[SIC] 167: On, to Midnight

Vol 4, Number 11

Nov 18, 2021

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This week’s newsletter is dedicated to Mark Burzynski, who passed away this week after a brief battle with cancer. Mark hailed from Syracuse like me, and though we didn’t know each other there, he was an older brother to the guys who created the Brooklyn community I landed in after college. My first Friendsgiving was at Mark’s. Fast forward fifteen years and my son wound up on ‘Coach’ Mark’s club soccer squad, where he inspired a huge contingent of kids (and parents) right up until the time he passed. He’ll be sorely missed. YNWA, Mark.

Not a coincidence I relish given the circumstances, but I appeared on NTS’s The Last Playlist show this week, courtesy of host [SIC] homie Luis Felipé Farfan. Designing my own funeral playlist was a wild exercise, especially given the heavy circumstances of the week, but the conversation was therapeutic and dare I say it, kind of fun. Have a listen. The songs-only playlist is here, too.

In more cheerful news: the BREAKFAST CLUB I started a few weeks back in NYC continues to gain steam. Basically, I show up at Five Leaves, the venerable Greenpoint restaurant, at 8:30am every Wednesday and have breakfast with whomever wants to join. Drop me a line if you want to be added to the reminder email distro, or just put it on your calendar as a recurring event. Because of Thanksgiving I’m missing next week’s, but Dec 1st is on. Everyone pays their own way, it’s super casual and the groups have been diverse and interesting - old friends and new acquaintances both.

Speaking of old friends, my guest on [SIC] Talks today is Ilirjana Alushaj of THE POP MANIFESTO, a quarterly publication “created to help bring to the forefront the most unique and influential creatives through interesting connection and conversation.” I met Ili when she was, in her words “still at school flinging Taschen books in a basement shop to rich architects,” back in Sydney - and somehow our paths have continued to cross reliably for two decades.

So it’ll be fun. It’s on IG Live @dietznutz at 4p, and on my grid thereafter.

More friends: thanks to Celeste, Iolanda, Sharese, Jeff and Blue for contributions this week. Greatly appreciated as always. And welcome from everyone.

Last thing: there’s something very 2002-2003 in the air right now, evidenced by Benedict Evans unearthing this indelible document of early aughts NYC, this week. Major rabbit hole alert for anyone who ever went The Pussycat Lounge, John Street Bar, etc: “A hat that's cool, unless it's not, in which case it is” - which Ben wrote reminds him of NFT status signaling. In the words of [SIC] homie Casey Lewis, “They really don’t make Styles stories like they used to.”

Cover / Page 2 of “How to Be Fashionable” by Andrew Coulter Enright. Dig up the PDF. It’s history.

=====[SIC] 167: On, to Midnight=====

Trends

“The 9-to-5 is now upended by the 0 or 24….r/AntiWork isn’t doom and gloom. And it’s not just about quitting. It’s thrill around potential change. (We already saw what happened last go around with a punch at the elite... see: r/WSB)” R/Antiwork is the new work / ZINE
Speaking of new economies: [SIC] homie Katelyn Donnelly breaks down the EN$ drop last week - essential reading for Web3 awareness / OBVIOUSLY THE FUTURE
Also via Katelyn: Beyond Based and Cringe. A high brow essay about the modern Internet culture / DO NOT RESEARCH via Declarative Statements
Widely read take by [SIC] homie Hanson O’Haver: Irony is collapsed / GAWKER via After School
Jon Ronson and Adam Curtis on the culture wars: ‘How has this happened? Where is the escape hatch?’ / THE GUARDIAN via Public Announcement
Companies are becoming uncomfortably human online, TikTok & Twitter as cases in point / EMBEDDED
We can talk all day about crypto, or VR or Facebook, but how might we talk about *everything* in tech? What are the frameworks and tools to structure the noise? / ANOTHER PODCAST via Benedict Evans
Josh Luber started StockX, now he is back into trading cards. His whitepaper on trading cards covers everything you need/want to know / TRADINGCARDSARECOOLAGAIN via Howard Lindzon
Gen Z and the death of the networking mixer / QUARTZ
When will the supply chain return to normal? Try never! / FAST COMPANY
Corollary: COVID has changed home design for good / AXIOS
From Sharese Bailey: “Something new for you to consider: My hot take on Hybridity & creative work life” / YOUTUBE

The Based - Cringe Matrix

Style

B.I.G. B.U.C.S. Mode. BBSP dropping fucking gems / BLACKBIRD SPYPLANE
Insane / supergreat art pub Toiletpaper magazine designed a collection with Chinese streetwear brand Peacebird / JING CULTURE
From Celeste Blewitt: “…the interviews, especially with Ian Rogers, gave me a bit more understanding of fashion in the metaverse and what the future may entail.” ‘Why The Metaverse is Fashion's Next Goldmine' / BOF
Restaurants are this season’s must-have accessory! / AIRMAIL
The eyes have it: Opening Ceremony x Birkenstock x Magritte via [SIC] Homie Humberto Leon / INSTAGRAM

The Arts

Leo Castelli: King of New York (1991 profile of the famed art dealer) / FRIEZE
And what do we do with the work of Immoral Artists? / HYPERALLERGIC
Entirely unrelated: a window into lunchtime at the Tom Sachs studio / VOGUE via Blood & Champagne
At Tate Modern, Anicka Yi's In Love with the World Blurs the Line Between Technology and Biology / HYPERALLERGIC
From Iolanda Carvalho: Serendipitous Shots Capture the Unexpected Everyday Humor of NYC streets / COLOSSAL

