Viewing: Fame & Popularity - View all posts
ROLE MODEL
"They may not want me here, but I'm determined to make friends, have fun, and show 'em how we do it back home. I'm the Axel Foley of the flugelhorn." ~DM
WHO ARE YOU
ON COMEBACKS
ADVICE TO SELF AT MIDLIFE
AMBITION
"For we pay a price for everything we get or take in this world,
and although ambitions are well worth having,
they are not to be cheaply won."
—Lucille Maud Montgomery
"You'd like to quantify me, Officer Starling.
You're so ambitious, aren't you?
Do you know what you look like to me,
with your good bag and your cheap shoes?
You look like a rube."
—Hannibal Lecter
"Keep away from people who belittle your ambitions.
Small people always do that, but the really great
make you feel that you, too, can become great."
—Mark Twain
THE OUTSIDER
The Outsider disregards standard conventions of form and structure. Her emotionally stark art, often ignored by the industry, media and general public, may nevertheless find strong support among discriminating connoisseurs and collectors. Gooble gobble, gooble gobble, we accept her, one of us.
FICKLE FAME
"My name had gone stale, and no matter how
progressive I got, it was my time to die."
—Joni Mitchell
"Fame will go by and, so long, I've had you, fame.
I've always known it was fickle."
—Marilyn Monroe
"Fame is a bee. It has a song. It has a sting.
Ah, too, it has a wing."
—Emily Dickinson
LOVE
"We love Nastassja Kinski. She's a gifted actress
and the most beautiful woman in film today."
—Francis Ford Coppola
"I love Billie Holiday. Her music is so soulful and sad.
It's the most beautiful thing I know."
—Nastassja Kinski
"Love? Don't threaten me with love, baby.
Let's just go walking in the rain."
—Billie Holiday
ATTITUDE
"Cock your hat. Angles are attitudes."
—Frank Sinatra
"It isn't about beauty. It's about attitude."
—Adriana Lima
"Attitudes are caught, not taught."
—Mr. McFeely
CONFIRMATION BIAS
"You're only as good as your last picture."
—Humphrey Bogart
"You're only as good as your last envelope."
—Silvio Dante
"You're only as good as your last rhythm section."
—Art Farmer
WHAT MUSIC IS FOR ~ Bootsy Collins
When I was coming up, we weren't trying to get a hit or to get paid, we were just trying to do our thing. Truth is, the only thing we really wanted was to get out there and get recognized for our originality.
After that happened, we said 'OK, all right, so now what? What's it really all about?' Well, at the end of the day, what it all boils down to is this: we're all riding on the same boat. And we have to learn how to deal with each other, to get along.
So that's what music is for — to bring us together.
WHAT I LEARNED FROM SUPERHEROES
Like many who grew up before the era of personal computers and video games, I spent countless hours in my youth reading the adventures of superheroes in comic books.
Here are 12 of my favorites and what I learned from each:
1. SUPERMAN — Rise to the occasion. Be courageous, respectful, honorable and selfless. Your strength comes more from your character than your talent. Remember that even the greatest of us has an achilles heel, and sometimes needs solitude. Usually, however, it's possible to hide in plain sight!
2. SPIDER-MAN — With great power comes great responsibility.
3. GREEN LANTERN — Your imagination and willpower are the only real limits to what you can create.
4. BATMAN — Childhood trauma can be a source of strength. Facing your fears can be transformative. And having the right equipment is half the battle.
5. X-MEN — Evolve! Celebrate diversity.
6. WONDER WOMAN — Strong women are sexy.
7. IRONMAN — Dress for success. Clothes make the man. There will be setbacks, but don't let your flaws define you. And innovate! A better version is always possible.
8. FANTASTIC FOUR — There is power in teamwork.
9. THE FLASH — Be the best at what you do.
10. THE HULK — Never judge a book by it's cover. You can't know what a man is capable of simply by looking at his appearance...especially what he might be capable of if he gets angry.
11. CAPTAIN AMERICA — Know your mission. Be willing to take a stand, even if it's unpopular.
12. THOR — Remember your birthright, but don't seek glory. If you do the job right, you'll get it anyway.
~DM
JAMES MOODY'S OVERDUE GRAMMY
James Moody's Grammy win tonight is a beautiful thing, but long overdue.
The last of the original generation of bebop masters, Moody died in December at age 85, just two months too early for him to appreciate the honor.
