EricDobson.com

The True Motown Sound And Its Unknown History

While you’ve probably heard many of the classic Motown hits, you probably didn’t know that for many years, the band members playing on every single hit were from the same core group of musicians known as The Funk Brothers.

There is a great documentary called Standing In The Shadows Of Motown that tells their story, gives much deserved recognition, and includes many clips from a reunion concert featuring a number of modern guest artists.

It is a really great watch, and is a steal at $9 on Amazon or unbelievably, you can rent it on iTunes for just 99 cents. If you enjoy classic Motown and want to hear some of the greatest musicians in modern popular music tell their story and play again, don’t miss it.

Why (And How) To Become A Neil Diamond Fan

If you’ve ever dismissed Neil Diamond because he’s old, his fans are old, his music is lame, and he wears sequin shirts… I address all of your concerns in today’s podcast, and explain exactly why you should give Neil a chance, and which two albums to buy.

Links:

Gold: [iTunes] [Amazon] 12 Songs: [iTunes] [Amazon]

When Inspiration Fails

In any project you’re committed to following through with, there are are moments of inspiration and great action, there are challenges to overcome, and then mostly there are a lot of everyday moments when you just have to keep putting one foot in front of the other.

So today I took one more step. I hope you’ll do the same in your endeavors.

How To Learn Anything (And Remember It)

Modern flashcard software is really an amazing thing. You can input any topic you want to learn and remember, and it will automatically show you only the cards you need to review, in order to best remember them.

It’s way more efficient than a stack of flashcards. Instead of going through the whole stack every time, it shows you the things you need the most help with more often, and the things you know well only occasionally.

Today I talk a bit about why flashcard software is the best way to learn any new subject that involves remembering a lot of information. I also mention a bit about Anki, some promising flashcard software that I’m just starting to test.

The GUM Flossmate Floss Handle

I love this thing! A couple days ago I showed off my new industrial strength floss dispenser. Well I just got the item that makes it all worthwhile. These floss handles are really an awesome way to floss, and make getting at all the tough spots in the back really simple.

Yeah, maybe some people thing this is a strange thing to get excited about, but what can I say? I like making a common task more efficient and enjoyable.

Rapid Weight Loss Test: Epsom Salt & Preparation H [2/2]

Here’s the follow up to yesterday’s rapid weight loss test. Using a combination of an epsom salt bath and an overnight Preparation H basting of the midsection, and a day of fasting… could I drop 1-2 inches of waist size in a day?

Watch to find out, and for goodness sake, don’t try this at home. I was definitely light-headed the next day and had to take it easy and slowly rehydrate. Not something I plan on repeating.

Rapid Weight Loss Test: Epsom Salt & Preparation H [1/2]

Today is one of those crazy, random days I promised in the beginning. I’m actually putting to the test a rumor I heard that by soaking to the waist in an epsom salt bath, followed by applying Preparation H to the midsection and wrapping with cling wrap overnight, you can drop a couple inches in the waist by morning.

Obviously not the healthiest thing to do in the world, and I’m certainly not recommending that anyone ever try it for themselves, but I wanted to put it to the test and see for myself if these sorts of things work.

Results to follow tomorrow.

How To Win Friends & Dry Your Hands

Today I make an appeal to all owners of public restrooms to consider your customers a bit more and plan an adequate number of hand dryers…

On a more serious a productive note, I talk a bit about Dale Carnegie’s classic: How To Win Friends & Influence People. I had the opportunity to put a couple of his techniques to good use this evening, and was rewarded with the satisfaction of making a stronger personal connection. Definitely a must read and a frequent review.

Eternal Vigilance and The Path Of Mastery

Watching Robin Hood tonight got me thinking about liberty and the need for eternal vigilance, and how easy it is to ignore in our easy, first-world life.

Also I talk a little about undertaking a path of mastery when you’re learning a new skill from scratch. I explore my (moderate) mastery of the Rubik’s Cube and how I might apply the lessons learned to the new skills of programming and coding regular expressions.

About.me, Disqus, and Singing Brits

Today brought a great deal of progress in leaving Wordpress and hand-coding my new site. I tackled menus and other template items with server side includes (no, not PHP) and had a great experience setting up Disqus so I can maintain a high-quality comment system without Wordpress.

I also set up my about.me profile. It’s a brand new service promising to be your online social hub. It presents a simple profile with links to all of your other online services. Looks good so far, and should be interesting to follow.

All that, plus a sing-along with 100+ Brits. Looking forward to a relaxing weekend planning next week’s trip to London.