The Three Ages We Live

Sculpture executed circa 1300 A.D

"The passage of time was one of the main concerns in Mesoamerican society; thus,  many depictions of its passage allude to different aspects of the Mesoamerican view of the cosmos.

The three faces depict three phases in which time and humans are closely related. The central face is jovial and full of vigor, referring to the time when individuals are during their most productive years in a society. 

By way of contrast, the exterior mask has closed eyes, alluding to the opposite phase, death. 

In between is a period of no less importance, the state that arrives with experience: old age."

RIchard Thompson: Still on NPR

ABC Radio National

 

Thompson's skills on the guitar were first noticed in the UK folk rock band Fairport Convention which he co-founded in 1967. His Ivor Novello-winning songs having been recorded by everyone from REM, Elvis Costello, and Graham Parker to The Pointer Sisters, Los Lobos, Jeff Lang, Dinosaur Jr and the Blind Boys of Alabama. His lyrics can be romantic, biting and black all in the same verse. 'There's a fine line between repeating yourself and having your own style,' he says.

 In his time as guest on RN Afternoons with Michael Mackenzie, Richard discusses his search for surprise, working with producer Jeff Tweedy (Wilco), and plays a new song called Beatnik Walking from the new album Still to be released in June 2015.

Ray Bradbury: Advice On Driving, Pleasing Yourself And Writing

Ray Bradbury spoke with these college students and this is what happened.

"Nobody else is going to give a damn what you're doing, so you need a few other people like yourself"
- Ray Bradbury as told to two college kids on road trip in 1972

In the autumn of 2012, Lisa Potts rediscovered -- literally, behind her dresser -- a taped cassette of a long-lost interview with author Ray Bradbury that she made as a college student journalist back in 1972. 

Even earlier, Ray Bradbury turned up a TV show hosted by Groucho Marx.

A Peek Behind The Curtain: Leonard Cohen Choices

Here's a rare gift - a chance to see the evolution of a performance.

This song is a cover of a song by George Jones September (12, 1931 – April 26, 2013), which Leonard Cohen offers as something of a tribute to him.

It's also a great coaching song! Choices. We all have them.

It was not really a planned choice for Leonard Cohen to have his retirement savings stolen by his manager but he's made some good choices, with a lot of help from people around him, about what to do next.

Imagine yourself at 80 producing some of your best work.

Now that's a better life to expect than the one we often are presented in popular culture for what old age will be like.

I know which choice I'd make.

Sound Check 

Performance


The song "Choices" from the album Cant Forget: A Souvenir of the Grand Tour Live.

George Jones sings from experience it seems in these lyrics. You can find his life story here  It makes for an interesting read. 

 

Higher Cost Wine - Is It Really Worth It?

Why is it that we so easily fall into the trap of believing that something expensive is better?

Once upon a time there may have been some connection between the cost of production for high cost items and similar products on the low end of the scale. These days that may not be true.  We know that factories making generic cans of fruit and the like just retool to change the labels for the different brands.

When it comes to wine I know I have bought many bottles of reasonably expensive wine that were less enjoyable than some other bottles that I like which are much cheaper. But then I don't get any kick to my self esteem by buying wine that has a high price.  Don't misunderstand, some more expensive wine is superb and well worth splashing out for on occasion. I think the lesson here is to make choices based on what you really like and not what you think you should like.

A few years ago a TV channel did a testing panel of champagne and champagne styles with some Melbourne Cup racegoers. Now this is a time of year when people like to drink some champagne and have fun. Many of the tasters were inclined to put strawberries into the champagne anyway so not exactly wine connoisseur.  What transpired was that the favourite bottle of champagne turned out not to be a vintage French real McCoy, but a domestic dry bubbly that retailed for about $14.

Red Wine Price Versus Enjoyment Test

"We blind-tasted three cabernet sauvignon wines, one of which (the most expensive) was described by Wine Spectator as "extremely well done ... with style and panache." Our response was somewhat different."

Vox wrote an article on this you can find it here - Expensive wine is for suckers

It's little wonder then that research into human behaviour can allow marketers to use those same patterns of human behaviour to sell more products using psychological tricks to make us buy more, eat fast and get out of a fast food restaurant (it is no accident that fast food chains are all garish red and yellow colour combinations), buy the more expensive option or in some way affect our decisions around purchases.

Shopping Is Like A Minefield 

This article on Mental Floss goes into some detail to show how menus presented a certain way will drive sales of particular items that might otherwise not be our first choice. They limit options, since more choice adds more confusion and can make it harder to make a choice at all.

