A musical genious

You may have heard of Gnarls Barkley and his hit song Crazy, but you probably didn't realize that Cee Lo the lead singer has been putting out chart toping music for over a decade.

I like to call him the golden goose of music, because everything he touches turns to gold. He used to be a part of Goodie Mob, and carried a successful solo career for years before the Gnarls Barkley phenomenon.

Cee Lo's musical and poetic abilities are unrivaled. He packs so much irony and unconventional juxtaposition of words into every line that it sends the listener into deep philosophical thought.

In one of his songs he writes,

"Basically I'm complicated. I have a hard time taking the easy way. I wouldn't call it schizophrenia. But I'll be at least two people today... and that's ok"

Words are a powerful stimulant. I am in awe of Cee Lo's ability to arrange them so meaningfully. He is definitely on top of my list of favorite living artists in any genre.




Who cares?

Ballroom Dancing

I used to work at Arthur Murray dance studios as a teacher.
I came in looking for a position as a secretary and ended up being good enough to teach.
They trained me to dance, to teach, and to sell. At first I really liked the position I had, but as time whent on I became more and more defiant. It wasn't that I worked fourty hour weeks with no pay to show for it, it wasn't all the dancing or dealing with people(I loved that part), it was the people that I worked with, and the way they looked at our clients(Walking sacks of money).
We spent at leas an hour a day learning about ways to get people to say yes when they really want to say no.
These lessons cost $130/45minutes.
That's more expensive than SMU. Think about it. I had to sell these lessons by the dozen.
It took me all too long to realize that I was working for scam artists because... they're really good at it.
After nine months of living like this, I said, "I can't do this. This isn't me. I can dance anywhere", I broke the bigest rule they had(NO STUDENT TEACHER FRATRANIZATION), and left.
It was the one great thing that came out of this; meeting my girlfriend with whom I have been for five years.
I did enter several competitions while working there. I grabbed a third place prize for my cha-cha/hip hop routine.

DWI

I just finished paying for something stupid I did four years ago.

Here's the story.

I had just gotten a new job so I was celebrating with some friends at the pool. It was around 3-3:30 in the afternoon. We were drinking and having fun. Something possessed me to get in my car to get some food. I remember noticing that I was driving too fast, I pressed the breaks a little harder than I should have, and woke up in a hospital.

It has taken me 4 years to finish paying for all this.

Keep in mind that I got off lightly since my lawyer was my dad.

Upon pleading guilty I was given 24 hours of community service, $1000 fine, victim impact panel(painful), substance abuse evaluation, DWI class(20hrs), 15 months of probation(at $50 per month), and a $1000 surcharge from the state of Texas to be paid yearly for three years.



Wow. That is just a whole lot of money and time - all for one stupid mistake.



To all of you that may find yourself facing this decision, please remember. I got off lightly. You are better off walking, calling a friend; you're better off sleeping in the street than driving.

Not to mention that you can hit someone.

The tree I hit could have been a family of four and I thank God everyday it wasn't.

Measure of a man

I've been working really hard at turning myself into a good man. They say that a good measure of a man is whether he holds on to his core set of morals and values in the most pressing situations.
In this respect, I failed yesterday.
I am a waiter at Mac Shack. Every day we have people (Bussers, food-runners, bartenders) that help us out with everything, they get a better salary than us but we usually make more money with our tips. At the end of the day we compensate them by tipping out.
Yesterday, I had a very small situation get out of control and I let go of my beliefs.
Here's the story.
I had a customer leave me a nice tip but unfortunately he took the receipt that was signed and left me his copy. I can't claim that copy. I even asked my manager if I could. He rejected me, and at the end of the night I took it out on the people that helped me by not tipping out.
It hit me much later on in the day that my helpers had nothing to do with the problem. It began to eat away at me. I had problems driving and holding a conversation. I was ashamed of what I had done.
I went back to work as soon as I could and told a manager what had happened and begged him to let me tip out without anyone knowing. He agreed.
It was very embarrassing, and I hope that in the future I can uphold my integrity in pressing situations.

