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    The Great Gordino Newsletter - Issue 351 - Mon 30th Jan 2006
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    Archive Issues online at - gordonbryan.com/archive

    Hi There,

    I hope everything is ok where you are.

    So I went to see the Blue Man Group in London last week.
    What a great show!
    I was expecting it to be a show similar to 'Stomp', lots of
    different rhythms, but it had much more comedy, and it inspired
    me for my new project.
    I had to chortle as I watched the show, remembering an audition
    I had for the show years ago.

    I had to wait at the audition for hours, there was a huge crowd
    there.
    As I waited in line, I could hear people auditioning in the room
    ahead. The trouble was, the auditioning I could hear was really
    technical drumming.
    Anyone who has seen me drumming will know that my drumming is
    based on cheating as much as possible with the technical bits,
    and playing the fool.
    Since the show involved playing the fool I thought I would be ok,
    but as my turn grew closer, the adrenaline pumped ever faster,
    and I knew I was punching above my weight.
    I went in, and there were 2 of the producers there.
    One of them handed me 2 sticks, and took me over to a single drum.
    Without even a 'hello' he told me that he would play a rhythm,
    and then I had to repeat it exactly.

    'Christ, I'm buggered,' was my initial thought.

    He then played a rhythm called a paradiddle, not that difficult,
    but one I knew I wasn't very good at, and used a cheat in my
    normal playing.

    'Yep, I'm buggered,' I confirmed to myself, as I tapped out my rhythm.
    I could see the producer smiling, which I took to be a good sign.

    It wasn't.
    'No, that was the cheating version, I want you to repeat what I
    played exactly,' he said.
    I had another woeful attempt, and my audition was over.

    I also had more cause to laugh last week, and it concerns American
    Football.
    Not my vomit-covered attempts to play this time, but this time
    it's to do with the tv highlights.
    One of my online buddies in California had emailed me before the
    weekend's games that she wanted the Seattle Seahawks to win.
    The highlights here in the UK were a couple of days after the game,
    but I was confident that I wouldn't hear the results beforehand.
    My friend always uses the date as her title for emails, but it
    dawned on me that with the application of Sod's Law, this would
    be the one occasion she would change, and the game's result would
    somehow be shown in her email subject line.
    When I got in from the Blue Man Group, I had so many ideas buzzing
    around my head, I decided not watch the tape, and leave it til the morning.

    Normally I check my emails first thing, so my simple plan was to leave
    the email checking until after I had watched the game, in case I got
    wind of the result.

    Easy, eh?

    So in the morning, what's the first thing I do?
    Check my emails, and there it was, slap bang wallop, an email with the
    subject line 'We're going to the Superbowl!'

    Hmm...

    Now, how clear an example is that about goal achievement!!
    I had made a simple plan, easy to carry out and effective, and yet I
    had totally ignored it and carried on the way my habits dictated!
    When you make your plan, and a plan is vitally important for goal
    achievement, make sure you stick to it, or it is completely useless!
    That sounds obvious, but as this experience shows, it's al too easy
    to make a plan and then ignore it!

    I think I've decided on my new project.
    It's called The Great Gordino's Fame Game.
    Because I have so many interests, I don't want to concentrate enough
    on one of them at the exclusion of the others.
    It occured to me that maybe I could put together a show where I try
    all of them, seeing how I get on in a quest to become famous in my 40th year.
    I think will make a one man show around it.
    That's what I think I will do anyway, and am now looking at the technical
    things I might need to get it off the ground.
    If any of you have any ideas about what I can try to achieve fame,
    preferably with potential for comedy, don't hesitate to let me know!

    Ok, that's it for today, and here's the thought - have you made any
    plans that you are simply ignoring?

    Have a good week.

    'Til Next Time,
    Health and Happiness,
    Gordon
    email me at gordon@gordonbryan.com - you'll have to copy and paste
    thanks to the idiot online spammers!



    
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