Good Good Things – Issue 21
Let’s take a breather and enjoy a few positive things as we try to stay sane in this new year.
The Makers of Cult Hip-Hop Film “House Party” Look Back
I don’t know how to dance, and it’s not from lack of trying. The closest I got as a teen to feeling like I needed to move my dumb body to the music was jumping in a pit at a City Gardens punk show and praying I did not get too injured as I pushed sweaty bodies and swung my skinny arms around like an idiot.
In my high school, way back when in a small New Jersey shore town, most guys did not dance at dances. We hung out on the sidelines and watched the girls dance, and occasionally, a few brave souls would venture out during the slow songs because a slow dance contained the least difficult of the moves to pull off. Plus, you get to interact with a female. We’d also join in and pogo around during a new wave banger (“What I Like about You” by The Romantics comes to mind) at the end of the night, again, because it was easy. No rhythm required.
When I got to college and went to my first dance, I was shocked and amazed that my new friends from Philly and South Jersey all knew how to dance and loved doing it. And they were good at it. After some beers, I would jump in and just try to hide amongst the throng, singing aloud to “Joy and Pain” and “It Takes Two” by Rob Base and DJ E-Z Rock. My fondest memories on the fringe of various dance floors were watching my friends trying to pull off the iconic moves of Kid ’n Play from “House Party,” a movie we all loved. I still get a nice dopamine hit watching Kid ’n Play do their thing, and I thoroughly enjoyed this oral history of the film by Rich Pelley.
The studio wanted Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince. Instead, I asked Kid ’n Play – AKA Christopher “Kid” Reid and Christopher “Play” Martin – to star. I loved their music videos, their style, their look. But I still had to convince New Line. They said: “Who are these guys?” I said: “They’ve got platinum records.” I had no idea if they did! – Reginald Hudlin, writer/director
The Best & Worst Movie Posters of 2025
Film nerds on YouTube can be a bit much with their hot takes and film-school criticism, but this affable movie enthusiast offers entertaining and educational insights into the art of poster design with a solid sense of humor. Enjoy this fun year-end roundup.
And while I am not a “Star Wars” fan, I found his video about the abundance of collectible franchise posters and their monetary values fascinating.
Michelangelo’s First Painting Ever
A 12-year-old boy painted this? I don’t know if I believe it. Look, I’m not saying Mikey A. (that’s what his friends called him) wasn’t talented, but I think the art world was bored and wanted something to talk about in 2008 when they attributed this masterpiece to him. Read more on Colossal.
‘The Torment of Saint Anthony’ is the first known painting by Michelangelo… and the most incredible part is that he created it when he was just twelve years old.
For centuries, this work was attributed to other artists, dismissed as just another copy. No one imagined that behind this dramatic, demon-filled scene was the brush of a child who would one day change the course of art history.
I Want My MTV Rewind
As a nostalgia junkie who enjoyed watching vids non-stop as a young couch potato, this new web app chronicling the halcyon days of music videos is right up my alley.
Celebrating 44 years of continuous music videos. MTV Rewind brings back 24/7 music television streaming classic hits from the 80s, 90s, and 2000s.
Visit: wantmymtv.vercel.app
Alan Rickman Remembered, 10 Years after His Death
Wow, ten years already. In addition to being a top-notch performer, Alan Rickman was a sweet guy and a good person according to his friends. This is nice.
On the anniversary of his death aged 69, stars from Sigourney Weaver to Sharleen Spiteri, Tom Felton to Harriet Walter, remember the wit, charm and endless generosity of one of Britain’s best-loved actors.
How Grilled Cheese is Made in 10 Countries
It’s stupid cold outside and that means it’s Grilled Cheese Season. And please remember:
when🧀 you 🧀 add 🧀 meat 🧀 to 🧀 a 🧀 grilled 🧀 cheese 🧀 it’s 🧀 no 🧀 longer 🧀 a 🧀 grilled 🧀 cheese
— Jeff (@gojeffgo.com) April 12, 2024 at 1:28 PM
Epicurious brings together 10 chefs from 10 different countries to share their take on this classic comfort food. From a French Croque Monsieur to Japanese pizza toast, explore how each culture reinvents grilled cheese sandwiches in their own mouthwatering way.
50 Things About Pennsylvania’s Geography That Sound Fake
There are lots of tasty tidbits in this video you can use to wow your eco-minded friends, like… “Did you know the Susquehanna River is widely recognized as the longest commercially non-navigable river in North America, flowing 444 miles from New York to the Chesapeake Bay?” Find out why and more fun facts about the great state of PA!