Trick shot

OK, this is just cool. I love watching trick shot pool. This shot is not only creative, it displays technical knowledge, accuracy, and most of all patience. The shot lasts for but a few seconds, but in it we automatically think about how long it took to set up, how long it took from conception to creating the entire sequence of moves, and finally how long that person has been playing pool to be at the level that he's at. All over and summed up in just a few seconds.

Ultimate to do list.

There's a whole bunch of stuff that I am yet to do. I may not get to do them all, but I'll wonder what it would feel like. This is a list to which I will keep adding as I think of more things.

Skydiving
Bungee Jumping
S.C.U.B.A. Diving
Own a motorcycle
Own a restaurant
Run from the cops
Run a record store
End world hunger
Go to the grand canyon
Make a huge impact on the world
Build my own helicopter
Move to San Diego
Work as a teacher
Win a dance competition
Win a beatbox competition
Climb mount Everest
Climb mount Ararat

Buy my own island
Make it into the Guiness book of world records
Produce my own cartoon

Satisfaction

The site we were working on is finished after six grueling hours which lasted till 4 am. We tied every loose end one at a time and attacked the problems ahead of us.
It was rough, but we had a lot of fun along the way.
I wouldn't trade this experience for anything. This is a perfect way for me to get used to the long hours I may have to put into my work in the future.
The best was the satisfaction we felt when we were done. We were yelling, high fiving and congratulating each other. It was exhilarating.


Check out the final project.
http://www.solve-the-problem.com/

Macintosh Ad

The 1984 ad for Macintosh is arguably the best commercial ever made. Created by TBWA\Chiat\Day, it played only once during the super bowl. So what makes it stand out so much?
This ad symbolizes breaking free of oppression. In the 1980s amidst the cold war, big brother was a word with an oppressive connotation to it. The term, “big brother is watching you”, was thrown around here and there. These were real issues back then just like the war in Iraq is today.
It delivers a powerful message. Something along the lines of, “IBM is big brother, and big brother is bad. Break away from big brother, buy a Macintosh!”
This is a perfect example of how advertisers use intertextuality to pack layers of meaning in a message, to evoke the viewer’s past experiences and customize the meaning to each distinct person. Intertextuality can be used in two ways.
Horizontally; this is when you link old and new cultural texts within a single genre combine to make meaning.
This commercial uses the other… You guessed it..
Vertical intertextuality!
There is a connection between this commercial for computers and cultural phenomena such as big brother, and the cold war the link is in a totally different genre.
There is a lot of tertiary text regarding this ad. It has won countless number one awards including the US TV guide’s top 50. So my perception of it may be a little distorted from hearing about it in many of my classes.

The best example of intertextuality(in this case horizontal) is the new commercial I saw on the internet that borrows everything from this very famous commercial to promote a politician.

Grinding through it.

I'm riding the train home. What a perfect time to blog! Except that i don't have a spll chker and no access to multimedia files.

I'm quite frustrated over the web site that I'm helping the creative team build. It's not that it is hard, rather the time constaints arent giving me a chance to research the tasks properly. I know from experience that if it's imaginable, it's doable. There just isn't a set formula for everything. You have to figure it out and apply past knowledge in new ways to solve problems. I joined this team 3 days ago, and our website is due tomorrow. I'ts crunch time now. I have ignored all my homework for the past 3 days, I haven't gotten much sleep either, but I refuse to turn in something that is incomplite. We'll probably be working well into tonight.

Weather or not we succeed, this experience is valuable to me. I will be dealing with plenty of deadlines such as this in the world of advertising.

My brain hurts.

Creative development

The Lab

The career fair got me thinking. I really need to begin working on a creative portfolio. Dr. Griffin got me in contact with the creative team to see if any of my past experiences would help them with a competition. I am in the creative studio right now waiting for Allie to come. I am both anxious and exited to be involved with this team. I really hope i can make a difference.

