Greeting the season // What's Good: Feb. 2, 2024
Criminals, questions, and character development.
Hello, good evening, happy Friday. Punxsutawney Phil has predicted an early spring, in response to which I offer the following:
Weekend watching
I know what’s going on my list:
If you were among the many who wondered why anyone would make a "Mr. and Mrs. Smith" reboot, this time without Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, when the project was announced in 2021, you'd be forgiven.
The new series is ostensibly based on the 2005 film, which is arguably most famous for the fact that it's how Pitt and Jolie first met. But "based" is a pretty loose concept here: Don't expect the same action setup, or even the same conceit, as the original film. Expect something much, much better.
Spheres of influence
Tremendous piece here, this shit is exhausting:
When Rachael Kay Albers was shopping around her book proposal, the editors at a Big Five publishing house loved the idea. The problem came from the marketing department, which had an issue: She didn’t have a big enough following. With any book, but especially nonfiction ones, publishers want a guarantee that a writer comes with a built-in audience of people who already read and support their work and, crucially, will fork over $27 — a typical price for a new hardcover book — when it debuts.
It was ironic, considering her proposal was about what the age of the “personal brand” is doing to our humanity. Albers, 39, is an expert in what she calls the “online business industrial complex,” the network of hucksters vying for your attention and money by selling you courses and coaching on how to get rich online. She’s talking about the hustle bro “gurus” flaunting rented Lamborghinis and promoting shady “passive income” schemes, yes, but she’s also talking about the bizarre fact that her “65-year-old mom, who’s an accountant, is being encouraged by her company to post on LinkedIn to ‘build [her] brand.’”
Shitlords’ retirement home
That’s what the Trump campaign seems to be, anyway:
When Donald Trump invited his longtime White House valet, Walt Nauta, to join his post-presidential political operation in August 2021, he was hiring a body man with serious baggage.
Weeks before Nauta—a Navy enlistee stationed with the White House Presidential Support Detail since 2012—traded Washington, D.C., for Palm Beach, Navy officials had escorted him off White House grounds, reassigned him to a new post, and docked his White House security clearance in response to accusations of fraternization, adultery, harassment, and other inappropriate sexual conduct, including “revenge porn,” two people with direct knowledge of the matter told The Daily Beast.
Truly terrifying crime
I know some of you enjoy true crime stories, but oh my fucking god:
She was 15. He told her he was 17, just a few months shy of 18. They met on Instagram during the summer of 2022.
The girl, who lived with her mother, younger sister and grandparents in Riverside, kept their “relationship” a secret from her family. They would send messages through Instagram and talk over Discord, an instant messaging platform that allows voice calls.
War crimes
A resort hotel overlooking the Mediterranean. A multistory courthouse built in 2018. Dozens of homes, obliterated in seconds, with the pull of a trigger.
The damage caused by Israel’s aerial offensive in Gaza has been well documented. But Israeli ground forces have also carried out a wave of controlled explosions that has drastically changed the landscape in recent months.
At least 33 controlled demolitions have destroyed hundreds of buildings — including mosques, schools and entire sections of residential neighborhoods — since November, a New York Times analysis of Israeli military footage, social media videos and satellite imagery shows.
An end to useful questions
I remember when the internet used to be useful:
“Why Do So Many Music Venues Use Ticketmaster?” “What’s It Like to Train to Be a Sushi Chef?” “How Do Martial Artists Break Concrete Blocks?” If you were looking for answers to such questions 10 years ago, your best resource for finding a thorough, expert-informed response likely would have been one of the most interesting and longest-lasting corners of the internet: Quora.
Year of the dragon
The phrase “Not all men” started as a meek defense of terrible male behavior that’s insensitive at best. But a 28-year-old Kansas woman agrees with the sentiment.
“ ‘not all men’. ur right,” Adriana Rodriguez posted on social media in 2022. “kazuma kiryu yakuza would never do that to me.”
The dig is obvious: In lieu of real men, only a fictional man meets the standards. In this case, a noble yakuza whose careful character development over nearly two decades has earned him, and his game series, a steadily growing base of fans — and endless meme potential.
I recently started Yakuza 0 and am playing my way through the series. It’s just excellent.
You deserve some good animal content
https://twitter.com/OregonZoo/status/1752024525473198248
https://twitter.com/GoldretrieverUS/status/1753611043266338901
https://twitter.com/raccoonhourly/status/1753591653149880506
https://twitter.com/mischiefanimals/status/1753566206370410776
https://twitter.com/raccoonhourly/status/1753546355073499551
https://twitter.com/ServalEveryHr/status/1753517391496052884
https://twitter.com/GoldretrieverUS/status/1753511899315191824
https://twitter.com/SmithsonianMoL/status/1753483263610614111
Have a good weekend.
Addendums
Colleges Are Lying to Their Students. Kyrsten Sinema Loves to Fly Private—on the Taxpayer’s Dime. I’ve Lived Through a Media Disaster Like the Messenger. Parvati Proves Nice Girls Don't Win. Reason to be Happy review: Can thinking logically make us happier? Inside Biden's obsession with "Morning Joe."