Month: June 2014

JETPACK!!

 

As part of my travel series How2Travelers, I had the awesome opportunity to go Jetpacking with Jetpack America in Newport Beach, CA.

The video above is the first release of a series of videos we will be doing on the new adventure sport.

So… How was it?

A) It was awesome

B) It’s easy enough to do where you can start doing tricks within in the first five minutes, but challenging enough — both mentally and physically — where you want to come back and do more.

Check out all that we were able to accomplish in the video above!

 

** Special thanks to Jetpack America for the incredible experience. Check out their website if you feel inspired. They have locations across the United States and Mexico. **

4 Lessons Learned from Jersey Boys

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*** This article was originally posted on Dirty + Thirty ***

4 Lessons Learned from Jersey Boys

The new movie Jersey Boys comes out this weekend. In a name-dropping nutshell, it’s Clint Eastwood’s film adaptation of the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical that is based on the life story of the 1960’s mega boy band the Four Seasons. Even if you’ve never heard of the Four Seasons or its lead singer, Frankie Valli, you have definitely heard the music: “Big Girls Don’t Cry”, “Walk Like A Man”, and, of course, “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You”.

The story isn’t exactly new, especially if you’ve already seen the musical. It’s the kind of musical drama biography that makes all us non-famous folk so happy (for a minute) to not have fame, millions in the bank, and the millions of personal problems that seem to come with that package.

But there are some interesting life lessons that can be taken away from the film, especially considering Frankie Valli is still alive and well, and served as the movie’s executive producer alongside writing partner and band member Bob Gaudio.

1. Hard Work > Talentcontact-image-3 frame

The major theme of the first quarter of the film is that, sure, Frankie Valli has something unique in that falsetto of his, but he must, must, must work at it. His friends risk life and limb – literally, they are in mob country – for little Frankie to work on his vocal lessons and perform on stage. Even when the band gets a record deal, albeit singing back up, it is up to them to create their own hits.

Many critics of our millennial ADD generation say that we aren’t willing to put in the hard work, that we expect things to fall in our lap simply because our parents told us we were special as kids.

And while I always scoffed at that notion, if this film has any truth on what the older generation of wannabe-entertainers went through, it seems they are right. You must work relentlessly at your craft and create your own luck; only then will your talent be recognized.photo(45)

 

2. Happy Mistakes

SPOILER ALERT: The Four Seasons break up. Well, technically, one member quits and one member is kicked out. This left lead singer Frankie Valli and songwriting member Bob Gaudio left… with A LOT of debt. We’re talking a nearly one million dollar debt in 1970. Adjusting for inflation, this means he was in six million over his head. Ouch.

Instead of calling it quits, the duo of Valli and Gaudio put their heads down and started to get to work on the big vision: a full band behind Valli. That vision was eventually realized with the revolutionary hit single, and now classic, “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You”.

A few years ago, when faced with a setback, a friend of mine told me to look at it as a “happy mistake”. He was right. We scrambled to put together a Plan B, which ended up being ten times better than Plan A.

Sometimes things don’t fall into place so that you can regroup and improve on the initial vision. It’s a great motto to have in your head when a challenge comes your way. Fotor0707181851

 

3. Pick The Fight Before It Turns Into One

Confrontation is a deeply unsettling aspect of human culture. How we deal with it – or don’t – can have major ripple effects on our life trajectory.

In Jersey Boys, Nick Massi leaves the group due to his inability to resolve conflicts. For 10 years, he bunked with a disrespectful band member and 10 years of that resentment came out in one discussion. He had enough. He resolved the conflict on his own by quitting, instead of resolving it with diplomacy, which was what the other band members wanted.

How many times have we avoided telling someone that their small action annoyed us, and then eventually it snowballed into an argument involving “everything but the kitchen sink”? Small issues can be resolved when they’re small. It’s harder when there’s days, weeks, months, or in this case, years of emotional baggage attached to them. jersey-boys-poster

 

4. Life is About The Journey- And Usually the Beginning’s The Most Fun

In the film’s conclusion, the original members are asked the best part of being in a legendary musical group. Lead singer Frankie Valli experienced the full scope of this rockstar lifestyle. Think of him as the Justin Timberlake of the group, but with a lot more drama and failed relationships. But what he said was very interesting.

The best memory was singing on the street corner, when it was all ahead of us.

This is not a direct quote, but the gist of what my brain remembers from the screening.

The quote struck me. And still does as I write this. As someone who is very much in the middle of my journey, and feeling the pains and struggles of trying to achieve something bigger than where I come from, I have always hoped that success would be the best part.

That’s not what Valli says. The best part is the beginning. It’s the moment we take action and realize the dream can be a reality. It’s the moment when we realize we’re on the right path.

While I hope that my version of success is a bit happier than Valli’s reality, it’s an interesting quote to keep in your back pocket when times get hard. From someone who’s been there, Valli concurs that you will indeed look back and laugh.

 

Jersey Boys comes out nationwide Friday June 20th.

What NOT To Do at the DMZ

p1020100The Ultra Family is headed back to Seoul, Korea this week for Ultra Korea, and what better way to celebrate than to reminisce about all the craziness that went down last year!

The festival was amazing (as always): Avicii, Kaskade, Tiesto, Krewella, Adventure Club, among many others graced the stage.

After the festival wrapped, we all went to Octagon nightclub to party some more. Sense a theme with these Ultra festivals?

I was one of the first ones to leave the club- at 6:30am!- and immediately went to the hotel to jump on a tour to the DMZ, or De-Militarized Zone of Korea. This is the place where North and South Korean soldiers are in a stand-off, separating the two countries. With just a quick nap on the bus ride, you can probably guess that I was probably not in the best shape… and I made a few mistakes.

What NOT To Do at the DMZ is our most viewed video to date on How 2 Travelers, and not surprisingly, our most controversial. While breaking rules that can harm people is extremely irresponsible (and NONE of that was done in this video), I think people are attracted to this piece because it’s relatable. We’re not perfect! And we don’t travel perfectly! We have all been there, trying to capture a photo at a museum or making a Queen’s Guard laugh when we are told to do the opposite. This is how people travel- sometimes following the pack, sometimes going off the beaten path. And that’s the goal of our travel series, to make the travel experience as real as possible so that even if you have never been to the specific place, you can relate to the experience.

So, take this video as an entertainment piece. And be the wiser for when you head off to the DMZ.

Konichiwa AXN Japan!

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Konichiwa Japan!

This photo(35)month I started my new job as the LA Correspondent for Japan’s popular entertainment show AXN Avenue. Think of it as a Japanese version of E! or LXTV, where we spotlight the coolest celebrity hotspots in Los Angeles.

My first shoot was at Erewhon Natural Foods Market (pronounced like Air-juan). This place is a natural food gem, with a tea bar and specialty juice selection that puts all the trendy juice cleanse places in LA to shame! For those looking to toxify themselves, they also are the only place in LA that carries the amazing Chateau Miraval rose that is made on Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt’s property in France. Erewhon is also home to Rita Flora, who puts together the most amazing bouquets. I am lucky enough to be on the receiving end of one of those bouquets. I’m looking forward to when I get another… hopefully in the near future… hint hint

 

It was a great shoot. And I got to polish up on the few words I know in Japanese, which include Konichiwa, Sayanora, Ouishii, and Kawaii.

I’ll be shooting a few segments each month. Follow me on twitter @AndreaFeczko to get more updates!