Thursday, December 8, 2016
Friday, November 25, 2016
Thursday, November 24, 2016
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Tuesday, November 1, 2016
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#JaredDinesShredWars - Blues/Metal Solo (Dm) | Nick Rivera
#JaredDinesShredWars Nick Rivera NickRiveraMusic
Saturday, July 30, 2016
Monday, July 25, 2016
Periscope Highlight 1: Crossroads, Foxy Lady & More
Nick Rivera Music Periscope Highlight Crossroads Foxy Lady @NickRivera @NickRiveraMusic #NickRivera Guitar
Sunday, July 24, 2016
Friday, July 22, 2016
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Saturday, June 18, 2016
Orange Is The New Black Theme Song Cover | Nick Rivera
Nick Rivera Periscope Guitar Orange Is The New Black
Wednesday, June 15, 2016
Saturday, June 4, 2016
Monday, May 30, 2016
Saturday, May 28, 2016
Saturday, April 30, 2016
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Monday, April 18, 2016
How to grow on Periscope with 0 viewers and 0 followers
How to grow on Periscope with 0 viewers 0 followers
- keep making daily content even if you have 1 or 2 viewers keep being active cause if you stop by disappointment you’re never gonna have any more viewers
- tell literally everyone you know about your Periscope channel. ask you friends to download the app and to come visit you. ask your mom/dad/your dog/anybody to follow you and tell other people to do the same. put your handle EVERYWHERE YOU CAN, included on E-mail Signature.
- try to have daily presence on all the main social medias, instagram, snapchat, youtube if you can and most importantly twitter. If you’re not active on twitter, your twitter followers are never gonna go see your Periscope streams. also on twitter answer to ALL your messages and ALL the tweets.
- join Facebook groups dedicated to Periscope. there are tons, i even created one myself and people can post their handle and their replay there
- Make friends on Periscope and most importantly follow them on twitter and Facebook. get involved in the community- GO VISIT OTHER PEOPLE SCOPES AND TELL THEM WHAT YOU DO.
- just do your thing, dont try to impress anyone. like my thing is guitar, i play guitar. your content should be what you love and what you’re good at.
- read literally every single comment out loud. really try not skipping one single comment.
- ask people if you can share, if not with followers, on twitter. its as important
- Join as many Peri-trains or Talent showcases as possible.
- dedication. never give up. i believe in you
Friday, April 1, 2016
Monday, March 21, 2016
Friday, March 18, 2016
Thursday, March 17, 2016
Saturday, March 5, 2016
Monday, February 15, 2016
Day 15 - 'Getting out of the comfort zone' Challenge
Day 15
Challenge: Approach 5 people, Don't ask any questions, turn all questions into statements.
Feeling before: It's getting easier as the challenges get harder. In other words, I simply give less fucks when it comes to approaching people. Im still maybe 20-30% nervous but not like before. It's been 2 weeks and I'm finally getting out of the pain period.
Kind of tough challenge that one. It's hard to turn questions into statements without sounding creepy. For example: I've been talking to a worker, a cute girl. I told her "you've been working here for exactly 3 years." She looks at me weird and say, "how the fuck do you know?"...
BTW instead of 5 people I approached 8 or 9. The more the better.
Feeling after: Proud of myself for accomplishing a somehow hard challenge. Not the hardest but not the easiest.
Challenge: Approach 5 people, Don't ask any questions, turn all questions into statements.
Feeling before: It's getting easier as the challenges get harder. In other words, I simply give less fucks when it comes to approaching people. Im still maybe 20-30% nervous but not like before. It's been 2 weeks and I'm finally getting out of the pain period.
Kind of tough challenge that one. It's hard to turn questions into statements without sounding creepy. For example: I've been talking to a worker, a cute girl. I told her "you've been working here for exactly 3 years." She looks at me weird and say, "how the fuck do you know?"...
BTW instead of 5 people I approached 8 or 9. The more the better.