Like this one:

"One way to encourage you to spend more money is by making price tags as inconspicuous as possible. “We get rid of dollar signs because that’s a pain point,” says Allen. “They remind people they’re spending money.” Instead of $12.00 for that club sandwich, you’re likely to see it listed as 12.00, or even just 12. One Cornell University study found that written-out prices (“twelve dollars”) also encourage guests to spend more. “Your pricing format will set the tone of the restaurant,” says Rapp. “So $9.95 I’ve found is a friendlier price than a $10, which has attitude to it.”

Dotted lines leading from the menu item to its price are a cardinal sin of menu design. “That menu was introduced before modern typesetting,” says Allen. “It was a way of keeping the page looking properly formatted, but what happens is the guest reads down the right side of the menu and then looks to the left to see what the lower price point can afford them.” The solution?“Nested” pricing, or listing the price discretely after the meal description in the same size font, so your eyes just glide right over it. "

Planned Environments

The way stores feel, the temperature to which the climate control is set, the light levels, the music that is playing in the background, even the visual cues like fresh flowers at the entrance to the grocery store are not there to sell flowers but rather to get you geared up to buy the fruit and vegetables you will find when you pass them and enter the store.  Welcome to Neuromarketing.

Packaging follows a similar strategy with "fresh" and images of rolling hills with contented cows in stylized artwork make us think of farms and rural life, that is nothing like the product it represents which many times may have no natural ingredients that came from anything like the image depicted.

Spoil Yourself Anyway

All this is not to say that there are not times when it is okay to splurge and some things really are worth a premium price. That vintage bottle that has been aged and stored for years in the right conditions to reach its peak right now when you buy it to drink may well be worth the extra price for what you get.

But if you can remember that price alone may not be an indicator of the product being worth that much, then you might start to discover some bargains that are just as enjoyable because they really do taste better to your palette.  

After all. We are all unique and so too our taste can be out of step with those educated to prefer a particular style different from our own.

Yellowberry A Mission & Brand For Young Girls

What happens when you take your little sister shopping for her first bra and don't like the process you see? When you notice that clothing for young girls is not age appropriate and the choices are poor?

If you are Megan Grassell you pay attention to that internal dissonance and start a kickstarter crowdfunding and launch a new business to cater to these young women.

Why 'Yellowberry' as a name and image?

It is the stage of the berry, after it is formed but still not yet ripe and still needing time to mature.

Perfect name for a perfectly identified market that Yellowberry will serve.

Read more about Megan Grassell and Yellowberry on Fastcompany

Now partnering with Aerie.com - see more on that here 

New businesses finding a niche in the market and filling it. That's what makes for better business and better choices for customers too.

Your Business Is Not You

“If those who are sent to draw water begin by drinking themselves,

 the army is suffering from thirst.” 

― Sun Tzu, The Art of War

Starting a business is an incredibly brave thing to do. It is to make a commitment to an idea that you don't know for sure will work, and will require you to put all your money and your time and your effort into building.

All for a crazy dream.

After a while though, if you are fortunate, the business will be more than an idea. It will be a real living breathing entity that makes money and serves customers and has needs of its own. It needs to be tended and fed and watered and needs good air to breathe to enable it to be healthy. The business needs the weeds pulled and the grass mowed and kept tidy so it can be as productive as possible.

To see the business as its own entity and not just a dream in our mind now, that's a critical point for any business owner to reach.

Some never do.

Some owners of a business continue to regard their business as an extension of themselves.   "This is my business, the money in the till is mine and all I have to think about is what I want."

That works for a while but it doesn't allow the business to grow true and strong.

Any business has needs that are not the needs of the owner.  This is your business, but the money in the till is not yours and the business needs you to think about what it needs not just what you want.

We sometimes dream of having a child and when we do we learn that a dream of a child is different from the reality of a child. Real children are messy and grow and need new things as they get older, demand more from parents and learn the lessons that let them develop into individuals who can think and make decisions so that they can, when the time is right, be independent and confident.

The way we care for a baby is not the way we care for a teenager, though we love them just as much.

The same goes for a business.

The business grows and matures, the marketplace changes and new realities emerge that the business must deal with. This can mean a need for new skills, new methods of operating, better attention to detail and delivery. Consistent marketing to bring the oxygen that the sustains the business.

Sometimes - often - what the business needs, is not what the owner wants.

What then?

Business owners have a choice. To continue to do the brave thing. To steward the business to develop into a healthy strong entity. To empower it to succeed and be the best it can be.

Or do what they want instead.