Category Archives: Knowledge Bite
One afternoon he was helping his uncle grind wheat in an old
fashioned mill. The uncle operated a large farm on which a number
of colored sharecrop farmers lived. Quietly, the door was opened,
and a small colored child, the daughter of a tenant, walked in and took her place near the door.
The uncle looked up, saw the child, and barked at her roughly,
“what do you want?”
Meekly, the child replied, “My mammy say send her fifty cents.”
“I’ll not do it,” the uncle retorted, “Now you run on home.”
“Yas sah,” the child replied. But she did not move.
The uncle went ahead with his work, so busily engaged that he
did not pay enough attention to the child to observe that she did
not leave. When he looked up and saw her still standing there, he
yelled at her, “I told you to go on home! Now go, or I’ll take a switch
The little girl said “yas sah,” but she did not budge an inch.
The uncle dropped a sack of grain he was about to pour into
the mill hopper, picked up a barrel stave, and started toward the
child with an expression on his face that indicated trouble.
Darby held his breath. He was certain he was about to witness
a murder. He knew his uncle had a fierce temper. He knew that
colored children were not supposed to defy white people in that part
of the country.
When the uncle reached the spot where the child was
standing, she quickly stepped forward one step, looked up into his
eyes, and screamed at the top of her shrill voice,
“MY MAMMY’S GOTTA HAVE THAT FIFTY CENTS!”
The uncle stopped, looked at her for a minute, then slowly laid
the barrel stave on the floor, put his hand in his pocket, took out
half a dollar, and gave it to her.
The child took the money and slowly backed toward the door,
never taking her eyes off the man whom she had just conquered.
After she had gone, the uncle sat down on a box and looked out the
window into space for more than ten minutes. He was pondering,
with awe, over the whipping he had just taken.
Excerpt from Think and Grow Rich Book by Napoleon Hill
No youth should save, but invest; because not risking is even a greater risk. Create, don’t accumulate! The older you get, your creativity reduces, and so does your opportunities to invest.
Source: What Is Life
LIFE IS AN ADVENTURE – DARE IT.
LIFE IS A BEAUTY – PRAISE IT.
LIFE IS A CHALLENGE – MEET IT.
LIFE IS A DUTY – PERFORM IT.
LIFE IS A LOVE – ENJOY IT.
LIFE IS A TRAGEDY – FACE IT.
LIFE IS A STRUGGLE – FIGHT IT.
LIFE IS A PROMISE – FULFILL IT.
LIFE IS A GAME – PLAY IT.
LIFE IS A GIFT – ACCEPT IT.
LIFE IS A JOURNEY – COMPLETE IT.
LIFE IS A MYSTERY – UNFOLD IT.
LIFE IS A GOAL – ACHIEVE IT.
LIFE IS AN OPPORTUNITY – TAKE IT.
LIFE IS A PUZZLE – SOLVE IT.
LIFE IS A SONG – SING IT.
LIFE IS A SORROW – OVERCOME IT.
LIFE IS A SPIRIT – RELEASE IT.
LIFE IS A WONDER – CHERISH IT.
My candle burns at both ends;
It will not last the night;
But ah, my foes, and oh, my friends—
It gives a lovely light!
Is Da Vinci a plagiarist? Is Andy Warhol? Is Steve Jobs?
How do you take “the greatest story ever told” – a story around thousands of years and has been painted 100s of times, and make it your own?
Answer: Idea sex!
The most famous rendition is Da Vinci’s “The Last Supper. ”
Da Vinci was an amateur forensic doctor. He would cut up dead bodies to study, in great detail, all of the musculature, the bone structure, etc.
A “Last Supper” painting from the 13th century (see one of the attached images, “supper1”) was mostly two dimensional.
With no talking and no emotions on the faces despite the intensity of the dinner.
An intensity that has made it “the greatest story ever told” for 2000 years.
Da Vinci’s studies of human biology + his constant sketches of people talking in the street + “the greatest story ever told” = one of the most famous paintings in history.
And was Da Vinci’s concept original? Of course not! The story was already 1400 years old and had been painted hundreds of times.
Da Vinci made it his own. It became 100% original with his mastery of idea sex.
Steve Jobs didn’t invent the phone. The “genre” of the phone had existed for a century. The iPhone is a “phone” in every way.
