management

Be Formless. Shapeless. Like Water (Brendon Greene musician interview preview)

Posted on by Tim Kuefler

Bruce Lee is one of those iconic figures that so many people seem to be inspired by.  Especially people who want to make a motivational point for others. To be fair, he did accomplish a great many different things in his rather short life in order to earn that title. And he IS damn quotable.

Credited with changing how Asian people were viewed in American cinema was a big one, but that is just one of his many incredible feats, not to mention setting world records in martial arts, founding the martial art of Jeet Kune Do, and becoming a pop culture focal point of the 20th century.

Bruce Lee was multi-talented too – an actor, director, martial artist, instructor, and philosopher.

One of the reasons why people are so easily and regularly inspired by Bruce Lee (I suspect anyway), is because of his philosophical views on life. I am sure you’ve heard your share of Bruce Lee quotes in your lifetime, even if you didn’t know it yet. Take this gem for instance.

This is one of my favourites, but there are hundreds of them out there. I’ll tell you too, people love to make posters out of Bruce Lee quotes too.

Now you’re probably wondering why I’m even writing about Bruce Lee, because this looks like an artist interview post. And yeah, you’d be right if you are thinking that. It just so happens though, that this martial arts icon has inspired a new friend of mine too. And how.

Brendon Greene is a very interesting fellow. His life has been rife with challenges, or opportunities as I’m sure he would call them. From those opportunities, Brendon has figured out what his purpose in life is. Which is why he decided a very short time ago, after running to office in the Green Party, to open his own record label – Conscious Collective. Brendon regularly teaches musicians how to get started, produce an album, and distribute it too. Plus he loves to manage new talent and make beautiful music, to boot.

Today I give you a sneak peek of an interview I had with him recently on his role as a mentor for younger musicians, and how Conscious Collective is community oriented. This preview asks the question about who a burgeoning musician should work with, and what kinds of content they should consume.

And Brendon delivers.

 

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I hope this interview preview was useful creative cuties. Brendon has a lot more to say too, but you’ll just have to come back in a week if you want to hear the rest of his story. I promise it will be just as entertaining as this clip, if not moreso.

With a ton more heart and pop culture references, this is an interview that prefaces a new series I’ll be producing with Brendon too! But more on that later. I’m out of theories for now, and I need to get some shut eye.

Tim!

Movies Worth Fighting For (Cross Talk Ep.5)

Posted on by Tim Kuefler

Sexism still exists.

No shit timotheories.

To all of my female readers and my genderless readers, yes you are correct, but bare with me a moment. I’m attempting to make a validating point about the problem of sexism, which is hard enough as it is, because A) I am not a woman and B) I am not a oppressed, like at all. So I realize I have to work hard to stay on top of this issue.

Sexism still exists, and tackling it requires full participation by everyone. Even if someone thinks they are separating themselves from the issue by making little jokes and poking fun at women, it’s 100% wrong and we should all have a zero tolerance policy about it.

When someone make disparaging comments about women, and what they can and cannot do based on their gender, they are being sexist. People should not do this in general, about anyone, but as mentioned, women as approximately 50% of people, encounter this way more often than any one demographic.

Now, I love movies, and as mentioned before on other posts, I’ve always found movies to be one of my best kept secrets to starting a conversation about pretty much anything. Which is why I want to use a movie to help to address sexism. Because I think you’ve probably forgotten about this one.

 

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Great Mulan joke right? Well thats good because I have a confession to make.

I’m not a big fan of Frozen. I think it’s enjoyable, but it’s not one of my favourite Disney movies. I understand the premise and why people like it. It tilts the typical true love story on it’s head, empowers the female lead to save another female, and apparently the songs are catchy. However, I am a HUGE fan of another film that tilts the Disney princess formula and does a better job of it.

An incredibly under-appreciated little film that could called Mulan.

Mulan is a great film because it is based on a real Chinese legend about a lady who takes over for her father when army enlistment comes up. It received positive reviews at the time, but somehow it has been forgotten by Disney in their marketing because she cannot be identified as a princess.

WTF.

On top of that, Mulan is way more real than all of the princesses – she doesn’t have makeup on when she wakes up, she eats well and enjoys food, she is clever, brave, a warrior, and creative. She is also fully capable of saving her loved one’s life too, and does it twice. Read this article for more proof of the under-appreciated genius that is Mulan.

Seriously, after you are done with this post you should go watch that film.

And speaking of film, we arrive at the meat of today’s Stimulating Sunday. It’s time for our monthly Cross Talk post! Figured out the theme yet?

You guessed it dear readers, under-appreciated films are the special of the day. I saved Mulan for the blog post, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg, as Chris and I go into a myriad of genres and other great films.

I’ve included a direct link to the full video for you here, but as always, the real action is just below for your convenience. Otherwise, please sit back and enjoy Episode 5 of Cross Talk!

I’m out of theories for now, but please check back tomorrow for a goo goo album review. It should be a good one! Please comment, subscribe and share this with you friends. We want to hear your feedback!

Tim!

Dealing With Time (Lucas Chaisson Interview Preview)

Posted on by Tim Kuefler

We’ve all been there.

Making plans and hoping that we’ll follow through on them, and then blaming any number of reasons for why we don’t live up to our self-imposed expectations.

Obviously there has been research conducted that proves the reasons for our big fails after the new year, but no one really talks about it for too long, then we settle back into our routines, start talking about our favourite shows, and complain about people and our environment – effectively victims of time.

What it really comes down to is a matter of starting small and focusing on things which will spread outward into all aspects of your life, you can only change one step at a time, not in giant leaps. If I want to have a successful business, I need to look at the details, and get good at them one at a time, and before I know it, I’ve constructed a symbiotic relationship with my vision and my life.

For instance, this year I’ve decided to create my own weekly planner, but I’ve incorporated components to ensure that I am effectively managing my money. Because I have so many personal goals, and because running timotheories isn’t without cost, I need to plan my week(s) and stick to a budget.

That way I am hitting several key goals at once – coming up with posts, committing to my movie watching plan, planning for game night and date night, and slotting time for the adminstrativa of timotheories (marketing, editing, networking).

Here is a screenshot of my schedule, for reference.

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I kid you not, because of this one small change in my planning, I’ve been particularly good at keeping up with my promises this year. Maybe the haters will say that this success is because it’s only been a month and the promises I’ve made haven’t blown up in my face yet, but I also think it has to do with the fact that I’m keeping it simple. By adding little notes to a schedule, I set reminders for myself, so that Future Tim has an easier time.

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I also think that because I’m focusing on a behaviour rather than a result, I don’t have the problem of letting myself down, because this is now part of my process and who I am. If I think about it in relation to my body it becomes even clearer – I can modify parts of myself (exercise, diet), but my body is never done or complete, it is constantly changing. By changing my frame of mind and my environment, my lifestyle can grow, flourish, and take over the old.

And the last thing I need to do is forget that my body, mind, and soul all work together in conjunction.

Which is why I’m excited to give you a taste of the first timotheories interview of the year! This gentleman produced and released an album last year titled Telling Time, and I had the good fortune to speak with him about his record and his thoughts on the concept of time.

Below is a clip from our interview!

I’m incredibly excited to bring this Lucas Chaisson interview to the table and you will see the final result next week, but for now, enjoy our brief interlude and the rest of your Sunday. And maybe if you can see time in a different way, you’ll begin the process of living your dreams, rather than setting goals.

And those are all of the theories I have for today, dear readers! Enjoy the rest of your Sunday, and I’ll see you tomorrow for a neat music review.

Tim!