My New Year 2014 Playlist

I put together 14 songs to get my mind right for 2014.  Please note that these are not all “new” songs and that this list is a fluid one that represents the moment.  If I put it together tomorrow, it would be different. There are lots of genres represented, so you will probably like some and not others and that’s OK.

ENJOY!

Nina Simone – Feeling Good

This is always a great start.  Feel good or at least TELL YOURSELF that you feel good and kick things off with a great attitude.

That’s 1 down, 13 to go.  Keep watching!

Rapping Parent Video Throw-down

My friend posted a rapping parent video today.  It’s the 3rd one that I’ve seen so I thought I’d have a throw down here on the ‘ole blog. I’m going to post all 3 and provide no commentary.  Seriously, I’m going to say nothing.

After you watched all three videos, you get to make your voice heard by VOTING in the snazzy poll at the end.  You can even drop some wisdom on us all in the comments section.

Now enough with this intro – let’s drop the beat on this throw-down!!

What You’re Not Listening To

Oh music is the soundtrack of our lives, but more and more that soundtrack is being controlled and thrown down our throats.  I’m not some hipster niche dweller, but I do like to mix in some “off the beaten path” in with the mainstream.  This is all stuff that is just off the mainstream that I wish more people would be exposed to.  ALL of this stuff is rockin my rotation and maybe something will resonate with you.

YouTube Acting School With Ricky Gervais

Look at that picture of me.  That’s me doing some fine acting in the short film “Textually Active”.  You can, of course, read about that in my earlier blog entry JD: The Gifted Director.

I have been at this acting thing for quite some time now and it was interesting to have a chat with someone recently about all of the training we do.  We spend a LOT of time, energy and money trying to get back what we did naturally as kids.  When we were kids and played cops and robbers, we believed that we were the parts we were playing.  When my sister had a tea party, she WAS the fancy hostess.  It was play, but we committed to it.

As grown ups, we have that playing squashed out of us, so we ‘study’ to try bringing it back.  It can cost a lot of money, but now we all have a chance at learning from a leader in his industry.  We can learn from him and his guest lecturers for free and even without their knowledge.  I have collected clips and provided commentary so that you can learn from the Unofficial Ricky Gervais School of Acting’s (RGSOA) YouTube Campus.

DalyDose of…Honesty Policy

“Honesty is the best policy. If I lose mine honor, I lose myself.” – William Shakespeare

Who doesn’t understand the most basic virtue of honesty?  It has been taught to seemingly every child growing up in every culture throughout time?  In a display of my optimism (or naiveté), I tend to assume that most people WANT to tell the truth.  The problem is that life doesn’t seem to encourage or incentivize honesty that much.  In JD’s economics influenced world-view,  people and their behaviors are heavily influenced by incentive.

Sure, there are family dramas where a child caught with hands in the cookie jar and admits wrongdoing under parental interrogation.  There is joy in the house because the child told the truth and gets leniency followed with a big group hug.   I’m not sure that is the mainstream experience for the parent-child relationship.  I think the lessons of “don’t eat cookies without asking” and “don’t play in the house” stand in higher favor than “tell the truth”.  In fact, the reality seems to be that the honesty/truth lesson is really taught as an investigative tool for the parent to get to the truth, in an attempt to hand out punishment for other offenses.

DalyDose of…Crazy YouTube

YouTube is amazing.  It’s like the digital scrapbook of our world, but it’s crazy.  Sometimes it’s crazy fun, sometimes it’s crazy creepy, sometimes it’s crazy crazy and sometimes…well, you get the picture.  It’s all kinds of crazy.  These videos aren’t all “fresh and new”, but they all fit in with the loose excuse of a theme that I got going on.  Enjoy all the videos below!

DalyDose of…JayeQ Music Vid

Ladies and gentleman, I’d excited to present the latest Jaye Q music video, “Don’t Say”.  I was so happy and proud to direct it.  I love the song and hope y’all like the video.  Read below after watching for more…