Pete Holmes and Ali Waller talking about being "our best selves"

Comedian Pete Holmes talks to writer Ali Waller about our Adventurous selves vs our Cautious selves

'You Made it Weird' with Pete Holmes: Episode 268 - Ali Waller
ALI WALLER: (19m 20s) I think its always better to have the experience, have the relationship, make the weird mistake than to not. Even though I suffer for that. "Why did I ask that person out, he wasn't into me"...
PETE HOLMES: You're looking like, there's two us-es. There are so many us-es I feel like. There's that guy who's like "I'm gonna talk to strangers on a plane!"
WALLER: That guy.
HOLMES: I can't be that guy. Very, very rarely. Every once in a while I'm in that place where I feel like talking to people. I feel like meeting people. I feel like being my best self. I feel like helping people be their best self and what I try to do is make plans when I'm him and hope that he shows up again when the plan is happening but sometimes its not him and its the other guy...

and further on - 'will'

PETE HOLMES: (35m 05s) I'm fascinated with manufacturing will, like if you could sell a will pill. A pill that could give you the will to do things. I think that's what we're really after...  and that's one of the big struggles of life...
Notebooks, books. Certainly for me books. The potential to do something, we love these investments in this pretend future

As always when this line of thinking gets brought up on YMIW, Woody Allen's 'Vicky Cristina Barcelona' (2008) gets a mention. Vicky (Rebecca Hall) as our reserved self and Cristina (Scarlett Johansson) representing our impulsive alter ego.

VIDEO: Let's fly to Oviedo

Tim and Eric on Marc Maron's WTF podcast talk about Irony, awkwardness and being in on the joke

VIDEO: Tim And Eric, It's Not Jackie Chan (Original)

WTF with Marc Maron Podcast: Episode 536 - Tim and Eric
MARC MARON: (23m) It was essentially that. It was the lameness that was hilarious. Intentional lameness.
TIM HEIDECKER: Intentional stupidity that you have to be on the same page with the idea that I'm not really suggesting that as a name
MARON: Of course and he got that immediately and history is made
HEIDECKER: Irony, that's the word. You all have to be on the same page that we're all f*cked and most things are garbage. Most products, whether its movies or TV shows or books are mostly garbage and mostly patronising to us

I've been in trouble the last few weeks with group emails. You create a shorthand with people where there's an understood context in how to interpret each other. You take things with a grain of salt and don't accept everything at face value. It's an invisible language between friends. When you expand the circle like you do with group emails, sometimes it gets lost. The two people who seem most at odds get the code but everyone else takes it seriously. The tone shifts, it gets weird.

Comedian Pete Holmes on Hating popular movements and trends: The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, 'Breaking Bad' etc...

Pouring water on a viral sensation, the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge:

- The Ice Bucket Challenge: How Can We Really Cure ALS? (socialistappeal.org/)
- Critics pour cold water on the Ice Bucket Challenge: are they right? (theconversation.com)
- The worst part of the Ice Bucket Challenge is the people criticizing it (Vice.com)
- Dumping a bucket of ice on your head does not make you a Philanthropist (Vice.com)

'You Made It Weird' with Pete Holmes: Episode195 - Ari Voukydis
PETE HOLMES: (4m 40s) Sometimes people hate things or have a negative reaction to things because they're threatened by them... I realise once I said that it's kinda obvious. I was talking to my brother last night and he was talking about how he hates 'Breaking Bad'. I was like "Have you seen it?" and he was like "No". He's seen one or two episodes out of order. And in a loving way I was telling him how full of sh!t he is for -- Not because of Breaking Bad, you don't have to like Breaking Bad but -- the great thing about my brother is that he heard me. He wasn't just like "F*ck you", he's my older brother. He doesn't need to listen to this sh!t
What is it about Breaking Bad that you hate? Is it that everyone loves it and you like missed the train? You didn't watch it. You're left out. Does it represent loneliness and isolation. Because I feel that way sometimes about [Downton] Abbey... He also said "F*ck American Hustle!". So I said "You saw it?" and he said "No".
JOHN F. O'DONNELL: He just sounds like he's being curmudgeonly.
HOLMES: That's the worst thing you can do because I love my brother so I say "You're full of sh!t". To let it go is to abandon them which is kind of what I've done with my parents. It's beyond hope so you let it go. But with my brother it's like don't hate Bradley Cooper he was great in 'The Place Beyond the Pines'

Robin Williams ruminating about death and suicide to Marc Maron. Transcript from Episode 67 of WTF Podcast (April 26, 2010)

RIP Robin Williams (1951 - 2014)

I've listened to 'WTF with Marc Maron' since its inception, I recall episode 67 with Robin Williams being quite the breakthrough. It was one of the first episodes to get wider press attention and had an illustrated graphic to accompany it. It was also notable personally as it was the first time I began to realise the power of the podcast format to reveal a person't truth and a public figure's hidden humanity. Many articles have since been written about the dour nature of the Comedian Podcast, revealing uncomfortable truths underneath the laughs. Like good standup, these podcasts are therapeutic, raw and engaging. The Sad clown in the therapists's chair or in this case a fellow Comedian's Garage.

