Everyone Doing Their Jobs: Greg Hardy

What an awful situation.  Especially if you take time to look at the full story.

So why does life just go on after all this?

Because everyone was just doing their job.

The lawyers just did their job, presenting the case.

The courts just did their job by convicting and then letting it go during the appeal process.  The courts were just doing their job per appeals law, per the circumstances.

The NFL was just doing their job by suspending Greg Hardy ten games.

The players union was just doing their job by wanting to get Hardy back on the field, and got the punishment reduced to four games.

Everyone was just doing their job.  Completely legal and by the book.

How can you blame someone for just doing their job?

Wrong focus.  And a lame, cowardly excuse.

When will someone say…I’m not just going to do my job, I’m going to do more.  

When will someone say enough already? THIS IS A BAD DUDE, WE DON’T WANT HIM AROUND.

At the very very very least, from a business stand point, why would the NFL or the players union want a guy working for their company who beats up the people he “loves and cares for”.  Umm, yeah…not a very trust worthy, upstanding, good hearted person.

As for second chances? I’m all about them.  But that doesn’t mean you get your second chance the same place you had your first.

Safely “just doing your job” does nothing but shift the blame away from yourself, hoping that you get to live to work another day…hoping that someone else will take care of the other stuff.  Just doing your job is hiding.

Exceptional, great, life changing, revolutionary work comes from stepping outside just doing your job.  It comes from looking to TAKE responsibility rather than dodging it.

Greg Hardy, a horrible guy, is back on the field entertaining millions of people, making millions of dollars all because everyone was doing their jobs.  Super…five gold stars everyone.

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I’m always interested in your perspective, whether affirming or dissenting. Continue the conversation anytime: gabethebassplayer@gmail.com

Modern Album Releases

Coldplay released a song today and is releasing their new album in a month.

Beyonce, Wilco and a host of other people have done surprise albums out of the blue all at once.

The popstar du jour releases single after single and you never even hear about an album.

Adele gets the press murmuring for a few weeks, and then hits us with a single and an album release date for a few weeks after.

Two things:

1. It seems like the 8 month press ramp up to an album release is going away, if it hasn’t already.  

These days if an act is lucky enough to get media to pay attention, they’ve gotta deliver the tunes SOON, because three months from now (if not three minutes from now), everyone will have moved on.

While/if the press is paying attention, put out the music.  Don’t string along the hype about the album without showing us some tracks.

2. No one is releasing music the same way.  There’s no right or wrong way to do it.  

There’s no precedent for these modern times.

The second the thought occurs to you “we have to release music this way because that’s the way it’s done”…squash it and understand that artists are taking creative liberty more than ever with how/when/where/why they release music.

You don’t have to be a part of “the way it is”.  Because there is no way it is.

That’s not to say there’s not a lot of planning, vision, marketing behind all the different ways artists can release music.  The truth is there’s probably more intentionality and reasoning than ever.

So…You get to come up with the plan.  That is awesome and fun, and also scary and burdensome.  You can’t fall back on “the way it is” anymore as an excuse to whine.

You get to come up with what you want to do, build a unique plan and make it happen.

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I’m always interested in your perspective, whether affirming or dissenting. Continue the conversation anytime: gabethebassplayer@gmail.com

Connection And Isolation

If you look at your plan for today and tomorrow and it doesn’t involve connecting in real life with other humans, make a new plan.

If you look at your plan for today and tomorrow and it doesn’t involve doing work that no one else will ever know you did, make a new plan.

Both of these elements, connection and isolation, are essential.

Build these elements into every day’s plan.

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I’m always interested in your perspective, whether affirming or dissenting. Continue the conversation anytime: gabethebassplayer@gmail.com

CMAs

When you spend most of your time speaking genuinely, intentionally and with meaning, then most likely when you’re put in the spotlight you will do the same.

Like when Chris Stapleton gave his acceptance speeches at the CMA’s tonight.

A speech like that doesn’t make good TV, it makes a good person.

And isn’t it weird that the other most genuine country performer was Kasey Musgraves with her her sparkly leotard, and pink-suited band.  Couldn’t be more different than Chris’s vibe, and yet it feels similar in a way.

Genuine can come in many shapes and sizes.

We know it when we see it.

And we know it when we don’t see it.

And for most of the show tonight, as with most awards shows, its scripted reality and a lot of fumbly bumbly, immaturity  and ego dying to cover up insecurity.

We’re forced to sit through 99% mediocrity for the one or two glimmers of hope…that tell us it’s ok to strive to be the real deal.  That shooting for the lowest common denominator doesn’t have to be the goal.

Everyone knows the real thing it when they see it.  You can feel it from a mile away.

It has everything to do with who you are as a person, and to what degree you understand why you’re around in the first place.

Christ Stapleton wasn’t able to come off as super legit because he won an award…he won an award because he is super legit.

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I’m always interested in your perspective, whether affirming or dissenting. Continue the conversation anytime: gabethebassplayer@gmail.com

Pete Yorn’s Music

Pete Yorn’s music is makes me feel like I’m allowed to feel whatever I’m feeling.

It’s unobtrusive. It doesn’t DO much.  It just sits there, like a good friend, listening.

There’s a lot of other people who write unobtrusive music that doesn’t do much and it’s painfully awful…like an annoying stranger.

There’s something about those few Pete Yorn records that instantly turns him from a stranger into that good friend, every time.

You don’t have to be outlandish to be unique.  

You don’t have to be loud to make a difference.  

You don’t have to be the talker in order to be doing something important.

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I’m always interested in your perspective, whether affirming or dissenting. Continue the conversation anytime: gabethebassplayer@gmail.com

Future Of TV And Film

What if whatever TV show or movie you were watching you could pause it, click on anything on the screen and order it for yourself.

That’s the future.

You want one of Don Draper’s suits? Just find the episode and click.

How about the rowing machine Claire and Francis use on House of Cards?

Or even one of Rachel’s haircuts from Friends…maybe you click on her hair and you get a list of people in your area who are good at that cut.

This is going to be a huge revenue stream.

It’s impulse buying on steroids.

Product placement will be insane, and will be scalable, trackable and more accurately bought and sold to advertisers.

Everything in every show will be for sale.

Every frame from every scene in every show will be cataloged, categorized and monetized.

Right now there’s a gap.

Right now if you see something on a TV show or movie that you want, you have to pick up your phone or computer, search for it using some vague terms and hope someone has blogged about it, and then maaaaaaybe you can order it for yourself.

Like it or not, we will see growth in commerce by giving people more (yes, even more) of what they want.

Desire creates the technology.  The technology creates more desire.

What do I want?

I want the medallion from The Goonies that Mikey wears around his neck.

I’m always interested in your perspective, whether affirming or dissenting. Continue the conversation anytime: gabethebassplayer@gmail.com

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