I did work at Christie’s for a couple of weeks, getting ready for ‘The Devil Wears Prada,’ getting people coffee and doing whatever they needed around the office. It was amazing. I got to see some wonderful art, and everybody was really nice. It was great.
A lot of people who’ve been athletes have come here and not been able to just pick it up right away. I hate using this example, and I love her to death, but Eva Marie. She was an amazing soccer player and athlete, but coming to WWE and getting in the ring was a whole different ball game for her.
People inspire me. Every day, I meet amazing individuals in the field. When I see a mother who has walked for three weeks to come to a MSF clinic, with two kids on her back and her belongings on her head, facing intimidation and physical abuse on her way, I am inspired by her resilience – her desire for life.
I’m not terribly well read. My wife forces books into my hands and insists I read them, which I’m grateful to her for. She made me read ‘War and Peace.’ The whole thing. It was amazing, but I had to hide it. You can’t walk round reading ‘War and Peace’ – it’s like you’re in a comedy sketch and you think you’re smart.
We live on a planet that is amazing, beautiful, and full of wonder but not protected from powerful destructive forces of nature. We are capable of doing wonderful and selfless things but also self-absorbed and harmful things. This is the world we live in.
Koch Industries is an amazing business that has succeeded by building a product that customers love dearly. The folks who run Koch are very clear. They would love to have government just get out of the way and allow companies to compete, whether in their particular sectors or other sectors. They are true believers in small government.
The last time I was in Abu Dhabi, I had a blast. I went jet-skiing in the Arabian Gulf, I went to Ferrari World, and went to Sheikh Zayed Mosque. I just enjoyed the city and the life. It was just amazing, and I am really looking forward to coming back.
For clothes, I like Anna on Regent’s Park Road. Anna Park, who owns it, has an amazing eye for fresh, exciting clothes. I also love Arrogant Cat on Kensington Church Street. Space NK on Duke of York Square for exciting potions. I think I stretch the term ‘tester’ way beyond its boundaries.
I was pretty much nonexistent on the Internet before NASA, and that was really because I’ve been inspired by amazing sacrifices of people who did amazing things – jumping on grenades or sacrificing their lives or doing the most crazy, brave things without hesitation and never, ever seeking recognition for it. That was always very powerful for me.
Stradivarius, in particular, was the most amazing craftsman and one of the great artists and scientists that ever lived because he figured out something with the sound and the science of acoustics that we still don’t understand it completely.
Lauryn Hill’s always been a hero of mine. And Bruno Mars, Janelle Monae and Adele, those are the current artists I would reference in terms of who’s been able to do really amazing pop records with really cool, organic throwback elements of soul in there as well.
One thing that was amazing about World War II was that everybody signed up for the duration plus six months. Fliers got to leave combat after 25 missions, or 35 missions, but other than that, you were in it. You were part of the great effort, until, oh boy, six months after it was over.
If you talk to some of the older players, they definitely say they see beauty in certain games. In my case, there are certain times when I think, ‘Wow, that’s so amazing, chess is so full of ideas.’ But most of the time I tend to be much more pragmatic about it, as opposed to thinking about it as art or something exquisite.
Since I was a young wrestling fan, I’ve been fascinated by super heavyweights and was always amazed at Yokozuna’s amazing grace and agility. How could a man who was so large still remain so athletic and retain perfect in-ring timing and spot-on psychology?
For sheer creativity and totality of involvement, ‘Rolf’s Cartoon Club’ with HTV in Bristol was an amazing show to work on, but I think the ‘Rolf on Art’ series, culminating in the painting of the Queen’s portrait to celebrate her 80th birthday, just nudges into the favourite spot.
The amazing thing about IBM is that it’s a company where I have had 10 different careers – local jobs, global jobs, technology jobs, industry jobs, financial services, insurance, start-ups, big scale. The network of talent around you is phenomenal.
The power of podcasting is pretty remarkable. It is such an amazing way to mobilize fans. It’s almost like they’re part of your family. They probably listen to you more than they listen to their own families. I know that’s true for me. So there is a real bond there.
I cannot stress enough that the answer to life’s questions is often in people’s faces. Try putting your iPhones down once in a while, and look in people’s faces. People’s faces will tell you amazing things. Like if they are angry, or nauseous or asleep.
I was in art school, and we had all these random classes. We’d listen to a lot of Bollywood. I’d listen to Spanish music – and I don’t even speak Spanish, but Hector Lavoe is amazing – we listened to French music like Edith Piaf. She’s tight. I like cool vocal inflections; I like cool sounds. I pretty much listen to anything I think is good.
My heroes are guys like Tom Hanks, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Matt Damon. These are amazing actors with amazing careers that every actor should aspire to. I’m not saying I’m going to get anywhere close. It’s not going to be an easy feat. I’m just in awe of their careers.
Apart from anything else, I am designed by evolution, like we all are: if we see a little thing like that, big eyes, tiny nose, we go ‘aaah’. That’s what evolution does. We are programmed to do that. So to find babies the most amazing, isn’t surprising, I don’t think.
Most Canadians previously had no idea what went on in the residential schools. You tell Canadians the last one closed in 1996, they are appalled. So now that Canadians are aware of residential schools, you’d think there would be a huge impetus for progress. It hasn’t, and that’s amazing.
The PC has improved the world in just about every area you can think of. Amazing developments in communications, collaboration and efficiencies. New kinds of entertainment and social media. Access to information and the ability to give a voice people who would never have been heard.
When it comes to celebrities and tabloids, to me that is a bummer. That’s a little disappointing. And it is amazing how things really get made. I always used to think that where there is smoke there is fire, and now I see stories pop up out of nowhere with no basis in reality.
‘Lonesome Dove’ was the movie. I watched that over and over and over again, and I know every line. It was one that I loved as a kid for all the horses and characters that went over my head, but then the older I got, I realized how amazing it was on so many other different levels – Robert Duvall and Tommy Lee Jones’ relationship.
