Rothacker Reviews

Music For Inspiration

I remember a movie, maybe in the late Sixties, in which Patty Duke played a track athlete.  (Might not have been Patty Duke.  Might not have been late Sixties) 

Well Dave, I see we are enjoying total recall this morning.

This character discovered that if while running she could start grooving to an inspirational song, she could actually run faster.

Grooving?  Oh buddy, think ya might be able to bring things forward, say a half century or so?  Please don't tell me it was the Archies' songs.

I first began to use music for inspiration when lifting weights.  Crank it up, sync it up and push it up.

Let's see if we got this right.  "Macho, macho man, you're a macho man."  Bet that increased your bench press five pounds.

That was a long time ago.  Today I try and let music inspire creativeness in my writing.

"The itsy bitsy spider crawled up the water spout.  Down came the rain and washed the spider out."  I can see it now, "Spider crawls inside CEO's head.  CEO devours compliant drones and stores them in web.  Yes-men are now at beck and call."  You're a regular ol' Dr. Seuss buddy boy.

I especially like lyrics that are different from anything ever heard, supported by anthem like melodies.  The song White Rabbit by Jefferson Airplane inspires freedom to express through your soul's eyes:

"When logic and proportion
Have fallen slowly dead
And the White Knight is talking backwards
And the Red Queen's off with her head
Remember what the dormouse said:
Feed your Head
Feed your Head!"

We know what's feeding your head, Fred.  What're you, caught in a time warp?

I think personal music has the potential to lubricate creativity.  It can put your mind on a plane; a plane between what you think is expected of your writing, and what you want your writing to be.

"And when the night is cloudy, there is still a light, that shines on me,
shine until tomorrow, let it be.
I wake up to the sound of music, mother Mary comes to me,
speaking words of wisdom, let it be."

Let it be, let it be, .....

Cloudy?  Oh, you got your head in the clouds alright!  Let's try this Elvis.  Take a couple of Prozacs, lay down and get a good nap.  When you wake up you'll feel better, then you can get to business writing us up something worthwhile.  Hey, before I forget, what did you do with our Steppenwolf album?

Update:  Thanks to Wayne Turmel of achismarketing.com we no longer have a movie mystery.  Patty Duke played Billie in the 1968 movie titled Billie.  Jim Backus played her father. 

 

Calvin and Hobbes

Spaceman Spiff is hit.  He grabs hold of his spacecraft's controls as it rockets toward the hostile, alien planet below.  The ship crashes and Spiff emerges unscathed.  He walks the planet for days.  Spiff collapses as he watches an alien beast approach.  Could this be our super hero's ultimate demise?  What's that?  The beast is bringing food.

"Calvin, bring back the dishes when you are done."

"Thanks Mom."

Classic Calvin.

The tiger crouches down as he patiently awaits his prey.  The door opens. 

"I'm home!"

The tiger springs, he flies through the air with limbs extended.  KAPOW, he strikes!  Arms, legs and fur tornado the screen. 

"Why do you always do that?"

"Natural exuberance is one of those qualities that makes us tigers so darn endearing!"

Classic Hobbes

Pleasant memories from Ohio came roaring down Interstate 75 when I read Mike Wilson's article on Calvin and Hobbes in the Tampa Bay Times!  Mike says that the St. Petersburg Times (same publisher) will be publishing the famous Calvin and Hobbes comic strip until the end of this year.  Author Bill Watterson hopes to spike sales for his new book The Complete Calvin and Hobbes, by running previous comic strips.  The book is due out in early October.

What was it about a six-year old kid and his imaginary tiger that captivated the attention of so many adults?  For me it was utter and complete, free and uninhibited imagination.  Author Bill Watterson seems to peel back the outer layer of reality.  All kids hate to take a bath.  Calvin doesn't simply frown, moan and whine.  He transmogrifies.  He turns into Spaceman Spiff.  The alien beasts have captured him.  They are about to drop him into a vat of boiling water. Calvin's Mom drops him into the bathtub in the next scene.  Or, how Calvin becomes extinct.

