Let's Paint TV, or What Inspires You?

Multitasking is something I am envious of. I can do it but most of the time after I finish whatever I was doing I just have to redo it. I can't ever spend enough brain power on one thing while multitasking to feel satisfied with the outcome. But that's just me. There are people who are masters. I am extremely envious of those people. One of which is John Kilduff. This guy is the host of the Let's Paint TV. I can't express how horrible I feel about my multitasking abilities after watching Mr. Kilduff. Watching him paint, exercise, and blend a drink at the same time is emasculating. 

John Kilduff started Let's Paint as a public access show in Los Angeles. But when the public access studies shut down in 2008 that didn't stop him from doing his show. He started to do make Let's Paint out of what I can only assume is his garage or living room. It's crazy. He is a painter and sells paintings at art fairs, but does this show because he wants to. He does this show because he wants to inspire people to be creative anyway they want to be. He tries to inspire others to be creative while painting, exercising, mixing a drink, playing ping-pong, carving a pumpkin, building a castle, or just about anything else you can think of he does it while running on a treadmill and painting.

John Kilduff is just, I don't know he's hard to describe. What he's doing makes absolutely no sense, but he keeps doing it because I think he likes it. He has to. He has to enjoy this or he would have stopped years ago. When he takes calls it is obvious people think he's joking around, they think he's trying to be funny. But when he has to basically thwart a gang war on his show it is clear how much he just wants to show people there are so many different ways to express yourself.

There is no point to Let's Paint. There's no reason he needs to be doing this, he just does it because he wants to. He does it because he loves it. Hopefully in my life I can just keep doing something because I love it. I like writing on this blog and I thank John Kilduff for reminding that it's important to express yourself. It's important to do something you want to do without worry of anyone else caring. So I thank you Mr. Kilduff. I thank you for your years of Let's Paint and for your willingness to show people they can do what they want.

Why is Blogger so Creepy?

Pictures usually need captions, but this one kind of says it all

A lot of people have probably read 1984 by George Orwell at some point in their life. They might have seen that movie that I've heard nothing good about or have had the story explained to them. So I think it is safe to say that everyone is at least familiar with the idea of "Big Brother." No not that TV on CBS that I've never seen (is that the TV adaptation of the book? That actually would be kind of interesting). This idea of a society completely under watch for every moment in their lives is something, to my knowledge, that Orwell introduced into literature. It's a device many writers in all mediums have used since.

I bring this up because I've noticed that Google watches every little blip anyway associated with this here blog. It gives me view counts for each post, which is relatively normal and not that creepy to me. Where it gets weird is when I can go into another section of the "stats" associated with the blog and see how many people are viewing on a Mac, Windows, Mobile, etc. Then it goes deeper and tells me what browser is being used most, Safari, Chrome, IE (who uses this? I thought that browser died), Opera (who uses this one?? Thought this went out with Littlefoot, Ducky and the gang?).

A useless item with a story
not worth sharing

I have a list of keywords that were searched on Google or another search engine that then brought someone to this here bloggity blog. There was a hit because someone Googled "cool useless things" but one of my favorite blips was probably for "ream of paper." Over time, seven people came to my blog because they searched for "ream of paper." I find that hilarious for some reason. This guy just wanted to learn about reams of paper. Maybe he just needed to know how many sheets are in one (Hey dude, if you're still out there the answer is 500 for printer paper). Maybe he wanted to know which ream of paper to buy for his printer (printer paper! Lined paper is for school!). There are at least 5 other reasons someone would search ream of paper and then be brought to my blog and that makes me smile. Before this post there wasn't any information about reams of paper, what was Google thinking?

Four people have come to this bloggity bloo because they wanted to know why Wanderlust was called Wanderlust. After Googling it myself (the blog was the second hit on the google search. Big time over here.) I couldn't find the answer either. Hopefully I didn't waste those people's time though. I didn't have the answer they were looking for. If any four of you are out there still reading this bloggernaut I am sorry I wasted your time (I guess if you are still reading I didn't waste it all that much). Oh and if you see the other three, (I know you guys have meet ups to talk about how much of your time I wasted. I just know it. Kills me inside, I am deeply sorry) tell them I'm sorry.

But hands down the best keyword search that led to this blog was "blogs are useless." Guy nailed it. Never have I Googled such a vague phrase and come across something that so perfectly proves my point. I don't think I have ever been as satisfied as I imagine the person who Googled "blogs are useless" and was led to this blurg. Yeah this blog is useless, yeah I don't take it seriously (what's to take seriously? Talking about dumb things I like? Come on, not worth the pain and stress to get worked up over it), but I get at least 5.78 laughs per posts so why not attempt to share this joy?

A useless item(s) that possibly have a story worth sharing

The world has a plethora of mean people saying mean things about people, or about things other people enjoy (I do this for sure), I think the world needs useless things. I find myself worrying about the versatility of things in my life. Sometimes I can come up with enough uses to justify having something, but there are still things I have that I couldn't tell you why I kept. I mean I could tell you but it will probably take to long to explain and the answer wouldn't even have been worth the time your brain spent processing it. But those dumb little things, those things that I can't explain their existence without sounding like a psychopath, are what make me smile. They remind me of a moment, or a person, or a place, that had a story worth remember (not necessarily worth sharing mind you). The item held a story that when I saw it I was reminded of something that brought joy to my life. Useless things do that for me, maybe they do the same for you?