Entertainment + IP

Parquet Courts on the dance floor / NEW YORKER
Via Manon Macasaet in The FACE: Kid America Club - Lil' Hipsters "Downtown Scene" is some classic aughts mood / YOUTUBE
Speaking of which; the photographer Richard Kern on nudity, selfies and 59 (new) portraits of women / THE FACE
From David Blue: Music for late fall. See you next year, daylight savings / SOUNDCLOUD
LOVE INJECTION’s new issue is covered by Yvette Strong and [SIC] homie Paul Raffaele’s testament to Yvette speaks for itself / INSTAGRAM

Platforms & Influencers

My Internet: TayLo / EMBEDDED
A Little Math For Creators: Is Your Platform Ripping You Off? NAPKIN MATH via Maekan
TikTok is set to surpass 1.5 billion users 📈 in the next twelve months / APP ANNIE via Understanding TikTok
Have a look at these stats (Time spent on TikTok) via Understanding TikTok
Influencers get an upgrade. Now they’re in charge / VOGUE BUSINESS
TikTok has replaced the traditional acting reel / EMBEDDED
Hence, the TikTok syllabus is a go-to resource concerning academic work on TikTok / TIKTOK CULTURES via Understanding TikTok

Marketing & Advertising

Black Friday is early again this year, and maybe forever / RETAIL DIVE
Chipotle is partnering with Kacey Musgraves and Carhartt to support young farmers / MARKETING DIVE via After School.
From Iolanda Carvalho: How luxury brands innovated for Singles Day, China’s shopping festival / ECONSULTANCY
Gucci made a $10k Xbox Series X for the one percent / ENGADGET

Media Business

Substack has a million paying subs / DAILY UPSIDE
Still, for big Journalism, the Substack scaries are over / AXIOS
Brian Morrissey’s launched the Rebooting show with Front Office Sports CEO Adam White as his first guest / SUBSTACK
Group Nine's direct-to-consumer ad product sends brand-sponsored and editorially-curated items to winners. 19 boxes, seven-figure revenue. / DIGIDAY
Media has become featurized / PROF GALLOWAY

Metaverse & Web3

Notes on Web3 / ROBIN SLOAN
From Iolanda Carvalho: "With all these elements put side by side, can we say that we are using the internet “after”, “beyond” what it was 20 years ago? Or that we live “with” him?" Are we living in a metaverse yet? / NONFUNGIBLE
How Top Investors are Separating Opportunity from Hype / THE DEFIANT
How NFTs and the Metaverse Could Solve Holiday Supply Chain Issues / AD AGE
A DAO named The Krause House wants to buy an NBA TEAM / BUSINESS INSIDER via Future Party
‘The 10,000 Faces That Launched an NFT Revolution,‘ (about Cryptopunks). WIRED via Howard Lindzon
King of the ‘Punks, Gary Vaynerchuk offered an NFT to anyone who bought a dozen copies of his book, and got a million orders. WSJ via Dealbook
How Gary Vee became an NFT Guru / NY MAG via After School
[SIC] Talks alum Ana Andjelic says the next Supreme will come from the Metaverse / SOCIOLOGY OF BUSINESS
The 30 most influential NFT Creators right now / FUTURE PARTY
Related, from Jeff Carvalho: “Cheesy Talk Worldwide is a NFT fan collection of characters “cultured by the culture,” paying homage to street fashion past, present, and future” / CHEESY TALK
A guy turned his (very fancy, hard to find, highly sought-after) watch into an NFT (along with fractional ownership of the physical watch). This is fascinating as a signal of where the NFT paradigm might take us. / HYPEBEAST
But celebrity NFTs Risk 'Catastrophic Failure.' / BLOOMBERG

Food & Drink

Eleven Madison Park chef/owner Daniel Humm talks the future of fine dining / THE SLOWDOWN / SPOTIFY
The Untold Story of Sushi in America / NEW YORK TIMES via Motive Unknown
Goldbelly, has launched its own video channel / GOLDBELLY TV via Retail Innovation Week
"Salt is a material of the future" / DEZEEN
But is that even Kosher? Rabbis Debate Plant-Based 'Pork' / WSJ
DJ Khaled's new chicken wing restaurant offers jet ski delivery / BLOOMBERG via Future of Transportation

Miscellany

The 100 best inventions of 2021, from hands-free shoes to interactive workout mirrors and fresh pasta shapes. TIME via Robinhood Snacks
Gen Z explains how millennials can text better / BUSTLE via After School.
In praise of the handwritten letter / GENTS CAFE via Lean Luxe
Robots vs Fatbergs / WSJ
What exactly is space-time? LIVE SCIENCE via Ruby Dispatch
The ups and downs of sudden genius syndrome. / NEWS NATION NOW

Flyers for this week’s things to do.

THINGS TO DO:

From Eric Martucci: “Come by. It won’t suck.” The Quayola show at BITFORMS

My Pet Ram’s “The Big Show” group art show this Friday 5-9p / INSTAGRAM

Check out the release of “Buddhist Bubblegum” - the Arthur Russell bio at PRINTED MATTER: Launch, Q&A, and musical performance Saturday, 1-4pm