From towns that burn underground and lakes that vanish overnight, to mysterious gravity hills, ancient forests, and secret Cold War bunkers, this is the real Pennsylvania you’ve never heard about before.
Lovely Lettering
Imagine having this steady a hand to do this amazing work? I find watching these artist painting letters with precision and grace incredibly soothing.
Follow: Signwriter and mural artist @artfulcharlie
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Follow: The Letter Head on YouTube
Follow: “Writing On The Wall” Documentary
Good Songs with Good Videos
“Bandoleros” by Mariachi El Bronx
“Mountain” by Gaijin Smash
“2SIDED” by Arlo Parks
“Dead End” by Snail Mail
“Say Hi to the Sun” by Seko
“Lotta Love” (Neil Young cover) by MJ Lenderman with J Mascis
Quick Hits
- Late Rocker Rick Fröberg’s Visual Art Celebrated in New Book
- Maggie Tokuda-Hall’s Pigeon Paintings
- Watch Green Day & Bruce Springsteen speak out about ICE occupation of Minneapolis
- A Mostly Helpful Guide to Running Your First Ultra Trail Race
- Joiri Minaya’s “Venus Flytrap”
- Very Good Music Facts – Volume 3
- The Damned Celebrate 50 Years of Punk, Goth and Holy Grail Hunting
- “Still Growing, Still Learning, Still Me: A Journey of Protest, Healing, and Personal Transformation” by Kenny Stills
- Spend Valentine’s day with Chip and Dana!
- Greenland Sharks Can Survive for Centuries—and Maintain Long-Lasting Vision, Despite Living in the Dark
- Timeless Female Authors Who Wrote Under Male Pen Names
Good Pranks
My buddy and I added a giant styrofoam stone to Stonehenge once and no one noticed for like 11 years.
Great prank for a tree: slowly raise up a section of sidewalk with your large roots for 50 years… watch some dummy trip.
A pretty good Olympics prank would be handing your 4 × 800 relay teammate a tightly wrapped Italian hoagie instead of the baton.
Biomedical Scientist Answers New Pseudoscience Questions
It’s debunking time…
Biomedical scientist Dr. Andrea Love returns to WIRED to answer a new slate of the internet’s burning questions about pseudoscience, health fads, and false wellness claims. What common household chemicals are definitely worth avoiding? Is there really arsenic and lead in tampons? Are probiotics helpful or not? What’s the concern with consuming raw milk? Are GMOs and synthetic foods harmful? Why do the dangers of vaccines get blown out of proportion?
Even If You’ve Never Seen ‘Seven Samurai,’ You’ve Certainly Seen Movies Influenced by It
Guys, I’ve never seen this classic movie but after reading this excellent Smithsonian article, I will… as soon as I watch every Instagram reel of this sweet dog and sassy crow who are best friends.
The 207-minute Seven Samurai, with its extended scenes of swordplay and grandly conceived action sequences, was as innovative as it was epic, drawing superlatives from critics, turning a generation on to Japanese cinema and changing popular culture forever.
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The Rebirth of Pennsylvania’s Infamous Burning Town
Writer Colin Dickey visited Centralia, a town that is literally on fire below its surface, and despite its history and uncertain future, he has hope for the area.
It is a landscape pulsing with life, overflowing with lush greenery. The old grid of streets is still visible, and there are still a handful of houses with carefully mowed lawns sitting in defiance. But everything else is the wild and vital province of nature. Turkeyfoot, broom-sedge, and switchgrass and silky dogwood. Young white oaks and linden trees push their way through this cacophony of life. Everywhere that’s not asphalt is a riot of green in every possible shade. And all of this is possible, at least in part, because the state and federal governments have forbidden any new human settlement, giving the wild and the lush and untrammeled room to grow.
“Jeff, What is the Narrowest Part of Maryland?”
Glad you asked. While staring at maps and looking for trails to explore, I discovered the narrowest part of Maryland is about two miles wide in the town of Hancock, Washington County. Pennsylvania is on one side, West Virginia is on the other. This spring I’m going to visit so I can run through three states in one trip with the least amount of effort.
Sing Us Home Returns!
The Menzingers, the Mountain Goats, Emily Wolfe, The Flatliners, Augustines, Ted Leo, and many more are coming to Manayunk on May 1-3!
