[SIC] 147: Dye Job

July 1, 2021

Hi all,

Back in the US - Copenhagen was a great time - and so back to it. Lots of stuff this week per usual, hence the subject headers. That said, it was really gratifying to hear from so many of you weighing in on the ideal volume of content for these newsletters. The majority said keep ‘em long, but I got some great, considered arguments for more editing - notably from Eugene Kan, whose own Maekan newsletter is not only tightly edited, but also a regular source of material for me. Check it out.

Speaking of great source material, [SIC] Talks returns today at 4P ET with Casey Lewis as my guest. Casey’s the editor of the recently-discovered-but-totally-essentially After School newsletter, which rides the wave of Gen-Z trend coverage as well as anyone out there. Casey and I've only ever spoken over email, so it’ll be fun to get to know her. Check it out on my IG @dietznutz today and join in via the comments, or find it in my grid thereafter.

And now, the links await. Enjoy x B.

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The Stuff to Start With: 

• The great resignation is about people having better things to do.Via Future Party: according to Linkedin. business-creation actually hit a record high — over 4.4 million new businesses in 2020 alone. (FastCo) 

• From Iolanda Carvalho: May Habib, co-founder of Writer, an AI writing assistant tool, lists 20 buzzwords that every writer should remove from their vocabulary immediately. (Smart Brief) 

• No but seriously - how do you ask good questions? (Marginal Revolution) 

• The 60 year-old can of poop that explains contemporary fashion. (Highsnobiety) 

• While Via After School: young people are “trying to kill flirting (Newsweek) 

Stuff to do now that the world is open again: 

• LA is on fire this week:  Tonight (July 1) [SIC] homie John McSwain’s legendary Sade Night returns IRL at General Lee’s (Instagram)

• And then tomorrow it’s [SIC] homie Justin Staple’s film American Rapstar on the big screen for a special screening at Lumiere (Instagram) 

• BTW, great backstory on American Rapstar on Justin Staple’s now-classic appearance on How Long Gone (Spotify)

• While NYC turned up with 100 SCULPTURES at Anonymous gallery 

Stuff to read and look at: 

• From Syd Allen-Ash: [Early] is a new online magazine I made for bright + early, an HR consultancy in Toronto. Describing it as "a work magazine for real life”.

• Via Protocol: The Book of Secret Knowledge, Michał Ży's compendium of apps, ultra-niche tools, blogs, Twitter accounts, Terminal commands, and practically everything else you could need to learn programming or at least hack the ever-living youknowwhat out of your device

• Via Today in Tabs: Louise Benson collected a list of indy culture newsletters for Elephant

• Multimedia artist and color gawd Yinka Ilori guest edits “It’s Nice That”

• And converses with fellow Londoner Yinka Shonibare (It’s Nice That) 

• Respect the Minyi. [SIC] homie Heidi Hartwig’s @friendsfromnewyork put out a cool little zine with help from Warby Parker (Paper)

• While entirely on the other end of the spectrum, via The Rebooting: Crypto publication Decryptis experimenting with DAOs in order to allow its audience to have a say in the content the outlet produces.

Stuff to buy: 

• How to get ahead in advertising? Collect art. The ad exec who loves Dubuffet, Magritte and Schiele (Christie’s)

• To that end, via Tauba Auerbach: Support your local. The Brooklyn Arbor Art Book Fair auction has a some true gems for collectors-to-be (Instagram)

• I’m not much of a fan of replica products or of Snoopy, but it has to be said, this Rolex GMT-alike is pretty great (High Snobiety) 

Tech Stuff: 

• Via Howard Lindzon: Marc Andreesden wrote a post out titled ‘Technology Saves The World‘, which is getting people in their feels. (a16z) 

• The 2020s will bring to tech what the 1930s brought to financial services, according to Microsoft’s Brad Smith (Axios) 

• Via Future Party: Shopify is no longer taking a cut of the first million dollars that developers make on its platform. (CNBC)

• To that end: Will Brand-owned Resale Platforms Disrupt the Reselling Industry? (Luxury Society) 

• Meanwhile: Norway passes a law that forces influencers to label their retouched photos (It’s Nice That)

• And construction on virtual land is up next (Non-Fungible)

• Related (back over IRL): Via Future Party: The house next door ‘bout to have a lot of visitors…  large investment firms are increasingly buying homes en masse and outfitting them expressly for Airbnb-style short term rentals doing it at scale, using AI software to scoop properties in hot markets like Miami and Austin. (Business Insider)

Stuff brands be doing: 

• Heineken BOT is an autonomous beer cooler that follows you around (Slash Gear)

• While fave cracker Triscuit is the latest brand to embrace traceability. (Food Dive)

• Rivian trucks come with a grill built in (Instagram)

• He’s out of the Euros but it has to be said; IKEA scored with a clever Ronaldo water bottle ad (Creative Bloq) 

