Good Good Things – Issue 28
Happy Pride Month to my friends and family! I’m lucky to have you in my life. I’ll start this issue off with something nice and then clobber you over the head with a slew of more nice things. Sound like a plan? Cool, let’s go.
The Cranberries – “There is A Light That Never Goes Out”
Must Watch: “Widow’s Bay”
Everyone whose opinion I trust about comedy and horror are raving about this show. The overwhelmingly positive reviews makes sense because it is helmed by acclaimed director Hiro Murai (“Atlanta”) and was created by the never-not-funny Katie Dippold. In addition to being from my home county in NJ (hell yes), Dippold was a writer on “Parks and Recreation” and wrote the 2013 film “The Heat” starring Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy, which is one of my all-time favorite comedies. Seriously, one of the funniest opening scenes ever. Okay back to “Widow’s Bay”…
Set on the fictional, historically isolated Widow’s Bay (40 miles off the New England coast), the town is plagued by spotty cell service, nonexistent Wi-Fi, and a deep, centuries-old curse. The island’s checkered past includes legends of cannibalism, serial killers, and cursed lineages. A grim rule of the island is that anyone born there cannot leave; those who try meet an untimely demise, and anyone born on the island can never set foot on the mainland. Read more >
Almost forgot, Dippold dropped this legendary piece of social media 10 short years ago…
10 Jersey Shore Pizzerias You Need to Know About
In addition to being a very tasteful and in-demand drummer, My pal Patrick Berkery is pizza expert who travels the globe/tri-state area looking for high-quality pies and slices. I was excited to see Pat was in my summer stomping ground recently and sampled some of our finer pizza spots including Lucci (go Belmar!), Rosie’s Pizza (Point Pleasant) and my go-to Vic’s (Bradley Beach).
Read his 10 Jersey Shore pizzerias you need to know about and check out his bi-weekly newsletter Pizzavania.
Also, read my love letter to Vic’s if you need more pizza-based reading.
Follow: Hagopian Arts
Enjoy some beautiful mural artwork in Philly.
Hagopian Arts LLC is an independent, female-owned public art initiative based in West Philadelphia, founded by Kala Hagopian in 2016. With a focus on imagery inspired by nature, Hagopian Arts creates luminous murals that juxtapose highly rendered realism with vibrant geometric patterns and atmospheric elements.
Follow: @hagopianarts
Watch This: “U.S. Against the World: Four Years with the Men’s National Soccer Team”
Despite the downright corrupt governing body known as FIFA and the always awful tactics of the current U.S. government, I am going to watch a bunch of international soccer/football matches over the next 40 days. Since I was a kid and a very bad soccer goaltender, I enjoyed picking a country and rooting for them throughout the tourney, usually England or Belgium.
I’ve never been a real fan of the U.S. men’s team and their style of play until now. This docuseries has converted me to an official casual fan. The filmmakers do a stellar job of depicting the highs and lows of making the national squad and the their rough journey since the last World Cup in 2022. Yes, there is a lot of “Rah Rah America” stuff as you’d expect but the team is made up of a bunch of solid dudes who’ve put in the work, and I wish them the best (still rooting for Belgium too, nice kits). The World Cup starts today.
This documentary series follows the U.S. Men’s National Team over the four years leading up to the 2026 World Cup in North America.
Welcome, Soccer Fans. We’re Monetizing the Oxygen
“Welcome, soccer fans from around the globe, to the 2026 FIFA World Cup in the United States, Mexico, and Canada. We hope you have a pleasant stay with us and enjoy all the exciting experiences North America has to offer.
Oh, and by the way, we’re monetizing the oxygen.”
Read more from Nathan Cowley >
Very Good Music Facts – Vol. 7
Very Good Music Music Facts are back and you know they can never be whack. Please enjoy Volume 7. Here’s a little taste…
- On April 19, 1986, Prince’s song “Kiss” was #1 on the Hot 100 while “Manic Monday,” which he wrote for The Bangles, was #2.
- In 1987, “The Super Bowl Shuffle” was nominated for a Grammy for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals but lost to Prince’s “Kiss.”
