Jacob All Trades #326
Parking, Air Traffic Loss of Control, Retrofuturism, Overgrown Golf Courses, Unraveling Beads, Puzzles, Lasers, Parachute Jackets, Wes Anderson Porn Parodies, Wolves For Democracy, and More!
Gosh no matter how often I think about these, it always feels like exactly a month since the last one. I was talking with a friend recently about how so many of the projects I’ve been working on over the last couple of years are in their ‘second act’ meaning that the excitement of discovering them (ACT I) is past, and the hope of releasing them (ACT III) is around the corner. That’s a hard place for me to be! Hope I can tell you about some cool stuff soon. Meanwhile, I am deeply appreciative of the creative partners who are trusting me with their ideas and would like to remind you all that I am available for work if you’d like to hire me :)
Enjoy the newsletter, and talk soon!
Jacob
HERE’S AN IDEA
A Little Free Parking Library. Last weekend we went to Sesame Place in Chula Vista where the cheapest (of several) parking options was $32/car. Parking is $35/car at Disneyland and (no offense to Jim Henson, who would probably roll in his grave at most of Sesame Place (brought to you by SeaWorld)) but the place ain’t no Disneyland. Charging for parking is a feckless cash grab… charging $32 is insulting.
But, parking allows for in and out priveleges… so, when we left I tried to stop cars that were coming into the theme park to give them our parking slip. It didn’t have our payment or license plate info on it, so I figured as long as it had the date it would work. Nobody would listen to me long enough to even understand what I was trying to tell them.
I do this whenever I pay for parking. If there’s a lot that doesn’t record your license plate, I take my parking slip when I’m done and put it on top of the kiosk where people pay for parking. If someone else is walking up, I give them mine. I know this isn’t raging against the machine as much as I think it might be… but I feel like it’s us against the corporations.
Okay, so bear with me here. You know those “Little Free Libraries” for books? I think someone should start putting little cork boards outside of expensive parking areas so that people can pin their paid parking for the next person. Wouldn’t that be cool? Or would it realistically just lead to some kind of Orwellian license plate readers in every single parking lot because — as a society — we’d rather invest billions of dollars in parking lots than just build transportation infrastructure. What do you think?
CONSUMPTION JUNCTION
For decades, I’ve had an irrational fear of flying. In the mid 2010s I forced myself to fly as much as possible, and do so without medication or alcohol. It got better. Then, the pandemic happened, and now I’ve only flown a couple times in the last four years. I say all this because watching my irrational fear slowly become rational as airlines and jet manufacturers prioritize corporate stock-buy backs over basic safety precautions… flying is getting pretty scary. This report from Perfect Union definitely did not help.
I can’t get over these photos of overgrown golf courses by Jim Wilson and Ariana Drehsler for The New York Times. Did you know that the United States has more golf courses than McDonald’s?!
Y’all know I love The Public Domain Review. Well, they just reposted upscaled versions of some wonderfully prescient futurist illustrations by Jean-Marc Côté. Armand Gervais, a French toy manufacturer, commissioned seventy-eight cards for the 1900 World exhibition to show what Paris would be like in the (then) distant year of 2000. In the image above, we see airmail… or perhaps drone delivery. Other cards show camera phones, dictation machines, and more. Many of these cards have been lost to time – others sat in his toy plant until they eventually (through a VERY roundabout story) ended up in the hands of science-fiction author Isaac Asimov, who republished them in 1986, with accompanying commentary.
WORK I AM JEALOUS OF
Below is a piece of kinetic artwork by Finnish artist Antti Kytömäki that I really love. It captures a lot of feelings – Zeno’s dichotomy paradox, trying to get work done when you have two kids, helping codify reproductive rights while state governments are simultaneously unraveling them… or maybe I’m just bringing all my own shit into it, which is how I know it’s good art.
TAKE MY MONEY
My birthday is this weekend and here are a few things I’m thinking of getting myself that you might like too.
“TV Dinner” or anything else by Le Puzz. I’ve been really getting into puzzles lately (or, perhaps, embracing how much I’ve always been into puzzles) and Le Puzz is like the cool brand on the market.
The Hoto Smart Laser Measurer Pro. You stick it on parts of your walls, it uses a laser to take measurements and then constructs a to-scale- schematic. I know I would use this (at most!) once a year, but I’m swooning over all this gadgetry.
I love the way these upcycled parachute windbreakers look and I double-love the way they reuse materials.
RIDDLE ME THIS
Here is an immature and filthy NSFW crossword puzzle that I couldn’t help make. If you’re in the middle section of the Venn diagram between “Thinks Porn Parodies Are Funny” and “Likes A Sunday Crossword Puzzle” this is for you.
Play it online here, where you can also print a PDF to do it the old-fashioned way.
THE ARGUMENT DEMS SHOULD BE MAKING
I believe that — while the Democratic party isn’t a monolith and progressives don’t have enough control over a largely corporate party — Democrats are doing more for our country than Republicans. Democratic politicians are (mostly) trying to enact legislation that reflects what the vast majority of Americans want — but… they’re mostly shitty mesengers.
I once joked to my brother that Democrats will spend hours debating the minutia with each other — like looking at a color and arguing whether it’s olive green, sage green, kelly green, or chartreuse, while Republicans will just scream “That’s red you f*****!”
Anyway, I think about this a lot, and given the gnarly election year we’re already beginning to suffer through, I think I’m going to start highlighting good arguments that Democrats should be making. Here’s one from U.S. Senate candidate Katrina Christiansen. (thanks to friend of the blog Matt M. for the tip)
THINGS MY KID SAID
After we spent the entire day together.
Me: I really like spending time with you.
Him: And I really like spending time with… [throws hands in the air] EVERYBODY
Alrighty, that’s it for this issue. Feel free to leave a comment or share the newsletter using the links below.
Party on,
Jacob
“EVERYBODY!!!!” 😂