Good Good Things – Issue 005
Your boy is heading out on a little beach vacation today and will hopefully enjoy lots of outdoor time. That said, I will spend the entire day tomorrow indoors watching the Western States Endurance Run in a comfy chair, eating bagels and staying hydrated.
My three favorite summer vacation memories from my youth:
- Finding $750 in a “TONY” money clip in a sneaker in a trash can while cleaning the beach
- Winning enough skee-ball points to get a switchblade comb at Belmar Playland
- Spending the morning watching game shows with my Mom on her days off
Enough about me, onto the good good things…
H. Jon Benjamin: ‘Now I Talk Like Bob’
H. Jon Benjamin has one of the most iconic voices in comedy: deep, rich, emotive, with a touch of defeated humility.
Benjamin admits he didn’t always sound like Bob. “I didn’t sound like this at all 15 years ago,” he says with a laugh. “Now I talk like Bob.” It’s fitting—after so long, the line between performer and character has blurred. “I’ve become him.”
Read more at Variety and watch this fun video:
How Merzbacher’s Bakery Creates Some of Philadelphia’s Favorite Bread
Much like you, I love bread and I love watching nice, hard-working people make bread. Meet Pete and his awesome bakery:
At Merzbacher’s bakery in Philadelphia, owner Pete Merzbacher pays attention to every detail when it comes to making fresh bread. He sells his coveted loaves and buns to local grocery stores and restaurants that use them to make some of the best cheesesteaks in town.”
55-year-old Ultrarunner Anna Troup Wins the Montane Summer Spine Race 2025
As a mid-pack trail runner in his 50s, I love to see veteran crushers like Anna Troup run a jaw-dropping race. First overall.
Her incredible feat Anna not only top the women’s rankings, but she also finished as the leading runner overall, completing the iconic 268-mile trek up the Pennine Way in a time of 84:56:37.
Widely regarded as ‘Britain’s Most Brutal’ endurance race, runners started from Edale in Derbyshire on Sunday, June 15, and were given a time limit of 156 hours to reach the village of Kirk Yetholm in the Scottish Borders.”
Read all about it here and watch the daily race recap videos here.
10 of the Best places for Stargazing in the USA
A couple of years back, I was getting my hair cut at the Handsome Devil Barber Shop in Belmar, NJ, and was chatting about dark sky parks with the stylist. He was telling me about one of his favorite vacations where he had an amazing time staring up at the stars for hours in the middle of a vast national park. He ended the story by whispering to me, “Oh, and I was INCREDIBLY high.”
People, recreational substances are not necessary to enjoy the heavens above.
When the cloudy expanse of the Milky Way stretches above us from horizon to horizon, or a meteor streaks across the sky, or a rocket defies gravity to leave Earth, it touches on a sense of wonder and awe. There is something breathtaking and humbling about the knowledge that beyond the protective layer of our atmosphere, there is a lot more out there.”
Here are some of the best places in the USA to demystify the night sky.”
Out of This World Astronaut Art
Scott Listfield is known for his paintings featuring a lone exploratory astronaut lost in a landscape cluttered with pop culture icons, corporate logos, and tongue-in-cheek science fiction references.”
In Symbiotic Utopia, Agus Putu Suyadnya imagines a future in which tropical ecosystems not unlike those of Southeast Asia become sites for humanity to commune with nature.”
Let’s Go NYC!
As a Philadelphian, this is extremely hard for me to say, but… I ❤️ NY
30 NYC Monuments of Black Americans You Should Know
From Harriet Tubman to Duke Ellington, the city boasts a wealth of public art honoring Black individuals, the subject of a timely new book, New York City Monuments of Black Americans (2025) by David Felsen.”
Read more about this new book and see more of this impressive art at Hyperallergic.
Podcast: Threedom
Scott Aukerman, Lauren Lapkus, and Paul F. Tompkins abandon their regular formats to focus on the basics of being funny with each other.”
Scott Aukerman, better known as Hot Saucerman, is a top-tier podcast host. He’s been doling out Comedy Bang Bang episodes for a very long time. Sometimes he gets a little cranky, decades of interviewing and doing improv with guests can be a bit exhausting, so it’s nice that he has the freedom to do some free-form Threedom.
He is joined by his pals, Paul F. Tompkins, America’s most-beloved podcast guest, and Lauren Lapkus, a quick-witted actor/comedian. They get together and chat about their lives, and mostly go off on interesting tangents, and talk over each other and wait to pounce whenever one of them dares to misspeak or makes the slightest mistake. It’s like hanging out with your buddies who are funnier than you. Hearing Paul guffaw multiple times during the show is a highlight. Highly recommended.
The Tubs “Chain Reaction”
Do you enjoy having a pint in a pub? Do you enjoy the music of The Tubs? If so, fire up this video and raise a glass with the lads! This is one of many stellar tracks from the London group’s excellent sophomore album, “Cotton Crown,” via Trouble In Mind Records.
Catch them on tour this fall in the US!
Meet Your New Best Friend
Over the last two weeks, 285 pets have found their forever homes and 128 went to foster! ❤️🎉
We still have many animals waiting to meet their forever families—could one of them be your new best friend?”
Visit your local shelter and make your life instantly better. ACCT Philly has many wonderful pets who would love to meet you.
Hot Summer Jams
Friends, here are some of my top “Summer” jams. What are yours? Comment below.
