Good Good Things – Issue 012
Friends, I am getting some sniffs of fall weather, and it is breathing new life into me after a rough summer. Hopefully, the cooler weather and some nice foliage will do the same for you. Now, let’s take a break from the bad stuff for a bit and enjoy a few entertaining diversions. You’ve earned it.
Kick (flip) Back and Enjoy Some KASSO!
Described by many as Ninja Warriors meets X Games, KASSO is an exciting Japanese skateboarding TV show with a good sense of humor where top shredders from around the world tackle extremely tricky and tough courses that are accented with an awesome Japanese pop culture aesthetic.
Michael Shannon & Jason Narducy Will Play R.E.M.’s ‘Lifes Rich Pageant’ on Tour in 2026
Finally! The best R.E.M. tribute band with a famous actor frontman is taking on my favorite R.E.M. album. I saw them in 2024 doing the “Reckoning” album with a ton of other classics. It was a packed house in a pretty small room, and it was a rockin’ good time. The band is super tight, and while Michael Shannon does not have the pipes of Michael Stipe, he does a fine job bringing the spirit and oddball energy needed for the role.
Michael Shannon & Jason Narducy are doing their R.E.M. tribute tour again, this third time in celebration of the 40th anniversary of the band’s fourth album, Lifes Rich Pageant. They’ll play the album — which includes “Fall on Me,” “Superman,” “Begin the Begin,” “Life and How to Live it,” “These Days” and more — in full plus other lot of other R.E.M. songs with their band: Jon Wurster (drums), John Stirratt (bass), Dag Juhlin (guitar), and Vijay Tellis-Nayak (keyboards). Dates kick off February 11 in Denver and wrap up March 16 in Bloomington, IN.
Need something Athens-appropriate to wear to the show? Get these rockin’ tees!
Meet Illustrator Fabiola Lara
I am late to the game on Philly-based Latinx illustrator Fabiola Lara and her fabulous art and mini print vending machines, so please read this Billy Penn article from last March to catch up on all things Fabiola Lara:
“Reimagining vending machines: One Philly artist shares her unique canvas”
And make sure to follow her on Instagram.
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Top of the Pops
Sometimes when I need to fully decompress and want to dive into a nostalgic wormhole face-first, I will type “Top of the Pops” and a year (or a decade) into YouTube, and I will be treated to an onslaught of high-energy, lip-synced performances on Britain’s iconic “record chart television programme.” There is always a solid mix of bangers you loved with some of the worst one-hit wonders the British Isles have ever seen. Here are a few playlists/shows to get you started:
Chefs From Around The World Make Coffee
GOD, I LOVE COFFEE AND I JUST TRIED ALL OF THESE!
Yoshitoshi Kanemaki’s Kaleidoscopic Sculptures
Colossal has a great profile of artist Yoshitoshi Kanemaki and his new “Insight Prism” exhibition.
Yoshitoshi Kanemaki is no stranger to human emotions, imbuing his playful sculptures with not one but several expressions all at once. The Tokyo-based artist is known for his “glitched” sculptures carved from single pieces of timber, and in his ongoing current series Prism, he continues to explore the nature of distortion, reflection, and self-consciousness.
Some Thoughts
I’m seeing a lot of nice Robert Redford tributes in the invite-only “World’s Most Handsome Men” discord group this morning.
So annoying, there’s a little kid running around this crowded coffee shop and he almost knocked over my ring light and mic stand.
Popular Great British Bake Off Desserts
– Trowley Dumplings
– Banbury Clangers
– Mushtarts
– Cake Middlebuns
– Liverpool Lady Pies
– Crumbleton Flumb
– St. Clement’s Cream Clots
– Puddling Pots
– Peachy Blinders
The Visual Artist Who Made Radiohead
I like Radiohead, and my 17-year-old daughter LOVES Radiohead. So I’m always excited to tell her the latest Radiohead news that she already knows about. I have never broken any news in my house.
An exhibition of Stanley Donwood’s work in collaboration with frontman Thom Yorke charts how the distinctive look and feel of the band’s album covers took shape.
Competitive Stone Skimming Documentary
This rocks.
Two obsessed stone skimmers show us what it takes to be the best in this whirlwind documentary about the little-known sport of competitive stone skimming.
Militarie Gun “Do It Faster” LIVE Four Times In a Row
What happens when you have a beloved song, but it is very short, and your fans just can’t get enough of it? That’s right, play it again, and again… Love this band.
Quick Hits
- Behold! I Am the Singularity—a Word That Has Three
- A Load of Records Off My Back
- Keith Haring Is Getting the Biopic Treatment
- Hannah Einbinder and Javier Bardem among Emmy stars to call for Gaza ceasefire
- “Dreamworld: Surrealism at 100” at the Philadelphia Museum
- MLK Drive Bridge to reopen to pedestrians, bicyclists Friday; drivers Monday
We Needed This: A Crow and a Dog are Best Friends
Two of my very favorite animals, a crow and a dog, are best buds, and I can’t recommend following these sweet creatures enough.
Follow Meeko and Russell here >
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Jersey Shorescapes Calendar
My buddy, ace photographer Pat McCarthy, spends a lot of early mornings on the beach with his dog snapping stunning, life-affirming photos at the Jersey Shore, and he is kind enough to package twelve of them in a very stylish calendar every year. It is a top-notch gift for fans of the sea and sand.
Conversation Starters
Sometimes you are at a party with new people, and you need something to talk about. Here ya go…
- “Henry & June” was the first movie to get the NC-17 rating.
