Archive for January, 2010

Help Haiti Fast

A week ago today, multiple networks broadcast a special called Hope For Haiti Now featuring a bevy of Hollywood stars and musicians. The program raised $60+ million (and counting) for relief efforts. When it comes to tragedies like this, we all respond differently.

For my dear friend, Erik Guzman, the response was more than just ‘different’.

I’ve told you previously about Erik, aka ‘The Merry Monk of Love”. Erik was deeply moved by the plight of these poor Haitians and donated some money, but still felt he could do more. After some pondering, he figured out what that ‘more’ should be…

“I am going to undertake a fast for the 40 days of Lent to raise money for relief and rebuilding efforts in Haiti through Tony Campolo’s organization, EAPE. Will you sponsor my fast?

Here’s the skinny on the fast (Get it? Skinny!):

- I pledge to consume only liquids (water, fruit & vegetable juice) for 40 days
- You pledge an amount of money per day I can make it ($1 / day yields $40)
- Consider joining me in the fast and solicit sponsors of your own

- 100% of the money goes to EAPE”

Get the full details at TheMerryMonk.com and please consider sponsoring Erik.

Is this a radical stunt? Yeah. But when things go upside down in an instant– the way they did in Haiti– a radical approach can sometimes be the most rational.

- Matthew Porter

PS: Join us next week for Great Quote Monday and hear about the quote that has been haunting me for more than ten years.

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Last summer I was in L.A. for meetings for a week or two. Using my handy dandy smartphone, I made a video each day highlighting various points of interest to send back to the fam. Kind of an AV postcard. I dubbed this video series Love From CA (Yes, I named the 10-video collection, and no, there’s no ‘off’ switch when it comes to the directing/producing and branding sections of my brain).

During some down time, I hit the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Library in Simi Valley. And since the Gipper kicked us off this week on Great Quote Monday, I thought we’d keep the good times rolling by showcasing the video from that visit.

Enjoy!

- Matthew Porter

PS: By the by, I know a guy who’s doing a really out-there– and possibly dangerous– stunt in order to raise money to help the victims of the earthquakes in Haiti. Will tell you all about it on Friday, so be sure to drop by.

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President Ronald Reagan

Great leadership is not promising those you lead that you will meet their every need and fulfill their every desire. A great leader calls forth the forgotten– maybe even undiscovered– strength in those he or she leads, exhorting them that ‘you have what it takes. You make it happen.’

This Thursday, January 28, 2010, marks the 24th anniversary of the Challenger disaster. Like the Kennedy assassination and the terrorist attacks on 9/11, we all remember exactly where we were and what we were doing that sad January morning.

The evening of January 28, 1986, President Ronald Reagan addressed a still-bewildered nation and provided a shining moment of leadership, doing his best to speak words of comfort and hope at time when talk– no matter how eloquent– couldn’t make things right:

“The future doesn’t belong to the fainthearted; it belongs to the brave.”

- Ronald Reagan

Where were you and what were you doing at 11:39am EST on January 28, 1986? Share what you remember about the day in Comments.

PS: The full text of Reagan’s speech is available here: http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/ronaldreaganchallenger.htm Worth the quick read.

- Matthew Porter

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Vaya Con Dios, Coco

I have been an avid fan of Conan O’Brien since he took over Late Night in 1993.

His unabashed goofiness and self-deprecating humor is just so refreshing and endearing. It’s like he is willing to go absolutely anywhere necessary to get the laugh. That approach– to forsake trying to be cool, to embrace your ‘inner goober’– is just amazing to watch, the polar opposite style of, say, Dennis Miller (whom I also dig) whose cool, erudite delivery is so polished you can see your reflection in it.

Conan is funny in a wholly unique way and believe me, just being funny alone is hard enough. That he has Saturday Night Live and The Simpsons on his resume, well… that just puts it over the top in my book.

As such, tonight being Conan O’Brien’s last night as host of The Tonight Show is sad– on a number of levels.

