Five things on Friday #302
Things of note for the week ending Sunday, September 1st, 2019.
Newsletter #302: Introduction
Hello and welcome back to Five things on Friday. Hurrah.
The self-imposed two-month writing hiatus is at an end and, as promised back in June, I have returned!
I hope you've had a nice summer. As I write this first draft of this opening I am in Italy (edit: I am no longer in Italy - but I'll come back to this at the end). It is early and I am awake. So I write. Sorrento really is a magical part of the world. I cannot emphasize enough how lush it is - and how you should all visit. Shout if you do, I have reccos.
What else can I tell you?
Ah, yes. Yonks ago - maybe two years ago or so - the understated creative thinker, designer, and writer Robbie Dale (hi Robbie) made my header for me. That yellow one, up top. I found the original brief for it the other day. That white line? That's a noodle. To represent... noodling on things. The squiggliness of it all? That's your journey through Five things on Friday. THESE THINGS HAVE MEANING.
Anyway, I found the brief (and the amends - what japes). Which meant I found the work. Which meant I found all variations that Robbie made me (I've switched MacBooks since they first came in so they disappeared from my desktop). And lo, the header has changed. Only slightly. As it has done before (but none of you noticed last time so I'm giving you a heads up this time around) and as it will do again.
I've missed you.
I've missed writing.
I've missed the back and forth that springs from my inbox when a handful of you go ahead and HIT THAT REPLY BUTTON.
It's been so long in fact that as I write these words I wonder 'What if I don't know how to write this anymore?' But then, who am I kidding? When I first started this thing I was working on a one year, one year off policy. That was a TERRIBLE idea. TERRIBLE.
Breaks are good.
Absence, as they say, makes the heart grow fonder.
To the newbies I say WELCOME. The fifty or so of you that subscribed at some point over the TEN WEEK break, and having not read issue #301, have probably been wondering what kind of thing it is that you've subscribed to... well, this is it. This is Five things on Friday. A weekly newsletter that offers up five things of interest as designed to be of interest by yours truly.
There are two rules:
Rule 1. There will always be more than five things.
Rule 2. But they won't always arrive on a Friday.
Clear? Clear.
So. Enough dilly dally. Shall we get on with this thing?
LET'S.
1. THOUGHT STARTER
Continuing the Robbie Dale love-in from the intro, this section is about the company/movement he has co-founded with an equally clever brain that I admire, Daianna Karaian.
Introducing, Thought Starter.
I asked Robbie and Daianna to give me a rough overview of what Thought Starter is and what it is about and they sent me the following:
Daianna:
"Thought Starter creates solutions for people and organisations who want to change the world but don’t quite know where to start. Everything we do, say and write is about giving you simple tools and resources that make it easy to start taking action on something you care about.
Our Thought Starter Kit takes you from intention to action in minutes. Our newsletter takes one news story each week and tells you one thing you can do about it. And our social media provides daily nudges on how to make today better than yesterday. Because change only happens when we take action."
Robbie:
"Thought Starter is for anyone who's thought about changing the world, but isn't quite sure where to start.
The world is in turmoil, that's fair to say. Whatever your values, whatever your perspective, whatever you deem to be good and right... you probably feel it's under attack. But what are you going to do about it? In 2016, as politics and society began to flare up in hitherto unimaginable - but reflectively understandable - ways, we asked ourselves that same question. And the answer we can up with, was Thought Starter. Things don't change and get better by thinking and planning and hoping and praying. They change and get better when people take action.
Starting as a simple kit of six paper tools (inspired by Martin Luther King's six steps of social change), Thought Starter provides ways and means for people to go from idea to real action easily. The kit can be used by anyone in any situation, but it also sits at the heart of workshops we deliver to organisations and at events. And for every kit we sell, we also make one available to a school or youth organisation to support social change by young people, empowering a generation of doers.
Beyond the kit, we've tried to make it easy for people to take action in their everyday lives. Today Do This is a simple tool that lives on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook and suggests a daily nudge towards making the world slightly better today than it was yesterday. While the Thought Starter "feel better about the news"-letter takes one disheartening story that's been making headlines, and suggest one thing individuals can do about it."
---
On the Thought Starter website it says 'Changing the world two people at a time'. Daianna and Robbie are doing just that. You should try it. And Thought Starter. You should try that too.
(Their newsletter is excellent).
2. THREE DECENT INTERVIEWS I HAVE READ RECENTLY
Playboy, Vogue, and Rolling Stone...
DECENT INTERVIEW ONE: The New Rules of Feminism With Chidera Eggerue.
Aka 'The Slumflower' - this article is interesting for a few reasons. One, it's in actual Playboy. Two, the interviewer challenges Eggerue re: her comments on male suicide (this passed me by the first time around so I was glad to be brought up to speed). Three, whether you agree with her or not, the positive impact The Slumflower is having on the young women of the world is inarguable and that can only be applauded - naive opinions and all. Read it.
DECENT INTERVIEW TWO: Florence Welch On Addiction, Eating Disorder Recovery, And Finding True Happiness In Her 30s.
I mean, the title kinda says it all BUT, as an FYI, I read this one a fair few weeks ago now. I knew then it would be going into the first new edition of FToF -- for this passage alone:
"Most of the friends that I drank with have had to stop. They wash up one by one like driftwood, and we stand together on the shore in shocked relief."
