BLAINESWORLD
#724
8.16.2010
In this issue:
1. Reflections
2. FYI
3. Spotted in Michigan
4. Reviews . . . ONDINE, etc.
5. TV alert
6. No difference
7. Websites
8. Computer tip
9. Asking for a raise
10. A quote I like
11. Thought for the day
12. Advance planning department
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1. Reflections
A. Cynthia, my beautiful bride, and I attended two fantastic events this past weekend--both organized by our community's Recreation Committee.
The first was a Caribbean Night that even featured a steel band.
SPECIAL KUDOS to Sheldon Harnash, who with his wife Janet, helped organize the whole event . . . he was ably assisted by all the other members of the committees, including Karen Foley, Marilynne Herbert, Shari Mastria, Jim Preish, Judy Warren and yours truly.
The next night, there was a concert featuring a local band called Mo Twang in its first performance . . . the band was great (and especially Bob Butcher on tuba); look for them in the future.
B. We were also fortunate to have our friends Mark and Gail come visit from New Jersey.
We all went to Rosetta's Kitchen for the first time, which was quite something for me in that it featured mostly vegan food items . . . everybody liked it, and I did too . . . but then again, I think I found the only non-vegan item on the menu: a delicious grilled cheese sandwich on whole wheat bread . . . for more information, please click:
http://rosettaskitchen.com/
C. During the week, I went to Charlotte for a regional SCORE meeting . . . I was joined by Nick Jordan, our chapter's dynamic chapter chair, and Greg Jones, our outstanding treasurer . .. it was interesting to find out that a nationwide survey conducted by the Gallup organization reported these findings:
* Of 2009 clients, 90% were still in business in 2010. 68,400 businesses started, 30,000 jobs created, 16,500 jobs were retained
* 69% said they were in business before SCORE became involved.
* 62% said they changed practices based on SCORE involvement.
* 6% of clients are defined as long term (five meetings in a 12 month period) vs. transactional.
* 83% of clients Caucasian; 16% African American; 6.6% Hispanic, 7.8% Asian. Based on demographic profiles Hispanic businesses have greatest potential for growth.
* North Carolina was # 3 in positive feedback; Connecticut #1, Ohio and NC very close.
***** INVITE *****
If you'd like me to provide FREE business counseling through SCORE for you and/or your organization, send an email to: bginbc@aol.com and put SCORE COUNSELING in the subject line.
D. I'm bummed . . . after two episodes, NBC canceled BREAKTHROUGH WITH TONY ROBBINS . . . I saw both and thought they were excellent . . . this was a show about real people being helped to solve their problems . . . fortunately, you can see all six episodes that were produced by clicking:
http://www.nbc.com/breakthrough-with-tony-robbins/video/
and/or
http://www.hulu.com/breakthrough-with-tony-robbins
I've given you both in case one website stays up longer than the other . . . whatever you do, catch the one featuring Frank and Kristen--a married couple who come back together after a tragic accident on their wedding night.
***** BLAINESWORLD BEST AWARD *****
This week, it goes to SART (Southern Appalachian Regional Theatre)--and the marvelous folks who both work and volunteer there.
As you've been reading, I have become active with this group . . . my primary involvement has been to serve as chair of the marketing committee and, as such, I've gotten to work closely with Maria Mason . . . she is the SART person for marketing and publicity, as well as seemingly everything else . . . her enthusiasm never ceases to amaze me, as does her tireless energy.
I've also been impressed with the dedication from such other SART folks as Walt Currie, Board chair; Kathie Warner, Board member and person behind the great Opening Night receptions; LoriLynn Mullet, administrative assistant; Bill Gregg, artistic director; Lucas Gregg; Jake Lehrer; Jessica Lewis; and a whole host of others.
