Monday, May 3, 2010

The best Monday is a well rounded Monday....

Rollingstone Magazine has popped up and funcovered a shoulda, coulda, woulda, what if?


While Oprah continues to catch some pretty special vibes from her well touted connection to The Secret—a simple plan that involves thinking and believing then combining it with the universe by way of sharing it…Will-I-Am from the pop music group Black Eyed Peas might physically be onto something a little easier to digest…the only thing required circles.


The singer/songwriter/club DJ explains, “45’s and record albums were round…the music industry in the 50’s and 60’s was extremely influencing and on fire. History shows the industry nearly shattered during the introduction of 8-tracks and cassette tapes—not because the music was bad…the outlet was a square. By the mid-80’s along came the compact disc and sales soared through the roof.


While most believe the IPod and MP3 player connected massive amounts of music to millions who no longer wanted to carry heavy oblong cases…we’ve done nothing more than return to a square output. One view of the modern state of music, stores folding, artists without labels, sales plummeting by the billions annually…Will-I-Am might be onto something when he says, “We need to figure out how to make art work in a square.”


Nearly everything we do on an everyday basis is fortified by the power of the square! From flat TV’s to computer screens, books, magazine covers, restaurant menus, paychecks and credit cards—each have one thing in common, a connection to banks and a financial system that failed.


We need to figure out how to make art work in a square.


Toilet paper is round in the beginning then breaks off into squares. The cost of water to flush it away is skyrocketing. Medication comes in round bottles then its placed in square boxes...just learned Children’s Motrin is being recalled. What if they had stayed with the round concept? What about windows? They’re square until you step outside and the earth becomes round again. The grass might physically be greener on the other side of the fence if we elected to stay outside to find out.


When I slide, squish and swishy swoosh acrylic colors into the porefs of a blizzard white canvas…the rough cloth like surface is a square which is then placed into a square imprisonment of metal or wood, sometimes trapped for a few decades behind a single sheet of glass…how positive can that be?


Would stepping through the window make it round like the world? It's up to the artist to make it inviting.


In martial arts, the body is trained to move like water, wind and fire…from the outside it comes across that our arms, legs and thoughts have created an incredible relationship with objects that are round. Does that mean we’re blessed with good luck? Those who practice daily with arts such as Kung Fu and Tai Chi have proven to live longer.


On a more personal level…last summers heart stoppage usually pours scar tissue and damage into the ongoing chapters of those who suffer but my most recent checkup reveals two stints but no other proof that such a situation took place. The doctor stood back and laughed claiming I was given a mulligan. No…I’ve based my entire life and style on doing everything in circles.


Will-I-Am’s approach to 15 years of unforgettable music success where every song he writes, produces and performs becomes a world anthem shows how serious he is when it comes to doing everything within his personal power and wisdom to create art in a square. To read it was like painstaking walking through a long, wide, 200 degree desert and suddenly you’ve been handed a glass of water.


The Black Eyed Peas leader and mentor puts focus on the importance of communication realizing that the human race is currently running in every direction and laying out the brick work that’ll become the path to the songs they sing is what’s inspired U2’s Bono to hire the master of true social networking to help them design a sound geared toward giving listeners segments of jingles combined with moments of feeling great teamed up with ample space to let your own drive paint a destination for your fun button to dance with its own stars.


If the IPod has truly trapped music in a square…Will-I-Am will figure his way out of a paper bag.


Does this mean we’re on the brink of discovering the next Picasso, Elvis or Bill Gates? No…those now coming in contact with I Gotta Feeling and Boom Boom Pow are in essence 15 years behind. Will-I-Am should be credited for being the face behind the mask that’s turned the first ten years of this century into the most powerful musical force since the 1960’s.


To whom does he give thanks to? MC Hammer. Every generation has its pioneers—everything, including American Idol with it’s wanna-be artists wouldn’t be without the circles first created by someone whose gone full circle with his personal and professional life.


What does this have to do with the common man? Artists are artists and being wacked out weird is part of the process. How can a mother of two put a circle into place when everything around her constantly busy world is a square? By grasping onto the concept that no child is born without a willingness to create—teaching people to locate their creative outlet inspires the maker of inspiration to find peace in their own discoveries.


Family trees are the continuation of circles. Business, through its ups and downs is an acceptance of circles. Failures occur when a curved edge is pushed and prodded forcing the walls of dreams coming true to become weak…what happens when something breaks? Sharp edges appear…nothing round in that.


What comes around goes around. Gratitude is a beautiful game to play everyday. Suddenly we’re back to Oprah’s big push The Secret. Circles…in a square world.


arroecollins@clearchannel.com

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