Robin Williams on the breakthrough WTF episode

WTF with Marc Maron Podcast: Episode 67 - Robin Williams transcript
MARC MARON: (52m) You don't seem to me like someone who is morbidly fascinated or hung up on death?
ROBIN WILLIAMS: No that's weird. When I was drinking there was only one time, even for a moment where I thought "F*ck life". And I went like, then even my conscious brain went like "Did you honestly just say "F*ck life". You know you have a pretty good life as it is right now. Have you noticed the two houses? Yes. Have you noticed the girlfriend? Yes. Have you noticed that things are pretty good even though you're not working right now? Yes. Let's put the suicide over here and discuss it. Let's put that in the discussion area.
First of all you don't have the balls to do it. I'm not going to say it out loud. Have you thought about buying a gun? No. What were you going to do, cut your wrist with a water pick? Maybe...
Can I put that here in the "What the F*ck!" Category. Can I ask you what you're doing right now? You're sitting in a hotel room with a bottle of Jack Daniels. Is this maybe influencing your decision? Possibly.
OK. And who's that in the bed over there? I don't know. Well don't discuss that with her cuz she may tweet it. This may not be good... let's put that over here. We can talk about that in therapy or maybe a podcast two years from now. You wanna talk about it in a podcast? No I feel safe. You're talking about it in a podcast. Who is this? It's your conscience Asshole. Oh ok...
MARON: That was a nice interval
WILLIAMS: Discussions of death, its very freeing Thank You.
MARON: It's a little, you know you've had all this stuff and there's a certain degree of - It doesn't matter
WILLIAMS: Big time!
MARON: It doesn't matter.

Listen to the full episode made available to honor Robin's recent passing
- Remembering Robin Williams
- WTF Podcast: Episode 67 - Robin Williams

Find a support contacts listing for Australia here
- National help lines and websites

Suicide and crisis support If you are in an emergency, or at immediate risk of harm to yourself or others, please contact emergency services on 000.
To talk to someone now call
Lifeline 13 11 14
Suicide Call Back Service 1300 659 467

Video Game Playthroughs of life: 'Review' with Forrest MacNeil [or Myles Barlow]

I grew up playing Videogames but have not played obsessively for close to a decade. The last game I recall being committed to was 'Super Mario Sunshine' (2002) for the Nintendo Gamecube. In the intervening years games have developed more realistic graphics and incorporated more engaging, moralistic narratives. With the online component and achievement building of personas and worlds in Games like 'Minecraft' and 'Second Life' there's a whole universe of Gaming I'm unfamiliar with.

Several of my friends are gamers and I'm often tantalized by their gaming conversations. I've never revisited gaming as I like to manage my "time sucks" which I know Gaming would be. Instead I just ask a lot of questions, consume shows like 'Good Game' or 'The Indoor Kids' and watch IGN Video Game Reviews.

A good friend told me that he found watching Video Game Walkthroughs a satisfying replacement to actually playing Videogames. He could engage with the emotion by being alongside the Player without having to expend as much mental energy and stress. I found this amusing at first but realised that a lot of our entertainment is passive anyway. We watch Sports without playing and enjoy Cooking shows without picking up a utensil or sampling the meal. This is what cinema is built on.

The thing that's different with Playthroughs is that Videogames are already one level removed from reality, so observing someone playing is two levels removed from the actual experience.

VIDEO: The Last Of Us Gameplay Walkthrough Playthrough (Full game)

I started wondering how a Playthrough of life might look like and how appealing that would be. The closest I could come up with was the Documentary format, then I remembered 'Review with Myles Barlow', a satirical black comedy about a critic who reviews life experiences in response to viewer questions. The Australian show has since been adapted for American audiences by Andy Daly, 'Review with Forrest MacNeil'.

VIDEO: Review - Life as a Thief

A friend of mine recently Facebook posted that her Eevee evolving into Sylveon (Pokemon XY for Nintendo 3DS) was her "proudest achievement so far this year" which was met by congratulations all around. She remarked astutely "It's all the same to the reward centre of my brain".

Other posts on "Life as a Video Game"
- Dan Harmon and Duncan Trussell: We are in a simulation echo. God was originally a mortal programmer who "sacrificed himself as a player"
- Exploring Worlds in life and in Video Games - The Indoor Kids #59: Why we Play, with Pete Holmes
- Onnit Blog: Self Improvement in Video Games VS the "Real World"
- Kumail Nanjiani and Pete Holmes talk about "affecting the world TODAY"
- Skateboarders GoPro Train Derailment aftermath - 'Strange Days' visceral experience
- On being a Badass: Comedians Harland Williams and Pete Holmes featuring band 'Biting Elbows'

Comedians Pete Holmes and Ben Schwartz discussing Happiness and the Haters

Pete Holmes in conversation with Ben Schwartz discuss Happiness and how trolls and haters fit into the equation.

You Made it Weird with Pete Holmes: #198 Ben Schwartz
BEN SCHWARTZ: (28m 40s) I would want to make everybody happy. As I got older you realise it would waste your whole life to try to get people to love, you just want people to be happy, not everybody's going to like your sh*t and not everybody is going to think you're good and by the way you may not be good in their eyes... Not to be egotistical about it and let it slide. The more you get hit by it, the more you fail, the more you get hurt by stuff like that the easier it is to learn to let it go
PETE HOLMES: But its also, your interpretation of happiness is you and that person getting along...
SCHWARTZ: Yes which is - Great call!
HOLMES: - which isn't true
SCHWARTZ: That's not true, you're absolutely correct. That's not the way to live anybody's life. A random person I don't know
HOLMES: ... It's manipulative for me to try and make everyone like me... Some people hate what you love that's just how it is... Maybe their happiness is hating you. I'm not saying they shouldn't be saying racist things on YouTube. I'm also not saying that's their higher self being filled with hate and spewing darkness. I don't think that's good. Maybe you're not for them and that's OK.

