Tag Archives: entertainment

BOOK: “The Tao of Bill Murray” by Gavin Edwards

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The Tao of Bill Murray: Real-Life Stories of Joy, Enlightenment, and Party CrashingThe Tao of Bill Murray: Real-Life Stories of Joy, Enlightenment, and Party Crashing by Gavin Edwards
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Publisher site – Penguin Random House

This book lays out Bill Murray’s philosophy of life as revealed by his quirky, daring, and spontaneous approach to living. Much has been made of the influence of the mystic philosopher G.I. Gurdjieff on Murray’s thinking. This background is discussed a little in Edwards’ book, but mostly this is a book that uses anecdotes from Bill Murray’s life to make a case for a philosophy of life that involves spontaneity, generosity, service, and connection. (Furthermore, it’s not clear to what degree Gurdjieff influenced Murray’s thinking, versus Gurdjieff’s ideas appealing to Murray because of the way the comedic actor already experienced the world.)

The author organizes the book around what he calls “The Ten Principles of Bill,” a set of ideas that Edwards argues can be seen cutting across Murray’s working and non-working life (and most of the stories are from his interactions with everyday people in everyday [but often unexpected] settings, and not from Murray’s acting work.)

I found this book to be highly readable and illuminating. The stories are funny but also offer a distinct approach to experiencing the world. I’d highly recommend this book for those interested in living a more spontaneous and rewarding life, or just those who like Bill Murray.

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BOOK: “The Attention Merchants” by Tim Wu

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The Attention Merchants: The Epic Scramble to Get Inside Our HeadsThe Attention Merchants: The Epic Scramble to Get Inside Our Heads by Tim Wu
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Publisher Site — Penguin

This book explores the evolution of capturing attention for commercial purposes. It delves into the history of attention economics from the development of print ads to the pursuit of virality via the internet and social media. Wu outlines how different media (e.g. print, radio, television, cable tv, and the internet) learned different lessons about how to make advertising work given the unique nature of each platform. The book also offers insight into how advertising spawned a market for people’s personal consumer information as the internet era began to allow companies to target ads for maximum effect, rather than using the scattershot approach that was all that was available to radio and broadcast television.

I found this book to be informative and it’s a subject of which people should be aware. William James famously said, “…what we attend to is reality.” If James was right, our reality is being shaped by forces that often remain outside our awareness. If you are curious about the attention economy, this is a highly readable overview of the subject.

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PROMPT: Out of a Movie

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Daily writing prompt
What’s a moment in your life that felt like it was straight out of a movie?
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I once slipped and fell on ice, and it was like an outtake from a Jackie Chan movie.

PROMPT: Perfect Series Finale

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Daily writing prompt
What’s a show that had the perfect series finale?
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M*A*S*H

PROMPT: Expected to Hate

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Daily writing prompt
What’s a movie you expected to hate but ended up loving?
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I’ve had it the other way round (i.e. disliked a movie I expected to like,) but I can’t really say I’ve ever watched a movie that I expected to hate. Do people do that? In the very short life one has, are there people who sit around entertaining themselves with movies they expect to not be entertaining? Despite all that I have learned in this life, people perplex me more and more each day.

PROMPT: Erase

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Daily writing prompt
If you could erase one movie from your memory and watch it again for the first time, which one would it be?
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If Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind taught us anything, it’s that one shouldn’t go around erasing memories. So, I decline to answer. [FYI: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is not my answer because I don’t need the lesson all over again.]

PROMPT: Movies or TV Series

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Daily writing prompt
What movies or TV series have you watched more than 5 times?
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Kung Fu Panda, Kung Fu Hustle, and The Matrix. Together, they contain the sum of all wisdom.

PROMPT: Cartoon

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Daily writing prompt
What’s your favorite cartoon?
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Currently, probably Rick & Morty. In my youth, I was Looney Tunes over Hanna Barbera, especially Roadrunner, Yosemite Sam, and Marvin the Martian.

PROMPT: TV Shows

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Daily writing prompt
What TV shows did you watch as a kid?
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Andy Griffith Show, Carol Burnett Show, Dick Van Dyke Show… wow, they were not creative with names in those days.

PROMPT: Rewatch

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Daily writing prompt
What movies or TV series have you watched more than 5 times?
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No TV series. Though there might be episodes of “Seinfeld” that I’ve seen that many times (but others I may have never seen at all.)

Re: Movies: “Kung Fu Hustle,” “The Matrix” (the first one,) and “Kung Fu Panda” (the first one.) Nothing else comes to mind, but there probably are some. (Back from the days when cable ran the same content over and over.)

Five times is a lot of times to watch the same thing. If it’s really good, it will be too mentally / emotionally draining to watch repeatedly. And if it’s too bad, it will be tedious to do so. It needs to be in the sweet spot of light, but incredibly entertaining.