LegendaryLife Blog

I had the idea for HowToChinese.com mulling in my head for a while but finally the circumstances were right to give it a real go. I just did some major software upgrades for my other site, WoodMarvels.com and really wanted to put it through its paces and get into green screening. 3D is great fun, but doing only one thing over and over again doesn’t lead to much growth over the long term, you need to infuse some new knowledge into the fold.

How it began

I bought a camera a little over a year ago for the sole purpose of doing some video, so I made damn sure it was able to film at 720p. The camera cost me about 300$US – for a point-and-shoot, on the high-end but I really needed something very compact yet able to take both pictures and video at the highest quality. I did have a DSLR camera, Nikon D-40 which took AMAZING pictures but I also missed a lot of pictures due to its bulk and inability to do video.

300$US point-and-shoot camera… check!

I already love photography after working on a large body of work for another site, DreamClue.com – yes, I took ALL those pictures along with the description. Over 1200 before I needed a break… taught me about SEO and how to take a decent picture through trial and error.

Photographic knowledge and portfolio to dip into for the video… check!

Music production is something I added to my WoodMarvels.com videos for fun and really enjoy it, so I made sure to write a little tune for this video series, not only to break-up the teaching segments into manageable bites but to also allow me to show-off some photography! The “picture breaks” idea was born.

Music production… check!

The gf was a bonus, I never planned on doing the videos myself, I’m a more “behind the scenes” kind of guy but when I approached my gf about this idea… she jumped on it and I’m very happy she did! She was a teacher as was/am/was I so lesson planning and making classes fun came second nature to the two of us. She writes the script, I edit and then we review one last time.

Superstar to head the videos… check!

Using a green screen is great fun, but up until a week ago, I spent about 50 cents (Yes, China is that cheap to live in) and glued some green “paper” to the wall. That was the greenscreen! Headaches with lights, reflections and size… only 2 meters wide, about a meter high.

Suffice it to say, that was upgraded big time about a week ago… the number one headache gone! You can REALLY see the difference in production quality, just compare the videos BEFORE #10 to the current crop. Incredible! New screen is 3 meters x 3 meters (yes, it’s HUGE, folded in two the picture below) but now we have the flexibility to do whatever we want. Total cost about 35$US but well worth it.

The importance of a greenscreen can’t be overly emphasized… it’s what allows Lucky to have any background (static and animated) behind her… far more interesting than just a wall.

That’s all folks!

Other than teaching myself for many years about various production methods, softwares and visiting lots of studios, that is basically how to launch a start-up with little to no investment other than time and passion.

What’s in store in the future?

A lot, suffice it to say, like WoodMarvels.com is bringing woodcrafts into the 21st century, HowToChinese.com plans on doing the same with language learning methods. Most teachers are boring, as are their course material… something that HowToChinese.com never plans to be.

A few weeks ago, I started on a new venture, HowToChinese.com.

Background

One reason why I started WoodMarvels.com was to keep my 3D skills on an upward improvement trajectory and the same goes with HowToChinese.com except in this case, it’s teaching myself about editing, green screening and general everyday VIDEO work. I’m always doing 3D, it’s a nice change of pace to switch to video work with all its associated challenges. I also have more than a passive interest in learning and doing business in Chinese… this is a natural fit!

What is HowToChinese.com?

I’ve gone through the tapes, books, videos etc… and although they did teach me a lot of Chinese, the material is rather dry and uninteresting. I believe I can do better! Learning a language involves learning about historical, cultural and a bit of a “travel guide” type approach is needed as well… something I saw lacking in other “learning Chinese” programs.

Why start a new business

Yes, WoodMarvels.com, 3DMarvels.com and a bunch of other sites keep me more than busy as it is, but I believe every little bit you learn in one business can be applied to improve the other. HowToChinese.com is no different. The post-production, videographing and photography involved with that business will soon pay dividends in my other businesses as I learn how to improve the quality and production streams in this new venture.

So far, the production quality has improved dramatically from the first to (now uploading) the third video. It’s rather enjoyable to take a small break while 3D stuff is rendering and dealing with the real world for a change. I look forward to the neverending challenges!

