Listening to Monocle Weekly
I went on a blind date recently and the girl turned out to be an avid baker. I wanted some nookie but all I got was some cookie.
— From David Wain’s show “Wainy Days”
”@AndrewWK PARTY TIP: Get in your head that tonight you’re going to have the most amazing night you’ve ever had in your life. BELIEVE IT!”
I want Andrew WK’s outlook on life, its like looking at the world through the eyes of a newborn; everything is amazing, there’s nothing but possibilities, and nothing has been tainted.
I will get this in my head Saturday night.
This is really neat, and such an important step forward for the world.
A (very) brief summary:
- DuPont - gunpowder
- McDonalds - hotdog stand
- Nokia - papermill
- Sony - radio repair
- 3M - mining corundum for sandpaper
- IBM - weight scales, automatic meat slicers, coffee grinders, time-keeping systems, and computer punch card equipment
- Kraft Foods - door-to-door cheese business
- Panasonic - sockets and bicycle lamps
- Toyota - manual and machine-powered looms
- AIG - insurance agency in China
- Xerox - photographic paper and equipment
- Motorola - “battery eliminator” for battery-powered radios to run on household electricity
- American Express - express mail company
- Texas Instruments - seismic exploration for the petroleum industry
- NEC - telephones and switching systems for the Japanese market
Unusual Origins of 15 Innovative Companies (The Corner Office | BNET) http://ow.ly/BK4g
The film was created for $15,000 and, as of November 15th, has grossed $103,800,000 solely on domestic ticket sales. It’s expected to reach 1,000,000% ROI once it is released internationally. That’s insane.
1 - Paranormal Activity (2009) - (691,900% ROI)
2 - The Blair Witch Project (1999) - (414,233% ROI)
3 - Road to Ruin (1928) - (99,900% ROI)
4 - Birth of a Nation (1915) - (8,354% ROI)
5 - E.T. (1982) - (7,451% ROI)
Malcolm Gladwell
Steven Pinker, professor of psychology at Harvard University, gives a disarming review to Gladwell’s new book, “What the Dog Saw”. Mr. Pinker writes, “When a writer’s education on a topic consists in interviewing an expert, he is apt to offer generalizations that are banal, obtuse or flat wrong.” The book is compiled of 19 articles involving Gladwell’s usual clientele, a group of brilliant oddballs who necessarily back up his eclectic findings. Mr. Pinker adds, “The themes of the collection are a good way to characterize Gladwell himself: a minor genius who unwittingly demonstrates the hazards of statistical reasoning and who occasionally blunders into spectacular failures.”
After reading the excerpt, I see Mr. Pinker’s review to be predictably unplayful. To my end, I see the book speaking to my personal hopes (I’d guess yours as well), where, while I was not born a prodigy, I am still capable of an equally lasting legacy as a ‘late-bloomer”. It seems that the inherent precedent for a great legacy, be it that from prodigies, late-bloomers or the in-between, is a healthy degree of neurosis. I am confident that I have that certain degree of neurosis, but whether I am destined to make the ranks is yet to be seen. I’m hopeful but I’ll have to wait for the results of my 10,000 hours like my predecessors-to-be.
Gobsmacked indeed. James May from Top Gear goes for a ride to the edge of space in a U-2 spy plane. (via @colin)
Prank War 8 - The Skydiving Prank
Well here it is. I’d rather post video from Kimmel last night when I got to HUG DANNY DEVITO! but you’ll have to settle for this for now.