Sing Us Home is Philadelphia-bred singer-songwriter Dave Hause’s annual music festival in Manayunk’s Venice Island. The three day event is a celebration of punk rock, acoustic music, local food and drink, working class wit, California vibes, Philly-style second lines, craft beer, tattoos, art, storytelling and, of course, lots of brotherly (and sisterly) love!
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“Very Good Music Facts – Volume 4” Coming Very Soon!
People are enjoying the three volumes of Very Good Music Facts we have posted so we are hard at work compiling Volume 4! Thanks for all the good feedback. Here are a couple teasers.
Sam Beam’s stage name Iron & Wine is taken from a dietary supplement named “Beef, Iron & Wine” that he found in a general store.
3 out of the 4 Iron Maiden vocalists were named Paul.
– Paul Mario Day
– Paul Di’Anno
– Paul “Bruce” Dickinson
Radiohead wrote “My Iron Lung” in response to their record label asking for a single to repeat the success of “Creep.” The lyrics use an iron lung as a metaphor for the way “Creep” had both sustained and constrained them.
Black Sabbath’s “Iron Man” had nothing to do with the Marvel superhero. When Ozzy Osbourne first heard Tony Iommi’s guitar riff, he said it sounded like a “big iron bloke walking around”. That comment inspired Geezer Butler to write the lyrics.
Bluesky
Coffee shops should have a separate line if you just want a regular coffee. I’d like to be rewarded for the one area of life in which I’m low maintenance.
— Erin Whitehead (@girlwithatail.bsky.social) January 16, 2026 at 4:06 PM
Please do not tell me any bad personal news because I might slip & tell my second most difficult aunt & she’ll demand to know your address so she can send a card.
(The card will be embossed with her initials & say something like, “Bon courage! I, too, have suffered recent misfortune….”)
— Michael Jay McClure (@mjmimages.bsky.social) January 18, 2026 at 1:27 PM
I feel bad for Aaron Rodgers*
*is what I would say to signal to my family I have been kidnapped.
— Katie Rich (@katierich.bsky.social) January 12, 2026 at 10:50 PM
on this day exactly 25 years ago, I pointed at a beautiful woman across the street & said “that’s the girl I’m gonna marry one day,” but it turned out to be a lamppost
— Grant Tanaka (@granttanaka.bsky.social) January 10, 2026 at 3:24 PM
Looks like the weatherman lied. He IS sleeping with my girlfriend.
— Kip Conlon (@kipconlon.bsky.social) January 14, 2026 at 10:09 PM
The hairdresser holds up the mirror so I can see the back of my haircut but she accidentally uses the mirror that reveals how you die. I see my 80-year-old self tumbling down a hill after slacklining for the 1st time. I never know how to react in these situations, so I just mumble “wow I love it”
— Isabel Zaw-Tun (@izzyzaw.bsky.social) January 5, 2026 at 2:22 PM
Your honor it’s true that I made many violent and terrible threats, but I was inside my giant robot mech suit at the time
— sky (@iamspacegirl.bsky.social) January 6, 2026 at 11:04 AM
In another unsettling development, the portrait who watches things from across the room is now rolling their eyes
CGI has never achieved anything as impressive as Jim Henson making Kermit the Frog ride a bicycle
— John (@notheotherjohn.bsky.social) January 8, 2026 at 4:35 PM
Liam Coen looks like he’s at the funeral for somebody who died in a dirt bike accident
— Christian D’Andrea (@trainisland.bsky.social) January 11, 2026 at 2:45 PM
Just made the same noise that Iggy makes at the beginning of Raw Power but I was getting out of a chair.
— Sweet Spoony the Good Boy (@thespoony.bsky.social) January 11, 2026 at 11:36 AM
Rescheduling a morning meeting to the afternoon and then showing up obviously having gotten a haircut.
— Gourmet Spud (@gourmetspud.bsky.social) January 6, 2026 at 11:30 AM
Good morning to all but especially to the birds already out on the worm grind
Remain ungovernable
— Blue Heron Farm (@blueheronfarm.bsky.social) January 12, 2026 at 8:48 AM
im so sorry..
that anchor is fighting for his liiiifeeeee
— LaQueef Skeetfield•♡ (@callipygiancandy.bsky.social) January 15, 2026 at 10:40 PM
Take care of each other
FDT forever. See you soon with more goodness…
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