Doors of the 21st Century
April 15, 2005When I first heard of The Doors of the 21st Century, I thought it was one of those impersonation bands that had made it out of the pub scene. Then I came to understand The Doors had reformed and were touring (obviously without Jim Morrison). My first reaction was “Well, OK, they’re going to perform the music, and leave out the vocals“. But not so … I later find out that they had found someone to do vocals. I could not believe my ears — what sacrilege — how could they?
Then, I heard that the vocalist was Ian Astbury, former lead singer of The Cult of whom I’m also a BIG fan. What a great choice. If you were ever going to get someone to fill the shoes (not replace) of the Lizard King, then Astbury is it. He has a very similar sharmanic aura that Morrison had, and his vocal talent is unquestionable. I recently got to hear a brief clip of Astbury fronting The Doors of the 21st Century, and as expected it was great — not an attempt to mimic Morrison but a performance in his own style, working well with the music of two of the all time great musicians — Ray Manzarek and Robby Krieger. I’m off to check out some more!
Working With Your Strengths
April 13, 2005 I’ve been doing a ‘communications’ training course over the last couple of days. I went in a bit cynical as I’ve done some of these courses before, but I’ve come out better for the experience. It’s amazing the value you get out of a course when there is a good presenter/facilitator. The course was run by Gina from Vida, who I highly recommend.There were no revelations for me, but revisiting and reinforcing is a useful exercise. I always find the Myers-Briggs stuff useful and interesting and my take-away from this session was that I should be following my predisposition or personality preferences. In the past i’ve tended to dabble and work outside of these when I should be focusing on my strengths and building on them. This is pretty difficult for a ‘generalist’, but for me it means being more creative and proactively seeking more challenges.
Hustle
April 12, 2005Come across this post by Jason Calacanis via smallbusinessbranding
The older I get the more I realize that business is about three very basic things:
1. Hustle
2. Passion
3. ResiliencyYou have those things it really doesn’t matter what the idea is…
This does not sit all that comfortable with me. If by ‘hustle’ Jason means “Energetic activity; drive”, then OK, I wholeheartedly agree. On the other hand, hustle can also mean …
1. To sell or get by questionable or aggressive means: hustled stolen watches; hustling spare change.
2. To pressure into buying or doing something: a barfly hustling the other customers for drinks.
3. To misrepresent one’s skill in (a game or activity) in order to deceive someone, especially in gambling: hustle pool.
I’ve have experienced this first hand … perception about the lengths one goes to to win business is a fine line!
Footy or Funeral
April 8, 2005I can’t believe that the telecast of tonight’s footy on Channel Nine (Friday Night Footy is an institution in Melbourne!) could be delayed because of the Pope’s funeral. There are 5 free-to-air stations in Melbourne, one of which is government owned (ABC). Surely there will be enough (too much?) coverage of this event. I don’t begrudge the fact that its on even though I’m not a Catholic (captain obvious!), but please — surely one channel would suffice? It’s not much to ask … I just want to watch the footy — that’s my religion!
Inspiration 101
April 7, 2005Encouraged by my friends Tony and Peter to start my own blog, and inspired by the words of Tom Peters …
Writing didn’t come easy to me.
I’m still not worth a damn—but at least I’m articulate. And perhaps I’ve found my “voice.”
Wanna know why?
Because I worked my ass off!
(”Worked my ass off = Wrote a lot.)
This is a line in the sand … here goes nothing!
