The Secret of Kells is a wonderful film. Try to find The Secret of Roan Inish...not animated, but a fabulous Irish movie. Thanks for the books recommendations. You always send me down the best rabbit holes!
2) In the "too cute cool dad" department, check out this clip from a Dave Gahan (Depeche Mode) interview where he fanboys about freeform radio station WFMU and his family's Sunday tradition (think you have something similar Austin?)
Right? If WFMU doesn’t have tees with “IT’S REGGAE SUNDAY!!!” for their next fundraiser, they’re missing the boat. Plus, it’s always cool to hear established musicians express how they’re still fans in one way or another.
Thanks for sharing that clip with Dave Gahan. WFMU is the best! My favorite show is Dance with Me Stanley, the Friday afternoon (for me) polka show with DJ Stashu. She's wild and fun. We've also developed a late night routine where my husband turns on WFMU for the dog to listen to for a bit, and we've created an entire persona for the dog based on the different shows at that time. It keeps us amused...
Mar 17, 2023·edited Mar 17, 2023Liked by Austin Kleon
lol, I bet the dog is confused too :) I’ve tried to get into Stashu’s show but it’s never really stuck for me, I do solidly get the appeal though. My faves are the Sat. morning/afternoon lineup, EFD, Pseu, Dave the Spazz, and I check in with Trouble, Downtown Soulville, Paul Bruno, Terese, and Irwin on occasion. I miss Gaylord and Sheila B.! Started listening in the late ‘80s when I lived in Jersey City and after my move to the Midwest, caught back up with them in the Internet streaming and app age.
It doesn't help that one of the evening shows is called Canine Secret Agents, and another is called Inflatable Squirrel Carcus (we call it Exploding Squirrel Carcus). They play right into our frivolity with the dog. Stashu's show has the chaotic energy I need to get through the last bit of work on a Friday afternoon, and I may have donated my dead car to her show last year. My husband lived in NYC for a while and introduced me to WFMU when we got together years ago. I'm so glad it's streaming so we can enjoy it anytime.
The idea that the writer and the reader both have a part to play in a book is so juicy to me. I play dnd, and there’s a phrase I learned from that world - ‘collaborative storytelling’ - that really rings true for me, in all kinds of creator/audience relationships- even as something seemingly one-sided as reading a book.
Ides of March: a favorite of mine because it is my birthday, and the day after Pi Day, but this year it is poignant because it is the third anniversary of the announcement of quarantine for Covid. Right--that's 156 weeks ago. So do we celebrate it is over as so many are doing-- or acknowledge--hey, it ain't really over . . . and ask how has it changed me, you, the world?
In re conversational shortcuts: I always fantasized about numbering the standard arguments I had with my kids because we all said the same things every time. So why go through all the trouble and emotional distress of actually having the argument? instead say something like “I’m invoking #4!” which is obviously patently ridiculous and I never did it, but also, do we need to have the same argument over and over? (I’m sure there’s a world where I would have had better communication/parenting skills and so we could have actually stopped having the same argument, but it’s all in the past now)
+1! That album is such a favourite of mine, looking forward to the movie
Love the To do list 😆😆
This is one of my favourite winding down rituals of the week. It’s Friday evening when this newsletter lands up and a good reason to stop working for the week and curl up with a glass of wine and this newsletter. Today I have ginger tea & a bad cold though 😆
Despite having read Steal a couple times, and Keep Going at least four, I first thought re: the audio trilogy, “Nah, I’ve read these a lot…how could this help?” Reality: hearing lands so much differently than reading. After listening to the sample, that mental “light bulb” suddenly came on and realized how perfect these are to listen while walking, to let the words plus Austin’s comforting, reassuring voice - no bro crush intended - soak into one’s subconscious. That’s gotta be a good thing. At $5, ‘tis a no-brainer, as they say.
Would like to have been a fly on the wall listening to you and Kevin Kelly. Any chance you could interview him--maybe when his Wisdom book comes out in May?
Thank you--an enjoyable hour with you and KK. I worked on the direct mail for Whole Earth Catalog with Stewart Brand, so excellent to see what Kevin has done since then with tools (and everything else.) So your turn to interview him in May for the Wisdom book??
I read this John Cooper Clarke quote and thought of you:
“Inspiration is for amateurs – I’ve got a living to make! It’s an actual nine-to-five job, though obviously it spills over into the evening if you’re on one. You’ve got to put the hours in.”
The Secret of Kells is a wonderful film. Try to find The Secret of Roan Inish...not animated, but a fabulous Irish movie. Thanks for the books recommendations. You always send me down the best rabbit holes!
Big +1 to The Secret of Roan Inish. I watched this a couple of months ago on the Criterion Channel and was transported.
Thanks for adding so much more to my to-read list!!! 🤣 and I love the alternatives to ‘how are you’? My favourite is ‘what’s the vibe today’.
I just popped your letter in the mail, btw! ❤️
Ooh! Will look forward to it! ❤️x
Secret of the Kells and Song of the Sea are two of my favorite movies! Enjoy!
