You can't rush reality
In Search of the Miraculous…Plus, New KI Vid: I’M A GROWN ASS MAN!…And! New Killin’ It T-Shirts!
Nov 29th
I’m mega excited to announce the availability of these brand new Killin’ It T-shirts! Sport the powerful Killin’ It triumverate mantra -THIS IS IT. FUCK IT. IT IS WHAT IT IS.-on your own chest! Check them out here and order one for you or a friend…or all your friends! in time for the holidays!
Brand New Killin' It with Paul Crik T-Shirts!
Last week a shop owner in western Pennsylvania sold himself a winning lottery ticket worth $1.8 million dollars. This story creates a fantastic metaphor for how mysterious forces like fate and luck can be taken into our own hands. The magic of this story reminds me of an individual named Bryan Berg who makes incredible replicas of famous buildings out of free-standing stacked cards. In a very impressive feat several years ago, he used 22,000 playing cards to recreate the Rhode Island State House over the course of three days. Before propping together his first two cards, Berg already had the entire building mapped out in his head. The resulting structure was astonishing, complete with open windows and a perfect round dome – all made of cards. So amazing, in fact, that people expressed the desire to knock over Berg’s seemingly miraculous creation just to prove to themselves that what they saw before them was indeed supported by only the cards and nothing else. To Berg it’s no miracle. He wisely suggests that if we play around with ideas long enough we’ll arrive at solutions to even the most seemingly unsolvable problems – this could include finding a cure for cancer or perhaps even understanding the mysterious workings of luck and fate. In other words, we can’t begin to comprehend the possibilities that are out there until we begin-quite seriously- to play around. That’s killin’ it!
69 Year Old Superstar DJ Ruth Flowers is Killin’ It All Over Europe…Plus, New KI Vid!: Paul on Snailmail vs. Email
Nov 20th
I was recently learned about DJ Ruth Flowers, a 69 year British lady who is a popular DJ at some of the hottest clubs in Europe. Watching her spin at the club is beyond inspiring. Decked out in gem-covered headphones, spiky gray hair, and flashy silk jackets, Flowers’ appearance and unexpected energy makes her seem like some kind of bizarre character from a science fiction story. When we see people in the sunset years, we expect them to be in rocking chairs, talking about their health problems, and how the youth have now all gone bad. So to see someone defying all these stereotypes, and not just defying them, but blasting them to oblivion, showing us that you can continue to take on new lives, activities, identities at any stage of your life; that you can even be at the center of the hippest youth-driven music world…sorta like a female Wizard of Oz. That’s really Killin’ It! Watch the videos below and be amazed.
DJ Ruth Flowers, 69 Years Old, is currently one of the most popular DJ's on the European scene
Castles Made of Humans!…Plus, A Few Important Words About Modern Digital Life.
Nov 17th
This is quite simply one of the most Killin’ It human events I’ve ever seen. The images are breathtaking, and if you take the time to watch the whole vid, you will see these tiny kids scaling up the other people on the towers, taking their light bodies to the top of the human castles (not to mention their artful descents). Not only do these children have uncanny physical skills for their age, but they also appear to have not a shred of the fear that any normal human being would have if they were climbing up something so high and unstable. It’s hard to believe that I’ve never before heard of this strange Catalan festival, but it’s not an understatement to say that the sites here are sublime. The footage of the failed attempts, watching a mass of human beings crumble to the ground together, on top of each other, almost like falling water. Well, you get the picture. The Town of Tarragona and it’s residents get a huge Killin’ It medal and a gold key to my heart!
Casteller from Mike Randolph on Vimeo.
In the city of Tarragona, Spain, Castellers gather every two years to see who can build the highest, most intricate human castles. This uniquely Catalan tradition requires astonishing strength, finesse, and balance. Not to mention courage.
Cat vs. Gator! The Cat Kills It!…Plus, Paul on the big T-word: TRUST
Nov 16th
I love it so much when awesome things happen that defy norms and expectations. Check out this Killin’ It video that my FB friend Randell Moss posted up the other day. Anyone taking bets would have certainly put the odds on the gator, no question. But remember…being confident and fearless is more important then being prepared because fearlessness is surprising and surprising-ness is potent with a capital P. Just ask these gators, This little kitty is Killin’ It!
cat takes gator to school
A Killin’ It Paper Airplane Makes It All The Way To Outer Space…Plus, Paul On Why We Need To Take Ownership of Our Mistakes
Nov 15th
A year and 4 months ago some British cheese-makers had the quirky idea of sending some cheddar up into space with a heavy duty helium balloon. The idea was that once the balloon got near the edge of the atmosphere, it would pop and the cheese would float back down to earth on a mini-parachute. Unfortunately though, the space explorers/cheese craftsmen lost track of their tasty little passenger and the experiment was a failure.
