When I was a kid, my father (who had turned pro at the age of four, and literally grew up in show business) used to tell me that the biggest stars (or at least the ones who’d been in the business the longest) were the nicest people. He attributed this to the fact that “you meet the same people on the way down as you do going up,” and therefore the successful artists were the ones who were nice to everybody, and made few enemies on the way up. I’ve seen that hold true in my own experience. I’m not talking about the “overnight success” types – poptarts like Britney Spears. I’m referring to people that start in the business when they’re young, usually with either a parent (or two) in the business, or a mentor that has years of show business experience. These are the people that, regardless of their fame or fortune, remain “real” – genuinely nice people, who treat everyone well, without regard to who they are or how they can benefit from a kindness. I recently had the privilege to exchange a couple of emails with one such person, and I’d like to tell you about it. [Read more…] about Class.
Archives for 2008
Noblesse Oblige
Noblesse Oblige [nō-ˈbles-ə-ˈblēzh] n – the obligation of those of high rank to be honorable and generous.
In a land where the concept of a king and his court never got traction, America has always substituted “fame” for “nobility.” We don’t have princes and duchesses, we have superstars and poptarts. In Europe, royalty like Prince Charles and his offspring are household names, and in some cases all but worshiped (see: “Diana, Princess.”) In this country, our nobility is of the more disposable type, with P.R. mavens and the insatiable appetite of the media serving as the power behind the throne, reveling in their powers as king- and queen-makers extraordinaire. [Read more…] about Noblesse Oblige
Children with Toys.
Giving young actors a budget of a couple of million dollars and telling them to go make a movie is a lot like giving a four-year-old a pair of scissors and telling them to practice those naiscent running skills…the results are not gonna be pretty. Allowing some actors a budget to make the political equivalent of potty jokes (in one case, quite litterally) is just completely irresponsible.
David “I married Courtney Cox so you don’t have to” Arquette and his ex-Friends wife have created a little opus they call “The Tripper.” It’s a fun-loving story about some Really Earnest Hippies who encounter a derranged psychopath who likes to dress up like President Ronald Reagan, mimic his voice, use his one-liners…and chop people to death with an axe. Um…yeah.
Watching some bad movies, you think, “Wow…this musta seemed funny on paper…I wonder what happened.” Not this turkey. What I wonder is what movie exec lost his job for greenlighting this abomination. [Read more…] about Children with Toys.
War. And Rememberance.
It’s been seven years. As we approach the anniversary of 9/11, that’s the first thing that sticks in my head. I can’t believe it’s been seven years. Back when we ushered in the new millennium, I really thought that the most momentous milestone in time that I’d live through would be the change from the 20th century to the 21st. Turns out, I was wrong. We don’t really measure time today as in “before the millennium” and “after the millennium.” We live in a post-9/11 world, and long for the way things used to be, before that fateful day in September. [Read more…] about War. And Rememberance.
Empire of Lies; Book of Truth.
I’ve always loved to read. It’s relaxing. I read a lot – mostly tech books, but I try to read some recreationally, both to relax and to expand my horizons. I was watching Glenn Beck on Headline News a couple of weeks ago, and he had author Andrew Klavan on, pitching his latest, Empire of Lies. Sounded interesting, so I filed it away to a slot on my list of “books I want to read.” This past week, I thought about the book, but had a hard time remembering the name or the author. It finally dawned on me that I could use Amazon’s “if you like this book you might also like” feature to find it. Sure enough, I was able to remember the general look of the cover. I’m not always into instant gratification, but for some reason, I really wanted to read this, and I had some time on my hands, so… [Read more…] about Empire of Lies; Book of Truth.
We’re evolving…
I’m trying out a new theme tonight. The old one was fine, but this theme offers a lot more – an extra column, more widgets, easier navigation. The content remains the same, but I think this one will be a little easier to read. There’s also another advantage, in that it’s the same theme I’m using for our sister blog – grokmedia |mediablog. Let me know what you think.
NEWSFLASH: Obama worshiper exposed as loon.
Just when I thought things couldn’t get any weirder around here in Amarillo (Centrally Located Between Two Oceans!™), it did. Mrs. Digital was at a local supermarket a few minutes ago, and some Obama supporter when all Zsa-Zsa Gabor on her. That’s right. My significant other was wearing the tshirt you see pictured to the left (available online, by the way, through my wife’s company, www.vectorright.com), minding her own business, when some raving loon…um, I mean “Obama supporter” walked up to her and said “Bitch!” and proceeded to slap her, open handed, across her face. Keep in mind, this was not at some seedy “Stop ‘n Rob” drive up convenience store. Nope. This happened at what is by all accounts, the nicest, most up-scale grocery store in Amarillo.
Immediately, my wife was surrounded by other customers, and the manager ran over to offer his assistance. He asked if my wife wanted him to call the police. My wife is one tough cookie, and (she told me whilst recounting the event) figured that the police have better things to do, so she declined his offer. The manager then escorted the woman who assaulted my wife out of the store. [Read more…] about NEWSFLASH: Obama worshiper exposed as loon.
WOW.
Obama must be really nervous tonight. Biden, however, must be wishing he’d been screening his calls.
To call Sarah Palin’s speech amazing is to shower it with faint praise. I think this will go down in history in the same vein as the speech Ronald Regan gave to nominate Barry Goldwater (the speech that launched Regan’s political career). If there were any doubts on the Right that Sarah Palin was the wrong pick, they were more than answered with an emphatic “NO” tonight. She was everything the Right wants, and then some. If there was any doubt on the Left that Palin is going to be all but impossible to beat on the stump, those doubts have been suddenly and decisively retired. The Dems are in real trouble here. Palin’s articulate, well-spoken, intelligent, and…experienced – in both public speaking and in dealing with issues. (She even acquitted herself admirably on foreign policy issues.) And as far as the media goes, if they entertained any thoughts that she might be a pushover, or an easy ‘get’ for their poisoned pens, she quashed those. (My favorite line was the one about how she was not going to Washington to please the liberal media, but to serve the people.) Booyah! [Read more…] about WOW.
There’s only two things I don’t like about liberal pundits…
…their face.
(For those of you that are liberals, that’s a reference to being two-faced.) You see, for as long as I can remember, Liberals have owned the franchise on demographic groups like “feminists,” “soccer moms,” “working moms,” and “women who want to break through glass ceilings.” Then came Sarah Palin.
Pwned.
Even though I expected Liberals go go appoplectic over Palin, I figured they’d be smart enough to stop short of hypocrisy when they turned the attack dogs of war her direction. I was wrong. We’re seeing little bon mots like this: [Read more…] about There’s only two things I don’t like about liberal pundits…
Let me entertain you.
It dawned on me, as I was creating some ‘quickie’ bizcards, that I needed a website specific to the musician-side of my life. I’m a big believer in perception versus reality, and the reality is, people perceive a certain degree of “serious” in regards to an email address. If you want someone to take you seriously, a Gmail, Hotmail, or Yahoo address is not gonna cut the mustard. On the other hand, if you have your own domain name, it’s almost like instant street cred. So I bought bradkozak.com and set it up as a site dedicated to my singer/songwriter/entertainer biz. Of course, since I create websites for a living, it didn’t take but a couple of hours to throw together a website. (It took longer to get Mrs. Digital to help me with the photos, and to do the Photoshopping than it did to write the site code.) [Read more…] about Let me entertain you.