Category: Renzie on Work-Life Balance

Baz Luhrmann’s “Everybody’s Free (To Wear Sunscreen)”

Share This Post: listening once more to the Mary Schmich-Baz Luhrmann collaboration, with Renzie Baluyut.

About ten years ago, I remembered pushing for this song to get more airplay at the radio station I was working for then.

The song was “Everybody’s Free (To Wear Sunscreen)” by Baz Luhrmann.  It came out in one of those international samplers the station subscribed to, and I loved it the first time I heard it.

It was inspirational, it was different, it had a positive message to it, and it made for great listening. At the time, the prevailing rumor was that it was taken word-for-word from a Kurt Vonnegut commencement speech he gave for the graduating class of MIT.

Much later, it turns out that Kurt Vonnegut had nothing to do with the song.  The original piece of work was by Mary Schmich, a columnist for the Chicago Tribune.

From Wikipedia:

Luhrmann explains that Anton Monsted, Josh Abrahams and he were working on the remix when Monsted received an email with the supposed Vonnegut speech. They decided to use it but were doubtful of getting through to Vonnegut for permission before their deadline, which was only one or two days away. While searching the internet for contact information they came upon the “Sunscreen Controversy” and discovered that Schmich was the actual author. They emailed her and, with her permission, recorded the song the next day.

However, “Everybody’s Free (To Wear Sunscreen)” wasn’t radio-friendly- the single ran for more than 7 minutes (you can play 2 songs in 7 minutes), and it wasn’t backed up by any significant marketing effort from the local recording companies.

I managed to sneak the song in several times within some of my special programs, but Baz Luhrmann’s “Everybody’s Free (To Wear Sunscreen)” unfortunately, never saw the heavy radio rotation I felt it deserved.

Nevertheless, the song remains very inspiring even to this day.  So here it is, along with the spoken-word lyrics to it.  I hope it inspires you too.


Continue reading “Baz Luhrmann’s “Everybody’s Free (To Wear Sunscreen)””

Living Solo: The Importance of Manscaping

practical solutions to life’s biggest challenges with Andy Botwin and Renzie Baluyut. Whether you’re living solo, or happily married with a wife and kids, there simply is no excuse for a terrible sense of personal hygeine. There’s a reason why grooming is so important, particularly for singles and bachelors: you want to get into the […]

Living Solo: Spending Money The Right Way, part 2 of 2

money management, made better with Renzie Baluyut. In the last post, Part 1 of  Spending Money the Right Way, we discussed a simple money management technique recommended by “Secrets of the Millionaire Mind” author T. Harv Eker. Eker recommends that whenever money comes our way, we should make it a habit to divide it up […]

Living Solo: Spending Money The Right Way, part 1 of 2

managing money for bachelors and entrepreneurs, with Renzie Baluyut. It used to be a lot simple.  You make some money, you spend it, maybe set aside some for savings, or for whatever big ticket item you’re eyeing for yourself in the future. If my spending goes up, I would be the kind of guy who […]

Do You Think Your Dude Needs To Be More Affectionate?

relationship troubleshooting with Renzie Baluyut.

A friend of mine messaged me on Yahoo the other day, and asked me for my opinion about what she should do with her current boyfriend.

Now this is a good friend of mine from way back, so we had the customary chit-chat and catching up before she got down to the actual problem- which took up the better part of the rest of our conversation.

The Situation:

So here’s how it goes:  My friend works in China.  She’s from the Philippines too, but her man is Indian.  They get together along just fine, but for some reason she feels like he isn’t expressive enough for her- whether vocally or physically.  So that’s her first main concern.

He does however, discuss their future as a couple.  And all his friends and family know about her.

Here’s her second concern:  her man works four hours away from where she lives.  And while they’ve been together for some time now, he doesn’t come over to her place.  Instead, he insists she come over to his part of China to hang out.

So anyway, since she always tries to get him to be more affectionate, or keeps on asking him to come over to her place instead, she’s beginning to think she’s demanding, needy and clingy.  And this drives her crazy because she knows she’s not an overly demanding, needy or clingy girlfriend, based on her past relationships.

So what is she supposed to do about her whole situation?  What do I think about the whole thing? Continue reading “Do You Think Your Dude Needs To Be More Affectionate?”