Every year, around this time of year (where the last one ends and this one begins), a vast majority of humanity makes one mistake. I don’t mean having too much to drink; that is the obvious answer. What I’m talking about is the whole concept of that habitual promise to improve oneself just because a new year is knocking on the doorstep. The fact that everybody is doing it makes it as cliché as reality TV shows or like all the so-called musicians who are using autotune as if it were the greatest application since the microwave. Does the idea of having resolutions for the new year have as much of a damaging effect on the product as reality TV for the television industry or autotuning for music? Let’s take a look. Read more
A Guest Post From James N. Frey.
This post has to be read several times over. Truly amazing stuff for writers, musicians, painters, actors, podcasters etc. It goes beyond the mere labels and cuts deep into the living, breathing flesh of humanity. Replace every instance of “writer”with “person” or “individual” and see what you come up with. Go ahead. Take a leap into inspiration!
16
May
By the time this post is viewed, I will be back in Natchez after completing various evaluation tests and having instructors observe my skills. The impression I was given at the beginning was that my progress would dictate the overall outcome of my stay at the center. To a degree, this was correct. The instructors *did* have to come to the conclusion that my skills were proficient. However, the proverbial head fake was that I had to internally observe myself performing the tasks and know that I was at a true level of of success. The program is designed for clients to get as much out of the instruction as they put into it. Personally, I feel that more attention should be put on applying bar-raising practices to make the individuals face challenges while learning through the hard work that when push comes to shove, they can do anything asked of them at any given moment; opportunities given throughout their stay to experience real-life scenarios for when they terminate. But for the person who *does* motivate him or herself, this “go at your own pace” approach can be a blessing in disguise. It grants someone with drive and desire to push forward and go beyond what is expected. This is what happened in my case. I’ll have more to say after a few days have passed and I’m done celebrating this weekend; turning 25 only happens once!
A little over two weeks ago, a 47-year-old man died of pancreatic cancer. No doubt, he wouldn’t want to be remembered for being another statistic. The fame that enveloped him for months before his death seemed to invigorate him, but who was this man who inspired millions? Randy Pausch was a geek, a family man, a motivated son, and former professor of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University. He gave a now infamous lecture on how to achieve your childhood dreams. It was this lecture that I showed to the cast of Astral Audio Productions, and it is fitting that we start our motivational series with a man who made his dreams come true. Carnegie Mellon University has a nice press release that is a fitting tribute to Randy; it can be found here. Below is the full 76 minute lecture he gave to a packed audience last September. It is a must watch. Take notes; I sure did when I first experienced it. His story can be our story. His legacy can be taken up by those who are impacted by the principles he presents. If you want to donate for cancer research, there are two ways you can do so. (This is also mentioned in the press release, but I feel it is worth repeating here.) The family requests that donations on his behalf be directed to the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network, 2141 Rosecrans Ave., Suite 7000, El Segundo, CA 90245, or to Carnegie Mellon’s Randy Pausch Memorial Fund ( www.cmu.edu/giving/pausch ), which primarily supports the university’s continued work on the Alice project.
What are your dreams from childhood that you remember fondly? Have you achieved any of them? Has this lecture inspired you to do so? What lessons have you learned from Randy’s story? Are you going to tell others about the infamous “Last Lecture”? Speak up in the comments! And share this with anyone you think might enjoy watching and learning about Randy Pausch.
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28
Jul
This post by J.C. Hutchins brings up some valid points and prompts me to lay out a more detailed mission statement of Astral Audio Productions. While a podcast is currently our main product, it is only the bait, (or more accurately, one form of bait), that grabs your attention. When I started thinking of what I wanted this place to represent, what I wanted to accomplish, and furthermore, how to achieve those goals, I knew that I wanted to be outside the box. I wanted to incorporate the things I enjoy into what I do and produce. The short answer is that Astral Audio Productions is here to entertain, inform, instruct, and inspire the community that is built through interaction. Let’s break it all down and remove the curtain and explain just how this has started. Since I love the whole concept of audio dramas, I started producing one. I listened to several established productions. I already had a basic storyline in mind. (It was something I had put on the back burner for years.) I already had a grasp of how to produce the podcast side of things thanks to my many conversations with Scott Sigler and research. I invested in the tools necessary to produce a good quality show. I sought volunteer actors that would be up to the task of bringing characters to life. But all of this made Astral Audio Productions no different than your standard podcasted audio drama. That brought me back to the “outside the box” concept. We have podcasts that fill a certain niche. Some like music. Some like audio dramas or storytelling. Why not combine the two? Couldn’t you build a world around the whole “broadcast” archetype? We’ve proven, (so far), that you can blend these forms of entertainment together. I personally am an eclectic fan of music. I knew that I didn’t want to just play one genre for [you] the listeners. Also, since I was still volunteering my time for a radio dj, I wanted to meld that into the final product. While that last part has been slow going, we are going to be introducing more and more segments from the broadcasted radio show as time permits. To further blend reality with fiction, Astral Audio Productions will be doing two things to generate interest. First, with Scott Sigler using maps to show his listeners the locations in his book, we see this as something we can do with the Astral Audio Experience whenever there are scenes that reference actual locations here in our world. And speaking of referencing, this brings me to the second way; using current events whenever possible. I won’t say how necessarily, but I will say that you might want to watch the news more or research online for some of the things we dredge up for content. And for the record, we won’t be taking a pro candidate stance if we happen to reference a political story; this is entertainment after all. Is there more that could be done? Yes. The above strategies aren’t ground breaking in their scope, but they are a start. The small network that has been built as a result of the formation of Astral Audio Productions allows us to do more than simply give you a podcast. We can teach you how we do what we do which would hopefully inspire you to participate. This means that you soon will be seeing tutorials on the writing, performing, producing, and marketing aspects. Also, we will present motivational videos that will help you become more than just a dreamer, but a doer. We want an inspired and active community of fans that will come back to us whenever possible. And not only do we want to show you how to do something, we want to examine what inspires elements of the Astral Audio Experience; namely, what inspires certain settings, plots, and characters. What better way than by profiling books, movies, and other sources that we come across in the research/writing process. Even though none of us are paid, we are a production company; we invest our time and effort. We hope to be as transparent and as engaging as Hutchins suggests. After all, the tag line is, “we are more than just a podcast; we are an interactive podcasting experience.” You experience the fruits of our labor, and in time, we hope that you will take the various tools we provide and use them to your advantage. This isn’t a one-sided deal. We will want your input so we can improve the quality of our work.
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