An Instruction Manual For Yourself, the Iconic Stones Logo, the Tenderness of The Bear, Etc.
In which you may ask yourself, "Well, how did I get here?"
👻 I feel seen.
📺 As ranked by The AV Club (which I am reluctant to recommend in 2023, but here we are), the 50 Greatest Music Videos of all time. Not sure how “Taste the Biscuit” didn’t make the cut, it’s probably the greatest thing I’ve ever seen in my life. (See also: a collection of ‘90s alternative videos I curated during the lockdown)
💿 As ranked by Steven Hyden (whose work I am never reluctant to recommend), the best soundtracks ranked.
🎃 I’ve only watched a handful of Simpsons episodes since 2006 or so, and almost all of them were their Treehouse of Horror specials. Not sure if I agree with these rankings, but it was fun to read about and I need to revisit some this October.
🎡 A world tour of abandoned amusement parks, from Indiana to Indonesia. “The fun and rides stopped, but the memories linger.”
✈️ Why does a plane look and feel like it’s moving more slowly than it actually is?
🤔 It’s easy to cut and paste words onto an image and post it on social media. Great quote, but the person really say it? This is something I am very mindful of when sharing anything on the Internet.
🚔 In case you missed it: an arrest has been made for involvement in the 1996 murder of Tupac Shakur.
⚕️Also, if you haven’t signed up for more free at-home covid tests, you can do that here.
😝 “I designed the most famous tongue in history.” Graphic designer John Pache on the iconic “Hot Lips” logo that he created for the Rolling Stones’ 1970 tour, which first made an appearance in the Sticky Fingers sleeve and has become ubiquitous with the band. Incidentally, and maybe because I feel like they must be nearing the band, but I find myself excited about their upcoming album and I kinda love these alternate Major League Baseball covers they made in honor of the stadiums they’ve played.
And yes, the new album is called Hackney Diamonds. Via Wikipedia: “The album's name is London slang for the shattered glass left behind after burglars have smashed a window to break in, Hackney being an inner-city area of London associated with a high crime rate.”
🎶 A very long oral history of Stop Making Sense, which since its recent re-release has had people dancing in the theatres. If you’ve never seen this concert film, I can’t recommend it hard enough.
🐻 The Bear really is great. A key ingredient to the show’s success? Tenderness. “As Evan Puschak observes in this perceptive video essay, the second season delves into where some of those behaviors came from and offers a counterbalancing force: tenderness, listening, and paying attention.”
😥 Looking at ourselves this much is more or less brand new. “From mirrors to Zoom calls and TikToks, we are constantly faced with our own reflections – and it is completely changing the way we conceive of ourselves.”
🍏 The physics of relationships. “While Newton’s third law was developed with physics in mind, it applies equally well to biology. When pushed on, we push back. The harder we push others, the harder they push back. How well we align with this simple principle determines whether our outcomes are good or bad.”
❓Since I got a handful of new subscribers this week, here is something I posted last week and would love more answers to!
What are life hacks that you use, or changes you made, however incremental (especially incremental!) that have made you more productive, happier and/or healthier? Please let me know by responding to this email, answering in the comments, sending me a text or DM on social media. I’ll start: I use Sleepytime (that’s a link to the web app but you can find it on your phone as well), an application that lets you know when you should wake up (or go to bed) to avoid interrupting sleep cycles. Now, please share your secrets so I can share.
📕 An instruction manual for yourself. “When in doubt, take me for a walk. Are you sure you drank enough water? Maybe there’s something you need to stop doing.” (See also this, which I shared a month ago)
✌️Thanks for reading. Take care of yourself and remember to keep the Hoping Machine running.
Love,
Luke