The World’s Oldest Bagel Shop Bakes 10k Bagels Every Day
Man, I love watching bagels being made. If you do too, hit play on this behind-the-counter look at a family run British bagel shop where the son has recently taken over the operation. He’s an affable lad with a lot of pride and passion for the job.
Opened in 1855, “Beigel Shop” in Brick Lane, London, are officially the world’s oldest bagel shop, baking and selling bagels for over 171 years.
McBeast
Erin McNeice might be the most chill and unassuming athlete doing extremely hard and dangerous things high up in the air. She is a soft-spoken 22-year-old English rock climber who specializes in indoor competition climbing. She represented Great Britain at the 2024 Summer Olympics, finishing fifth in the combined Boulder and Lead competition. McNeice won the 2025 IFSC Climbing World Cup Lead title and is currently tearing it up in the 2026 competition season. She is also very funny and has a lovely and supportive family.
Follow Erin’s very entertaining YouTube channel.
Follow all the competitions on the World Climbing channel.
Quick Hits
- “In Pride, In Power, In Memory” Mural Dedication
- Pride Month 2026 in Philly: 30+ Ways to Celebrate
- 75-Minute DJ Set From Daft Punk’s Thomas Bangalter
- 50+ Ways to Celebrate Pride Month in Philly
- “I Quit My Band” Instagram is really funny
- What was the last good thing you read?
- Midwest Excellence, a newsletter by RandBall’s Stu (from the internet)
- Observation deck that floats on Schuylkill River arrives at Bartram’s Gardens
- The best games of 2026 so far
- NIMRODS – A Green Day Comedy
- What Does “Clock It” Mean? The Slang Phrase and Hand Gesture Explained
- How Did This Photographer Capture These Stunning Images of the Endangered Cascade Red Foxes?
- Race Recap: A Hot and Humid Half Marathon
- People today have no idea how dangerous New York City was in the 1970s.
Watch This Too: “Earth, Wind & Fire (To Be Celestial vs. That’s the Weight of the World)”
Want to enjoy a night of top-notch music history curated by Philly’s own Questlove? First, fire up “Summer of Soul (…Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)” and then take a break, refresh your drinks, place a new bag of popcorn in the microwave, and settle down for this new doc featuring this legendary, genre-defying band.
Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson tells the story of the Grammy-award winning band chronicling their evolution, highs and lows, spiritual meaning, and lasting legacy. Premieres June 7 on HBO Max.
Classic Seattle Grunge Music Documentary Now Free on YouTube
“Hype!” is one of my favorite music docs. It does such a good job highlighting the scene before it was a “scene” and getting lots of insightful and funny takes from the musicians who were there, including Sub Pop receptionist (later CEO) Megan Jasper, who pranked The New York Times by inventing a fake “grunge speak” lexicon.
Drop into the Pacific Northwest in the early ’90s and watch a vibrant underground music scene explode into a global “grunge” media frenzy. Hype! follows the music from local bands playing for their friends, to Sub Pop Record’s brilliant exploitation of the Seattle Sound, to Nirvana’s Smells Like Teen Spirit hitting #1 on the charts.
See more of “The Best Free Indie, Alternative, and Punk Music Documentaries”
There Exists a David Bowie Compilation CD Compiled by Bowie Himself!
Ever wondered what David Bowie would put on his own greatest hits (“personal favorites”) record? Wonder no more, back in 2008 he put one together.
iSELECT: BOWIE, released in 2008 to readers of the U.K.’s Mail on Sunday, then later in an official CD and digital edition, “is actually something special.” Bowie “picked the tracklist himself. Even more than that, the tracklist actually looks like something he’d have picked himself, rather than having a manager or publicist pick it for him.”