And SPECIAL THANKS to Trip Huxley for his help with SART's website:
http://sartplays.org/
In addition, Trip services dozens of clients with all aspects of their branding, print and web marketing. He has a wide range of experience in all of the following:
1. Branding and logo development, 2. Print design/production, 3. Photography and retouching, 4. Copy writing, and 5. Website design and development.
To see samples of his work, please click:
http://websitesofasheville.com/
***** GOOD NEWS *****
Sart's last production of the season, TRADIN' PAINT, runs through this coming Sunday afternoon . . . if you call the box office at 828.689.1239, there are still a limited number of $18 tickets for all remaining performances . . . ask for them.
For a review of the above, please click:
http://www.citizen-times.com/article/20100808/ENT05/308080031/1005/ENT
We loved this show; you will, too!
And here's what two others had to say:
* Linda in North Carolina:
My husband and I laughed through the entire play (TRADIN' PAINT), as did most of the audience. A really fun night.
You don't have to know or care about stock car racing or NASCAR to enjoy this play about people. The characters are the main event here. You'll find yourself caring about some of them. You'll be wishing some might change, sometimes you get your wish. The actors did a great job.
If you saw Tuesday with Morrie, you'll recognize "Cody" as the reporter in that play.
He did a great job in both.
* Dianne in North Carolina:
We enjoyed the play as well!
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2. FYI
Put your phone number down on a slip of paper. Then cut out that slip of paper. Tape it to the top, side or bottom of your digital camera. That way, if you lose it, you have at least a 50-50 shot at getting it returned.
FYI, part 2
* Jean in Pennsylvania:
25 Great Examples of Guerilla Marketing
http://blog.larrybodine.com/2010/08/articles/marketing/25-great-examples-of-guerrilla-marketing/
* Kristi in North Carolina (clarifying something I reported in last week's issue about the amazing 10-year-old opera singer):
The clip of the child singer I sent to you was the same little girl Jackie, but when she was 8!
Also, here’s a really funny short video I've known about for years but haven't seen in a long, long time. It’s comedian Jerry Lewis doing a pantomime to a tune by the Count Basie Orchestra called, “Blues in Hoss's Flat,: I knew I would find it on good old YouTube.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kS21T_p0pNA
* Carole in New Jersey:
On something you ran last week: Volunteers are not paid—not because they are worthless, but because they are priceless.----Unknown . . . you gotta KNOW that I will be using this as part of my “signature” when sending out my requests for Million Mom March volunteers!!
* Bill in Pennsylvania:
Here's one for you (John Cleese on Creativity). Enjoy!
http://neuronarrative.wordpress.com/2010/08/18/john-cleese-on-creativity/
* Natalie in Pennsylvania:
Just found out this amazing group of musicians is coming to your area. Do you know who they are?
http://www.playingforchange.com/band
Check them out; you will be blown away.
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3. Spotted in Michigan
Spotted outside a church in Michigan: “Honk if you love Jesus. Keep on texting while you drive if you want to meet him.”
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4. Reviews
A. ONDINE is the story of an Irish fisherman who discovers a woman in his fishing net who he believes to be a mermaid . . . I wanted to like this, but instead found it somewhat dark and dreary . . . the accents and/or the sound also made things difficult to follow . . . I ordinarily like Colin Farrel, the lead, but not in this film . . . rated PG-13.
B. THE JONESES is now out in DVD format . . . my review from BLAINESWORLD #707 follows:
You may not see too much advertising for THE JONESES and, also, it may not be too long in the theaters . . . that's too bad, in that it's a thought-provoking satire about how our buying decisions are influenced by what others are doing . . . David Duchovny and Demi Moore are excellent in the leading roles . . . this film caught
me off-guard; I wasn't expecting much from it--but left pleasantly surprised . . . rated R.
C. I'm not ordinarily a big fan of children's literature, but one of my SCORE clients recently wrote a book--and so I was interested in reading it so that I could better help her market it.
