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Paul Has Fun


Thanks for stopping by and spending time with me.

Mar 7, 2018

#119

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In this episode I discuss weird(but true) stories.   I review 'The Girl with All the Gifts' movie(there are spoilers).   My takeaways from Joe Pulizzi's book 'Content Inc.'   I have a new DJ mixtape with songs from Calvin Harris, Action Bronson, N.E.R.D and more.   Finally I discuss 'burning the ships' and what does that mean.

Weird Stories

Being Alone can be Healthy http://bit.ly/2hQjHd6  

Scary Angelina Jolie Fan http://bit.ly/2Am25hp 

Illinois Law treats Pets as Children http://bit.ly/2C4Tj8u  

Child's Doll calls Mom 'B*tch' http://bit.ly/2Ch9Poh 

This is the first weird story segment of 2018. And I enjoy putting these weird stories together because, as I always say with these particular tales, real life is always stranger than any fiction that you can read.

And the first weird story, curious story here, is being alone can be healthy. Now, this is dated the 22nd of November, 2017, and this is on Studyfinds.org. I will leave all the links to all these stories in the show notes for this episode, or in the description for this video below. Now the headline being, "Study: Being alone can be good for your mental health." It sparks creativity, read you a couple of the lines here. "When it comes to seeking solitude, many people often blame mental health issues as an underlying cause, but a new study finds that being alone has its benefits too, particularly when it comes to people looking for a surge of creativity. Researchers at the University of Buffalo interviewed 295 privacy-valuing individuals who reported a variety of reasons for their tendency to spend a lot of time alone, ranging from feeling fear or anxiety around others to preferring to use the spare time working on a craft. Although research has traditionally suggested that excessive time alone can be unhealthy, some seclusive pursuits, such as trying to connect to nature to get a better sense of self can be constructive, the researchers found." Now, there's a couple of quotes from the researchers here. "We have to understand why someone is withdrawing to understand the associated risks and benefits," says Julie Bowker, the study's lead author, in a university release. "When people think about the costs associated with social withdrawal, often they adopt a developmental perspective," she continues. "During childhood and adolescence, the idea is that if you're removing yourself too much from your peers, then you're missing out on positive interactions like receiving social support, developing social skills and other benefits of interacting with our peers. Bowker believes that the presumed downsides of being alone and withdrawing have lent such a preference a hard-to-erase stigma. More recent research, including this latest study, has begun to recognize the potential benefits of alone time, provided it's an intentional choice prompted by positive emotions." I spend a lot of time alone myself, regarding life, if it's not at work, it's home, or just going about doing my business. I do meet up with friends for events at times, but that's not always, it's not a constant. But I am grateful, I'll be honest, that I actually, this is one of the benefits of having a job, of going to a place where there are other people, working there, I've given a lot of thought, and I would still probably like to go ahead and explore working from home for a period, but not forever. I just feel like, and I know what'll probably happen, is that I will be spending a lot of time by myself, so that is a benefit of actually having a job that you get to go ahead and talk to people. Now, if you don't like the people that you work with, then it's maybe time to get another job, you know what I'm saying?

Now the next story is scary Angelina Jolie fan. If you've seen the cover art for this video or this podcast, you'll see a picture of this young woman who has gone ahead and has transformed her face, has transformed herself, to look like Angelina Jolie. This is crazy stuff. Now, this is on the Sun.co.uk. This is an older story. This is also from November the 30th, 2017. An Iranian woman has gone viral after claiming she's had 50 surgeries in a bid to look like her idol Angelina Jolie. And if you're watching the video version of this, I am gonna be posting pictures so you can see what this young woman looks like. It's a little scary; I'll be honest. The 19-year-old from Toronto underwent 50 surgeries in the space of just a few months, according to the Belgian website SudInfo. This hasn't been officially confirmed, however, so it's possible her unique looks are the result of careful makeup or even prosthetics. Very interesting. She also reportedly went on a diet to maintain her 40-kilogram weight, which, provided she is over 4.8 feet, will classify her as dangerously underweight. Sahar has amassed more than 308,000 followers on Instagram, although many have left unflattering comments on her pictures. One person just posted "Zombie" on a recent shot, while another said "Her doc make me look like an eight-month-old corpse. Doc says no more."

