Hello Malt Liquor Sommeliers,

Welcome to all the new subscribers this week. Assuming an abnormally large number of you don’t unsubscribe after reading the hellscape that is this email, we have finally SURPASSED 1,000 SUBSCRIBERS. Woooo. Thanks to all of you who have been riding with me for a while now and occasionally email me nice things and sometimes tell your friends to subscribe. It is much appreciated.

I’ve learned a lot doing this so far. Namely that you really need to be your own cheerleader and can’t be ashamed about it. Don’t be an arrogant asshole, but tell people about what you’re doing and fend off that imposter syndrome at all costs. Still working on that last part. And more than anything consistency is important as hell. Show up whenever you can. And with that being said I am probably going to be inconsistently showing up in your inbox over the next few weeks. I’m taking my first real vacation in a while so just let me live my life ok!

If you need anything, as always, holler at me.

That is all I’ll say about that. Time for the usual linkies. Enjoy.

Why Do We Buy Into The 'Cult' Of Overwork?

Just Give Me A Synopsis:
A presentation on the origins of grind culture and what factors (greed, it is always greed) have led to a virtually non-existent work-life balance across many sectors. A balance that has only been exacerbated by the pandemic and everyone working from home all the time.

And A Quote From The Article Please:

New studies show that workers around the world are putting in an average of 9.2 hours of unpaid overtime per week – up from 7.3 hours just a year ago. Co-working spaces are filled with posters urging us to "rise and grind" or "hustle harder". Billionaire tech entrepreneurs advocate sacrificing sleep so that people can "change the world". And since the pandemic hit, our work weeks have gotten longer; we send emails and Slack messages at midnight as boundaries between our personal and professional lives dissolve.

And Tell Me Why I should Care:
The headline is a great question. Why do we do it? Money? Pride? Status? All of the above? Everyone loves to complain, but really brag, about how much it sucks to work as much as they do. However I want to point out that this problem, like many others we talk about here (things like climate change, food and textile waste, etc) should not be up to individual actions to solve. It should be up to corporations and companies taking a stand, in this case that overworking will no longer be acceptable from employees. Stop rewarding people who work absurd hours that are not feasible (or desirable) for everyone. And put things in place to help employees in the unending quest to not burn out. Companies be better! Here at The Breads we have a strict policy of not working when we don't feel like it, which usually comes back to bite us in the butt by Wednesday night but still the rest of the week it is cool!

Chance The Rapper’s Deal With AMC Previews The Future Of Movie Theaters

Just Give Me A Synopsis:
This summer AMC will have the exclusive rights to show a Chance the Rapper concert film. This is a slick move to try and bring in an all new audience who doesn't necessarily go to theaters to watch movies ever. Seems to be a pretty smart bet.

And A Quote From The Article Please:

Theaters have long showed concert films and other forms of media besides mainstream Hollywood movies. For instance, Fathom Events, a joint venture of AMC, Regal, and Cinemark, shows special events like opera performances and classic films on the big screen every day. These offerings, however, have not materially changed theaters’ outlook—perhaps because their target demographics are the consumers who already like going to the movies. AMC’s deal with Chance the Rapper is one example of a partnership that might entice younger viewers out of their homes.

And Tell Me Why I should Care:
The movie theater industry almost died over the past year. it is still very much on life support. I think we're going to see movie theaters going minor league baseball style and bust out all kinds of gimmicks to get people into theaters. The live music experience is a no brainer. Why wouldn't AMC or another theater chain churn out deal after deal with musicians, especially those popular amongst Gen Z, to put on live shows that will be broadcast across theaters simultaneously. Think about it, a huge part of going to a concert is being around other people who also really like the same artist as you. It's about the environment and shared joy.

It will also open up the experience to an entire other economic class of people. There are only so many people that can afford to pay $200 to see Dua Lipa at MSG, but I bet there are a ton of people who could pay $25 to see a live concert from her on a movie theater sized screen surrounded by 150 other people who also love her music. All partying it up together.

