You can't rush reality
Archive for August, 2010
Why It’s Good To Laugh at Unfunny Jokes…Plus, Paul Suggests a New Mantra: “THIS IS IT, FUCK IT, IT IS WHAT IT IS”
Aug 26th
Have you ever had a moment when you were dying to make a joke, but held back because you felt it was inappropriate? Or more embarrassing yet, actually told a joke that was met with forced, polite laughter? I know I’ve experienced this on a grand scale during many of my speaking gigs. Hee, hee, hee! Well, now you can say you’re doing it for your health. Science is finally catching up to the old truism about laughter being the best medicine. And… even better, it doesn’t matter if it’s authentic or not. In this video demonstrating an innovative laughter therapy, Dr. Madan Lal Kataria tells us that the body doesn’t know the difference between voluntary and involuntary laughter and the benefits are the same. Ha, ha! So if you’re the one dropping stinkers, making puns and laughing at your own knock, knock jokes, then you’re killin’ it more than you know. Wah, ha, ha! Hooh, hoh, hooh, hoooh! Let’s make an effort to ditch the lol’s and start a trend of phonetically written laughing sounds just to get the ball rolling. A “wah, ha, ha!” sound in your head has got to do more good than an “el-oh-el.” Oh, and if you ever need inspiration to start cracking up, check out my classic video on how to have fun.
laughter--even forced laughter - is good for your health
China’s 9 Day Traffic Jam…Plus, Paul Reviews How to Properly Exit a Moving Vehicle
Aug 24th
Its no coincidence that the same month China passed Japan and became the number 2 economy in the world it also grabbed headlines for every driver’s worst nightmare: the 100km 9 day traffic jam. The roads simply can’t handle the commerce, so the roads become, essentially, something else. A horizontal apartment complex with four-door units and no bathrooms. And like all places of living, food and water is needed. So a whole economy of merchants cropped up to trickle between the cars selling desperately needed food at exaggerated prices. Because what, you’re going to leave you’re car there But the bottom-line is its a clusterfuck. At some point it would be easier to just make a fire-brigade line and hand pass cabbages 80km to the store.
And while we can wince or laugh at Beijing or Moscow for their traffic hell, it’s a fate which awaits us all. As populations increase and we build more electric vehicles our use of private transportation will only expand. Unless I’m mistaken only two possibilities exist (assuming we don’t completely destroy and rebuild our road infrastructure): either we better get used to really living in our car, or we better start learning to move without one. Either all cars become mini mobile homes literally, complete with self driving and total wireless access so other than actually interacting with people outside your car you’ll be able to do everything you already do at home in our car. Sleep, watch entertainment, work, make calls, have sex, raise children for a few consolidated hours. Or the size of a our transportational units needs to be whittled down to the size of a single human: be that a seat on a bus or a bike.
Sometimes Killing It is simply about seeing the writing on the wall, and getting prepared!
9 day traffic jam in china
What Can a Deviant Bull Teach Us About Killin’ It?…Plus, Paul Explains Why Fishing Is Not About Catching Fish
Aug 23rd
By now many of you have seen this amazing footage shot last week at a bullfight in Tafalla, Navarra, Northern Spain. In the middle of the show, the bull gracefully leaps into the stand. Like pure magic, the 1,100 pound bull body breaks the constraints of the ring and gravity. As incredible as this seems, it’s really no less of a trick to rise above the dominating forces in our own lives – history, morality, political leanings. At a time when Spain is considering putting an end to bullfighting – a debate pitting traditional culture against animal rights – this bull shows us how take the fight out the arena and into a new, realer realm. If we think only in terms of opposing ideologies, we won’t see beyond a playing field predetermined to allow only a limited number of results. Killin’ it is rising above “the-my-side-verses-yours” scenario in order to live your own moment. In other words, if you see boundaries around you, be sure to consider breaking them. It’s not always a choice between you killing the bull or letting the bull kill you; sometimes it’s about seeing beyond the ring and then killin’ it with a mighty leap.
bull jumps into crowd
A Phillies Fan Kills It Majorly
Aug 21st
Some of the most demonstrable moments of people Killin’ It are simple physical moments. Take for example this amazing clip of a Phillies fan, on his way back from the concession stand, catching a foul ball with one hand and never breaking stride. I had to watch this several times in order take in the clean and effortless poetry of this killin’ it moment. It’s the rare kind of thing that makes me think of stars colliding all at the right place and at the right time. It also serves as a valuable reminder of how even in the most banal situations (walking back from the concession stand at a ball game, for instance) you may find yourself suddenly massively killin’ it for all the world to see!
Why Jaoquin Phoenix is Killin’ It Right Now…plus, What Does Paul Want From You?
Aug 18th
Earlier today I caught this trailer for “I’m Still Here,” the upcoming documentary on Jaoquin Phoenix’s transition from actor to rapper in the last 2 years. What a great piece of art and entertainment this looks to be.
Ever since Jaoquin went on David Letterman with a mountain man beard, chewing gum, stating that he was going to quit acting and become a rapper, people have been saying: “Oh, he’s a fool” or “something’s wrong with him” or “he’s got mental problems.” I say no, give that tired story up! People simply can’t accept that Jaoquin Phoenix wants to become a rapper, and so that’s what he’s sincerely doing: he’s following his dream and he’s killin’ it. More importantly though, his buddy Casey Affleck has made a film about it. You’ve got to love the complexity of that–a great actor as the subject of a documentary about his real life career change to become a big bearded rapper. It’ so outlandish that people don’t want to accept it as possible. They figure he has to be faking it all. But as Director James Gray (who directed Phoenix in 3 movies) told ABC news: “If it is an act, it’s the most committed act I’ve ever seen in my life.”
