Friday Faves 6/5: Black Lives Matter

Just when we thought life couldn’t get any stranger, this week happened. Another one for the ages that will be seared in our memory for quite a while.

Instead of jumping into a typical Friday Faves, I thought, instead, I would share some of the books and movies that I have read and watched over the last few years that examine the experience of Black people in America. I was lucky enough to be a part of a diversity group at my old school that pointed me in the direction of a lot of this content. I know I need to read and watch more and have more conversations about race and prejudice. I hope some of these help you have those conversations.

Movies

13th - This is a documentary about the prison and criminal systems in the United States. The film dives into how America moved from abolishing slavery to creating a prison system that incarcerated Black and Brown people are staggering numbers. It’s an award winner that is very much worth watching.

Books

Non-Fiction

The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness - This is the book version of 13th, so if you’re more of a reader, or find yourself wanting more to dig into after watching the 13th, this is a good place to start.

Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City - A book that covers eight families in Milwaukee trying to make rent every month.

Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates - In this book, Ta-Nehisi Coates writes a letter to his son. I read this in one sitting. Coates is incredibly insightful and the stories he tells about his childhood and growing up in Baltimore are haunting.

Barracoon: The Story of the Last "Black Cargo" by Nora Neale Hurston - I am about halfway through this book. Incredibly, Neale Hurston found a man named Cudjo Lewis in Alabama who was on the last slave boat the Clotilda to cross the Middle Passage. It’s now 1931, he’s 86 years-old; he tells the story of his tribe, his capture, his crossing, and his slavery

Fiction

Washington Black by Esi Edugyan - A riveting tale that starts on a Barbados sugar cane plantation following 11 year-old George Washington Black. “Wash” ends up as an apprentice to Christopher Wilde, the brother of the plantation owner. Wilde is an eccentric fellow and naturalist and inventor and when a murder happens on the plantation, they need to escape in the middle of the night on Wilde’s “flying machine.” Adventure ensues, as Wash is always looking over his shoulder waiting for a bounty hunter to catch him whether he’s in the Artic, Europe, or Africa, the fear never leaves him.

Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie - A story about the immigrant experience in America. Ifemulu moves to the US from Nigeria by herself, expecting Obineze to join her, but he can’t when 9/11 makes it nearly impossible. The two lovers live separate lives and drift apart, Ifemulu in the US and Obineze living illegally in London. The writing is beautiful and the story is gripping.

Internet Clips

Emmanuel Acho: The former football player drops some honesty in this excellent video.

Dear white people,
For days you’ve asked me what you can do to help. I’ve finally found an answer.

Let your guard down and listen. pic.twitter.com/74SVv8XOqp

— Emmanuel Acho (@thEMANacho) June 2, 2020

Killer Mike gives impassioned speech - This has circulated all over the internet and Killer Mike has been on multiple outlets this week to encourage people to “Plot, plan, strategize, organize, mobilize”

DeRay McKesson on Bill Simmons Podcast:

The opening here has Simmons apologize for a bad, tone-deaf podcast on Monday in light of what transpired over the weekend. The apology is followed by a great interview with DeRay McKesson, a Black activist, who has been working tirelessly to highlight police brutality and making impactful changes.

Higher Learning Podcast - I’m not a huge Rachel Lindsay fan, but this is a really good listen and I think Van Lathan is super-smart. They tackle Trump, Obama, Drew Brees, and even go into their boss (Bill Simmons) for his podcast that I reference at the top.



Friday Faves 2/27: Porter Square Books, The Town, Bowls, Beatles, and Back-Up Goalies

Best Activity

Porter Square: On Friday evening we went to Porter Square for dinner and then attended a book reading by the two Porter Square Book writing residents.

We had dinner at Christopher’s, which is right in Porter Square. It’s a really great spot, dark wood, fireplace, long bar, tons of beers on tap. A cozy warm place with a Cambridge vibe. Their food was good, and even just a few miles outside of Boston the price changed dramatically.

I’ve written about book stores on here before, I love them. One of my first dates with Tiff was in a book store before seeing a movie. Friday night was my first time at Porter Square Books. It’s delightful, and I left wishing there was a place like it somewhere closer to Charlestown. It had a cafe inside of it (picture above. Try the hot chocolate!), great book displays, cards, and puzzles.

The reading was really good. One of the authors wrote for young readers and the other one wrote for adults. It was an inspiring hour listening to them read their drafts. I was jealous of the young reader author because she beat me out for the residency, so really this entire trip was to check out the competition…

Best Watch

Barkley Marathons: I shared a link to an Outside Magazine article about this race last week, and this week I watched a documentary about the race. It’s an insane test of the human spirit. Lazarus, the founder, is a quirky dude. The application fee for the race is $1.60. If you’re a first-timer (they call them virgins), you have to provide a license plate from your state or country. The other payment is whatever Lazarus wants. The year this documentary is filmed the fee was one flannel shirt because Lazarus needed some shirts. He’s asked for socks in the past or white shorts. The race is like nothing I’ve seen before and Lazarus offers some incredible insight into the human spirit.