- The first film released with the PG-13 rating was “Red Dawn.”
- On average, an adult human has about 5 liters (1.3 gallons) of blood, which translates to roughly 8-10% of their body weight.
- Julia Louis-Dreyfus turned down the role of Mia in “Pulp Fiction” due to her Seinfeld commitment.
- The 2012 London Games were the first Olympics in which all participating countries sent female athletes.
- The six colors – blue, yellow, black, green, red, and white – of the Olympic rings were chosen because they incorporated the colors of all national flags in existence at the time the Olympic flag was created.
- Bill Buckner had more hits than Ted Williams.
- Maine is the U.S. state closest to Africa.
- Roger Bannister held the world record in the mile for exactly 46 days.
- A Jack Russell terrier voiced the T Rex in “Jurassic Park.”
- Buzz Aldrin’s mother’s maiden name was “Moon.”
- (What’s The Story) Morning Glory was the best-selling album in the UK in the 1990s.
- There are 18 minutes of total action in an average baseball game.
- “Song 2” by Blur was meant to parody American grunge music.
- Babe Ruth only won four World Series in 15 seasons with the New York Yankees, while Yogi Berra won 13 World Series in 18 seasons with the Yankees.
- Steve Carell insisted that the chest waxing scene from The 40-Year-Old Virgin be realistic, so it’s his real chest hair that you see being ripped out. He told director Judd Apatow that he wanted it to be real, so Apatow set up five cameras and they did the scene in one take.
- S.E. Hinton, author of The Outsiders, wrote the book while she was still in high school because she wanted to read books on teenagers that did not revolve around “Mary Jane going to prom.”
- A baby puffin is called a puffling, and both parents take turns incubating the egg before it hatches.
- The Go-Go’s had the first No. 1 album in the U.S. by an all-female band that played their own instruments and wrote their own songs.
- The term “lawn mullet” means having a neatly manicured front yard and an unmowed mess in the back.
- In “St. Elmo’s Fire,” Mare Winningham, who played the virgin, Wendy Beamish, was pregnant with her third child during the filming of the movie.
- U2 made their first US television appearance on “The Tomorrow Show with Tom Snyder” in June 1981.
- Winston Churchill’s mother was born in Brooklyn.
- Dolly Parton agreed to do “9 to 5” on the condition that she could write the theme song for it.
- High schools and universities in New Zealand are allowed to keep up to a pound of uranium on the premises for educational purposes.
- Johnny Carson’s first three wives were named, in order, Joan, Joanne, and Joanna. (His first wife went by “Jody.”)
- Persians invented bagpipes.
Donate to World Central Kitchen
Help José Andrés and his team serve 1 million hot meals daily in Gaza.
New Alexander Calder Museum Opens in Philadelphia
This looks incredible, very excited.
There is no wall text accompanying the Calder sculptures, paintings, and works on paper occupying the galleries. There is little to identify or explain what visitors are looking at, which, of course, is intentional. Visitors are encouraged to plumb their own reactions to artwork instead of trying to figure out their place in art history.
Read more at WHYY and visit the Calder Gardens website.
Ride the Space Elevator and Learn Some Fun Sky Facts
Neal Agarwal has a very fun website. His latest “I’m Not A Robot” captcha game will drive you nuts in a good way. If you want to learn some cool tidbits about our sky and clouds, hop on his Space Elevator and enjoy the ride.
Bluesky
My friend’s incredulity that I’m not on antidepressants was both insulting and kind of flattering ??
— andy vs. (@im-all-id.me) September 14, 2025 at 8:59 PM
i understand why so many folks grow into birdwatching as they age: it’s free streaming with no interruptions for news and ads
— Ygrene (@ygrene.bsky.social) September 15, 2025 at 10:36 AM
a person can drown in as little as two inches of guacamole
— walruslifestyle (@walruslifestyle.bsky.social) March 14, 2025 at 1:28 PM
“I’m strong and I want to have like fifty kids and a farm” of course you do. You’re twelve. “I don’t want to eat vegetables I think steak and French fries is the only meal” hell yeah homie you’re twelve. “Maybe if there’s crime we should just send the army” bless your heart my twelve year old buddy
— Patrick Cosmos (@veryimportant.lawyer) September 7, 2025 at 8:51 PM
This UPS truck has been beeping outside of my house for the last 45 minutes. Seriously, people, go to a fucking store every once in a while.
— Chip Chantry (@chipchantry.bsky.social) September 17, 2025 at 2:17 PM
Running to visit Fishtown‘s latest work of brilliantly petty public art, that was painted while I was on vacation last month! 📍Philly
— Conrad Benner (@streetsdept.bsky.social) September 13, 2025 at 1:22 PM
WIFE: The new neighbors were kind enough to invite us to dinner. Please try to be normal.
ME: of course.
[later]ME (using a fork to put a layer of butter between two potato chips): You know, buildings are really insects — their skeletons are on the outside to protect the teeming life within
Tonight on Fallon, Jimmy and Stephen Miller play Gnip-Gnop!
— Dana Gould (@danagould.bsky.social) September 17, 2025 at 7:44 PM
I just rewatched The Matrix. This time I really noticed how much of that shit is just made up.
— Jerry (@allhailjerry.bsky.social) September 17, 2025 at 6:13 PM
The way you can have someone see you have your notifications silenced, you should be able to let them see “I am not accepting any more upsetting news conversation or links today.”
— Danielle Kurtzleben (@titonka.bsky.social) September 13, 2025 at 8:50 PM
Take care of each other
FDT forever. See you soon with more goodness…
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