The comedians inject Bill Waterson's ('Calvin and Hobbes' creator) quote about happiness into the conversation. It's not the first time the quote has come up on Pete Holmes' podcast, ambition and the drive of an artist are recurring themes on the show.

Creating a life that reflects your values and satisfies your soul is a rare achievement. In a culture that relentlessly promotes avarice and excess as the good life, a person happy doing his own work is usually considered an eccentric, if not a subversive. Ambition is only understood if it's to rise to the top of some imaginary ladder of success. Someone who takes an undemanding job because it affords him the time to pursue other interests and activities is considered a flake. A person who abandons a career in order to stay home and raise children is considered not to be living up to his potential — as if a job title and salary are the sole measure of human worth.

You'll be told in a hundred ways, some subtle and some not, to keep climbing, and never be satisfied with where you are, who you are, and what you’re doing. There are a million ways to sell yourself out, and I guarantee you’ll hear about them.

To invent your own life's meaning is not easy, but it’s still allowed, and I think you’ll be happier for the trouble.
- Bill Waterson

Zen Pencils: #128 Bill Watterson - A cartoonist’s advice

The Zen Pencils' comic illustrating the Waterson quote also gets a repeat mention. Fittingly Zen Pencils is currently presenting an original multi-part story commenting on the tension between Creators and Haters. Find them here:
- 144. The Artist-Troll War 1: HATRED BREEDS HATRED
- 145. The Artist-Troll War Part 2: NEGATIVITY DESTROYS ALL
- 146. The Artist-Troll War 3: CREATORS > HATERS

Find previous Pete Holmes podcast references below:
- Pete Holmes collection: Adjacent experiences
- Zach Cregger: Being a kid again and the power of "play"
- Matt Besser: Travel coincidences and Counting the serendipities
- Duncan Trussell: Traveling, living the dream and remembering it
- Kyle Kinane: Being excited everyday
- The Sklar Brothers: Performing, possibly failing - That's living the dream
- A question answered with a quote: Comedy Podcasts

Comedian Louis C.K. on what Smartphones are taking away

I celebrated my birthday alone in Rio de Janeiro because of a mixup connecting with one of the few people I knew in the city. It was partly because I didn't have a phone. 

I spent the day alone watching 'Gravity' (2013) in the cinema.

There was a melancholy to the day but stumbling onto this video that night really cheered me up.
I got to hang with my buddies the day after. All's well that ends well.

VIDEO: Louis C.K. Hates Cell Phones
   

Louis C.K.'s Explanation of Why He Hates Smartphones Is Sad, Brilliant
You need to build an ability to just be yourself and not be doing something. That's what the phones are taking away, is the ability to just sit there. That's being a person. Because underneath everything in your life there is that thing, that empty—forever empty. That knowledge that it's all for nothing and that you're alone. It's down there.

Comedian Pete Holmes on the "Cosmic Joke"

"They understand the cosmic joke which is the idea that everything is kind of funny. Like everything that happens is a little bit funny just by the virtue of it happening. And some people get that and some people are like ”No, The Cosby Show is on at 8:30”. You know what I mean, they just get it. They accept the world as it is."

- 'You Made it Weird' with Pete Holmes: Episode 177 - Tig Notaro

Rhe Dogg and Stephen Fry: Living the life and being unhappy

Our minds our powerful and our existential weight can be immense if we ponder it. Below is a fascinating look at depression as elucidated by Stephen Fry:

Only the Lonely
But I can still be sad. Perhaps you might go to my tumblr page and see what Bertrand Russell wrote about his abiding passions (it’s the last section of the page). I can be sad for the same reason he was, though I do so much less about it than that great man did. But I can be sad for personal reasons because I am often forlorn, unhappy and lonely. These are qualities all humans suffer from and do not qualify (except in their worst extremes) as mental illnesses.

 Lonely? I get invitation cards through the post almost every day. I shall be in the Royal Box at Wimbledon and I have serious and generous offers from friends asking me to join them in the South of France, Italy, Sicily, South Africa, British Columbia and America this summer. I have two months to start a book before I go off to Broadway for a run of Twelfth Night there.

 I can read back that last sentence and see that, bipolar or not, if I’m under treatment and not actually depressed, what the fuck right do I have to be lonely, unhappy or forlorn? I don’t have the right... 

 Nothing captures existential angst as beautifully as Rhe Dogg’s ’Why must I cry’

 VIDEO: "Why Must I Cry" Tosh.0 Remix

When fireworks underwhelm: Returned Soldier Kyle Wilson and Comedian Pete Holmes "feel nothing"

A friend of mine was explaining the closing scenes of movie 'Blue Valentine' (2010) on the theme "Love ends". She described how the final shot was of the lead couple enjoying a fireworks display with a montage of the early stages of their relationship overlayed.
The friend she watched it with posed the question "Why do you think the filmmaker did that?". Stumped, he replied "Its a metaphor for love".
Cue awkward collar pulls.

aaaawkward 

Its part of the human experience for feelings to wane, guess the trick is not be defeated by it. Below are two pieces I've enjoyed in past weeks which touch on fireworks and passion.

