PicoBlog

Several of you have asked for my summer reading recommendations. I know this is a bit late, (whatever happened to June and July?), but all of these are worth the wait (and the weight — these aren’t exactly light books). Dirt Road Revival, by Chloe Maxmin and Canyon Woodward. This is the most thoughtful and uplifting book I’ve read in a long time. It’s written by two young political organizers in Maine (one of whom is now a major force in the state legislature) about how grassroots progressives can regain the trust of America’s Trumpers.

As you probably know, I love reading books. If you listen to my podcast, Conversations with Coleman, then you will already know many of the books that I’m reading at any given time. But I also read books that never appear on my podcast, or at least haven’t yet. So I’m beginning this series to let you know what books I’ve been reading, and what I think of those books. I may post one book at a time, or I may post several.

Hal Smith batted with two outs and two on and his team trailing by one run in the eighth inning of the seventh game of the 1960 World Series. On a 1-2 count, he started to swing but was ruled to have held up in time: Haha, that is an enormous swing. The bat not only crossed home plate but very nearly crossed the third-base foul line. But, on the broadcast of that game, the crowd issues only a slight murmur of concern that Smith might be called out.

You know, one of the beautiful parts of the early web was openness of it all. When you’d browse the internet you could find corporate websites for some of the big companies out there; but most of what you’d find were informative sites from colleges and universities, or personal web pages set up buy regular people. They weren’t usually trying to market their brand. They weren’t pushing their social media presence (lol, social media was still half-a-decade or more away).

The UK government has just introduced a ban on advertising. While the public are enjoying less cluttered streets and greater mental clarity, the ad executives are protesting by blockading Soho Square with their Porsche’s. Nobody seems particularly bothered. Of course I’m joking. This has not happened, but it’s interesting to wonder what the world would be like if advertising was banned. This idea was suggested in workshop that I attended at GoodFest recently and I was intrigued to see that the response was overwhelmingly positive.

Hello, Commish here again. This idea popped into my head many times before and recently, and I couldn’t get it out of my head this time, so I just wrote it out. Recently, I saw Ipswich Town jubilantly celebrating their promotion to the Premier League for the first time in 22 Years. Yeah go Tractor Boys! An amazing promotion from League One then through the Championship in one year to the Premier League!

A private detective in Los Angeles is asked to find a girl who’s gone missing. At the same time, he discovers his wife is cheating on him. He confronts his wife, but nothing is resolved. He follows the girl's trail to the Florida Keys. He finds her staying with her step-father and his on-again off-again girlfriend. On a day trip out in a boat, this odd group comes across the underwater wreckage of a small airplane.

I’ve been playing computer and video games of various kinds since 1993, when my parents bought me Myst for Christmas. Even with the copious aid of a strategy guide, it was a bit much for an eight-year-old, and I’d be lying if I said I made it very far before the lack of action eventually drove me out. A few years later, though, I got Civilization II. It was completely captivating.

​​​​Welcome back to Culture Club, a feature where David and I write about what we’ve been reading, watching, playing, and listening to, for paid subscribers. Please enjoy this free preview, and consider upgrading to support two struggling journalists at once! — Talia Inspired by last Sunday’s newsletter on Herman Melville’s time on Maui, I’ve spent this week dipping in and out of Moby Dick; one of the book’s best qualities is that, once you’ve read it through, it rewards return.