Feeling after: Proud of myself for accomplishing a somehow hard challenge. Not the hardest but not the easiest.
Day 14 - 'Getting out of the comfort zone' Challenge
Day 14
Challenge: Approach 5 girls, open with a compliment, then hop to a new topic, without using a transition.
Feeling after: I'm starting to feel like it's normal to talk to strangers now.
I approached 6 people and they were pretty cool with me.
Feeling after: I feel okay but bad at the same time 'cause this is getting too easy xD.
Challenge: Approach 5 girls, open with a compliment, then hop to a new topic, without using a transition.
Feeling after: I'm starting to feel like it's normal to talk to strangers now.
I approached 6 people and they were pretty cool with me.
Feeling after: I feel okay but bad at the same time 'cause this is getting too easy xD.
Day 13 - 'Getting out of the comfort zone' Challenge
Day 13
Challenge: Approach 10 women and do not break eye contact at all.If you are having trouble keeping girls there for too long, try it on workers.
Feeling before: Well I'm starting to get pretty relaxed already before the challenges. I still have some bitch butterflies but I feel that I'm leaving the "Pain period" (period when you absolutely don't want to go out and approach lol). It gets easier and that's the best feeling in the world.
Pretty funny one, this challenge. I was in a grocery store and I decided to talk to various kind of people, girls, old women, workers, men, etc. I approached a total of 12 persons. I would ask random things, be friendly, be random of course while maintaining a straight eye contact during the whole interaction.
Feeling after: Feeling great, although this one was easy. Ready for tomorrow.
Challenge: Approach 10 women and do not break eye contact at all.If you are having trouble keeping girls there for too long, try it on workers.
Feeling before: Well I'm starting to get pretty relaxed already before the challenges. I still have some bitch butterflies but I feel that I'm leaving the "Pain period" (period when you absolutely don't want to go out and approach lol). It gets easier and that's the best feeling in the world.
Pretty funny one, this challenge. I was in a grocery store and I decided to talk to various kind of people, girls, old women, workers, men, etc. I approached a total of 12 persons. I would ask random things, be friendly, be random of course while maintaining a straight eye contact during the whole interaction.
Feeling after: Feeling great, although this one was easy. Ready for tomorrow.
Day 12 - 'Getting out of the comfort zone' Challenge
Day 12
Challenge: Don't go for more than 30 seconds without talking to a girl. Approach 10 girls in a row. If you take more than 30 seconds, reset the counter and start from 1.
Feeling before: This honestly was the challenge I was the most scared of. I don't know why but it stressed the heck out of me.
Fortunately I didn't have to reset my counter. I approached 12 girls. I had 2 approaches where the girls didn't answer me and walked away but that doesn't count. There need to be at least a small interaction.
Feeling after: I forgot the notion of time during the challenge. I was so busy counting to 30, stressing out, etc. etc. I went fast though. Wasn't as bad as I thought.
Challenge: Don't go for more than 30 seconds without talking to a girl. Approach 10 girls in a row. If you take more than 30 seconds, reset the counter and start from 1.
Feeling before: This honestly was the challenge I was the most scared of. I don't know why but it stressed the heck out of me.
Fortunately I didn't have to reset my counter. I approached 12 girls. I had 2 approaches where the girls didn't answer me and walked away but that doesn't count. There need to be at least a small interaction.
Feeling after: I forgot the notion of time during the challenge. I was so busy counting to 30, stressing out, etc. etc. I went fast though. Wasn't as bad as I thought.
Day 11 - 'Getting out of the comfort zone' Challenge
Day 11
Challenge: Approach 5 girls and open them using your favourite rap lyrics.
Feeling before: This is the challenge I was the most comfortable doing.
I approached 6 girls and had a fun conversation with all of them! Guys, this is the most effective way to approach a girl in my experience. Girls find it funny when you approach them saying complete non-sense stuff.
