Steve Jobs: The Lost Interview

I think I have watched every Youtube clip on Steve Jobs and read his biography by Walter Isaacson. Yes, I admit, Im a fan of his. Growing up in the 80’s and 90’s, I remember the revolution of the personal computing age. The first time I saw a Macintosh and the use of a mouse was historical. I was so young but I understood the magic. How did this little box make such beautiful scripts? It was thanks to this man, Steve Jobs, who change the way we saw computing. At first I thought it was just a fancier typewriter, but no, it was greater than that. It was a new way of living.

Anyhow, like most days, I try to find inspirational movies to uplift my spirit. Yes, I do have a downtrodden spirit. It comes with the nature of my work in community development.  As I searched, I came across this documentary that I never knew existed of Steve Jobs. The interview is 1 hour 15 mins. It’s a solo interview of him right before he returned to Apple in 1996.  He still had that long hippie stylist hair and had this childish young face. The interview was amazing. Listening to him give the history of his work and vision was so inspiring. He was only 12 when he discovered his passion. He was a curious child and had no idea what failure meant. He just wanted to learn and understand and so went forth in search of how things worked. He was not afraid to approach people and learn. How many of us have lost that child-like curiosity? It was that curiosity then led him to start Apple by the time he was 21. When he was 25 years old, he was already worth $200 million. He dedicated his life to one passion.

If you were always curious about how this man became the iconic figure of the 21st century, then this is a must see documentary. But I warn you, you have to love the technology. You have to have felt that awe inspiring feeling when you first laid eyes on a personal computer. You have to be curious about how a PC works and the programs that makes it possible for you to do what you do.  I remember when I was 10 years old, my parents got my brother and I an IBM PC. The first thing we did was take apart the CPU. We opened that box and saw the intricacies of hardware. How each wire led to another to create this amazing machine! I learned what a motherboard was and how to connect memory to the motherboard. I loved it. Of course back then, it was very costly to get these parts and make changes to your CPU. Does anyone remember how much it cost in 1990 for a  64 KB memory chip or what we called RAM? Ah, memories!

During the documentary, Steve Jobs was asked “what’s important to you in the development of a product?’. SJ sat there for a good 2 mins really silent and thinking. His answer is that “… between a great idea and a great product there is a tremendous amount of craftsmanship into evolving that idea into that great product….. It is that process that is the magic.” Oh how true SJ! I love that line – “It is the process that is the magic!” He continues to give this metaphor of a rock tumbler machine. You would get these ordinary street rocks and put them in a rock tumbler with some water and powered grit and just let the motor run overnight as that machine tumbles those rocks. When you come back the next day, you will see those ordinary rocks become polished beautiful stones. It is the occasional friction against each other and some noise that has polished these rocks. SJ is talking about teamwork. When you bring people together and they come up against each other, they are getting polished. They are refining each other and the idea and the end result is this beautiful product. What a genius! What good is teamwork if you are not challenging each other to greater heights. That is so true of any human relationship. We are all rocks tumbling together and polishing each other. But it takes a little friction, noise, and coming together to refine each other.

The documentary ends with SJ speaking of transmitting our culture, spirit and feeling into the product so that the end user feels something. They feel the spirit of the passion and inspiration of the creator. They are in love with the product.

I get it. When I think about what I love, I see that my creator made it. I feel God’s presence in it. I feel His spirit in it.

Oh the passion!!! SJ you are a genius!

Asian American Fob gives this documentary 5 thumbs up.

Butter….who doesnt love Butter…I meant the movie!

Butter starring Jennifer Garner, Yara Shahidi, Ty Burrell, Olivia Wilde, Alicia Silverstone, Rob Corddry and Hugh Jackman. Who woulda thunk a movie about Butter would be this good??? Ok so everyone loves eating butter. But this movie had the sweet and savory taste of it. Hands down to Jennifer Garner who played a tight-ass republican bitch living in Iowa. She plays your typical suburban white woman who makes all the stereotypes you can imagine about minorities and poor people. I really believed in her character. Then you have Ty Burrell who plays her dick-less husband who is can only satisfy himself by going to a stripper, played by Olivia Wilde. Ms. Wilde did a great job playing her stripper/prostitute role, but sadly there is only a 5 min scene of her porno. I think the movie would have done better if they kept her only for that scene. I guess you needed her for the dark humor. But honestly, I think they kept Ms. Wilde around just to have this lesbian scene so we can keep our male audience happy that they paid $13 to come see this movie that they really didnt want to see rather it was to make their so-called girlfriend happy.

The movie is centered around the Iowa State Butter Sculpting Competition where Jennifer Gardner feels entitled to win through the efforts of her husband. But this year, the judges suggest her husband to retire from competing since he’s been winning for the last 15 years. Jennifer goes bozonkers and decides to enter the competition herself. There is some serious entitlement issues here. Of course, that is how the movie monologue opens. Jennifer opens us to this monologue in the beginning of the movie displaying what all republicans are campaigning – we are proud Americans, who work hard, and did it by our own efforts. blah blah blah! But on the contrary, Jennifer who gives this monologue displays the opposite attitude and feels that she is entitled to the world and that everyone should do as she says. Then you have this little 10 year old black little girl named Destiny, played by Yara Shahidi, who is a foster child and is bounced around from one foster home to another. She is part of our system of entitlement benefits as she has to live in foster homes or stay at child service agencies when these foster homes goes shit-bricks. But her attitude is far from entitled. She humbly accepts her situation and just hopes one day to see her mom again.  Long story short in the Butter Sculpting competition Yara goes up against Jennifer.

I really like this movie because if you pay attention to the sarcastic humor you realize that the director, Jim Field Smith, is really trying to say:  this world is not based on your efforts or my efforts. You cant keep counting and ticking off who did what to make this country a better place. Each of us are woven into this society and affect each other in some shape or form. We are not separate entities because we are simply human beings that make an impact on everyone. No one is entitled to anything more than their next door neighbor. We are all equal and have the same rights. How ironic that this movie is coming out just before election day?

This is a definite must see movie. If not for its underlying political agenda, at least go watch for Yara Shahidi’s absolute child cuteness and those awesome Butter sculptures.

Good night and good luck!

Asian American Fob gives Butter – 4 Thumbs up. Now… Lets whip up some of that Butter  — Yeehawww!