Notre Dame Reopens, The Year of Northern Lights, Spotify Wrapped, etc.
In which I attempt to combat "brain rot."
🥳 Happy Birthday, mom!
🥶 The freezing Midwest weather has me thinking about Mike Shank's assumption that if he were in AC/DC he probably wouldn't have to be stuck outside in the cold.
💻 Updated the homepage. It’s snowing there, too.
🎧 Spotify Wrapped results, as well as what I have been listening to the last fifteen years.
🎵 I do love when year-end lists roll around and I can discover a bunch of stuff I missed. Currently going thru Steven Hyden’s favorite albums of 2024 (note: reading Uproxx on a phone is maddening). So far I’ve been stuck on these two earworms.
🪩 Looks like Dead and Co. are heading back to the Sphere. Seems like a dream show. Also, saw that Kraftwerk are heading on tour, and it reminded me they were one of the best concerts I’ve ever been to.
🌄 Lot of Northern Lights this year. These photos are breathtaking.
🤏 I’m crushing your head.
🎅 Coca-Cola did not invent Santa Clause, though the company's advertising played a giant role in shaping the modern image of the character. “This happened in 1931 when Coca-Cola launched a Christmas advertising campaign that focused on a Santa Claus wearing the corporate colors white and red.”
🔔 Notre-Dame has reopened, an astonishing “rebirth from the ashes.” “It’s different when you work on a building that has a soul. Beauty makes everything easier.”
📦 But don’t over look this minor miracle, a “semi-permanent cathedral was built of cardboard, wood, and steel after Christchurch's 2011 earthquake.” At full capacity, it seats nearly 700 people.
🐓 To be fair…
🍿 Still have a lot of 2024 releases to watch, but I saw A Real Pain with my parents over Thanksgiving break. Eisenberg wrote something very honest and wise (but still, in my opinion, hilarious), and Culkin was frankly incredible. Wouldn’t be surprised if he dominated this awards season.
📖 Apparently the “word of the year,” or so says Oxford, is “brain rot.” “Our experts noticed that ‘brain rot’ gained new prominence this year as a term used to capture concerns about the impact of consuming excessive amounts of low-quality online content, especially on social media. The term increased in usage frequency by 230% between 2023 and 2024.”
🔴 I shouldn’t be sharing this as I am pretty dominant, but here is how you win Connect Four every time.
📈 Walt Disney’s corporate strategy chart, from 1957. “ The strategic vision that Walt long ago composed has revealed a succession of strategic possibilities that have fueled a remarkable record of value creating growth.”
✋ Leaving and waving, a series of photographs. “For 27 years, I took photographs as I waved good-bye and drove away from visiting my parents at their home in Sioux City, Iowa. I started in 1991 with a quick snapshot, and I continued taking photographs with each departure.”
✌️ And with that, ‘til next week, keep that Hoping Machine running.
Love,
Luke