In a sense, Watterson offers up visual metaphors.  He paints pictures of what lies just beneath consciousness.  These pictures help to connect us to memories.  Some memories are whole, some fragmented. Even the fragemented ones have enough of a toe hold to grab on to. Once we've brought the memory into focus, there is no choice but to overlay it with what we now know as adults.  For instance, as kids we might not have liked the babysitter.  When we saw her coming up the driveway though, we didn't ask our parents where the guns were.  And if they said they didn't have guns, we didn't ask them where the wooden mallet and stake were. 

Calvin said, "It's a magical world, ol' buddy...let's go exploring!"

I think Calvin and Hobbes is a most excellent way to go exploring and to free our imagination.

 

Katrina: Chilling Prediction

I had planned on cutting back on Katrina coverage and commentary here at the Reviews.  But I came across this site and felt compelled to share it with you.

As Americans, we need to pay attention to stuff like this.  We need to grab hold and assume responsibility for what we can.

Best Writer's Web Site

I recently spoke with an author who said, "Writing my book was the fun part, the easy part."  Although I am talking to her on the phone, I see her stomach begin to tighten and as her body tenses, cool sweat cascades down her forehead.  She proceeds to tell me about her nineteen city book tour along with media obligations and evening speeches.  As if she was trying to go to the bathroom after a week long sabbatical, "Marketing your book and getting your name out is the hard part.  Publishers won't do that for you!"

The process of marketing one's book seems to be a source of constipation for many.  Although blogs are a most excellent laxative for authors, today I'd like to direct you to the blog's big brother, the common ordinary, flat, red rubber  with an attached thin white tube Web site.

Writer's Digest ran a Best Writer's Web Site contest which author Tim Bete won.  Timbete.com is so well put together that Tim's eventual publisher actually found him by it.  Now, before you start stockpiling your pantry with fiber based products, be advised, it wasn't that easy.

Tim originally wrote parenting humor columns for various publications.  He created the Web site in hopes of extending readership.  It took time, but it worked.  Here is what I like about his site:

How Tim's Book Got Published - Tim practically starts out at the keyboard and ends up telling us about sales figures related to the book.  In between you've got creating Web sites; book proposals; query letters; media kits and questions from readers on the process.

Sample Columns - Tim provides ten reader favorite newspaper columns.

Feedback - Under his In the News category, Tim pummels the site with reader / reviewer feedback.  The sheer volume of testimonials alone suggest there might be something going on with his book.

For Editors - There is a whole section dedicated just to those who control your world.  The gods-of-your-destiny only need stop here for everything they need to know about Tim. 

Subscription - Tim will e-mail you his column, free.  Although this might come at odds with the gods, it is a very forward thinking marketing mechanism.

Awards - Tim displays a tidy little trophy case.  One suspects Tim has an ego the size of his insult box .  This section is good business because it really is about  promoting others.

The Book - A page dedicated to the promotion of his book, of course!

Here is a list of the contest finalists:

ratrilpot.com
charlesatkins.com
deborahbouziden.com
kristenfischer.com
realmofshade.com
stephaniechandler.com
janeckles.com
familypoet.com
colleencoble.com

I first heard of Tim Bete from an aricle I read in Writer's Digest , written by Chuck Sambuchino.  I've been getting WD for years, it's a good magazine.

 

Katrina: Victoria R. Rothacker

I  said if you wanted to take action in order to help Katrina victims, donate to the American Red Cross.  I realize now it isn't so simple.  For some of us, there is something deep inside that says,"I want to help!  No, I really want to help!"  It first hit me yesterday when I read Tommy's post telling us how he and his family helped Katrina victims.  It knocked me on my butt today when I heard my daughter Victoria say:

"You know Dad, some of us want to just jump in there and get our hands dirty.  We want to help."

No monetary donation will quench that thirst.  Well, Vickie found a way to just jump in there.  Please allow a proud Dad to tell how.

