The Friday High Five
On Cocaine, Getting Strong, and Penis Cameos
Every Friday I share 5 things I enjoyed this week. Also, high fives are inherently cool, and I think we can all agree Friday is the bestest day. Hence the Friday High Five. 🙏🏻Today’s High Five comes from Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy. You may be saying to yourself: waitaminute—that ain’t no high five! And you’re right. No fives were highed in this scene. But what is a high five if not the transfer of awesome energy from one person to another?
I’m giving this one a pass because it has strong ‘high five’ energy. And also because it’s really hard to find movie stills of people high-fiving. Crazy, right? It’s gotten to the point that when I recently rewatched Return of the Jedi, I watched closely to see if Jabba the Hutt high-fived Bib Fortuna (Jabba’s majordomo) after Jabba dunked on Luke’s meager Jedi abilities.
Anyway, have a great weekend! High five!
5 Things I Enjoyed This Week:
Return of the Jedi
Trident cinnamon gum
The Strong app
Halo Infinite
Forgetting Sarah Marshall
Return of the Jedi
Return of the Jedi celebrates its 40th birthday this year. It’s the first movie I have distinct memories of seeing in the theater. I’m working on a story about the movie, and fathers and sons, and memory, which is to say, the story got super complicated.
I recently rewatched the movie in the most unsexy way possible—with subtitles while running on a treadmill. I think missing John Williams’ legendary score allowed me to see the movie a bit more objectively. Because man, this film has some messed up shit in it.
That realization beget a deep-dive into Hollywood and cocaine in the 80s, which then turned into a story: Return of the Jedi Was Made At the Height of Hollywood's Cocaine Era and It Shows.
Trident cinnamon gum
Yes, not every thing I mention in this newsletter is pop culture relevant. Sometimes coming up with 5 things requires stepping outside that colorful box. Mostly it just means I think briefly about something that, dare I say, sparked joy that week.
I’ve been on a gum kick lately. The worst part of working from home is the ready access to all the food. I am very pro munchy, and tend to get a strong desire for a snack in the mid-afternoon. And by snack, I mean a handful of Doritos hastily consumed while hunched over the sink like a giant raccoon.
Jodeci has a song called Feenin’ about missing that special someone. And also sex, because Jodeci. It strikes me that ‘feenin’ is an apt description, on a linguistic level, for the mid-afternoon temptation. (A different sort of afternoon delight, if you will.) I’ve been fighting the urge by chewing gum. Cinnamon works especially well because you don’t really want to eat anything once you have a residual mouthful of spice.
The Strong app
Might as well stick with the health theme.
I’ve been lifting regularly for several years, partly to offset the body’s natural inclination to shed muscle once you reach your 40s, but also because I want to be spry in my golden years. According to science, picking up heavy things and putting them back down does wonders for the longevity and quality of your life. For the longest time, I tracked my gainz using a Google spreadsheet, like a dork. But, of course, there was a much better way.
I picked up the Strong app last October. What a game-changer. There’s a bunch of similar apps out there; I picked Strong because of its Apple Watch integration. I can mark sets complete, adjust reps and weights, and track my entire workout without picking up my phone once. My favorite part is probably the charts, which tracks your progress over time.
I apologize if this seems like an advertisement or something. This app just genuinely makes my life better.
Halo Infinite
I’ve been in a funny headspace when it comes to gaming. For the life of me, I can’t make myself sit down and play any of the amazing single-player games I own. It’s like I can’t deal with the emotional complexity of the stories, or the need to follow a narrative, or something. No problem watching something like Deadwood (again), but put a controller in my hand, and my brain no wants to work no more.
That, or I just get an inordinate amount of joy out of dunking on people online. My stick skills aren’t nearly what they used to be, but I’m still (usually) in the top half of players. Maybe, like lifting weights, I’m simply trying to stave off the long descent into irrelevance and madness.
Forgetting Sarah Marshall
It’d been years since I’d watched this movie, and while I clearly remembered the cameo by Jason Segel’s schlong, I didn’t remember it being quite so long (the cameo, not the dong). There’s an unrated version with like 10 minutes of additional footage and I assume it’s just 10 minutes of Segel’s penis.
Good movie. I might write something about it.
What are you into at the moment? Leave a comment and let me know!
If you enjoyed this, please like it and share it with someone. It’s the best way to show your appreciation and it would mean a lot to me. :)
Where I'm from, Big Red was the bubble gum of choice instead of Trident Cinnamon. It’s just as you’d imagine - bright red, bold flavor, with a bit of heat. Quite tasty!
"And by snack, I mean a handful of Doritos hastily consumed while hunched over the sink like a giant raccoon." I laughed so hard at this! 😆 (I think because I've done potato chips in the pantry!)