor. During his brilliant tenure (winning 105 of 106 felony cases) he became famous for successfully prosecuting Charles Manson for the 1969 Tate-LaBianca murders. Later on he wrote Helter Skelter, which became the all-time best-selling book in the true-crime category. In the three-hour interview he discussed his career as prosecutor,the Manson case, and several of his books, but one thing stuck in my mind: his viewpoint on what happens when we are serious about something.

During the interview he was asked by host Peter Slen about one of his books, called The Phoenix Solution: Getting Serious about Winning America's Drug War. Now this blog entry is not about drugs, and you may or may not agree with his views. But during that discussion he drives home a point about being serious about things. This is what he said:

"This nation shows what it does when it's serious about something. First president Bush, Persian Gulf war, within a matter of a couple months, he mobilized an incredible military force of five hundred thousand men and women, persuaded twenty seven nations to join in the anti-Iraqi coalition (it was all over oil, you know, he didn't want the price of gas to go up in America; if they grew avocados in Kuwait there wouldn't have been any war). That's what we do when we're serious about the problem. That was in 1991. And to contrast that, in 1992, the very next year, the same president, he's at a summit, drug summit, San Antonio Texas, with the three presidents of the Andean nations --Bolivia, Peru, Colombia-- and he asks them, not demands, mind you, he asks them if they will cut down on their production of cocaine 50% in the following ten years. Now the previous year, could you imagine that president asking Saddam Hussein if he would remove 50% of his troops from Kuwait within a ten year period? So we are not serious about the drug problem. And my point is that either we're serious or we're not serious. If we are serious, then since the problem is extremely severe --no question about that-- then equally severe methods, revolutionary methods, have to be employed to solve the problem."

Regardless of the whole drugs issue and the first Gulf war, his comments made me think of real commitment and seriousness about things. Sometimes I've "decided" or "resolved" to do something positive. It may be learning to touch-type or getting in shape. But the real commitment shows when I actually consistently do something about it. Being serious: resolving to get fit, going to the gym every day, rain or shine, feeling like it or not, regardless of delays and schedule conflicts. Not being serious: promising to do it tomorrow, going earnestly for three days and then forgetting about it, doing only half the workout.

Now when I set out to do something new that requires commitment I think, am I going to be serious about it, or am I just going ask myself to do it?