There is something so achingly poetic about that. I read that and I am there. It's the morning after the night before. Too much has happened. Light creeps in through the curtains the stark, worn skin of yesterday longs to leave. In shocked relief. As if to say 'Holy hell we made it - and Christ knows how but we did and what were we ever doing out there, drifting, for so long?' - I've been there. I have seen this. I see it now. Not through drug addiction or drinking but through the advent and change that comes with growing up. With the life changes that make you human.
It's a beautiful read.
DECENT INTERVIEW THREE: The Eternal Sunshine of HARRY STYLES.
This is SUCH a good read! For the music cues littered throughout (Rolling Stone put together its own playlist for the interview but it didn't include New Young Pony Club so I won't put it in here) it is worth your time alone. Surreptitious aural pleasure aside, this piece is just so WHOLESOME.
Try it.
3. ROBERT PATTINSON
This almost belongs in THING TWO but it is so wickedly wonderful that it swings its way into its own thing.
And rightly so.
The above image is taken from an article that recently appeared in THE CUT. It was called:
"I Think About This a Lot: The Time Robert Pattinson Blatantly Lied on the Today Show"
AND IT IS A WONDERFUL, SUPERB, and DELIGHTFUL read.
So do yourself a favour and go read it.
Robert Pattinson is going to be the new/next Batman (which may or may not include Joaquin Pheonix as JOKER - TBC). And I love the idea of a young Bruce Wayne just getting off on this stuff...
4. POOLSIDE.FM
This is old AF but I love it.
Click on the image.
Go to the website.
Hit play on the music.
Then be immediately transported to an early 80s poolside chill and funk.
Go now.
5. I SAY DEEP YOU SAY FAKE
There have been a TON of these lately. A TON.
The most recent one that may have pierced the bubble of your individual newsfeeds might have been the one with the guy deep-faking himself onto Leonardo DiCaprio's face using nothing but an app.
The app's name? ZAO. And you can read all about that over at The Guardian.
But that's not what I wanted to share. No no, that's just background. The thing I wanted to show you was this bad boy.
DID YOU KNOW that Will Smith was originally offered the part of Neo in The Matrix? No? I wonder what kind of movie it would've been with him as the star.
Well, there's a deep fake for that.
I mean it, hit the image and go watch the YouTube video.
This stuff is INSANE.
I mean, forget being weirded out by just how well Will Smith's face maps to Keanu Reeves. Forget how weird it is seeing Will Smith act like Keanu Reeves (let's be honest, there's no way that Will Smith would've played it the same way). Forget all that. Let's just spend a hot minute talking about how dangerous this stuff is and how the legislation to protect us from it is barely here...
Isn't that exciting...?
THE ESSENTIALS:
The Essentials are the weekly links to the #MeToo movement. Any article. Any press. Any story. Any white male firing. If it happens, it's here.
THE BONUS SECTION OF BONUS LINKS FOR YOUR BONUS EYES TO CONSUME. BONUS.
FOR THE NEWBIES OR THE FORGETFUL, THIS IS THE LIST OF STUFF THAT I HAVE LEFT OVER AFTER PICKING OUT THE BEST OF THE REST. THERE'S ALWAYS GOOD STUFF HERE. SO IF YOU'VE JUST CLEARED A BUNCH OF TABS ON YOUR BROWSER, I'M SORRY-NOT-SORRY ABOUT THAT...
I created a Twitter list of women that can give talks at YOUR event (see thread for details). Keep the list. Save it. Share it. These things are important.
The great Matt Navarra has teamed up with the insightful Martin Bryant for a new podcast series called 'Geekout' - if you work anywhere near social and/or digital, you should give this a go. Episode one is cued up for my morning commute as we speak.
I don't like mentioning the occupant of the White House in these pages however this deep fake, adding The Joker's face to an interview he did recently is achingly good. Again, we are not ready.
One of the things I wrote before signing off this summer was a look and examination of the history of 'Choose Your Own Adventure' style stories in social media platforms. I've kept it up to date throughout the summer and there are few notable brands that have given ripping off the Beyonce-PA idea a shot. Some have done it well, some... have not. Go look. Feel free to share it widely. It's interesting to me that you can track the incubation of these things from viral-original through to brand-'homage', ahem. Oh and if you know of any I've missed, let me know - here (hit reply) or there (same).
BAD BOYS FOR LIFE. This was my 90s. As a dear friend said to me 'Looks great but I'm certain Martin Lawrence is wearing a fat suit' - which is well harsh.
If you're following British politics (good luck) you should be following Ian Dunt. The man should be bloody knighted.
The Great Green Wall <-- I hope I get to see this one day; what an incredible ambition.
I'm two episodes into the new DARK CRYSTAL prequel series on Netflix. The other half has never seen the original movie so is going in completely cold and we'll move onto the film (also available on Netflix) after. Will report back. That said, as someone who did grow up watching this movie religiously, I am STUNNED at the level of detail that has gone into making this look like so much the original. It's incredible. Watch it for that alone.
TRAILER: PRIMAL
TRAILER: JOKER (can't wait).
On Twitter? Check your connected apps and enabled two-factor authentication (aka '2FA') ideally with an Authenticator app - not SMS. Do that now. Unlike someone else recently...
I say again: Monday Night and Chill is EXCELLENT.
As I write this last section, news reports are coming in that Robert Mugabe has died. I went to Zimbabwe ten years ago. I hope the words shared with me then remain true and the country finds a way to move on. hope that.
What do strategists/planners do? Some metaphor.
'What punishment of gods are not gifts?' - learning to love the thing you wish did not happen. This killed me.
A fantastic thread of replies regarding what to do when you hit PEAK BOOK. Loved this.
And I think that's where we'll leave that for this week...