16

These People

August 26th, 2010 - Uncategorized - 16 Comments »

This is the start of a long list of people who are fascinating me right now.

David Blaine
Sure, we’ve all seen David Blaine the Illusionist. But what about all of this other crazy stuff he’s doing? Encasing himself in a 6 ton block of ice for 63 hours in the middle of Times Square, standing on top of a 90-foot pillar for 36 straight hours, holding his breath for over 17 minutes on Oprah. How did I miss these things? I recently watched a TED talk that he gave where he describes how he does all of his different feats. Incredible.

Tim Ferriss
I’ve written before about my obsession for the book The 4-Hour Work Week. Ever since then, I’ve been following his blog, Experiments in Lifestyle Design, and watching his videos, which are jam-packed with goodness. I really love his Random Show, which is a video series where he and Kevin Rose (founder of Digg) talk about whatever is going on with them that month. If you can get over how presumptuous he sounds when he speaks, you’ll love him.

Larry David
Creator of two of television’s greatest comedies of all time – Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm. One could argue that I’ve been a tad obsessed with this guy over the last few months. One thing in particular that I’m fascinated by is the fact that the entire series of Curb was improv. Larry wrote paragraph outlines for each of the scenes, but would wait to show the actors the outline until right before the cameras were rolling, to make sure their reactions wouldn’t seem contrived. The result? Comedy gold.*

The Most Interesting Man in the World
This has been my favorite ad campaign for quite some time now. Last night I tweeted that “Sharks have a week dedicated to him” was my favorite claim to date. Then some replies started pouring in with ones that I’d never heard before – “His mom has a tattoo that says ‘Son’” and “He once taught a German Shepherd to bark in Spanish”. I hope this ad campaign never ends.

Two things:
1. Who is fascinating you right now?
2. What is the best “Most Interesting Man in the World” claim you’ve ever heard?

*I realize Curb Your Enthusiasm isn’t for everyone. There’s a good chance some of us might just have to agree to disagree on this one.

  • Kyle

    1. The new State Farm guy. Why am I so fascinated with not liking him?
    2. "If he ever were to punch you in the face, you would have to fight back the urge to thank him."

  • Dresch

    1. I’m not as fascinated by people I don’t know as I am people I do know. So for me it would have to be:

    Tyler Stanton – Seriously. A guy I go to high school and college with making a living just doing stuff. Funny stuff, very creative and totally different than I could imagine.

    Brian T Murphy – a friend from Birmingham that went to high school with my wife. He does photography, writes music (some for film scores, commercials, etc). Takes ancient Hymns from the church and gives them a “current” style (Red Mountain Music – check it out). Now he up and moves to NY and does the same stuff on a larger stage. He also plays a mean piano and will debate you on anything.

  • Dresch

    1. I’m not as fascinated by people I don’t know as I am people I do know. So for me it would have to be:

    Tyler Stanton – Seriously. A guy I go to high school and college with making a living just doing stuff. Funny stuff, very creative and totally different than I could imagine.

    Brian T Murphy – a friend from Birmingham that went to high school with my wife. He does photography, writes music (some for film scores, commercials, etc). Takes ancient Hymns from the church and gives them a “current” style (Red Mountain Music – check it out). Now he up and moves to NY and does the same stuff on a larger stage. He also plays a mean piano and will debate you on anything.

    If I had to pick a public persona right now I’d go with Jimbo Fisher because I’m obsessed with FSU football and he’s following Coach Bowden.

    2. I’d probably have to with the sharks too. Although speaking Russian in french and living vicariously through himself are great too.

  • Dresch

    1. I'm not as fascinated by people I don't know as I am people that I do know. So for me it would have to be:

    Tyler Stanton – Seriously. A guy I go to High School and College with making a living just doing stuff. Funny stuff, creative stuff, and totally different than I would have imagined. That's complimentary, by the way, but it seems you don't have a job, you just do stuff.

    Brian T Murphy – A friend of mine from Birmingham that went to High School with my wife. He does photography, writes musc (some for film scores , commercials, etc.) He takes ancient hymns from the church and "modernizes" them (Red Mountain Music – check it out). Now he up and moves to Brooklyn and does the same stuff on a larger stage. He also plays a mean piano and will debate you about anything.

    If I had to pick a public persona right now I would go with Jimbo Fisher because I'm obsessed with FSU football and he's taking over for Coach Bowden

    2. I'd probably have to go with the sharks, too. Although, speaking russian in french and living vicariously through himself are up there.

  • http://Alifeaboutme.com Andrea

    He’s the life of parties he’s never attended.

  • http://Alifeaboutme.com Andrea

    1. My new kid (2 months old)

    2. He’s the life of parties he’s never attended.

  • Matt

    He once visited the Virgin Islands. When he left, they were just called the islands.

  • Burtonman

    “He planted the idea for the movie ‘Inception’ into Christopher Nolan’s mind while he was dreaming.”
    http://www.themostinterestingmanintheworld.net/th…

  • Kathryn

    You need to check out Criss Angel – Mindfreak…. he blows David Blaine out of the water…Although I like David Blaine too.

  • DougHalcomb

    "He once punched a magician….thats right. you heard me."

  • http://www.kevinkeigley.com Kevin Keigley

    The person that is most fascinating to me right now is my son, Bergen. He is the only 5 year old I know that at the very start of a camping trip, can hop out of the vehicle only to smash his face on the pavement, roll out of it, and keep running as the road rash slowly comes into focus on his right brow.

  • …adam

    the more i read of Seth Godin, the more I jump on the bandwagon.

    The Most Interesting Man on the Wingman: "It doesnt take more than one person to talk to a woman."

  • T-Row

    I told you this on twitter but wanted to follow up with plenty of "Most Interesting Man in the World" quotes that I found hilarious just by searching google… here we go

    -He is left-handed… And right-handed
    -Even if he forgets to put postage on his mail, it gets there
    -He has been known to cure narcolepsy, just by walking into the room…
    -The police often question him, just because they find him interesting
    -His pillow talk is years ahead of it’s time
    -His cereal never gets soggy. It sits there, staying crispy, just for him
    -If a monument was built in his honor, Mt. Rushmore would close, due to poor attendance
    -He has never lost a sock
    -He can speak French, in Russian
    -Once when picking his nose, he actually struck gold
    -He once challenged his own reflection to a staring contest. On the 4th day, he won
    -He has never filled up on chips

    Let me know what ur favorites are.. some are just genius

  • evdaddy

    I'm surprised I didn't make the list because of my mad p90x skilllz

  • Beth

    "People hang on his every word, even the prepositions."

  • http://twitter.com/statuses/user_timeline/Lashay069.rss Archie Michalicek

    Funny. The same day I read this post, I see the quote, “Often an entire city has suffered because of an evil man..”.