Vickie decided to call back Chris, the gentleman who had called her at the American Red Cross in search of help.  Chris is in the Cleveland area with his parents and wife Kimberly - from New Orleans.  Vickie wanted to find out if they needed help finding jobs.  They did.  So she put out a mass e-mail to her own personal network.  In addition to her close friends, Vickie's network permeates Cleveland's media, major non-profit charities and executives of some of Northeastern Ohio's leading advertising agencies.  It wasn't long before some of these folks started forwarding Vickie's request out into their own networks, multiplying like a Malcolm Gladwell experiment on steroids.  Soon the calls and e-mails began coming back to her. 

The passion within this correspondence has touched Vickie deeply.  People want to do something.  They want to help.  One company called with the ability to hire on ten or twelve people.  This is human spirit, American human spirit, at its finest.  I have to tell you, I am getting goose bumps right now thinking about it!

I came across  this request for help  and turned Vickie on to it.  Through her networking efforts, she is now in position to connect those Katrina victims who end up in Northeastern Ohio and in need of jobs, to those people and companies who need to help.

Big Request

If you know anyone that has made their way from the storm savaged South to the Northeastern Ohio area and is need of employment, please drop me an e-mail and I'll hook them up with Vickie.  Thank you and please feel free to forward this to anyone else who you think might know someone in need.

Vickie was telling me later that she thought maybe destiny was playing a hand in her trying to help.  I asked if she meant because of her networking skills.  She said, "yeah, but there is something else I just discovered.  It turns out that Kimberly went to Kent State University the same time as I did and we graduated the same year." 

Katrina: For Posterity

I am creating this post to collect information related to Katrina.  I wonder if TypePad will be around in twenty years - when I want to look back and access this stuff.

Katrina Timeline - chronological sequence of events.  Links out to media covering Katrina.

American Red Cross Facts Update - press release on latest Red Cross related facts.

Katrina Watch - Hurricane Watch - blog/photos created by Bruce Downs to document this disaster.

The Interdictor - First hand blog/photo accounts from deep inside New Orleans while this disaster was unfolding.

Craigs List Resources - Online community classifieds with tremendous outreach.

If anyone has links to sites that, for the sake of posteriry be important to preserve, please e-mail them to me.  david.rothacker@gmail.com

Katrina: Help From Tampa

The only thing more uplifting than creativity is when it is used to help someone out.  In this case an entire family.

Tommy D., author of the Sticks of Fire blog and his family, helped  out a family that escaped Katrina's devastation.  As you will read, the Hassan's, a family from Wesley Chapel actually took in the family in need.  Tommy's story shows ingenuity and a whole lot of caring. 

There is so much else going on out there (to help Katrina victims) than what we are seeing on CNN and MSNBC.  Even though Katrina stories might not fit into the theme of some blogs, I think as Americans, us bloggers have a responsibility to tell the world of the kind gestures coming from folks like Tommy, his family and the Hassan's!

Observing is Learning

Anne Lamott, author of Bird by Bird , says, "Writing is about learning to pay attention and to communicate what is going on."

In a school sense, learning never came easy to me.  The effort put forth to obtain grades above passing was Amazonian.  Like an Olympic weightlifter about to go for a clean and jerk record, I would muster up all of my concentration, I would frown, I would grunt, I would hunker my eyebrows on down, I would let out a mighty yell and then I would explode in an attempt to capture some understanding.  Later, I would sometimes explode on the test.

Many years after school and when I took to writing short essays on the Internet, an author friend lent advice.  He said to fold up a sheet of paper and carry it in my pocket along with a pencil.  This way it would be easy to jot down ideas and stuff to later write about.  I took to this mission like I took to school and weightlifting.  In school though, at least you knew what you had to study from.  Life has no such textbooks.  So there I am, stressing and straining to write everything down.  I can't say for sure, but I think when Rosemary and the ten reams of paper could no longer fit in the Radio Flyer - I might have been trying to record too much.  That in and of itself was a lesson in learning...and to think I almost got Rosemary a Captain's Chair for the Flyer.

I am much calmer these days.  I am not out there grunting and straining, trying to take in everything.  Instead, I just try to pay attention and let whatever it is come to me. 

