Video: Oops! Chevy gets trashed in commercial contest

In my defense I've been driving about 20 miles a week lately so my "personal emissions" are relatively low.  Having said that I am looking forward to buying a hybrid soon....for obvious reasons. :)

So I had an opportunity to watch Purple Rain for the first time this weekend.  I'm not sure what it was.  Maybe the fact that Prince is from Minneapolis and much of the movie is filmed at First Avenue, a joint I've spent a few nights of my life at.  Or perhaps it's the stage of life I'm at where I'm realizing that the level of success we achieve is directly related to the level of risk we're willing to take.  Or maybe it was Prince's unbridled intensity throughout the film.  As if God had tapped him on the shoulder and said "Hey buddy, this is your one shot at super-stardom...go make something happen." 

Whatever it was it flipped a switch for me.  To see a guy come from relatively nowhere and rise to fame as one of the greatest musicians of our age is just amazing.  And inspiring.  Who else would have had the audacity to write a song titled "My Name is Prince"?

There are a ton of example of people with the guts to go full bore after their dreams.  I'm trying my darnedest these days to immerse myself in their stories and learn from their lives.  It's so easy to get up in the mundane and mediocre.  People like Prince/Dylan/Gates/Oprah/Tiger/Wie/Cuban/Venter/etc. are living and breathing reminders that that isn't how life is to be lived. 

I know there are a lot of Andrew Cohen fans here on Zaadz and so I wanted to mention that we have a new Andrew Cohen CD set available for download on LearnOutLoud.  It's a series of talks with Andrew on the subject of meditation and I think you'll find it really enjoyable.  Here's the link:

Meditation by Andrew Cohen

Also, we've just opened up our site for international download orders so anyone around the world can listen to this title.

Exciting stuff and just the beginning of what's to come!  Fun fun fun.

Hey all.  I created my first pod here on Zaadz today.  It's called the Out Loud Learners and it'll be a place to discover and discuss educational and inspirational audio and video content.  If you dig Ken Wilber, Wayne Dyer and the Dalai Lama you'll love this pod.  Here's the link to join:

Out Loud Learners

To kick off the pod right I'm giving away a copy of Siddhartha to all pod members.  Go to the link below to see how you can get your free copy of Siddhartha on audio:

Free Siddhartha Audiobook

A study in greatness:

Tiger Woods Interviewed on 60 Minutes

Every once in a while I come across something on the Net that jolts my brain a bit and makes me smile for its creativity.  The MillionDollarHomepage is an example.  Here's another one.

one red paperclip

Just came across this tonight in an ESPN article:

Another factor in the plan's success is the development of great stories that will enable the sport to leap past the box scores in the sports section. Like the story of Marla Runyan, a legally blind runner who, over the past four years, finished in the top 10 in the New York City Marathon, the Boston Marathon and the Chicago Marathon.

Wow.  Pretty damn inspiring huh?

I recently got interviewed on the Web 2.0 Show.  It's a short interview but a good overview of what we're doing at LearnOutLoud.  My biggest question though is whether they could have found a worse picture of me? :)

From The Onion:

Beaver Overthinking Dam

I swear that I often find myself acting just like "Dennis Messner."  Sometimes I need more of the McManus approach:

"Work-work-work. Gnaw-gnaw-gnaw. Build-build-build. Must hurry."

:)

I've noticed that quite a few Zaadzsters have V for Vendetta listed as a favorite movie.  It's definitely now on my "To Watch" list.  Anyhoo, I noticed that one of my favorite companies Blackstone Audio now has an unabridged version of this on audio.  Thought I would share:

V for Vendetta

Anyone know of any good places to get vegan breakfast in West LA?  There are a few good vegan restaurants here (RFD, Native Foods) but as far as I know none of them are open for breakfast.  The best I've found so far is a single vegan entree (Viva Las Vegan which is yummy) at Jinky's on 2nd Street in Snata Monica and a few vegan entrees at Swinger's on Lincoln.  Of course you can always get oatmeal but that gets old after a while... :)

Why Milken feels like Whole Foods Market

If you haven't checked out Steve Pavlina's blog yet you really should.  He recently posted an outstanding interview with Marc Allen, the Founder of New World Library.  Here's the link:

Marc Allen Interview

Good stuff!!!

Spread the Gnarls Barkley meme.

Crazy is crazy addictive.  Bummed that I'm missing them at Coachella this weekend...

And check this out...

“You are the best. You are the worst. You are average. Your love is a part of you. You try to give it away because you cannot bear its radiance, but you cannot separate it from yourself. To understand your fellow humans, you must understand why you give them your love. You must realize that hate is but a crime-ridden subdivision of love. You must reclaim what you never lost. You must take leave of your sanity, and yet be fully responsible for your actions.” -Gnarls Barkley, in a letter to the legendary rock critic Lester Bangs

I'm loving it...

A couple of weeks ago I went to a premiere of an excellent film that Seth and others recently completed.  I was blown away by how good it was and the creativity and dedication that went into it.  But what was a little disappointing were the other films that were shown that night (it was a series of short films that were being debuted).  With one exception they all were rife with drug use and lot of other negative stuff.  I'm not a prude but when you go to a screening like this and 6 of the 8 films were like this you kind of wonder about the current state of filmmaking.

Then you see something like this and it send chills up and down your spine.

What if?

We used filmmaking as means for political and social change instead of as a means to celebrate everything that's wrong with the world.

What if?

We used social networking to figure out how we can inspire and empower others rather than just a means for hooking up and figuring out party plans (hmmm...seems I know some people who are doing just that...).

What if?

We put all these new media tools to a good use and created blogs and podcasts and videos that changed the world.

The guys at InvisibleChildren.com are doing just that.  I'm excited to see thousands/millions of others follow their lead.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6iHJPuthO7M

Cool story about Bono honoring one of the victims of Flight 93 by playing One Tree Hill on their most recent tour...

Ticket stub offers memories old and new

Reason #852 why these guys are my favorite band ever.