Control vs. Brutality: Police from Shreveport to Florida

The mantra "Blogging for Good" includes stating where we as Americans have "Gone Bad". I can only hope that no one in my family will come into a situation where such mindless "brutality" is confused with "control".

This evening, I'm watching CBS News' new video player and come across this troubling clip (below) of a Shreveport police officer slamming a female DUI suspect into walls, eventually laying in a pool of her own blood, then carried out on a stretcher. Needless.

Martial brutality upon the public by our police is contrary to their oath.
Click for Shreveport Brutality Clip

Follow that clip with the lack-luster humanity of this Florida Deputy below:
Click for Florida Deputy Dumps Quadriplegic Man In Wheelchair

I wonder if these officers of the law, their chiefs, mayors, senators, representatives and governors feel ill when they see these clips? Like my Autumn says to me often, "Some people don't know how to act." And sometimes they're on our own team.

peace-
seanrox

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© seanrox.com.

Islandscopic Childhood

Rivers and lakes, fresh water, nearly every pre-Interstate American city was built upon one, the other or both. So, what does it mean for someone who lives on an island, surrounded by salty seas? By the time I turned 23, I had lived 11.5 years, nearly half my life on islands including Japan, Okinawa, Hawaii, England and Cocoa Beach, Florida. Important?

peace-
seanrox

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© seanrox.com.

How the West is Different.

It occurred to me this evening while watching a GPB/PBS documentary on Col. Wild Bill Cody, that I was taught and already knew much about this American figure by the time I completed Kindergarten and first grade at Loy Elementary School in Great Falls, Montana. Yet, I haven't heard anything about him or his massive scale Wild West Show or his importance to The Greater American Story since Spring of 1978. I suppose history and culture are localized.

In my Montana Kindergarten curriculum, there was no concept of slavery or the civil war, but we learned through tribulation that all Americans, including the Native Americans were to be treated with respect and mutual admiration. The concepts of Expo and Trading Post encouraged cultural exchange.

After moving to and from grammar school Hawaii, which shared this similar rich "respect for all men" with a tropical, romantic mystique, I landed in the proud West Texas education system in 1981 -- a very different place.

In San Angelo, Texas, I learned that "life is hard, and if it isn't, you are probably cheating and you'll get caught soon enough". I also learned a lot of Dry Pflueger Wisdom that I dispense to myself upon occasion when I tumble. There's no doubt, I attribute my Texan education to fueling my tenacity to fight for what is right in my heart.

But, sadly, it was also here, during my tween and preteen middle school Texan lessons, I was taught concepts of prejudice, self-righteousness, "zero tolerance" and the homogeneous agenda. If my parents ever wondered at what point everything changed for me, it was West Texas. Looking back, I think my young psyche received a cultural rip. It happens to us all... eventually.

(Onward, the large-scale influences from being a High Schooler in rural England and suburban Tucson in the mid-late 1980s might very well blow your mind, so I'll leave that part out for now.)

Centering back on my original point, Wild Bill Cody hadn't much importance to the West Texas Story nor the Hawaiian Statehood Story, but I know, as someone that has fallen in love with the State of Georgia (where there are regional folks tales as well), all those many stories -- some similar and some contradicting -- are all the many pieces of wisdom shared with me by my teachers and mentors across the world. For this, I believe I have a better understanding of people.

In an America, where we lead entertainment across the globe, it's important to note: Colonel Wild Bill Cody was the first True-American Showman. A pioneer in global showbiz and the postal service, for that matter.

peace-
seanrox

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© seanrox.com.

Another Favorite Place: Da Boyz Barbershop in Columbus, Georgia

Needed a haircut for tonight's Addy Awards in Columbus, Georgia. It's Saturday afternoon, across from the main Columbus State University, next door to Spices (my local Island joint) is Da Boyz Barbershop.

Mr. Powell hooked me up, and now I'm handsome for the evening's events.

I remember when I was a child visiting my grandfather with my dad, a part of experience was a trip to the neighborhood barbershop. Now, after my second haircut at Da Boyz, I've got my own.

peace-
seanrox

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© seanrox.com.

The Importance of this Obama Moment

Months ago, sitting on the couch, in our pregnant-era gaze at Obama's clear message to Americans -- if they were willing to hear it. The nonsense is behind him. Now, the incremental show of support of his outspoken ideals bit by bit from across the nation, I believe, is a testament to the spirit of the emerging generation. Introducing: "The Policy of Fair-handed Foresight."

If this orator pulls it off, everything will be different. And a fresh, undefined, untitled era will write itself powered by... community.

peace-
seanrox

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© seanrox.com.

The Difference: Good Vs. Great Ideas.

For many years, I've been receiving a free independent email newsletter geared towards copywriters. (from Jack Forde) Not sure how I got on the list, but it's been a pleasant weekly pep-talk about Creativity these many years.

