Cinematic Superhero

3 weeks into 2010 and I feel like I’m off track on my resolutions.

I probably shouldn’t be too hard on myself. I spent the first 12 days of the year in Spain, mostly Barcellona, with the beautiful and wonderful Clara. During that time we were treated to the vibrant European city life, the amazing tapas, and the powerful Spanish art.

Gaudi, Dali, Goya, Picasso – these were artists who disregarded expectations, broke new ground and followed a vision regardless of where it took them. Unafraid to express themselves fully, not inhibited by conservative public perceptions, they were both deified and vilified by their contemporaries.

Inspired by these postmodernist icons, I decided 2010 was the year to live and work boldly, to express my visions fully, and to welcome criticism (and perhaps even seek it out) rather than avoid it. The biggest, brashest, and boldest ideas win this year! We’ll see what happens when the dust settles…

Caught my friends, Jets Overhead at The Commodore in Vancouver last night. It was the first club show of theirs I’d seen since traveling on tour with them in June, and I gotta say it sounded great! The band’s been tearing it up over the last month, playing in NYC, LA and at Neil Young’s renowned Bridge School Benefit concert in the bay area.

Last night’s show was the first one on a Canadian tour supporting Lights, a 22 year old pop-star who’s known for her intergalactic synth rock tunes, and for incorporating self produced anime into her shows. The animation features her as “Captain Lights,” a space crusader fighting evil forces trying to remove all the music from the universe…

Her music’s not my style, nor really is the animation, but her performance is impressive, as is the persona she’s created for herself. It’s easy to see why she’s drawn such a fan base, and it of course reaffirms what all the media gurus are saying about attracting an audience: create a strong personal brand, develop multiple points of entry across different forms of media, know and interact with your supporters, etc…

Of course, this is all much easier said then done and to do this work requires a colossal effort IN ADDITION to the colossal effort one must undergo to actually create the work. The challenges are finding the time and staying focused… at least these are the challenges for me…

It’s been too long since my last blog. Mostly because I don’t really feel I have much to say these days.

The big news is that I received my first ever applause in a yoga class today. I’ve been practicing on and off for (off mostly) for seven or so years and this is the first time I’ve seen anything like it.

The instructor who I’d never met before decided I was the one to demonstrate a new partner pose with him. It was some sort of alternative to “the wheel” where you lift you hips in the air, chest upward. Your feet are planted, and your hands are grabbing tightly onto your partner’s ankles. It helps you with leverage, I guess… Anyway, I’m not sure why he picked me but I guess I did it well enough because afterwords he led the rest of the students (who had all gathered around my mat) in a rather rambunctious ovation. As I lay there on my back, sweaty and exhausted, I wasn’t sure whether I sure whether I should struggle to my feet for a bow, or act nonchalant… in the end, I just smiled weakly, looking kind of awkward and embarrassed.

Applause always embarrass me. I don’t know why?