When recording an album, the last step in the process is called audio mastering. You send your tracks to someone who has an expert ear and who applies things like "compression", "normalization", and "equalization" to make your music sound crisp. It's the final bit of polish that makes what you hear on a CD sound different (better) than what you record on your iPhone. I was thinking about that process as I get ready to launch my new podcast: Beer, Beats, and Business. I'm recording and producing it on my own, and while I have gotten some great help from friends who are podcasters, the finished result isn't going to sound like it's on … [Read more...]
Monday Morning Mash-Up – The Terror of the Blank Page
A new year is a fresh start. While it's easy to get caught up in the rah-rah excitement of a new beginning, it's also important to acknowledge the fear that comes with it. Writers talk about the trepidation that a blank page can create, because both the possibility of success and failure are present in the beginning. What if you can't think of anything to write? What if what you do write sucks? I released five books this past year and the start was always daunting. It doesn't matter how much I've written, a blank page (or computer screen) is always scary. I know that every time I dive into a writing project there will be ups and … [Read more...]
Monday Morning Mash-Up – Han Shot First
You might have noticed (from the total marketing onslaught) that there is a new Star Wars movie coming out. As someone who jumped around his living room with an imaginary lightsaber when he was five and inwardly wept at how bad the last trilogy was…I have mixed feelings. But it was great seeing my favorite character in the trailer: Han Solo. In hindsight it’s easy to forget that Han isn’t an inherently good guy. He’s a smuggler, he hung around with mobsters like Jabba the Hutt, and he shot Greedo first. That's right. He did. George Lucas, in one of his many revisionist faux pas, tried to spitshine Han by re-cutting the famous scene in … [Read more...]
Monday Morning Mash-Up – What Will You Rock in the Future?
It's been awhile since MC D. Fish took to the stage to rap, but I had the chance to do so a few weeks ago while in Austin. I was invited to DellWorld as one of Dell's Social Media Influencers, and we had an event at a local bar where we were entertained by a banjo/guitar duo called Redneck Hummus (you can't make that up). They were doing fun covers, and when they cracked a joke about the Humpty Dance, I volunteered my services. After chatting during the set break, I joined them for a few old school hip-hop tunes. It was ridiculously fun, and I had an interesting conversation afterwards when someone asked me how I remembered all the … [Read more...]
Monday Morning Mash-Up – Always Be Yourself
"Always be Yourself. Unless You Can Be a Pirate. Then be a Pirate." It's hard to be yourself. But I don't think that's because of peer pressure or our innate desire to fit in (although they don't help). It's mostly because "being yourself" is an inherently creative process. There's no pre-existing blueprint that we can work off of. And the main place we get inspiration is from others...so we end up copying them and being a lot like them. Sometimes too much. When I was a young entrepreneur/sales manager, I was blessed and cursed with fantastic mentors. Blessed, because I was able to see some pretty successful people in … [Read more...]
Monday Morning Mash-Up – Laboring Under Assumptions
Labor day is a weird holiday. Growing up, I thought it was all about mattress sales. It's a holiday that doesn't have the immediacy of Memorial Day or the 4th of July because its origins have become less relevant to us now. It's hard to remember that, when the holiday first began in the mid-1880s, employees were still fighting for the work life that we take for granted today. In fact, I grew up 2 blocks from the site of a strike where people were killed while marching for an 8-hour work day. It kinda puts your boss asking you to come in for a few hours on Saturday in perspective. People are often surprised to find that I didn't get … [Read more...]
Monday Morning Mash-Up – Calling an Audible
It might be a little early in the year to use a football metaphor, but I used this phrase a few days ago and I think it's worth sharing. Let me explain. Like most people, I have a number of goals that I'm working towards at any given time, personally and professionally. For example, I'm usually working on making better food choices to improve my health. I will often remove something completely from my diet for a month or two to give myself a definitive line of what I will and won't eat. Having set "rules" makes it easier to make decisions about what I should choose for dinner. These guides help, but I've learned that you can't be … [Read more...]
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