Bamboo Blackbox Case Launch

We finally launched a project I have been working on early this morning. I have to say that it is scary to put yourself out there like this when you simply just don’t know what can happen. I’m feeling confident that we can get some attention and reach our goal though. These cases are just too well made and gorgeous to not be seen and there are some super good deals for those early adopters.

“Thank you for your support and helping us take Blackbox Case to the next level. As you can see in our pledging limits to the right we have tried to accommodate for nearly anyone who would like to be a part of making this product a success. We have included some fun enhancements for those of you who are looking for that extra effort in truly building a product together and we have provided some excellent deals for you early adopters. Don’t take our light hearted approach of making something unique and home grown the wrong way — We are firm believers in following your passions and making the most of any opportunity that is granted to you. Life is simply too short to not make something amazing.”

Save $20 on an iPad 2 Bamboo Case for the first 100 pledgers… Cheers to the future!

GoProYourSelf – PunchingInADreamLakeTahoePoolSession

[Vimeo] <— 1,060

“This was a fun edit that we filmed over a couple quick sessions at a pool in Tahoe City. Just an enjoyable edit to film and put together. Hope you all enjoy”

Just the way life should be.
GoProYourself.

Punching In a Dream - Passive Me Aggressive You Punching In a Dream – Passive Me Aggressive You

GoProYourChadKagyBrokenFemur


[YouTubeUlar] <— 2,252 Watching something like this when you think action sports athletes are invincible is surprising. Watching this when you personally know the guy who just broke his femur is heart wrenchingly difficult. Ouch to Chad Kagy... I'm glad the Tabron's (<— Also broken) could put you up for an elongated beach stay. Enjoy your cookies. It is great to hear you in such good spirits in this [ESPN Interview]

Consumers and Creators

Subscribe to the good words of Seth Godin

Fifty years ago, the ratio was a million to one.

For every person on the news or on primetime, there were a million viewers.

The explosion of magazines brought the ratio to 100,000:1. If you wrote for a major magazine, you were going to impact a lot of people. Most of us were consumers, not creators.

Cable TV and zines made it 10,000 to one. You could have a show about underwater spearfishing or you could teach people to make hamburgers on donuts. The little star is born.

And now of course, when it’s easy to have a blog, or an Youtube account or to push your ideas to the world through social media, the ratio might be 100:1. For every person who sells on Etsy, there are a hundred buyers. For every person who actively tweets, there are a hundred people who mostly consume those tweets. For every hundred visitors to Squidoo, there is one new person building pages.

What does the world look like when we get to the next zero?

Red Bull – Art of Flight – New Teaser


[YouTubeUlar] <— 428,930 New teaser and local tour dates released for Red Bulls life changer of snowboard films – The Art of Flight due to be released this September.

Comparing this teaser to the first What Planet the Fuck are You From? rollout – I would have to say I enjoy the first teaser by 1000% yes. But kudos to Red Bull and Brain Farm for revealing more footage in this completely different yet still awe inspiring teaser. However the music completely sucks and it’s ad driven… pathetic.

Local dates:

September 27th – Ellie Caulkins Opera House – Denver
September 28th – Boulder Theater – Boulder
October 1st – Wheeler Opera House – Aspen

[The Art of Flight Homepage]

Hugh MacLeod – More To Life

To paraphrase Seneca, the tragedy isn’t that life is short, the tragedy is that we waste so much of it.

The other types of tragedy, the more violent kind, never worry me too much, thankfully. I never lost much sleep, worrying about wars or serial killers or whatever.

But getting to the end of my life and realizing that I had wasted most of it, that idea froze my blood.

As it should…

JP Auclair – Movie Time

I recently exchanged some quick emails with JP Auclair to see what he has been up to. Fall is approaching so I wanted to find out what movies I could expect his involvement in this year.

Below is a quick list of where he has been spending his skiing and editing time.

Sherpas Cinema – All.I.Can

I got involved with the sherpas later on… So , no involvement in the teaser. But I shot with them quite a bit last winter, mostly for a urban segment, we shot it with a slightly different approach then I’d been doing in the past (the seg will be about 4 minutes) I’m pretty excited about it.

And right now I’m trying to help out with the movie as a whole, so I’ve became pretty invested in it. Really cool project!

Seth Morrison – The Ordinary Skier

Sweetgrass Productions – SOLITAIRE

OK Go – All is Not Lost


[YouTubeUlar] <– 426,066 [HTML 5 Version]

OK – quick review – Wow.
OK – not so quick review – Another randomly great video from OK Go with very super creative techniques, angles, ideas and messaging.

How do they keep doing it? I’m not a fan of ever becoming a sellout – but given time and specific reasons it does make sense. So even though OK Go has definitely sold out to some very large brands in the past – including State Farm and now Google Chrome and Nintendo 3DS – I’m going to say I’m ok with it if it allows them to continue their creative endeavors and messages of hope. But how about another video for your actual fans and just for the hell of it?

OK Go.

On another note – where is the OK Go Google Chrome “The web is what you make of it” advertisement? [Justin Bieber got one] <— 1,209,010. And so did [Lady Gaga] <— 3,237,345

Easy vs. Do-Able vs. Impossible

Subscribe to the good words of Seth Godin

Often we consider an opportunity based on how easy it is. The problem with this analysis is that if it’s easy, it’s often not worth doing. It’s easy to start a blog, but of course, starting a blog doesn’t really deliver a lot of value. Posting 4,100 blog posts in a row, though, isn’t easy. It’s do-able, clearly do-able, and might just be worth it.

Successful organizations seek out the do-able. When Amazon went after the big bookstore chains, analysts ridiculed them for doing something insanely difficult. But it was clearly do-able. Persistence and talent and a bit of luck, sure, but do-able.

Sometimes we seek out things that are actually impossible. Building a search engine that’s just like Google but better is impossible (if your goal is to dominate the market with it). It’s fun to do impossible projects because then you don’t have to worry about what happens if you succeed… you have a safety net, because you’re dreaming the impossible dream.

Do-able, though, is within our reach. Ignore easy.

HYDLE – Austin to Boston


[YouTubeUlar] <— 17 short views Playing in Austin and heading to Boston... both of these cities have been long over due and I love them both... for their own reason. Thank you to the McCormicks for the amazing sunsets and water adventures... and thank you to Emily Helm for Mr. Dooley's and the 7 hour layover in Boston! Rock on! Hydle

Harlan Ellison – Pay the Writer


[YouTubeUlar] <— 524,719 Need some balls to justify your freelance ability to do anything? Remember these words of Harlan Ellison... this is your answer.

“All you got to do is pay me. Everybody else may be an asshole but I’m not. By what right would you call me and ask me to work for nothing? Do you get a paycheck? Does your boss get a paycheck? Do you pay the telecine guy? Do you pay the camera men? Do you pay the cutters? Do you pay the teamsters when they shlep your stuff on the trucks? Would you go a gas station and ask to give you free gas? Would you go to the doctor and have them take out your spleen for nothing? How dare you call me and what me to work for nothing…

…there is no publicity value. The only value for me, is if you put money in my hand.

I don’t take a piss without getting paid for it.

I get so angry about this because you undercut by all the amateurs. It’s the amateurs who make it tough for all the professionals.”

Now that we have that clear… lets talk about some creative thinking.

[Learn more about Harlan Ellison]