'Hack' is a Current Affairs show on National Youth Broadcaster, Triple J. During ANZAC week they covered several stories on the human toll of War. Featured heavily was 22 year old Kyle Wilson, a returned soldier returning from the Afghan theatre. He explains to Alex Mann his feelings of ennui at home after so much adrenalin abroad.

Hack: Wednesday 24th April
KYLE WILSON: (6m 40s) When I got back people used to be like, let's go watch the fireworks but fireworks bore me to tell you the truth
ALEX MANN (voiceover): The common theme for all three guys is the intensity of the experience and the emotion they shared with their mates when serving. Kyle says that now he's home, nothing else seems to measure up
WILSON: I miss Afghanistan so much. I miss the mates I was with and I miss the fighting aspect of it. But it also comes with a lot of downers as well but I'll always miss that feeling. I'm sure every soldier who's been through that experience listening right now will be saying the exact same thing. They miss that Adrenalin rush.

I had the pleasure of trekking south to Melbourne to see Pete Holmes perform in Australia for the first time. I got to hear this joke live. In conversation with running mate Comedian Eddie Pepitone he explains the origin of the fireworks joke during a joint day at the zoo.

'You Made it Weird' with Pete Holmes: Episode 143 - Eddie Pepitone
HOLMES: (11m 30s) ... Sometimes you'll have the greatest day in the world and you'll just be like "But I just don't feel great"
PEPITONE: Its like what you said in Australia which I love. Pete did this thing in Australia where he went to see Koalas and he told the audience that night - "I saw Koalas, I felt nothing".
room laughs
and I found that the funniest thing because my wife was all over me - "You gotta see the Koalas, You gotta see the Koalas".
HOLMES: The actual line which you loved so much was, I do say "I felt nothing". But the opener was "You ever look at something and wish that it meant more". And that's how I feel when I look at fireworks
PEPITONE: Haha fireworks too
HOLMES: Fireworks are one of those things that when you look at the colors in the sky and you're like eerrrrrrr...
PEPITONE: Its just a great metaphor, its just a a great way to talk about what I'm talking about. I thought that success (not that I'm a major success), I thought success would be - End of all Problems! but that never ends...

Watch Pete deliver the observation at the 'Festival Club' for the Melbourne Comedy Festival

VIDEO: Pete Holmes - ABC2 Comedy Up Late

Find more posts on "losing a feeling":
- Read more about the "Hero's Journey" (aka The Monomyth)
- Coming Home from a year abroad. Reverse Culture shock and beating the travel Blues: The Hurt Locker (2008)
- Comedian Pete Holmes on adjacent experiences: Conversations relating to Travel, dreams and life
- Argentina observations: Do you really want to live forever young?

Other people's stories - Tales of: Living in the moment

<< crossposted on the '30HomeGames' blog

On my return to Germany, I had a thought-provoking stay CouchSurfing in Düsseldorf. My host, 'German P*' was an avid poker player and Philosophy student with an impressive collection of books. Some I owned and some I'd been reading. Most interesting was the literature he had on Zen, it informed his Poker play and extended to his approach to life. As I've been on a mission to have a basketball experience around Europe, I was naturally drawn to his copy of 'Sacred Hoops'. A book by basketball Living Legend and famed Zen Master Phil Jackson, best known for coaching two of the greatest competitors and champions in Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant.

When in motion I prefer not to use a map. I enjoy feeling my way through, come what may. On the occasion I've had a running mate, I've found myself annoyed when they've depended heavily on GPS navigation and maps even though I know its entirely well meaning. You could say its a pet peeve. I've often wondered why it aggravated me so, this passage from Jackson's book shed some light:

I find it amusing when people ask me where I get my ideas for motivating players. The answer is: in the moment. My approach to problem-solving is the same as my approach to the game. When a problem arises, I try to read the situation as accurately as possible and respond simultaneously to whatever's happening

I realised I enjoy being in the moment, to be tested by it. I learnt several things during my stay with P*. With his perspective as a poker player and student, we had many discussions on the subject of gambling, life and the way we think (human behaviour and personal beliefs). What I came to appreciate was the importance of "living in the moment", particularly poignant as the year closes and my journey wraps up. Not only to look back and reflect but to also feel "present" inspite of the complacency and distraction that can overwhelm during eventful times.

With that I present to you this edition of Other People's Stories - Tales of: living in the moment:

VIDEO: Marc Maron talks to Norm Macdonald about his gambling problem

This podcast conversation on gambling resonated with me when I heard it months ago. I shared it with P* as I felt it was relevant to our discussion

WTF with Marc Maron Podcast: Episode 219 - Norm Macdonald
NORM MACDONALD: The only time I went to a psychiatrist was for gambling, cuz how do I get the f*ck out of this. He said "the reason you gamble is to avoid life". My thing was "Isn't that why you do anything in life? To f*cking avoid it"
MARC MARON: (agreeing) It's just too painful
MACDONALD: ...you just lose by uh, its just like any escape... When I watch a game and I've got a bunch of money on it then I can understand what's going on. There's nothing ambivalent about what's going...
MARON: (adding) and there's stakes
MACDONALD: and there's stakes. You know exactly the rules. You're completely involved. You're completely escaped from your life. The real, real fear...

