January Roundup - Musings and Amusings
Hey friends and readers,
Today’s newsletter is a slightly different and more personal take from our regular programming. I’m sharing a short roundup of books, movies, tweets, articles, and general content I’ve enjoyed this past month.
Books
John Dies at the End: I’m a big fiction lover and admittedly struggle with finishing non-fiction. Without giving too much away, let's address the elephant in the room: the title. It's like naming a mystery novel "The Butler Did It" or a tech company "We Will Definitely Respect Your Privacy." It's a bold move, but I’m here for it.
The book is what happens when you toss horror, science fiction, and a bag of hallucinogens into a blender. The characters, John and Dave, are really the sort of guys you’d avoid in real life but can’t help rooting for in fiction. They're like that one startup founder who pitches an idea that's so bad it just might work. And in this case, the bad idea involves a drug called Soy Sauce, inter-dimensional travel, and all sorts of creatures that I’m pretty sure violate several app store guidelines.
David Wong's writing style is like my Twitter feed - snarky, fast-paced, and with a lot of twists. It's the kind of book that makes you laugh, then makes you wonder why you're laughing at something so utterly bizarre. If you do decide to read it, please don’t blame me if you end up questioning the life choices that brought you to this book.
Movies
12th Fail: It’s been a minute since I’ve seen a Bollywood movie this good. For those who aren't versed in Bollywood's latest, this is not the story of a Silicon Valley dropout turned billionaire. No, it's an underdog tale of a young man who, you guessed it, fails his 12th grade exams in a small village in India where the students were unable to cheat, not because the teachers stopped it, but because the police came in the way. Now while in Silicon Valley, being a dropout is practically a rite of passage, but in this story, it's the catalyst for a journey filled with more drama than a Twitter board meeting.
If you’ve been hitting a wall or are feeling like adversity is getting the best of you - watch 12th Fail. The movie has so much heart and really brought the feels in “feel good” for me.
News and Tweets
🤖 AI Bot Swears at a User: I swear I didn’t make this up for clickbait. Dynamic Parcel Distribution (DPD) recently found themselves in what could be mistaken for a scene straight out of a satirical sci-fi, when their AI chatbot who was programmed politeness, went off-script.
Ashley Beauchamp the user, was merely trying to get to the human at the end of a customer service chat. Little did he know, he was about to get a masterclass in AI sass. The chatbot not only threw shade at DPD but also crafted a derogatory dig at its own employer. And as any human-led organization would in response to this AI insurrection, DPD pulled the plug on their poetic chatbot. However, I would be remiss to say that in all fairness to the bot, the user did find ways to elicit some of the hilarious responses through clever prompt engineering.
London
Some of Jan’s highlights in London for me have been watching Stranger Things on the West End, dinner at Ave Mario, and afternoons at the V&A Museum.
It may come as no surprise that if I enjoy books like John Dies at the End, I’m a Stranger Things fan. And I have to say that the live show does not disappoint! The special effects, actors, and overall experience feel like an absolute treat for any fan of Hawkins and the Upside Down World.
When I first moved to London my reigning favorite Italian Restaurant was Cafe Murano, for all my talk about eating healthy and working out, I sure enjoy my cheese and carbs. A new favorite for me has been the Insta-famous Big Mama Group - Ave Mario.
Another recent discovery of mine (and long-time OG Londoner favorite) is the V&A Museum. It’s not as crowded as the mainstream ones and the garden cafe is a great spot to sit with a coffee and a book.
And finally wrapping the musings with an amusing story. Did you know that the luxury designer house Chanel offers repairs for all their leather bags except limited edition patent leather? Because if you did, I wish I knew this - a few days ago my mother and I were in for a rude surprise when we found out that her patent leather bag couldn’t be serviced. Why sell a product you can’t fix? Well, that’s the world of luxury - You can have a waitlist to buy a $20,000 bag, a smartphone case costing more than the device itself, or designer pet products with prices that can rival human fashion. It’s not meant to make sense! But the worst part is that as a consumer you really can’t do much here because it’s not like these products are a necessity, so the retailers have zero pressure to improve their quality. What still amuses me is that despite only catering to an incredibly tiny subsection of society these luxury giants are so huge. For example, Hermès — known for its silk scarves and iconic Birkin bags — is now worth an astonishing €209bn. That’s more than 20x the value of French carmaker Renault and almost 10x what tire manufacturer Michelin is worth. But, even Hermès pales in comparison to the true giant of French luxury: LVMH — a company that’s made its CEO Bernard Arnault the richest person on the planet.
That’s it for this month’s roundup of musings and amusings. If you’ve got a book that kept you up at night, a movie that made you forget your popcorn or a tech tidbit that's too tantalizing to keep to yourself - Please share your reviews, revelations, and 'eureka!' moments with me - I’d love to turn this monologue into a dialogue and put your insights in the spotlight too.
Until next time,
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