Jason Hamilton's Personal Blog

H20 + Pandora

noreply@blogger.com (Jason Hamilton) — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 14:09:00 +0000

Perfect soundtrack for breakfast this morning from Pandora on the FSOL channel. It's overcast and rainy and the horizon reminds me of Hiroshi Sugimoto's Seascape Collection

FSOL - Amoeba - ISDN
Apex Twin - Xtal - Selected Ambient Works 85-92
Autechre - Nil - Amber

Old school techno ambient this morn...back to it...

Dogs Rule

noreply@blogger.com (Jason Hamilton) — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 13:48:00 +0000

Sweet Girl and Her Bag, originally uploaded by jasonham.

Saw this sweet girl helping her special needs child on a recent trip last week @ SEATAC. She has been doing it for 10 years.

Submarine Pillow, originally uploaded by jasonham.

Pinto chilling in the studio.

Power of Venn

noreply@blogger.com (Jason Hamilton) — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 16:40:00 +0000

In the process of thinking about the Power of Venn^{(ideation by Zeroin)} constructs I have been thinking about advice and motivation. I am frequently asked for advice and (I think) almost as frequently I ask for advice.

I have a belief of that advice is "packaging the past and selling it to the future", which is something that I came up with after internalizing and repackaging the adage from that old Everybody's Free (To Wear Sunscreen) tune

Below are 2 interesting forms of advice I found useful for inspiration and motivation

From the Jazz great Wynton Marsalis

THINK BIG, BUT DON'T BE IMPATIENT. Deferring the rewards of long-term success is difficult but necessary if you are going to have the mental fortitude to achieve them.
BE PERFECT IN INTENTION; YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE PERFECT IN EXECUTION. Mistakes, by you and your staff, will happen.
YOU CAN ONLY DO THE BEST THAT YOU CAN DO.Keep your goals high, but don't set yourself up for failure. Be patient.
DON'T APOLOGIZE FOR A MISTAKE. APOLOGIZE IF YOU DON'T PLAY. Knowing that effort is what matters gives people the courage to always try their hardest.
STAY INSIDE YOURSELF; WHEN YOU DO, YOU'LL TAKE A RISK-BUT YOU'LL MAKE AN INTELLIGENT DECISION. Know your strengths and weaknesses.
BELIEF IN OTHER PEOPLE'S CREATIVITY ALLOWS PEOPLE AROUND YOU TO BE THEMSELVES AND ACHIEVE THEIR INDIVIDUALITY. If your staff members have the freedom to achieve as individuals, the returns will be manifold.
APPROACH YOUR TASK VERY SERIOUSLY-BUT WITH HUMOR. Discipline should never come at the expense of closing one's self to new ideas, and vice versa.
SOMETIMES YOU HAVE TO MAKE TOUGH DECISIONS, AND MANY TIMES THEY ARE UGLY. It's best to be very direct.
IT ISN'T MY WAY OR THE HIGHWAY. Learn to compromise and be flexible.
WHEN YOU'RE A LEADER, SOMETIMES YOU HAVE TO FOLLOW, TOO. Good leaders know they don't have a monopoly on brilliant ideas. Be objective and willing to follow Insights you may have missed.
HUMILITY INSPIRES PEOPLE; ORGANIZATION INSPIRES A STAFF. Always try to give your staff clear plans and goals, but allow them room for self-empowerment.
RESPECT THE FREEDOM OF OTHER PEOPLE AND THEIR CREATIVITY. JAZZ MUSIC TEACHES THAT ABOVE ALL ELSE. Giving your staff the freedom to improvise opens the floodgates on innovation.
YOU CAN'T LOOK AT ANY PERSON AND TELL WHETHER THEY CAN PLAY. ALL KINDS OF PEOPLE CAN PLAY. Some of the best talent can be found in the most unexpected places.
THERE IS A LIMIT TO WHAT YOU CAN DEMAND FROM SOMEBODY ELSE. Nothing erodes the spirit like a boss who can never be pleased.
BE FUNDAMENTALLY TRUTHFUL. Without truth, your success will unravel.