----------------------------------------------

I devoured this book as soon as I found it on P*'s bookshelf. He suggested 'A New Earth' (Eckhart Tolle, 2007) was more relevant to me, I felt that with my 30HomeGames mission choosing the basketball book was a no-brainer

Sacred Hoops: Spiritual Lessons of a Hardwood Warrior
This is a book about a vision and a dream. When I was named head coach of the Chicago Bulls in 1989, my dream was not just to win championships, but to do it in a way that wove together my two greatest passions: basketball and spiritual exploration.

On the surface this may sound like a crazy idea, but intuitively I sensed that there was a link between spirit and sport. Besides, winning at any cost didn't interest me. From my years as a member of the championship New York Knicks, I'd already learned that winning is ephemeral. Yes, victory is sweet, but it doesn't necessarily make life easier the next season or even that day. After the cheering crowds disperse and the last bottle of champagne is drained, you have to return to the battlefield and start all over again.

In basketball as in life true joy comes from being fully present in each and every moment, not just when things are going your way. Of course, it's no accident that things are more likely to go your way when you stop worrying about whether you're going to win or lose and focus your full attention on what's happening right this moment
...
Life like, basketball is messy and unpredictable. It has its way with you, no matter how hard you try to control it. The trick is to experience each moment with a clear mind and open heart. When you do that, the game – and life – will take care of itself.

----------------------------------------------

This was a winning essay P* entered into a competition commissioned by a German Poker forum, It deconstructed the pscyhology of "tilt". When players let their emotions cloud their poker judgment, it is called going "on tilt".

In order to recognize tilt we need to be present. This is a matter of exercise and great results can be achieved long-term. The most intensive kind of exercise is meditation, which is pure presence...

A less intensive way of exercising is implementing small routines in daily life... "If you sweep the yard, sweep the yard. If you cut a carrot, cut a carrot" is a Zen saying which refers to this. Usually when we cut a carrot we are somewhere in the past or future, only when we cut our finger are we present. If we are fully present from the beginning we won`t cut our finger - you could say the same for tilt. If we are fully present we dont tilt

- Other people's stories - Tales of: Adventure
- Other people's stories - Tales of: Love
- Other people's stories - Tales of: Living the Dream
- Other people's stories - Tales of: Living in the moment

Find previous Maron podcast references here
- Marc Maron with Adam Carolla - On being sedentary
- Marc Maron with Doug Stanhope - On happiness
- Marc Maron with Norm MacDonald - On being in the moment
- Pete Holmes with Marc Maron - A question answered with a quote: Comedy Podcasts

Harmony Korine talks to Marc Maron about "Plotting" and The Joker talk to Harvey Dent about "schemers"

L'enfant terrible Harmony Korine

Marc talks to 'Spring Breakers' director Harmony Korine about the value he places in plot for his films and life

WTF with Marc Maron: Episode 374 - James Franco, Harmony Korine, Nate Bargatze, Peter Sagal
MARC MARON: (59m 30s) So story initially is not that important?
HARMONY KORINE: No I mean story is always important. Characters are always important. Sometimes I have a problem with like the idea of plot
panel and audience laughter
Cuz life never seems plotted or people who plot things seem horrible. Right? If you're a person who's gonna plot your life I don't want to be around you. So why would I want to plot my movies?
MARON: You might want to be around them when the plot starts failing cuz that's always interesting. Well that plot didn't work out now its...
KORINE: Story and characters are what I like

The Joker reasoning with Harvey Dent (Two-Face) on the merits of chaos over order

VIDEO: The Dark Knight - Hospital Scene (Two-Face and Joker)

The Dark Knight (2008)
THE JOKER: [speaking to Two-Face] Do I really look like a guy with a plan? You know what I am? I’m a dog chasing cars. I wouldn’t know what to do with one if I caught it! You know, I just, do things. The mob has plans, the cops have plans, Gordon’s got plans. You know, they’re schemers. Schemers trying to control their worlds. I’m not a schemer. I try to show the schemers how, pathetic, their attempts to control things really are. So, when I say, ah, come here, when I say that you and your girlfriend was nothing personal, you know that I’m telling the truth. It’s the schemers that put you where you are. You were a schemer, you had plans, and uh, look where that got you. I just did what I do best. I took your plan and I turned it on itself. Look what I did, to this city with a few drums of gas and a couple of bullets. Hm? You know what, you know what I noticed? Nobody panics when things go according to plan. Even if the plan is horrifying. If tomorrow I tell the press that like a gang banger, will get shot, or a truckload of soldiers will be blown up, nobody panics, because it’s all, part of the plan. But when I say that one, little old mayor will die, well then everyone loses their minds!
[Joker hands Two-Face a gun and points it at himself]
Introduce a little anarchy. Upset the established order, and everything becomes chaos. I’m an agent of chaos. Oh and you know the thing about chaos, it’s fair.

Find other Marc Maron posts below:
- AV Club's Nathan Rabin talks about Podcast Culture on Marc Maron's 300th episode of WTF
- Actor, Writer and Traveler Mike White speaks to Marc Maron about Adventure
- Dan Harmon talks Television with Marc Maron on GT4: "Hamburger" Art and living in a "concrete, Orwellian Honeycomb"
- Is Andrew W.K a persona that has been played by multiple actors? Marc Maron in conversation with Andrew W.K.