Sure, I write copy. A rogue spattering of techniques with little formal education other than the love of the "story" itself. The mix of solid design with nuanced copy... now, that's the creative edge in a competitive industry sharing ideas. Examine this excerpt of today's newsletter, where Jack illustrates the difference between a Good Idea and a Great Idea. Here is Jack's head on nail:

* Great Ideas Simplify: A really great idea simplifies what was once tough to convey, in a head- smacking-obvious kind of way.

* Great Ideas Focus: The tighter the focus of an idea, the more power it has. One thought, expressed in one sentence.

* Great Ideas Inspire Action: If you "think up"
plenty but do nothing, it's mind-power wasted. Great ideas inspire great acts in response.

* Great Ideas Are Actionable: If you can't put the idea into practice, what's the point? Insight without usefulness isn't worth a heck of a lot to most people.

* Great Ideas Create Familiarity: Creativity is all about finding links between what we already know and what we've just discovered. Metaphors with a twist.
A bridge between the already-known and the new.

* Great Ideas Connect People: An "idea ahead of its time" is really an idea that fails to ride the tide of mass desire. And, arguably, ideas that fail to do that aren't so great after all.

* Great Ideas Inspire Hope: We latch on to ideas that will take us places. This is especially true for marketers, where the idea is the solution we're selling.

Thanks Jack!
peace-
seanrox

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© seanrox.com.

Music in Columbus, Inspiration or Fame?

Ask anyone that knows me, my belief in the future of Columbus, Georgia's music scene is strong. In this I've been inspired to pack-up my CD collection, guitars and 20" monitors, to leave the forever bohemiac undercurrent of ATL's Little Five Points (L5P) to a very special place and lend a hand.

INFRASTRUCTURE IN PLACE.
Now, three years and one month later, I feel evermore inspired to contribute to this greater cause. Things are really coming together. Resources are being defined, shared and promoted. Coalitions are formed. Songwriters are beginning to feel a foundation beneath them harden -- a firm foundation is the key to inspiration itself.

YOUR LOCAL MUSIC INDUSTRY.
Just as the local printer is your connection to "all things" printed. As your insurance agent is your authority to the "insurance world", to whom do we turn to locally for advice concerning music, music production, music licensing, music manufacturing, music promotion, talent aquisition and career development? Until now, nobody.

MUSIC IN COLUMBUS (MIC) IS BORN.
A core committee of business leaders, educators, and music lovers committed to organizing special projects to educate, network and promote the music that is happening. For those whom choose to engage in their own way by including the music element in their lives and livelihoods --they become an extension of this greater thing -- a city where people gather and wherever that maybe -- this musical element of harmony is represented. (musicincolumbus.org)

Grandiose retrospective manifestos aside, I love that my family and I are living in a world full of music -- in Columbus, Georgia in particular.

peace-
seanrox

p.s. Fame is for junkies.

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Live Show: Join me at Fountain City Coffee on Tuesdays from 7pm-8pm

Finally, I've secured a weekly acoustic show on Broadway at Fountain City Coffee. I'll be opening up for Trivia each Tuesday from 7pm-8pm. The barista's on staff can steam you a mean latte or share a glass of wine or bottle of beer with me.

I began writing songs on guitar 10 years ago, and by nudge and more nudges, I'll be performing many of the songs my friends and family have heard throughout the years... with a renewed sense of everything.


See you there at 7pm each Tuesday for the coming months. I'll have Southern Zen Hymnals printed out for you to follow along with me lyrically while you sit back and relax.

peace-
seanrox

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© seanrox.com.

INVENTION: "The Power Page"

The Power Page:

An visual device used as a web developmental tool to define the "essence" of the overall user-experience.

YET ANOTHER INVENTION BY SEAN MICHAEL SCHOFF

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Others

Some people make things.

Many people watch things go.

Others make the things go better.

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VIDEO: Yes, We Can.

As a military family, as a Boy-and-eventually-an Eagle Scout, as an Airman in the United States Air Force, and someone who saw the impossible happen before my eyes while working with both NASA and the dot-com boom, NOBODY has said the "right words" to honestly inspire Americans in more than a generation.

To all those in our lives that tell us we "can't do something" -- Yes We Can.




Anything less is politics as usual.

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© seanrox.com.

NEW SONG: On the Edge of Georgia (Be Like You Oughtta)

I had to come down.
Just to be like I oughtta.
Ride down the river -- to the Edge of Georgia

Where we can all dream.
About two hundred thousand dreams.
Talkin' about home -- where a workin' man owns his own.

Let's keep it all sane -- through the growin' pains.
Poor man, rich man -- brothers.
If you've ever picked guitar -- On the Edge of Georgia.

Where we can be like we oughtta.
Grab-a-guitar and a mandolin -- meet-ya-in-the Alabama backwater ya'll.

Where we can all sing.
About what freedom and sorrow bring.
Talk-about-the-whole-damn-thing -- by slammin' on skin and pickin' on strings.

Raise your glass and sing -- through the growin' pains.
Poor man, rich man -- brothers.
If you've ever sang The Blues -- in Columbus, Georgia.

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© seanrox.com.