2024-11-23 00:00:00
Do you think of life as a series of contests to be won or opportunities for continuous unfolding? In 1986, James P. Carse presented a new way of looking at human activity through the lens of two types of games: finite and infinite. Finite games are played to win within set boundaries, but infinite games are played to continue playing and invite ongoing participation.
This distinction will make you look differently at politics, culture, work, leisure, and relationships.
Four pieces of advice from the book:
Our identities and actions are inherently relational rather than individual.
“One cannot be human by oneself. There is no selfhood where there is no community. We do not relate to others as the persons we are; we are who we are in relating to others. Simultaneously the others with whom we are in relation are themselves in relation. We cannot relate to anyone who is not also relating to us. Our social existence has, therefore, an inescapably fluid character.”
Infinite players generate their own time rather than being constrained by external measurements of it.
“The infinite player in us does not consume time but generates it. Because infinite play is dramatic and has no scripted conclusion, its time is time lived and not time viewed. As an infinite player one is neither young nor old, for one does not live in the time of another. There is therefore no external measure of an infinite player’s temporality. Time does not pass for an infinite player. Each moment of time is a beginning.”
While machines operate through us, gardens grow with us.
“While machinery is meant to work changes without changing its operators, gardening transforms its workers. One learns how to drive a car, one learns to drive as a car; but one becomes a gardener. Gardening is not outcome-oriented. A successful harvest is not the end of a garden’s existence, but only a phase of it. As any gardener knows, the vitality of a garden does not end with a harvest. It simply takes another form.”
Great stories perpetuate themselves through our desire to share them.
“Great stories have this feature: To listen to them and learn them is to become their narrators. Our first response to hearing a story is the desire to tell it ourselves — the greater the story the greater the desire. We will go to considerable time and inconvenience to arrange a situation for its retelling. It is as though the story is itself seeking the occasion for its recurrence, making use of us as its agents.”
2024-11-22 00:00:00
A weekly newsletter with four quick bites, edited by Tim Leffel, author of A Better Life for Half the Price and The World’s Cheapest Destinations. See past editions here, where your like-minded friends can subscribe and join you.
I joined Jason Moore at the Zero to Travel Podcast recently to run down some of the top travel and living abroad values for next year in destinations around the world. We hit some perennial favorites and some new entries, then also discussed how to travel well for less in Europe, how to avoid getting ripped off by ATMs, and how safe I feel living in Mexico. Get the episode on your favorite podcast player or listen online here.
While you still need some cash every day in some countries, like my adopted one of Mexico, in others you can mostly get by with your phone and a credit/debit card or two. So you can leave the backup banking methods in a safe place in your room and walk around with just a thin wallet. I’ve got a thin leather one I bought in a local market that I use with zippered or buttoned pants, then in pickpocket-filled places I have a money pouch that goes under my pants. See this page of thin wallets on Amazon though for plenty of other options.
Earlier this year I rode the Maya Train between Palenque and Cancun in the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico, stopping off for a while in three places. The line to Playa del Carmen opened up around the same time and recently a further leg to Tulum started carrying passengers. This is not the end of that line or further initiatives: Mexico’s new president announced that construction on a rail line between Mexico City and Queretaro will start next year.
When I used past history to predict a chaotic four years ahead in last week’s edition, making the point that now’s a good time to move abroad, I got a couple dozen unsubscribes and received some nasty e-mails. I expected both, but was surprised by one aspect of misinformation coming up between the personal insults: that the US economy has been “terrible” or even “a disaster” the past four years. So a few catch-up facts from the financial news:
US Inflation is 2.4% (about where it was in 2019). Unemployment is 4.1%. (Last year it hit the lowest point since 1953). The total number of employed Americans set two records in the past year. GDP per capita set a new record last quarter, at $67,357. The S&P 500 is up 58% since January 7, 2021, with 13 record highs in 2024.
2024-11-20 00:00:00
Books That Belong On Paper first appeared on the web as Wink Books and was edited by Carla Sinclair. Sign up here to get the issues a week early in your inbox.
The Bob’s Burgers Burger Book: Real Recipes for Joke Burgers
by Loren Bouchard and the Writers of Bob’s Burgers
Universe
2016, 128 pages, 6.6 x 0.6 x 9.1 inches, Hardcover
I can’t cook.
