To date, I have found that artists are the most inspirational people, however, I have just realized that fighters too are artists in some way shape or form. Recently, I have had the honor of meeting George Chevalo, the former heavy-weight champion of boxing in Canada and the only fighter that ever put Muhamad Ali in the hospital.

Now they say that what makes an artist is not his talent, skill, looks or personality, but his/her story. I think it essentially comes down to how they will remember you. For example, let’s take 2 of the greatest artists of the 21st century; Elvis Presley and Bruce Lee.

Elvis Presley was remembered as a “niger lover”, he was one of, if not the first caucasian singer/songwriter to follow the negro music known as “the blues”. His story lives on as the man who opened the “white audience” to “black performers”.

Similarly, Bruce Lee was the one of, it not the first asian martial artist to teach the “gwylo” (non-asians). Bruce Lee was challenged in the ring by the community’s elders to put an end to teaching non-asians. Bruce Lee won the match, but shortly after was ambushed and had his back broken.

This didn’t deter him from teaching non-asians at all… as a matter of Fact, he went further by bringing the martial arts to Hollywood where he finally became a movie star. To date, Bruce Lee is remembered as one of the founding Father’s of “mixed martial arts” having been the first to create his own art; Jeet Kune Do (available to all creeds/races).

Now back to George Chevalo… most Canadians especially baby boomers know him well as the Canadian hero of boxing and the father who lost three children to heroin.

After the loss of three children to drugs, many of us would simply die of a broken heart. George took his pain and used its energy as a means to raise awareness, by sharing his story, in an attempt to fight against drugs.

Today, when I ask someone if they’ve heard of George Chevalo, they will usually say “Yes, isn’t he the guy who put Muhamah Ali in the hospital” or “Yes, didn’t his son die of a heroin overdose”. These are both events, both “milestones” in his life… they don’t remember George based on his talent, looks or character but by his story.

There is a very compelling video I’ve placed on his home page using the “WordTube” media player plugin for WordPress. We used this plugin so that he could host the video exclusively on his own website as well as assign any image as the thumbnail preview… even brand it with his own watermark.

The video is a public service announcement that gets me every time. Take a look at his website to preview the video and the WordTube media player.

Do you have a smart phone? I just bought myself an iPhone and I am blogging while in a taxi using the WordPress iPhone app. There also a wordpress app available for the black berry and on both counts the app is free… I love wordpress!

The interface is very simple, it does not have all the same features as the advanced mce editor found in the admin area when you use your browser. You can’t create tables or embed media as easily, but if all you need is to post some text, links and perhaps photos, the wordpress app is a steal.

I have frequently been at a loss not having a smart phone to blog on the fly when inspiration strikes or when I bored to tears waiting for the next train. I used to drag my MacBook around with me so that I could check email or write proposals, but now I essentially those functions available to me my pocket.

What’s more, is that this phone has a media player I can use to showcase all my music and video projects as well as the websites I have built. Now I will never be empty handed when I bump into my next prospect.

On the downside, in looking at some of the websites I have built through a mobile browser I have discovered a few design flaws that I was unaware of until now. For instance, because of the limited screen view, websites are generally remade with a conditional template that only loads when a mobile browser is detected. Flash objects are all missing from mobile browsers as well… so those pretty flash slideshows, videos and even navigation bars are all lost.

The essential goal of a mobile theme is to enlarge all links and remove all flash elements for an alternative, i.e. youtube video versus flash video or javascript navigation versus flash navigation. That being said, if the mobile internet market is your target, you might want to speak with me about creating a mobile template designed specifically for the iPhone and BlackBerry. Use the quote form to request an estimate for your website.

It’s finally here! The plugin I’ve always been looking for; a mailing list I control from wordpress but can embed on MySpace. I have personally used on my very own artist website; After Runnymede. I have also extended the subscription process to the After Runnymede MySpace, enabling MySpace users to sign up for my mailing list without leaving MySpace.

The registration is automated, I don’t need to add the email addresses manually to my mailing list, it’s done on the fly by sending it directly to my wordpress website. From there I can send messages to my mailing list, even schedule announcements and link them back to my blog.

It’s completely free with their branding and only $5 USD to get an unbranded copy. If you want to manage multiple lists for various cities and collect more user data such as age, sex, location, etc. a full license is only $27 USD. I highly recommend that all wordpress bloggers or businesses use The WordPress Auto Responder as their mailing list solution.

Behold one of my greatest seo success stories. This website ranks first for a multitude of keyphrases including but not limited to Recording Studio Toronto, Recording School Toronto, Radio Production Toronto, CD Duplication Toronto, and many more.

The website was originally built in flash and invisible to Google. After converting it to WordPress, within 6 months of regular optimization, the website was dominating the ranks across the board. This week I’ve just set them up with a mailing list that is integrated into their website.

For killer deals on mastering, duplication or recording lessons, please visit; http://www.number9.ca

The Canadian Music Cafe is an annual event in partnership with the Toronto International Film Festival. It showcases Canadian artists to Music Supervisors, Film Directors, TV producers and other delegates of the Toronto International Film Festival in an attempt to get the artists’ music licensed into films and television. They have just announced this year’s line-up including but not limited to “Amy Millan”, “Saukrates”, “Hawksley Workman”, “USS” and more. Hosted at the Hard Rock Cafe, each performer gets to play 3 songs and receives $750 for their performance. There is no better offer in Toronto that will not only pay you but fill the venue with industry executives.

Check out their website for more details; http://www.canadianmusiccafe.com