Shame on Netflix • Chicken Fried Steak • Chocolate Controversy • Perceptual Ripening • Contagious Laughter • Melbourne Zeitgeist • Trombones
Chicken Fried Steak is not chicken, nor is it steak, as commonly recognized. If you are visiting an American diner, you are likely to find this distinctive dish. Order it. It’s a lightly breaded beefsteak cutlet fried on a flat-top grill. Similar to schnitzel in many ways. The name, I believe, is a reference to preparing it like fried chicken. In America, all food is described relative to chicken.
Let the credits roll for God’s sake. As Scott Sumner recently observed, the streaming platforms often disrupt the movie as the credits roll and cue the next presentation.
That’s just rude.
Imagine that in any other situation. You’re staying overnight in a hotel and before your reservation is up, the hotel manager enters your room, rips off the sheets of the bed in which you are sleeping and suggests you visit one of their other properties. Immediately.
The music that rolls over the credits is the mental space required for you to process the narrative. Cutting it short is shameful. Who’s idea was this? David Lynch would be disappointed.
This is an excerpt from an NYT story about the chocolate integrity of a famous American candy brand. Clearly, this journalist is the Bob Woodward of candy industry investigations. But not every story needs to be deeply sourced and researched. Sometimes the best journalism comes from going outside, observing the world, and telling the truth about things that no one else can see (or maybe don't want to see).
They’re not that ripe. Packaged oranges almost always come in a red mesh bag. Why? It’s a neuro-optical trick known as “color assimilation”, the “confetti effect”, or — my preferred terminology — “perceptual ripening.” The hints of bright orange colors create an illusion. The brain picks up on the rich hues, fills in the expected color and makes the fruit look more appealing than its under-ripened reality. The visual trick is subtle and effective.
Perceptual ripening is also a pretty good metaphor for manipulative consumer packaging, broadly.
Many negative emotions are contagious, but so is laughter. If you’re having a bad day, you could spend money on something or you could just watch actors breaking character on youtube. SNL, given it’s format, probably has the richest material. But Adam McKay movies also feature plenty of great breaking character scenes. Will Ferrell is likely the best at making others break and I love seeing Hader and Kimmel and Kate McKimmon succumb to fits of laughter. You can easily lose yourself in this material online (in a good way), but here’s a good SNL starter compilation. Is Hader breaking in the Californians the greatest of all time?
Australian zeitgeist: now is the best time to be listening to music from Melbourne. Start with Way Dynamic and then explore the Efficient Space compilations. Indie rock culture is thriving. Talent isn’t so tapped out as Brooklyn, rent is affordable and isolation leads to cultural distinction. It’s the perfect crucible for musical creativity.
This is Jeff Tweedy’s favorite Paul Simon song and now I love it as well. Late-era Paul Simon, but he’s still got it.
Let this one roll over the credits.
—Michael Neault • writing from a hotel in Brussels on a rainy Friday morning • reply with your notes