Nevertheless, the award decision is heartening.
It affirms that we in the jazz arena, unlike the rest of the youth-obsessed music industry, celebrate our pioneering elders above all.
And it proves -- believe it! -- that melody, warmth, swing and soul are still relevant.
In fact, they may just be what matters most.
~D.M.
Some of my favorite nuggets of James Moody wisdom...
Moody on Race:
"There's only one country. Mankind is one. All that stuff about different races—about your kind and my kind—that's bullshit."
Moody on Technique:
"It's a challenge constantly. I've had a saxophone for over 50 years and I still can't play it. Some days I wake up and say, 'Hello,' and the saxophone says, 'I don't know you.' But I keep at it."
Moody on Bandleading:
"A lot of times when you go somewhere to work, they put you with people who they think will work well together. That doesn't go. A band is like a marriage. Can't nobody pick a wife for you. You've gotta do it yourself. Only you know what you like, man."
Moody on Ego:
"Blessed are those who run around in circles, for they shall be called Big Wheels."
Moody on Music:
"Practice, work hard, but then let God take over. Jazz is a spiritual music. Remember, when you play music, you're praying. And most of all, learn to love yourself."
James Moody Discography
TRIPTYCH
"Sometimes I worry about being a success in a mediocre world."
~Lily Tomlin
"Be a yardstick of quality. Some people aren't used to
an environment where excellence is expected."
~Steve Jobs
"Just because Frank Sinatra is dead
is no reason to listen to Michael Buble."
~Judy Roberts
I FEEL IT COMING TOGETHER
"If you have enough people telling you you're wonderful,
then you start believing you're fabulous, then someone
tells you you stink and you believe that, too!
That's why, despite the public perception,
I'm a very private person who has a hard time
with the fame thing."
~Angelina Jolie
“If America had been discovered as many times as I have,
no one would remember Columbus.”
~Sean Connery
“In this business, fame lasts for a second.
You can be blown up and blown down.
People keep losing interest in faces because
new ones come along every single second.
I'm one at the moment. Tomorrow I won't be.
That's cool. I'm not saying that when it does end, I'll be like,
'Yay! It's ending.' But I'll move on and do something else because
that's what has to be done. It's about survival.
If you're sad about it, then you're in the wrong job.”
~Keira Knightley
SINATRA SETS GEORGE MICHAEL "STRAIGHT," SO TO SPEAK
PATRONAGE
"From the time Cézanne first left Aix, at the age of twenty-two, Louis-Auguste [Cézanne's father] paid his bills, even when Cézanne gave every indication of being nothing more than a failed dilettante. But for Zola, Cézanne would have remained an unhappy banker's son in Provence; but for Pissarro, he would never have learned how to paint; but for Vollard (at the urging of Pissarro, Renoir, Degas, and Monet), his canvases would have rotted away in some attic; and, but for his father, Cézanne's long apprenticeship would have been a financial impossibility. That is an extraordinary list of patrons. The first three—Zola, Pissarro, and Vollard—would have been famous even if Cézanne never existed, and the fourth was an unusually gifted entrepreneur who left Cézanne four hundred thousand francs when he died. Cézanne didn't just have help. He had a dream team in his corner. This is the final lesson...success is highly contingent on the efforts of others."
~Malcolm Gladwell
ANYTHING THAT ENDURES
"Anything that endures over time sacrifices its ability
to make an impression."
~Robert Musil
PUBLICITY
"Get someone else to blow your horn
and the sound will carry twice as far."
~Will Rogers
BULLY FOR YOU, CHILLY FOR ME
"I never wanted to be famous. I only wanted to be great."
~Ray Charles
"You don't have to have an attitude if you're famous."
~Adriana Lima
"I've been around a few years. Surely you must have heard of me."
~Captain America
THE MORE THINGS CHANGE
ONE EXPLANATION FOR LACKLUSTER BLOCKBUSTERS
"In Formal Theories of Mass Behaviour, William McPhee notes that a disproportionate share of the audience for a hit is made up of people who consume few products of that type. A lot of the people who read a bestselling novel, for example, do not read much other fiction. By contrast, the audience for an obscure novel is largely composed of people who read a lot. That means the least popular books are judged by people who have the highest standards, while the most popular are judged by people who literally do not know any better. An American who read just one book this year was disproportionately likely to have read The Lost Symbol, by Dan Brown. He almost certainly liked it."
~The Economist