Paul Crik and Goatsilk Sing Blaze Foley’s “Clay Pigeon’s”
[audio:http://paulcrik.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/ClayPigeons-Paul-Crik-and-Goatsik.mp3]

Foley was born Michael David Fuller in Malvern, Arkansas, but grew up in Texas. He performed in a gospel band called The Fuller Family with his mother and sisters. After leaving home, he performed in Atlanta, Chicago, Houston, and finally Austin, Texas. He was close friends with Townes Van Zandt.

His song “If I Could Only Fly” became a hit in the interpretation of Merle Haggard. His song “Election Day” was covered by Lyle Lovett on his 2003 album “My Baby Don’t Tolerate” and his song “Clay Pigeons” was covered by John Prine on his Grammy Award winning 2005 album “Fair and Square.” Joe Nichols pays tribute to “If I Could Only Fly” by recording it for his album “Real Things” released in 2007.

In 1989, Foley was shot in the chest and killed by Carey January, the son of Foley’s friend Concho January. Carey January was acquitted of murder in the first degree by reason of self-defense. He and his father presented completely different versions of the shooting at trial.^[1]

Foley jokingly claimed to be the illegitimate son of Red Foley and Blaze Starr.

Foley placed duct tape on the tips of his cowboy boots to mock the “Urban Cowboy” crazed folks with their silver tipped cowboy boots. He later made a suit out of duct tape that he used to walk around in. At his funeral, his casket was coated with duct tape by his friends. Townes Van Zandt was quoted as saying that “he’d have to dig Foley up to get the pawn ticket for his guitar that was in his pocket”.

Another fun fact… Lucinda Williams beautiful song, Drunken Angel, was written about Blaze.

Human Barbie Sarah Burge with her 7 year old daughter

A woman dubbed the Human Barbie after under-going layer upon layer of plastic surgery has gifted her seven-year-old daughter vouchers for liposuction and a boob job when the girl reaches the appropriate age of 16. Not surprisingly, her actions have offended and her mothering ability has been publicly called into question. Probably for most of us there is an initial negative response at the idea of encouraging a child to give up on the self-esteem of their own body before it has even developed, leading her instead toward an idea of homogenous “beauty.” Perhaps some even feel vaguely threatened, that if this sort of thinking inches toward the norm then how could we protect our own children from being swallowed up into this culture of manufactured appearance. These feelings can swell into condemnation of the Human Barbie and an attendant feeling of self-righteousness. But Killin’ It in this case is not giving in to that temptation.

Our culture has already betrayed “naturalness” in so many ways. Take, for example, orthodontics. Most parents wish, and pay for, their children to have perfect teeth. Or at least improved teeth. It has become such a standard that to compare it to plastic surgery might seem laughable. “Well, yes,” one might say, “but everyone has their teeth done, it would be weird to choose purposefully not to.” But to a child the lesson is the same. To make it in this world you will need to go through painful physical manipulation at the hands of expensive experts to fit in. And it’s important enough to fit in that your parents insist upon it. So the judgement against Human Barbie Mothering is not one of fundamental ethics, but really of drawing a line that is well under flux anyway.

Perhaps of greater importance is the implicit judgment of happiness, however, that comes with admonishing this mother. What we are really saying is “you are lost and confused and fake and therefore not really happy and now you’re passing that on to your daughters who will have no chance at true happiness.” But what if we are simply wrong. What if her fake tits and smile and hair and body make her feel good, as hard as that might be for us to swallow. What if she has found a path to happiness, and like any other mother her instincts tell her to pass that knowledge along. In which case, what if the only real threat to the daughters is being forced to doubt the values their mother is teaching them. Now it might be easy to scoff at that notion, but let’s consider what other values are being handed down without reproach. Think about an insurance company manager whose job is designing ways to legally fleece people with endless red tape and bureaucracy, what are they teaching their children about values. About what it takes to make it in the world. That is not to demonize them, for they are not bad people either simply for their job, but to suggest that what we consider ‘acceptable’ value passing is already rife with ideas we’d find repugnant if they were spelled out.

The essence of Killin’ It is self-definition. And to defend and allow for that, we must be able to defend and protect those who define themselves in ways we may not choose for ourselves.