Recently, some British space enthusiasts inspired by the failed space-cheese stunt sent a paper airplane into space with the same helium balloon technique. The plane, constructed with a stiff internal skeleton made of paper straws, with an orange and silver skin, was launched on a balloon near Madrid, Spain. While the image of the fragile paper aircraft disappearing into the blue sky was breathtaking, the team was doubtful they’d be able to safely recover such delicate, primitive technology.
To the entire group’s surprise, however, all went miraculously according to plan. The balloon popped about 17 miles above the earth’s surface and the plane glided downwards, making a perfect landing in a wooded area 100 miles from the launch point. The plane was undamaged and, more importantly, so was the on-board camera. Looking through the footage, they found some awesome video of the initial assent and spectacular still photos of the earth that look like something taken from a satellite. Who knew a little paper airplane could get so far?
Goes to show you don’t need a lot of fuel or advanced skills to get to a tremendous change in perspective. Sometimes we just need to pick-up where some admirable spirit left off – and takin’ cheese out of the equation never hurt either. Killin’ It!
view from a high flying killin' it paper airplane
A Killin’ It Machine Converts Plastics Back Into Oil…Plus, New KI! Vid: Paul Explains Why Drinking is a Nice Vice
Nov 10th
Check out this video about a Japanese man who invented an incredible machine that turns plastic into oil. Two of the world’s biggest problems: acquiring fossil fuels and waste disposal, dealt with in one swift blow. Just put the plastic garbage in the machine-which is also portable, btw- and turn it on. The machine melts the plastic and the vapor produced get’s funneled into a container of tap water, where it’s converted back into oil (sounds like magic, but trust me – just watch the video.) This oil can be used for energy or refined further to make gasoline. Just goes to show that sometimes our most serious troubles will actually spur our salvation if we’re open to possibilities. One of my favorite quotes is by the famous 20th century painter Pablo Picasso, who said “Everything is a miracle. It’s a miracle that one does not dissolve in one’s bath like a lump of sugar.” What a great thought to start the day with! Killin’ It!
these plastic bottles can now be turned back into a fossil fuel
Rescued Chilean Miner runs NYC Marathon and Kills It with an Elvis Tune…Plus, New KI! Vid: Re-Naming Things as a Way to Maintain Mental Health
Nov 8th
If you happen to catch David Letterman last Thursday night, you know all about Edison Pena. This guy is Killin’ It! The Chilean miner, during the 69 days awaiting rescue underground, would pass time (and stay fit) by running 6 miles a day in the tunnels. When rescuers were first able to reach the miners with a tiny 6 inch drop hole, the first thing Pena requested were some Elvis songs he could listen to while running. On October 12, Pena was the 12th man to be rescued from more than a mile under. And yesterday Pena crossed the finish line in the New York City Marathon, running 26 miles in 5 hours and 40 minutes, 20 minutes ahead of his goal. He didn’t train for the marathon (beyond his tunnel running routine) and had an injured knee from the initial mine collapse. When asked how he as able to run through the pain of his injury, he said he “didn’t come all the way to New York to quit.”
Edison Pena’s story goes to show that a lot of essential training can happen even if we don’t know what we’re training for; the seemingly pointless things we cling to just to help us get through the day might propel us farther then we’d ever imagine. Not inspired yet? Check out Edison Pena perform “Return to Sender,” one of the Elvis songs that motivated him during his undergroud runs! In honor of Pena and because it’s daylight savings time, let’s kill it for an hour extra today!
Politics are Redundant, but People are Still Awesome!…Plus, New Video: Paul Discusses the Power of Killin’ It by Broh-ing It.
