An Inflation Overview, Bad Math Scores, Ramones, Gross-Ups, etc.

In which Jackie is a punk, Sheena is a punk rocker, Judy is a runt and Suzy is a headbanger.

📈 From NPR, an overview of inflation. “Some companies have also been able to use higher inflation as an opportunity to raise prices beyond what simple cost increases would explain. That's not a surprise. Companies exist to maximize profits, and they'll usually charge what they feel the market can bear.”

🌎 How many countries can you name in fifteen minutes?

➗ Recent math SAT scores are even worse than you might think. “The analysis shows a 71-point drop in the rigor of SAT math from 2008 to 2023, with student performance decreasing by 36 points, resulting in a 107-point total divergence in average student math performance.”

👵🏼 A recent study suggests humans “age dramatically in two bursts – at 44, then 60.”

🚔 A Missouri woman has been arrested and charged with an attempt to steal Graceland. “Prosecutors say she allegedly orchestrated a scheme for the fraudulent sale of Graceland. NBC News was first to report in June on Findley’s connections to the Graceland plot, including false identities, post office boxes, and phone and fax numbers that appeared to link her to the scammers.”

🍪 Famous Amos has passed. As a kid I took the word “famous” pretty seriously and just assumed his cookies had to be the best.

👩‍🍳 Actors from The Bear discuss their favorite Chicago eateries. “Batter & Berries is one of my favorites for breakfast not only because it has incredible French toast, but there was also a waiter there that would come by with riddles every time he checked on my table, and as a person who loves riddles and puzzles, this is a dream scenario.”

🤢 The art of the “gross-up,” born in Ren & Stimpy, but popularized in Spongebob, which always felt more kid-friendly but very inspired by the former.

🎭 Whoa. Keanu Reeves and Alex Winters will perform together on Broadway next year in a revival of Waiting for Godot, one that will surely be most triumphant.

✍️ One way to write well, so said Kurt Vonnegut, was to be a good date.

🤘 This week marks 50 years of Ramones. Here’s 90 minutes of rock ‘n roll radio on Spotify. As I once heard on the radio show Underground Garage:

The renaissance had come and gone. It ended with either Who’s Next in August, ’71, or The Rolling Stones’ Exile on Main St., May of ’72. You can argue all night about which record began the renaissance, but nobody’s going to argue that starting somewhere around Jackie Brenston’s Rocket 88, 1951, the next twenty years would be the most inspiring, explore the most innovations, and have the most significant cultural impact in musical history. The level of greatness achieved in virtually every musical genre (blues, jazz, gospel, country, rhythm and blues, rockabilly, soul, and rock ‘n roll) was so extraordinary that it will never be equaled. Not until new instruments are invented, new scales used, and new technological means of communication are plugged directly into your cerebral cortex… Beginning somewhere in the early ’70s, musicianship and singer-songwriter craft replaced visceral, passionate, accessible, danceable rock ‘n roll as intellect and sophistication became the mainstream… So what do you do in the face of this rather harsh reality? A reality that says the ’50s are over, the ’60s are over, fun is over, and you missed it? It’s a secondhand culture for you? Hand-me-down riffs, used emotions and theatrical jive.

Fortunately, you have the one thing going for you that transcends eras, fashion and time. You have the one thing that all truly great rock ‘n roll bands have in common: you’re gonna play in a band because you have no other choice. You don’t fit in anywhere in society and you can’t do anything else. You might as well ignore everything that is going on, and invent your own style. You might as well be the most important influence on the next 30 or 40 years of rock ‘n roll. You might as well be the Ramones.

✌️ I’m all revved up and ready to go. Have a great week, keep the Hoping Machine running and don’t join the SLA or ice capades.

Love,

Luke