THE GRAND TREE by Lyn Marsh is a sweet tale about two children who are about to discover that their life is very different than it appears to be in their normal world . . . they are joined by a whiny friend and with the help of a quirky nanny, all of them travel through a rainbow crystal doorway into a world more magical and wondrous than anything they have ever known.
When they return from their journey, they have changed in ways that leave them speechless . . . I found the ending particularly well done, and it left me wondering what will happen next to all the characters . . . the good news is that THE GRAND TREE is the first of a projected series, and so I'll be able to find out more hopefully in the near future.
I'd imagine that children 8-13 would find this appropriate, though as an adult, I liked it too . . . .illustrations were by Laura Harkrider . . . they were beautiful and added to my enjoyment of the book.
D. Heard a live lecture of HEALING YOUR APPETITE, HEALING YOUR LIFE, delivered by author and lecturer Doreen Virtue.
I was especially intrigued by the subtitle: A SPIRITUAL APPROACH TO LIFE AND WEIGHT MANAGEMENT . . . however, after listening to it, I was a bit disappointed in that it seemed to meander through a lot of different topics (many of them having nothing to do with weight) and left me wanting some more specifics.
However, I was able to take away these following ideas:
* Follow your intuition, and your appetite will take care of itself!
* Let's talk about healing your appetite, not killing it.
* Little changes in what you eat will give you more time because you will have more energy.
And this last one that I really liked:
* You want to hear [people expressing] gratitude at meals. Postpone unsettling discussions. Don't watch the news.
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5. TV alert
A. Former teen stars Joey Lawrence (BLOSSOM) and Melissa Joan Hart (SABRINA, THE TEENAGE WITCH) return for a sitcom on Mondays at 8 p.m. on ABC FAMILY . . . "It's about two people raising kids together when they don't necessarily like each other," says Hart of the new series. Cracks Lawrence, "The American Dream!"
B. THE BIC C features acclaimed actress Laura Linney in the role of Cathy Jamison, a reserved, stifled, Minneapolis schoolteacher who receives life changing news and decides, from that moment on, to make drastic, long-overdue adjustments to the way she is living her life . . . also stars Oliver Platt and Gabourey Sidibe (so fantastic in PREVIOUS) . . . Mondays at 10:30 p.m. on SHOWTIME; repeated this week on Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday at the same time.
C. WHAT WOULD YOU DO? seems to be back on the air . . . I'm just sorry that I did not see this earlier, in that I apparently have missed some episodes . . . when it was on last year, it was one of my favorite shows--and the one show I saw this year confirms my belief that seeing real folks confronting ethical situations makes for interesting
TV . . . for example: When a man won't stop making advances toward a stranger, would you do anything? If you saw a nanny being mistreated, would you speak up? What would you do if you saw a deli clerk making racial comments to customers in his store? . . . Tuesdays at 10 and Fridays at 9 on ABC . . . for more information and to take an enlightening quiz on how you would handle things, please click:
http://abcnews.go.com/WhatWouldYouDo/
D. Two great Paul Newman movies are on TCM on Saturday night . . . THE STING, a 1973 Best Picture Oscar winner, is at 8 p.m., followed by COOL HAND LUKE at 10:30 p.m.
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6. No difference
A newly married man asked his wife, "Would you have married me if my father hadn't left me a fortune?"
"Honey," the woman replied sweetly, "I'd have married you, NO MATTER WHO LEFT YOU A FORTUNE!"
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7. Websites
A. THANKS to Angela in New Jersey for sharing this powerful video . . . and its thought; i.e., never ever give up in life.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDgVske63cY
Make sure you have your sound on when you view!