For one, it seems like he didn’t get a fair shot at establishing himself in just seven months. Even his tenure on Late Night, which eventually ushered him to the host chair at The Tonight Show, had a rocky start that lasted for 2-3 years. I was in a similar situation, albeit on a much smaller scale, about ten years ago. After preparing for months to take over a popular radio show in Orlando, all the while being encouraged by the station’s brass, I was unceremoniously fired (via e-mail no less) by the station’s less-than-courageous GM just weeks into the gig. It wasn’t the suckerpunch termination that hurt, it was having to let go of the cool plans that could have been realized, but would never be.

Two, from the get-go, it felt like Conan was still in Leno’s shadow. Sure, there was a thirty-minute buffer of local news between them, but didn’t it still feel like the previous setup– Jay on The Tonight Show followed by Conan– had just moved up by an hour?

Finally, this whole thing is sad because I love The Tonight Show. I clearly remember staying up late– or trying to, at least– to watch the show back in the Reagan era. Watching Carson’s monologues had a profound, lasting influence on me. I can literally remember jokes I heard just one time when I was only ten or so years old. That’s why the changing of the guard host-wise is significant. It’s the comedy equivalent of electing a new pope. And that’s why this scheduling / programming misfire is frustrating. It’s like the white smoke gone up the chimney, but then out come a bunch of folks saying ‘Oops, my bad. Do over.’ Come on, man. You only had 17 years to get a plan together for this.

I think it’s great that O’Brien is getting millions of dollars in severance. Pretty good as parting gifts go. But when you get to a certain level of income, I think the dollars mean less than the ability to bring your own vision to life. At least, that’s my theory — and one I’m keen to test.

So vaya con Dios, Coco. Looking forward to seeing what you do next.

- Matthew Porter

PS: See you here next week for Great Quote Monday. That is, if Jay Leno doesn’t take over my job first.

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Some would say popular music has been poison to modern english, that rock songs are the killers of proper grammar. It’s true that at times, the clash between the Queen’s English and the lyrics of, say, Queen, has been as loud as the tunes themselves. But there’s no need to kiss the muse of language goodbye.

Check out the ‘corrected’ song titles below (along with links to the original versions). I think you too will agree that you can love both the rock and the talk.

I Cannot Get Any Satisfaction — Rolling Stones

In The Garden Of Eden — Iron Butterfly

You Are A Hound Dog — Elvis Presley

Are You, Or Are You Not My Baby? — Louis Jordan

There Isn’t Any Woman (Like The One I Have) — The Four Tops

- Matthew Porter

PS: Have your own ideas for ‘corrected’ song titles? I bet you do. Let’s hear them in the Comments. See you again on Friday!

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Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

“On some positions, Cowardice asks the question, “Is it safe?” Expediency asks the question, “Is it politic?” And Vanity comes along and asks the question, “Is it popular?” But Conscience asks the question “Is it right?” And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but he must do it because Conscience tells him it is right.”

–Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

“Remaining Awake Through a Great Revolution”

An address at the Episcopal National Cathedral, Washington D.C.

March 31, 1968

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"My writing used to be a 98 lb. weakling, but now, thanks to Matthew..."

Unlike graphic design or accounting, writing is something each of us must do every day, whether it’s a big-time proposal or just an e-mail reply.

I am comfortable saying that I don’t know everything about writing. However, in my twelve years as a professional writer, I’ve found three easy-to-apply techniques that will dramatically and immediately improve your writing.

Read– takes two minutes, I timed it– and try these techniques. I promise they will positively impact on your writing.

1. Use Active (Not Passive) Voice

When you use words like is, am, was, were, and are (all forms of ‘to be’), you’re using passive voice. These words make your sentences weak and flabby and take the punch out what you’re saying.

Compare these two sentences:

Sentence 1
We are going to be launching…

Sentence 2
We will launch…

Doesn’t that second sentence sound more purposeful and direct?

It’s impossible to avoid passive voice completely. However, next time you spot it in your writing, try using a strong verb instead and give your thoughts a more forceful, powerful edge.

2. Make Your Writing Concise

Shakespeare was right: brevity is the soul of wit.

You can further strengthen your writing by condensing your sentences.

Compare these two sentences:

Sentence 1
We have the ability to research…

Sentence 2
We can research…

Note that both phrases use active voice, but doesn’t the second sentence sound leaner and more to-the-point? Make your writing as concise as possible and turn your thoughts from watered-down coffee into concentrated high-octane espresso.

