Everyone needs a reminder about the important things in life. I think overtime, we get caught up with our goals and achievements, and we just forget the people and things that got you to that point in your life. So here’s the famous short story “The Mayonnaise Jar and Two Cups of Coffee”.
When things in your lives seem almost too much to handle, when 24 hours in a day are not enough, remember the mayonnaise jar and the 2 cups of coffee.
A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, he wordlessly picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls. He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.
The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls. He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was.
The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with an unanimous “yes.”
The professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar effectively filling the empty space between the sand. The students laughed.
“Now,” said the professor as the laughter subsided, “I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. The golf balls are the important things–your family, your children, your health, your friends and your favorite passions–and if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full.
The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house and your car.
The sand is everything else–the small stuff. “If you put the sand into the jar first,” he continued, “there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls. The same goes for life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff you will never have room for the things that are important to you.
“Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Play with your children. Take time to get medical checkups. Take your spouse out to dinner. Play another 18. There will always be time to clean the house and fix the disposal. Take care of the golf balls first–the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand.”
One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the coffee represented. The professor smiled. “I’m glad you asked.
It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem, there’s always room for a couple of cups of coffee with a friend.”
It looks like today has been a good day. Just to let everyone know, I’m a die hard Yankees fan all my life. One of my passions was baseball. I played ball for 10 years and have been following the Yankees since I was a little kid. Well, today I witnessed on TV A-Rod’s 600 milestone. It was great to see that happen for A-Rod and the Yankees. Looks like they are back after a 3 game losing streak.
My first 2 short films were picked up for distribution. It will be distributed via mobile networks.
I’m honored to even see short films be picked up for these things. I didn’t know there was a business until now. Amazingly greatful =)
The time has come to embrace new technology catered to the low budget film makers. House, one of the biggest and most watch shows, debuted their Canon 5d Mark II shooting the season finale.
I must say, if I did not know it was shot on the Canon 5d Mark II, I wouldn’t have noticed. The image quality was so good. I noticed a little more shake and some parts were a bit distracting because of it, but who cares. The told the story well, the cinematography was awesome as usual, and it was done on the 5d!!!
After watching hundreds of clips on the web, this blows everything out the water and shows that with the right combination of great lighting work, props, acting, and great content will make your story stand out no matter if it’s shot on a 16mm, 35mm, or a DSLR camera.
I’m proud to be apart of this new technology as my first camera is the 5D. I embrace and love it. Can’t wait for the new generation of cameras after this one to come out. And it better be cheaper =)
I recently had a web page malfunction so I lost quite a few posts unfortunately. So I just wanted to update everyone of my progress in film & music.
I’ll be meeting with some future partners in the near future. My manager has a lot of things going on as well and I hope his deals goes through. Also, I got a few more films and commercials that are hot in demand and will be completed by end of May Early June.
Things are going great. Also, I’ll be adding a new section on my site of gears I use with reviews about them.
It feels as if 2009 flew right by me as if nothing has happened. In a few hours, 2010 is born and a new resolution will be created. But looking back, 2009 has been an up and down roller coaster. My father having to go through Emotional heart surgery, a few of my friends had past away, friends losing jobs, self healthy problems from flu, Pneumonia, Bronchitis, stress, and struggles with my love life. But through these obstacles, I proved to myself that I was able to get through them and fight long and hard to make things work from a mental and physical level.
The story of my life is that I have to work hard in everything I do to make something work for myself. I did not come from a rich family and people did not give me things willingly. I had to work hard to prove myself for things I want. If my life in 2009 was drawn with a graph to see my progress level, there would be a lot of swiggly lines going on the upwards trend. With what had been going on, I managed to get a lot of things done from Writing/Directing/Producing my first short film, obtaining a management contract from Credible Players in the music industry, and picking up a new skill that was needed which was Photography and Cinematography.
People look at my accomplishments for 2009 and call it a lucky year for me. But I don’t consider any of that luck. I consider that hard work that required diligence, patience, motivation, and passion. I believe with the drawbacks I’ve had, it actually stopped me from doing more on what I wanted to do. But I will hope for great things to happen in 2010.
So with that, I’d like to toast to those who read my blogs! “To inspiration, motivation, determination, and passion! Let success not be just about money, but about happiness and being content to what you love”. That’s my new year’s resolution!
