Adam Savage

I was a big fan of Mythbusters, and I've always found Adam Savage -- with his bouncy energy, his heart-felt geeky enthusiasm, his skill, and his ingenuity -- to be a particular delight. Some of my appreciation for that skill and ingenuity, though, comes from the fact that what he does is just so utterly beyond me it might as well be brain surgery, as my own talent for anything involving working with my hands is effectively nil. Which makes me not really the target audience for this book, show more since it's largely aimed at giving advice to other folks who express their creativity by building physical things.

Even I, however, can see that it's pretty good advice, as most of it is less about specific things like which tools to use -- although there is a little bit of that -- and more about the general principles involved in approaching these kinds of projects: organization, being willing to experiment, the pitfalls of trying to do things too quickly, etc. I'm particularly impressed by how successful he is at checking his ego and being willing to actually learn from his mistakes, and to put his failings and missteps on display so that others can learn from them too. He's also very, very good about stressing that everyone has to find the ways of doing things that work for them, rather than assuming that he knows best for everybody. Which, honestly, is something I wish more people giving advice on creative endeavors would understand so well.

I'm guessing that this is likely be a really good, encouraging read for maker types, especially those just starting out. For my part, while I'm not exactly in a position to find much of it useful, even if Savage does try to make his advice as broadly applicable as possible, I did at least enjoy this as a glimpse into how he works. And his passion for what he does and his sincere love of sharing it with other people made it a surprisingly pleasant read even for someone who can barely hammer a nail in straight. show less

Delightful and surprisingly introspective

I enjoy reading about artists' processes, and as a maker I am always looking for inspiration and ways to get better at making. One of my favorite chapters of the book was about list making as a personal project management method; I can take this advice and apply it to my own practices. I enjoyed learning about Savage's journey from child to grown up maker. His period in NYC as a dumpster diver mirrored my own fond experiences from those days. I loved show more reading about the specific labors of love he poured obsessive energy into over the years. And the generous inclusion of so many photos and drawings really added to the message. I've already incorporated some suggestions into my own making. I expect to reread this book in the future to remind me about others I would like to take with me. show less

Whenever we’re driven to reach out and create something from nothing, whether it’s something physical like a chair, or more temporal and ethereal, like a poem, we’re contributing something of ourselves to the world. We’re taking our experiences and filtering it through our words or our hands, or our voices or our bodies, and we’re putting something in the culture that didn’t exist before. In fact, we’re not putting what we make into the local culture, what we make IS the

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culture.

adore a book that's essentially just a love letter to creativity, patience, passion, and imagination, where the only reason to compare yourself to other people is to learn from & connect with them, and it shrugs off the perception that making is a valid pursuit if it's a career.

There are definitely some parts here that are clearly geared for the physical builders (I mean, there IS a whole chapter on glue and drawers), but the topics & philosophy of the whole thing can connect to really any kind of making out there. I just loved hearing him talk about things that make him happy and having him perfectly articulate my feelings, too. A definite recommend for the audiobook, read by Savage himself.

You need to give yourself permission to experiment. You have to do it over, and over, and over again. Anticipating mistakes is how you put space around the unfamiliar and the unknown. If you expect to nail it the first go-around every time you build something new, or worse, demand it of yourself and punish yourself when you come up short, you will never be happy with what you make, and making will never make you happy.

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A couple special effects guys test whether various urban legends are possible.

After having seen some more recent episodes, I was starting to wonder what I was thinking years ago, when I gave some of the "collection" sets an 8 out of 10. I am surprised and delighted to find that (even having seen all these episodes before) the early days of MythBusters are indeed completely awesome. There's something about watching these two figuring stuff out (usually stuff you'd genuinely like to know the show more answer to), and often creating destruction in the process, that is just plain entertaining.

Concept: B
Story: C
Characters: C
Dialog: C
Pacing: B
Cinematography: C
Special effects/design: B
Acting: n/a
Music: C

Enjoyment: A

GPA: 2.6/4 show less