Gaby Rodriguez’s planned lies seem pioneering kind of move in the realm of social consciousness. Is it real? Is it fake? Is it true? Gaby Rodriguez lied to show everybody else the truth of their own conditioned experiences. We are on high alert for liars, but this has led us to a polarizing and paralyzed place. When we think things must fit neatly into a category of “real” and “fake,” we cut ourselves off from some of the most important connections and insights. Perhaps it is time for a new moral on lying. Fabrications with the intention of revealing truth ought to be embraced and celebrated and honored–they are killin’ it in a very real way!

I often think of what we’re all up against in our quest to be Killin It. It’s not so much the personal stumbles and defeats that would diminish our mojo, but the gigantic external forces which would prevent us from even finding the path that we might best walk. This video gives a very specific snapshot of one such area: an un-pc first hand accounting of just what opium can be and what it can be turned into. Notice how absent this voice is from the massive debate on drugs that has swamped our culture for decades. Yet how not dismissable it is.

But to focus on his lack of leg is to miss the point of what Roble’s recent case of Winning can tell us. See he’s a pretty good wrestler, leg or not. He finished in the top ten the last two years. So did nine other guys. But he wanted to stand on the podium. This is how he said he approached this year.

“I came into every match this season believing I could be a national champion. I started every match the same way, like this was the national championship and the other guy was the other national finalist.”

What a nugget he’s given us – a gift from the attention drawn to him (let’s face it, if he had two legs I would never hear of him, its the first time I’ve ever known the name of the collegiate wrestling champion). So often in life we treat the steps toward our goal as just that, steps. But if we approach each step as if it were the final act we endow it with and energy and purpose which changes the nature of the step.

When you wash the dishes, wash the dishes as if you were preparing the kitchen for the arrival of the Queen of England, or for your finest feast, or as if you were never going to wash them again. The point is we have imaginations capable of changing our actual experience. Take whatever steps you find painful or boring in life, and treat them like they are the national championship, in your own way.

Then you’ll find that nothing is in between you and Killin it!

[ti_audio media="1478"]

Oh, and here are the Killin’ It lyrics…It’s a little hard to make out with your own ear, but they’re quite beautiful if you ask me!

I want to look beyond my own hands
To see further, than my eyes
I need to feel, at distance just, beyond reach

Killin’ It (x3)

I will grab, the reins
of my own, destiny

Killin’ It (x3)

Not to be outweighed, or outdone
by my own limitations

Killin’ It (x2)

I
Will
Kill
It

Another example of big TV’s heavy-handed control came a few weeks ago with the dismissal of Keith Olbermann from his wildly successful show, “Countdown with Keith Olbermann,” on MSNBC. Both Eminem and Olbermann appeal to people because of their rebelliousness toward their parents–i.e. the network/production bigwigs. They’re polarizing figures who people tend to either love or hate, which also makes them bonafied artists.

By contrast, Internet and satellite radio offers broadcasters endless freedom. For example, “The Jerk Box” is a radio show where a woman offers live sex talk to her callers and airs it live, for all subscribers to hear. There’s no meddling authority telling anyone to clean up their language, so the only judgement satellite broadcasters face is from society itself. I think that’s pretty much Killin’ It! After all, what’s more worthwhile, to rebel against your sophomore English teacher or the whole system of education? If the symbolic rebels of the TV era are left without enemies on the unregulated internet, the rebels we look to will have to be real ones, and might just end up being ourselves. Killin’ It!

Has anyone tried drinking coffee from the new Starbucks Trenta sized cup? Rumor has it it can hold more liquid (31 ounces) then the human stomach, more wine an entire wine bottle, and probably enough milkshake to keep the boys coming to the yard weeks on end!-all in the same plastic type cup with a straw and lid to which we’ve grown accustomed. In the old quality versus quantity debate, it seems quality always wins out. But I propose exactly the opposite. After all, whats more killin it? to drink a refined glass poured from a fancy bottle, or fill up your recycled Trenta cup with your favorite boxed wine? With killin’ it, it’s not size, it’s not strength and it’s not refinement, but CAPACITY that matters. How much can you take in – happiness, adversity, love, hate, good luck, misfortune – is what’s really meaningful. Sometimes the body or the mind will say “that’s too much!” And you can only know what’s too much from past experience, so don’t let the past put limits on the future. Killin’ It!

