Friends of Dave #197: death by twizzler
Celebrating the everlasting wonder of decorative gourd season...
Hard to believe this is the last weekend in September. While some people refer to this time as Pre-Holiday season or Pumpkin Spice Season, I prefer to think about it as we are charging into Decorative Gourd Season, Friends.
In our house, we are trying our best to keep things "normal" in this Year of COVID (and taking advantage of some unseasonably warm weather) by making the annual family apple picking trip this weekend.
The big difference: our usual local spot has significant restrictions on how many apple pickers can be assigned "per bag" at any given time....
So earlier this week we were able to secure a 45-60 min weekend "Group Harvesting" slot online at a bigger orchard a little over an hour away -- I guess where the apples are plentiful and pickers are more free to roam....as long as they have masks and wrist bands.
This quest for fun will be a pilgrimage to make my wife and our 10 year old happy, allow the teenagers to post their "artsy" selfies amongst the fruited trees to their various socials, and leave us with at least 5 lbs of apples, most of which will probably sit in the fridge until Thanksgiving.....
Clark Griswold ain't got nothing on me.
A few other random thoughts on this last weekend of September:
-- Caught "The Social Dilemma" on Netflix last week. It's a docudrama (yes, another) about the perils of social media and how platforms measure and use every click, touch, interaction and the data you create to more accurately influence you with messages and ads. None of it is surprising -- perhaps other than how willingly we all allow it to happen. Biggest lesson: if you don't delete these apps/platforms after watching this, at least turn off all notifications you get from them on your phone ASAP.
-- Just after this, our Gen Z son told us about this popular personalized astrology app called "Co-Star" that uses AI to push users notifications suggesting actions that they should take in order to stay aligned with the universe......while I am sure it may be fun and harmless right now, when I thought about it and put it in context of what was discussed in The Social Dilemma, I found it (to borrow a term) SCARY AF...time stamp this one...
-- Hybrid elementary and high school classes in full effect here (for now). First take: biggest losers in all of this are the teachers. They get paid half as much to deal with twice the BS and might get sick doing it. Imagine someone coming to you and telling you that today the preferred method of communication at your job is now using sign language...but it may change to braille at any time....that is essentially what is happening in public education. So, try to cut public educators slack as this is bananas what we are trying to safely pull off, and with little guidance. No question it sucks for the kids too, but they are able (and willing) to adapt to this -- and it beats what they had in the Spring.
-- FoD PODCAST ALERT: After some delays on my end, I posted two new editions this week: awesome conversations with Jean Donnelly and Monica Wright. Worth checking them both out -- if nothing else, do Jean, Monica and your brother Dave a solid and listen to the previews....did I mention I do this for free, Friends?
-- After my italicized mini rant here last week, also I realized how little my generation, Generation X, as a whole is collectively doing to bring some sanity back to the world. We have these batshit crazy older and younger people with their own agendas pulling us in all directions. And what do we do? What we ALWAYS do... just keep our head down and plug away.
I've been thinking about the need for a platform that unifies the thoughts, ideas, perspectives, concerns and humor of this demographic in some way -- almost like a Huffington Post or Player's Tribune for the "slacker generation." I don't know, maybe I'm crazy....let me know what you think.
Picked some great selections for you below this week -- seriously no rotten apples in the bunch. Don't let them sit in the fridge until Thanksgiving...
XOXO
Dave
Think on This...
The eight secrets to a (fairly) fulfilled life
After more than a decade of writing life-changing advice, the author decides to hang it up and pass along a few secrets he picked up along the way. Quick read and insightful.
For Your Day Job...
Ideas Don’t Matter. What I Understand After 20 Years Of Innovation Ideas are only as good as the path they set you on, and the distance you will travel on this path is only as long as your ability to define problems, understand technology and execute.
How to Build, Maintain and Scale a Strong Culture Culture isn't inspirational posters of kittens hanging onto tree branches, mouse pads with the company logo, or the copy an agency wrote for your company’s About page.
Fake Data Could Help Solve Machine Learning’s Bias Problem—if We Let It
Algorithms are lazy—they always try to find the easiest way to make a prediction.
Without human intervention, data sets generated by A.I. for A.I. to learn from only amplify bias. With artificial intelligence and machine learning becoming a bigger factor in our lives and businesses, this is an important read for EVERYONE, not just the data and tech Friends.
Your Weekly Dose of Randomness...
The strange case of the man who died after eating too much licorice
People 40 or older should be especially vigilant about their black licorice consumption: even 2 ounces per day, over a two-week period, could cause irregular heart rhythm and may require hospitalization, the FDA cautions.
If COVID-19 wasn't enough, are you telling me we now have to worry about death by Twizzler?
Pumpkin spice mac and cheese is coming but there’s a wait list
Canadians: they get universal healthcare and 1000 of them will also get this.
Qantas is selling fully-stocked bar carts from its retired 747 fleet. Here’s what's inside.
To save you time, I checked, the Koala bears are not included....
Vietnam police bust ring selling 'recycled condoms'
Brings an entirely new meaning to the name "Jimmy Two Times".....which is a perfect segue to......
And The Last Word....
How ‘Goodfellas’ Serves As the Bridge Between ‘The Godfather’ and ‘The Sopranos’ — www.theringer.com
If it’s true that every great work of art ends one genre and founds another, then Goodfellas could be seen as the culmination of the tradition represented by The Godfather and as the vital link between the New Hollywood cinema of the ’70s and what we now think of as the golden age of TV.
Hey! Did you learn something this week? If you are enjoying this newsletter, help me spread the word!
Please forward it, share bits on social media, and encourage others to join the growing community of Friends of Dave!