You can't rush reality
Archive for September, 2010
Premature Celebration…Plus, New Video: Paul Ponders the Humiliation that Precedes Glory
Sep 29th
Even though I spend most of the time concentrating on things that ARE killin’ it, sometimes recognizing something or someone distinctly not killin’ it can also be helpful. For example, these two videos of goalkeeper Khalid Askri of Moroccan club FAR Rabat in two different soccer games show us the epitome of not killin’ it – with a heartbreaking finish to boot. The first clip shows Askri’s premature celebration of what he thought was a blocked goal. His chest pounding and playing to the crowd caused him to miss the ball as it slowly spun past the same goal line seconds later. This bit of footage made its way around the internet in what ended up being an orgy of humiliation for Askri. Fast forward to this past weekend. We see Askri, trying to shake it off and play as usual (clearly being too cool and casual), committing another careless blunder that gives the opposing team an easy goal. A near pitch-perfect screw-up on top of a now legendary flub – Askri is inconsolable. In a wild display of mental devastation, he unshirts himself and runs off the field – wriggling away from his teammates’ efforts to hold him back. Though this is an indubitable example of not killin’ it, the same (widely broadcasted) mistake made twice is so understandably frustrating that we can only respond with solemn acknowledgment. And sometimes bringing about a little empathy is also Killin’ It.
The whole story though, overall, is another valuable reminder that we must NEVER start the celebration until we know we have it in the bag and locked away. Last, in ruminating on this regular and painful mistake that is so often demonstrated to us through sports, I’m here linking to a few more famous premature celebrations. Make of them what you will… I hope they prevent any and all of you from making this same mistake. Killin’ It!
Legendary Leon Lett Blunder from Super Bowl 27: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VE1G-Dn7nUs
Premature Celebration Leads to Disaster at a High School Football game in Jericho, Vermont: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ob2pUK1zCO0
CFL Ronald Flemons Fumbles Ball at Goal Line vs. B.C. Lions: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ogI_K-JmCc&feature=fvsr
Marijuana Ice Cream Kills It!…Plus, New Video: Paul Discusses His Own Passive Aggressive Behavior and How to Kill It
Sep 23rd
Medical marijuana is now legal in many states, which is giving entrepreneurial people the opportunity to make the business of getting “high” both pleasant and more socially acceptable. Jonathan Kolodinski of Santa Cruz California is making gourmet, pot infused ice-cream in flavors like “bananabis foster” and “straw-mari cheesecake.” In order to purchase a $15 pint – which is equivalent to eight joints – you need to present a medical marijuana card. At a time when many businesses are struggling, Kolodinski’s ice-cream, called “Soquel’s creme de canna,” seems to have hit at just the right time – putting what for some is a taboo necessity in the guise of a common guilty pleasure. As marijuana continues to become more and more socially acceptable (and legal), it’s likely we’ll see a myriad of tasty, fatty dessert-ish commercial treats infused with edible medical grade THC.
I’ve always said guilt is one of the least useful emotions, but “Soquel’s creme de canna” is making me eat my words here. In a culture of sin tax and stigma, it’s good to see the guilt that comes with downing a bit of saturated fat countered by some positive, creative effects. By taking their “prescriptions” in the form of ice-cream, patients might even deflect the judgments often cast on their efforts to maintain good health and/or manage pain through smoking. This quote from writer Brenna Coleman seems fitting – “Perhaps the (rocky) road to becoming this developed, conscious society is long and twisted, with a little bit of the indecent, obscene, and profane along the way.” That’s Killin’ It!
