A very special thanks to Garr Reynolds for featuring this TED presentation today. I would love to have Benjamin Zander as an instructor, or a mentor. This morning, during coffee, when I usually catch up on the things that have already happened, I spent the 20 minutes or so learning about the things that MIGHT happen. I was so inspired by how he worked with his student to break apart music for Cello and actually begin to look at the parts, and place between the notes, and the connections between not only the pieces and the parts and the spaces, but connections those things have to each other AND to the audience. Benjamin also included the connection to the artist, a 15 year old talent named Nicholi, and inspired him to change his interaction with the music as well.

I am sure you will all take away a different nugget or two of wisdom, or inspiration or whatever… but I am so fully inspired to look at those parts of the whole, the spaces between the notes, and see if I can not add a different sense of beauty, of perspective, or of interpretation with the new work I am doing (more on that later).

I also hope to bring you a review of Benjamin’s book, The Art of Possibility. I am still reading Guy Kawasaki’s new tome Reality Check and will move on to Zander’s book after that. Special thanks to Guy and his people over at Penguin Group who sent me an extra copy of Reality Check for our readers. Tell me what inspired you about the Zander presentation from TED in the comments, and I’ll send Guy’s book to one of you.

So the way I look at it, August is the unofficial countdown to the pennant races and we aren’t going to sit in the Minor’s looking to get called up. So, between now and September 10th you have a chance to play the Advaliant Grand Slam!

With a combination of strategic plays, perseverance and some solid base running you could put your hands on MacBook Air, $1800 in Amazon cash, or even a 37″ flatscreen TV delivered in time for the World Series.

How does the Grand Slam play out? If you aren’t an affiliate of Advaliant’s yet, first thing you need to do is fill out the simple form and get approved to our premium network. If you’re already a member of Team Advaliant, log in and run the series of offers listed in the Grand Slam rules. Each base has a set of offers associated with it, and as you move around the bases, you become eligible for more prizes while earning more revenue. If you complete the requirements for all three bases the top producer will win their choice of a MacBook Air or an $1800 gift certificate to Amazon.com.

And its no coincidence that we are running the Grand Slam competition in conjunction with our trip to Boston for the Affiliate Summit East. You can find us in the MeatMarket at booth #16, along the wall to the right. Come by, signup to be an affiliate and if you already are, see if your affiliate manager is on the floor. Don’t forget to ask them about our spankin’ new Team Advaliant shirts.