The fake and the real. The real or the faked. The real faked and the faked real. That, my friends, is the big story of our digital, virtual, Intertastic age. The kicker is this: it doesn’t matter whether it’s real or fake. The question itself is what makes things fun! And you don’t need to know the intent of something to know you like it. Sit back and be entertained in the legacy of the great Andy Kaufman who introduced us to this kind of entertainment, paving the way for bright minds like Jaoquin Phoenix, David Blaine, and James Franco to take it to new levels. Right on, gentleman! Way to kill it!
jaoquin phoenix - actor turned rapper
A Killin’ It Hoax…plus Paul Finds a Special Place to Relax
Aug 13th
Earlier this week, we learned about the Steve Slater Jetblue “have a meltdown and quit your job with gusto” story. Then , the very next day, this story comes out, about a good-looking girl working at a stock brokerage who quits her job by writing a series of bold one sentence declarations on a dry erase board, taking photos of herself holding it, and then mailing the series to all the people in her office. Once again, the Internets went bonkers for what seemed to be another spectacular low rung corporate exit. The whole country got behind Jenny Porterfield, office assistant to some Farmville addicted tyrannical boss named Spencer.
But just 24 hours later, the same site (www.thechive.com) that broke the picture show to the public on tuesday morning announced that the whole thing was in fact a hoax. That Jenny Porterfield was actually Elyse Porterfield, an actress from L.A. who had audtioned to be the HPOA (Hot Piece of Ass) for the prank.
Sure, were out one working class folk hero since yesterday. But we’ve gained a fantastic illustration of killin’ it. What it shows us so well is the importance of timing your moves according to rapid, daily cultural events. Thechive.com saw how hungry the public was for grandiose exits. They seized the moment immediately after the Steve Slater “quit and slide” to create another feel good walk out story–however untrue. There’s a brilliance to that. It illuminates the simple fact that we love to be entertained just as much as we love to stand our ground, and we especially like it when standing our ground and entertainment are one and the same thing.
Jet Blue’s Steve Slater Kills It Big Time…plus, Paul visits Butte Montana’s Superfund Site: The Berkeley Pit
Aug 11th
Boom Pow Presto: Steve Slater. This man has provided the nation with the feel good story of the year, hands down.
The question we have to ask ourselves is what chord did he strike? He’s being billed as the working class hero. The wage slave standing up to corporate America. But that’s the same ‘ol sing song that’s been going on for centuries trying to find a new leading man. The fact is Steve Slater didn’t act as a worker against a corporation. He acted as a person against an asshole. What makes Steve Slater the most Killing It man of the hour is this simple fact: He has ended Politesse and Political Correctness. Bound not simply by protocol or uniform but by the current cultural norm that offensiveness is not appropriate, even in response to offensiveness. He ended it. Let me add also that the grand exit of activating a commercial airplane’s emergency slide, grabbing two beers, saying “fuck you,” and slipping down to the tarmac where he was then able to walk straight to his car….well, there’s not much that could top that kind of killin’ it exit. If Jet Blue was smart, they would hire this man to do their commercials now.
I am with him, jumping off that plane. It is time for the return of the bird, when we all collectively raise our good-conscious middle finger, too long holstered, and remind every asshole of every denomination our good temper is not theirs for the taking.
Steve Slater, you are Killin It!
Vogue Italia’s Oil-Spill-Inspired Fashion Editorial…plus, Paul Explains Why You Should Swear at Your Children
Aug 10th
Much attention has been paid to the recent issue of Vogue Italia which contains a fashion editorial inspired by this year’s catastrophic BP oil spill. While some call it art, others decry the photographs for glamorizing the tragedy. On top of this, naysayers contend that it’s tasteless to use (and destroy) thousands of dollars worth of garments in the midst of all the resulting economic hardship that is being endured by gulf coast residents. Okay okay, no doubt the repercussions of the oil spill outweigh fall fashion trends, but I think this is exactly the point of what Vogue and Steven Meisel are doing. Like all good creative work, it seeks to rise above all of the moral posturing and political disgust. It’s not about how bad we are or how good we are, or how much we love or hate oil. Nature doesn’t moralize.
I think a good metaphor can be found the aftermath of the spill; while impassioned protesters and outraged politicians were running in circles passing around blame, megatrillions of small, oblivious ocean borne microbes were saying to themselves, “hey, we can eat this stuff, and we will!” These microbes are killin’ it in a major way. In the midst of moral outrage and injustice, we should be happy that there are natural processes constantly at work in a realm beyond right and wrong. And who knows, maybe art is even one of them. The waste that resulted from the oil spill is nothing compared to the waste of a fancy dress, but morally outraged people would rather complain about how frivolous fashion is than stop driving their cars. That’s decidedly not killin’ it. So just remember, it’s never wise to dismiss an outside element that says “hey, I can use this!” because it may have more to do with healing the situation then we can ever imagine
Oil Spill Inspired Vogue Photo Shoot
