After 'UNCLE,' I never accepted the first offer: if I wanted more money, I asked for it. A better dressing room? Four first-class tickets instead of two? I'd ask for them, and I'd often get them.
Decisions are more apt to be accepted when you've listened to suggestions first. I wanted them to see the reason behind what I asked of them, not to do things just because I said so.
When you meet someone for the first time instead of asking them what they do, you should ask them what they've always wanted to do. This conversation will be much more interesting.
There are two kinds of second class men in business. There is the man who puts money first and service second. There is the man who puts service first and money second, who never has any money. The first class man in business is the man who is made up out of rolling the other two kinds into one man and working them together.
I don't throw money away. First class tickets are very expensive. Why should I fly first class if I can fly business, which is the same thing? I would only fly first class if the ticket included access to some sort of special compartment that could save me if there was any crash.
I like the communication and trust that comes from a long-term relationship. When you really know people as musicians and as people, you feel you can really count on them. That frees you to take more chances and ... it takes the music to a higher level. It translates into a better product for audiences. There are two levels to these relationships. The first level is being with guys for the first few years, you're getting used to guys - he's got this to offer, he's got that to offer, I don't like this, I do like this. You both praise them and are critical as you get to know one another.
'What is this', and 'How is this done?' are the first two questions to ask of any work of art. The second question immediately illuminates the first, but it often doesn't get asked. Perhaps it sounds too technical. Perhaps it sounds pedestrian.
Doing good with other people's money has two basic flaws. In the first place, you never spend anybody else's money as carefully as you spend your own. So a large fraction of that money is inevitably wasted. In the second place, and equally important, you cannot do good with other people's money unless you first get the money away from them. So that force - sending a policeman to take the money from somebody's pocket - is fundamentally at the basis of the philosophy of the welfare state.
I saw my first two Broadway shows when I was 4 years old, 'The Lion King' and 'Beauty and the Beast,' and after both of them I came home and reenacted the entirety of the shows on my living room table for my family and friends. I started doing that after every show I saw until I actually did my first youth production when I was 5.
I wanted to get my coaching badges after retiring, and I asked to take the exam, but they told me I needed to study for four years. I told them they were crazy. Who is going to study for four years? How is someone going to teach me technical things when I know more than they do?
The first time I'd ever had a go at production or recording, I just recorded in my room. I just put it on Soundcloud because I have family abroad, and I wanted to show them, 'Oh, hi, Uncle Carl, here's some music that I've done,' or whatever.
I wanted to be a physical therapist because I had torn up my knee and thought it was interesting with the rehab and whatever. I did kinesiology, and after the first four days of class, I dropped out because I was like, 'This ain't the class for me!'
First I wanted to be a veterinarian. And then I realized you had to give them shots to put them to sleep, so I decided I'd just buy a bunch of animals and have them in my house instead.
I don't how anybody taller than 6-4 can sit in those seats. And the airline executives don't give a damn 'cause they never walk back there in the first place. I don't fly first class because I have a lot of money. I do it because I need the room.
They gave me four weeks, and I asked if the first week could be just music with the two main conductors. So, the conductors came over to my home, and we worked in the music room, and I learned my two little songs.
I'm a big proponent of 'Don't Ask, Don't tell,' in fact, I enforce it strictly on all of my dates. First, I don't ask them for sex, and then I warn them not to tell anyone after I'm through.
I always wanted to have a scenario where the guy didn't have my number, but I had his. What if women make the first move, send the first message? And if they don't, the match disappears after 24 hours, like in Cinderella, the pumpkin and the carriage? It'd be symbolic of a Sadie Hawkins dance - going after it, girls ask first.