“Celebrated Summer” – Hüsker Dü
“Stay all Summer” – Momma
“Summer” – Buffalo Tom
“Summertime” – The Sundays
“Summertime” – Teenage Bottlerocket
“Summertime” – DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince
“Constructive Summer” – The Hold Steady
“Cruel Summer” – Bananarama
“Suddenly Last Summer” – The Motels
“Summer’s Colour” – Basement
“Endless Summer” – Superchunk
…and many more! Listen to the Hot “Summer” Jams playlist.
The Best Mushroom Burger Is All ‘Shrooms and 100% Vegetarian
I’m a vegetarian, have been one for over thirty years. And not to brag, but I am the best vegetarian because I eat everything (except for lentils). I don’t want to name names, but some people (okay, my wife and children) do not enjoy tomatoes or mushrooms, and this hurts me deeply. I LOVE both, and boy oh boy does this mushroom burger look delicious.
These burgers? They’re just ‘shrooms. Roasted, ground, and bound together with a little modernist wizardry (“meat glue” and casein protein!), the mixture is as versatile as ground meat—grill ’em, pan fry ’em, smash ’em, turn them into meatballs or meatloaf … anything is possible!—with the added benefit that it’s impossible to overcook. That lets you get the patties deeply browned without losing out on any juiciness or tenderness, which makes them even more delicious!”
Quick Hits
- How Paperbacks Transformed the Way Americans Read
- The Beths Announce New Album Straight Line Was A Lie: Hear “No Joy”
- “Let him save you!”
- Stunning New Image of the Sculptor Galaxy Captures the Cosmic Landscape in Thousands of Colors
- “They Live’s” Endless Fistfight Is a Slapstick Masterpiece
- Chris Ware Creates Stamps For USPS
Beach Thoughts
I think the lifeguards forcing you to wear an OCEAN NERD t-shirt after being rescued is tough but fair.
When a little kid is showing you every single shell they collected on the beach and you want to keep the process moving along, it’s best to reply “That’s a good shell” every time.
My job as a dad at the beach is to survey my surroundings and declare, “that beach umbrella is not secure.”
I hate those planes that fly over the beach towing signs, especially the one that says YOU SUCK JEFF LYONS
Slow Mass – “Grifter” (Live Session)
Enjoy a perfect song:
How An Obscure B-Side Became The Most Sampled Song Ever
Six seconds of drums that reshaped music forever. Here’s the full story behind the break that changed everything.”
Watch: “Tour de France: Unchained”
I knew absolutely nothing about cycling or “The Tour” before I watched this fast-paced and fun series about one of the world’s biggest sporting events, and, thankfully, I was able to keep up. It does a nice job welcoming in the newbies with fascinating glimpses of how the races work, its top stars (Tadej Pogačar, Jonas Vingegaard, and Remco Evenepoel), and a ton of behind-the-scenes stuff highlighting all the cogs that go into this well-oiled machine, including the support crews, mechanics, and the team chefs.
The new season starts on July 2 on Netflix and takes viewers deep inside the 2024 edition of cycling’s most heralded race.
Through tears and triumph, this engrossing documentary series follows several elite cycling teams as they compete in the world’s most grueling bike race.”
Free Sample
“Hey Jeff, where did that ‘orchestra hit’ sample used on Planet Rock, Owner of a Lonely Heart, and countless 80s songs come from?”
The earliest one came from the creator of the Fairlight CMI synthesizer. The preset called “ORCH5” was sampled from the 1910 composition “The Firebird” by Igor Stravinsky.
Let’s learn more about this groundbreaking music maker:
Enjoy Some 35-Year-Old Candy
Iggy Pop dropped this epic banger 35 years ago this week. “Candy” is a duet with Kate Pierson of the B-52s.
Fun Fact: “The song was initially offered to Chrissie Hynde. She said, ‘We didn’t pull that off. And I always regretted that, because Iggy was always my number one when I was growing up. And then he wrote this song, and he sent it to me. It was handwritten and everything. I don’t know what I did to turn him off the idea, but then I never heard from him. And he ended up doing the song with Kate Pierson.” – via wiki
Does Weird Al Know His Lyrics From His Biggest Songs?
The legend plays a game and gives some backstory to his most popular songs.
Good Things on Bluesky:
the fondue…? you mean my drinking cheese?
— Ali Garfinkel (@aligarchy.bsky.social) July 3, 2023 at 1:53 PM
SUMMER SOLSTICE FACTS
• invented in 1964 for New York World’s Fair
• only time that sun actually wears sunglasses
• longest day, also widest
• ducks may fly in reverse
• worms must wiggle backwards
• marmot behavior remains unchanged
• official food is toast
The best thing to drink while ironing is a smoothie
— Steven W Skinner (@skinnersteven.bsky.social) June 24, 2025 at 10:41 AM
Lon Chaney e Mary Philbin, “O Fantasma da Ópera” (The Phantom of the Opera, 1925). Filme disponível no Cine Antiqua:
youtu.be/E-HOq0f722c?…— Cine Antiqua – filmes clássicos (@cineantiqua.bsky.social) June 18, 2025 at 7:19 PM
What’s up my name’s Kayde and I drink 7 specialty matcha drinks per day
— Audrey Farnsworth (@audipenny.bsky.social) June 20, 2025 at 3:29 PM
[talking loudly on phone near a group of mosquitoes] yeah doctor said i got a bad case of stink blood, blood that tastes like stink
— Ygrene (@ygrene.bsky.social) June 25, 2025 at 9:30 PM
You know what I could really go for right now? One of those large cash settlements
— House of 1000 Fionas (@cogentanalysis.bsky.social) March 30, 2025 at 7:42 PM
Take care of each other. See you soon with more…
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This is so good! I glad you are my fourth or fifth favorite Jeff.
Honored!