Carmelo, do you mean this literally or metaphorically? I would not go quite so far as to agree with the quote literally.
Talking about the McCain vs Obama race, Obama's Vice Presidential runing mate Biden was all medium. The man was tall, had great posture, looked fit and his thick white hair gave him an appearance of wisdom. He had suffered and recovered from enormous personal tragedies plus he had been in Congress forever and a day. In short his medium was impeccable. Then he would open his big fat mouth and everything he uttered was complete buffoonery, meaningless cliches and trite political banalities and the gaffes he made were astounding. Once he was muzzled by the Obama campaign managers, the public immediately forgot his ineptness and his carrier wave quickly overcame any damage he had done to the campaign. His big toothy grin and firm handshake was enough to make him look good. No matter how stupid the things he said were, they were overlooked completely and the fact that he "looked presidential" ruled the day.
GREATNESS IN ENTERTAINERS AND COMMUNICATORS
When you have both the "medium" and the "message", then you get your greats, your immortals. You know, our beloved Jack Benny did it mostly on medium. He would fold his arms in front of his body, look askance, to the side and say, "Well" and he would bring down the house, almost no message at all, just one word. He would stand up and start to play the violin and play some screechy, bad notes, again he would bring down the house. Such strong medium, the message was just a minor artifice. Yet he could put together a good message as well and hence he was a GREAT!
The Beatles, great medium and superlative messages in their songs. IMMORTALS. Elvis, great medium, very good message (only rarerly great but always at least very good), he's an immortal. Roy Orbison, great voice, great songs such as "Pretty Woman" but just average carrier wave - he was popular but not even close to being a great and so it goes.
Take an actor such as Humphrey Bogart, his medium was so great, it didn't matter at all what he said, the audiences were mesmerized by his presence and hung on every word - an IMMORTAL
This is a very interesting area to study. My first question would be, is the great carrier wave something which someone is born with or can it be developed through study and practice.? I just had a little cognition here. The question I just posed has similar overtones to my very recent thread on "Big Beings" and whether they exist. There is definitely a correlation between the concept of having a great carrier wave and being perceived as a "Big Being".
Lakey
When I read "The Medium is the Message" way back in the late 60s or, perhaps early 70s, I was very impressed.
To this day, I apply its datum in analysis of live events and personalities.
If I get a letter by Fed Ex, I open it.
If I get a letter by snail mail, I tend to ignore it, and leave it unopened.
The medium, one uses for communication, dictates others' reactions. Unless you're Sam Walton (who drove a pick up truck), driving to a Hollywood premiere in anything other than a limo, Mercedes, Beemer, or better - you would be sniggered at.
I did a seminar with someone who was brilliant, but handed out rough Xeroxed sheets. Ugggh. If you (the general term)are so smart, your materials better look professional. You better look professional. Most people don't see past the mask.
We live in a world where first impressions count more than substance.
If you are selling a house, it is more important to have a nice looking house from the street than to have a functioning water heater. Even in a tear down, it is important to remove all of the cludge, and present a neat, tidy, and freshly painted house than it is to have any functioning appliances.
I have said the most awful things to employees, such as "your breath is horrible," "you have BO," etc. I've done it with warmth and caring, not put down. The meta message - the message beneath and unseen by the recipient is more important than any special wording.
As for "Oh, Pretty Woman" by Roy Orbison, I can't imagine it not being played a hundred years from now.
Some of Roy Orbison's stuff is classic. Some isn't. Same with Chuck Berry. There are so few performers, writers, and artists whose works live on for centuries.
I fall back on the quote by William Goldman, the writer of "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid," he said, "Nobody knows anything." He was talking within the context of the movie being a huge success and a classic. When je wrote it, it was just a B western. When "Wizard of Oz" opened, it wasn't an immediate hit. "Casablanca" had numerous rewrites and actor changes. Ronald Reagan originally had the role of Rick.
I tend to **believe** in spiritual guides, guardian angels (many other words meaning the same thing), spiritual teammates helping shepherd or sabotage events as they materialize in the physical universe.
If a project - anything from a political campaign to a musical recording to a child being born is created or co created out of harmony and cooperation among not only the beings with the bodies, but the beings around the people, then things go well. When there are ulterior motives, rancor, etc then projects can't succeed.
This thread has messages unwritten within it. For me, they are enjoyable entertaining reading, characters we care about, tech philosophy and observations that others can use, generally high road thinking. Not delving into the debased activities of the Co$. Bringing out the best of people, not the ugly underbelly.
I feel like I'm talking around what I'm trying to say. i can't seem to find the right words. As Annie Hall would say, "La De Da, La De Da"
