Jonny Look: A Few Of My Favourite Things

I tend to overthink things. And then simple tasks end up taking way too long and going in the wrong direction. 

And then I end up creating something that completely missed the point, all because it’s been well overthought. Cooked to death. And ends up a real mess, impossible to tidy.

So, when I was asked to detail some of my favourite things, I thought… let’s not overthink this. Let’s just document some of the most used and most loved things in and around my office here in Los Angeles. The things I can’t live without. And maybe by doing that, there’ll be a genuine expression of my creative process.

So, again, without overthinking… my first favourite thing.

The Milwaukee M18 18-Volt Lithium-Ion Cordless Compact Vacuum

I look around the office, and this vacuum is the first thing I see. I know… a vacuum? 

Kind of boring… but I actually use this thing all the time. It's a Milwaukee, and has a HEPA filter, so it’s pretty robust. 

And the battery shares the same one as my Milwaukee leaf blower, which I often use to blow wind on people’s faces or sand on shoes or whatever for various shots in videos.

So yeah, nice.

Maybe one of the great tools for a director is a small powerhouse vacuum like this. An unsung hero. It picks up all sorts of crumbs that you make throughout your day.

The only problem is that the battery dies sometimes.

Sorry, that one was kind of boring. Let’s see what else we have around the space.
[… looking]

The Mini-crumb Vacuum

I picked up this little hand vacuum at some point a few years ago. It’s great for cleaning up all the crumbs that get into keyboards and stuff around the desk.

Imagine the insane crumbs that build up in your keyboard after hammering out some all-night treatments. This is the midnight oil-burning vacuum. Cleans up the microscopic mess from the night before. And your fingers will thank you!

Fits great in your hand too. They really got the design right on this thing.

It’s not that powerful, but it takes AA batteries, which is pretty convenient. Trust me, you wouldn’t be upset about having something like this. It’s got a great and specific use.

The Vintage Dirt Devil

The Milwaukee is always running out of batteries, so I keep this wired vintage Dirt Devil around. 

I use that Milwaukee battery for all sorts of other tools, like I mentioned, so it’s never charged when you truly need it. 

Unreliable!

Having something corded to fall back on when you’re cleaning up the massive mess from the regrettable week is very key.

Hey, and it looks cool. 

My grandma used to have one similar. 

And her place was spotless. 

You’d never find crumbs over there. 

And she was a baker!

The [Vacuum] Inspiration

I feel so stupid – I can’t believe I’ve gone on and on about vacuums. But I wanted to do something genuine without overthinking, and here we are. 

There are other meaningful things in my life that help me work… but right now I look around at my filthy place and think, “Man, I could really get some important work done once this place is cleaned up a little.”

The shit keeps piling up!

This is a photo I hang on my wall — the Sanitaire® Wide Track Industrial Vacuum. The gold standard. Classic workhorse. A bit overkill for my little space. 

But sometimes, when I’m working, I’ll just look over and take it in.

It lives next to the photos of the Rollright Stones on my wall. 

These photos were captured from a tourist who sells his holiday pictures on eBay. 

The Rollrights are said to have some pretty powerful mystical energy — so I try to extract a fraction of that energy from the tourist photos of the stones in conjunction with the Sanitaire®, which is hopefully amplifying some serious power my way. 

It’s a meditation, or even a spiritual juice-up.

Anyway, all to say — it is a very, very slick vacuum. There is no mistake or mess that thing can’t suck up. And then you can just get rid of the disposable bags, no problem. 

Just toss out that whole mess. Like you never had it.

Imagine accidentally creating a mess, then being able to just zip it up and wipe it clean. A fresh start. [Exhale]

If you have a serious, serious mess of crumbs and stuff, I’d say that would be the vacuum for you.

I probably need some bigger messes before I can justify spending on one of those. 

Maybe if my office was located in some sort of scumbag motel, then I’d need a vacuum like that.