Recent inspiration
On occasion, I share a few links that have given me inspiration, revelation or joy. Here is a new batch of those links.
Dust to Digital’s social media posts
It's hard to give up Instagram when accounts like Dust to Digital share priceless content there that I would otherwise never come across. They have created a venue for sharing music that gives equal attention to the talents of street performers, professional musicians, kids, and everyone in between, from all over the world. On any given day, you might see a high school marimba ensemble, Wendy Carlos sharing early modular synth concepts, or an enchanting theremin performance. It's all beautiful and affirming of the value of music in all cultures and economic conditions worldwide.
I am chronically years behind on my list of TV shows and movies, and so finally caught Fleabag this past month. It presents itself at first as a cheeky, irreverent, incredibly well-written dark comedy about being a single(ish) 30-something woman in London in the 2010s, but it slowly unfolds into a beautiful story about how dysfunctional family dynamics, death, alcoholism, art and religion shape—and are shaped by—our relationships. One of few shows I rewatched from the beginning as soon as I'd finished my first viewing.
An essay documenting what Tressie McMillan Cottom calls "The Dolly Parton Moment" in current pop culture, and explores the ways that Dolly has weaved her own narrative through social/political moments, the ongoing discussion of racism in America, feminism, drag, Southern womanhood, and blondeness over a span of several decades. A great chaser to the Dolly Parton's America podcast series.
Our kids started watching this show on Disney+, and at first it just looked like typical kid-friendly cartoon programming, albeit far less annoying than many shows. After pausing to watch a couple episodes more closely, my wife and I both realized we were laughing uncontrollably, getting weepy, surreptitiously watching it without our kids, and taking away some valuable parenting reminders. It's making me a better dad, if only by noting how good the parents are at patiently engaging in their daughters' imaginative play. Season 2 just dropped and I think we're more excited than our kids.
When I initially shared this essay with a group chat (ahem, squad) of mine, the format elicited an understandably cynical reaction that it appeared to have been written by GPT-3 seeded with text sourced from gen-z internet culture. Admittedly, the format is not really my style, either. But, what I took from the essay, and a podcast interview with its authors, is that we should appreciate the value of group chats where trust is high and the ability to riff together is possible across large spans of space and time.
As an introvert with partial hearing loss, in-person socializing can get exhausting, so group chats are a significant part of my social life. It's comforting to see that expressed as a valid way of socializing, and as a way to create forms of currency and communal support, whether they be emotional, financial, or whatever.
This video of Black Flag performing in Berlin in 1983 makes the rounds every so often. I'm always captured by the moment where Rollins becomes rage personified after being hit with a flying beer can from a fan.
published 2021-05-29