B. THANKS to Stephen in Pennsylvania for sharing this website that enables you to do some neat things with your photos:
http://www.photofunia.com/
For example:
C. BLAINESWORLD, the website, remains up and running . . . to view it, please click:
http://www.blainesworld.net
If you ever miss a past issue or are new to this missive, just go to "Newsletter" on the left side of the home page and then "Past Issues" . . . sometimes, it's just fun to browse around for such tidbits as this reminder about spam filters from BLAINESWORLD #519:
Computer tip
Sometimes, junk mail filters (e.g., applied through Microsoft Office updates) block important mail that you might want to receive . . . so check what is not going through, every so often, before you delete anything . . . in the Microsoft program, all you need to do is right click on the message and select the correct option.
AOL also has a span filter that needs to be checked on a fairly regular basis . . . if you find stuff that is "not span," just indicate that and the email will be sent back to you again.
D. Are you on Facebook? In the unlikely event we have not yet contacted as friends there, please feel free to send me an invite by clicking:
www.facebook.com/blainegreenfield
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8. Computer tip
Open up all your favorite websites at once when you sign on . . . that way, after you finish looking through the news headlines, your Facebook page will already will be loaded, along with any others you regularly view . . . in Firefox, manually open up the sites in different tabs, the designate each of the sites as your homepage in your Preferences . . . in Safari, choose to "add bookmark for these tabs" and then set the new bookmark to open with your homepage.
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9. Asking for a raise
A: Excuse me sir, may I talk to you?
B: Bill! Sure, come on in. What can I do for you?
A: Well sir, as you know, I have been an employee of this prestigious firm for over ten years.
B: Yes.
A: I won't beat around the bush. Sir, I would like a raise. I currently have four companies after me and so I decided to talk to you first.
B: A raise? Son, I would love to give you a raise, but this is just not the right time.
A: I understand your position, and I know that the current economic downturn has had a negative impact on sales, but you must also take into consideration my hard work, pro-activeness and loyalty to this company for over a decade.
B: Taking into account these factors, and considering I don't want to start a brain drain, I'm willing to offer you a ten percent raise and an extra five days of vacation time. How does that sound?
A: Great! It's a deal! Thank you, sir!
B: Before you go, just out of curiosity, what companies were after you?
A: Oh, the Electric Company, Gas Company, Water Company and the Mortgage Company!
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10. A quote I like
Effective communication is 20% what you know and 80% how you feel about what you know.--Jim Rohn (1930-2009), American entrepreneur, author and motivational speaker
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11. Thought for the day
Do Over
Children do this all the time. If something does not turn out the way they want, they yell, Do Over!
Do you remember playing Kick Ball? You get a bad kick and You yell, Do Over! The other team complains a little, but you get another chance. This was a frequent event not only in Kick Ball, but in just about everything children do!
So why then, do adults have such a hard time saying, Do Over! Your business didn't work out the way you wanted? Do Over! Did you buy a car that you realized that you did not like? Do Over! How about accepting a job that turned out to be something that you were not expecting? Do Over!
There is no need to hem and haw as an adult! Think about it. As a child, who made the rules? The ADULTS! Now we are adults, we can make the rules. Why don't we? Why don't we say Do Over more often?
Sure there are reasons we can rationalize anything. You cannot call Do Over at your new job! You have to be a martyr and stick it out earn a paycheck. (Even if you do not like your job???). This is crazy! Did you business fail? Who says you cannot start another one?
I can hear the average person, You were not successful at your own business. You cannot try it again! Why not? Did you stop trying to tie your shoelaces the first time it did not work out? What if your parents stopped you from walking after you fell down the first 100 times! Come on, If something does not work out today, call Do Over! and try it again.
