Genius
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The Genius and the Diva, Part II: Joplin/Kristofferson version
Wonderful Reader PS capped off our magnum opus on Carole King and Aretha Franklin with a link to an amazing in-depth look at the song “Me and Bobby McGee.” Here’s songwriter Kris Kristofferson describing the first time he ever heard Janis Joplin singing his song “Me and Bobby McGee,” shortly after Janis had died: “The first time I heard Continue reading
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The Genius and the Diva: On Carole King and Aretha Franklin
There are many archetypes for creative genius. Almost all of them involve being lonely in some way. How many creative spirits have been frustrated, trapped, or doomed? It’s part of the job to be misunderstood. Living alone with one’s genius: it’s a special kind of hell. Then there are geniuses who are out there in the Continue reading
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Embrace Your Inner Beatle! “I’m So Tired”
Back to coins for this week’s randomizing method. Seven quick flips to allow the gods of genius and creativity to have their say, and… Oh gods. Excellent choice. But are you feeling okay? Feeling droopy? Has the work of inspiring creativity gotten you down? Or are you just admiring one of John’s favorite songs? In any Continue reading
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The Tao of the Beatles: “Lady Madonna”
Hail Muse! O ye gods of genius and creativity! Give us a random Beatles song from our randomly chosen random generator… this time we drop an Artemisia stem onto our random Beatles-song selector…and… Oh boy! Our first real Paul song. Oh, I know, we had “The End,” but this is the first full-blown, get out Continue reading
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The Beatles and You: Finding Inspiration in Abbey Road’s “The End”
Ugh, my big plans for the blog this year have run into some real-life snags. More posts soon, I promise! On the other hand, I’ve been enjoying this trip through the Beatles catalog and exploring the genius and creativity behind it. So here we go with another spin of our Jacke Wilson Randomizer… the wheel Continue reading
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Embrace Your Inner Beatle! (“I Am The Walrus”)
Whoa. The dice tumble, the dial spins…and the gods have chosen! Oh, ye gods. What a sense of humor you have. A work of genius? Yes. It’s a big one this time. A landmark in weird, mindblowing creativity. In context, maybe the strangest song ever written, and yes, I’m including Revolution 9 in that calculus. Continue reading
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Embrace Your Inner Beatle! Nowhere Man by John Lennon
THE SELECTION Aha! This week we use the perfect randomizer: four spins of a Life board game dial. Szzzzzzzzz-tika-tika-tika…. and the gods of creativity have chosen! NOWHERE MAN (LENNON-MCCARTNEY, RUBBER SOUL) http://youtu.be/GruVywUtohs Oh, wow. Once again, the gods seem to have looked out for themselves. Here’s another divinely inspired song, or at least divinely delivered. Continue reading
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Embrace Your Inner Beatle! Long, Long, Long by George Harrison
EXPLORING THE TAO TE BEATLES As with your consultations of the I Ching, trust the gods to select the song to serve as the basis for your creative contemplation. Close eyes. Breathe deep. Open eyes. Work out elaborate system to guarantee randomness that is harder than hell to actually get right. Fill Post-Its with numbers. Throw out. Try Continue reading
Jacke Wilson 