Tuesday, June 30, 2009

So Many Ways to Connect to People

"There are so many different ways to be connected to people. There are the people you feel this unspoken connection to, even though there's not even a word for it. There's the people who you've known forever who know you in this way that other people can't because they've seen you change. They've let you change."

- Angela on an episode of My So-Called Life

Monday, June 29, 2009

Stay Busy, Study, and Play


"Stay busy with your life. Study hard, go to school, play sports, get a job. But don't just lie around doing nothing. That is when you find trouble to get into."

- Bobby Bowden

Summer vacation officially starts today for me. It started for my students last week. But these words are something we can all take to heart. 

Happy Monday Everyone!

Friday, June 26, 2009

The Brain Records Everything

"Their extraordinary and consistent detail , which was evoked each time the cortex was stimulated, and exceeded anything which could be recalled by memory, suggested to Panfield that the brain retained an almost perfect record of every lifetime’s experience."

- Oliver Sacks. The Man who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, and Other Clinical Tales. HarperCollins: New York, 1985. pg 137 

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Coincidence is a Powerful Force

"Story creates meaning. Coincidence, then, would seem our enemy, for it is the random, absurd collisions of things in the universe and is, by definition, meaningless. And yet coincidence is a part of life, often a powerful part, rocking existence, then vanishing as absurdly as it arrived. The solution, therefore, is not to avoid coincidence, but to dramatize how it may enter life meaninglessly, but it time gain meaning, how the antilogic of randomness becomes the logic of life-as-lived. " 

- Robert McKee. Story: Substance, Structure, Style, and the Principals of Screenwriting. ReganBooks: New York, 1997. pg 356

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Quality Control



I don't want to highlight any of the lyrics for today's What Wednesday post. Instead I just want to focus on the old school vibe that this group puts forth.

Enjoy the video!

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

It's Their Lack of Intelligence


"In your lifetime, you're going to meet a lot of jerks. If someone hurts you, you just tell yourself it's do to their lack of intelligence. That way you'll never sink down to their level, because there's nothing worse in this world than bitterness or revenge. Never lose sight of that. Always stay true to yourself."

- Persepolis movie

Friday, June 19, 2009

The Great Mystery


"And we all have in us the aspect of the Great Mystery that we call consciousness. Other beings have it too, but in our case we have learned to conceive of beginnings, middles, and ends – of what some have called plot."

- David Leeming. Myth: A Biography of Belief. Oxford University Press, 2002 pg 51

Thursday, June 18, 2009

What We Know About Reading

"So we have learned two important things just now about reading:

1. Since language originates in sound, every written story has a voice we can hear as we read, and join with if we like the sound of it. If you read any story aloud and listen carefully, you will hear below your voice the voice of the writer coming through, borrowing your sound equipment.

2. Writing enlists the full physiological model of the reader, who is able to see, hear, taste, smell, and touch, as well as move, while reading at rest. This is achieved because all these powers originate in the brain and reading language gives access to them directly as mental representation."

- Joseph Gold.  Read For Your Life: Literature as a Life Support System. Fitzhenry and Whiteside: Markham, 1990. pg 259

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Dead End Countdown



"Exiled and pushed away, lost in time
Always I’ll be this bitter person
who’s stuck right here, disillusioned.
Don’t stand by
If you don’t like what you see.
So once satisfied,
No I won’t take what you said to me

Give me some time, give me some reason
Make up your mind, cool off the fever.
Drama must die, so give me some way
To salvage this life,
Finally it’s over

You oughta stay away, till you see
What runs through me
Unless you get this game,
The only one I wanna blame

My promise is cold, you’ve never been told
There’s nothing to hide, I never did lie
There’s no way to win
When love is in vain
I won’t take what you said to me

Give me some time, give me some reason
Make up your mind, cool off the fever.
Drama must die, so give me some way
To salvage this life
Finally it’s over.

Dead end countdown (4x)

I know we’re stuck inside a dead end countdown,
With no communication.
Straight down, we’re drowning in the respiration.
We’re lost beneath the surface.

Give me some time, give me some reason
Make up your mind, cool off the fever
Drama must die, so give me some way
To salvage this life
Finally it’s over.

Give me some time, give me some reason
I know we’re stuck inside
Give me some time, give me some reason
Now we’re stuck inside

Dead end countdown (4x)"

- The New Cities "Dead End Countdown" from the album "Lost in City Lights"

If you like this song and video please check out the interview I did with the band a few weeks ago and download the podcast for free.

Make sure to subscribe to The Chase March Show podcast. I will be bringing you more in-depth interviews and great music once a month.

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

What Singing in a Choir does.

Gareth Malone talks about the power of singing in a choir and what it can do for you.

"It's about opening your whole self up emotionally and spiritually. I've seen it bring people together and change their lives."

- Gareth Malone on The Choir

If you haven't seen this excellent series on the BBC, please click on the link above to find out more about it. I found this choir master to be very inspiring and the show to be heartwarming.

Monday, June 15, 2009

Today is a Blank Canvas


"Good morning. Today is a blank canvas awaiting your command!! Pay your past no never mind!! Your future is spotless! I love that! Yippe! A NEW DAY!"