UglySchmucks.com’s Killin’ It Niche…plus, Video Testimonials from People Who’ve Changed Their Lives With Killin’ It
Sep 19th
Everyone is familiar with the idea that we’re all responsible for making our own luck. While it may be true that we can bring luck into our lives by doing things like changing our attitude, being open-minded and seizing opportunities, it seems naive to ignore the fact that some people seem to have lucked out genetically while others have to work a bit harder. This idea is alluded to not so subtly on the homepage of a new online dating service, uglyschmucks.com, where they say “Do not let the over privileged take all the fun. Be proud, be an Ugly Schmuck!” With conventional wisdom telling us that the best strategy for successful dating is to start with the most beautiful person in the room and then work from there, a site like uglyschmucks.com (geared specifically towards helping self-proclaimed ugly people hook-up) seems ill-conceived. Going beyond practical issues, there are many people who find it mean and even unethical for a site to label and separate those who are deemed ugly from those who are deemed beautiful. On first glance, the site seems like it’s not killin’ it. Still, I had to think back, half-critically, to this 2002 quote from “Wired” magazine, which predicted “Twenty years from now, the idea that someone looking for love without looking for it online will be silly, akin to skipping the card catalog to instead wander the stacks because ‘the right books are found only by accident.’ Serendipity is the hallmark of inefficient markets, and the marketplace of love, like it or not, is becoming more efficient.”
In the Internet age where so much is possible, is it too much to ask for “efficient serendipity” or “serendipitous efficiency?” I say no. If you’re killin’ it at the library, you don’t use the catalog to narrow down your options, you use it creatively to expand them. Same way with online dating. Niche dating sites like JDate, Asian People Meet, and Black Christian People Meet are by far the most popular, so why not a site for ugly people? It’s not the descriptor that’s important; the important thing is to not limit ourselves to one category. This article on the science of luck recommends, instead of going into the dating pool always looking for the same kind of person, in order to be lucky maybe we should make it a plan to only make a move on someone who is wearing red. Similarly, instead of always putting our best face forward in the search of a mate, we should say to our selves “beauty is in the eye of the beholder and therefore it may be possible for me to be considered ugly. Maybe I should wear the title proudly for a bit and see what happens.” The more abstract and absurd the categories become, the greater the potential for creativity and, thus, true self-determination. That’s Killin’ It!
Growing Back a Finger with Pixie Dust from a Pig…Plus, New Killin’ It Vid: What Are you Talking About? Are you Getting Things Done?
Sep 14th
pinky regeneration with pixie dust made from a pigs bladder
What do you get when you cross a little bit of Pinocchio with a hearty mixture of Peter Pan and Charlotte’s Web? Some exciting new medical technology – a powder derived from a pigs bladder is currently being used to re-grow limbs in adult humans. “Pixie dust” as it’s called, makes damaged or cut off limbs grow back by tricking cells into thinking they are still in the womb. While cellular regeneration may seem like the stuff of science fiction, the fact is that before birth (and to some extent up until age two) we are actually able to re-grow severed or injured limbs, the same way a salamander can grow back her tail. This feature is still part of our DNA, it just gets shut off as we age. The new pixie dust treatment, officially called Extra Cellular Matrix, or ECM, promises to change both trauma medicine and potentially even add decades to our prospective life spans.
Not surprisingly, the real and fictional versions of pixie dust operate on much the same premise. In the world of cutting edge medicine, pixie dust is what is used to cause a cell to think that it’s young again – allowing patients do miraculous things. In the fairy tale realm, “Pixie Dust” can make people fly – that is, if they believe in it. Ask the great performer David Blaine and he’ll argue that you can jump much higher than you think is possible. You don’t even need dust, just conviction. In a fascinating statement from his popular video Fearless he describes how, as a child, he would see a leaf high up in a tree and convince himself that if he didn’t jump high enough to touch it, he’d die. The unrelenting belief that there’s no option but success is no doubt the reason why he’s been able to accomplish so many superhuman feats of endurance.
Finally, don’t you think it’s ironic that of all the places they could have harvested the ECM from, pigs’ bladders turns out to have been the best source. We are capable of miracles and, at the same time, genetically aligned with pigs! Usually we see ourselves as existing somewhere between those two extremes, but in actuality, it is through being open to the wild possibilities at either end of the extremes—divinity and filth—that we learn to Kill It best.
Killin’ It and Not Killin’ It as a Contemporary Iconoclast… Plus, Paul Reflects on How to Gently Change the Course of Your Life
Sep 10th
With the anniversary of 9/11 a day away, we find ourselves in the midst of a debate on symbols. What would building a mosque near Ground Zero symbolize? Is it a sign of weakness, a victory of sorts for a self-declared enemy, or a sign of strength, maintaining a core value despite a sacrifice? What does burning a Koran mean? The destruction of an entire faith, or an 8″ fire that destroys a one-in-one-billion copy of a book? Actions upon or against symbols carry great weight with us human folk.
