Five Things This Week

What I’m Reading This Week – Week 4, 2018

Three items this week – the first is a link to a YouTube “video” (there’s nothing to see, really, it’s all about just the song). Then, there’s gorgeous trail cams on the coast and the rise of Mason jars. Enjoy!

YouTube
Suddenly Kurt and company sound a lot like early Weezer. It’s fascinating!
The Six Fifty
A woman living between Davenport and Pescadero ventures into the hills to capture some of the most gorgeous trail cam footage this side of Planet Earth II (you have watched Planet Earth II, right? It’s on Netflix)
Extra Crispy
Did you attribute the resurgence of the Mason jar to purely millennial nostalgia? Turns out it was more about shrewd marketing…

What I’m Reading (And Listening to!) This Week – Week 3, 2018

I two articles link this week, but I have two album recommendations. The links in the body of the album reviews are Amazon affiliate links, and there’s also a Spotify link

Gizmodo
Turns out figuring out where you’re from based on your DNA is really hard and figuring out where you’re from depends on how (and when) your ancestors lived in a particular place.
Atlas Obscura
What’s the deal with Mormons and caffeine? It’s complicated…
 

 First Aid Kit —Ruins

I fell in love with the Swedish duo of Klara and Johanna Söderberg the first time I heard “Emmylou” from their 2012 album The Lion’s Roar.  They have a folk-country sound that’s much more Nashville than Stockholm, but if the mention of the country genre makes you cringe, know that the Emmylou of the song I mentioned earlier is Emmylou Harris and on that same song she also name-checks Gram Parsons, June Carter Cash, and Johnny Cash — that’s the country they’re emulating: Old School. Ruins may lean a little more into the country twang than the more folky previous album, but the interplay of their voices and the musicianship will make you lean back and enjoy.
It’s winter. Even in California, it’s cold and rainy and, well, maybe a little dreary. Need something to pick you up? Maybe you rely on pathetic radiant heaters for your only source of warmth like me? If so and you need to instantly transform the room from see-your-breath chilly to tropically sweltering, just drop the proverbial needle on Camila Cabello’s full album. If you’re unfamiliar with her name, you’ve undoubtedly heard the earworm “Havana” — it’s been pretty inescapable, and for good reason. It’s on this album, but lest you think she’s a one-hit-wonder, just about every track here raises the mercury. It’s a glorious summer pop album just in time to thaw even the most severe Bomb Cyclone.

What I’m Reading This Week — Week 2, 2018

Remember that New Years Resolution post where I said this was going to be part of a weekly posting schedule? Five articles this week. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did!

The Verge
The man who put LIDAR on cars, David Hall
Outside
A story of one of Oregon’s first wolves of the reintroduction era, and the man who was charged with keeping tabs on him.
Atlas Obscura
If you’re familiar with the purported posed corpse photos from the Victorian era, you might be surprised to learn many of them — and the apparati associated with them — aren’t what they appear to be.
Gizmodo
An bird shows up where it’s not supposed to be, and bird nerds (I mean that with the utmost respect) grab their car keys for a road trip! And they say traveling for beer is crazy!
Quartz
How your country got its tea, by land or sea route, largely determined whether you call it a variation of ‘tea” or “chai”.