Idolatry

Though I recently espoused the evils of idolatry and putting people on pedestals. I’ve gone hypocritical and am deciding to let you in a bit to my life. Mostly I was running out of things to say, and to be blog worthy (I set very high personal standards). So I was going to try a classic what I did in my summer holidays. As we know summer hasn’t arrived and if I’d pasted one from last year people would’ve noticed I’m sure.


On a recently long public transport trip, after the last of my waning iPod battery died I found myself having an odd time. I was examining my life. A little DNM with the inner happier, more physically appealing me. But it was rush hour on an mundane Tuesday, I wasn’t under the influence, no fire to stare into and I wasn’t philosophically refurbishing my life with a close friend. It was deep thought at random and it was strange. In this process I realised I’d never had a true idol, a person to admire, to look up to and be inspired by. And though I abhor the use of celecbrity and trying to emulate them, I can set a point at which thinking ‘yeah there a good dude, maybe I’ll be like them’ and ‘ I want to wear their clothes and crap in their toilet’ crosses a line. At a push, I would’ve said Warren Buffett, he’s got it all going for him in most ways. The kind of guy you‘d love to hate if he wasn‘t such a good guy (e.g. Dan Carter). So as I sat in a rickety bus headed west, I decided I needed someone to admire.


With much deliberation I settled on A.J. Jacobs, editor at large of Esquire, regular contributor to Weekend Edition (a popular culture, society & history sort of show on American public radio) who has also contributed to The New York Times, Entertainment Weekly and New York magazine. Jacobs has written 3 books, The Know-it-all where he reads the entire encyclopaedia Britannica (great trivia), The Year of Living Biblically where he tries to follow all the rules of the bible for a year (not as subjective as you may think), and The Guinea Pig Diaries where he details all the experiments he’s ever been a subject for like when he outsourced his entire life to India (including arguments with his wife and bedtime stories for his kids, a best of Esquire sort of).


These are the reasons I idolise A.J., he has an awesome job, he is paid to be witty and observant plus his outlook on life is that it’s a “series of experiments in which I immerse myself in a project or lifestyle, for better or worse, then write about what I learned” and as a sucker for knowledge I get a bit giddy thinking like that. When I grow up, which comes sooner than one may think, I’d love to have a life like this, its not about money or prestige its about having fun and following that truly crazy “What if I…?” thought.


On a slightly deeper level, he seems insanely wise, thought provoking and has the most loving wife in the world with all the shit she puts up with (and let us be honest here, I’m a slight romantic, and she’s damn good looking, which gives me hope).
My choice was hard, and if in 20 years I think I’m closer to Jacobs than now I’d be a very happy man.


People who make up the top 5
1. AJ Jacobs
2. Warren Buffet (billionaire philanthropist who doesn’t flash it around)
3. Sherlock Holmes (mainstreaming reason - who said they have to be real?)
4. Bill Bryson (a man who makes history hilarious and education exciting)
5. Ryan Reynolds (two words = Scarlett Johansson)




As an interesting aside, and slightly more in touch with the creative world. Radio survey results came out today. The Edge got dominated, lost in a box seemed to drive listeners away I wasn’t a fan.
Newstalk ZB while still on top, lost appoint to Radio Live. All the urban stations grew, and for the first time they included Rhema & life, and Radio Waatea who are taking listeners away (or at least are being shown)

Check out the results at TRB.co.nz or try finding a survey party tonight with a massive bar tab. Watch all those famous radio Celebes getting paralytic just in case the get the old DCM*.

Talk next Friday (it’ll be about my job hunt – exciting yes!)








* For those of you under the age of forty or never heard the saying DCM – don’t come Monday, i.e. you’re fired!