Now moving to the next weird story here, a new Illinois law treats pets more like children in custody cases. This is from the Chicago Tribune. This is dated at 12/25, Christmas time, of 2017. "Judges in divorce cases consider the well-being of pets in allocating sole or joint ownership under an Illinois law that takes effect January the first. 'It sort of starts treating your animal more like children instead of property,' said Illinois state senator Linda Holmes, an animal lover who sponsored the legislation. If you're going before a judge, they're allowed to take the best interest of the animal into consideration. The law, similar to the one in Alaska, applies only to pets that are marital assets, not service animals. Pets are another issue to hash out in a divorce, in addition to money, children, and possessions. For years, pets have been treated no different from other pieces of property to be divided between a divorcing couple. 'Most couples can agree on pets outside of court,' said Jeffrey Knipmeyer, a partner at Nottage and Ward, a family law practice in Chicago. In his 21 years of experience, Knipmeyer has tried the issue in court only a few times. According to a recent study of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, about 30% of attorneys have seen a decrease over the past three years in pet custody cases. 'But when a pet custody case does reach court, the state law could be helpful in giving judges guidance on how to decide,' said Madeline Marzano-Lesnevich, president of the Academy." I think there was a story one time of somebody marrying a horse, or something like that. This is craziness. They're pets, people, come on!

Now, the last story here is a devil doll. "Mom fumes at Toys 'R' Us after buying daughter a Christmas doll which called her a b-i-t-c-h," a bitch. Let's check out this story here, and this is from Christmas time a couple of months ago. This is, once again, on the Sun.co.uk, dated exactly the 28th of December. Read you a couple of the lines here from the article. "A shocked mom was forced to take her daughter's favorite Christmas present away from her after it appeared to repeat explicit insults. Siobhan Fox, 30, filmed the My Little Baby Born Walks Doll, which she believes sounds like it is saying 'you bitch, you bitch' rather than the 'mama' and 'papa' she and husband Daniel had expected." And once again, I'm going to show you the video and show you pictures of the My Little Born Walks Doll. "The mom told the Sun Online: 'My daughter is two-and-a-half-years-old. She wanted it because her friend has one. It was on top of her list. My husband got it out for her and put the batteries in. I was not in the room. My daughter had it from my husband, and it just caught his ear. It meant to say 'mama, dada.' It's not. He called me in and said, 'Look, what do you think to this?' I got it straight away.' Siobhan and husband Daniel, 30, had to remove the doll from the tot because little Darcey repeats everything she hears. The disappointed mom added, 'That was what she really wanted, and I felt so awful taking it off her, but I could not let her go out in public with that doll saying that.' The doll, made by Zapf Creation, speaks when her rattle is shaken near her and had been bought from a Toys 'R' Us in Tamworth." Scrolling down here just to the bottom of the article, I want to see if this company said anything, the company who created the doll. And this is another quote from the article. "A spokesperson for Zapf Creations said, 'At Zapf Creation we take all feedback very seriously. Our Baby Born products are created to be a fun introduction to imaginative parent-child play. The My Little Baby Born Walks Doll includes baby babble sounds that are in no way meant to represent language or cause any offense to users.'" Very interesting. So folks, those are the four stories for this particular episode.

Any thoughts, comments, please do so below, or I will leave a link on the show notes where you can go ahead and start a conversation on the blog. I want to hear what you have to say.

This is the Improve and Have Fun Podcast, and these are weird stories.

 

Movie Review

I've watched many zombie movies. George Romero's Dawn of The Dead began my infatuation with the genre. I've seen zombie shows, read zombie comics, have played zombie video games, have owned zombie toys.

The Girl with all the Gifts presents a different spin I hadn't seen before.

This movie seems like an evolution from the Walking Dead concept. There, everyone is already infected. When they die, they will return as the undead bitten or not. This film asks what if children were born in this setting? How would it affect them? Would the world be any different?

As the film begins, the children are strapped down while guards have guns pointed at them. There's a scene when a guard dangles his arm in front of one of the bounded children. The child begins to ravenously snap at the guard.

Another concept the movie presents is that of spores which seem to grow out of dead zombies. This spore, under the right reaction, blooms, distributes its pollen. Becoming airborne causing even more havoc. Interesting.

The main protagonist is the main antagonist as well. She is child actress Sennia Nanua who I haven't seen before. She was very charming on one end and dangerous on the other.

The movie ends with the logical evolution of these zombie kids. I found this movie on Collider media's website. They frequently have articles listing the best videos on Amazon Prime or Netflix. This was a worthwhile watch.

See the movie here. http://amzn.to/2G3jw9m 

Book Takeaways

Content Inc. is a book I recommend to anyone who's starting a podcast, blog, youtube channel. Especially if you want to nail down your unique vision and sell something down the road.

I wish I read this book before starting my podcast. It has given me ideas on how to monetize my material.

I found Mr. Pulizzi's writing engaging and accessible. While reading this, I even sought out some of his online presentations. Good stuff.