Girls are way more receptive when you're relaxed, when you don't try to impress them and when you don't give a shit about making things awkward. Again, that's in my own experience.
I tried to make the openers as awkward as possible and I had the best interactions...
When SP says that it's not important what you say as an opener, it's true.
Feeling after: Felt really good, best challenge so far.
Challenge: Approach 5 girls and open them using your favourite rap lyrics.
Feeling before: This is the challenge I was the most comfortable doing.
I approached 6 girls and had a fun conversation with all of them! Guys, this is the most effective way to approach a girl in my experience. Girls find it funny when you approach them saying complete non-sense stuff.
Girls are way more receptive when you're relaxed, when you don't try to impress them and when you don't give a shit about making things awkward. Again, that's in my own experience.
I tried to make the openers as awkward as possible and I had the best interactions...
When SP says that it's not important what you say as an opener, it's true.
Feeling after: Felt really good, best challenge so far.
Day 10 - 'Getting out of the comfort zone' Challenge
Day 10
Challenge: Compliment 10 girls using a cheesy pickup line.
Feeling before: This can't be so bad... I mean I'm pretty confident at this point.
Well no, haha. I made a list of a couple of cheesy pickup lines to say to girls. Hard to say them without being creepy. I can list them for you if you want.
- Do you have a map? 'Cause I got lost into your eyes.
- Did it hurt when you fell from the sky? (classic)
- Was your dad a thief? 'Cause he stole the stars to put them in your eyes...
- I'm sorry, I lost my phone number. Can I have yours?
- Despite behind beautiful, what do you do in life?
I literally opened to 10 girls using these pickup lines. But to me the goal is being more spontaneous and stop creating excuses.
Feeling after: The problem is I felt awkward during the whole challenge and after the challenge I felt even more awkward... BUT I still feel that I'm growing as an individual. Again I recommend starting the Simple 30 Challenge it's day 10 and I already feel change.
Challenge: Compliment 10 girls using a cheesy pickup line.
Feeling before: This can't be so bad... I mean I'm pretty confident at this point.
Well no, haha. I made a list of a couple of cheesy pickup lines to say to girls. Hard to say them without being creepy. I can list them for you if you want.
- Do you have a map? 'Cause I got lost into your eyes.
- Did it hurt when you fell from the sky? (classic)
- Was your dad a thief? 'Cause he stole the stars to put them in your eyes...
- I'm sorry, I lost my phone number. Can I have yours?
- Despite behind beautiful, what do you do in life?
I literally opened to 10 girls using these pickup lines. But to me the goal is being more spontaneous and stop creating excuses.
Feeling after: The problem is I felt awkward during the whole challenge and after the challenge I felt even more awkward... BUT I still feel that I'm growing as an individual. Again I recommend starting the Simple 30 Challenge it's day 10 and I already feel change.
Wednesday, February 10, 2016
Day 9 - 'Getting out of the comfort zone' Challenge
Day 9
Challenge: Find a busy area, and do 10 pushups (or as many as you can)
Feeling before: I didn't give a shit.
Went to 2 different malls. Went in the middle of the food court. Started doing push ups for a whole minute in front of everybody.
Feeling after: Like a boss.
Challenge: Find a busy area, and do 10 pushups (or as many as you can)
Feeling before: I didn't give a shit.
Went to 2 different malls. Went in the middle of the food court. Started doing push ups for a whole minute in front of everybody.
Feeling after: Like a boss.
Day 8 - 'Getting out of the comfort zone' Challenge
Day 8
Challenge: Persuade someone to not buy what's in their hand or eat somewhere else. Try for at least 60 seconds.
Feeling before: Wow this challenge took guts. I wanted to skip it real bad but excuses are not allowed this month.
Worst. Challenge. Ever. Lol. What a way to frustrate people! The first 2 people I approached didn't take me seriously and it was kind of fun but then I decided to approach 3 more people. Total of 5. The 3rd one was a chick who didn't really like my presence as she yelled and called security because I told her not to buy her blouse.