• Via After School: Megan Thee Stallion is launching an “Investing for Hotties” campaign (in other words, she’s helping others be in their bag, but in his, too) and is giving away $1 million in stock as part of a partnership with Cash App. (Complex) 

Stuff that’s fun and weird for doing over the long weekend: 

• Big wave surf sliding is the next wave (Instagram) 

• [SIC] buddy Thobey Campion says Welcome to the first 4th-Dimensional NFT! (Thobes.pro)

• While Gordon Hull writes “the guide to steganography is one of the most awesome things I’ve read in a long time” (Exo.Substack) 

• To that end: maybe The Internet Is a Collective Hallucination? (The Atlantic)

Stuff to Fix: 

• A clear issue (har): since Covid’s over, what do we do with all this plexiglass? Industrial design students at Iowa State University have spent the past semester grappling with this problem, creating jewelry, desk accessories, and even furniture. (Quartz) 

• Via WITI: Having traveled abroad recently, I can attest to this. Why air travel will suck this summer.  (Vox) 

• Also true from recent experience: 2PM says travel going forward only makes sense at two stars (cheap and cheerful) or five stars (properly done). The middle has gone to hell. 

• To that end, asks Lean Luxe: Should you be using a travel agent? (WSJ) 

• Corollary: WITI major domo Colin Nagy on Revenge Tra

  

Stuff to Wear: 

• Upcycling, Deadstock, Resale: Will Luxury’s “Archive” Trends Work in China?

• Related: Gap is crowdsourcing its next hoodie re-release via a TikTok competition (Modern Retail) 

• And, fom Iolanda Carvalho: Jimmy Choo produced a Shoe Collection Entirely Designed By Fans. All proceeds from the online-exclusive collection will go towards the Women for Women International Charity. (Design Taxi) 

• Elsewhere via Jing Daily: Vetements announced a new collective brand, that takes inspiration from traditional menswear but caters to all genders. (Hypebeast) 

• While via After School: Pacsun launching a gender-neutral kids category (Retail Dive) 

• Right on time, because streetwear has a homophobia problem (High Snobiety) 

Stuff about Legends:

• Vivienne Westwood: 40 years of punk, politics and innovation (The FACE) 

• Jean Pigozzi’s snapshot book is a real slice of history(Airmail)  

• While Quentin Tarantino’s an author now. The New Statesmanunpacks his new book version of “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.” 

Stuff About Stuff to Listen To: 

• Via Music Redef: Writing the song of the summer via WhatsApp (Vulture)

• Related via Public Announcement: What Will the 2021 Song of the Summer Be?  (Pitchfork) 

• Clive Martin’s got a podcast called Hypnic Jerk (The FACE)  

• Related: Turn your iPhone into an iPod Classic with this delightful web app (Creative Bloq) 

Stuff to Watch:

• Via Maekan: After years of sex and lies, artist David Choe got a TV Show  (NYT) 

• While [SIC] Buddy Iliza Shlesinger’s Ex-Boyfriend Lied About Everything—So She Made a Netflix Movie About Him (Vanity Fair)

• S/o Joel Fowler: this Fancy Footwork doc about Chicago (NYT) brings to mind Thump’s “Making Tracks” from 2013 (Youtube) 

• And s/o longtime [SIC] homie Joseph Patel for producing “Black Woodstock” doc Summer of Soul, which hits Hulu Friday. (Airmail)

• Also, s/o Nick Tran: This is genius. TikTok sponsors Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds’ Wrexham AFC. (The Drum)

Digital Stuff meets IRL Stuff:

• Via Nieman Lab: Spotify explores expanding into concerts (The Information) 

• Not to be outdone, via Front Office Sports: Peloton’s making a virtual music festival. 

• While Pitbull will design a co-branded bike for Peleton competitor Echelon and release an “Echelon anthem” on his upcoming album (Bloomberg)

• And also not to be outdone: Amazon is looking for a Head of Fitness Programming to join its Halo team — the group leading the company’s new wave of fitness services. (Twitter) 

• Elsewhere in a shocking turn, Fetty Wap is betting on crypto, NFTS and weed (The Drum) 

• S/o [SIC] homie Jason Brown - Ntwrk's shopping festivals highlight the potential of livestream commerce (Retail Dive) 

Sustainable Stuff: 

• Vans Surf's inaugural Eco-Theory collection sees its classic sneakers remade with sustainable materials (Future VVorld)

• Why the air quotes tho? Hemp is “more effective than trees" at sequestering carbon says Cambridge researcher. (Dezeen)

• Via Lean Luxe: Where your old ikea furniture goes to die (FastCo)

Random Stuff to End On: 

• Thanks David Geffen! Yale Drama School is free now (Yale.edu)

• Elsewhere in Drama: Berlin’s Studio Babelsberg has preserved the craft of prop making (Monocle)

• I just drink a shot of vinegar, personally. Via Ruby Dispatch: Scientists have discovered a cure for hiccups. It has a 92% efficacy rate, says (not at all ridiculous) hiccup scientist. (The Guardian)

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