- Rev Run

Happy Monday Everyone!

Reverend Run always has positive things to say on his Twitter account. Follow him to get Motivational Monday quotes every day.  This was his message this morning. 

Friday, June 12, 2009

A Truly Good Book...


"A truly good book is something as natural, and as unexpectedly and unaccountably fair and perfect, as a wild flower discovered on the prairies of the west, or in the jungles of the east."

- Thoreau, Henry David. Walking Part 2 paragraph 31

Thursday, June 11, 2009

A Story is a Promise


"To tell story is to make a promise: If you give me your concentration, I’ll give you surprise followed by the pleasure of discovering life, its pains and joys, at levels and in directions you have never imagined."

- Robert McKee. Story: Substance, Structure, Style, and the Principals of Screenwriting. ReganBooks: New York, 1997. pg 237

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Brand New Low



"Over and over I keep wondering why
Then I give up and see that look in your eyes
Cause if I trip and fall,
I'll be to blame
And if I hit the wall,
I'll still be the same
Wasting your time with your so called friends
The ones you adore and the ones you pretend
And it's kind of sad and deranged
But it's not so bad that it can't be explained

Cause in my mind
It's all a waste of time
And there's no excuse at all
Then I realize, surprise
You were right all along

And I want to know
Have I gone too far
Have I sunk to a brand new low
And I want to know
If I've gone too far
Cause I've lost all my self control

Guilty as charged
I've been convicted and tried
Was it too much to ask for you to take my side
Cause there's nothing here left to defend
When it's always me
That you blame in the end

Cause in my mind it's the perfect crime
And there's no excuse at all when I realize
Surprise you were right all along

Nothing is what it seems,
To me you're sleeping without the dreams
Without you, nothing defines me

When I'm slipping away
It's only you that can find me
and I'm over my head again
I'm falling from end to end"

- Treble Charger "Brand New Low" lyrics and video from their album "Wide Awake Bored"

I love this video. I hadn't listened to these guys in a while but out on their "Detox" disc last night. As it was playing, I wondered why I hadn't played it in a while. These guys are great. Check 'em out!

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Healing Power of Narrative

"I'm a real believer in what I call the healing power of narrative. Meaning you go to the movie and forget who you are for two hours. You have a great time. You get excited. Your heart beats. You laugh. You cry. And when you get out, you are refreshed; you are rewarded. And if a story can do that for you, it's really helped you."

- Stephen Hunter (author of "Point of Impact")

This quote was transcribed from the "Making of Shooter" which was a bonus feature from the DVD of the Mark Walberg movie "Shooter."

It was a really good film that was based on the novel "Point of Impact." I always like to see bonus features that interview the writer. It's insightful to see what a writer has to say about his work.

I like this quote because it speaks to the power of story. If you like quotes on story please click on the label on the side bar to see my ever-growing collection.

Thanks!

Monday, June 8, 2009

We Don't See the Steps

"People seldom see the halting and painful steps by which the most insignificant success is achieved."

- Anne Sullivan

Great quote!

People don't need to see the steps to your success. They only need to realize that there are steps to any level of success. There is no such thing as an overnight sensation. Anything worthwhile takes work.

So put in the work.

Happy Monday everyone!

Friday, June 5, 2009

Two Can Live Cheaper

"Two can live cheaper than one

The observation has an ageless, proverbial ring, but the earliest example of it in the Oxford Dictionary of American Proverbs is relatively recent, coming from Ring Lardner's Big Town (1921)."

- Unwritten Laws: The Unofficial Rules of Life as Handed Down by Murphy and Other Sages. by Hugh Rawson.

This is a cool book that explains the origin of some of the terms and life's rules we have all heard time and time again. It's a really interesting read.

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Quest for Glory


"Brother please,
No more Pamela Lee's let's set it straight
I'm the biggest thing out of Canada til Quebec separate
And I never medicate, so y'all feel me if I'm ill
Like a lump - some dudes used to burn down trees
now they stumped by the simplest questions
And everything they think is deception
As they sink in depression
No telling where our life's headed
I'm light-headed
From scraps where I write/right hooks like a fight method
Like credit I'm indebted for my misuse
My life is like a magazine - got so many issues
God edits the stories
Still tryin' to find the father like Maury
He ain't with the stars like... Tori Spelling's
Spell is out like N.O.R.E.
On a quest for glory...
On a quest for glory..."

- Shad "Intro: Quest for Glory" from the album The Old Prince

I love the one liners in this song.

I'm the biggest thing out of Canada til Quebec separate

And I never medicate, so y'all feel me if I'm Ill

Like credit I'm indebted for my misuse

My life is like a magazine - got so many issues

This cat might be the nicest kid doing this hip-hop thing in Canada right now. If you don't know about him go buy this album. It is amazing.

Monday, June 1, 2009

Make it a Stepping Stone

"The block of granite which was an obstacle in the pathway of the weak, became a stepping-stone in the pathway of the strong."

- Thomas Carlyle

Happy Monday Everyone!

Let's turn any obstacle that comes our way into a stepping stone. We can all be strong even in the face of adversity.

What a great quote!