Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Video: Golf Pro Bruce Brian Billings

I'm super proud to have produced a series of how-to videos for golf pro Bruce Brian Billings!! Here's the first and keep an eye out for 4 more!

Sunday, June 12, 2011

Somebody trademarked this

My brother just told me that Pat Riley trademarked the term "three-peat" and wondered if Randy Jackson had trademarked "in it to win it", which apparently Randy's been saying ad nauseum on that singing gameshow this season. I think the phrase has been used by the NY lotto for decades, but just for kicks I did a trademark search on "in it to win it". Apparently lots of people have put a trademark claim on "in it to win it" ( / in it 2 win it / init2winit / in it two win it ), but more impressively, somebody got trademark claim #78041153 for this:

THE IMPACT PLAYER. BECOME AN IMPACT PLAYER. BECOME AN IMPACT PLAYER TODAY! THE HAPPY ART OF BUSINESS & LIFE ACHIEVEMENT. AMERICA'S FUNNIEST BUSINESSMAN FOOTPRINTS OR BUTTPRINTS? FIND YOUR GREENEST PASTURE. STREAMLINE SUCCESS. MAKE A COMMITMENT TO EXCELLENCE. BUILD EQUITY IN YOURSELF. EARN THE RIGHT. EARN THE RIGHT TO SUCCEED. EARN THE RIGHT TO FAIL. THRIVERS, SURVIVORS & CHEVROLET DRIVERS. WE ALL TAKE TURNS IN THE BARREL. THE WORRY CIRCLE. MANAGING THE WORRY CIRCLE. YOUR DAILY DOZEN. CREATE YOUR DAILY DOZEN. CHANGE THE WAY YOU THINK, CHANGE YOUR BEHAVIOR, CHANGE YOUR LIFE. CHANGE THE WAY YOU THINK, CHANGE YOUR LIFE. FIND YOUR GREENEST PASTURE. FIX YOUR LIFE. FIX YOUR LIFE IN LESS THAN AN HOUR. WIN THE ONES YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO WIN AND SOME OF THE ONES YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO LOSE. ARTFUL SIMPLICITY. BRILLIANT SIMPLICITY. THE ARTFUL SIMPLICITY OF THE COMPLEX. ACCESSIBLE LIFE LESSONS. LAUGH YOUR WAY TO A RICHER, HAPPIER AND MORE SUCCESSFUL WAY OF LIFE. MY FRIENDS & CO-CONSPIRATORS. SHINE YOUR MIRROR. BE BETTER, NOT PERFECT. NEVER LOOK IN THE REARVIEW MIRROR. LIFE'S WHAT YOU DO BETWEEN SHAVES. LIFE'S WHAT HAPPENS BETWEEN SHAVES. SHARE THE LAUGHTER. YOUR WORK IS YOUR AUTOGRAPH -- SIGN WITH A FLOURISH! WORK IS 24% OF YOUR LIFE -- TREAT IT THAT WAY. ONE NEW THING I CAN DO INSTANTLY TO CHANGE MY LIFE AND WORK. TEDSEZ. EARN THE RIGHT. EARN THE RIGHT TO SUCCEED. AND EARN THE RIGHT TO FAIL. SEE THE END AND WORK BACKWARD. NO STINKIN' THINKIN'! DO MORE & WANT LESS. ROLE MODELS -- FOLLOW ONE, BECOME ONE. IT'S OK TO BE A WILD DUCK. BUSINESS & TALENT DEVELOPMENT. THE EFFECTIVE USE OF HUMOR IN BUSINESS. HUMOR & LAUGHTER WORKS IN BUSINESS. WHAT YOU SAY AND HOW YOU SAY IT -- WORD ENGINEERING. THE POWER OF PERSONALITY TYPES. HAPPINESS, CONTENTMENT AND INNER PEACE ARE FAR STRONGER AND MORE POWERFUL THAN FRUSTRATION AND ANGER. WHAT IS YOUR LIFE A UNIQUE LABORATORY FOR? WHAT HAS YOUR LIFE BEEN A UNIQUELY POWERFUL LABORATORY FOR? KNOW WHAT YOU WANT, LOOK FOR WHAT YOU WANT, AND FIND WHAT YOU'RE LOOKING FOR -- IT'S OUT THERE. DON'T GET PICKED OFF SECOND. NEVER LET A COMPETITOR SURPRISE YOU.

So, yeah! You can do whatever you want with that. Maybe laugh your way to a richer, happier and more successful way of life? Shoot, I don't know! Life's what you do between shaves. It's ok to be a wild duck.

Thursday, April 14, 2011

I think The Strokes have discovered hope

Have you guys heard the new Strokes album? It's really good. I hear everything from The Cars and Queen to Men At Work, Red Hot Chili Peppers and the odd touch of Zeppelin (specifically, Robert Plant's wrecked vocals on "Custard Pie"). They even drag out some '80s gated-reverb drums to make you feel icky/awesome. It all sounds warmly familiar, and yet totally fresh and new with the signature Strokes sound. In '80s drag or something.

But also interesting to me is that Julian Casablancas seems to have added a dimension to his standard bored/disappointed/blasé songwriting. I can't think of a Strokes song that you could characterize as "caring" or even "interested", and I've listened the hell out of the first album and perhaps as much of the second album (trying to figure out why it just doesn't sing like the first). But hearing him sing, "Don't go that way / I'll wait for you" on "Under Cover Of Darkness", makes me think it's the first time a Strokes song has used a voice that says "I actually care about something" as opposed to the perpetual detachment/disinterest that they've championed since "Is This It". Compared to the last album, when he sings, "I hate them all / I hate myself", I'd say it's a significant departure.

It's no wonder this thing is the single off the album. It's a banger, and it's bright, and it's filled with hope. I hope it gets lots of play. I'm always tempted to write in the hyperbolic superlative and dub this moment the Great Hipster Awakening or something equally as bold and unverifiable, but I won't. I'll just say that Angles is probably their best album since their first, and I like it a lot. Because this post started as a status update on Facebook and I just had too much to say.

Sunday, February 27, 2011

PVT: LIght Up Bright Fires lyrics

Aside from the Social Network soundtrack, which justly just won an Oscar, I think the album I listened to most last year was PVT's Church With No Magic. So I was a little surprised when I went looking for lyrics to it recently and came up with nothing. Just listen to this song. It's like if Radiohead had INXS's Michael Hutchence for a lead singer:



Even searching for partial lines of these lyrics found nothing, so I transcribed them myself. Can any PVT fans help me out here? Here's what I have:

Never in my whole life / nor in fantasy
Would I end up here / dancing with the enemy
Friends are all married / jobs in the city
No one wants to be there / no one wants to meet

At night we rise / Light up bright fires

Too much of a good thing / coming from a bad place
How did I get here / Beaten in my own race
And all along good night / Garbage in the main street
All God's mysteries / Left up on the back seat

At night we rise / Light up bright fires
At night we rise / Light up bright fires
At night we rise / Light up bright fires
At night we rise / Light up bright fires
Light up bright fires