MNTS # 52
[Week 50 / Year 2024] Personal libraries, Shop Talk 001, D.D. Hoffman, AUS Post Punk Scene, F.E. Castleberry, Gratitude, Marls, Wooden Choir Ensemble, Butter Knife, On Randomness, Camera Roll
Mainly, Notes To Self - A rundown of stuff worth sharing.
Gentlemen. Welcome to the 52nd edition of MNTS.
For the inaugural “Shop Talk” podcast, I sat down with David Bessis, author of Mathematica -A secret world of intuition and curiosity. This marks the first of what I hope will be many deep dives with interesting people doing interesting things. Let me know what you think.
Donald D Hoffman on Consciousness
If you are interested in going down the consciousness rabbit hole Bessis and I briefly touch on, this episode is wild. I’ve added Hoffman’s book to my reading list after listening to this and his personal site is worth exploring. h/t to Michael for the recommendation.
Australia’s Post Punk Renaissance
post-punk is less a genre than a space of possibility. “What unites all this activity,” Simon Reynolds suggests in his book Rip it Up and Start Again, “is a set of open-ended imperatives: innovation; wilful oddness; the wilful jettisoning of all things precedented or ‘rock’n’roll.”
I don’t know exactly what is going on in AUS. right now but there are a bunch of really impressive, young, post punk bands emerging. It feels like something special is brewing and it’s worth keeping a pulse on. I’m up to my eyeballs in the movement at the moment and pretty bummed this scene is happening 8,000 miles from California. It’s positively electric.
A few bands worth exploring - Radio Free Alice, The Belair Lip Bombs, Girl and Girl, Sex Mask, DUST, Gut Health, Armlock - incredible band names for what it’s worth.
Unabashedly Cyber Punk
Fred Castleberry is back at it again with his LOOK BOOK NO. 07. His latest work reads like a storyboard for a delightfully unhinged William Gibson adaptation we desperately need. Hollywood, take note: your Neuromancer costume designer is already doing the work.
On Gratitude
In an age of digital ephemera, there's something defiantly human about putting pen to paper to express appreciation. After searching fruitlessly for thank you notes that carried the quality and authentic sentiment I was after, I designed and printed my own. They're available here if you, too, believe in the power of analog appreciation.
The Marls
American Trench makes great socks. I own an absurd amount of them already but have (irrationally) added their latest offering to the collection.
Wooden Choir Ensemble
I imagine this wooden choral ensemble performing Christmas carols from your shelf to be bizarrely charming.
Butter Knife
If you’ve been around a while you know I take my butter consumption rather seriously. A purpose-built tool for applying the noblest of toppings just feels right. The branding and aesthetic from Allday Goods is also spot on. Fun stuff.
On Randomness
Start stressing personal elegance at your next misfortune. … The only article Lady Fortuna has no control over is your behavior. Good luck.
- N.N. Taleb
For more on this see my latest Book Notes:
From my camera roll
That’s a wrap on 52.
Until next time, gents — Vividus Invictus1
AP
Rough Latin translation for Spirited and Resilient
What is it about great socks that make them so immensely satisfying?
That hummer goes way too hard