Starbucks' new trenta-sized cup is bigger than the human stomach and can hold an entire bottle of wine.

Also today I have to share with you this Killin’ It video from Nick Beddington. I’ve been receiving a few videos made by fans of Killin’ it lately, and I’m LOVIN’ THEM. Please, if you have a notion to make a video about how you kill it, send it to me I’ll make sure it gets up on here. Nick is out making his own path in the pristine snow-covered terrain somewhere, I’m guessing, in Canada. He’s got his dogs with him and he’s about to kill it with an ice climb. Fantastic Nick! Thanks for sharing this. You’re killin’ it many times over!

So if you find yourself having hundreds of miscommunications, frustrations, or irriations in a row without apologizing? By the law of averages you probably should have thrown an “I’m sorry” out there when you didn’t.

Apologies are not signs of weakness in your self-belief; they are testaments to your belief in others.

Last night’s state of the union address by Barack Obama has got a lot of people talking and tweeting. The president pulled out some tried and true topics that have now come to be cliches in political pep talks, such as more emphasis on education. “It’s not just the winner of the Super Bowl who deserves to be celebrated, but the winner of the science fair,” he said. Obama did alright, but if he really wanted to kill it, he would perhaps put more money where his mouth is. How about a law that teachers are required to make as much as lawyers? Or better yet, how about teachers-like brain surgeons- get prime access to the most cutting edge technologies. Best of all, to support teachers in their efforts, make it possible for every US citizen to be tested for a deficient brain, which they can have fixed by a medical facility free of charge!…before we bother to teach them! That’s killin’ it in its own fantastical way!

The bottom line is that in so many ways the education system from top to bottom needs a complete overhaul. Teachers aren’t paid much because collectively society doesn’t place much value in them. The effect of their service is somewhat abstract and unknown, especially when we see so many young people floundering in life. American society generally seems to have low trust in teachers. Where, after all, did that expression come from: “Those who can’t do, teach.” If you ask me, high schools and colleges might benefit from a few less offerings like “socio-gender-based-eco-politics” and a few more courses in plain “Killin’ It.” Sound ridiculous? Maybe, but it just might the beginning of that overhaul we need!

On a lighter note, Here’s something that’s positively killin’ it: The undereye black jail stripe ensemble sported by Bethanie Mattek-Sands at the Australian Open.

Food on your face is usually not as good as food in your mouth, except if it happens to be permanent tattoo of ice-cream! A creative homage to his catchphrase “brrr,” rapper Gucci Mane’s tattoo is totally killin’ it. The full color three scoops should earn him a lick in the face, and NOT the violent kind. Killin’ It!

This hilarious exchange took place a couple days ago on the O’Reilly factor. Bill O’Reilly debates the existence of God with David Silverman, the President of American Atheists, who also appears to be David Blaine’s brother. It’s a completely non-sensical and highly entertaining exchange, with Bill going on about the inexplicability of the tides and Silverman repeating how it’s a “true fact that religion is a scam.” Two funny men completely dug in on opposite sides, verbally battling in a manner not more sophisticated (in all seriousness!) than a couple 6 year olds exchanging “i know you are but what am I’s” on the playground. It’s moments like these when I truly question if people ever really develop into wiser, more patient and accepting beings. When will more of us wake up and realize that in order to evolve mentally, you have to de-prioritize your opinions! Opinions are always feeble artillery! Hold your opinions, sure, we all do, but don’t bring them out in an argument. More often than not you’ll look like a fool. Killin’ It!

Oh, and if you ever start to think that your opinions are facts, then you’re really in trouble and need to get some help at the killin’ it clinic!

Bill O’Reilly engages in another GradeSchool type battle…

Last night the $355 million dollar Mega Millions jackpot was given away to 2 winners.  As Andy Warhol once commented, “A Coke is a Coke and no amount of money can get you a better Coke than the one the bum on the corner is drinking.” It’s the same with playing the lottery: a genius has the same odds as a moron. It’s a leveled playing field where the outcome is truly unexplainable. Like magic! The lottery (even apart from winning the lottery!) is Killin’ It!

