Judd Weiss
Email me at judd@hustlebear.com
Homepage: http://hustlebear.com
Posts by Judd Weiss
Judd Weiss on The Peter Schiff Show!
Feb 11th
Well guys, I got on The Peter Schiff Show. That’s a pretty big deal for me, as I’ve been a massive fan of Peter Schiff for a while. I wasn’t on with Peter, I was on with Neeraj Chadhary, who was guest hosting the radio show. I was talking about connecting with people, and a more effective approach to communicating our ideas, especially when there’s a difference of opinion.
After you listen to my segment, if you’re familiar with Peter Schiff, you’ll realize that he certainly does violate a lot of the principles that I’m discussing, as he’s rather well known for infuriating those who disagree with him. His (lack of) ability to persuade those who disagree with him isn’t what makes him an exceptional communicator, or what makes me such a huge fan. What makes Peter Shciff such an exceptional communicator is that he possesses a legendary ability to articulate complex ideas clearly and powerfully. In that regard he is among the greats, and one of the best speakers I have ever seen. Now I do wish he would stop attacking the character of those who disagree with him, be a bit more considerate to where they’re coming from, I think he’ll be a lot more effective in his outreach. Yet his extraordinary ability to explain these complex ideas simply and convincingly has certainly brought a tremendous amount of understanding to many (me included). I’m so impressed with his ability to articulate, that I’ve learned about as much from studying his technique as I have from studying his ideas (i.e. turn everything into a metaphor).
For a crash course in why Peter Schiff is incredible, check out my earlier article on him here.
Photo Shoot: Shadows
Nov 21st
This is my first time shooting nudes. It’s funny that Monique pushed me to be edgier than I intended to be. This girl is braver in front of the camera than I was behind it. She knew I’d only capture something tasteful, so I guess she wasn’t worried. So much respect for that.
I’m in love with these photos. I was considering keeping them private, but we’re both proud of them, and both agreed they should be shared.
My idea was to create images from some foggy shadowy surreal dream on the verge of disappearing that you’re struggling not to wake up from. I wanted to capture that in a way that was hot as hell and sensual, yet beautiful, edgy, and human.
I’m not pretending to be a professional. I don’t have professional equipment. This is clearly not a professional environment, which is obvious because my cat’s litter box is in many of the shots. And there was no way I was able to keep my damn stubborn cat from walking through some of these, no matter how many times I moved her away. I used my pocketable Sony NEX cranked to the max ISO sensitivity, which did remarkably well in virtually no light, creating the rawer grainier look I wanted.
Hope you like these ;)
Music Pick: The Cinematic Orchestra – Ma Fleur
Nov 19th
The Cinematic Orchestra – Ma Fleur
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(Click image for Amazon.com) |
Ma Fleur is one of my favorite albums. God damn this is gorgeous! I was reading something when I first put it on in the background. I had to stop reading. I actually laid down in my bed and didn’t do anything until the album finished. Suddenly realizing I’m in the presence of greatness, I didn’t want to dilute my first experience.
I was a fan of Cinematic Orchestra’s earlier albums, because I like well executed jazzy electronic chillout, and I noticed their previous album went in more beautiful and sweeping directions, but it was never anything close to this album. Sounds like a completely different band. Surprised me that they had this within them. Ma Fleur is minimal. This music doesn’t sound like it’s created from nothing. The music here sounds like it’s what’s left after all the fluff has been carved away. Stripped down, raw, bare, honest, open, and so beautiful. Very gentle yet so intense, this is a gorgeous and carefully crafted piece of minimal jazz soul. Maybe this isn’t the aggressive masculine music you would expect from a blog about achievement and hustling called Hustle Bear, but yeah, this is a touching masterpiece of strong emotional impact, and I thought this should be shared.
Photos: Hong Kong – February 2012
Oct 5th
To know me is to know that I’ve had a Sony NEX camera attached to my arm for the past 2 years. I get a million messages a day asking for photos, and I’ve come to realize I’ll simply never be able to physically get to all of them, I have many 10s of Thousands of photos waiting to be sorted through, individually edited, and organized into Facebook albums. Cranking out 2 facebook albums a week isn’t going to cut it, there’s too many. But I will definitely get around to the good stuff. I watermark each photo with HustleBear.com because I have absolutely no intention to ever make a professional career out of photography and figured I might as well bring eyeballs to my blog. I’m not a professional photographer, I’m a hobbyist, but I’m heartened to see so much enthusiasm from so many people over the photos.
It’s insane, but I have over 1000 (!) Facebook profile photos out there among my friends. That’s pretty fucking cool man. Whenever I log in I see mostly my photos in my friends list. To date I’ve got 819 email notifications that someone used my shot as their profile pic, and much of the time I’m not notified, and never when it’s a cover photo. So yeah, that helps make it feel like a worthwhile hobby. Since the pics are watermarked to this site, and with all the activity my Facebook albums have been generating, people often ask me why I’m not posting these photos up on my blog.
I don’t have a good answer. It’s a good point.
So here you go, I’m going to start posting some of my favorite sets of photos more regularly. I’ll start with my Hong Kong trip earlier this year. I was there for only about 3 days, but it’s an interesting story.
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Music Pick: Govinda – Resonance
Oct 2nd
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(Click image for bandcamp.com album page) |
Oh hell yeah! Govinda is BACK!! It’s as if “Resonance” sounds like the Govinda I used to love, and yet at the same time it sounds nothing like Govinda. “Erotic Rhythms From Earth” is a classic that humanity should be remembered by (my previously review here). Shane Madden is Govinda, and I’ve always loved his creative dark erotic ethnic middle eastern ethereal chill vibes. But this new release is NOT CHILL. This is definitely the most aggressive edgy music I’ve ever heard from Govinda. And yet it is still very ethereal and atmospheric.
I have to say… I fucking like it! I’m so happy to feel that way, as I’ve kind of lost faith after the foray into bland pop (a la Sound Sutras). I do love it when an artist I love changes their sound and pulls off something amazing. Govinda has DELIVERED with a distinctive new sound. The old Govinda sound is gone, but the heart has returned and is again focused in the right place. Darker and grittier and keeping itself relevant in this age of dubstep; but this definitely ain’t dubstep, and thank god. There’s a lot of great dubstep out there, and I’m glad Govinda didn’t turn into another generic dubstep act with some ethnic elements added. This is definitely palatable to the dubstep crowd while remaining a distinctively different animal. The trademark violin and complex beats are still there in every track, just a lot more aggressive.
“Resonance” is only an EP, but it’s just skyrocketed to my 2nd favorite Govinda Release (maybe a notch higher than Worlds Within). “Erotic Rhythms From Earth” is known as one of the greatest sex albums of all time. I don’t yet know how “Resonance” holds up on that front, but I’ll report back on that soon… ;)
UPDATE: All good on that front, and more! This might now be a rival for my favorite Govinda release to listen to!