Be sure to visit http://HowToChinese.com for more information… or if you have a budding interest in Chinese, I hope these videos help!

As my plan is to live well over a hundred years by following a very healthy lifestyle full of whole foods, vigorous exercise and lots of mental activities, I found this Ted talk by Dan Buettner rather interesting. Here is the embeded video followed by a summary of the talk’s key points. If you wish, you can read more about Dan here.

Lecture’s key points:

• based off the studies of twin lifespans, it’s been calculated that less than 10% of our longevity is based directly off our genes with 90% being dictated by our lifestyle.
• there is a lot of confusion regarding optimal health and lifestyle choices
• a team of experts visited and studied extensively the lifestyle of populations known to live a long, healthy life with few health complications. These four areas are known as blue zones and include Costa Rica, Okinawa, Sardinia and California
• longevity myth #1: you can’t wish yourself to live longer, no matter how hard you try because we are built to multiply, not live long. Your chances of living to 100 are 1 in 5 000 currently within America.
• longevity myth #2: treatments exist that can slow aging. Our bodies have 35 trillion cells… there is simply too much we don’t understand and that can go wrong to possibly know what works and what doesn’t. These cells are completely replaced every 8 years and each time, genetic and cellular damage occurs which builds up exponentially.
• a 65 year old senior ages 125x faster than a 12 year old child
• the capacity of the human body to sustain your life is about 90 years, slightly longer for woman

• in the highlands of Sardinia, there is a place where old age is a given, with 10x more centenarians than in America! They are also healthy, working and enjoying a vigorous lifestyle. Here, men live older than woman.
• diet consists mostly of plant based and whole foods made and found locally using naturally sourced products high in Omega-3 fatty acids
• they are mostly shepards, so they enjoy an active lifestyle throughout their lives
• they enjoy wine which has 3x the amount of polyphenols than any other type in the world (this is a strong anti-oxidant)
• the older you get, the more wisdom and acceptance you get within the social structure of the Sardinian society
• on the island of Okinawa, in the northern part of the island, the oldest female population can be found
• here they live a long time, die quickly with little health problems in between
• 5x the number of centenarians with a fifth of the cancer compared to America
• they have a mostly plant based diet that consists of smaller calorie dense foods – they stop eating once their stomach is 80% full
• isolation is known to shorten lifespan, so the Okinawans have a system in which they develop lifelong friendships
• American’s have adopted a lifestyle that can be divided into two categories, work and retirement but in Okinawa, there is no word for retirement. They simply live by a motto which means “the reason you wake-up in the morning is ___”
• in America, it’s the 7th Day Adventists found in California which live the longest, the study that the numbers come from tracked 70 000 people for 30 years
• they don’t eat a lot of meat, for 24 hours a week they stop everything and focus onto their social being and doing nature walks

• things that all these “high longevity cultures” have in common
• they all do daily physical activity that isn’t overly strenuous on their body or joints
• they have the right outlook on life and a purpose that drives them on a daily basis, they purposefully slow their lives down to deal with built-up stress
• they all take some “time off” to reflect or to relax on a very regular basis
• they eat food based on what is found around them and it forms the majority of their diet
• they eat mostly plant based foods, a little wine and rarely till they are absolutely full
• they put their families and relatives first in their lives and have strong social contacts
• longevity has no short term fix

The Bottom Line

A long, healthy life is a choice that involves incremental and small proactive steps through ones life.

Only 12 people have ever been there...

There are two aspects of ultimate achievement I find fascinating, the first, is the unlikely climb, coincidences and shier luck that lead to it and then, “what happened after wards?” There are firsts for everything, many of which have been forgotten by time, but let’s explore what happened to twelve individuals who landed on the Moon, the most rare of feats.

