Just A Peck 0032 // Surprise Party, Sickness, Soiree

2/15/26

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Journal
What I Watched This Week
What I Read This Week
Memories
Quick Links
What I'm Excited About
My Favorite Quote of the Week

JOURNAL

Last Sunday, Jody and her siblings threw a surprise 50th birthday party for their little brother. He was completely surprised and very moved to be surrounded by friends on family. Corey and Kaylee were able to join too.

I got back to Duluth in time to grab some Gumbo Boi jambalaya! I’ve missed it so much!

And then I got sick. (Not from the jambalaya.) I was really knocked out for two days, and an unfortunate collision of serious crises on multiple fronts required long hours of work and sleepness nights which didn’t help with the recovery. My Oura Ring readouts helpfully pointed out the troubling biometrics of which I was already aware.

On Saturday, we attended the LOON Opera Soiree (which was Disco themed this year). We joined our amazing friend Kate’s table along with our friends Jeff and Lindsay who always have the most incredible costumes. A great night of music in support of a wonderful local arts organization.

Today is gorgeous in Duluth. A “Perfect Duluth Day” as we say. Jody was out with a friend, and snapped this photo of people skating along the shoreline while others walk the lake walk and ice fish in the distance. I know I keep saying this, but this place is magical.

WHAT I WATCHED THIS WEEK

Obex (2025). An impressive entry into what this group of filmmakers is calling "Broke Wave" filmmaking. A low-fi 8-bit Eraserhead-meets-Zelda indie with a near-zero budget and a killer chiptunes-adjacent soundtrack comprised of electric guitar, synth textures, and analog electronics. I've been looking forward to this, and I wasn't disappointed. I need to figure out how to reach these guys so I can help fund future projects.

High Pressure (1932). Part of the Criterion Channel's collection of Mervyn Leroy's pre-code films. William Powell plays a charismatic "promoter" manifesting a company from thin air on the dubious promise of being able to manufacture artificial rubber from sewage.

The Cranes Are Flying (1957). Holy shit. What a dazzling piece of filmmaking this is. It has long been one of my embarassing blindspots, and it was worth the wait. Gorgeous cinematography and compositions so insanely good, they are breathtaking. There are shots in here so technically dazzling that I'm not sure how they were possible. Think of a brilliant shot from Citizen Kane and then imagine a movie where every shot was that good.

WHAT I READ THIS WEEK

FINISHED: There Is No Antimemetics Division, by qntm. A fun sci-fi/horror read about a secret agency dealing with entities ("antimemes") that consume information and can completely erase themselves and other ideas and concepts from the memories of anyone who know about them. Conceptually (and typographically) bonkers. Is this your first day at the Division or have you worked here for decades? Is there an Antimemetics Division at all?

In Progress:

Playground, Powers
Middlemarch, Eliot
Hollywood: The Oral History, Bassinger, Wasson

MEMORIES

Five Years Ago:

We have fun watching traffic on the road side of our house–marathon runners, car shows, inline skaters, bikers, etc., but the only traffic we can usually see on the lake side (other than wildlife) is from boats. Five years ago, for the first time, someone biked by on the lake side.

QUICK LINKS

WHAT I'M EXCITED ABOUT

This week, we're headed to NYC to visit Spencer. Next week's newsletter might be a little late, but it'll still be out on Sunday and I'll let you know all about our Big Apple Adventures.

I pre-ordered the new Library of America collection of five of Jim Thompson's novels from the 50s and 60s as soon as they announced it. It finally arrived this week, and I can't wait to dig in!

I was seriously tempted by the new Commodore 64, but I resisted. That is, I resisted until I watched Scott Hanselman's adorably excited unboxing video. Now I've got mine on pre-order. Every aspect about how they've put this together feels like a very personal gift to me.

White Rabbit Red Rabbit opens this week in The Lab! One performer per show who will have never read the script before it begins. Get your tickets here!

MY FAVORITE QUOTE OF THE WEEK

"That element of tragedy which lies in the very fact of frequency, has not yet wrought itself into the coarse emotion of mankind; and perhaps our frames could hardly bear much of it. If we had a keen vision and feeling of all ordinary human life, it would be like hearing the grass grow and the squirrel's heart beat, and we should die of that roar which lies on the other side of silence. As it is, the quickest of us walk about well wadded with stupidity."

-- George Eliot

That’s it for this week. Stay safe, friends. Thanks for reading!

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