4th one was an asian chick who avoided me and didn't answer when I told her that the make-up she was about to buy could give her cancer. 5th one was an old dude who sarcastically thanked me for my valuable advices.
Feeling after: I don't know... I hated that challenge
But if I was able to do that one I am able to do whatever challenge there is!
Challenge: Persuade someone to not buy what's in their hand or eat somewhere else. Try for at least 60 seconds.
Feeling before: Wow this challenge took guts. I wanted to skip it real bad but excuses are not allowed this month.
Worst. Challenge. Ever. Lol. What a way to frustrate people! The first 2 people I approached didn't take me seriously and it was kind of fun but then I decided to approach 3 more people. Total of 5. The 3rd one was a chick who didn't really like my presence as she yelled and called security because I told her not to buy her blouse.
4th one was an asian chick who avoided me and didn't answer when I told her that the make-up she was about to buy could give her cancer. 5th one was an old dude who sarcastically thanked me for my valuable advices.
Feeling after: I don't know... I hated that challenge
But if I was able to do that one I am able to do whatever challenge there is!
Day 7 - 'Getting out of the comfort zone' Challenge
Day 7
Challenge: Approach 15 people and give them a high 5.
Feeling before: This one was really awkward because I looked like the random guy at the mall giving high-fives to everybody he'd see. I'm still in the "pain period" as I didn't want to do it but I forced myself and took action.
I approached a total of 22 people before completing the 15 high-fives.
So I have a high-five ratio of 15/22. Not that bad...
After 7 high-fives the God-mode started to kick in and I started to give less and less fucks. But you have to successfully high-five 7 people. Before that- you feel awkward. After 7, you feel like a god (in my case).
Feeling after: I was surprised that I completed the challenge in a small 9 minutes. I was proud of myself for completing the challenge.
Reminder: the "bitch-butterflies" or the "pain period" (when you give a fuck and don't want to do the challenges) lasts about 2 weeks in a 30 days challenge. Today: week 1 complete. Another week of bitch-butterflies and then I'm really gonna start seeing the improvements in my game.
Challenge: Approach 15 people and give them a high 5.
Feeling before: This one was really awkward because I looked like the random guy at the mall giving high-fives to everybody he'd see. I'm still in the "pain period" as I didn't want to do it but I forced myself and took action.
I approached a total of 22 people before completing the 15 high-fives.
So I have a high-five ratio of 15/22. Not that bad...
After 7 high-fives the God-mode started to kick in and I started to give less and less fucks. But you have to successfully high-five 7 people. Before that- you feel awkward. After 7, you feel like a god (in my case).
Feeling after: I was surprised that I completed the challenge in a small 9 minutes. I was proud of myself for completing the challenge.
Reminder: the "bitch-butterflies" or the "pain period" (when you give a fuck and don't want to do the challenges) lasts about 2 weeks in a 30 days challenge. Today: week 1 complete. Another week of bitch-butterflies and then I'm really gonna start seeing the improvements in my game.
Day 6 - 'Getting out of the comfort zone' Challenge
Day 6
Challenge: Persuade an employee to let you buy something for less than it costs. Try for at least 60
seconds.
Super Challenge: Try to get an item for free (success isn’t important, try to have fun with it).
Feeling before: I didn't want to do it and I didn't have a lot of time today. But this month no excuses and I'm not allowed to skip a day. I did 2 market places.
First one I took an old red 6$ t-shirt and went to pay. She says "6.71$ please". I say "ok but can I have it for free? That T shirt is not that great anyway". She looked at me weird, laughed and said "why would you want it for free?" (if you try this challenge I guarantee they will ask why you want it for free). I said idk I'm poor and you look cool. Now I made the mistake to ask to talk for a higher placed employee to negotiate. They all looked really confused. It was random but I left laughing my ass off.