The Town: I moved to Charlestown just a few months before The Town came out. On Saturday night we popped some popcorn and gave it the old rewatch. The movie is great, highly entertaining. It also might be one of the most hyper-local movies I can recall seeing. The shots of Charlestown, the references, the shooting locations all make Charlestown. The movie also highlights some of the gentrification in Charlestown. Old Sully’s, a very local bar where they shot a bunch of scenes was turned into into condos a few years back. This was also Tiff’s favorite movie of the decade…

Best Listen

Sgt. Pepper: It had been a while since I listened to this album. I don’t have much to say about it other than the fact that it’s probably my favorite Beatles album.

Delphi Murders — Down the Hill: It's been too long (two weeks?) since I wrote about some morbid stuff for my best listen. This new podcast covers the murder of two teenage girls in Delphi, Indiana. This unsolved murder has some maddening evidence, including the voice of a man, the possible killer, on one of the girl’s snapchats saying “Down the hill.”

Best Read

Emergency Goalie Wins NHL Game: This is a really cool story about David Ayres, a zamboni driver, that played, and won, an NHL game this week for the Carolina Hurricanes. Yahoo.com

WikiLove: I used to have a love/hate relationship with Wikipedia as a teacher. It was the easy place for students to find info, but it also offered what I thought might be the worst of the internet: people-powered-info without much oversight. Over time, I realized the value of it as a quick way to begin the research process, and now it’s a site I visit every day. Wired.com writes about what makes Wikipedia so great in an internet filled with garbage. Wired.com

Best Social

LEGEND! 84-year-old Mary Ann Wakefield sunk this 94-foot putt to win a new car 👏

(via @OleMissMBB) pic.twitter.com/Rkq2GDD8yk

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) February 23, 2020

Best Eat

Slow Cooker Chicken Verde: This might be the easiest recipe on the planet. You dump boneless chicken thighs, a can of verde salsa, garlic cloves, and some spices into a slow cooker. You can make it a little fancier by making your own salsa verde, but a good pre-made version will do you just fine. We tried our hand at making our own gordita crunch with the chicken as the filling.

Bacon Jammy Pizza: Sunday Funday takes on a different vibe when your friends have kids. They rarely occur anymore because, well, kids. However, this past Sunday we did a grown-up version of the responsibility defying day: we visited two Charlestown Open Houses with some friends and their 14 month-old. After perusing places we couldn’t afford we went to Brewer’s Fork for a snack and a beer. The four of us split the bacon jammy pizza. It’s a simple pizza: bacon jam, cherry tomatoes, mozzarella, and basil. Between the weather, the beers, and the pizza, it was a solid Sunday.

Bowls: No, not a bong, it’s 2020. Just get some edibles. Seriously though, this past week I had some different versions of a bowl: Rice, grain, salad, burrito. All of them were delightful.

Best Drink

Sloop Brewing - Juice Bomb: I was the envy of the table at Brewer’s Fork when I ordered this beer; admittedly, I stumbled into the order based on the ABV. Brewer’s Fork has a knack for finding very strong beers and charging a lot of money for them. I was looking for the opposite, so the 6.5% was the best of the bunch. Everyone at the table took a sip of this NEIPA. It wasn’t hoppy, but had that hazy, cloudy look that most beers of their ilk have these days. If you live in the Hudson Valley near East Fishkill keep your eyes peeled. If you live anywhere else, figure out where you can drink it and go get it.

Best Plugs

The Random Division: Fantasy Suite week is always entertaining, throw in a “soft-ultimatum” from a virgin contestant, and it gets very interesting. Tiff and I recorded this pod from the couch because we’ve got a giant puzzle on our table (Porter Square Books purchase…). It made for a punchy episode, probably the best one of the season. iTunes.

The Imperfect Game: Both and I have now researched ten English soccer clubs. So we decide to build our “Dream Club” using only the ten teams we learned about. We pick a city, stadium, fan base, manager, and more. We could only use each club once, so it made for a fun conversation, and some debate, between us. iTunes.

Friday Faves 10/4: Sturgill Simpson, Maradona, Oatmeal, and Tea

Best Activity

Open Houses: I moved into my apartment in December of 2009. Over that decade (where did the time go?!?) I’ve dreamed of moving far away (this usually happens while I’m shoveling out my car or standing outside during a recess duty in subzero temps). This past Sunday, Tiff and I, along with another couple, decided to hit up some open houses in our neighborhood. While a move within our little neighborhood wouldn’t solve my seasonal depression, it is fun to wander through other homes to nitpick, oggle, and check out roof decks with the understanding that there’s no way, even with our four bank accounts, that we could afford them.