Comedians Pete Holmes and Eddie Pepitone on the phone as a "Life Companion"

Real truth in advertising: Samsung Galaxy S4 - Life Companion

'You Made it Weird' with Pete Holmes: Episode 143 - Eddie Pepitone
(1h 46m) EDDIE PEPITONE: Yesterday I found an hour to just go to the park at sunset. F*cking walk around the park leisurely for 45 minutes and sit under a tree and I meditated. Not the greatest meditation cuz I haven't meditated in a while. But after 15 minutes I open my eyes and just the gorgeous f*cking sunset in that park surrounded by green. That's spirituality for me. But it has to be sought after. I have to pull myself away. This might sound trite but the pull of Twitter and Facebook and emails
PETE HOLMES: I've stopped medititating because I'm like "I should check my @replies"
PEPITONE: One of the things I did after meditating, of course I had my phone in my pocket. What a great meditation, what a great sunset and I'm walking back to my house and I'm going for the phone (this is the constant struggle) "Eddie don't go for the phone right now". You really just got into a nice space You're probably feeling the best you've felt in a month. You know the sunset, the green...
HOLMES: Cuz Its taking you out of the moment
...
Its the sugar bowl. Its nutritionless, addictive, sweetness and the truth that you just touched on... The thing that breaks my heart is that wonder is everywhere. The park is wonderful. This room is wonderful. If you could have a waking dream appreciation of this existence, we would walk around and not be interested in our phones
...
I had this dream last night and I have it often, is that I fall into a body of water and I try to frantically turn it off which is what you're suppose to do [to preserve electronics]
...
But what's so sad is that its actually in my dream. I don't have children. The idea of losing my phone. This is a recurring dream
PEPITONE: That just gave me an idea for a guy who never has kids and his photo album are just different phones throughout his life and he's showing them to people. "This is my Samsung S2, it had some problems but we loved him anyway... We had to put him to sleep in a Sprint store"
HOLMES: We put him in a drawer here. You want to visit his grave

Watch Samsung's S4 phone trailer which includes these themes:

Convenience: Daily life is more convenient
Fun: Life becomes more fun
Relationship: Relationships grow closer
Care: Wellbeing is cared for 

VIDEO: Samsung Galaxy S4 - Life Companion Trailer HD

Find more Pete Holmes here:
- Comedian Pete Holmes on adjacent experiences: Conversations relating to Travel, dreams and life
- Comedian Louis C.K. on what Smartphones are taking away

Is Andrew W.K a persona that has been played by multiple actors? Marc Maron in conversation with Andrew W.K.

WTF with Marc Maron: Episode 313 - Andrew W.K.

I was once enthralled by an interesting conversation with Party Rocker Andrew W.K on Triple J radio, it struck me enough that I spent several days referencing it in conversations. During this time I was informed by someone who'd partied with the man that he was actually a persona that had been through several incarnations. He was merely a "mask", a legacy that could be donned by alternate actors. A motivational superhero, the proverbial masked wrestler except in plain sight.

As a wrestling fan and someone fascinated with identity this was an intriguing revelation. I wasn't even aware of such speculation, some cursory googling confirms there is credible baggage associated with Andrew W.K's identity. Personally it didn't change anything as I believe its "all real", if anything the hearsay only makes him more more compelling.

Interestingly an American artist I ran with in Barcelona offered the same theory for elusive artist 'Banksy' though I suspect his speculation came from a place of ignorance as he was mispronouncing his name as 'Banky'.

When Andrew W.K later appeared on Marc Maron's WTF podcast I listened to it through the prism that he was a Performance artist. In this light, I've pulled portions of the chat that allude to this likelihood. The episode is a largely typical WTF episode (existential, storytelling) but there was definitely some coded messaging going on. Either it was genuine or some playful improv to perpetuate a myth. Is the "Philosopher of Partying" a persona, judge for yourself.

Referencing "Soul" in relation to love and life

WTF with Marc Maron: Episode 313 - Andrew W.K.
MARC MARON: (22m 30s) I'm a true believer that the "One Soulmate" idea is bullshit
ANDREW W.K: For you?
MARON: For anybody
W.K: Geez Marc
MARON: What?
W.K: I wanna think that it exists
MARON: You're soul is so small it needs to limit itself?
W.K: Its extremely small, of course that's why I try to compensate for the other...
MARON: You're compensating for your tiny soul
laughter
W.K: I gave up my soul a looooong -- well not that long ago. About 12 years ago
MARON: To who?
W.K: When I moved to New York
MARON: You did not! You're full of soul. You're all about the soul
W.K: And that's the trick!
MARON: I get that. That IS the trick
W.K: You make them think it. Noooo there's no trickery going on. I'm having fun...

Maron crossing the line and breaking kayfabe

MARC MARON: (1h 04m 50s) Don't subvert your destiny
ANDREW W.K: You can
MARON: I think that what you're talking about is an example of being a creative person and realising your limitations and pursuing the best you can with your talent
W.K: I think you said it very well. I feel very limited so I was pleased to find one thing
MARON:  But you're not that limited. You've developed a theme, a tone and what appears to be a character for yourself
awkward air arises
W.K: Hey now!
MARON: What?
W.K: You see that sign? It says apple sauce. I'm just kidding it says "Applause". Will you flash that sign for me. You know what that is right?
Marc starts clapping and giggling
Remember the better you do, the better Larry does. Ok he's giving me a sign. He's giving me 5 seconds, its exciting isn't it? No no no...
the air normalises