Neil Armstrong

Neil Armstrong was the first to land and walk on the Moon, he made that famous speech that is at the tip of everybody’s tongue. How did he react? Well, he shied away from the spotlight and went into teaching and running a business. He later came out of his shell for a biographical book about his achievement but is rumored to be skipping-out on the anniversary party with NASA. His admiration for all the hard work and sacrifices by others along with his patriotic duty have forced him into a corner of thinking of the entire experience as a fringe benefit to his job with NASA… though, I am sure deep-down, he had a hell of a time! He was described as a reserved.

Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin

Yes, that is where Toy Story got the name from, now that we have that out of the way, Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin took the opposite route of his co-worker Neil Armstrong. He went on lecture and book writing binge and continues to play an active role in space exploration with a plan to reach Mars and three patent applications relating to space station devices. He shows all the enthusiasm you would expect for a guy lucky enough to walk on the Moon, and he isn’t afraid of showing it! He was described as an avid explorer.

Charles “Pete” Comrad

As the first man to ever dance on the Moon and I prefer his reaction to walking ont he Moon to Neils which was:

“Whoopie! That may have been one small step for Neil, but it’s a long one for me!”

After retiring from NASA, Charles “Pete” Comrad went into business but died from a motorcycle accident in 1999 at the age of 69 years old which happens to be the same digits as his Moon landing, in 1969. He was described as anything but reserved, a cowboy at heart.

Alan Bean

Alan got into painting soon after his return from the Moon. He has tried to recreate the excitement and emotions he felt while he was there on canvas, including parts of lunar dust and memorabilia with each of them. He was described as an artist.

Alan Shepard

Alan Shepard was doubly lucky, the first man in space and the fifth to ever set foot on the Moon! He is probably most recognized for playing golf on the Moon. Although he died of leukemia in 1998, he left around a legacy illustrating how fragile our Earth really is. He is described as mix between a jock and a philosopher.

Edgar Michell

The entire experience of landing on the Moon profoundly affected Edgar Michell, he came back convinced that aliens are a real phenomena (which they are) but that they are visiting us (which I doubt, the smart ones at least). The shier number of galaxies out there in the universe  points to the fact that there is intelligent life out there, the argument is now whether one civilization would be able to visit another in their given lifetimes as the distances involved are massive, even if light-speed travel were possible. He is described as a maverick.

James Irwin

James Irwin walked on the Moon and came back a very religious man after seeing such a fragile and small Earth from outerspace. He was forever changed by the experience and dedicated his life to his beliefs soon after returning. He died of a heart attack in 1991 at 61 years of age. He was described as the spiritual anchor.

David Scott

After dedicated his life towards becoming an astronaut, once he returned from the Moon, he got hit by the “what do I do next with my life?” disease. What did he do? He started a company specializing in space project management. He was described as the youngster of the class of 12, being only 39 when he walked on the Moon!

John Young

John Young has pushed heavily on the development of colonies on other planets because, as he describes it, all of humanity can be wiped-out in one shot by any host of cosmic or Earth born afflictions. He is described as the futurist.

Charles Duke

At the age of 36, Charles Duke spent more than 71 hours on the Moon! After leaving NASA, he started his own company and ministry. He is described as the wide-eyed.

Eugene Cernan

Eugene Cernan was forever changed from the entire 73 hours he spent on the Moon, he found a spiritual calling and is quoted as saying:

“I felt that the world was just too beautiful to have happened by accident. There has to be something bigger than you and bigger than me,” Cernan said “In the Shadow of the Moon.” “And I mean this in a spiritual sense, not a religious sense. There has to be a creator of the universe who stands above the religions that we ourselves create to govern our lives.”

Which I find interesting, as, he is essentially saying that all religions on Earth are created by Man. Now, I just hope this would sink into people and would stop the silly “my religion is better than yours” crap that plagues far too many minds on this planet. He is described as a philosopher.

Harrison “Jack” Schmitt

Harrison “Jack” Schmitt was the last man to ever walk on the Moon. He joined politics after returning then a freelance consultant and writer.

“But sometimes people just want a description of what it was like,” he continued, “The black sky, the brilliantly illuminated slopes of the mountains, the bright sun, and then our Earth as a big blue marble hanging over one of the mountains. The physical feeling of walking on the moon is like walking on a giant trampoline, to some degree.”

