1)Upon passing yet another strip mall eyesore, have you ever asked, “Why do all our buildings look so much the same? It’s SO much more interesting/beautiful in [insert foreign city here]!” According to architect Richard Reep, much of the answer exists in our uniform building codes, in particular 1992’s American with Disabilities Act and the International Building Code, which impose a wide variety of standardizations to increase equity of access and safety. Reep goes further to suggest that such architectural conformity is actually an advantage for our society because it supports growth, movement and efficiency. Within that lens, you may never look at the neighborhood Quickie-Mart in quite the same light.
2)Books are having a crisis, according to an article by Elle Griffin in her newsletter The Novelleist. She cites Bookstat: Only 268 of the 2.6 million books sold online in 2020 moved more than 100,000 copies; 96% sold fewer than 1,000! Cultural concerns aside1, this trend strikes me as an interesting case of outdated delivery mechanisms (and also industry consolidation and economics). And perhaps it’s less about the stories books contain and more about the book itself. Griffin points to serialization as a potential answer, after all, that’s how many of our canonical writers told their stories in past centuries.2 In today’s version, it’s platforms like Substack and others that could give the scribes of the world a greater chance to reap financial rewards for their hard work.
3)Though strongly ambivalent about our ability to create and consume new products,3 I 100% support smelling good. Apparently, so do many other people with the time and resources to pursue such things. Dan Frommer from the New Consumer diagnoses the recent rise in “natural” deodorant to a combination of things: Pandemic-fueled home shopping + “personal/self care” + a vague sense that “natural” is better4 + boring mass brands5 + ease of entry + acquisition opportunities. His article is an interesting look into how disparate events and trends drive our consumer culture. Personally, I bought a stick of Corpus during a hotel stay and love it…I think it makes me smell smarter.
BONUS LINKS!!!
B1)The Monacle shares lessons in Japanese gift wrapping (I watched several of these entranced)
B2)Not even the Metaverse is safe from a real estate bubble
B3)Much like the 50s/60s, The Future is indeed electric (and solar)
MUSIC
Chic plays “Good Times” live at Budokan…bassist Bernard Edward’s last concert
I talk (briefly) about Andre Cymone’s “Living in the New Wave”
What does this mean for art? How will we inquire about and debate important cultural issues in a thoughtful manner (yes, I’m pointing at you, Social Media)? Are we all becoming dumber and dumber?
Another example of how our behavior doesn't change that much over time…we just develop new ways to facilitate it.
Pocket-sized super-computer. Snuggie. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch.
I realize the research on parabens and other endocrine disruptors isn’t definitive, but being concerned about those ingredients makes sense to me.
To be clear: Old Spice is NOT in this category. In fact, let us take a moment to praise their marketing genius, transitioning “Granpa’s aftershave” into a humorous, self-referential Gen X/Millennial favorite.