Monday, June 30, 2008

Sweet Robert Johnson

My good friend Robert Johnson wrote me the nicest welcome on his blog! What a doll. You should get on over there if you want to hear some great old songs. He has a bunch of them that you can listen to and download for free. Can you believe that?

It's all courtesy of Public Domain 4U which is a treasure chest of amazing music from some of the giants of my time! Free old timey blues and jazz mp3's that you can legally download for free and enjoy over and over again.

I think I'll go over there right now!

See you in the delta sugar,

Ma

Monday, June 23, 2008

Kevin Kelly sez "it takes an artist 1,000 True Fans to make a living"


Here's the article

Kevin Kelly is one of those internet visionary guys -- he was involved in the Whole Earth catalog and the founding of Wired. He has a think-piece about surviving as a creative person:

1,000 True Fans

The long tail is famously good news for two classes of people; a few lucky aggregators, such as Amazon and Netflix, and 6 billion consumers. Of those two, I think consumers earn the greater reward from the wealth hidden in infinite niches.

But the long tail is a decidedly mixed blessing for creators. Individual artists, producers, inventors and makers are overlooked in the equation. The long tail does not raise the sales of creators much, but it does add massive competition and endless downward pressure on prices. Unless artists become a large aggregator of other artist's works, the long tail offers no path out of the quiet doldrums of minuscule sales.

Other than aim for a blockbuster hit, what can an artist do to escape the long tail?

One solution is to find 1,000 True Fans. While some artists have discovered this path without calling it that, I think it is worth trying to formalize. The gist of 1,000 True Fans can be stated simply:

A creator, such as an artist, musician, photographer, craftsperson, performer, animator, designer, videomaker, or author - in other words, anyone producing works of art - needs to acquire only 1,000 True Fans to make a living.

Monday, June 16, 2008

Olympic Weightlifter and World-Class Mom


Olympic Weightlifter and World-Class Mom

Athlete and Mom Melanie Roach Speaks Out About Son's Struggle With Autism


Here's a story I saw about an amazing woman. Kinda makes me feel like I didn't do enough today....but it's very inspiring to read about her just the same. Wish I could've had her on one of my tours.

"At 5 feet 1 inch and 117 pounds, Roach is one of the top weightlifters in the world. She is also the mother of three, a politician's wife, a small business owner and has a shot at the Olympics.

"Recently, I've clean and jerked 238," she said. That's 238 pounds hoisted off the ground and over her head.

That's the equivalent of lifting an NFL linebacker over her head.

Here's the the story, and here's the video

Also, here's some resources on autism. Truly amazing woman.

Monday, June 9, 2008

That Girl has Sexy Bones

Okay now THIS is what I'm talking about. Will you look at this girl? Now that's a skinny one. I know this isn't new to most of you out there, but I just can't get over these models when I see them. She looks like a skeleton. If I saw someone this skinny back in my day, we'd have dragged them to the hospital!

Now as for me I was a healthy, full figured woman ~ a little on the short side ~ but I could've fit six of these women in one of my dresses. Ha! And by the way I have style too ya know; I used to love wearing my ostrich feather fans, glitter headbands and fringe dresses.


The Good News: At least Spain did the right thing. Is New York going to follow suit? Check out Betty Roche's blog too. She talks a lot about fashion.

Monday, June 2, 2008