2nd one was a drug store and I asked to get a chocolate box for 5$ instead of 8. Same question ("why?") and she was confused. Of course I couldn't get the item but I negotiated in both scenarios more than a 60 seconds.
Feeling after: Happy and I feel like everyday I'm growing. Only day 6 and there's an improvement. I'm less awkward, I'm starting to say whatever is on my mind and I give less and less fucks. Everything is fine
Challenge: Persuade an employee to let you buy something for less than it costs. Try for at least 60
seconds.
Super Challenge: Try to get an item for free (success isn’t important, try to have fun with it).
Feeling before: I didn't want to do it and I didn't have a lot of time today. But this month no excuses and I'm not allowed to skip a day. I did 2 market places.
First one I took an old red 6$ t-shirt and went to pay. She says "6.71$ please". I say "ok but can I have it for free? That T shirt is not that great anyway". She looked at me weird, laughed and said "why would you want it for free?" (if you try this challenge I guarantee they will ask why you want it for free). I said idk I'm poor and you look cool. Now I made the mistake to ask to talk for a higher placed employee to negotiate. They all looked really confused. It was random but I left laughing my ass off.
2nd one was a drug store and I asked to get a chocolate box for 5$ instead of 8. Same question ("why?") and she was confused. Of course I couldn't get the item but I negotiated in both scenarios more than a 60 seconds.
Feeling after: Happy and I feel like everyday I'm growing. Only day 6 and there's an improvement. I'm less awkward, I'm starting to say whatever is on my mind and I give less and less fucks. Everything is fine
Friday, February 5, 2016
Day 5 - 'Getting out of the comfort zone' Challenge
Day 5
Challenge: Approach 3 random strangers and open up to them. Ask them for advice and make sure to listen to what they say.
Super Challenge: Ask for advice from a girl afterwards give them an extra long hug.
Challenge: Approach 3 random strangers and open up to them. Ask them for advice and make sure to listen to what they say.
Super Challenge: Ask for advice from a girl afterwards give them an extra long hug.
Feeling before: Seems like nothing but this one was kinda awkward. Maybe because my questions were awkward... I approached a total of 5 people and some found my questions funny and answers as best as they could, others didn't know what to say and others just avoided the heck out of me xD.
I had the chance to share a really deep and philosophic conversation with 2 ladies but except that nothing special.
Feeling after: I feel like I could've done more but I was kind of tired today. At least I approached 5 times. Still felt a little of God-mode though.
Tomorrow: Persuade an employee to let you buy something for less than it costs. Try for at least 60 seconds.
Thursday, February 4, 2016
Day 4 - 'Getting out of the comfort zone' 30 Day Challenge
Day 4
Challenge: Approach 3 people and tell them something embarrassing
Super Challenge: Use an embarrassing fact about yourself as an opener to a girl and get her to tell you something embarrassing as well.
Feeling before: At first I thought it wasn't a big deal at all. Asking strangers to take selfies with me would be harder than that. But once you put your feet in a crowded place, things, again, get different. You feel that it's gonna be awkward.
So I decided to do the super challenge also and I approached a total of 9 to 10 people including a girl and her friends, a hot girl and her dad, and more random people.
Big surprise though: people were receptive to my embarrassing statements. One of them was "yesterday I made a weird dream and when I woke up I realized I peed in my bed" (wasn't true but I didn't really have embarrassing things to say so I had to come up with some ideas).
They didn't find it weird, they laughed, we kept talking and I even got some numbers.
After all, I'm realizing that girls prefer a guy that don't give a fuck than a guy trying to play it safe (tell me something I didn't know).
Feeling after: Again, proud of myself. Day 4 complete. It was fun and it's becoming easier. I left the mall high-fiving random people in my way. Maybe I was in God-mode or something :p
Tomorrow: Approach 3 random strangers and open up to them. Ask them for advice and make sure to listen to what they say. Afterwards give them an extra-long hug.
