Proud and thrilled to announce that Matthew Ahmet and his Shaolin Team UK have their own 6 part TV series broadcasting on Monday 27th May at 8pm on Sky One HD. For further details on ‘Kick Ass Kung Fu’ please visit;

http://www.shaolintemplecheshunt.com/

It’s a glowing sign of the future, the distribution of wealth to assist others who are trying hard to make ends meet. Although we’re perhaps a way off from the end of a monetary society, lendwithcare.org provides a micro-finance platform for you to provide a small investment in someone’s future.

From as little as a £15 loan, you can browse the various entrepreneurs and invest with whom you like. Times are hard here at home, yet we should always remember those who have far less than us. Anyway, preach over! Reverand Fortune is retiring now… the opportunity is there. Will you take it?

If you’ve got 40 minutes, this is time well spent;

Life in Perpetual Beta

Bring on the creativity!

So, according to experts you’re going to spend over 100,000 hours during your working life. Might as well spend that time doing something you love and getting paid for it. Check out which kind of personality you are and find the right career for you; http://www.ipersonic.com/test.html

Have fun!

Nearly 2000 miles in 6 days and finally the EP support tour of The Pressure Cell’s Fragile Things comes to an end. A lot of fun was had on the road, touring with The Last Carnival (and great to see a young band with real get-up-and-go about them too), The Colliers and other local support acts. So, that’s the positive fun stuff. Goes without saying on a rock tour!

In today’s digital age though, is it still viable and appropriate for bands to go on tour? The headline acts in big arenas still have box-office status. With new bands starting up nowadays, although the internet gives them a platform for growing their fan-base and opportunities for promotion and sales without having a major label behind them, is it still viable to tour?

With many things going digital, is touring and watching live shows soon going to mean they’re online too? Only time will tell. I hope not though. Seeing a band live, or any entertainment for that matter, creates an atmosphere that TV and internet cannot get near to matching.

So, long live the tour! Check out www.facebook.com/thepressurecell for pics and musings from on the road. And news of their next tour… we are definitely going to stay on the road! Rock on! (Progressively though all the same)

How long before everything becomes worthless? And is that a good or bad thing? The market economy seems to be moving toward the gift economy. And to keep loyalty from consumers, ever more products are being offered as free incentives. For example, there was a time when texts cost 10p per message, now they’re free. Email’s free. Most landline deals have free calls. Platforms like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube are all free. Before long there will be little service that consumers will be willing to pay for. With free tutorials online covering everything from fixing a dripping tap to repairing a car and beyond, those that wish can learn to be a five-minute ‘expert’ plumber, mechanic or even doctor (although the latter I wouldn’t recommend!)

At Marvin’s Magic School we’re increasing our online teaching. YouTube offers a lot of advice on how to perform magic and much of the content is either wrong or just bad for a beginner to the craft. If it’s free and anyone can upload anything, then how do you know which is correct or the best out there? Maybe that’s one way of judging the true value of something; if there’s a price for the product then those producing it value the knowledge they are passing on.

Maybe.

And if we do end up with a true gift economy, how many will continue to create and do the job they’re now doing for the love of actually doing it?

Having worked with many acts in all manner of various disciplines, it was exciting and challenging to sign a band recently. Those two elements, excitement and challenge, are what gets me up each morning (for those who know me, that’s around 10am) I’m also fond of learning, so threw myself into the music world. And have come to the conclusion that, unless you’re prepared to be put through the Cowell Mill and be mass produced, over-exposed and performing to ages 5 through 12, there’s little light within the music industry tunnel to nurture new creative musical talent.

The Pressure Cell are highly commercial and you can judge for yourself if it’s your kind of music via their site (www.thepressurecell.com) And we’re onto a new album; Invisible Lives. With many of the dinosaur music companies run by accountants and number crunchers, who wouldn’t perhaps know talent if it taught them how to play and invited them to tour with them, funding any creative project is a challenge facing artists of all persuasion.

‘People support what the help create’ is a mantra the magical community use. And if you like the band, like what you hear and want to be involved, then you may care to support and create with us here;

http://www.thepressurecell.com/help-us/

This year’s Magic Moments show played to an appreciative audience at London’s Lost Theatre, raising money and awareness for Unseenuk.org – one of the leading charities for human trafficking. Producer Richard Leigh and host Jay staged a variety show of top artistes including comedy juggler Matt Barnard, skilful mime artist and comedy magician Richard McDougall, mind-reader Matthew Stirling and close-up magic from Mike Sullivan. A black-tie dinner is planned for later this month (October 2012) to raise further funds and awareness of this blight on humanity.

Jay has recently signed a new band under his management. The Pressure Cell released their first EP ‘Through These Lights’ in 2011 (Echozone) to critical acclaim. Their 2012 follow-up release ‘Fragile Things’ exemplifies the band’s musical direction and establishes their eclectic sound of ambient, alternative Indie with a subtle Blues undertone. The band are currently working on their first album to be released Spring 2013. www.thepressurecell.com

Unique authentic Shaolin gifts, steeped in history and passion. Hand-made in the Song Shan Mountains, blessed by the monks of the Shaolin Temple. Matthew Ahmet, 34th generation Shaolin disciple of the Shaolin Warriors UK is offering these beautiful beads exclusive through Shaolin Wellbeing. They’ll be available online very shortly.