Make it interactive, allow people at the show to vote via app on what songs the artist should play next. Sell exclusive snacks. I don't know, do kooky, gimmicky things that make these unique experiences. As I said, channel your inner minor league baseball. Also we’ll probably see a lot of stuff involving esports going down in theaters over the next few years I would guess. Ok I'm rambling. If you wanna hire me to give more thoughts/ideas on this I'm very down. It would be fun. But I also have no professional experience.

A ‘Beautiful’ Female Biker Was Actually A 50-Year-Old Man Using FaceApp. After He Confessed, His Followers Liked Him Even More.

Just Give Me A Synopsis:
The headline is pretty accurate of what the hook of this story is about. But it also goes way more in depth on how the internet is used, not always for bad or malicious things, to skew identity and give people new lives.

And A Quote From The Article Please:

It wasn’t until the rise of giant social networks like Facebook — which used real identities to, among other things, supercharge targeted advertising — that this big game of pretend gained an air of duplicity. Spaces for playful performance shrank, and the biggest Internet watering holes began demanding proof of authenticity as a way to block out malicious intent.

And Tell Me Why I should Care:
We've become so habituated to the internet being such a bad place. Especially when people lie about who they are because generally speaking at best they use the vail of fake identity to be a troll and a dick to other people and at worst they use a hidden identity for very bad things we don’t need to talk about here but there are plenty of Netflix docs about it.

But there is something on the complete other end of the spectrum that people use false internet identities for… and it is to experiment with who they are and who they want to be. The best part of this whole article is reading about how people truly don't care who you are as long as you are being authentic to yourself.

Strange People In A Strange Place

• A Brief History Of People Losing Their Minds In Antarctica
  A book excerpt all about the history of people in a very cold place, Antarctica, losing their cot damn minds. A lot of theories as to why it happens periodically but no clear scientific answer. However it is very murdery when it happens.

• Facing Death On Everest Made Me Ask, ‘What The Hell Am I Doing Here?’
  Another excerpt from a new book about looking for a lost camera carried by one of Everest's first explorers. As you can imagine one of the men searching for this camera, and the one writing the book, realized when he was on the mountain that going to extremely high altitudes in extreme cold and numerous other deadly conditions is an experience that, how do you say, sucks ass.

• The Town That Kanye Built
  A bit about Yeezy's move to Cody, Wyoming and the impact it had on the local community. Fun fact: I went to Cody on a family road trip as a wee lad. Don't remember too much about it but went to some famous steak house I believe. And my parents were very into it. I think they actually told Ye he should move there.

• How The Pentagon Started Taking U.F.O.s Seriously
  This is a crazy long article. But it was going around last week so I finally gave it a read and it is super interesting. Especially if you care about extraterrestrial life, which you should because it is super cool and interesting. We are not alone.

• Paris Teenager’s New Gig: Would-Be Queen Of Italy. A Nation Shrugs.
  In case you are not up on your monastic Italian politics this will get you up to speed. I found this segment from the article particularly hilarious: “And so began the latest chapter in an ongoing dynastic dispute between the pretenders to Italy’s pretend throne. There are bitter feelings, thrown punches, warring noble committees, dukedom politics and as of last month, Vittoria’s ascending social media status. What there is not is an actual crown to fight over.”

Weird Internet Resource Of The Week

I am a sucker for maps and also a certified geography nerd, so this may not resonate with many of you like it has with me but I spent way too much time on this site called MapCrunch. You click a button and the site takes you to a random google street view somewhere in the world. It tells you where you are though, don’t worry. But kind of a cool way to see the world and very addictive.

Other Interesting Things You May Or May Not Care About

• The Great American Chicken Wing Shortage Is Upon Us
  Demand for chicken wings has gone through the roof over the past year because people are thinking something along the lines of "I'm already sitting on my ass at home all day, might as well double down on the high cholesterol and order in some wings tonight!" except for the fact this increase in demand for chicken wings has really only put the squeeze on your favorite local restaurant while the large chains and franchises have the buying power to not worry about such things.