As Pastor Terry Jones’s controversial “International Burn a Koran Day” approaches, it seems like we have a clear-cut case of not killin’ it. Some say it’s the very contemporary problem of one eccentric individual having too much access to the media, but from Julius Ceasar to Adolph Hitler what has history been but a collection of big personalities pushing us along in one direction or another? (Side note: Has anyone noticed that the potential WWIII instigator pastor from Gainsville looks a lot like Yosemite Sam? Definite argument for the idea that face is fate.) More generally, this seems like a case of good old-fashioned Iconoclasm. The Christians did it to the Pagans, the Muslims did it to the Buddhists, the Anglicans did it to the Catholics. So when are you killin’ it as an iconoclast and when are you not killin’ it? I’m reminded of the modern-day iconoclast Alexander Brener, spray-painting a dollar sign on Kasmir Malevich’s suprematist painting while it hung in Amsterdam’s Stedelijk Museum. Brener’s gesture was powerful and direct, suggesting that the original, spiritual intention of Malevich’s work had been hijacked and corrupted by contemporary capitalism. That’s killin’ it, I’d say! Some even say that the meaning and notoriety of the vandalism actually added to the monetary value of the painting! Now compare this to the 9-11 hijackers attacking another symbol of capitalism – the World Trade Towers – which has only brought increasing returns of chaos all around. And now we have this alarmingly unsettled Quran burning situation in Gainsville. Yesterday, Rev. Terry Jones said he would not do it after getting a promise that the Mosque would be moved away from its planned site near the trade towers. Later in the day, however, when he stated that the promise had been false and that he had been tricked, he said he was again considering going through with the burning. Jones seems to be looking for a sign- maybe a symbol- from God – his God- to tell him what to do. So if you have your mind set on creating symbolic destructive gesture at the same time your’re looking for a sign, you may be in danger of getting your signals crossed. You can’t create a sign and look for a sign at the same time. Working against yourself = not killin’ it.
Here’s what Killin’ It is: Jones meets with Imam Muhammad Musri. He hands Musri a bible, Musri hands him a Koran. They each violently rip the pages out and hand them to each other. Then they spend a couple hours with a glue stick putting the Bible’s pages into the Koran’s cover, and the Koran’s pages into the Bible’s covers. Two people, followed by millions who share their animosity and blame, could in one simple second grade arts and crafts session create something the world has never seen before. Sometimes the most courageous act is the most childish one. So let’s keep on killin’ it and be sure to avoid a World War 3!
pastor terry jones and yosemite sam - separated at birth?
Why The Trapped Chilean Miners Are Killin’ It…Plus, Major Inspiration from an Old Favorite: TECHNOVIKING!
Sep 7th
Everyone I know has had this feeling, at one time or another – you’re at the airport waiting in line for a slow ticket agent to help you while the precious minutes before your flight leaves are ticking away. Or how about this one, you’re sitting in a classroom thinking of the overwhelming amount of tasks you need to accomplish while a dithering instructor sucks your time away. Waiting on others when we’re trying to move ahead in life will always make us feel like the exceptional individual we could possibly become is being murdered right in front of our eyes. But whether it feels right or not, grouping together and being dependent on each other is an essential lesson which we all must learn.
Following the ordeal of the 33-trapped Chilean miners over the past several weeks has been at once gripping, heartbreaking, and inspiring. The media devotes much time to superstar experts who have been brought in to increase the survival odds of the miners (NASA scientists, doctors, and, most recently, professional oil well drillers). Yet these outside individuals will not be the deciding factor in whether the miners make it. Instead, survival will depend on the miners’ ability to kill it by grouping and working together; and by appointing the most experienced men to wisely and generously lead the group during this period of extreme endurance. Down in the mine, a stable, organized environment—essential to lasting out what may add up to months underground—is now being maintained by dividing up into groups of three to create a buddy system. While the slow incoming rations of food make their way down the 4″ diameter hole that connects the miners to the surface, it’s an agreed upon rule that no one can eat before everyone has their food in hand—a protocol essential to keeping up morale. The lesson here is that when even when every desire in our body is screaming at us to bust out on our own, the road to success is also completely tied to the success of those around us. There are countless situations where we must act effectively as a group in order to survive as an individual. If you want to kill it at these times, you have to become the top expert at relying on others.
