• I had a perfect Friday afternoon last week catching a matinee showing at the Vista Theater of Anatomy of a Murder (<3 Jimmie Shtewaaaht and George C Scott as an absolute queen). Originally built in 1923, the Vista is newly reopened thanks to the generous financial support of Quentin Tarantino, and probably a bunch of other people who aren’t QT. I’m a sucker for 1920s Egyptian Revival and this place makes me feel very we come to this place for magic. If I was an oligarch I would bring back beautiful fancy cinemas all throughout the land.

  

  

• A while back I picked up a few vintage copies of Readers Digest at an estate sale. What even is was Readers Digest, I wondered? I vaguely remember pondering RD covers in line at the grocery checkout when I was a tween, and I was not surprised to discover via Google that the once mighty publication shipped its final print edition in 2022 (RIP to print media). Anyway, upon perusal of my 1940 and 1954 copies I discovered that it was basically a collection of important and interesting articles (or so deemed by the editors) from all newsworthy topics in a given month. A sort of digest for readers, you might say. I thought it was fascinating to track the explosion of advertising as an industry by comparing the ‘40 and ‘54 copies, in 1940 there were almost no graphics; the ‘54 copy was fully of bright shiny drawings and photographs (and a lot more product pushing). It was also a fun historical exercise to read this wild piece on Joseph Stalin the ‘40 edition, and to see how public perception of the Soviet Union was being shaped for the American public a year before our entry into WW2. Also this graphic design bangs. Obsessed with how they stylized his name.

  

• Princess Diana in this Atelier Versace dress. Wow.

• One of my favorite places in LA is the Los Angeles Central Library, a gorgeous early Art Deco masterpiece featuring one of my favorite rotunda murals in America. I also love that they have a huge section of screenplays-as-books, often featuring fun interviews with writers, producers or cast members, giving readers a great behind the scenes understanding of the magic that brought the script to life on screen. I recently picked up the screenplay for Almost Famous, and was excited to dig into this beloved classic, having just rewatched Cameron Crowe’s other triumph Jerry Maguire for the first time since high school. I knew nothing of the backstory going in, and was astonished and delighted to discover that it’s based on the true story of Crowe’s astounding adventure as a 15 year old journalist on the road, reporting for Rolling Stone on the Allman Brothers Band (and others) in 1973. The script is flawless; visceral, hilarious, heartbreaking, rollicking; the movie is even better. Perfectly cast (minus Jimmy Fallon, booo), shot, and paced, it’s a perfect example of why I think an appreciation of cinema is such a vital (and fun!) way to study history and culture. What an extraordinary slice-of-life in what a time to be alive, wrapped in a pure bliss coming of age story with an impossibly note-perfect ending. Not sure I’ll be listening to anything other than the soundtrack (plus the roughly 500 other songs Crowe mentions in the interview intro to the script) for the next month. Love to be able to study the craft of music via studying the craft of cinema, art is life, etc etc etc.

  

• My old boss Bernie Sanders has been all over the country this month rallying tens of thousands of people on his “Fighting Oligarchy” tour, and recently added his would-be successor AOC to the lineup. “Where do we go from here” is advertised as one of the tour’s key talking points, and I haven’t really been able to find any sort of specific answers to that question from the all the speechifying, but still. It’s nice to see them out there and to see the raucous enthusiasm from the crowds, particularly in vulnerable Republican districts, where I presume the sitting GOP congresspeople are sleeping a little less easy now. It’s also fun that it’s clearly getting under Elon’s skin.

• Relatedly, Veep-attempter Tim Walz has been hosting bigass rallies of his own, and I appreciate that he’s been out there taking accountability for his ticket’s loss, something I’m not sure I’ve seen a single other mainstream Dem do. Tim/Bernie/AOC…leave the party. Start something new. I dare you.

• This Beach Boys song.

• Amusing hijinks at the end of the world: drunk (allegedly, by me) SecDef Pete Hegseth (probably) adding Atlantic EIC Jeffrey Goldberg to a group chat w/ JD Vance, Tulsi Gabbard and other Trump luminaries discussing their planned attack on the Houthis. How’s that transition from beer to liquor going, Petey?

Things I didn’t love

Resurrecting the section I said I killed last week to say: the Lakers need to stop losing!!!!! It’s stressing me out :(

Little Wisdoms

In the rotunda of the Central Library is a beautiful plaque/ode to the everlasting gift and power of books. Reprinting here so you don’t have to squint:

Here in these halls the petty distractions of the earthly pilgrimage may be laid aside and their place taken by the inspiration and serenity that come from communion with the poet, the prophet, the philosopher, the artist, the scientist, indeed with all those who themselves have caught a glimpse of things that are not transitory in their natures but have eternal values.

Read a book it’s good for you :)

PS - Soda Pop says hang in there <3