So what can we learn?

Astronauts are no different than other high achievers, they are changed after going through their experience, trying to find a new goal to work towards. I do find it interesting that most of the astronauts decided to leave NASA and were never given an opportunity to return to the Moon. I also wonder why the program was ever stopped, they had momentum on their side and, it seems, the experience gained from having a colony on the Moon would have been incredibly valuable towards discovering what would be possible on Mars.

The Bottom Line

Turning a lifelong goal into reality is only getting half way, it’s what you do afterwards that turns a life into something truely distinguished.

Buzvia: The 12 Moonwalkers: Where Are They Now?, NASA

Brains are as quick as they are beautiful.

When I grew-up, we were taught a few things about the brain, some of which have since been proven wrong.

1. We will only be born with a certain number of neurons which are not replaced as they die. FALSE!
2. Old people can’t learn new things (lead to the expression that you can’t teach an old dog new tricks). FALSE!
3. Our brains cannot change from their genetic potential. FALSE!

Why these past truths are now false ones

It was once believed that all the neurons that developed within our brains when we were infants was all we would have for the rest of our lives, then, a little over a year ago, I read a report that scientists discovered that our brains continue to make new neurons, albeit at a slower pace as we get older, but new ones never the less. That being said, it doesn’t mean you can go get hammered every weekend and have new ones to replace the ones you killed by Monday. Our body produces new skin, bone, cartilage, muscle cells on an almost continual basis, our brains are no different but like these cells, their require stimuli of one type or another to maintain their youthful vigor.

Yes, old people can learn new things, it just takes a little longer as the brain isn’t as quick as it once was due to being increasingly hard wired but just because it takes longer to learn something, doesn’t mean it’s impossible! Our brains actually learn differently as we age. I saw a report once that compared the brains of people who learned two languages when they were young with those who learned their second tongue after reaching adulthood. What they showed was that the brain actually “seeked” the words for their second language in a totally different area for those who learned as an adult vs intertwined when both languages were learned at a young age.

Genetically, we are born with a set of limits, although not impossible, it’s highly improbable that a person born with down syndrome will develop a mental capacity rivaling Einstein but recent discoveries in gene and epigenes suggests that lifestyle has a direct impact on gene expression. In other words, if you change your environment, genes that favor your survival in it will increase in dominance while the ones you were born with will go the other way. I saw a study that showed two twins, born with the same genetic profile, at a later age, one had cancer while the other didn’t… why? Well, after genetic testing, they found-out that although these twins were born as genetic duplicates in every way, their genes, through time, changed to that of two completely different individuals with different gene expressions. AMAZING!

What is true about our brains

As we age, our brains go from acting like sponges to something more closely acting like that of a soggy chunk of wood… it just takes longer for the neuron connections to occur and more stimuli to make their bonds stronger and more permanent. Our brains do change dramatically throughout the different states of life, so they do change, but not as quickly and spontaneously as that of a teenager or infant when you are a senior citizen.

What can you do to keep your brain in tip-top shape?

You want strong muscles, you exercise… our brains are no different. If you want to stay sharp till you are a senior citizen, you need to adopt a lifestyle that will keep not only your brain but entire body as youthful as possible. Don’t drink alcohol, exercise regularly as it improves overall blood flow, challenge yourself constantly both physically and mentally… and don’t forget to eat extremely well all the time.

… but how fast can your brain really rewire itself?

A few seconds! According to a study released by the Journal of Neuroscience, it takes our brain just a few seconds to adapt to new stimulus. The study was pretty straight forward, once the person’s blind spot was figured-out and a patch was put over one eye, they put the picture of a square right next to it, within seconds, the square would morph into that of a rectangle.

The team concludes that the neurons which would normally fill the blind spot using data from the patched eye compensated by stealing data from neighbouring neurons that were “seeing” the square, making it appear like a rectangle.

The Bottom Line

Lifestyle dictates to a large extent what your brain will act like as you age.

Buzvia: Blindspot shows brain rewiring in an instant, Journal of Neuroscience