Career Fair

Although I wasn't complitely reary for it, it was time for the SMU career fair. I slapped a resume together on the fly. Put on a suit and headed out. Not knowing what to expect, I entered the career fair with caution and curiosity.
I didn't expect to get a job right there, I just wanted to see how a career fair works. In the process I gained a better prespective on where I stand, what I need to work on, my strengths and weakneses so to speak.
One thing I really need to work on is my portfolio. I realise that I need to get started on it asap.
The Richards Group was there. Boy I shure would like to work with them.

Prejudice

It makes no difference what color someones skin is. There are great African Americans and not so great. Likewise there are great Caucasians and not so great. I'm not suggesting everyone be colorblind, that idea is just absurd. But we all should know that skin color doesn't reflect the person inside.
I'm trying to wrap my head around the prejudice which, is still so prevalent in the US. The main thing that I don't get is the fact that nobody alive today bears scars of slavery. Most of the people in my generation are separated from that by several generations. So why do people still hold these grudges? Why is it that in America, these issues speak so much louder?
My theory is that America is a strange social experiment. It is one of the first countries where race has no ties with national pride.
Historically, people of different races were separated by borders. This made it easy to keep your friends and enemies straight. This also made it easy for us to hate a certain group. I believe that the tension in America is the remnants of this ideology which is ingrained in everyone.
As time goes on and provided that this experiment won't collapse, I believe we, as a society, can cleanse ourselves of this demon.


www.endracism.org

Business Idea

OK. So the idea is that I will design 3D models of future prototypes from sketches and drafts. Building a prototype can be a costly process for inventors, so why not. I have the design and 3D experience. Why not save them a step and possibly a lot of money by making it in the virtual world first.
I am in the beginning stages of planning myself, but I think this is a viable idea.

Cultural Differences

It never ceases to amaze me what people in Japan consider funny or entertaining. Not to say that what we here consider funny or entertaining is in any way less ridiculous. I just think it's interesting that they are that radically different.

Chech out these videos of a Japanese learn English tapes that incidentally also feature working out.





This one's terrible!!




I know that we're a world away. Could it be that the society oversears has developed and evolved so far beyond us that we can barely comprehend what they're about. Or are they the less evolved society. If humor evolves, and what we consider entertainment can change and take on a new shape, then are we soon to end up in their position? Enjoing this form of "entertainment" on American tv?

Linguistic similarities

I am fluent in 3 languages and can follow a conversation in 5. One thing I noticed recently is that the numbering systems have similar differences in most.
What do I mean?
In english there is something special in the numbers one and two. When you change them to first and second the root word changes. Whereas three and third are similar. Five and fifth are too. The same is true in Russian, Armenian, and to a degree in Japanese.

English
1234 One, two, three, four
1234th First, second, third, fourth

Russian
1234 Raz, dva, tri, chetire
1234th Perviy, Vtaroi, tretiy, chetvyortiy

Armenian
1234 Meg, yerku, yerek, chors
1234th Arachin, yegrort, yerort, chorot

Japanese
1234 Ichi, Ni, San, Shi
1234ppl Hitor, Futari, san nin, shi nin

It's kind of hard to decipher, but I wonder what this is attributed to?

Unique

It's hard for me to tell weather it is true or not, but do most people realize just how unique they are?
I've always known that I was one of a kind, so much so that as a kind, I thought the world was designed just for me. A bit self-centric of me, but always knew that I could do anything. The hardest thing was deciding on the thing that I wanted to succeed in. As a young adult I thought that I must be crazy.
OK. That was a slight exaggeration, but we live in a society that thinks, "If you're too different from the norm, something must be wrong with you. We have a trillion different reasons to put a kid on aderall. HORRIBLE!!!
I really don't think people realize hom much of a horrible trend we've accepted. I dream of a society which embraces the unique qualities inherent in people. The kind of crazy that I am is gonna make me millions one day.
So I encourage all of you to be open and free to show the world just how unique you are. If you're artistic, paint loud, if you're gay, be proud, if you're oppressed, break freee..
Live your life to the fullest!