Here are five takeaways/quotes from Joe Pulizzi's 'Content Inc.'

1 - 'That's because the content is what people want online, and marketing and advertising are what people easily avoid. I knew how to create the former, and that's how I attracted and held the attention that led to revenue, profits, and success.' pg xii-foreword

2 - 'The key here is that you don't have to be the New York Times or the leading trade magazine in your industry to get people to engage with your content. Readers are open to receiving and engaging in any content that will help them live better lives, get better jobs, or solve a particular task. The point: You have as much opportunity to deliver amazingly helpful content as anyone.' pg 18

3 - 'More and more, I find that the best Content Inc. programs revolve around aspirations, not needs. I've been guilty of telling marketers to 'focus on customer pain points' since, well, forever. Focusing on pain points just gets you to the front door.
To get to the heart of your customers' needs, you have to focus on what they want to be and help them get where they want to go.' pg 68

4 - 'Most businesses simply don't think about repurposing ahead of time. They think, 'I need a blog post or a white paper.' They don't think in terms of strategy Robert discusses above-of how one story idea can be told in dozens of different ways depending on the content needs of the organization' pg 132

5 - 'For all for of my books, including this one, a lot of material, ideas, and content originated from existing blog posts. If you have six months of blogs, you might already have half a book. Now writing a book is not an easy endeavor, but you may have a lot of the raw content already at your disposal to develop a book.' pg 205

With that said, here are a few ways I've thought of monetizing my content:

a. Coaching/consulting others who are interested in publishing their content in my style. Or putting a course together explaining the same.
b. Being a DJ for hire. Soliciting offers from anyone who enjoys my mixtapes and would like me to play for their event.
c. Make an ebook and/or audiobook from combined blog posts.

You can see here, the nuggets of knowledge this book has in producing and repurposing your content. In finding your particular niche, where you're knowledgeable and can expand for hours.

By purchasing this book through my Amazon link here, it supports both the author and myself.

Thanks!

Get the book here http://amzn.to/2oRhmlY 

DJ Mixtape

1. 'No Lie' Sean Paul, Dua Lipa

2. 'Bless Your Heart' DENM

3. 'Nuh Ready' Calvin Harris, PARTYNEXTDOOR

4. 'Bonzai' Action Bronson

5. 'Bloody Water' Ab Soul, James Blake Black, Anderson Paak

6. 'Dead Man' Joshua Luke Smith

7. 'Stuck With Me' The Neighbourhood

8. 'Lightning Fire Magic' N.E.R.D.

9. '#Natural' Paty Cantu, Juhn

10. 'Rope' Chi Ching Ching, Hanging

'Burning the Ships'

In a recent episode of the MWF Motivation podcast, Rob Dial discussed 'burning the ships.'

What does he mean by this? Do not have a plan B, only work on plan A. 'Success or death' is a phrase that comes to mind. He gives the example of Ed Sheeran who quit high school, moved to London, to chase his dream of music. How Mr. Sheeran suffered, scratched, clawed, I'm sure went hungry at times. He never took his eyes off the prize.

This particular morning, as I listened to this lesson, it spoke to me. I thought; I can produce a better podcast if I just give it all my attention. Not on book writing, or creating a Redbubble store. Not teaching dancehall classes.

That's what I love about this type of media. It's a ball of clay I can mold any which way. It doesn't have to be only audio. It can be video. A time lapsed drawing, a video of myself dancing, a talking head video. Anything.

I write scripts, but I can hire other writers, narrators to read what is written. I can record party videos, event videos, interview people. I've done all of these things on here already.

I'd come to this decision before, but I heard elsewhere that I should diversify my income. That's why I started taking up all these other mini-ventures. No more. My job and eBay will support me. My focus, time and energy will be the podcast.

This feels good. Thank you, Rob Dial

LINKS

Collider.com (Netflix and Amazon Prime movie recommendations) http://collider.com 

JoePulizzi.com (author of Content Inc.) http://www.joepulizzi.com 

MWF Motivation podcast (Burn The Ships inspiration)https://mwfmotivation.libsyn.com/success-or-death-0 

Any thoughts comments, please do so below or by visiting http://www.improveandhavefun.com or to comment on this specific post go here http://bit.ly/2D9mFBB 

 

Previous Episode: Black Panther REVIEW, Mixtape, Minimalism-maybe not. http://bit.ly/2FwkmOc  

 

You can contact me by calling to texting 201-429-0274. If you leave a voicemail please be aware, you only have 3 minutes. Email me a improveandhavefun@gmail.com 

 

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