Intro / Preface / Extra Words
How time flies, it's been 20 days since our last issue. I (Calvin) was admittedly the bottleneck on getting this one out, sorry bout it. I'm heading to the beach today, and if you are already on a beach somewhere I hope you don't see this newsletter because you're avoiding email and all other technologies.
If you're not on a beach, I hope you do see this email and click all the links.
Enjoy.
Current Things
36 Hours in Memphis - The New York Times
If you're one of our Memphis readers, this is a great list of things to do around town that you might have missed (or need to revisit). - Calvin
Getting Urban Design Right: Broad Avenue As A Test
Shoutout to JD for the link. Broad Avenue is where Simple Focus, the company I've worked at for about six years, relocated to when we left Germantown. This article is a little scattered, but I think it has some interesting points of view to consider as much of Memphis is experiencing a renewed interest in using existing spaces for new shops, dwellings, and restaurants. - Calvin
Random Things
Water powered hammer
So there's a dude who, like all of us, read Hatchet as a kid, but unlike my HVAC loving tuchus (be careful googling how to spell tuchus by the way) he has moved into the woods and is videoing himself building a stone aged infrastructure using no metal, no tools, no power, etc. In this episode he makes a water powered forge / hammer / poundey thing. -Brian
Food
Here’s Anthony Bourdain’s Foreword to Marilyn Hagerty’s Book ‘Grand Forks’
I'm going to be sharing Bourdain-related content for a long time, because I'm still sad.
In a world of snark and meanness, Anthony Bourdain published and wrote the foreword for a book documenting restaurant reviews by a (at the time) 86-year-old woman who lives in Michigan. In case you think she sounds familiar, it's because she wrote a review of Grand Forks first Olive Garden restaurant and it was widely circulated–you'll understand why after reading this foreword. I'm excited to read this book. - Calvin
As a chef or cook, what is your least favorite dish to prepare?
It's fun to read paragraphs of chef's ranting about the worst foods they're required to cook regularly. It also makes me nervous to accidentally order something that will make a chef hate me. - Calvin
Business Time
Amazon needs to get a handle on its counterfeit problem
I think this is a huge risk for Amazon as it is more or less what drove the masses away from the potential of Ebay. I've read threads where manufacturer authorized re-sellers who sell on Amazon complain that counterfeiters can list fake goods with the same item number and since both legitimate and fake goods are fulfilled by Amazon they are stored in the same bins in the warehouse and who knows whether you are getting the real deal or no when they pull your order from the bin? What's worse is if the authorized re-seller has the listing you bought from but you got a fake item then the bad review you write shows up under the authorized re-seller's listing! -Brian
Engineer who lived modestly donates $37 million to Pittsburgh Foundation
I'm an engineer. Apparently I need to be "living modestly"??? -Brian
Work / Productivity
The “Burner List”—My simple, paper-based system for focused to-dos
I love this, but I also love Todoist. But if you aren't obsessive about todos and you're interested in getting your life together, I'd try this system just to see if it helps. - Calvin
Sports (Disc Golf)
LeBron’s Terrifyingly Plausible Path to Boston
Shoutout to Michael J. for the link. I wanted to get this out there in case it does happen, since LeBron just passed on his option. Oy. Please don't be real. - Lakers Fan Calvin
The Gambler Who Cracked the Horse-Racing Code
A gambler who won millions on a rollover trifecta but chose not to redeem the prize because he was making too much money on the daily on normal bets and didn't want the attention? Who ended up with a net worth of $1B? Yes please! -Brian
The Curious Case of Bryan Colangelo and the Secret Twitter Account
Statistical analysis proves one NBA GM has multiple accounts on Twitter just so he can anonymously praise his own GM'ing. I mean, who doesn't have multiple accounts on Twitter to give themselves accolades? -Brian
Follytics
Politics and the Working Class
A self analysis from the left on the nitty gritty policy missteps in the Clinton campaign in 2016. Stanley Greenberg is an old hand of Democratic presidential campaigns who is a little miffed his advice wasn’t followed and so may have an axe to grind, but his comments in general ring true to me. -Brian
I love technology (and science)
Joe Thompson's Complete Guide To The Modern Era Of Watchmaking
Bookmark this and keep coming back, because there's no way you're going all the way down the rabbit hole the first time you visit. Brian might have, he's on really long flights sometimes. - Calvin
Further Reading
How Anna Delvey Tricked New York’s Party People
This reads like a short biography so I'm putting it in here. So weird! - Calvin
Outro
That's it for this week. Brian has been a busy guy and already has lots of links ready for our next issue, so expect that one a little faster.
I know I always say "hey send me links" but I got bored of all the different ways that I get links from people, so to make it easier on us I've created a super-simple form you can use to drop us links. Use it and be guaranteed instant fame.
Until next time,