Hello again to my friends, family, colleagues, and clients. Many of you know me personally through work, networking or through one of my speaking engagements related to sales skills, professional networking and personal development; and some of you may know me only by email and telephone. Welcome to everyone that’s new to this distribution list.
There are a lot of very smart and interesting people that I am fortunate to network with. We share books, movies, music and ideas that stimulate us. I'm always interested to learn what other people that I respect are reading, watching and listening to. This is my monthly email newsletter with books I’ve recently read, movies seen, music devoured, ideas and other things that may be of interest to you. If you find this interesting and would like to pass it on, please feel free to do so. If you’d like to be removed from this list just let me know. If someone forwarded this newsletter to you and you would like to be added to this distribution list or if you’d like to view previous newsletters, please email me and let me know.
A number of people have asked that I insert an announcement indicating whether I have any upcoming speaking engagements that are open to the public. I do have a few public speaking engagements this month in Denver and Colorado Springs. If you have an interest in dates, times and speaking topics, please let me know.
I wrote some of this newsletter last week in a motor home while Karin, Anja, Tristan and I were taking a two week vacation in breathtakingly beautiful New Zealand. A while back I told Karin that I wanted to see some Hobbits- be careful what you ask for. What a beautiful and amazing country! We rented a motor home for the first 5 or 6 days, saw some rare dolphins while boating in a volcano next to the Tasman Sea, petted some lions, snorkeled by an island off the coast, took a six-seater plane over the Southern Alps to get to an absolutely amazing boat trip in Milford Sound, did some horseback riding where they filmed part of Lord of The Rings and went up the Sky Tower among other awesome experiences. Every minute was an adventure! If you have any interest in seeing some pictures from our trip, please email me and I’ll send them to you. I’ve included some links below to some of the places and things that we got to see and do since some people have been asking for details. If you’ve never been to New Zealand, put this small country on your list of places that you need to see and experience in your lifetime!
Akaroa Dolphins http://www.akaroadolphins.
Glenorchy Air http://www.glenorchy.net.n
Milford Sound http://www.realjourneys.co
Dart Stables http://www.dartstables.com
Queenstown http://www.queenstown-nz.c
Auckland Sky Tower http://www.skycityauckland
Butler’s Swim With The Dolphins http://www.swimwithdolphin
TWO BOOKS TO PUT ON YOUR MUST READ LIST
Duma Key- Stephen King
The maestro of suspense and horror has written another masterpiece. It’s been way too long since I’ve read a Stephen King book and his most recent book was fantastic! How many books has King written and how can he still write such terrifying stories that grab you and don’t let you go?! Actually, he has written hundreds of novels, short stories and screenplays. Stephen has a seemingly effortless ability to paint vivid word pictures that beautifully describe and illuminate every situation he dreams up.
King weaves a very frightening story of a construction business owner that suffers a near fatal head injury (this actually happened to King just a few years ago) which afterwards leaves him with some pretty incredible and creepy powers. There are some interesting twists in this tale that I didn’t see coming.
Ironically, when I worked at Gevity and would take business trips to Bradenton, FL, I would visit some of the towns, and locales that King features in this story. There are references to Siesta Key, The Crossroads Mall and St. Armands Circle. For you folks reading this in the Sarasota area you’ll find this book very interesting and perhaps a little too close to home. Keep the lights on when you’re getting ready for sleep and you put the book on your nightstand. Creeped me out (and that’s not easy to do what with growing up in Jersey and all). http://www.stephenking.com
As You Think- James Allen
This short book was originally called “As a Man Thinketh” when it was written back in 1904 by James Allen, and Marc Allen (no relation to James Allen) edited this classic in 1998. For fans of the self-empowerment genre, this is an absolute definitive standard.
Here’s a quote, “Thought and character are one, and as character can only manifest and discover itself through environment and circumstance, the outer conditions of your life will always be found to be harmoniously related to your inner state.” This is a book that should be referred to and reread on a frequent basis. My copy has turned into a study guide that is highlighted and written all over. There are many self-awareness/self-help/s
MUST GET MUSIC
The East Village Opera Company- The East Village Opera Company
This disc came out in 2006 and is amazing! Over the years I have heard many people and bands try to recreate well-known opera pieces in a rock format and most attempts sound cheesy at best. I am and have been a huge opera lover for years and have a personal relationship with many of the pieces on this disc so it’s gotta be great to get me off what Karin calls my “music snob high horse”. This is by far the best band that I’ve ever heard perform alternate versions of these 12 pieces. It will take about 30 seconds into the first track to realize that this powerhouse five-piece band, string quartet and two amazing vocalists are at the top of their game. As you listen to this CD, you’ll even hear a few bits and snippets of The Who, Zeppelin and other bands woven into their pieces in a very tasteful way without overwhelming the songs or trying to showoff or showboat. Habanera Redux (Carmen) alone is worth the price of this CD. When I listen to this piece at high volume with my headphones on, I am blown away by AnnMarie Milazzo’s pipes- this girl can belt it like an opera singer (go figure).