Nov 6th
Hello my Killin’ It Friends! It’s been a helluva couple of weeks since I’ve posted. I’ve missed you. I got on a roller coaster of sorts and have been getting whisked up and down and around, cross the country and back, to the north and south through high rolls and low dips, freezing cold and tropics hot. I’m talking physically and emotionally every which way you can see and swing it. But I’m back on the ground now and feeling reset. Believe it or not, thanks to your suggestions, we’ve made a whole new suite of Killin’ It vids that I plan to roll out in the coming months. That’s right…if you sent me a suggestion a week or so ago, there’s a good chance we made a video about it, and I’m super excited about what’s coming. This one’s an ode to all my brohs out there. If you’re used to spelling it as just “bro,” I suggest considering the addition of the “h”, so that we can all tell the “bros” from the “brohs” when we need to. Killin’ It!
People are awesome. It’s no surprise this 10 day old video compilation is ultra-viral with over 6 million views.
The video contains the best of the best, the cream of the cream. People achieving heart-stopping hair-standing creative feats that make us feel an eerily real vicarious thrush; make us feel out of breath excitement from the comfort of our couches. Even while the marketing intent of the video is ostensibly to sell a new song by the band Hadouken, the collection of clips is truly a class A effort. I watched this and it caused me to reflect on the period we’ve just devoted to trying to decide who will make a good leader. What kind of qualities make a person exceptional, worth following? I’m fascinated by how the risks taken by people in the video would make the clips fun to watch even if the stunts themselves were not successful. We’d be just as gripped if the bold risks ended in tragedy, wouldn’t we? Our hearts would just be more broken at the conclusion. Contrast this risk-heavy activity with today’s typical election candidate, whose every word is planned and manicured to make themselves appear as conventional, or un-dangerous, as the day is long. Every two years we get treated to a redundancy that would make anyone feel dismal about the future. So say what you want about prudence, I think people can only be exceptional if they dare to take risks and are willing to mingle with the dangerous side of life, whether it takes place in your sports activities or your personal relationships. It’s not the outcome of success or failure that will matter, but rather risk that fuels the “awesome motor” that too many of us keep dormant inside. Killin’ It!
People are awesome indeed!
Humans Kill It When They Act Like Robots and Robots Kill It When They Act Like Humans
Oct 26th
Two stories out of the far-east corner of the globe caught my eye this week. One involves a superhuman feat by a human and the other features a very human feat by a robot. In eastern China sometime this past June a man on a motorcycle avoided what could have been a very gnarly accident with a perfectly accidental mid air cartwheel, miraculously landing unscratched and on his feet. Even more amazing is that afterwards he walks casually away from the accident so no one even knows who he is now. The Chinese media has dubbed him “brother gymnast.” Absolutely killin’ it!
Now compare this to a video of a newly developed Japanese robot, called HRP-4C, who sings and dances with an agility that’s almost indistinguishable from its human dance mates.
The striking humanness of this robot is all the more graceful because we’re aware it’s nothing but metal and plastic, while the cartwheel by “brother gymnast” is fantastic because he’s made of actual flesh and blood, yet doing something we would think is only possible for Blade Runner-esque machine.
this robot dances like a human
Absence is a Beautiful Part of the Human Landscape…Plus, 2 Gems from the Killin’ It Archives
Oct 19th
Believe it or not, I’ve been making Killin’ It videos for more than 2 years now. They come in all shapes and sizes…some are funny, others are sad, some are just plain advice on how to kill it. Every now then I dig back in the archives for one of the early videos, something that got buried before any of my new friends got to see and enjoy it. I’ve decided to put one of these Killin’ It gems up here today. A reflection on the weight and value of absence in all of our lives.
I’m also taking the opportunity this Tuesday to share a couple of things that my facebook friends have passed along to me, which plainly and almost exactly exemplify the spirit of killin’ it. Darryl Cozac sent me this amazing video yesterday. This guy is killin’ it so hard, the positive energy is off the charts. You can’t help but be infected and inspired to kill it right along with him!
John Wolfe sent me this beautiful picture of last week. I’ve downloaded and printed it out for my wall of inspiration, dedicated to anything in the world that makes me want to kill it harder. This custom designed multi-extended fusionistic Ford Bronco Chevy Blazer limousine is a total work of art. A piece of someone’s wildest imagination born into the world for all to see. Whoever created this piece of machinery knows exactly what I mean when I say: “IT’S NOT MY WAY. IT’S NOT THE WAY. IT’S YOUR WAY” Bravo and thank you for showing us all how it’s done!