A few years ago though, I had the semi-crushing revelation that it’s not that I don’t know much about cooking, it’s that I legitimately can’t cook. I’m terrible at it. No piece of chicken would go uncooked to a leathery dryness that couldn’t even be passed as “jerk.” No meat sauce could be made properly spiced, just prepared with the desperate hope that crushed red pepper and more tomato paste could cure anything. It was my wife that graciously brought me the knowledge that I wasn’t just not-so-great at cooking, but I legitimately cannot cook to save my life or the lives of whatever poor group I was cooking for. I thank her for coaxing out this revelation of myself (and for being an amazing cook).
I do, however, like cartoons. And the good news is that Bob’s Burgers isn’t a show about cooking, it’s a show about family and it’s quickly grown into one of the best shows on TV. Bob’s Burgers treads an amazing line between strange and sweet, highlighting the ridiculous exploits of the Belcher clan, a family of oddballs who love each other and are continually misunderstood by the rest of the world while running a small, boardwalk burger shop. Over the past few seasons each character has been fleshed out into people more real than anything you’ll find on your average lawyer or cop show. And it’s a lot funnier than most episodes of NCIS.
The show’s success has prompted a good sized following, and when one member of fandom created a Tumblr dedicated to creating or recreating the fanciful burgers listed in each episode as The Burger of the Day fans were naturally interested. The creators of the show were just as tickled and soon partnered with its creator to create this lovely book that’s perfect for any fans of the show or adventurous burgers in general. You only need to bring an appetite, some buns, and a very healthy love of puns.
The book contains Cole Bowden’s recipes for dozens of burgers, lovingly written up by creator Loren Bouchard and the writers of the show and featuring side dishes of show art and jokey asides that any fan can enjoy. The recipes run the gamut from the more ordinary (like the “Is This Your Chard? Burger” with Swish chard, caramelized onions, and creamy cheese), to the fanciful (such as the “Beets of Burden Burger” which features a dill-seasoned burger topped with a sautéed carrot and beet mix with smooth sour cream).
The recipes are fun to read and fun to make, even if my attempt to recreate the “Baby You Can Chive My Car Burger” looked more like a three car pileup than something anyone would like to eat. But that’s not the book’s fault; like Bob one must be willing to try and try again, no matter how much humiliation the Louises, Genes, Lindas, and Tinas in your life may pile upon you, like so much Sriracha mayonnaise. So next spring I’m prepared to break out the grill and spatula again and give it another go with this delightful cookbook, which I think would make a great addition to any cook’s library. The book is fun enough to read on its own, but it also may help some of us even attain the skills that only the Bob’s in each of our lives have (both on the grill and in the ability to put up with a pretty crazy family and town).
So in conclusion, I’ll leave you with a bit of wisdom from the book itself that may help you along your culinary path: “Don’t have a fishmonger? Get one. Who are you going to trust to mong your fish if not a fishmonger.” Truly words that I and anyone who’s ever dressed up like a burger or written a song about zombie butts can live by.
– Rob Trevino
100 Views of Tokyo
by Shinji Tsuchimochi
Shikaku Publishing Companya
2016, 132 pages, 6.0 x 8.0 inches, Paperback
Tokyo. Just saying the word conjures up images of neon lights, rumbling trains, salarymen in dark uniforms, and young people in garish colors. And even though Tokyo is a modern metropolis it abounds with small, quiet, old and out-of-the-way spaces. This is the Tokyo that artist Shinji Tsuchimochi set out to capture in a series of illustrations called 100 Views of Tokyo.
Taking inspiration from famed Japanese ukiyo-e (woodblock print) artist Hiroshige’s 100 Famous Views of Edo, Tsuchimochi sought a “kind of foundation to stand in my mind.” In other words, he found himself searching for solidity and certainty, in an increasingly chaotic world. Over the course of three years, Tsuchimochi took photos and made drawings of Tokyo’s shitamachi, Tokyo’s downtown.
These photos and drawings formed the foundation for Tsuchimochi to create scenes of life in the in-between spaces of Tokyo. Here is an illustration of Manseibashi Bridge in Kanda. Here is another of Ichimura Store in Setagaya. But, unlike Hiroshige, Tsuchimochi is not content to capture only what can be seen, but what might lurk in the imaginations of those who inhabit these spaces. Thus, a giant, toy robot lurks behind the buildings fronting the bridge and baby chickens cluster around a young woman shopping at the store.
Tsuchimochi uses a light touch in creating these blends of real spaces and fantastic inhabitants. He composes in clean lines and bold hues, making each illustration pop with vibrant life. Indeed, the artist has already moved on to composing 100 Views of Osaka in the same clean, bright style.
If there is one criticism it lies in with the publisher rather than the artist — the book itself is far too small. At a mere A5 (6 inches by 8 inches) the quality and detail of the illustrations can be very hard to see. But that is a minor quibble. This book is perfect as a gift for the Japanophile in your life or as inspiration for your own trip to Tokyo.