Challenge: Approach 3 people and tell them something embarrassing
Super Challenge: Use an embarrassing fact about yourself as an opener to a girl and get her to tell you something embarrassing as well.
Feeling before: At first I thought it wasn't a big deal at all. Asking strangers to take selfies with me would be harder than that. But once you put your feet in a crowded place, things, again, get different. You feel that it's gonna be awkward.
So I decided to do the super challenge also and I approached a total of 9 to 10 people including a girl and her friends, a hot girl and her dad, and more random people.
Big surprise though: people were receptive to my embarrassing statements. One of them was "yesterday I made a weird dream and when I woke up I realized I peed in my bed" (wasn't true but I didn't really have embarrassing things to say so I had to come up with some ideas).
They didn't find it weird, they laughed, we kept talking and I even got some numbers.
After all, I'm realizing that girls prefer a guy that don't give a fuck than a guy trying to play it safe (tell me something I didn't know).
Feeling after: Again, proud of myself. Day 4 complete. It was fun and it's becoming easier. I left the mall high-fiving random people in my way. Maybe I was in God-mode or something :p
Tomorrow: Approach 3 random strangers and open up to them. Ask them for advice and make sure to listen to what they say. Afterwards give them an extra-long hug.
Wednesday, February 3, 2016
Day 3 - 'Getting out of the comfort zone' 30 Day Challenge
Day 3
Challenge: Go up to 3 different people and get them to take a photo with you.
Feeling before: At first I wasn't nervous, I was telling myself that it wouldn't be a big deal. Wait 'til I get in the mall ready to take action. I felt creepy and awkward and didn't want to do it.
First girl I approach though, she was receptive and accepted right away to take a picture.
I took a total of 4 pictures with 4 different girls and approached a total of 10 to 12 people (so approximately 7-8 rejections).
I have to add that after the 3rd rejection I got really discouraged and almost gave up. But I didn't let myself down and kept trying.
Feeling after: I felt really proud of myself. I was happy after the challenge.
Tomorrow: Approach 3 people and tell them something embarrassing. Get her to tell you something embarrassing as well.
Challenge: Go up to 3 different people and get them to take a photo with you.
Feeling before: At first I wasn't nervous, I was telling myself that it wouldn't be a big deal. Wait 'til I get in the mall ready to take action. I felt creepy and awkward and didn't want to do it.
First girl I approach though, she was receptive and accepted right away to take a picture.
I took a total of 4 pictures with 4 different girls and approached a total of 10 to 12 people (so approximately 7-8 rejections).
I have to add that after the 3rd rejection I got really discouraged and almost gave up. But I didn't let myself down and kept trying.
Feeling after: I felt really proud of myself. I was happy after the challenge.
Tomorrow: Approach 3 people and tell them something embarrassing. Get her to tell you something embarrassing as well.
Tuesday, February 2, 2016
Day 2 - 'Getting out of the comfort zone' 30 Day Challenge
Day 2
Challenge: Ask 3 total strangers to give you a compliment.
Super Challenge: Ask for a compliment from only girls. Then tease her after she gives you a compliment.
Feeling before: Not that nervous, I was telling myself that it would be so bad. Instead of asking 3 girls, though, I went straight up to the first persons that I see and for half an hour I would constantly approach people asking them for compliment.
General reaction from people: some were really awkward, some didn't answer me, some found it funny and some really didn't know what compliment to give me.
When I was done I would high-five or say 'have a nice day sir/mam' to every person in my way.
Side note: People's reaction when you walk towards them and give them a straight 'hello, have a great day!' is PRICELESS. They just don't expect it, some look at you weird and others barely answers. At one time I couldn't do it anymore without laughing.
Feeling after: Didn't feel really special but it still felt great to accomplish the challenge. Don't expect me to do more every time though. I'll stick to the challenge.
Day 3: Go up to 3 different people and get them to take a photo with you.