Tracklist:
- “Life On Mars?” (from the album Hunky Dory)
- “Sweet Thing/Candidate/Sweet Thing” (from the album Diamond Dogs)
- “The Bewlay Brothers” (from the album Hunky Dory)
- “Lady Grinning Soul” (from the album Aladdin Sane)
- “Win” (from the album Young Americans)
- “Some Are” (currently exclusive to this compilation)
- “Teenage Wildlife” (from the album Scary Monsters)
- “Repetition” (from the album Lodger)
- “Fantastic Voyage” (from the album Lodger)
- “Loving The Alien” (from the album Tonight)
- “Time Will Crawl (MM Remix)” (new remix by David Bowie)
- “Hang On To Yourself [live]” (from the album Live Santa Monica ’72)
New Batch of Free Band Names!
Have a little music group and can’t decide on a name? Well, you’re in luck. I’ve thought up a bunch of ORIGINAL BAND NAMES just for you, and they are 100% FREE!
- Ugly Dan and The Dreamboats
- Reference Horse
- Mother’s Day for Dads
- Drop Dead Gorges
- Nephews of Anarchy
- Midwest Elmo
- Dial B for Birder
- Thumbs Down and The Boo Birds
- A Clown Called Malice
- Hubba Hubba
- Chilly Joel & The Firestarters
“Jeff Lyons Joins us For Goodtimes and the Greatest”
I was on a podcast battling a trivia expert! Listen here. It’s a very good time!
Spoiler: I nailed a Junkyard Dog question 👊
Endurance Runner and podcaster Jeff Lyons of Junk Miles joins Johnny Goodtimes and Neal Pollack for a thrilling episode of Goodtimes and the Greatest. Jeff takes a big early lead, but a Big Buck Duck gets Neal back in the ballgame, and it all comes down to one final question.
Create an Awesome Running Route with This Easy and Free Website
Let’s say you want to run (hike, ride, walk) from your house to the park a couple of miles away and return using another route to keep thing interesting. Well, you’re in luck. You don’t need a fancy app or a paid Strava account you just need to visit this almost ad-free (almost) and easy to use route creator:
On the Go Map (also called How Far Did I Run?).
Once you are done mapping out your awesome route, you can save the link and also export the route to a GPX file that you can follow on your phone or watch.
The Heat is On
Helpful tips to deal with the extreme heat:
– fill a bandana with ice and wrap it around your neck
– agree to join 5-year space mission to search for a new hospitable planet as our earth dies
Tips for mowing your lawn in the extreme heat:
1. Don’t do it
No old guys should be shirtless anywhere. That said, after a long run on a very hot day, I took off my shirt because it was soaked. I drove home shirtless, hoping no one would notice. I parked my car in the driveway, relieved, and 5 feet from my door, I heard my neighbor Brian say, “hey big sexy.”
Rescued after being lost in the scorching-hot desert for weeks, I’m rushed into an ambulance, my wife joins me, “It’s chilly in here, can we turn down the AC?”
Enjoy Some Very Good Songs!
“Lost on You” by Tigers Jaw
“Doorway” by feeble little horses
“Siloed” by Hannah Lew
“Gleam” by villagerrr
“Quakin’” by DJ Seinfeld
“If You Change” by Widowspeak
What the Hell is This? “TOOMORROW” (1970)
At first, I thought this was a spoof of a weird low-budget movie from the 60s. It is not. Is is actually a weird low-budget movie from the 60s. The Blu-ray available here.
21 year-old Olivia Newton-John stars, pre-GREASE fame, in this utterly bonkers Mod-Pop / Sci-Fi musical about a multi-racial group of London art college musicians whose songs are the cure to the computer sterility suffered by the aliens circling Earth in their crystal spacecraft.
Happy Birthday Brady
I gave our friends’ dog a little bone for his ninth birthday.
Enjoy a Kitten Looking in a Mirror
View this post on Instagram
Bluesky
I’m not a jewelry expert but I do know that if you open a locket, a ghost should pop out.
— Kendra Alvey (@kendragarden.bsky.social) March 7, 2024 at 10:32 AM
With the release of The Mandalorian and Grogu, we are going to see a big uptick in adoptions. As someone who works in Grogu rescue, I will remind you: when you adopt a Baby Yoda, you are committing to its . Grogus can live up to 900 years. They can also move shit around your apartment.
