56 Degrees in the Shade

No, it’s not Jamaica. The average temperature there is 85 F degrees.  It’s not Saipan. The average temperature there is 87 F degrees. And, it’s not Hainan, China or Laos, where tropical climates rule. No, this is New York City in February of 2012!

Yesterday was in the high forties, so I headed to the park to grab some sun and watch the South American guys playing football.

56 degrees in new york

Today is 56 degrees so far (with a high of 59 in the forecast!)! Today, I’m house-sitting for a friend in Long Island, and he’s got a southern exposure in his back yard! You have absolutely no idea how happy I am!

Walt in New York
I hope I can break a sweat!

What is Achievable Freedom? What is Jamaican in China?

What is Achievable Freedom a concept by Walt Goodridge

So, I’m putting all the pieces together to make 2012 a great year! If you’re on my PassionProfit.com subscriber list, you’re receiving one my newsletters. You can sign up to my mailing lists here. The “Achievable Freedom” concept essentially encourages you to create the life you want by acting on five freedoms:

1. The freedom to live on purpose.

2. The freedom to prosper.

3. The freedom to escape.

4. The freedom to love honestly, and

5. The freedom to age less. 

The Jamaican in  China blog you’re reading represents the “freedom to escape” component of the Achievable Freedom message, but also much more. The unexpected juxtaposition of the storyline of a Jamaican in China is a metaphor for the freedom to roam, the freedom to step outside the box of conventional thinking and lifestyle; the freedom to challenge boundaries; the freedom to overturn stereotypes. It’s the tried and true “fish out of water” theme of many successful hollywood movies. However, it’s not all about fun and games. It’s not intended to be just an entertaining read. My goal is to offer inspiration for you to act on any or all of the five freedoms.

So, there’s really no specific point to this little rant, except to say that as we move forward, I hope that you enjoy my adventures, and use them as a source of empowerment to create your own freedom in 2012 and beyond!

p.s. Oh, and by the way, as you know, I’m currently in New York City. However, it’s getting warmer here, and I’ve promised myself that I’ll be going outside more often. In fact, later today I’ll be hanging out with my friend, Ken. Ken was the fellow who introduced me to Saipan all those years ago! So, stay tuned for some Jamaican in New York excitement! 

Dan Shor… not Jamaican, but brilliant nonetheless! Another of my cool friends

I’ve made a decision to get out of the house more (it’s really not that cold here in New York, relatively speaking). So, yesterday, I hung out in downtown Manhattan with veteran film actor Dan Shor. Yes, THAT Dan Shor of Tron movie fame. So, me and Dan were shooting the breeze in an Indian restaurant, and, um, what’s that? Who me? Casually dropping names in my blog to inflate my own importance and impress you with my circle of friends? Oh, come on! I’d NEVER do a shallow thing like that!

But, just in case you don’t know who Dan Shor is, here’s an excerpt from the wikipedia page on him

“Shor’s acting credits include Air Force One, Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure, Tron , Red Rock West, and John Huston’s Wise Blood. Television films and mini-series include Friendly Fire, Elvis and the Colonel and The Blue and the Gray (for which Shor won a People’s Choice Award). He was a series regular on Cagney and Lacey and several other television series as well as numerous guest star appearances including a Ferengi doctor on Star Trek: The Next Generation, a role he would reprise seven years later on Star Trek: Voyager. In 1983, Shor starred in the band Kansas’ music video “Fight Fire With Fire” and made appearances in their “Everybody’s My Friend” video. Stage appearances in Los Angeles and San Diego have garnered Shor eight Drama-Logue and LA Weekly performance awards.”

Now, apparently, there’s a whole parallel universe of Tron movie fanatics and others from his fan club whose love of Dan Shor’s appearance in the role of Ram in the original Tron prompted the producers to reprise his role in the recent 2011 sequel!

Anyway, you might be wondering how we met. Like me, Dan escaped from America a few years ago to live on a tropical island in the Pacific, and, you guessed it: we met while he was on Saipan back in 2006! It’s a small island! He was getting into directing at the time, and I wrote an article on him for the Saipan Tribune, and recently helped him re-issue the dvd for Looking for America, the pilot he produced and directed for a Saipan-based television series he envisioned.

Dan left Saipan and returned to New York shortly after we met, but we’ve kept in touch, and yesterday, finally had a chance to spend a few hours reminiscing about Saipan, China, acting, directing and life abroad and other, um, man stuff!  

He’s doing a lot more diverse types of directing now through his company, Shodavision.


Dan as Ram in the movie Tron

looking for america by dan shor
The DVD, Looking for America, produced by Dan Shor’s Shodavision (also available on Amazon), and also featuring Dan as a Russian bar owner!

ben salas and dan shor saipan
Dan and filmmaker Ben Salas back on Saipan back in the day!

dan shor and walt goodridge new york
Dan Shor in New York, with the Jamaican in China New York for now!

How to start a digital record label (HipHopBusinessPlan.com)

A few people have stumbled upon my hiphopbiz.com website while searching for “How to start a digital record label.” So, for those searching to make 2012 their year to follow their Hip Hop or other music industry passion, I’ll direct you to an essay I wrote entitled “The Record Label of the Future” which is included in The Hip Hop Entrepreneur Record Label Business plan. Hope this proves helpful

Here’s what someone said about the information contained:

“I bought your business plan when I realized I had an interested investor and it made me do something I’d never done before. FLESH OUT ALL THE DETAILS! I haven’t even finished the plan and have gotten the a-ok on the finances! 6 figures! My plan is edgy so I had to alter a couple things but it was a great template. The stats you found fit our objectives exactly! They were up to date and cited with references. As I sit here chunking out the last few details and financial report (and Yes I used that calculator feature at least 20 times today), I’m here to say there is no equal for your business plan. Keep your fingers crossed, its time for me to save hip-hop!” — -Sir (formerly Sir Reigns)

hip hop record label business plan