1) Really hoping that STOP MAKING SENSE makes a return to our Milwaukee Film Festival where it's been a yearly dance party
https://www.jsonline.com/story/entertainment/movies/2018/10/26/milwaukee-films-talking-heads-screening-turns-into-big-dance-party/1763261002/
2) In the "too cute cool dad" department, check out this clip from a Dave Gahan (Depeche Mode) interview where he fanboys about freeform radio station WFMU and his family's Sunday tradition (think you have something similar Austin?)
https://www.instagram.com/p/CpWFrfajwl1/
https://www.wfmu.org/playlists/shows/125232 (full show, interview about an hour in)
Omg this is so good
Right? If WFMU doesn’t have tees with “IT’S REGGAE SUNDAY!!!” for their next fundraiser, they’re missing the boat. Plus, it’s always cool to hear established musicians express how they’re still fans in one way or another.
Thanks for sharing that clip with Dave Gahan. WFMU is the best! My favorite show is Dance with Me Stanley, the Friday afternoon (for me) polka show with DJ Stashu. She's wild and fun. We've also developed a late night routine where my husband turns on WFMU for the dog to listen to for a bit, and we've created an entire persona for the dog based on the different shows at that time. It keeps us amused...
lol, I bet the dog is confused too :) I’ve tried to get into Stashu’s show but it’s never really stuck for me, I do solidly get the appeal though. My faves are the Sat. morning/afternoon lineup, EFD, Pseu, Dave the Spazz, and I check in with Trouble, Downtown Soulville, Paul Bruno, Terese, and Irwin on occasion. I miss Gaylord and Sheila B.! Started listening in the late ‘80s when I lived in Jersey City and after my move to the Midwest, caught back up with them in the Internet streaming and app age.
It doesn't help that one of the evening shows is called Canine Secret Agents, and another is called Inflatable Squirrel Carcus (we call it Exploding Squirrel Carcus). They play right into our frivolity with the dog. Stashu's show has the chaotic energy I need to get through the last bit of work on a Friday afternoon, and I may have donated my dead car to her show last year. My husband lived in NYC for a while and introduced me to WFMU when we got together years ago. I'm so glad it's streaming so we can enjoy it anytime.
I’m not familiar with the Canine show but it looks interesting. I’ll have to check it out!
The idea that the writer and the reader both have a part to play in a book is so juicy to me. I play dnd, and there’s a phrase I learned from that world - ‘collaborative storytelling’ - that really rings true for me, in all kinds of creator/audience relationships- even as something seemingly one-sided as reading a book.
Thanks for the Talking Heads movie alert!
Ides of March: a favorite of mine because it is my birthday, and the day after Pi Day, but this year it is poignant because it is the third anniversary of the announcement of quarantine for Covid. Right--that's 156 weeks ago. So do we celebrate it is over as so many are doing-- or acknowledge--hey, it ain't really over . . . and ask how has it changed me, you, the world?
In re conversational shortcuts: I always fantasized about numbering the standard arguments I had with my kids because we all said the same things every time. So why go through all the trouble and emotional distress of actually having the argument? instead say something like “I’m invoking #4!” which is obviously patently ridiculous and I never did it, but also, do we need to have the same argument over and over? (I’m sure there’s a world where I would have had better communication/parenting skills and so we could have actually stopped having the same argument, but it’s all in the past now)
For your amusement, if you ever watched NCIS, Gibs has a list of numbered rules. His team knows them by heart and so only has to invoke a number.
Ha! I love it!
+1! That album is such a favourite of mine, looking forward to the movie
Love the To do list 😆😆
This is one of my favourite winding down rituals of the week. It’s Friday evening when this newsletter lands up and a good reason to stop working for the week and curl up with a glass of wine and this newsletter. Today I have ginger tea & a bad cold though 😆
Reading the newsletter is also my end to the working week! Get well soon, by the way.
Thank you for sharing your amazing mind with the world.
Despite having read Steal a couple times, and Keep Going at least four, I first thought re: the audio trilogy, “Nah, I’ve read these a lot…how could this help?” Reality: hearing lands so much differently than reading. After listening to the sample, that mental “light bulb” suddenly came on and realized how perfect these are to listen while walking, to let the words plus Austin’s comforting, reassuring voice - no bro crush intended - soak into one’s subconscious. That’s gotta be a good thing. At $5, ‘tis a no-brainer, as they say.
I appreciate this! It was recorded during the pandemic, too: https://austinkleon.com/2020/09/03/recording-an-audiobook-during-a-pandemic/
Would like to have been a fly on the wall listening to you and Kevin Kelly. Any chance you could interview him--maybe when his Wisdom book comes out in May?
If you’d like to hear us together, I’ve done his COOL TOOLS podcast twice now: https://austinkleon.com/tag/cool-tools/
Thank you--an enjoyable hour with you and KK. I worked on the direct mail for Whole Earth Catalog with Stewart Brand, so excellent to see what Kevin has done since then with tools (and everything else.) So your turn to interview him in May for the Wisdom book??
I read this John Cooper Clarke quote and thought of you:
“Inspiration is for amateurs – I’ve got a living to make! It’s an actual nine-to-five job, though obviously it spills over into the evening if you’re on one. You’ve got to put the hours in.”
It's from a Guardian interview this week: https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/mar/20/john-cooper-clarke-arctic-monkeys-worlds-favourite-poem-i-wanna-be-yours-ford-cortina
Rad, thanks!