An interesting conversation about copywriting and the direct marketing biz (the industry I work in) by two smart Englishmen. (Pay special attention to the question they try to answer at 16:20!)
It’s easy to have a political, social, or business opinion about something when you don’t have any skin in the game. This TED Talk is about an experiment that demonstrates why that’s true…
Another short, little gem from Omeleto…
On May 27, I mentioned how much I enjoyed The Offer, the docudrama about the making of The Godfather. Here’s an interesting discussion with the producer, Al Ruddy, that fills in some of the details from his perspective…
This little clip sent in by JS – made nearly 30 years ago – reminds me of someone. But I can’t figure out who…
Something to think about for you unemployed buskers out there…
You can earn your daily bread by standing in a park and entertaining passersby. But you can also – possibly – develop a second stream of income by taping your work, editing it, and posting it on YouTube. (I’ve shown you clips of Allie Sherlock, who became a phenomenon just in the past several years this way. And then there’s Justin Bieber.)
To make this work, you need a gimmick. Here’s one that has been popping up increasingly on YouTube: A busker (usually a guitarist) sets up shop, and invites passersby to sing along with him. This is more interesting than simply playing or singing, because there is an immediate tension: Will the amateurs be any good? When they are especially good, the posted video tends to go viral. So, you edit out the ho-hum performances and publish only the good ones.
In the video below, the busker takes this gimmick one step further: He pretends he doesn’t know the song (Stand by Me) the amateur wants to sing. I don’t believe that for a second, but I’m sure many viewers do. So, when he not only figures out, in mere seconds, how to play it, but riffs on it amazingly, it makes the show that much better.
Watch it here.
It pays to be smart. I mean high-IQ smart. People with an above-average IQ do better in just about everything from career status to income to net worth – and even to health and happiness. Then there are the super-smart people. People with 150+ IQs.
One such person, Marilyn vos Savant, said to have the highest IQ ever recorded, has been writing the “Ask Marilyn” column for Parade magazine since 1986. She is perhaps most famous for her Sept. 9, 1990 column, where she came up with the answer to a brain teaser that has become known as the “Monty Hall problem”…
A fascinating short lecture by Jordan Peterson on the evolutionary importance of thinking – actual thinking – and why it’s now more important than ever.
Watch it here.
In business and Jiu Jitsu, strength helps, but without technique it is often a net negative. Apparently, the same is true for bull riding.