Band leader Peter Kiesewalter says, “We have profound love and respect for the opera. But it’s so dramatic, so over the top by today’s standards, that it cannot be delivered with a straight face. You need a little bit of irreverence in it.”
Checkout the band at www.eastvillageoperacompan
Live in Tokyo: Larry Carlton & Robben Ford- Larry Carlton & Robben Ford
Larry Carlton is one of the best if not the best jazz guitarist alive today. Among guitarists he is looked up to as an icon of pure and clean guitar craftsmanship. He’s been recording for 40 years and has played with some of the biggest names in rock, jazz, blues and fusion of the last half-century.
Robben Ford is a phenomenal blues guitarist that first played with Larry back in 1974 when Robben was just starting to make a name for himself in the music scene. They have played together off and on for decades. Last year they played some dates in Tokyo and lucky for us, there was recording equipment in the hall. This disc is a live recording of them performing some of each other’s amazing material.
Last month I got to hear them together in Boulder. I would travel quite a way just to see either of these guys, so to have them both on stage together at the same time was like a musical eclipse. The planets aligned, the clouds parted and God shined down on the People’s Republic of Boulder for one amazing evening! You could see that they both are very respectful of each other and each other’s styles and they did a tremendous job of working together. I mention this because this disc is an almost exact recording of the concert that I attended at the beginning of March. Listen to this disc and you’ll experience almost exactly what my friend Brandon and I got to experience that wonderful evening (without all the gray hair in the audience). These are “musician’s musicians”.
Here are two great clips that I think that you’ll enjoy. The first clip is a video of part of the disc that was filmed and recorded in Tokyo last year. http://www.youtube.com/wat
The second clip is a performance by Robben Ford on David Letterman’s show from back around 1991/1992. He’s performing a great version of his song, “Talk to Your Daughter”. You’ll be able to hear what a great blues player he is. Smoking! http://www.youtube.com/wat
AN AWESOME INSPIRATIONAL VIDEO CLIP
This video has gone around the world many times but I never get tired of it. Paul Potts is amazing. He is an inspiration reminding us not let go of our dreams. We are all blessed that he hung in there and never gave up despite not having a lot of confidence, and when he got his shot, he took it. Turn up your speakers!
http://www.youtube.com/wat
TWO HILARIOUS VIDEO CLIPS
In keeping with my personal philosophy that we should have at least one good belly laugh per day for optimal health, I hope you enjoy the following two video clips.
Some people really enjoyed my mention of Steven Wright in a previous newsletter so I thought that I’d send out one of his hilarious clips. This about sums him up.
http://www.youtube.com/wat
Since we are in a political year I thought that I’d include a clip for those of us that fell asleep in history class while the teacher was describing how our government operates. If Uncle Jay had been my teacher I’m sure that I wouldn’t have fallen asleep. This is the best explanation of how Congress works/doesn’t work that I’ve ever seen. Vote for Uncle Jay!
http://www.unclejayexplain
SOME GREAT QUOTES
“I get up every morning determined to both change the world and have one hell of a good time. Sometimes this makes planning my day difficult.” EB White
“Life lived for tomorrow will always be just a day away from being realized.” Leo Buscaglia
“The trouble with punctuality is that nobody’s there to appreciate it.”
”Treat a man as he appears to be and you make him worse, but treat a man as if he already were what he potentially could be, and you make him what he should be.” Goethe
“I am always doing that which I can not do, in order that I may learn how to do it.” Pablo Picasso
“The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.”
“So many of our dreams at first seem impossible, then they seem improbable, and then, when we summon the will, they soon become inevitable.” Christopher Reeve
"What if the hokey-pokey IS what it’s all about?”
If you think that this will be of interest to someone that you know, please feel free to forward it on. If you have any thoughts or opinions on any of these recommendations or have recommendations of your own, please let me know- you never know where the conversation will go from there. It’s spring, the flowers are blooming, lovers are kissing and I hope that life is treating you well and that you, your families and your businesses are all doing fantastic! As always, if you’d like to reach me, the easiest and fastest way is either by email or mobile phone.
To your success,
Kevin