And you know what Kills it even harder? Looking at every bit of money that you earn as being like winning the lottery. Got a raise? Awesome, but before you credit your hard work or devotion, consider the possibility that it’s because you’re just plain lucky!

While some may think that being called “just lucky” is a sort of backhanded compliment, when you’re killin’ it it’s actually the highest form of praise. One might be “confident,” “organized,” or “dedicated,” but claiming these qualities is somehow never as captivating as just saying you’re “one lucky son-of-a-gun.” Case in point. Check out this video of a charming and disarming Washington D.C. panhandler who was lucky enough to be born with a startling combo of a “golden voice” and a striking face. Watch him talk – it’s almost like a special effect you’d see in a movie. Just as radio is like the “theatre of the mind,” luck is like the “special effects” of everyday life. Killin’ It!

Homeless man with a priceless voice

Strangely enough, perhaps luck can be the most consistent virtue for some of us.

Maybe some others of you have noticed that the holidays are essentially insane. I don’t just mean in a hectic kind of way, but also in a literal way. The holidays are imagined to be a fun and relaxing time, but so frequently we find it is not. They’re fraught with snowed in airports, too much alcohol, too much bread and cheese-filled fatty food, and worst of all, an excess of meaningless small talk. You find yourself at annual parties with the same people every year, covering the same bases after not seeing one another all year long. What are you doing? Where are you living? How are your kids? What are they doing? Where are you working? and so on and so on, right? You find yourself breathless, sounding like a broken record, handing out cookie cutter answers. On top of all this is the shopping madness that surrounds it all. Gift giving is nice, sure, but you have to ask yourself after all is said and done: how much of this stuff is useful vs. how much excess and clutter did I just acquire?

When I start facing the reality of these things, the holidays can get a little depressing for me (sometimes more than a little). So how do you conquer the holiday insanity? The answer is surprisingly simple and I don’t think you’ll find it surprising, coming from me. You kill it. You kill the holidays. When people ask you what you’re doing these days, you say “I’m Killin’ It.” When they ask you what you’re up to, you say “I’m Killin’ It.” Instead of getting mired in all the item buying, take everyone out for some drinks and good food. No pizza though, please, and no more burgers. Get sushi. Kill it like that!

When the holiday season gets a little insane, you have to find a way to kill it.

Yesterday Michael Vick of the Philadelphia Eagles scored three game tying touchdowns in the final minutes of a thrilling match against the New York Giants. Since his 2009 release from a 19-month stay in a federal prison for running illegal dog fights, it seems like the once beleaguered player’s life is on a big-time upswing. This leads me to the (always interesting) question of what is the ingredient needed to make someone great. Training for sure, but-more basically-maybe what’s really needed is a personality willing to train to the extreme, to the point of no return. Extreme circumstances lead to extreme revelation. Like swallowing down something bitter after eating something sweet, the rags to riches trajectory of Michael Vick – from the projects of Newport News Virginia, to millionaire sports hero, to bankrupt (literally and morally) inmate, to the high he’s riding today must be alternatingly traumatic and miraculous. In early 2010 he was quoted saying “I feel like I’m probably better than I ever was in my career, as far as the mental aspect of the game.” And sure enough, with every game he’s proving that this is indeed the case. If Vick does in fact lead the Eagles to the superbowl and win it, it would be the sports story of the decade.To me, the lesson is that sometimes the training we need to do to succeed requires that we swallow bitterness. Against all instinct, sometimes you need to convince yourself that just because it’s bitter doesn’t mean it’s poison. Killin’ It!

The video below is from Mr. John Wolfe from Big Sur, California. The video features a happy drunk making probably the best (temporary) escape from the police that I’ve ever seen. He even shakes their hand (literally) before he shakes them! Enjoy! And come back on Monday to view the first ever original Killin’ It with Paul Crik dance music video. Train Yourself! KI!

And last but not least, an oldie but goodie from yours truly!