For instance, in the old days, if a young family were to walk by me, I would write down as much detail as I could.  Because I wasn't clothes savvy, I'd have to run after them and get real close to read a designer tag - like Jordache.  Then I'd have to jog along side of them with pencil and paper for a couple hundred yards to get the rest.  I think it was also about this time when Rosemary figured out how to motorize the Radio Flyer.  Today, when a young family walks by, I might just note the chemistry of their interaction. 

Observing and paying attention need not be arduous.  The ability to create and sustain awareness not only becomes easier, if you let it, it becomes more focused.  The process of observing and noting is learning.  When you pull this information out of your brain's file and run it through your brain's filter the result can be a Radio Flyer full of fun.

Rosa Say's topic this month at Talking Story is on Lifelong Learning.   I threw these few dry logs on to keep the fires burning.

 

Katrina: Survival Of New Orleans Blog

The Interdictor  is a blog detailing first hand accounts of Katrina's devastation in New Orleans.  It is real.  From the beginning of the storm, a small group of Directnic.com employees set up camp in a data center located on about the 10th or 11th story of a downtown office building.  The address is 650 Poydras if you wish to do a Google satellite search.

When linking to this blog, begin reading on Monday, August 29.  The narrator is ex military.  The combination of his genuine concern for humanity and his Special Ops background make this story-in-progress one of the most real portrayals of what is actually happening.  The CEO of Directnic is one of this group and from what I can tell, is responsible for the photographs they are posting.

They also have a couple of live webcams going.

It is apparent that this group never set out to capture the tremendous audience they now have gained.  It is inevitable in time to come; their story will permeate the entire nation.  This is the power of blogging... in the hands of real Americans...for the benefits of others!

Here is an update (from the narrator) on the individuals this team is comprised of:

Attention
I want to make sure that everyone knows I am part of a team. I am not in this myself. I seem to be getting most of the attention for the success we've had here, but I don't think that's really fair to the other guys. I think because I'm the one keeping the blog people are getting the wrong impression. Here are the people who are up here and what their responsibilities are:

Sigmund Solares, CEO: Sigmund is one of the owners of Directnic. He is on site because Team SOTI needs a guy on the spot who can make command level decisions during an emergency.

Donny Simonton, Senior Vice President: Donny is Directnic's crisis tech guy. He's responsible for all of our servers and data transfers.

Brian Acosta, I-55.com: Brian is I-55's man on the spot and their chief tech guy. He's also the guy who makes sure we keep connectivity to the internet.

Crystal Coleman, Chef: Crystal is here with me and makes herself useful in a myriad of ways, mostly by keeping us well fed.

Michael Barnett, Crisis Manager: My responsibilities are physical security, creating standard operating procedures, implementing field sanitation and hygiene, and ensuring coordination of the team.

I want to make sure that especially the media are aware of this. Sig and Donny are as equally qualified as I am to answer questions and conduct interviews.

 

Katrina: American Red Cross

Our daughter Victoria, is a communication specialist for the American Red Cross.  Although she is in Cleveland, Ohio, Vickie has felt the wrath of Katrina.

A family from the effected Gulf Coast made their way to Northeastern Ohio.  They had their car and not much else.  Once in Ohio, they contacted the media and asked where they could go for help.  The media gave them Vickie's phone number.  Although Vickie works for Blood Services which is a separate division from Disaster Services, the group you are seeing on TV everyday, she is trained to deal with such situations.  Vickie directed the family to those who could help.  The family's only request was for clothes, they had none. 

Vickie felt mountains of pain and anguish coming from the Dad as he told her how his family had escaped and fled to stay with friends in Ohio.  We in turn felt the emotion in Vickie's voice as she told us about this family.  This is a family that escaped and has a place to stay.  I simply cannot fathom the emotion and stress at ground zero.

The American Red Cross is providing an excellent   Facts Update   page at their Website.

We are proud of the American Red Cross and their efforts to get relief to those in need.  And we are most proud of our eldest daughter and her fierce commitment towards her fellow Americans.