Just keep doing it by Ira Glass

RPM 2010

noreply@blogger.com (Jason Hamilton) — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 15:45:00 +0000

This was the first year 5321 Studio participated in the RPM Challenge which was kinda fun.

It's essentially 35 mins of music in the month of Feb. for the fun of it.

It forces a "focus" but I found it also forces a propensity to "fill" (in terms of time requirements for submittal).

Kind of the good and the bad sides of Agile efforts that you have to be aware of and manage to in real life.

I would have probably tinkered with a few things here and there in terms of leveling and transitions if I was doing this for more than fun.

Anyway enjoy set on Radio site, 5321 site, and Soundcloud set - all with DL's

Dada Bob courtesy of Subgenuis Art Mine

Recent Sensory Stimuli

noreply@blogger.com (Jason Hamilton) — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 18:42:00 +0000

In honor of March 1-7 being National Procrastination Week...

Don't You Forget About Me - John Hughes Documentary

Robyn Hitchcock - Sex, Food, Death, and Insects

Roky Erickson - You're Gonna Miss Me

Beck Record Club - Book of Moses

Sampling Abby Road

noreply@blogger.com (Jason Hamilton) — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 14:37:00 +0000

Wow....really just wow here....vintage mics, vintage gear, recorded on vintage and sold as digital.

Beautiful marriage between Abby Road and Native Instruments

"I am he as you are he as you are me and we are all together. I am the eggman"

Look Out You Rock n Rollas

noreply@blogger.com (Jason Hamilton) — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 15:57:00 +0000

They always say time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself - Andy Warhol

Andy Warhol: The Last Decade - through May 16th 2010 @ Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth

My 3 Sons

noreply@blogger.com (Jason Hamilton) — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 21:22:00 +0000

50's propaganda with a funky beat...gosh Beav' you can dance to it.

Happy Saturday...Ciao

Solidification Deux by 5321Studio

Get Back, Get Back

noreply@blogger.com (Jason Hamilton) — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 19:20:00 +0000

Beatles + Analytics + Social Collaboration = Groovy

"Oh I get by with a little help from my friends

Mm going to try with a little help from my friends"

Ghost in the Machine

noreply@blogger.com (Jason Hamilton) — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 23:08:00 +0000

Also reminds me of the scene in Zombieland where they are discussing favorite things about Zombieland - "no more Facebook updates"

From Sterling's Beyond the Beyond (a sneaky lil' double entrendre )

...In Mexico, you know what they call Twinkies? "Los submarinos."

MWC Ramblings

noreply@blogger.com (Jason Hamilton) — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 20:56:00 +0000

MWC is in full swing and I have been exchanging emails with friends about mobility relevance, MS and Windows Phone 7 Series (wow keeping with the tradition of long names b/c they had to), & the overall importance of mobile media strategy.... If you are not already asleep here are some key summary points:

The market and the stakes = 5 Billion subscribers by 2010
"Even during an economic crisis, we have seen no drop in the demand for communications services," said ITU Secretary-General Dr. Hamadoun Toure at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona this week, "and I am confident that we will continue to see a rapid uptake in mobile cellular services in particular in 2010, with many more people using their phones to access the Internet."
More than 1 Smartphone OS player will succeed but players will die off (Palm?) and the market will consolidate - (Android + iPhone + (x)) where x could be MS...again...
Happy to see positive buzz around WM7 - Just b/c I am gone doesn't mean I want them to fail. I have friends who are still slogging ahead I want them to have something to hang their hat on. Plus I still own a significant portion of stock (even post the 30+ sell-off) that I am long over next 2-3 years) that I want to see that go up. Simply said SUM(Points 1-3)=$
"At one point, after most of the press had left, a group of senior Microsoft execs were huddled on the ground in a circle enthusiastically reading the world's reactions and chuckling loudly. It was great to see. Fortunately, for all the well deserved celebrating that Microsoft will be doing tonight, it seems acutely aware of the task before it. Let's hope they can ship the promise -- we've been waiting for this kind of platform integration from Microsoft for a long, long time."
Media Matters - Despite Ballmer pontificating over and over again "no Zune Phone" WM7 is the Zune Phone. Despite semantic parsing and purposeful misdirection, the experience matters vs. the branding here. They will just marry the WM brand with the Zune ++ experience. The point here is the Xbox Games/Live and Zune marketplace connections are what's key for the phones to succeed at the level they want
A convergence of Social Networking & Mobility is in its infancy stages and will continue to grow beyond checking/posting on Twitter on your iPhone.
Illustratively imagine getting location aware tweets embedded in an experience that isn't search results or a Twitter app (ideation by Zeroin )
Mobility is THE delivery mechanism for the future...period...Current examples:

