Culture: (Music)
"Preludes, Airs and Yodels (A Penguin Cafe Primer)"

Wise Enterprise:
A Pithy Tip

Technology:
Simple questions, clear answers and the book pick of the moment

Travel:
In Europe (or US): finding the impossibly perfect place to stay

Wisdom: Crazy or OtherWise
"What Really Matters" - Tony Schwartz

OtherWise Briefs:
Short-shorts about what's happening in OtherWise World.



REMINDER: We are becoming one of your primary filters, right? A lot of ore gets crushed to get the gold...so, HOLD on to or PRINT these issues.

When you're ready for that travel adventure, business move, gift of music, or evening in front of the squak machine - you'll be glad your Golden Retriever is on your lap.



CULTURE:

Preludes, Airs & Yodels (A Penguin Cafe Primer)- from the Penguin Cafe Orchestra...

What happens when you take some eccentrics trained in the Old School, - throw them in a room with cello, violin, synthesizer, piano, guitars, oboe, harmonium, bass, and gentle percussive devices?

As compelling as an English Garden on a blustery day, you get the best of the Penguin Cafe Orchestra, "Preludes, Airs & Yodels" available on Virgin Records, - a 1996 compilation covering the 70's and 80's. Not dated. Not classifiable. Very positive. Very wise. Good for musical snobs and derelicts alike.

Now you can get it from the web site!:

http://www.wisefools.com/grlinks/grfetches.html



WISE ENTERPRISE:

Tip: Regarding that business that isn't quite moving, the clients that aren't quite coming, the environment that doesn't quite inspire, the habits that don't quite sing in the right key:

"What can you do today, even now, that would be drastically different?" That's right- Drastically different, right now.



TECHNOLOGY:
By Peter Cohen, OtherWise Media Director

I have been getting many great and simple questions recently as more people are realizing the potential of the Internet to accent their marketing strategies and offer GoodStuff to the masses!

One of the most common: "Web site creation... Should I do it myself or should I have my site custom made by a designer?"

Answer:
With the many software programs available for creating web sites without knowing any HTML, many containing a reasonable clip art library, it is possible for you to create your own web site, at a reasonable level and price, that serves you well. Adobe Pagemill 2.0.1 (about $100) is better than most and the learning curve (about 2 days of practice) is manageable!

On the downside are a number of things to consider. There are virtually no software packages that allow the full use of HTML. That means your possibilities are limited. Another point is that sites made from software packages can have a very common, out-of-the-box look and users sense it. Cross-platform compatibility needs to be constantly monitored and some servers don't handle documents well from some web page software programs. That means you have to check with your ISP before committing to your design software.

If you go the custom designed route, you can get a web site that uniquely defines your image and offers users an experience they will remember. Yes, it's more expensive. But consider the advantages of custom artwork, full featured HTML, solutions to all your Internet issues, and technology that enables flexible user interactivity.

Summary: Aunt Mable's Junior High School Reunion Home Page probably isn't worth going for the gusto to make it a custom cyber-kiosk with a searchable database of classroom pranks. But the success of your enterprise, on the other hand, may depend on it (sans pranks). Price out the options, look at as many examples as you can, and then launch into the virtual market place armed with what you think will serve you the best!

From the Media Director's most FLOURESCENT sticky notes...

A book pick of the moment:

How the Internet Works: Special Edition by Preston Gralla, Sarah Ishida, Mina Reimer.

A brilliant visual safari revealing the digital, virtual and visceral all and everything of the Internet for people who want it clear, quick and colorful.

Now you can get it from the web site!:

http://www.wisefools.com/grlinks/grfetches.html



TRAVEL:

I rarely believe it when they say: "all the B&B's are full", or "il n'existe pas en cette village un place comme ca" (there's isn't anything like that in this village)...or "we have only 2 hotels", or "all inns around here are required by law to have doilies". Why stay in a place with faded carpet, classless rooms, noisy carparks, too many doilies, a boring neighborhood?

Tip: There almost always is the adventurous entrepreneur, the off-the-beaten track renovated barn, the Irish or Slovenian family glad to rent out a room in a warm house with hospitality, if you are willing to accept nothing less than special.

My experience bears out, that if you use your senses and sniff out 7 vaguely alive people on the streets, in hotels, interesting shops, in very walkable neighborhoods, and tell them you must find something very special, almost a secret, - by the time you have talked to number 7, you will have a very special place to stay and an experience worth remembering. Often, at least 2 of the 7 make the same recommendation.

By the time you arrive, even if your discovery place is full, - the owners almost always have a "cousin in the business", with something special. The ones who told you otherwise were fools, but not wise.



WISDOM: Crazy or Otherwise

"What Really Matters"? Everyone is answering that question, whether they know it or not, at every moment of the day.

Some people intentionally inquire deeply into the heart of the matter. Of those some, a smaller number have played the Game of Life well, stopped in their success tracks, took an intelligent journey inside out, and have documentedit with heart, streetsmarts, humility and grace.

Let Tony Schwartz, former Newsweek & New York times star reporter, and ghost writer for Donald Trump's "The Art of the Deal , tell you of his journey and the revelations along the way in "What Really Matters: Searching for Wisdom in America." A sagacious truth-telling tale of trumping the ego and the art of getting undone in the right way. Yes.

Now you can get it from the web site!:

http://www.wisefools.com/grlinks/grfetches.html



OTHERWISE BRIEFS:

1. HAS YOUR TIME COME? Peter Cohen, media director of Studio Fig, the web-magic development team at OtherWise - is now available for personal and corporate web site creation and consultation. It doesn't get any better for innovation, professionalism and warm-hearted menschkeit.

   http://www.wisefools.com/services

   or just call 530 692-1275 for an informal chat.
   
   

2. The GOLDEN RETRIEVER ONLINE BAZAAR is here! Now you can actually purchase many of the Golden Retriever recommendations at the Golden Retriever Fetches & Links area of the OtherWise site:

   http://www.wisefools.com/grlinks/grindex.html

   When you get there, select the Golden Retriever Fetches page (the Links page is coming soon!).
   
   

3. AN OTHERWISE TV CHANNEL??? There will be a TELEGATHERING for OtherWise members to meet and discuss some interesting future plans, including the establishment of an OtherWiseMinded Television channel, with advertising from the kind of wise enterprises you want to succeed and who offer GoodStuff. (If you've not already, have a look at our VISION at the site http://www.wisefools.com/saga/saga.html)
   
   
4. p.s. GIVE YOUR CHIEF EXECUTIVE WISEFOOL A MINNEAPOLIS TIP. I will be in Minneapolis 6/29 - 7/3 to do some scouting for the above. Anyone OF YOU have friends at UTNE READER magazine??? Or Friends in Minneapolis, I can hook up with? OtherWise-minded enterprises in that area?

   The best tip will be rewarded in kind with a 20% discount off the already free subscription to the Golden Retriever. Such a deal!

   william@wisefools.com

http://www.wisefools.com

We are constantly developing resources for you and having fun for ourselves.



Inspired to comment or suggest? Please place your genius here (remember, mercifully brief, - we need our nap time too):

retriever@wisefools.com

By the way, don't take it too personally if we don't respond to you personally...

We ARE interested, and you may find your comments and recommendations immortalized in future issues, or even at the OtherWise web site.

Finit.