I was recently inspired to write a Christmas Song. I don’t usually ever release what I sound like as I usually reference my songs and send it off to Artist for placement opportunities. But this time is different as it’s Christmas and Emotional. I hope you guys enjoy it.
It’s probably been said over and over. But you know, there’s still not enough discussion about it. So I’ll write my opinion about what I think of the Major Labels and why I see them failing if they are not going to change their tactics right now.
First of all, Major’s shot themselves in the foot for producing great singles and terrible albums in the past. They forced people to buy albums for 1 or 2 songs that they liked on the album. Now the tides changed where people have more control on what they want to buy and not buy. They don’t need to buy albums, but can download singles. Well, if Majors got it right in the beginning or stopped taking advantage of what they knew was happening, then maybe people would be buying albums and not be pissed off for making them buy terrible albums just for 1 great single. Fully albums should be expected to have quality songs.
Anyways, they set no “real” standards for the industry. There were no standard pay rates, no unions to help fight for those who are trying to break into the industry, and so much conflict of interest. They had “Uneducated” A&R’s working for Majors that couldn’t even type a damn professional e-mail. For someone that is professional, I expect someone would be able to write in complete sentences. So already, major labels have uneducated staff members to help run their business. Their ethics are poor, at least most that I’ve encountered, and were probably taking advantage of their network and contacts for their own self-interest and purposes.
In the corporate world, there are rules and regulations with regards to conflict of interest. And trust me, those rules and regulations were enforced and those who got caught, regretted it! Well in the music industry, it’s the wild wild west. Anything goes. They set their own pay rates. If you were unknown in anything, you are expected to do it for free until you get lucky with one great opportunity. Almost like a little rat looking for a crack in the dark to escape.
The industry is designed in a certain way for people to fail miserably. What if a music producer had to have a masters degree in music in order to “present” music to the major labels? What if an Artist had to go through a certain certification to get access to certain things and certain people that can help boost their career? Maybe it’s dumb, maybe it’s not. But if we had certain standards like what we have in any other damn industry like Medical, Law, Finance, and etc, maybe just maybe there would be consistency and people who have a passion for something can get into an industry that is reliable where any talented person with skills can make a living off their work, instead of having to work another job that’s consistent and reliable to support their passion. Right now, we have any JO that makes a beat think he is a “producer”. LoL….well that’s another blog
Now is the time to change. With the declines in revenue, quality, and so forth, why not go for it? Thoughts and opinions?
Today, I like to talk about perception in music, film, and photography. Lets start simple:
If we see a photography with an assistant that holds a softbox/umbrella and a flash, we assume it’s somewhat professional. If we see a photography with 4 assistants, 2 holding a flash and 2 hold reflectors giving this high profile photoshoot look outdoors, we automatically assume it’s professional and it’s going to turn out great.
In music, whenever anyone wants into a high end studio that’s loaded with gear, nice setup, clean, and just looks really professional, people will assume great “quality” sounding music will come from there vs. someone with a home studio setup, sorta messy, and no vocal booth. That’s a terrible perception these days.
In film, whenever we see a 35mm format, a crew of people working with the director, and high end lights, we assume it’s a decent budget film and it’s going to look great. But when we see a person with a tiny camera, tiny crew, minimal lights, we assume it’s amateur.
I guess we as human beings have this perception of what big production and professionalism is suppose to look like and be like. Well, just a news flash if you guys have not caught up to technology, equipment are becoming much cheaper, more compact, and “much” better and advanced. Think of the first IBM computer where you had to load a floppy into the drive to boot it up. Windows didn’t even exist yet and memory was 512kb. And color monitors wasn’t available. Yet, the damn computer was bulky, weighed a ton, keyboard was extremely loud, loading took like 10 minutes.
That’s the same thing that’s happening in music and film. So when you walk into a homestudio, don’t underestimate the sound quality like most do. Or if you walk into a film set and see a director holding a photography camera (VDSLR 7d, 5d, 1d) shooting his next feature. It’s the new age and it’s about the people behind the tools that make it work.
Margaret: that’s awesome khoa....
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Margaret: that’s awesome khoa.... Khoa Le: Hi Ivy, you can email me at... Ivy: $500 is for one beat or entire CD ? I’d... Godyquopoff: Hello, I am new to this forum so this... nobody: not to start any fights but becoming an...