Italian art experts have made a surprising discovery inside the painted eyeballs of Leonardo da Vinci’s 500 year old masterpiece, “The Mona Lisa.” Some tiny letters and numbers. They think this encryption may be the name and birthdate of the mysterious half-smiling woman who was “Mona.” The question of her identity has stood as one of art’s most enduring mysteries, and has elevated the status of the unnamed woman in the painting to something of a Goddess. So then, if we confirm who she is, will we still be as fascinated with the painting? Hard to say, but I doubt anyone will argue with me that a secret has a powerful effect. Whether on the international stage or in your own life, exactly how, when, and how much to tell people can be the difference between killin’ it and not killin’ it. Like anything, managing strategic secret telling takes practice and discipline. Here’s an exercise to build your muscles – when your emotions want you to let information out, keep your mouth closed.  When fear is inducing you to keep quiet, then take to the airwaves! Killin’ it!

researchers recently discovered startling encryptions inside the irises of Mona Lisa's eyes

Similar to Nostradamus' uncanny futuristic predictions, Da Vinci appears to have written the word "wikileaks" inside of Mona's left Iris

Mike Tyson never ceases to astound. Whatever your take on him may be, he gets a lifetime Killin’ It badge from me. He could take anyone down in the ring with his fierce punches, but he can also disarm opponents, and even aggressive interviewers like Larry King, simply be being brutally straightforward and honest. Mike is like the opposite of today’s typical politician. He won’t hide behind calculated, shadowy responses. Here, in this killin’ it exchange that occurred between himself and King a few night’s ago on Larry’s show, Mike explains to Larry why he got the tattoo on his face. I was rolling on the floor when Larry asks him if it hurt when he got it, describing the tattooing procedure as “they’re taking a needle….and rubbing it into your head!” Have a look and a laugh for yourself.

Also, the story about a Canadian man and his beer drinking bison that he loads up in his car and takes to the bar is too killin’ it not to include. I swear that one day I’m gonna get my own baby bison and do the same!

Mike Tyson’s honesty is as fierce as his punches

It’s always Killin’ It whenever someone build their own musical instrument and then plays it.  I’ve seen people make one string guitars with cheap packing twine.  I’ve seen drums made out of empty yogurt containers, whistles made from sticks.  But every now and then you run into someone who is truly raising the bar on the whole endeavor, like this guy.  He’s built what is obviously a fairly sophisticated drum-like organ-ish instrument using a dense entangling of PVC pipes.  He’s even painted the object beautifully to match his school colors (LMU). it’s quite a thing to look at.  But beyond that, the instrument produces a truly interesting, harmonic original sound.  And man can he play it well!  He plays it in such a masterful way that, well, the only way to describe it completely is to say that he kills it massively! Watch and prepare to have your mind blown.

Amazing homemade instrument made from PVC pipes!

The Wikileaks saga is blowing my mind these past few days! One man – Julian Assange -  has put the U.S. Government in an uncomfortably tight spot. Thanks (or no thanks) to the Internet, it would seem that there’s no real way to prevent a lot of potentially damaging top secret information from getting out and staying out? Is this good or bad for the world? I really don’t know, though I can’t help but appreciate the Full Force impact of what Julian Assange has done.  Also, the news of Assange being in hiding, and being sought after for rape and molestation charges completely unrelated to the Wilileaks scandal, well, it all just smacks of a conspiratorial thriller, right?  Except this is real life!  I never cease to be amazed by how truth REALLY is stranger and more exciting than fiction. What do you think about wikileaks?  Please kill it and let us know!

The mysterious shape-shifting mastermind of wikileaks.org: Julian Assange.

A Full Force Attitude is what you need to get you where you want to go.

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!

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

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.

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 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

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

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 12^th 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!

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!

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.

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!

Though the news is now a few days old, I’m compelled to acknowledge the MASSIVE and multiple ways that the Chilean miners Killed It.

