Nostalgia Draft

Hi y'all,

• Thank you all for participating in the reader survey! I'm going to dive into the fun answers I got in next week's newsletter - but for those of you who were blocked by Typeform (turns out my free plan ran out), it's been fixed and you've got another week to answer. If you want one of those super sweet "My Parents are Stouped" stickers go ahead and fill it out here —>https://form.typeform.com/to/QfwiUoMt
• I'm back in NYC this week for reader Ashton's wedding (Congrats to Ashton and Lisa!). Missed the city. Here's some photos.
• I think I'll likely turn this into a larger blog post at some point, but I wanted to share now. For a friend's bachelor party a few years back I created a game called the Nostalgia Draft. The game was a group game that aimed to mine millennial nostalgia for things that we grew up with and combine that with the joy of gamified subjective group judgement and the fun of drafts. I built 12 categories like Sitcoms (1990-2010), Clothing Brands from Our Youth, Video Games (1995-2009), and because it was a bachelor party, Sports Illustrated Models (1990-2012). Each person playing gets one turn each round to select any option available on the board and the only rule was you couldn't select more than one from a category. At the end you presented your scorecard and held a blind vote where you could pick two boards but not your own. If there's a tie I encourage a speech for why your board is the best one. Anyways it was a big hit and figured I'd give y'all the resources to make your own. Here's the spreadsheet and the files for the score cards (view and download).
• This week's track rec comes out of a text chain with good buddy and reader Dave from this past week. He recommended the great Someone Great (Spotify, Apple) which I hadn't listened to for a while. I shot back how much I've been enjoying I Can Change (Spotify, Apple), which is the rare contemporary song (I know it came out 20 years ago, you know what I mean - insert shakes-cane-at-clouds Simpsons meme) that I've worked my way to the original through first really having relationships with wonderful covers. I'd particularly recommend Ezra Furman's (Spotify, Apple) and Mindchatter's (Spotify, Apple) here. Also I'd be remiss if I didn't recommend LCD's Madison Square Garden show.
• Went and saw Backrooms this weekend and had an absolute blast. In terms of unique movie going experiences I've recently had it's at the very top. Just really well done for a movie based on a meme directed by Kane Parsons - who started out as a YouTube creator going by Kane Pixels - a literally 20 years old. I want more movie experiences like this one. While watching the movie I thought a lot about the way I felt reading Susanna Clarke's Piranesi - that's not a horror novel but they explore slipping out of time and place and tug at that curiosity and fear we have of infinity and the possibility that there are worlds out there just out of our grasp which we might trip and fall into.
• My favorite type of YouTube video is a long-form one where someone is doing something big, grand, adventurous, and maybe just a bit daft. They're an amazing form of escapism - they stoke the fires of adventure without requiring you to leave your robe or put down your coffee. A few months back I was watching one where a couple was purposefully getting iced in on their sailboat in Greenland for the winter and Macy walked in and - apropos of nothing - turned to me and said "we're not doing that." The thing I'm currently really enjoying is this Canadian carpenter salvaging and refurbishing an old wooden Japanese boat in the woods of New Brunswick. Shot with a cinematic eye fit for an early Bon Iver music video, the project's great, he's a talented storyteller and carpenter. It's amazing - give it a look. https://www.youtube.com/@aboatinthewoods

Til next week,

Joey