Marketing/PR - Want Donna Karan's musing and her new products - DL her iPhone app...Sales - Pizza Hut drove 1 million additional dollars in sales from their iPhone app...Content Distribution - Magazines are shipping as iPhone apps. This is just the beginning.

DFWinter

noreply@blogger.com (Jason Hamilton) — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 23:18:00 +0000

Snow-days in DFW... an ensemble....

Given time there is always something that "Bubba" will do to amaze me. The truck ran over a telephone pole and was upended by the remaining wires attached to the adjacent pole.

Bubba & the snow, originally uploaded by jasonham.

Jackson Pollack alive and well under the bridge in Trinity Park.

Jackson Pollock Inspiration, originally uploaded by jasonham.

Some light snow accumulation on Twain in Trinity Park.

Some light reading, originally uploaded by jasonham.

The beginning of the day and the storm.

Serenity now, originally uploaded by jasonham.

Geared up and ready to go with Pinto.

Ridin' deep, originally uploaded by jasonham.

You might be a redneck if you have a coke machine on the front porch.

Coke & a smile, originally uploaded by jasonham.

Frolicking in the backyard...

Fetching Snowballs, originally uploaded by jasonham.

Buff in the Fluffy Stuff, originally uploaded by jasonham.

Ciao

Green Chimneys

noreply@blogger.com (Jason Hamilton) — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 19:45:00 +0000

Tammy and I are suckers for Bruce Weber's Moncler campaign. I don't think I'd buy a 1K+ down jacket for Texas but the ads are cool + they support a great cause Green Chimneys

"At the outset, Mr. Stoppini wanted to include Mr. Weber in the campaign, and not simply have him behind the camera. Mr. Weber, naturally, was skeptical about being a subject. “I said, ‘No way!’ ” he recalled with his bearish laugh. But then Mr. Stoppini proposed a donation by Moncler to one of Mr. Weber’s favorite charities, and the photographer agreed to do a self-portrait. (According to Mr. Stoppini, Moncler will donate 100,000 euros, or about $140,000, to Green Chimneys, which provides animal-assisted therapy to young people.)"

Happy Weekend

noreply@blogger.com (Jason Hamilton) — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 03:07:00 +0000

120Angels by 5321Studio

Content Delivery Mechanism

noreply@blogger.com (Jason Hamilton) — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 23:09:00 +0000

"...it's just another way to look at content..." Joe Kernen gets it wrong

Proof at 1:58 in the video, that smart guys aren't always smart cross-discipline

It's a classic fallacy/trap that smart people fall into & I've seen time and time again - I am good @ A so I must be good @ B

Zucker goes on to discusses that they he likes the IPad and see its as way to deliver content as a mechanism to perpetuate payment of the content. Jeff Zucker gets it half right (or is only commenting on half)

What's missing here is the "how" and how much "how"matters. Other people sell music on the web, other people sell books online, other people sell phones. The "how" matters.

