The Kathleen Show Blog

Pick of the Week: James Cameron at TED

Before Avatar...a curious boy.

There is so much I love about this video. James shares a very personal side of himself and the aspects of his childhood that led to the most creative elements in his filmmaking.

He also describes some of the specific steps he took to get to where he wanted to go in life… connecting the dots between his thoughts, his actions and his results. And it was fun and inspiring to listen to it unfold.

In some ways, it allowed you to see how his entire life and career led to Avatar. But what most surprised me, is that he also humbly discussed what he learned about mutual respect in the work arena.

This wasn’t the James Cameron I expected. And that’s the beauty of the TED presentations.

 

Related:

Kathleen's interview with Sir Ken Robinson (and his inspiring TED talk)

Past Picks of the Week

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Pick of the Week: Life Without Principle

By Henry David Thoreau

 

This essay was originally published in the Atlantic Monthly in 1863, a year after Thoreau's death. And I love it. I come back to the tattered, dog-eared pages again and again whenever I feel off course.

Life Without Principle may be the most important, life-changing 18 pages you'll ever read.

For more about the fascinating life and work of Henry David Thoreau, here's my interview with Professor Robert Gross:



Related:

One of the most controversial authors in history: Ayn Rand (Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead) 

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Pick of the Week: Married (Happily) With Issues

Married (Happily) With Issues is a ten page, must-read, gut-busting, mind-boggling piece that will strike the funny bone and the shins of married people everywhere.  

And I have to give a special nod to the writing style. Elizabeth Weil runs circles around the English language. She squeezes the most out of every frank word and strings together sentences that will make you giggle, cringe and wonder if she had your house wired.

Related:

Marriage: Showing up like a grown-up

Kathleen's monologue on marriage:

Being a great dad (Kathleen interviews her hubby!)

Pick of the Week: Tara Stiles

She's quirky, fresh and keeping us healthy. 
 

Ok, so I'm about a week behind posting the "picks" I cover on air. But trust me, this one is better late than never.

Watch the above video and see why Vanity Fair says, "Tara Stiles has got to be the coolest yoga instructor ever."

And she's my guest this coming weekend...

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Pick of the Week: Mark Morford

"New Coke mini: Now with 36% less death!"

 

"New Coke mini: Now with 36% less death!" is brilliant, funny and disturbingly dead on. An argument could be made that it should be required reading in every college and high school throughout the country. 

As for Mark Morford? On his more conservative days, he pushes the boundaries as a PG-13 writer. Every other day, he tiptoes into R and beyond. Don't say I didn't warn you.

Recent picks:

We the Living 

Alexi Murdoch 

Lance Armstrong at 18 years old 

See all of Kathleen's past picks
 

Pick of the Week: "We the Living"

Ayn Rand's first novel

I guess you could say I'm on an Ayn Rand kick lately...

Rand's first novel, We the Living, is "as near to an autobiography" as any of her work and sets the stage for her later masterpieces The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged.

We the Living is a shocking look at life under Soviet Communist rule told through the eyes of three individuals who demand the right to their own lives and to pursue their own happiness. Intense and sexually charged, the book offers a psychological perspective into Ayn Rand's unique world views.

And be sure to stay tuned because I'll be doing an entire show on the life and work of this controversial but intoxicating author.
 

For more on Ayn Rand...

Howard Roark, where art thou?

Alexi Murdoch's "Through the Dark"

My pick of the week.

A haunting song by someone I hope is soon to be a household name. 
Listen to "Through the Dark".

This song appears on Alexi's newest CD, Toward the Sun. Order HERE.

Have a song, book, movie, poem, artist or article you'd like to recommend for future picks? Please be sure to let me know in the comments below. See my past picks.

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Pick of the Week: 18 year old Lance Armstrong

In the spirit of going for it and doing what you love, this week’s pick is a vintage video clip of Lance Armstrong winning his first national championship sprint triathlon at age 18.

You’ll laugh to see him as a young buck with tall 80's hair and a high-pitched voice. You'll get goosebumps at the talent fortitude he showed even at this tender age. And you might even get choked up when you consider that this was Lance before the cancer and the hellacious treatment he had to undergo…only to go on and win the Tour de France SEVEN times.

Related:

What lights your fire? Are you doing it? (Listen to my interview with Sir Ken Robinson--the world's leading and most beloved thinker on creativity.)

A High Performance Life (Chris Carmichael, Lance Armstrong's coach, weighs in on fitness, biking and coaching Lance.)