Don’t get me wrong, I’m pretty obsessed with the Warriors right now, but this article about Jon Gruden makes me excited about his return to the Raiders. His stories about Al Davis are worth the click.

Ugly Delicious

Fern and I independently heard good reviews about this food series on Netflix and we finally had time to watch an episode last night. Dude. First, it’s helmed by David Chang and if you’ve trafficked in any food shows over the last decade you might have seen him. He started his restaurant, Momofuku, in New York’s East Village in 2004 and things went bananas shortly thereafter. He’s irreverent and thoughtful and the show reflects that. The first episode is about pizza and it’s shot beautifully as they travel from Brooklyn, to New Haven, to Naples, Copenhagen… it’s a treat. There’s only eight episodes – and in Netflix fashion they’re all available now – and I’m going to savor these all. 

AusArctic on Youtube

Emperor penguins discover a camera at Auster Rookery near Australia’s Mawson research station. One bumps the camera and you get two penguins staring down into the camera. It’s 37 seconds of adorable penguins… or it’s some really juicy nightmare fodder. You be the judge!

When I first heard Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats break-out single, “S.O.B”, I cried. It was a song I knew my dad would have loved, and listening to it I could practically feel him listening over my shoulder. Their new album came out today, and I’ve managed to not cry, even though I know this is an album we could have enjoyed together (screw you, cancer!!). Southern soul complete with a gorgeous horn section, it makes me want to BBQ something.

Above link is Amazon, here’s a link to Spotify, iTunes, the video for the lead single on YouTube

Aeropress Coffee Maker

I count myself as something of a coffee snob. After all, one of my Bucket List goals is to make a perfect cup of coffee (#21). I’ve got a couple French Presses, two different drip filters, two ceramic burr grinders, and I occasionally roast my own green coffee beans. Suffice it to say, I take coffee seriously. That said, I ignored the rave reviews for the Aeropress for a very long time. About a year ago I gave it a shot. I’m sorry I waited so long. The biggest drawback is that it generates a single cup at a time, but that’s offset by the fact that it’s about 90 seconds brewing before you press it out. And the cup you get is strong and rich like the best French press, yet as perfectly clean as a pour-over.

Yep, SpaceX again. If you’ve ever seen a SpaceX first stage return to land on a barge in the middle of the ocean, then you’re aware of the unsung heroes of the SpaceX fleet. Here’s a bit more about these fancy (enormous) barges.

This podcast is utterly charming and illuminating. Episodes are generally not long – 10-15 minutes on average – but the narration, writing, and production bring each story of history to vivid life. This story, “Hercules” about one of George Washington’s slaves, struck me as quietly spectacular. It’s no secret that George Washington had slaves, but there’s the popular narrative that he treated them well, and maybe he just had them for the sake of southern tradition, yada, yada, yada. George Washington had slaves, full stop. How much the fact that he owned human beings detracts from the god-like visage we hold him in is up to you individually, but this story shows some of Washington’s warts in a way that leaves judgment aside and just presents a fascinating moment.

A second podcast recommendation, but this comes with a caveat. I’ve been a loyal listener to All Songs Considered for well over a decade now, and though I have been introduced to a tremendous amount of fantastic music over the years there has been one issue that has irked me for some time – the music they play, for the most part, is still a month or more from being released. That’s great if I want to prep my music calendar for the next quarter, but come on? It’s a tease! Clearly they’re aware of this because a few weeks ago they started “New Music Fridays” where they highlight music that is being released that day. For me, that’s enough. I do appreciate the long All Songs Considered with its music that I might remember a month from now now that it’s balanced with instant gratification music on Fridays.

Maybe you’ve heard the prognostications about the imminent demise of the ubiquitous Cavendish banana, but this single banana that solely dominates grocery stores (aside from the rare plantain, of course) hasn’t always been the heavy hitter we know it to be now. No, it wrested that crown from the Gros Michel back in the early 60’s when that banana’s production was nearly completely wiped out by a fungus. This is a lovely piece of narrative journalism trying to find a Gros Michel in the “wild” of New York City. How does a Gros Michel taste compared to a Cavendish? You’ll have to find out..

“Weird Al” Yankovik

In lieu of releasing a second “Hamilton Mixtape” Lin-Manuel Miranda announced late last year that he’d be making “HamilDrops” throughout this year with Hamilton-inspired songs by prominent artists. He started the series last year with the wonderful (and profane) “Ben Franklin’s Song” where the indie band The Decemberists took his lyrics from a song about Ben Franklin that never made the show and turned it into, well, a very enjoyable Decemberist’s song. And now this…. Miranda and Yankovik are mutual admirers of each other, so perhaps we should have expected something like this: a polka-fied montage of the most memorable tracks from the Hamilton soundtrack. If you enjoyed the songs from Hamilton, it’s well worth checking out!

Youtube • Amazon • iTunes

Primal Space @ YouTube

I’ll go out of my way to heed the alert indicating SpaceX is streaming a launch. I don’t expect watching a rocket blast off will ever get old for me – maybe that comes from remembering the first Space Shuttle launch, or just my fascination with man slipping the surly bonds of Earth. But watching any SpaceX launch you have to ask, “How are they getting those incredible shots?” This short video goes into some of the tech behind that tech. 

This three-year-old long-read came back to relevance this week when a death in Yellowstone was confirmed to be that of a treasure hunter. It’s not anyone in the Outside story, but it still speaks to the fact that this modern-day mystery still haunts folks’ dreams with the elusive hope of literally discovering treasure.

Yeah, I know it’s not a clinical thing, and maybe it’s truly a placebo thing, but I do feel like it helps.

Water. A lot of it.

And a lot of this.