Field of Dreams

Just a quick post about a fella and his bike. I came across this video while perusing a photographer’s newsletter, and he had the fortune to work with the guy on the bike (and his sponsor). First of all, I think it’s pretty cool that photography can carry me into different avenues of talent that I might not otherwise have the chance to experience. The same goes for AG of course -- I was just listening to Dean talk last night about the fact that with his wealth and freedom of time, he has been able to work with several high talent groups some of which we’d be surprised at his affiliation (like Linkin Park, I believe).

At any rate, the other part of posting this video is just to highlight the amazing talent that we can hone if we work in our areas of strength and are willing to fail forward, and to try over and over again. Pretty amazing stuff.

Check it out:

When I think about what “exciting” things I’d like to do in my life, I think of movements that I’d like to be a part of, even if only peripherally. TED Talks are just one of these venues.

TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design, but since it’s inception seems to have ballooned to all manners of topics that engage the heart as well as the scientific minded towards the improvement of the human experience. So, simply put, I want to be a part of the proceedings.

I don’t require that I contribute to the body of knowledge presented on the stage at some of the talks, but I think it would be a great experience to be able to watch along, engage in conversations geared towards the pursuit of improvement and development. I see myself as someone who can be in the room primarily driven by a state of awe and appreciation for what these great minds contribute to, and further, command my presence by knowing that I have the “horses in the barn” to put my money where my mouth (and heart is).

As I think back, I don’t know that I ever had an overarching goal of being a This or a That, but instead, I’ve had a goal to want to enable and encourage other goals had by great minds. Maybe someday my Eureka idea and pursuit will come. Until then, I want to be a silent supporter of good and meaningful causes.

It’s been an interesting couple of days of learning about the one and only, Bobby McFerrin.

Everyone knows Bobby by his world-wide hit, “Don’t Worry, Be Happy”, but few (myself included) know the depths of talent this gentleman happens to have.

Sunday afternoon I stumbled across a clip of Bobby captivating and educating an audience at the Wold Science Festival in 2009, during a panel entitled “Notes and Neurons”. The premise of the panel was intriguing to say the least, but in 3 minutes, Bobby had performed the following and left folks in awe at the natural progression and involvement affiliated herein:

So watch that clip, enjoy, and then realize that Bobby has some very unique perspectives towards music and his audiences. For instance, at the beginning of the panel, he treated folks to an improvisational piece in front of his live audience. “Captivating” would be the word that comes to mind:

Further, he is excited about including his audience in the musical performance as he maintains that people desperately WANT to be involved, and to contribute to a greater good. Neat perspective when considering that some of the folks who are at the top of the charts are simply looking for their next hit to carry them further into stardom.

In searching around for a few other McFerrin McNuggets (sorry for the joke) I located his bobbymcferrin.com site and further discovered that his most popular song was literally a fluke of insight at the last possible moment, and that it was never expected to be in his repertoire or on any album. Fascinatingly, it seems that he would rather “send it off to college” rather than rear it in his home and cradle it in his arms of talent (read the faq on his site about the being happy song to understand my reference better).

Finally, for those of you who might not have had much TV around the house in 1988: when Bobby & company produced the music video, I found it cool to look back and see who other than Robin Williams on screen with Bobby helping us to not worry and be happy. Take a look:

All in all, I’d say I have a deeper respect and admiration for this fellow, his joy, and his astonishing talent. Some day it would be fun to find him performing live, and to have the opportunity to experience him in his element rather than through the power of the internet.

Thanks for reading!

PS:

* The World Science Festival clips for Notes and Neurons can be found here: http://www.worldsciencefestival.com/video/notes-neurons-full (clip 1 = bobby improve intro, clip 4 = bobby pentatonic scale piece, and clip 5 = bobby and company improve encore).

* Another great experience with Bobby is here:

What fun!

Today we met Philip, a real-estate/retail dude who was on vacation on a cruise ship to Juneau. We gave him a ride to Western Auto (of all places) to grab a pair of jeans as his only pair was in the wash (fish blood), and he had a tour in the afternoon on the icefield. In compensation for our troubles, he offered to let us stay at his rental property in Costa Rica for a week at no cost. We checked out the website today and it looks pretty awesome!

http://www.vrbo.com/14346

What’s your bucket list like? This is a great video put to Tim McGraw’s “Live Like You Were Dying” song, but with video clips from “The Bucket List”. It’s very well done, and hopefully for the state of this site and your enjoyment, it stays on youtube indefinitely.

Think about your bucket list. What items are on it?

So many sites, so little time.

I find myself compelled to begin projects that I just don’t maintain the steam to carry to completion.

I’ve built photo sites, weblogs galore, food sites, and more. What I’d like to have is someone on staff who can pursue the desires of my impatient tech mind.

Right now I’m in the midst of a transition of hosting providers and it’d be nice to just tell someone to make it work and to give me the keys once it’s in place.

For now, I’ll keep clicking, but wow, it’d be nice to have a hand!

My friend and fellow photographer, Daniel Buckscott, has been blessed with many things. I think the one that I’m most envious of is the fact that he gets the opportunity to explore so many of natures beautiful places as part of his ongoing efforts to document it, educate others and protect the environment.

In time, I look forward to exploring with him, or even on my own. I have a feeling that with a little bit of Huck-Finn like energy, and a bit of cash, I could find some pretty cool, and remote, places. Here’s a quick example of what can be done with an afternoon and a helicopter (and camera & kayak & model):

PS – Daniel, I hope, if you find this, that you consider it an honor that I’d love to do some of the things that you’ve already done! And, while I didn’t ask for permission to post this image, I am very hopeful that you’ll allow me to continue using it while I direct people to your awesome website: http://wildernesspeaks.com/

Heather & I are engaged!

It’s an interesting prospect with a daunting vision of what’s to come. When I think of what I want the future to behold, there are so many things to be done, and it feels largely like a moving target.

In the past 24 hours, we’ve talked about intricacies of the upcoming ceremony and found that we gravitate towards serving and pouring life into those we care about and who can attend. Next, we talked about a small, inexpensive ceremony and then to use the money and make the goal to become absolute servers to people in our lives.

And right now, I’m listening to Brad Duncan. He has the best marriage that I know of. He’s transparent, loves his wife, and FIGHTS to give her all of her dreams. I want to be that for Heather, but alas, I’m still young and learning. I hope that I can grow into those shoes quickly and help her to know how incredibly important she is.

We will work to clarify more and more what it is we want for our lives, and we’ll see where it goes and what our dreams become.

I’ll keep you posted.

-cb

There are so many amazing things to do in the world. It seems like our lives are often a process of winnowing down and narrowing the scope of all the possible directions to become focused on one purpose. Yesterday while touring the Technology Education Center of UAS, I happened across Bill Leighty of the Leighty Foundation – he was working to create a form for a domed home or shelter made out of minimal construction materials (a dome form with a thin concrete shell creates the initial structure. Next, add some insulation and perhaps a weatherproof finish, and voila, inexpensive, fast, well protected shelter. Imagine the application of such things in areas of mass destruction (tsunami victims).

So that was yesterday. Today I hopped on stumble for a moment and came across a page about rotating DOME houses! Small world.

Watch this. It’s of course slanted towards the photographer, as it was originally drafted & posted on Scott Kelby’s blog as a guest post, but it resonates with the soul because of his honest review. 100 mph on a dead end road, or something more significant?