Andrew W.K on his persona and being beholden to it

MARC MARON: (58m 40s) How do you get from this appreciation of the anarchists, the geniuses and the poets. How did you build yourself into what you became?
ANDREW W.K: I can't compete with them. They've already done it, they done a good job with all that they've done. That's just what I do for my own interests. My work that I do as Andrew W.K has nothing to do with my own tastes or hobbies or interests and things like that
MARON: Why is that?
W.K: Umm I guess its just with the agreements I made and the choices I made early on. It's not like its not a dream come true
MARON: What are those agreements though? You've probably talked about it before and I apologise
W.K: No no its the most trivial, unimportant stuff. Its just contracts and business things like that. What I'm saying is that when you know what you need to do and you signed up to do it and you know what it takes and what you've agreed to in order to achieve that. It not like I have a separate life. I don't look at it as a job, a 9 to 5 job
MARON: That is the business
W.K: I feel there's a time and place for it all. The Gods will continue to guide me and my managers, the people I work with in this version of reality will also guide me. I'm patient that's the thing
MARON: Do you have Gods? Do you have them for real or are you saying that?
W.K: Guardian angels, however you wanna put it.
MARON: Do you have them?
W.K: Everybody does. Well I do.
MARON: Well are you a spiritual cat?
W.K: No just pragmatic
MARON: Pragmatic and willing to mythologise
W.K: I can't discount these things with the life I've led. I feel it would be disrespectful to the forces beyond myself, to my mum and dad and my mentors. There are other things at work...

To be honest I was never much fussed on finding the absolute truth on whether Andrew W.K was a construct. I'm just delighted that the phenomenon exists. For those wondering if there's any larger meaning behind it all, Maron and W.K offer some clues in the beginning of their chat.

On art and life being esoteric and "making sense of it all"

ANDREW W.K: (16m) One of the most amazing things he [Professor] said, I don't just think it applies to esoteric thought It applies to maybe life, at least culture. "The fact you don't understand it is the point"
MARC MARON: Right! Cuz its constantly provocative
W.K: Its inspiring thought.
MARON: Exactly
W.K: Thank goodness cuz I felt like an idiot all these years that I didn't get it
MARON: That is very provocative... You spend your life trying to crack some sort of code thinking that, there's part of you that thinks like "I gotta make sense of it". How many times do you say to yourself "I just gotta figure it out
W.K: I wanna know!
MARON: I gotta figure it out. Someone knows!
W.K: Someday its all gonna make sense

Find other Marc Maron posts below:
- AV Club's Nathan Rabin talks about Podcast Culture on Marc Maron's 300th episode of WTF
- Actor, Writer and Traveler Mike White speaks to Marc Maron about Adventure
- Dan Harmon talks Television with Marc Maron on GT4: "Hamburger" Art and living in a "concrete, Orwellian Honeycomb"
- Is Andrew W.K a persona that has been played by multiple actors? Marc Maron in conversation with Andrew W.K.

When LozinTransit laughed the hardest - Nicholas Sparks trailer

VIDEO: 'Safe Haven' trailer (from Nicholas Sparks)

Comedian Pete Holmes will often ask guests of his 'You Made it Weird' podcast to recount a story of when they laughed really hard. This is the story I would tell:

I was watching 'Zero Dark Thirty' in the cinemas with the boys. My good friend who is an Army reservist was beside me. The trailer for the upcoming Nicholas Sparks movie 'Safe Haven' came on. As the trailer was wrapping up, my friend leant in and in a deadpan voice remarked - "They look happy"
I lost my sh!t after that.

Please watch the trailer and as it finishes highlight the tinted words inside the quotation marks to reveal what was said.

Find previous Pete Holmes podcast references below:
- Pete Holmes collection: Adjacent experiences
- Zach Cregger: Being a kid again and the power of "play"
- Matt Besser: Travel coincidences and Counting the serendipities
- Duncan Trussell: Traveling, living the dream and remembering it
- Kyle Kinane: Being excited everyday
- The Sklar Brothers: Performing, possibly failing - That's living the dream
- A question answered with a quote: Comedy Podcasts

Comedian Pete Holmes on adjacent experiences: Conversations relating to Travel, dreams and life

To commemorate the great news that Comedian and podcast inspiration Pete Holmes will be the new companion show for Conan O’Brien’s TBS show, I proudly present a crosspost from 'Loz in Translation'

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When people say "everyone should travel", I think they really mean "people should experience many things", further still "everyone should collect as many feelings". The reason people enjoy books and movies is that it allows them to experience other people's narratives, to identify with someone outside of themselves. That's what travels offers. Whilst we may never truly understand what its like to be on your first international Rock tour or live as a vagabond. We can experience feelings adjacent to it.

Ego tripping in Portugal, having a parallel experience

Comedian Pete Holmes has a very introspective personality which I identify with. I also find him hilarious and profound. The podcast format allows artists to share intimate details and find their true voice not unlike what's offered over dinner or on a blog. Below are posts featuring podcast excerpts of Pete Holmes ruminating on life, I relate it to my own experience and travels.