Challenge: Ask 3 total strangers to give you a compliment.
Super Challenge: Ask for a compliment from only girls. Then tease her after she gives you a compliment.
Feeling before: Not that nervous, I was telling myself that it would be so bad. Instead of asking 3 girls, though, I went straight up to the first persons that I see and for half an hour I would constantly approach people asking them for compliment.
General reaction from people: some were really awkward, some didn't answer me, some found it funny and some really didn't know what compliment to give me.
When I was done I would high-five or say 'have a nice day sir/mam' to every person in my way.
Side note: People's reaction when you walk towards them and give them a straight 'hello, have a great day!' is PRICELESS. They just don't expect it, some look at you weird and others barely answers. At one time I couldn't do it anymore without laughing.
Feeling after: Didn't feel really special but it still felt great to accomplish the challenge. Don't expect me to do more every time though. I'll stick to the challenge.
Day 3: Go up to 3 different people and get them to take a photo with you.
Monday, February 1, 2016
Day 1 - 'Getting out of the comfort zone' 30 Day Challenge
Getting out of comfort zone: The Simple 30 Challenge
Goal: getting out of comfort zone 30 days in a row
Day 1: Call at least 3 random businesses and tell them a joke, then try to start a small conversation with them. Get them to tell you a joke back.
Feeling before: Nervous. I don't know which joke to tell. Also, it's late and workers are tired. I'll still try to make them laugh.
Feeling after: Business #1: McDonalds. She didn't take my joke badly, she actually laughed. I didn't get her to tell me a joke back, though. I feel a little more confident.
Business #2: Walmart. I tried with a really lame joke. She didn't laugh and asked me if I called only for that. I said no, that I'd like to know a little bit about her and also I'd like a joke back. She hung up. I'm starting to have fun though!
Business #3: Sears. Wow! Extremely kind employee. Maybe I got lucky? or people aren't as bad as I thought. He laughed at my joke, we talked about electronics and he wanted to tell me a joke back but he didn't have any. So I told him another quick joke before hanging up and I asked his name.
Feels good for a last call. Either way, I'm proud of what I did. Next up, tomorrow: ask 3 random girls for a compliment.
Sunday, January 17, 2016
David Bowie On John Lennon
DAVID BOWIE ON JOHN LENNON
"It's impossible for me to talk about popular music without mentioning probably my greatest mentor, John Lennon. I guess he defined for me, at any rate, how one could twist and turn the fabric of pop and imbue it with elements from other artforms, often producing something extremely beautiful, very powerful and imbued with strangeness. Also, uninvited, John would wax on endlessly about any topic under the sun and was over-endowed with opinions. I immediately felt empathy with that. Whenever the two of us got together it started to resemble Beavis and Butthead on "Crossfire."
The seductive thing about John was his sense of humor. Surrealistically enough, we were first introduced in about 1974 by Elizabeth Taylor. Miss Taylor had been trying to get me to make a movie with her. It involved going to Russia and wearing something red, gold and diaphanous. Not terribly encouraging, really. I can't remember what it was called -- it wasn't On the Waterfront, anyway, I know that.
We were in LA, and one night she had a party to which both John and I had been invited. I think we were polite with each other, in that kind of older-younger way. Although there were only a few years between us, in rock and roll that's a generation, you know? Oh boy, is it ever.
So John was sort of [in Liverpool accent] "Oh, here comes another new one." And I was sort of, "It's John Lennon! I don't know what to say. Don't mention the Beatles, you'll look really stupid."
And he said, "Hello, Dave." And I said, "I've got everything you've made - except The Beatles."
A couple of nights later we found ourselves backstage at The GRAMMYs where I had to present "the thing" to Aretha Franklin. Before the show I'd been telling John that I didn't think America really got what I did, that I was misunderstood. Remember that I was in my 20s and out of my head.