Author unknown
(if you know who wrote this and/or the source, please let me know)
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12. Advance planning department
A. North Carolina events:
* George in North Carolina (with an invite to a great fundraising event in Asheville this coming Sunday:
Woody Wood, local musician and legend, is our special musical guest for this intimate, private backyard house concert. If you've ever heard him play, you know what an amazingly talented and soulful musician he is, and the opportunity to see him up close is a special treat. While that in itself is a noteworthy gathering, everyone who attends will play a major role in Woody's make-or-break effort to reach his fundraising goal by August 28th. On that day, all of the money he's raised via Kickstarter.com will either be given back to the donors or he'll reach his goal and have enough money to produce his album . . . and continue his music. Otherwise, he'll have to hang it all up because he's got two kids to care for. It's all or nothing. While he's playing almost every day right now to reach the goal and is over 60% there, he is running out of time. This is a great opportunity to have a fun afternoon, listen to Woody up close, have a cold beer, let the kids run around, mingle with friends, and help Woody reach his goal. For more information, please click:
http://tinyurl.com/2bfqxsk
* Linda in North Carolina:
SECOND ANNUAL WEST ASHEVILLE GARDEN STROLL
SPONSORED BY: West Asheville Business Association
Will take place on Saturday, September 11, 2010, from 11:00 AM to 4 p.m., RAIN OR SHINE
KICKOFF CEREMONY at West Asheville Branch Library, 942 Haywood Rd. at 10:30 a.m.
The Stroll is FREE
Additional information on the web at:
www.WestAshevilleGardens.com
* Asheville Women's
Roundtable Event
Presented by Asheville SCORE
Who: Any Woman Business Owner/Operator who's interested in having a roundtable discussion on a regular basis with other women to define ideas, discuss opportunities and brainstorm solutions to everyday business issues.
What: This month's topic
"Social Networking - Facebook, Twitter and Linked In"
Where: "Readers Corner"
31 Montford Ave
(Across from the Chamber)
Asheville, NC 28801
Phone: 828.285.8805
Kay Manley - Owner
(graciously offered her bookstore for our next meeting)
When: Thursday, August 26th 8:00-9:30 a.m.
(Please make note of the new time)
Coffee Available
Why: To develop business relationships that offer sound advice and ideas!
Please RSVP to Ashevilleroundtables@yahoo.com to reserve your spot. Space is limited to the first 20 to register. Hope to see you there!
* Y'all are invited to a FREE session I'll be presenting:
Positioning: How to Differentiate Yourself from the Competition.
Gain specific techniques to make your business stand out from the crowd in this informative seminar presented by SCORE.
Blaine Greenfield, a SCORE counselor, will be the presenter. Tuesday, September 14 from 2-4 p.m.
AB Tech Enka Campus, Small Business Center Room 2046
No fee to attend.
RSVP to Jill Sparks by 9.9; 828.254.1921, ext. 5849.
The above session is part of Minority Business Week of Western North Carolina. For the entire week's schedule, please click:
http://wncmedweek.org/events
* Cynthia in North Carolina (see also Section 1A):
Sept.23, 30, Oct. 7, and Oct. 14th from 11:30-1:00
Center for Creative Retirement
828-251-6140
JourneyDance class
JourneyDance is a transformative, freeing movement experience. Using inspiring music from around the world, you are softly led into easy-to-follow movements. At times you follow, you move intuitively on your own, or you may choose to lead if you are comfortable. You honor yourself and what you need in the moment. It is a form of fun, joy, creativity, connection, community, and self-acceptance. For dancers and non-dancers, it is an experience not to be missed!
B. Pennsylvania/New Jersey event:
Join Savannah Hinkle for a special Crystal Bowls and Mediation session on August 30 from 7-9:30 p.m. in New Britain, PA . . . to quote from the description of the program:
Tonight, through sacred sound and meditation, we will create positive healing energy for ourselves and our beloved Mother Earth. The guided healing meditation and relaxation exercise will create a full sensory experience, including breathing techniques, color imagery, aromatherapy with essential oils, and sound healing.
For more information, please click:
https://susanduvalseminars.com/Events.html
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PS. Methinks that we all need to pray for the folks who died in the BP oil spill, as well as for our remaining soldiers in both Iraq and Afghanistan . . . while we're at it, include those in Israel and her neighbors who are seeking peace . . . and perhaps most importantly: Make it a great week, too!
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