Step 1 (HW) is done by Apple better than most and will draw the audience and the "install base" which entrepreneurs need like life blood
Step 2 just has a framework the SDK and pre-existing experiences (just...). The important thing is - its the focus area of innovation...innovation in mash-ups, experiences, & business models
Step 3 is a distribution mechanism that while you could say is limiting in terms of forcing producers/entrepreneurs down a walled pipe (iTunes). However entrepreneurs ≠ Zucker

Step 2 is where entrepreneurs could, should, and will focus. Cuban has some great insights here

Step 2 is the "how"

Little Axe

noreply@blogger.com (Jason Hamilton) — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 22:15:00 +0000

Feeling some Skip McDonald this gray Monday. Enjoy. Done for day...time to go create something

Buttoned Up

noreply@blogger.com (Jason Hamilton) — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 21:35:00 +0000

Graffiti ⋂ Sewing = Public Embroidery

Eno Experimentation

noreply@blogger.com (Jason Hamilton) — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 01:26:00 +0000

Is that duplicative...?

Not this cold but feels like it last few days. Picture courtesty of a old team member who scaled Mt Rainier around 10 years ago. Cant imagine actually being there

A stark short ~1 & 1/2 minute experimental track as corresponding soundscape using:

Guitar Rig tape loops effects through keyboard
Kore 2 for ambient sounds and dub keyboards
Heavy and purposefully dirty non quantized isolated Maschine beats
Mixed down in Pro Tools pushing the drums to the front of the mix

Inspired by Eno and the dirty snow

EnoTrippin by 5321Studio

The Middleman Isn't Dead

noreply@blogger.com (Jason Hamilton) — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 23:22:00 +0000

...He's just found new distribution models.... Imagine a Zeroin defined mash-up such as:

((The RPM Challenge + Tunecore)*Viral)^luck=$$$

...also...interesting End of the Century article wrt music distribution channels

David Byrne's thoughts on this 2 years ago

No Control = Superstition

noreply@blogger.com (Jason Hamilton) — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 22:31:00 +0000

The researchers' thesis was that "when individuals are unable to gain a sense of control objectively, they will try to gain it perceptually." As Whitson explained the psychology to me, "Feelings of control are essential for our well-being—we think clearer and make better decisions when we feel we are in control. Lacking control is highly aversive, so we instinctive ly seek out patterns to regain control—even if those patterns are illusory."

More...

Frequency via TCP/IP

noreply@blogger.com (Jason Hamilton) — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 21:37:00 +0000

Its been awhile but...3 new sets on Radio O^N

Redefinition

noreply@blogger.com (Jason Hamilton) — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 19:25:00 +0000

Again... Engadget's Live Blog...New SDK to go along with it

Circuits Not Channels

noreply@blogger.com (Jason Hamilton) — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 18:35:00 +0000

Under a "deep throne of thought" I stumbled onto blurb about M.I.A.'s new work with Rusko.

Using the circuit v channel construct spelled out by Umair Haque (HBR Blog, Bubble Generation, Havas Media Lab), they are pushing their collaboration out through Twitter & TwitterPic

Re-tweeted (see widget on left), linked above and embedded below....

Scanning Rusko's tweets provides you a real-time realization of Hague's 9th point below

9. Messy beats clean. Hashtags and @s, Time notes, weren't invented by Twitter - they were the result of people playing with Twitter. Twitter is messy — people can use it in uncontrolled ways — and that messiness means Twitter has better ideas faster than, for example, Facebook.

Log and Roll

noreply@blogger.com (Jason Hamilton) — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 22:10:00 +0000

Cool space designed by Piet Hein Eek for Hans Liberg for secluded space to make music

From Keys of Grey

Inventor of Ambient

noreply@blogger.com (Jason Hamilton) — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 17:33:00 +0000

Great article on Eno in the Guardian (from Beyond the Beyond)

On the end of an era

"I think records were just a little bubble through time and those who made a living from them for a while were lucky. There is no reason why anyone should have made so much money from selling records except that everything was right for this period of time. I always knew it would run out sooner or later. It couldn't last, and now it's running out. I don't particularly care that it is and like the way things are going. The record age was just a blip. It was a bit like if you had a source of whale blubber in the 1840s and it could be used as fuel. Before gas came along, if you traded in whale blubber, you were the richest man on Earth. Then gas came along and you'd be stuck with your whale blubber. Sorry mate – history's moving along. Recorded music equals whale blubber. Eventually, something else will replace it."