He's a really great speaker.

A good quote:

Success is moving forward, being able to build on what you've done and continue to do it, and move forward. Success is the road, and failure is the car your driving. It's the vehicle by which you move forward, it's those incremental steps. No one ever goes in just one direction, failure is how you find your bearings.

Another good talk on obsession from HOPE 08: http://fora.tv/2008/12/12/MythBusters_Co-Host_

Video of the water heater explosion: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pu3FwgIHsQA

Link to just the explosion (time offset): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pu3FwgIHsQA#t=4m

Best part is the first 30 minutes, where Adam talks about 2 spectacular failures that he's had as a art director/VFX guy. He then summarizes what these failures taught him, and how they've shaped him as a person.

What an expression of humility! Savage has earned much respect in my eyes. I've watched the other talk where Adam speaks about obsession. I aspire to have the work ethic and the modesty (and success) of this man.

I too am impressed with Adam's character. He has managed to turn two very difficult lessons into something that shaped the rest of his life.

One of the lessons that I took from this is the value in learning lessons early on in life. He failed doing a small budget movie early-on in a spectacular manner which managed to help him avoid failing in a huge movie.

I also really liked how he related all of that to children, limits, and helping them grow.

You may find it notable that he specifically mentions his father, a painter, and how that ties into being a maker[/hacker].

You may want to re-read this notable post:

http://www.idlewords.com/2005/04/dabblers_and_blowhards.htm

Great speech, love watching any talks of Adam's.

This host though is a bit annoying.

definitely watch it through - there are some excellent points to be taken from it.