Does Exclaiming “I’m Killin’ It” Mean That, in Fact, You’re Not Killin’ It?…Plus, Paul on Narcissism and Kanye West
Sep 4th
The other day—in a comment thread at dangerousminds.net—someone suggested that if you declare yourself to be Killin’ It then maybe you’re not really Killin’ It.
What a fantastic point! I’m sure we can all relate to the experience of feeling dismissive—or even disdainful—of such a person. I didn’t get a chance to have a personal exchange with this commenter, but I suspect that his belief comes from something that you might call Kanye Syndrome: that the awareness of your own public image directly diminishes your ability to live outside that image. Like a metaphorical birdcage, the more you say “hey people, look, this is me!” the smaller the cage becomes.
Take for example this latest bit of news regarding Kanye, who just yesterday strung together a stream-of-conscious bombardment of tweets apologizing for hijacking Taylor Swift’s big moment at last year’s Video Music Awards. What a strange move, more than a year after the fact. I think it’s safe to say that Kanye may indeed have taken his own sense of Killin’ It too far. Let’s face it, he’s is a major talent and yes, he’s Killin’ It, but perhaps he’s let that confidence take him over the top. It has cost him. He’s lost fans and dropped away from the limelight in the past year. He ceased Killin’ It when he behaved too much like a man who knew he was Killin’ It. He Killed It too hard.
That is indeed a danger, as are hubris and arrogance and ignorance, all of which may come by saying, I’m Killin’ It! But I believe there is a bigger danger: fear. The fear that what you think of yourself and how you live may not actually be able to withstand exposure. That to reveal yourself would be to reveal your flaws and weakness and that revelation would cost you your power. As long as you are silent you are safe. And safety is a cage of its own. Muhammed Ali, Snoop Dogg, Arnold Schwarzenegger, or Lady Gaga would never have approved of such conduct. They are people who talk the talk and walk the walk.
The greatest asset of humanity is communication. The ability to transfer fundamental ideas between each other does not happen in silence or safety, and only through bold declarative living do we allow ourselves to be witnessed in a way which just might help or inspire another human.
Perhaps that is why I cringed and laughed aloud when I read the following tweet from Kanye re: the VMA incident. “I’m sorry, Taylor,” he wrote, “we’re both artists, and the media and managers are trying to get between us. She deserves the apology more than anyone. Thank you [Twitter co-founders] Biz Stone and Evan Williams for creating a platform where we can communicate directly.”
Communicate directly? Hardly! Unfortunately for Kanye, such statements will not help him resume a normative Killin’ It status.
Finally, for me, part of Killin’ It is understanding what the human spirit is up against. Institutions. Corporations. Academies. Organizations with far more power than the individual are constantly—and incessantly—after your mantra, your power. Lonely defiance is not enough. We need a shared experience of defiance to empower us. Killin’ It is that experience. Killin’ It feeds not only on Killin’ It energy. So yes, say it out loud and share it out loud. Killin’ It requires that. But it also requires walking the walk after talking the talk. That’s somethig we all have to continually strive for.
I’m Paul Crik. Let’s go Kill It.
kanye west loses his grip on killin' it
A Juicy Look at What’s in Store for “Killin’ It with Paul Crik” in 2010/11…Plus, Roger Federerer Kills It at the U.S. Open
Sep 1st
Wow. It’s one thing to hit a trick between the legs tennis shot in the first place. It’s another thing to be able to pull it off at a pro match in a full stadium and make the shot a searing high speed winner. But sit back and watch tennis great Roger Federer kill it big time by doing just that this past Monday at the U.S. Open.
What Federer gives a glimpse of is trusting the mechanism. Look at where his eyes are; he’s not watching the ball or where it’s going, he’s simply letting his body’s map of the court guide his muscles. Trust what your body knows: that’s Killin’ It! What’s more, it’s not the first time he’s made this incredible move into a winner. Watch the video to see how he did it last year too! Way to go Roger! You get the killin’ it spotlight in a major way today.
Roger Federer hits an incredible between the legs winner at the U.S. Open on Monday