He didn’t invent the MP3 player either. But he combined ideas, moved the genre forward and created his own micro-category which became THE category of smart phones.
And “The Last Supper” didn’t stop with Da Vinci.
Every industry and art form is the product of thousands of generations of idea sex. Every single one.
Check out the images attached to this post.
A) Dali’s surreal take:
Da Vinci tried to be as realistic as possible.
Dali combined surrealism with “The Last Supper”. The transparent, ambisexual blonde Jesus, The ghostlike body floating above. The disciples backs facing us (not done before in prior paintings).
B ) Fast forward to Andy Warhol: Da Vinci’s painting + the Warhol-style silk screening of it he made famous in his portraits of Marilyn Monroe and Elvis Presley.
Pop Art + The Last Supper = multi-million dollar painting.
Fast forward to one of my favorite TV shows, Battlestar Galactica and their marketing poster based on The Last Supper.
C) Battlestar Galactica:
A poster for Battlestar Galactica (see attached) is:
the battle between possibly semi-divine Cylons and humans (with a Judas) + Da Vinci’s exact representation = beautiful marketing poster. A work of art.
The OLD is thousands of years of story, of emotional conditioning, of wars, of sickness, of “rules” to help us conform.
The NEW, is you and the pleasure and thoughts and excitements that are uniquely you. What makes YOU happy?
It’s a party in your brain!
Do it with art. Do it with business. Do it for fun. Do it for love.
Take an idea from 100 years ago. From yesterday. From 1000 years ago. From your friend.
Tell a story around it in modern terms. Make it uniquely yours.
You can even make it a joke.
News article #1: a mother thrown out of Disney World because she was choking her child.
News article 2: United Airlines beating a passenger up.
1 + 2 = A mother was thrown out of DisneyWorld today for choking her son. Everything turned out ok, though. United hired her the next day.
Ok, not quite Louis CK but I’m practicing. Maybe one day I’ll be original.
P.S. Oh! I love this one.
Another great example of “idea sex” from Battlestar Galactica:
Jimi Hendrix’s “All Along the Watchtower” (written by an obscure songwriter named Bob Dylan and then Hendrix-ized) re-written and performed (and made totally original) by Bear McCreary for the show.
So beautiful. Please google it.
Seeing only the top of the pyramid of a work of art, or a business, or an invention, or an idea, misses the beauty of the entire pyramid.
What are some other cool examples?
[ Related Reading: How To Make Millions With Idea Sex ]
There are many different unique dates and New Year celebrations around the world besides New Year’s day on the first official day of the Gregorian calendar. Here are five of them:
- Chinese New Year – every year the changing date falls between Jan. 21 – Feb. 21, depending on when the new moon of the first lunar month falls. In 2012, the celebration is January 23. The 15-day observance is the most important of the traditional Chinese holidays and is known as “Spring Festival.” This year it is the Year of the Dragon, specifically the water dragon. Festive spirits will be high with all kinds of celebrations as the dragon represents great power.
- Jewish New Year – Rosh Hashanah is the Jewish New Year. It is celebrated in autumn on the first two days of the seventh month of the Hebrew calendar. For Jews, it is a time of introspection and to look back at their mistakes over the past year and plan changes for the one ahead. The holiday is marked with the eating of apples dipped in honey as a symbol for for a sweet new year. Most often the day is spent in a synagogue, as it is one of the holiest days of the year.
- Islamic New Year – also known as the Hijri New Year. It falls on the first day of Muharram, which is the first month in the Islamic calendar. Special prayers are said and the appearance of the new moon is recorded in mosques. This fairly quiet new year celebration is on Nov. 14 in 2012.
- Thai New Year – also called the Songkran is celebrated from April 13-15. One of the main activities is the throwing of water. Thais throw containers of water, use water guns, and even garden hoses to soak each other. The water is symbolic in the hopes that is will bring good rains in the new year. All Buddha statues and images are also cleansed for good luck and prosperity.
- Ethiopian New Year – also called Enkutatash, meaning the “gift of jewels.” It will be on Sept. 11, at the end of the big rains. Dancing, singing, and celebrations happen as the people celebrate this spring festival. Some cities have spectacular religious celebrations although it is not exclusively a religious holiday.