ENJOYABLE + SURPRISING + RANDOMNESS
EQUALS SERENDIPITY
COLLAGE CLUB. ALGORITHMS. SERENDIPITY. RABBIT HOLES. NEW MAGAZINES. READER’S PICKS. BYE PAM. MYSTERIOUS LAND GRABS. EVENTS. ON TYRANNY.
While reading & researching for today’s newsletter I came across an interesting story in Digital Frontier magazine, “Stumbling Blocks” by Antonella Gina, where she investigates the land of the algorithm in today’s online experience. Algorithms like to keep the internet tidy and dictate how we connect with content. If you yearn to find randomness online and explore outside of your content bubble, you will have to work at it. The Internet can only be the rabbit hole, if you become Alice.
I enjoy creating serendipitous experiences at HDT with the printed matter we sell and the events we host. Last week we hosted our first Collage Club and we didn’t know what to expect. It turned out to be a packed house! Collage art has endless possibilites and part of the fun is creating something out of the randomness of the materials. More importantly it felt like a much needed pause from today’s frenzied world and a place for self-reflection down a rabbit hole of wonder.
TL;DR
New magazines on the shelves. List below.
Our reader’s picks in print: Digital Frontier & Maggot Brain
As Seen Online: Good-bye to Pamela Paul & Mysterious land grab in the JTNP
Events! 2/22 - Hannah Eko; 2/23 Desert Rat Pop-Up; 3/1 Velvet Vortex Launch
On Tyranny - a guide to resist fascism and restore democracy.
On the shelves
Here’s what hit the shelves this week:
Black & White, Bon Appetit, Cook’s Illustrated, Digital Frontier, London Review of Books, Maggot Brain, New Yorker, Tribune, W, Wonderland, Wrap.
Reader’s Picks In Print
Digital Frontier Issue 03 Curiosity: This week we launched a in-store promotion with Digital Frontier magazine. You may have read our Q&A with Sophia Epstein, the magazine editor, in our special edition newsletter. With its mix of tech and current events, Digital Frontier brings a more in-depth and optimistic perspective into the reporting of technology. I mentioned the story by Antonella Gina in the intro, but another piece in this issue that intrigued me was about Kate Yup’s Mukbang videos and her mysterious persona reported by Rebecca Leib. And given the latest push back and controversy surrounding Christie’s AI Art Sale, the report by Tasmin Lockwood, “Our Complex Savior”, is another look at handing over control to AI.
Maggot Brain: founded and created by Jack White and his Third Man brand, this quarterly magazine is named after the classic 1971 Funkadelic album and covers the independent music scene that developed the White Stripes. At times irreverent in style, the writing is always honest and in-depth. For anyone that loves indie music, this is a great magazine for you. In this issue you will read about the Velvet Underground lost and found tapes, punk diary by Angel Jaeger and a look at the modern bassoonist Joy Guidry.
As Seen Online…
Additional long reads (some behind paywall) for your reading pleasure:
New York Magazine - Intelligencer: Politics - “Good-bye, Pamela Paul The contrarian columnist showed us the intolerable side of liberalism.” by Andrea Long Chu, Pulitzer-winning critic for New York and Vulture. (Paywall) This take down by Chu is worse than any bad PR Pamela Paul pretended to be the victim of or any of the cringe-worthy takes that Paul has written. Make sure to hit every link Chu places in her article for full context. This one is quiet delicious. No crumbs left.
Pamela Paul at The New York Times in 2019. Photo: Krista Schlueter/The New York Times/Redux L.A. Times: Climate & Environment - “Mysterious land purchases within Joshua Tree National Park worry locals, environmentalists.” by Alex Wigglesworth and Lila Seidman. Graphics by Sean Greene. (For Subscribers) This is giving villain in a Captain Planet animated series episode vibes(see Looten Plunder). All kidding aside, as I always say, FOLLOW THE MONEY.
A prefabricated home recently went up on a private inholding in the Whispering Pines subdivision in Joshua Tree National Park — an ecologically sensitive area flanked by rocky hills where bighorn sheep and desert tortoises roam. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
Events.
Reminder of up-coming events at the 29Palms, CA location. See more details for these events on our website.
Saturday, 2/22 from 3pm - 5pm: Author Reading + Discussion - Hannah Eko
Sunday, 2/23 from 11am - 3pm: Desert Rat Coffee Pop-Up
Saturday, 3/1 from 3pm - 7pm: Velvet Vortex Beeswax Candle Launch + Fellini Films
On Tyranny
If like me you have been feeling a bit crazy, anxious and on the verge of a “breaking news” meltdown, may I suggest you read On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons From The Twentieth Century by Timothy Snyder. It’s currently sold out at the shop, but I put in a restock order. This book is the perfect guide for surviving and resisting America’s current political turn towards Fascism.
It organizes the connections between past and present, and gives you a list of reasonable action items to help you resist the fascist regime and regain your bearings. FYI - start by supporting the institutions you care about - like journalism - with monetary assistance and/or paying for the story behind the paywall.
Thanks for reading the newsletter to the end. And as always… Long Live Print!
