Jacob All Trades #319
Spreadsheets, Shrek 5, OnlyFans, Low-Income Housing, Pension Funds, Birthday Twins, Lumber Railways, and, of course, Frasier
A few nights ago, my wife and I compared spreadsheets. We are both “go-getters” (which I prefer over “type A”) and with parenting, full-time work, and our own creative ambitions, sometimes there are things in our brains that need to be organized in a colorful grid.
She’s editing a manuscript. I’m wrangling more than a hundred artists to remake an episode of Frasier. Guess which one of us is getting paid.
Heather was so proud of her spreadsheet and wanted to show it to me. She developed the template herself for when she edits manuscripts. It was a real “I’ll show you mine if you show me yours” moment. We geeked out for a while about the different equations we had used, struggled to figure out why her dropdowns were styled differently than mine, and mused about the benefits of Miro vs Google Sheets.
I’m glad we found each other.
Anywho – here’s a newsletter for your ears, eyes, and mind. Enjoy!
Jacob
HERE’S AN IDEA: FOSSIL FUELS, YOU’RE WRAPPED.
The DGA, SAG, WGA, and IATSE have about 350,000 members between them, and their pension funds total more than $10,000,000,000… as far as I can tell, all of it is in funds that support fossil fuels.
I’ve been studying how groups, like Make My Money Matter in the UK, are organizing workers to divest their pensions from fossil fuels. We get really focused on who is or isn’t using tote bags, reusable straws, recycling, etc. — but the truth is, none of our personal behavior will make a tent in the oncoming shitstorm that is climate change when compared with collective action.
I’ve been thinking about it for a few years, but am starting to realize that I can’t wait for the DGA to divest itself and am probably going to have to do some organizing. My pension is the only investment I have that is tied up in fossil fuels.
If you’ve got money in a pension, ask them if any of it is invested in fossil fuels (or other industries that don’t align with your values). And, if you’re a member of an entertainment union or guild and want to help me push for this… reach out.
CONSUMPTION JUNCTION
Three things I’ve seen, heard, or otherwise experienced recently that have been on my mind.
Rebecca Goodwin is a 28-year-old OnlyFans content creator with two kids who has experienced living in poverty and is buying homes to rent at a loss to low-income families.
My friend Jessie Rosen is doing a project that is so squarely up my alley I’m amazed I didn’t think of it. Jessie — who is a world class storyteller and writer — is seeking out her ‘birthday twins’ for a project. She first told me about this nearly a year ago when we were comparing notes for a similar project (about other Jacob Reeds) I’ve been working on. I’ve been thinking about it ever since and am extremely invested in helping find bday twins. If you know anyone, reach out!
One of the gretest traps of modern capitalism is, IMHO, pitting any non-billionaires against each other. The reality, is that the struggle of a working class trucker who voted for Trump is nearly identicle to a working class actor who still proudly wears an “I’m with HER” t-shirt eight years later. (Spoiler alert: it’s all dark money, deregulation, and corporate profits). The more we all understand each other, the easier we can combine forces to dissemble billionaire crony capitalism.
I WANT TO GO TO THERE
I’ve been wanting to go back to the Olympia National Forest for a long time, but learning about the Vance Creek Railriders boosted it a couple of spots up on my list:
They’ve retrofitted an old lumber railway with pedal-powered carts so you can ‘bike’ a two-hour excursion through the forest. Yes, thanks. I’d love to.
WORK I AM JEALOUS OF
This is a piece by a Glaswegian artist/comedian who is working on my Fraiser project (more on that below) and it makes me laugh so damn hard. It might be the lofi production value, or that he seems like he’s in his 20s, or that it’s about Shrek, but it really reminds me of how much fun it was to make videos for the Internet in 2005.
To be clear: this video was made six months ago. It’s the fucking best. I love it. I wish I made it. I watched it three times with my wife last night, cackling on the couch.
Oh, and two months after this video was made… Shrek 5 was announced.
THINGS MY KID SAID
Me: “And on Thursday, it’s Thanksgiving.”
Him: “Are there any other options?”
Me: [quietly scrolling through emails]
Him: [yelling from the other room'] “It’s working! The chocolate milk I drank is turning into poop!”
Me: “Hey buddy, I won’t be here for bedtime tonight because I have a screening to go to for work.”
Him: “Actually, that’s really convenient because I like when mommy does bedtime better.”
Me: [minding my own business]
Him: “I wish I could jump high enough to touch the moon because then I could paint the moon. And, I could paint the moon like a rainbow and then everyone would say [adopts falsetto] ‘Wow, that’s so cool. Thanks for making the moon rainbow colors!’”
I MADE THIS FOR YOU
For the past few months, I’ve been leading a group of artists, animators, illustrators, and filmmakers in a bizarre effort to remake an entire episode of Frasier, frame by frame. I’ve posted about it here before… but today I cut a trailer with a few of the sections. I think it successfully communicates how fun this is going to be.
Alrighty, that’s it for this issue. Feel free to leave a comment or share the newsletter using the links below.
Party on,
Jacob