So the big moment came and I ripped open the envelope and announced, "The winner is Aretha Franklin." Aretha steps forward, and with not so much as a glance in my direction, snatches the trophy out of my hands and says, "Thank you everybody. I'm so happy I could even kiss David Bowie." Which she didn't! And she promptly spun around swanned off stage right. So I slunk off stage left.
And John bounds over and gives me a theatrical kiss and a hug and says "See, Dave. America loves ya."
We pretty much got on like a house on fire after that.
He once famously described glam rock as just rock and roll with lipstick on. He was wrong of course, but it was very funny.
Towards the end of the 70s, a group of us went off to Hong Kong on a holiday and John was in, sort of, house-husband mode and wanted to show Sean the world. And during one of our expeditions on the back streets a kid comes running up to him and says, "Are you John Lennon?" And he said, "No but I wish I had his money." Which I promptly stole for myself.
[imitating a fan] "Are you David Bowie?"
No, but I wish I had his money.
It's brilliant. It was such a wonderful thing to say. The kid said, "Oh, sorry. Of course you aren't," and ran off. I thought, "This is the most effective device I've heard."
I was back in New York a couple of months later in Soho, downtown, and a voice pipes up in my ear, "Are you David Bowie?" And I said, "No, but I wish I had his money."
"You lying bastard. You wish you had my money." It was John Lennon."
Wednesday, January 13, 2016
Learning an instrument- for all the autodidacts over here
This is an easy trick you can do if you want to improve quickly in an instrument. Please share this post if you think it's valuable.
Hey guys,
I've been playing guitar for 10 years now and I'm 21 years old. I had some guitar classes, but I can say the most I learned was by myself.
It's not because you are an autodidact that you can't achieve a certain level of skills on the guitar.
I'm not going to describe everything I had to do to learn an instrument by myself, but I am going to share this 1 piece of advice that I would share with every guitar player out there.
Spend time watching your idols on YouTube. We live in an era where we don't have to buy tickets to go to a concert anymore. You can watch tons of concerts for free on the internet, so you should use that.
Now, why I'm I saying that? because we -humans- are used to learn fundamentally by watching others do. Since we are babies we learn by watching our parents do and watching other people act. That's how we learn the most because we do that since the day we are born. We are still like that.
By watching your favorite guitarist play on YouTube, you can learn more than you can even imagine. I learned tons of tricks and licks only by checking Eric Clapton play a solo or Stevie Ray Vaughan giving his best on stage.
A next level would be taking your guitar and learning these solos. But start off by simply watching other guitar players do- you'll be surprised how much you learn.
Thanks and I hope it helped.
Nick
PS. You can watch me play guitar LIVE on Periscope app (live-stream app). My handle is @NickRivera. Hopefully see you there!
Cheers
Hey guys,
I've been playing guitar for 10 years now and I'm 21 years old. I had some guitar classes, but I can say the most I learned was by myself.
It's not because you are an autodidact that you can't achieve a certain level of skills on the guitar.
I'm not going to describe everything I had to do to learn an instrument by myself, but I am going to share this 1 piece of advice that I would share with every guitar player out there.
Spend time watching your idols on YouTube. We live in an era where we don't have to buy tickets to go to a concert anymore. You can watch tons of concerts for free on the internet, so you should use that.
Now, why I'm I saying that? because we -humans- are used to learn fundamentally by watching others do. Since we are babies we learn by watching our parents do and watching other people act. That's how we learn the most because we do that since the day we are born. We are still like that.
By watching your favorite guitarist play on YouTube, you can learn more than you can even imagine. I learned tons of tricks and licks only by checking Eric Clapton play a solo or Stevie Ray Vaughan giving his best on stage.
A next level would be taking your guitar and learning these solos. But start off by simply watching other guitar players do- you'll be surprised how much you learn.
Thanks and I hope it helped.
Nick
PS. You can watch me play guitar LIVE on Periscope app (live-stream app). My handle is @NickRivera. Hopefully see you there!
Cheers
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