Weekly REPORT 5/6
The Malcolm Todd concert was fantastic, even though the crowd was extremely smelly and very pushy. Sinners is easily my favorite movie I’ve watched this year, and one of the best movies I’ve seen in a really long time. The imagery, symbolism and intentionally extensive worldbuilding coupled with the actors’ performances and the score? Impeccable watch. Highly, highly recommend.
After listening to LCD Soundsystem’s discography on shuffle, I’m still trying to make the connection between their music and The Dare. People say The Dare’s music is a rip-off of LCD Soundsystem, but I didn’t see anything egregious about the sonical similarities. I also listened to The Hellp’s album LL and that felt much more sonically similar to LCD Soundsystem than The Dare’s.
I’ve made one eBay purchase, and now I’m becoming a full-blown eBay late-night stalker. I think when I get back from Nigeria, it’s going to be my kryptonite, and I don’t mind because the thrift at home has been horrible lately.
I leave for Nigeria on Saturday! I won’t be posting during my 2.5 weeks away because 1) I won’t have my laptop and 2) It’s going to be so busy, and I want to be as present as possible. However, I know I will have a ton to write about after my trip, and I’ll be vlogging it as well! Hoping to get out one more post before I leave this weekend, but no promises.
READING
Responsible tourism in Brazil: In this post, I mentioned that I became interested in looking into the ethics of tourism in Brazil because of some Brazil travel vlogs that I had watched. This is a great article providing good research tips and questions to ask when setting up tours in Brazil, especially “favela tours”, alongside other general information to keep in mind when visiting Brazil. Also learned that Brazil is home to more uncontacted and isolated tribes than anywhere in the world!
Exploring the practice of hitchhiking: A man who hitchhikes often explains the benefits he sees in the practice, why hitchhiking is less common (the murder statistics have been blown out of proportion, fyi), how hitchhiking was supported by some governments during the Depression and World War II and how the practice was adopted by various social movements including the feminist movement and boycotts during the Civil Rights movement.
Then the twin crises of the Depression and World War II made picking up hitchhikers feel like not only a nice thing to do but an ethical imperative. When you ride alone you ride with Hitler! proclaimed one government poster encouraging ridesharing to conserve resources such as gas during the war.
EATING
Happy hour at Loro: I went to Loro, an Asian-fusion restaurant that has locations in Houston and Austin (maybe other Texas cities), for their happy hour before the Malcolm Todd concert! It’s kind of a casual dining spot, but the inside was wooden, sleek and elevated. Service was sweet and everything came out fast. I got the queso (I should’ve added the brisket, but alas) and the frozen G+T which was $5. Both were delicious, and I’d definitely go back to try out more of their menu items!
PLAYING
“Surprising Mafia Economies” on Everything I know about: A while back, I read an article about the sand mafia in one of my TDTs, linked here, and I found it so interesting. Very crazy to also learn about the counterfeit olive oil trade, run by the Agromafia. 80% of the olive oil on the market is said to be fake and/or deliberately mislabeled, which means that it’s either very low-quality olive oil or vegetable/canola oil with color and olive aromas added. Includes tips on how to find true olive oil and talks about how there are whole police teams in Italy who have refined their palette enough that they are official “olive oil tasters” as a part of “Operation Mamma Mia”. Not even joking. Article below also dives into the Agromafia and olive oil trade really nicely.
https://bangersandballs.co/debunking-myths/olive-oil-and-the-mafia/
Rosamund Pike’s Criterion Closet Picks: I love her so deeply and I need to do a full deep dive and watch all of her work. A comment said “Well… that crush just fucking intensified…” and I think that perfectly sums up my feelings for her.
Susielola’s chatty outfits of the week: I love her long outfit videos that have vlog bits sprinkled in between! Of course, was introduced to new small brands, as I always am with her, and got some good inspiration.
OBSESSING
My black vintage Cole Haan leather tassel bag: I’m so in love with this bag that I don’t even have the words to describe it. The details are so chic! The little horseshoe details on the pockets, the tassel on the zipper with grommets punched in, the belt on the shoulder strap- I love it all. As referenced in the beginning of this post, this eBay find has unlocked a new level of joy to my late-night Pinterest x Spotify scrolling. Overjoyed!!!
RECOMMENDING
Paris je’taime on Prime: A movie about a ton of different little love stories, from platonic to romantic and everything in between. There’s probably about twenty stories explored, maybe more, and you become so invested in some and couldn’t care less for others, but it all balances out well. It’s all a bit chaotic, and some of the scenes are so unserious and funny- it’s all so extremely French humor. A good portion of it is in English as well, and the monologue of the last woman sitting in the park in Paris was so endearing. I loved!
Caleb Hearon on Brittnay’s Royal Court: Caleb Hearon has to be one of the funniest people on this planet. Within the first five minutes, I was cackling. The way he says, “Girls with very big purses that work at ad agencies, I love ya” and his little giggle in his ‘PSA to bi women’ had me in tears.
“I keep straight people as pets.”- Caleb
“Like a service animal…I do feel like a service animal for you”- Brittany
“I go ‘She can be in here with me’”- Caleb
His little rant/roast bit at 22:22 is actually perfect.
TREATING
Danessa Myricks yummy skin tint: I’m actually sharing this with my mom, because we both wanted to try it out and see how it would look on us. She saw a coworker with it on last week at work and loved the look, not knowing that I intended to buy the skin tint post-Nigeria anyways, so it was kismet! Planning to wear during the trip, so it will get many wear tests in the Nigerian heat.
