Andy's Newsletter ✌️ Searchin' for my lost shaker of salt
And other things that recently made me cry.
Hi y’all,
Having only spent a short amount of time in Casablanca and Marrakesh, I can say that the Morrocan people are compassionate and resilient. And this earthquake breaks my heart. It was catastrophic. Thousands lost their lives and many more lost their livelihoods. If you are in a position to help, check out GoFundMe’s list of verified fundraisers or Doctors Without Borders, among others.
I don’t think I ever did a proper share of photos or insights from my trip to Morocco, so stay tuned for that. Meanwhile, keep scrolling for the obligatory (albeit touristy) pic from Jemaa el-Fnaa. 🐍
Andy
LinkedIn / Website / Bookstore
🤑 At long last, financial horoscopes
Let’s be honest, this is great. Financial horoscopes! It feels like a natural pairing, like peanut butter and jelly or vodka and spicy tomato juice — my man Michal Janicki created Budget Pigeon, which, by its own account, deciphers the mystery of finance through the stars and simple truth with help from AI and star monitoring systems.
My budget pigeon horoscope reads, in part: “The universe acknowledges your need for revitalization, encouraging you to assess your budget, make necessary adjustments, and prioritize your own financial well-being.”
Touche, my dirty little AI astrologist.
🖍️ L’arte.
My buddy Bezer and I hit The Armory Show every year. It’s always great, just an onslaught of contemporary art, and the people-watching is pretty sweet too. A few things about this year’s showing:
Thick, sweeping globs of paint are in. Also chunky splatter paint.
Bright colors still lose out to drab earth tones but the bright colors are rising!
My man Vuk Ćuk from Belgrade was maybe the best I saw.
That mossy rock piece (by Roxy Paine) is made of wood, epoxy, stainless steel, and vinyl paint and, actually, that may have been the best I saw.
🐐 EDGLRD’s blinx and “Aggro Dr1ft”
Harmony Korine peacocked his latest film “Aggro Dr1ft” at the Venice Film Festival a couple of weeks ago along with visual effects artist Joao Rosa and Eric Kohn, the newly announced head of film strategy and development at Korine’s new company, EDGLRD (pronounced “edge lord”).
At EDGLRD, Korine and his team are leveraging any and all creative tools to make “blinx,” which he explains: “Instead of films or games, a lot of these things—we’re just calling them blinx.”
The movie blinx “Aggro Dr1ft”, filmed entirely through a thermal lens, seems nearly unwatchable to me. And from what I’ve heard it sounds like the experience of watching someone else play a violent video game. But I am excited to see it! Korine has always been on the forefront, cutting edge, the lord of edges lolz.
Korine: “There’s no rules to anything. Nothing is defined anymore, nothing is linear.”
Hell yeah, LFG!
👄 Say She She
This Brooklyn-based trio of sirens will hypnotize you with their sultry space disco harmonies. I can’t get enough of Say She She. My wife can probably confirm that I’ve had their album Prism on repeat since its October 2022 release, for better or worse.
Check out their live performance on KEXP, my favorite radio station in the world. Their sophomore album Silver drops on September 29. And they’re hitting the road to support — tour kicked off last weekend — playing NYC on October 17.
💣 Oppenheimer, though
I know I’m late to the game here but I only recently saw Oppenheimer and I’ve been thinking about it for days. It’s haunting. The world hits a little different now, colors are brighter, sounds are sharper. I guess that’s just a byproduct of going down the rabbit hole that is the advent of such immense, destructive power. What a mad world it is, huh?
Also, I saw Barbie! High-brow and super polished, the movie left me wanting more. God bless, Greta Gerwig!
🍦 Climate Tech
This looks cool, ya know, if you’re into that sort of thing. Personally, I’m over it. My newsletter used to be all about the climate crisis, but what a buzzkill, am I right?
Jk, jk, I think the climate crisis is the most important issue on the planet right now. I just have a tough time being optimistic or proactive sometimes, I’m sure you do too. However, the smart folks at SOSV are good at that, and good at financing other optimistic, proactive folks, which is why they host this conference: to bring together top investors, founders, and scientists to discuss climate tech as an emerging category for startups and venture investing.
🐍 When in Rome
Jemaa el-Fnaa square in the medina (old city) of Marrakesh is one of the coolest places I’ve ever seen. It’s like that old Bill Hayder “Stefon” SNL skit of the newest NYC nightclub but in Jemaa el-Fnaa shit is real: snake charmers, hash peddlers, baboons on chains, all manner of wares and accessories, and juice, lots and lots of juice bars. At night the whole thing flips over to a food market. It’s friggin awesome. We had a blast, and I loved every second of our time in the medina. God bless Marrakesh.
🍹 I'm just a cheeseburger in paradise
The news of Jimmy Buffet’s passing hit me surprisingly hard. I’m by no means a Parrothead, but yeah I’m a fan. I saw him perform back in 2009 at a surprise noon-time show at the Bonnaroo festival in Tennessee and wow — for an unannounced, unplanned performance, his fans came correct! If you haven’t been to a Buffet show, it’s kinda like seeing a midnight showing of “The Rocky Horror Picture Show”. People bring “lost” shakers of salt and blown-out flip flops and “swim to the left, swim to the right” with hands pressed together like dorsal fins, but also in prayer. A congregation of Buffet fans, they are. Maybe that’s what hit me so hard about his passing: the thousands and thousands of people whose lives he’s touched. Everyone I’ve spoken to about Buffet these last weeks has a story to share.
Yes, he made a billion dollars selling his brand and licensing his lifestyle. But it never felt trite or onerous. In so many ways, it seemed like things just came naturally to Buffet, like he cracked the code. He figured out how to best live this life. And I think that’s why so many people of all walks of life gravitated toward him. He was like the Buddha of the beach, a tropical troubadour, at peace with himself and the world and enjoying what he could as best he could. May he be an inspiration to all of us.
Buffet’s forthcoming album, “Equal Strain on All Parts”, will have a posthumous release this November. But you can stream three of the songs now, dropped about a week after his death, including “My Gummie Just Kicked In” and “Bubbles Up,” the latter of which references a core piece of SCUBA advice: If you are ever confused underwater about which way is up, just follow the bubbles.
Bubbles up they will point you towards home
No matter how deep or how far you roam
They will show you the surface
The plot and the purpose
So when the journey gets long
Just know that you are loved
There is light above and the joy is always enough
Bubbles up
🍕 Thank you for reading
I really appreciate you. And I’m always open to feedback.
I’d love to hear from you.
Andy
Always enjoy reading your newsletter. Smart, timely and filtered through your compassion and intellect. Thanks! Pam