— Lauren Flans (@laurenflans.bsky.social) May 18, 2026 at 2:59 PM
Running list of people the Beastie Boys would have eventually name checked had it not been for MCA’s untimely passing:
Timothée Chalamet
Rick Brunson
The Bagel Boss
Brian Scalabrine
Honey Boo Boo
John Harbaugh
Ken Bone— Christian Alsis (@christianalsis.bsky.social) May 30, 2026 at 9:29 PM
TREBEK: Feel free to ask these diminutive spirits for sexual favors, but don’t say “guten Tag” — they’re not actually German!
me: who are the slut gnomes of false berlin
TREBEK: Bizarre little men. You’re still in control of the board— vrunt (@vrunt.social) August 13, 2025 at 11:20 AM
BJÖRK: I äm a hömosexüal nöw
ME: that’s nice björk
BJÖRK: i häve süch a beäutifül gïrlfrïends
ME: im happy for you björk
— baby cigarette (@mommywiseau.bsky.social) June 5, 2026 at 10:00 PM
[First day as boss at Wacky, Inc.] ME: [sips from mug] CLOWN: Sir, the security guards are out of silly string!
ME: [spits out jelly beans]— John (@notheotherjohn.bsky.social) July 23, 2023 at 8:34 PM
I knew she’d be trouble the minute she walked into my office, stumbled, knocked over the hat rack, then somehow got her feet entangled in my trench coat and, arms whirling like propellers as she tried to stay upright, sent my bourbon bottle flying, which spilled and ignited, then
— Howard Mittelmark (@howardm.bsky.social) September 3, 2023 at 1:03 PM
🎶 MOTOR LODGE
🎶 WHAT’S YOUR PRICE PER NIGHT— batkaren (a/k/a kt roth) (@batkaren.bsky.social) May 17, 2026 at 11:13 PM
I GET LOGGED OUT. BUT I LOG IN AGAIN
— warrior cop (@wyattprivilege.bsky.social) May 18, 2026 at 8:55 PM
Nobody wants a CEO to give a commencement speech. Put a Muppet up there. Those grads earned some fun.
— Brian McFadden (@mcfadden.bsky.social) May 17, 2026 at 12:09 PM
— Mr. Joshua (@pantspants.bsky.social) May 19, 2026 at 10:44 AM
DOCTOR: “So what seems to be the problem?”
PATIENT: “Mmhbbhhggr hhruuh engghhuu.”
DOCTOR: “I’m sorry I can’t understand, but don’t worry. Great singer Bob Dylan is in town. Go see his show and no matter what ails you, you’ll feel better!”
PATIENT (sadly): “Ehg ddnghh m’m Bddnnn.”— Daniel Radosh (@radosh.bsky.social) June 6, 2026 at 10:46 PM
Just saw an egregious offender
— Mike Schuster (@mcs212.bsky.social) May 19, 2026 at 5:17 PM
When I go to CVS to pick up a prescription, even though I’m always clearly wearing a metal band shirt, about half of the time some patron asks me a question and I have to be like “I don’t work here”?? I can only assume this is due to the way I confidently stride around places
— House of 1000 Fionas (@cogentanalysis.bsky.social) September 12, 2023 at 5:41 PM
ChatGPT: you’re right you’re so much smarter than him. He’s so schlubby and you’re so suave. Columbo will never catch you.
— Ernest Luckman (@ernieluckman.bsky.social) April 15, 2026 at 8:22 AM
— Museum of Twitter (@museum-of-twitter.bsky.social) June 5, 2026 at 12:48 PM
coworker: *heart emoji reaction*
me: I’m married susan
— dan mentos (@danmentos.com) May 15, 2026 at 2:11 PM
New house is powered almost entirely by an ancient obelisk out the back I’m saving so much money
— tara (@weedlejuice.bsky.social) January 13, 2026 at 9:37 PM
Well, it happened again. I got put on the jumbotron at the grocery store and everyone booed my groceries
“Spelunker.” Such a funny word. Anyway, have they found your husband yet?
— Kip Conlon (@kipconlon.bsky.social) June 5, 2026 at 12:20 PM
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