(I feel bad for kind of picking on the person who searched "blogs are useless." I mean he isn't wrong in most cases [you're reading the best example of his claim], but he didn't deserve me picking on him without even having an option to rebut. Hey person who searched "blogs are useless," if you're reading let me know and we'll have a dialog regarding the subject. Could be fun? [You're not reading this.])

Moonrise Kingdom or I Really Want To Go To Camp

There he is! Sam! You rule buddy!

This is an especially great summer for fans of the smaller released movies. Against his normal doings of releasing his movies in the Fall and Winter, Mr. Anderson gave us a treat, Moonrise Kingdom came out in late May. Anderson has a loyal and large following so he could release a movie on March 32 and people would defy the laws of the Gregorian Calendar and see that movie.

A few weeks prior to this movie I decided to rewatch a few of Wes Anderson movies (secretly a reason to buy them all on Criterion). I got through everything except Bottle Rockets, Life Aquatic and Fantastic Mr. Fox. I was able to watch The Darjeeling Limited, Royal Tenenbaums, and Rushmore. Rushmore was the last one I watched and I noticed how much of the ascetic of that film basically defined what Anderson has done since (which is all of his movies except Bottle Rockets). With The Royal Tenenbaums I noticed the growth Anderson had in his dialog, which has only gotten stronger over the years. So after the quick refresher in Wes Anderson movies I was ready to see Moonrise Kingdom.

What I love about Wes Anderson movies are some of the things he is most known for. I love his scenes that pan the camera around an entire set. Moonrise Kingdom had a fantastic one that opened the film. We got to see the Bishop household like it was a dollhouse (reminded me of Life Aquatic and the shot were we get to see the inside of the boat).

Another one of my favorite Wes Anderson quirks are his tracking shots. He did something different in this film than I had not seen him do or could remember off hand. He did his normal tracking shots on yards of track, but there were a few times he did handy-cam shots. I don't remember him every doing a shot handy-cam before and it worked so well when he had the two main actors running through the forest. Seven movies in you'd think Wes Anderson would be falling into a rut of doing what he is known best for, which he did in this movie, but he also showed some growth and branched out. Many people do not care for his movies, but you have to give the guy credit for being able to grow as a director still.

A final quirk I noticed in this movie, as in all Anderson movies, was his attention to detail. I had read or heard somewhere that Anderson is kind of hard to work with. There are days where he would just go to thrift stores and find things for the set of Royal Tenenbaums. Not like important things that people notice right away, but books for the book shelf, and records, things most people don't notice. In Moonrise, Anderson was able to attend to detail in his own unique way even when a lot of the film takes place in the wilderness. From the pins on Sam Sukusky's Khaki Scout vest to the small, but important, amount of items Suzy brought with her on their journey, every item felt important in its own little way and had a story attached to it I was dying to hear.

Someone pointed out to me that it makes sense for Anderson to write for child actors. I could not agree more. One of the many things I noticed in his movies to date is most of the characters are stuck in a kind of arrested development. Not only are the characters childlike in his films, his films have a childhood whimsy to them on the outside but inside the story there are real personal issues the characters have to deal with. Whether they want to or not.

Moonrise took the child-like ascetic found in most of Anderson's movies and for once had children being the main characters in the story. Anderson movies to me have always felt like they take place in a bubble which gives the feeling that the characters in the movie are the only people in the world portrayed. Moonrise was no different. This feeling was enhanced by the fact that this movie took place on an island inhabited by Khaki Scouts, the Bishop family and Bruce Willis. Obviously this group of main characters weren't isolated, there were other smaller characters on the island who added little outlets of whimsy to the movie.

Now some might find faults in this movie. They might say that Sam Shakusky's character was not fleshed out to a satisfying degree. They might also say that at the height of the conflict, their suspension of disbelief got zapped to death. To these people I say, you are right. These were faults I found in the movie too, but they did not detract from what I enjoyed most.

What I enjoyed most about this movie was the whimsy. The love for life this movie had. Sam's desire, against all odds, to be with the one he loves. The adults thought they knew best, the adults thought they knew what was right for Sam and Suzy. Sam and Suzy did not agree, so they did what they wanted. They lived how they wanted. Granted they were 12 so they should have listened to their parents and guardians, but it's a movie. I have liked all of Wes Anderson's movies, but this is easily my favorite. I love movies that have strong child actors getting to be children while also showing some adult qualities.

As a guy who is seriously considering pulling a Peter Pan in the near future the transportation to the whimsical mind of a 12 year old was lovely. Being able to let my mind go from my quasi-adult "problems" for an hour and a half was a much needed break. I walked out of the theater and seriously considered turning around and just sitting in there waiting for the next showing. If you want to see a movie where you can just let your mind travel back to those pre-teen years when there was little care in the world, go see this. But if you already don't like Wes Anderson movies, or pre-teens, maybe that new Madea movie.