Friday Flames: Back to the opposition

The next Era of Suck begins Monday, but we're not backing down. Plus: Match Game, octopuses, David Lynch, caramelized onions, and why Willy Wonka should mobilize his legal team.

What is there to say about this last, glorious weekend before the world’s worst person retakes the oath of office? If you’re like us, you may have trimmed back your media consumption, commiserated with your people, and/or sought a little self-care in whatever forms were available. But now that those ten interregnal weeks since the election are over, the inevitable reality is seeping in, like black mold in your gym bag.

There’s no escaping how sad we feel, so we might as well acknowledge that as a baseline and use it build our defiance. Cable news still wants to peddle its useless opinions with clickbaity headlines and performative bitchfests? We’re not watching. Oligarchs bending the knee? Whatever, dude. We’re voting with our wallets. National protections withering? We’re supporting the state-level efforts to preserve them.

We’re going to be methodical and relentless, and we’re going to retreat strategically when we need to before we burn out—which is just what the opponents want. Will anything we do move the needle? Who knows? But it feels better (a little, anyway) to take a swing than to indulge the temptation to huddle under a pillow fort.

We touched on another act of defiance in this week’s podcast (see below), when we decided to stay on Meta’s platforms despite its renewed efforts to be more terrible. We have community there that’s worth fighting to keep, and we can wring the most out of that company while contributing as little value to its bottom line as we can. We were also inspired by Mark Lemley, the Stanford law professor who fired FB as a client. Why be bullied away from our people just because a “Musk wannabe” poofed his hair?

Embers in the News

Here are some of the links that peeked through the noisy news cycle:

• Gimme shelter, with pedals A Toronto man is building heated, electrified mobile homes attached to bicycles to help unhoused people survive winter.

• “Soup you can suck on” Progresso is launching Soup Drops, lozenges that taste like “broth, savory veggies, soft egg noodles, and a hint of parsley.”

• Sadistic pizza A pizza restaurant in England has decided that the best way to discourage diners from ordering pineapple on pizza is to charge $100 for it.

• Eight arms to know you As if octopuses weren’t already amazing enough, we now know they have an autonomous “spinal cord” running down each arm.

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Recently on the podcast

Facebook's flag is flying pretty low for people who like facts. But we're staying on, for the moment, because the communities we've built are too valuable to leave behind.

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Currently reading

Magda’s main takeaway from My Name Is Barbra—which she finally finished!—is that she and Barbra approached parenting the same way, trying to support their kids in being who they really want to be. Then she listened to David Chang's memoir Eat A Peach on a long drive, and enjoyed that one thoroughly.

In a flashback to his old job, Doug is re-reading Of Boys and Men, in part motivated by Richard Reeves’s appearance on The Daily Show last week. His theses take greater weight after so many men voted TFG in for another administration, and understanding why will be a big requirement if we hold any hope of beating back the oligarchy.

Currently watching

Doug and Robert poured one out for David Lynch and re-watched Mulholland Drive, which yields new insights into its inscrutability each time. We each love a good puzzle movie, especially if it offers more questions than answers. Same goes for Severance Season 2, which will require a re-watch of much of Season 1 to regain our footing.

Magda has been watching a lot of Match Game '73 lately, and thinks she missed her calling. If she'd been born 25 years earlier, being a panelist on Match Game would have been a perfect career.

Currently cooking

Magda and Mike are currently testing recipes for a friend's upcoming cookbook. More info when they're allowed to tell you.

Doug’s continued his mandolined potatoes streak with pommes boulangère, because he will always welcome any excuse to caramelize onions. They’re great on their own, or beside a Pork Wellington and arugula side salad.

Thanks for reading, and we can still hold the line.

Magda and Doug