I mean, these guys could so easily have perished had not every party involved at all times just killed it. It was killin’ it to begin with: the fact that there was a properly engineered safety chamber in place, prepared for a potential catastrophe just such as this. It was killin’ it how the men accepted their circumstance, kept their calm, formed a community, and lived like that for more than 2 months, with utter poise and comradery. It was killin’ it the way they built such an amazing rescue vessel, an almost magical descending capsule dropped through an earth-hole to bring up the miners one by one. The anticipation of each rescued miner killed it, like waiting for some surreal birth, a live human missile brought from the core to the surface. Powerful fanstastic images, feelings. The collective empathy – for the miners, the rescuers, the families, the world – is killin’ it. I think this live video of Mario Sepulveda, the second miner to be rescued, probably says it better than I ever could. The energy and joy in this moment is enough to restore anybody’s faith in the human condition, the will to live, and quest to kill it.

Earlier this summer, when we all first heard about what the miners would have to face, I wrote a post about them. I have enough trouble figuring out ways to endure life itself, but whenever somebody is put in a circumstance where endurance and tough-mindedness becomes immediate, required to literally stay alive, I’m blown away. I made a video 2 years ago on the subject of endurance. It was always one of my favorites, though it has only a few views on youtube. In honor of the killin’ it miners, I’m including it here too.

If I asked you to describe someone who’d bring about social progress in these difficult times, I’m guessing your first answer wouldn’t be “a college drop-out or an illiterate clown.” Yet it’s exactly these candidates that some very high hopes are being pinned on. In Sao Paulo, Brazil a 45-year old clown named “Grumpy” won a seat in congress by appealing to disillusioned voters with the slogan “It can’t get any worse.” Though his competitors tried to bar him from running because of evidence he’s illiterate, he stayed on and ended up receiving twice the votes of the next runner up.

Here in the US, Peter Thiel, the co-founder of Paypal, is offering $100,000 to 20 people under 20 who drop out of school to pursue a business idea. In Thiel’s mind, this frees up ambitious young minds from the time drain of school and gets them started on the innovative technology that will improve the lives of people to come. While the majority will say giving money to 20 individuals to drop out of school is foolish (in stark contrast to Mark Zuckerbergs recent $100 million dollar lump donation to support schools), I think not. Dropping out of college doesn’t necessarily mean dropping your ambition. Many top-tier, high-impact innovators are people who’ve dropped out of school. If we believe in the domino effect at all, it’s obvious how this unexpected move can trickle down in exciting ways. Why donate $100 million supporting the status quo if you can spend a fraction of that to create some momentum that will have positive reverberations decades down the line.

Likewise, why keep putting the same kind of politician in office over and over again when you can have a clown? The average politician is invested in maintaining a classic political image – creating a vicious cycle of stagnation. Clowns are invested in defying expectation and helping us see the lighter side of life. “Grumpy’s” unlikely victory could convince other politicians to acknowledge the utter bullshit that has become politics and also inspire a fresh crop of left-field people to enter future political races.

So next time you invest in something, try an approach that people would never see coming, come through the back door, walk into the room. If smart money never took risks with the unexpected, it wouldn’t be called smart money, would it? And that’s killin’ it.

I’m totally in awe over this video by a UK-based voice artist. 

The set up (talking on a cell phone) the dialogue, and most of all his amazing ability to speak with different accents are totally killin’ it. To be good at this kind of imitation isn’t just a matter of repeating what you’ve heard, at least according to Professor Sophie Scott, a neuroscientist from University College in London. After 16 years of studying speech, she’s concluded that a large part of developing new accents comes from the areas of the brain that control our movements. To successfully reproduce someone’s way of speaking, then, we have to imagine ourselves in their skin, moving about in their bodies. We’re doing this constantly without even realizing it. The many accents in the UK, for example, have formed over the centuries through interaction between English locals and newcomers, such as the Vikings and Normans, etc.

Scientists tell us that humans all started out in one place and then migrated around the globe.  Perhaps it makes sense that when separated groups cross paths again, there’s a desire to reconnect by embodying and mimicking our long lost neighbors. Maybe this young man (his name is Jake) can just do it faster – and over and over. It’s a gift, and truly entertaining to watch. Compare the Irishman to the Californian to the Chinese and you’ll see he seems to become a different person each time, showing us that imitation isn’t just flattery, it’s a killin’ it activity that helps lift us from our point of view and sometimes even out of our bodies.

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

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!