• Homeless Oaklanders Were Tired Of The Housing Crisis. So They Built A ‘Miracle’ Village
  We are so often convinced by what we see in the media that "homeless" means "useless" or "failure" which it in no way does. It is a complex socio-economic issue, and is sometimes a choice, sometimes a run of bad luck, sometimes a result of the current societal structures we have in place, and this article is a nice reminder that homeless does not mean anything other than without a home. And that members of the homeless community can be just as intelligent, inventive and integrated into society as everyone else.

• The Artist Impostors Of Spotify
  In a world with millions of artists and billions (maybe?) of songs it is impossible to police everything as accurately as it should be. This is why you may hear a song from an artist you know and love, but realize immediately "hey this isn't Michael Buble" and that is because there are often countless artists who go by the same names and sometimes they get mixed up.

• How Muslims Are Rethinking The Future Of Ramadan
  I found this to be a very interesting piece as I have not done too much reading with regard to historic Ramadan practices and issues. I have not read much because I am a, what is the muslim equivalent of a goy? Cool to see how much community work is done through iftars and how some old practices, apparently there was a lot of food waste, are being reconsidered for the better. Fascinating to see how religion evolves with modern times and challenges.

• Rob Dyrdek Has Cracked The Code For Human Efficiency
  You think this is going to be a fluffy interview with a dude who skateboards and makes mediocre TV shows laughing at internet videos, but it morphs into something wholly different than that when Dyrdek gets into cataloguing every moment and emotion in his life like some sort of 21st century Borges short story. He's also clearly a brilliant entrepreneur. One of my favorite quotes from any interview ever: "I’m just on the edge of having flawless biomechanics and the pain-free, fluid-flowing body of a 17-year-old boy, and then I will begin to skate again. I think it’ll probably be another year and a half, but then I will get to live the entirety of my existence as just this rubbery, fluid old guy that can fucking get up and go and fucking cut on a dime and not blow a fucking knee or pull a hammy."

Recipes I Want To Try Making (Probably Terribly)

This recipe in Vice from chef Calvin Eng for a Char Siu McRib sandwich has got me drooling more than one of Pavlov’s dogs with a lisp. I mean this thing looks like everything that is right in the world. I’m ready to fail a thousand times just to get this porky goodness right once. The glazed burnt bits sound so good. Also just in case it wasn’t clear this is for like a homemade, elevated version of a McRib sandwich, not like a version that you can just buy from McD’s and doctor at home.

Brands I Quite Like

There are so many brands out there that are not cool or unique that I thought I would highlight new brands that I think are in fact doing dope things and are worth knowing about. This is not sponsored or full of affiliate links.

Chasing Paper - Accessible Wallpaper That Sticks To Anything

Are the walls in your apartment or home super boring? Do you often think – “damn if there was only a cool pattern on my wall I would have way more friends” ? Well you’re in luck because Chasing Paper has patterns galore. They have some very aggressive sh*t and they have some much more muted stuff for those of you that are cowards. A lot of their wallpaper is stick and peel (and easily removable) so ideal if you are renting or just someone who likes to change things up frequently. But they also have regular wallpaper as well if you know it is the real thing. Live it up a little. Check em out.

Let’s Just Looks At Art Because Reading Sucks

• 10 Gravity-Defying Structures By Santiago Calatrava, Legendary Architect and Engineer

• Nature Resurges To Overtake Abandoned Architecture In A New Book Of Photos By Jonk

• Neon-Filled, Blade Runner-Style Photographs Of Dubai At Night By Xavier Portela

Lists Are What The Internet Was Made For!

• 25 Edits That Define The Modern Internet Video

• The 31 Best Documentaries To Binge Watch On Netflix

• The Guide To Films About Music, By Musicians

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“You talking to me? Are you talking to me… about The Breads? Because I absolutely love it and could talk about it for hours.” – Travis Bickle

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