Love Surge

The Wall

We have a terrific athletic center at school. It even features a rock climbing wall 3 stories high. I decided to give it a try today. I had never tried before.
After a brief stretch I was given a harness and set free(with a spotter).
I took about 5 minutes analyzing the structure and picked a relatively easy path to the top.
At first it was easy; I've always been a climber. As a kid I would climb trees as high as I could. Once I climbed when I was about 12-13 I climbed a tree in front of our high-rise apartment building and made it to the 8th floor.
But that was a long time ago. Today, once I made it to the half way mark, I started shaking and began doubting my abilities. Despite my internal dialogs, I pushed my way all the way to the top.
The second time was much easier. I had more confidence. It was a good workout though.
The wall looked terrifying at first but I was determined to try it and surprised when I reached the top.
This experience has taught me that no mater how big the challenge is, you just have to start, take it little by little, and be determined to reach your objective.

http://www.smu.edu/recsports/adventure/center.html

Super Bowl Ads

As I dive deeper into the world of creative design and advertising i am continually perplexed with practices I see and now, recognize. For example while watching the super bowl I noticed more ads take risks during the super bowl than any other time. I think that taking risks is crucial to making creative decisions, and when I get a job as an advertiser that's what I want to do. I want my ads to be more creative than any ads we saw this year during the super bowl. Does that mean that I'm gonna be out of a job the rest of the year?
Why do ad companies take more risks during the super bowl?
My theory is that the public is more conditioned to it during the game and not during the regular season.
What do you think?

I forgot about my test.

I could honestly say this is the first time it has happened to me. As I was walking up to my anthropology class, I heard someone say, "Good luck on your test!" to someone else. My heart dropped immediately. I had forgotten about the test and way under prepared. We had talked about test taking and stress in one of my classes and I had made every mistake from reading the syllabus to preparing way in advance. I was somewhat riddled with anxiety as I am sure many of us get but I thought back to my class and told myself to do the best I can and try not to beat myself up over it. I think I will get a poor grade. There isn't anything I can really do about that test. But one thing I can do is look at my syllabus daily and prepare for future tests.

A different look on the mindmap

Picture from boloji

Upon thinking about it for a day, I came to the realization that the mindmap isn't the only way for me to record my personality, it's simply the beginning of my soon to be well developed ability to be myself in many mediums and different forms.

The symphony

I had never been to the Dallas symphony before. The first time was a couple of weeks ago. The piece was Dmitry Shostakovich, Symphony no 10. It was a piece written in the years following WWII in the Soviet Union. I am not sure about the message of the piece, I found it to be rather depressing and terrifying, but I was amazed at how well the conductor, musicians and the room reflected feeling into the audience. I had never before seen the value of listening to live classical music. It's a whole different experience. The acoustics in the room allowed me to pinpoint where every sound was coming from. Even though there were many musicians playing at the same time, I could pinpoint a sound and direct my attention to that particular violinist.

MindMap

This was my recent project for my creativity class. To create a mindmap. At first I was a bit terrified about the task ahead of me. Well.. I didn't know how to start. We had to come up with a central topic that was one of a kind, and know enough about it to make it work in many dimensions. Once I decided on that, the rest became easier over time, until it seemed like i tranced out and the map created itself. Once I got used to it, i couldn't stop my pen.
Then I noticed something.
I consider myself a spontaneous and humorous person. Seems like I am often able to come up with a clever and well timed remark when the situation calls for it. But if you put me on the spot, i would probably fail miserably, which is why I am not a stand-up comic. Well - what I realized with the midmap is that this is the first way I have discovered of how to capture my spontaneity and record it on a piece of paper.
Quite an amazing tool. I'll be doing lots of these.

Challenging conventional thinking

I’ve always been fascinated by black holes, dark matter, quantum physics, and other general scientific unknowns. It’s not just about the unknown though. I love reading about the theories that we come up with, reinvent, and denounce in the process of discovery. Once the world was a floating disk on top of a bunch of tortoises, now, we can create maps of dark matter by calculating how and to what degree it refracts passing light. We’ve come a long way baby! It’s the process in between where we see so much creativity in the scientific community. Theories lead to experiments lead to results – conventions should follow.