3. Re-read Your Work (Out Loud)

You’re already taking the extra minute to run spell-check, and that’s good, but it’s not always enough to catch every goof. Even scanning the page doesn’t always ferret out all the problems because our eyes tend to race ahead.

But taking the time to read your work out loud will force you to slow down a little, perhaps enough to catch those hard-to-spot errors.

And by the way, if you happened to spot the error I’ve left in this article, leave a comment. I’m buying lunch for the first person who nails it.

Happy writing…

- Matthew Porter

PS: Sometimes bad grammar can be good, even classic. When is this appropriate? Check back this Friday and find out.

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Abraham Lincoln: Emancipator, Statesman, Hustler

Great line spoken by Wayne in Wayne’s World:

“Was it Kierkegaard or Dick Van Patten who said, ‘If you label me, you negate me?’”

Today’s quote isn’t from Mike Myers or Søren Kierkegaard. But the line above does remind me of how lazy people can be with quote attributions. That’s how we get these pithy little sayings floating around the Interwebs that, while clever, clearly didn’t come from the source cited. Seems like half of these quotes and sayings get attributed to Mark Twain.

All of this to say, I do everything possible to get you the quote, source, and context whenever possible. And when I’m unable to verify a quote, I will make sure to list it as ‘attributed to’, versus definitively stating somebody said/wrote something. I believe that words matter, so to me it’s worth the little extra effort.

Now, on to today’s quote, attributed to Abraham Lincoln:

“Good things may come to those who wait, but only those things left by those who hustle.”

Hope this quote inspires you as you start your week. Now, in the immortal words of Mark Twain, ‘go forth and kick some booty!’

- Matthew Porter

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???

Sometimes the funny finds you.

I came across this sign on the front of a restaurant in Venice (It-lee, not CA) a few years ago. Did something go awry with this phrase in its journey from Italian to English? Or were the proprietors playing a joke on their English speaking tourist guests? The first theory, if true, is funny to me. But the latter, even funnier.

Have a great weekend. See you here first thing next week for Great Quote Monday. Ciao!

- Matthew Porter

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Warning: Objects In Blog May Be Larger Than They Appear

So, here we are, just shy of the first week into 2010. By now, the X-wing fighters of New Year’s Resolutions have hopelessly smashed against the Death Star force field of Reality.

But not you. Because you don’t have resolutions; you have goals.

You are actively losing your big ‘but.’

So am I.

Unsolicited Moment of Transparency™:

At any given time, I have a LOT of projects in process. The current list includes:

- Preproduction on two music videos I’m directing (more details soon)
- Developing a feature film I scripted
- Completing two book proposals
- Shopping a reality TV concept
- Post production on a short film / charity benefit / viral campaign

I don’t list all this to be cool; having a lot of irons in the fire is just the nature of the industry. I mention this because it’s really easy for me to bounce from one project to another, moving quick as a hummingbird on meth, but not getting projects wrapped quickly enough, for my liking anyway.

The word in our pop culture lexicon for this approach is ‘multitasking.’ Hence, my big ‘but’ when it comes to achieving my goals is being too busy. My strategy for losing this big ‘but’: monotasking. Begin a task, see it through to the end, move on to the next one.

Obviously, a big part of monotasking is being able to quickly prioritize tasks. I’m not perfect at this, but I’m trying. My wife always says I have an undiagnosed case of ADH– hey, when did they cancel that ‘Cavemen’ TV show? ‘Cause it was on, right? And then the WGA writers strike happened and then, like, I never heard about it again after that. So weird…

In conclusion, as we hurtle headlong toward the heart of January, rapidly approaching the threshold between Talking About Doing Things and Actually Doing Things, we know that:

1. Accomplishing goals requires identifying and strategically overcoming obstacles — losing our big ‘buts’.
2. My big ‘but’ is being busy, which I will conquer through monotasking.
3. It doesn’t matter when Cavemen was canceled, as long as it never, ever, ever comes back.

- Matthew Porter

PS: Hey, swing by Hey Porter! again this Friday. We’ll be launching a new recurring comedy feature, a little something to make you laugh as you head into your weekend. See you then.

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