Rants and Raves

Category: links

Kareem’s Playlist

I’m a subscriber to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s newsletter on Substack. He’s a great writer – check out the Mycroft Holmes books he’s written – or re-watch season 3 of Veronica Mars- or look at the long list of articles, posts and books if you don’t believe me. Or subscribe to his newsletter!

One of the great things I love about the newsletter is that he usually has a music recommendation or three towards the end. I’ve been trying to save the recommendations to a playlist on Spotify. I don’t have everything on here- but I go back a bit from when I started paying attention. Save the list below and give it a listen sometime.

Quick Links – Dec 2022

A post about from a writer who wears a smartwatch on one wrist and a traditional watch on the other. It’s tempting me to get a smartwatch. I keep thinking about getting an Apple Watch or a Whoop device.

Kareem’s blog and newsletter– if you’re not a subscriber, you should be. His blog makes me want to work at becoming a better writer.

NYT’s Best Books of 2022 (And the Staff Picks for 2022)

Goodreads.com Best Books of 2022 (Based on User Choice)

I need to make a list

I was listening to the interview of Dave Chang on Hot Ones the other week and there’s a good question that Sean asks him about supporting restaurants during the pandemic (skip to around 13:09), link below

“What are some tangible things that diners can do to ensure the restaurants that they love stick around?”

from David Chang Sweats Like Crazy While Eating Spicy Wings | Hot Ones

Since I’ve watched this I’ve been trying to think of my rotation list and have drafted some down which I’ll share later.

“Get your spots and support them unconditionally.”

Do you have a list?

Add them in the comments below if so, I’m curious.

Article: Changes in Tastings in Wine Country

Wineries will be firmer about appointments. There will be more options, many with food and at different prices. Many or all of the visits will move outdoors. And the average tasting will be long – figure 45 minutes or more. It will also be more intimate, which in most cases will surely be great but also could mean a long, hard sell for the winery’s wine club.

via The Grape Collective and Alder Yarrow’s blog

A Quote from Simon Sinek

This quote resonated with me.

The goal isn’t just to hire people who need a job, it’s to hire people who believe what you believe.

If you hire people just because they can do a job, they’ll work for your money. But if you hire people who believe what you believe, they’ll work for you with blood, sweat, and tears.

(from Start with why – link below)

Misc Links

I totally agree with this editorial from Vinograpy:

Bringing a bottle of wine to a restaurant right now says quite clearly, “Drinking what I want to drink from my own stash is more important to me than your survival as a business.”


https://www.vinography.com/2021/04/during-the-pandemic-corkage-is-a-crime

James Hoffman has great videos on Coffee and I’m always watching his. I found these enjoyable last week:

And I love this one- check out the slow-mo of the filter basket flexing at 2:37

Also- I’m not sure why the algorithm started suggested these types of videos to me (I must have been looking up a song) – but I wind up putting on videos like the following on in the background:

I’m not sure why I put some of those on, I don’t like all EDM. I do like that Analog Journal channel on YT though.

What I’m Listening To (when I have time)

During the times of ‘Rona I’m not listening to podcasts as often as I was previously. I’m not commuting so I’m not listening to them with any regularity (or reading in the same way). But I do try to fire up something to listen to a few times during the week.

Here are some of what I’m listening to and have queued up. Below that are my old “regulars” that I still recommend and like (maybe with a note or two)

Queued up:
Winds of Change. Recommended to me by multiple people, mostly because of novelty, but many because they know I’m from SA and SA has a special place for Scorpions trivia.

Bumping up in priority: Scene on the Radio (multiple recs, seems very timely with what’s going on right now).

New for me:
The Reset Button from Dylan Tweney*
The Adulting Well Podcast*
*I work with both of these podcast creators. Not sure why I feel a need to disclose this, but hey.

My regulars:
The Moment with Brian Koppelman (I’m getting selective w/ episodes – but I’m a big fanboy)
The Cycling Podcast – due to time conflicts, I’m getting more selective with the episodes as well- but I still really enjoy this.

Media consumption has been tricky lately. Have you been keeping up with your podcasts and reading in the same way as pre-quarantine?

Playing with the Brave Browser

I sometimes dabble with different things to try to learn about the technology behind it. An example- a long while back I bough crypto, not to try to get a Lamborghini (yeah, that’s a thing) but just to learn about it. Now that I think about it- I probably got my first crypto from Pridkett… but I’ll have to check. Of course instead of dabbling, I should actually learn a skill like how to write Python scripts, but …

One of the things I periodically look at is privacy-related items or tech. For example, I was playing with running PiHole on a NAS I have in the house (interesting findings, but maybe not enough to blog about). I also recently started looking at the Brave Browser.

I’ve had the browser installed for quite a while, but I always forget to use it. I like the idea behind it and was wondering if any of you use it. Do you tip any blog authors? (not looking for tips, but I am the kind to tip out or donate to sites) Do you have BAT plugins on your site if you run one- wether it’s a blog or a YouTube channel?

Of course, I have a promo link here in case you’re interested in learning more.