“Curiosity is the most powerful thing you own,” he said. “Don’t put limitations on yourself. Other people will do that for you…failure has to be an option in art and exploration because it’s a leap of faith.”
“In whatever you’re doing, failure is an option, but fear is not.”
– James Cameron – TED Talks 2010
Just read these words today and they hit me so strong. Like if you’re reading the bible and a verse jumps out and you think God is speaking directly to you.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sDeXUvWbLp8
There is a little confusion in China when it comes to Western holidays. For instance, on Christmas Eve the street was littered with confetti as people exploded party poppers at the stroke of midnight for the beginning of Christmas Day. And then Auld Lang Syne is playing on all the bar sound systems. Christmas Eve, New Year’s Eve – what’s the difference right? Ugh.
So thank you to my friend from the Great White North who sent me this. I got home tonight as Christmas Eve turned to Christmas Day in China. Was feeling very sad not to be with my family, and to not have the usual Christmas events around me. This video helped center me a bit.
Her is an alternate verse for O Holy Night (Cantique de Noel), and I think a more powerful one.
Chains shall he break
for the slave is our brother
And in His name
all oppression shall cease
Sweet hymns of joy
In grateful chorus raise we
Let all within us
Praise His holy name
Christ is the Lord
And ever ever praise we
Noel, Noel
O night, O night divine
Noel, Noel
O night, O night divine
What a trip. Someone posted this photo on Facebook. I think it’s 1982 at Interlake High School (Bellevue, WA) at a Symphonic Band concert. I am the third French Horn player from the right. I graduated the following year in 1983 first chair. So I think I was 15 years old in this photo. Leo Dodd was the music director for bands and jazz ensembles. He is a legend.
After this I went to Pacific Lutheran University, gave up French Horn, and focused on piano, voice and composition.
In Christmas 2008 I received a donation given in my name. I made a nasty blog post about giving donations at Christmas presents which has gotten me a lot of hate mail.
The nasty blog post is here:
https://www.conradaskland.com/blog/2008/11/making-donations-as-christmas-presents/
But one person from the Great White North took pity on me for Christmas this year and has sent me a giant box which I received today. I am under strict orders not to open it or the accompanying Christmas card until December 25, 2009 – which I will honor.
I get many emails from people asking variations of the question “How do I start a career in the arts?”. It comes from singers, writers, hip hop producers – all people who perform and create. They are starting out, they have a drive, they think they have what it takes but they are not sure of where the road is.
I will tell you the secret. And it’s very simple. I cannot tell you if you will succeed, or if you are any good, or even if you should. But here’s the secret:
November 12, 2009 was the celebration for the 500th performance of the ZAIA show by Cirque Du Soleil in Macau, China. Cirque founder Guy Laliberte flew in for the performance and toasted the artists and crew. Family and friends were also invited for the occasion.
Conrad Askland (ZAIA keyboards and assistant bandleader) and Guy Laliberte.
I recently updated DNS on websites that are not active to point here to my personal site. Thank you to the person who emailed me about that. Over the years I had many websites on different servers and I didn’t update DNS on websites I wasn’t using. When those old IP’s were reallocated, new owners would load their websites onto them. In plain english that means that when people would go to an old website of mine I wasn’t using any more they would end up on a different random site like “Norm’s Bait and Tackle Shop”.
Continue reading “DNS Updates or How Did I Get To This Website?”
Did you know that the latin root of “to entertain” means “to hold between”? (Official dictionary definition at the end of this blog post). When an audience is no longer held, they are no longer being entertained. The mighty brass ring for any theatrical production is to keep the audience engaged so they are not looking at their watches and counting the minutes until intermission.
View Conrad Askland – Cities I’ve Visited in a larger map
Had fun messing around with Google Maps. This is a list of cities that I have visited.
I keep messing it up – now I’ve got two maps posted, each with half of the cities I’ve visited. Arghh! I give up, it’s boring now…
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVU4IkzMNIo
12 year old Shaheen auditions for the judges on Britains Got Talent 2009 singing Whose Loving You by Michael Jackson.
There’s a great lesson in this video clip. There’s a tendency to think of artists as having a certain talent level – like someone has great talent or mediocre. It all depends on the application; artists that excel in one area may be weak in another.
So the secret lesson for artists is this: Identify your strengths and weaknesses and try to place yourself in the area you shine most. Of course, you can also choose to be in the one that is most satisfying rather than the one where the bulk of your talent lies.
Being a musician my entire life I’ve had the unfortunate experience of doing performances that were not to my optimum level. I imagine every trade has that same experience. But with artists the mindset is so important to garner the vision and drive needed to push each project to success.
Proper selection is paramount. Go to where you are drawn to, where life is sweet. It will give you unimaginable strength to reach for the next plateau. And there is always another plateau available if you desire it. 🙂