As the lone non-midwesterner in our group of Open House crashers, there is also the required comparison of house prices in Boston to Ohio or Michigan (We could buy a five bedroom on 35 acres for this much!). We left the second Open House last week and already promised to do it again soon.

Best Listen

Sturgill Simpson’s Sound and Fury: This album is unlike anything I’ve listened to in a very long time. It’s amazing. There are so many great songs and Simpson tries a bunch of new stuff on here, he sounds like The Black Keys (“Sing Along”) and then dips his toes into funk/disco (“A Good Look”) and then you’re listening to another song where he’s back to his country roots (the first ten seconds even has Alex Jones as a radio skims through stations). In the wrong hands, those sounds can just be distracting and annoying, luckily Simpson is the perfect guy to handle it. There’s also a Netflix special (or extended music video) to go along with the album.

Best Watch

Diego Maradona Documentary: I double dog dare you to watch the first four minutes of this new HBO documentary and decide to stop watching. Yes, it’s about soccer, but the story runs so much deeper. It tackles racism, drugs, sex, poverty, nationalism, regionalism (is that a thing?), loyalty, and fanaticism. I knew how incredible Maradona was in his prime, but I wasn’t old enough to really watch him. I only got to see the fallout of his drug abuse and then his brief return to the game as a manager.

The documentary is all old footage. No cut aways to talking head interviews; any interviews they do have are just voiced over the footage. The soundtrack is superb. If you think sports fans in America are insane, just watch the reactions Maradona gets in Naples, both as a Napoli superstar and as the Argentinian villain during World Cup ‘90 when he beats Italy (in Napoli’s stadium) in the semi-final. I’m getting goosebumps just writing about it…

Brian Phillips at The Ringer wrote a piece about Maradona that’s worth a read, too.

Tourist Sauce in Ireland: I’ve written about these guys before. They just released the first episode of their golf trip to Ireland.

Best Read

Range by David Epstein: I wrote about this book on Wednesday. You can read about it here. It’s an excellent, quick, thought-provoking read about generalists who tend to find their way to prominent roles due to their lack of specialization. It’s a book about having a wide range of perspective, both within individuals but also within groups of people, to solve problems creatively.

One anecdote that I didn’t write about in my Book Club post: In an experiment that Epstein found, the majority of people would not read an article that presented an opposing view of a personal opinion they held, even though they would have been paid to read the article.

If that doesn’t sum up where our country is right now, I’m not sure what does.

Best Eat

Oatmeal: On Thursday in Boston the high temperature did not exceed 60 degrees. This feels like the right temperature for a few things that people have jumped the gun on around here: vests, aggressive fleece, winter hats, and pumpkin flavored things (more on that in a moment). Oatmeal is one of those fall/winter breakfasts that I find myself really enjoying. Usually, it is a weekend affair; now that I am not running off to work with a cup of coffee and banana for breakfast, I have started to have oatmeal during the week as I settle into my morning work-from-home routine. A little brown sugar and cinnamon, along with a cut up banana (fruit flies be damned!) is a great way to start the day.

Noosa Pumpkin Yoghurt: During my trip to Wegman’s on Monday I stumbled upon this seasonal flavor and couldn’t turn it down. I was intrigued. I love Noosa Yoghurt anyway, so I didn’t feel like I was taking too big of a risk. This stuff is delicious, even though it is a little decadent. A couple spoonfuls is really all you need. Some creatives could find use for this delicious yogurt in some deserts or smoothies.

Best Drink

Tea: With Sober September over, I am left with a new habit that is dying hard, a cup of tea at the end of the night. This is one of those moments where I realize I am turning into my parents (My mom sticks three tea bags into her tea pot in the morning and just fills it up throughout the day, ultimately drinking hot water at the end of the night). The tea provides a good filler for my night time drinking (along with a Tim Tam or two…) instead of a whiskey (this is where I begin to sound and feel like an alcoholic.). It also helps me sleep, rather than the opposite.

At some point this winter a Hot Toddy will be on this blog, but until then, just the tea, please!

Best Plugs

The Random Division Pod: Tiff and I wrapped up the first season of our podcast by planning a Bachelor in Paradise dinner party. Our guests were picked from the cast of Bachelor in Paradise, and we whittled it down to 6 guests that we both agreed on. Season 2 on The Random Division will be a series of podcasts focusing on the past decade of pop culture and entertainment.

The Imperfect Game Pod: I had Matt P. on to talk about the upcoming NBA. We dive into how stars are covered and treated by the media, and then dive into some team talk. Blazer, Clippers, and Lakers take up most of our time.

Cleaning out my Kyrie Irving Closet: I watched and then reacted to Kyrie’s first press conference. Full disclosure, I reacted to it like a crazy 1980s Italian soccer fan…