- Pete Holmes' official website
- Check out Pete Holmes' podcast: You Made it Weird with Pete Holmes

Zach Cregger: Being a kid again - Cave Clanning in La Perouse, Sydney

Matt Besser: Travel coincidences and Counting the serendipities

Duncan Trussell: Traveling, living the dream and remembering it

Kyle Kinane: Being excited everyday

The Sklar Brothers: Performing, possibly failing - That's living the dream

Marc Maron: A question answered with a quote

Pete Holmes on "getting into it" - People watching, connecting and conversations

New Yorker Cartoon by Bruce Erik Kaplan

Episode 77 - Pete Homes on 'Who Charted?' (Plant-Based Dick)
(1h 27m) PETE HOLMES: I love how they were making fun of this sort of... I've always been interested in how bad conversation is. It's so bad. Most people never talk, ever, never - You understand? Never have a real conversation. Its just transferring, passing this hockey puck back and forth of being like "So how are your kids? Well Tommy's..." Shut the f@ck up! What happens when we die?! Whatever or what are you afraid of?
...
HOWARD KREMER: Pete is speaking about something I think about often. I can't even pay attention to waiters when they're talking to me. Cuz I'm looking at the real guy, where does this guy live?
HOLMES: That's why I can't get into strip clubs. I can't just look at her as a body, I'm not even trying to impress women or be a feminist. Like "What kind of car does she have?", "What kind of breakfast is gyrating in front of me?"
KREMER: Its people watching

Find previous Pete Holmes podcast references below:
- Pete Holmes collection: Adjacent experiences
- Zach Cregger: Being a kid again and the power of "play"
- Matt Besser: Travel coincidences and Counting the serendipities
- Duncan Trussell: Traveling, living the dream and remembering it
- Kyle Kinane: Being excited everyday
- The Sklar Brothers: Performing, possibly failing - That's living the dream
- A question answered with a quote: Comedy Podcasts

Comedian Noel Fielding at the Sydney Opera House: Stand up, Punk Rock and ideas

Ideas are great, they transform the world but they often take time to spread and get realised. With the internet, memes are now able to spread like wildfire as Jason Silva illustrates. Back in the day it would have been spread via traveling storytellers, the forebears to todays' standups

play.sydneyoperahouse.com - Comedian Noel Fielding, Just for Laughs 2012

Just For Laughs 2012 - Noel Fielding
NOEL FIELDING: (1m 37s) What I love about standup is you can paint an image in a second and they're with you. Its their own version of your image. I like the way you can paint an image really quickly and quite fantastical or horrific images. There's something beautiful about the punk nature of standup cuz you can have an idea in the day and perform it that night and get an instant reaction. You know whether its good or not immediately...

Secrets of the Universe: Basketball Brain Games, Bill Hicks and Pete Holmes

VIDEO: National Geographic - Brain Games

Not to brag or anything but I discovered the secrets of the universe. It happened over a holiday weekend at the Gold Coast. It was my first travel experience since returning home from a year abroad. I also had the pleasure of reconnecting with an inspirational running mate I ego-tripped around Portugal and England with.

As this blog indicates I've been entertaining different perspectives on what makes reality. With the help of some organic substances and this National Geographic 'Brain Games' documentary which was showing at the time everything was unlocked. Thank you Universe!

Not unlike like an M. Night Shyamalan finale, my world view was turned on its head.  Everything that I thought I knew was pulled from under me. The question now is what does one do after unlocking the secrets of life. These comedic bits that interestingly reference hallucinogens and Bill Hicks offer some Call to Action

Dan Harmon and Duncan Trussell: We are in a simulation echo. God was originally a mortal programmer who "sacrificed himself as a player"

Mind-blowing comedian Duncan Trussell and community creator Dan Harmon discuss the idea that we are in one big simulation echo:

Duncan Trussell Family Hour - Episode 33: Dan Harmon 

DUNCAN TRUSSELL: (20min mark) We're getting really good at simulating reality... In the next couple of years we're gonna figure out a way to map the neural structure of the human brain and simulate that within one of these games - well its not gonna be a game anymore at that point. It'll be a habit trail for disembodied parts of the consciousness that think they're real right?
So the idea is if that could happen with us... Then it probably already happened
DAN HARMON: (in unison) already happened
TRUSSELL: We're in it
HARMON: If it probably happened then it did happen. Because its an infinite universe and time doesn't exist except within the confines of one universe... then what you have is an infinite simulation of universes. I guess the question is, is there something outside of that?
TRUSSELL: Well no that's the original programmer. Then suddenly that's where you get to this thing where - I never understood the whole Jesus died on the cross for our sins... I never could understand what's the magic behind that. How does that work? Of course that's just an archetype for humans eating the God. That's in a lot of different religions. Then suddenly you have this thing where No, the person who died WAS God. The original programmer was mortal, that was a mortal being that figured out how to make the simulator and that poor sonofabitch died so we could be infinite in this f*cking thing

HARMON: Because God so loved us he gave his only begotten son - He loved the videogame so much he went into it and found out that the way for the game to last forever is to sacrifice himself as a player
TRUSSELL: He had to die cuz he was mortal. He wasn't a simulation. Whoever started the f*cking echo of the simulation. Whoever started the simulation, creating the simulations inside the simulations. That was a mortal.
The paradox of God is that God was mortal, the programmer died a long time ago. He's long gone but the echo of his creation goes on infinitely folding in on itself perpetually...

Find other Dan Harmon and Duncan Trussell conversations here:

- Ousted 'Community' creator, Dan Harmon speaks to Duncan Trussell about "permanence"

- Dan Harmon and Duncan Trussell: We are in a simulation echo. God was originally a mortal programmer who "sacrificed himself as a player"

- 'Wreck-It Ralph' and Simulation Theory: Are we characters in a Video Game?