– Joel Neff
2024-11-19 05:25:00
Gar’s Tips, Tools, and Shop Tales is published by Cool Tools Lab. To receive the newsletter a week early, sign up here.
This 22-minute video is not only an excellent and thoughtful inventory of go-to hobby modeling tools, it is also chock-full of great tips, things I’ve never thought of, like picking up tiny parts with a moistened toothpick, using an old CD as a superior cutting surface for photo-etched parts, and using thin masking tape to create an edge for marking straight lines on uneven surfaces. Some of the tools he mentions that I want to eventually acquire: A pick and place tool, the RP Toolz mitre cutter, a foam-pad hobby glue bottle holder (which you can easily make yourself), and metal scribing templates for creating panel lines in styrene. He also recommends cushioned sanding sticks, which I’m already a huge fan of. He provides a handy list of all the tools mentioned in the video, organized by Holding, Cutting, Drilling, etc.
After watching a few of these other 1940 industrial-training films, I’m kind of obsessed. This one looks at the humble steel rule and its importance in machining. The video (sporting some really innovative animations for the time) covers how to use various scales on the rule for different levels of precision, from 8ths to 64ths of an inch, and highlights specialized versions, like flexible and hook rules, for more complex measurements. It also discusses the use complementary measuring tools, such as micrometers and calipers, when higher precision is required. Proper technique tip: holding the rule parallel and checking graduation scales—along with regular maintenance, like oiling and cleaning, is important for reliable, accurate measurements.
Way back in Tips & Tools issue #15, I talked about the ability to print onto heat-shrink tubing using a Brother P-Touch H110 label printer. Apparently, the heat shrink label cassettes are now hard to come by for the H110. But Canadian maker, James Liang, was able to get cassettes not identified as compatible with the H110 to print labels, after a few tweaks and changed settings.
Last issue, I covered Geoff Meston’s shop revamp. He just sent me the link to this little shop hack for creating a simple mount to stow his air hose.
Seventeen years ago(!), a video showed up on a then two-year-old YouTube that blew my mind. I see it as the first, or at least among the first, of the countless maker YT channels that proliferate today. It was this video by French radio amateur, Claude Paillard. With Claude’s virtuosic electronics and fabrication skills, the near magician-like sleight-of-hand flourishes with which he advances each stage of the build (making triode vacuum tubes), the charming music — it was all so inspirational at the time. It’s amazing to think how many maker channels there are now and how huge this space on YouTube has become. Here is a moment of its origins.
In the last newsletter, I showed a workshop notebook I created years ago. Here’s the indexing I created in the back. This is an easy way to navigate to different sections of the book. You devote the back page to an index, making marks along the edge for each category, and corresponding marks along the notebook’s lead edge to identify those sections at a glance.
While I don’t do a lot of posting about kitchen and food hacks, sometimes they are just too good not to share (hence this new periodic section).
My first entry is a recipe from Milk Street magazine. It’s a “fake” ragù that’s easy to make and uses celery, carrots, and mushrooms (instead of meat) that are on their last leg. Dicing these ingredients up small creates a texture that’s similar to a meat sauce. The taste is amazing. Perfect comfort food. The recipe also calls for a drizzling of extra virgin olive oil over the top. Something I’ve never thought of. This integrates beautifully with the grated paramesan.
There’s also a Facebook video showing the recipe being put together.
Readers offer their feedback, tips, tales, and tool recommendations.
Cool Tools reader yrtagentman shared this insightful thought about the otherwise impressive and admirable Project Farm tool reviews.
Todd is great and Project Farm does great testing, but one thing that doesn’t show up in the tests is durability and reliability. Often the biggest difference between an expensive tool and a cheap one is not performance on basic functions, but on the materials/design that make a tool that will last for many years and still have top performance.
In this case, if all you need is a tool set for in the house that you will never use most of the tools in, then by all means the $60 disposable set is probably the way to go.
Thanks to my paid subscribers! Your support means the world to me. Not only does it help keep me in CA glue accelerator, but it also fuels my motivation to create even better content. It feels like a true vote of confidence in this project.
If you find value in this newsletter and are able to contribute with a paid subscription, I’d greatly appreciate it. Every bit helps!
Congrats to paid subscriber, James Huckenpahler. You won the drawing for the Workpro 18-in-1 multitool! I will reach out via email.
Special thanks to Hero of the Realm Jim Coraci for your generous support.
2024-11-18 00:00:00
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Our son recently convinced us to upgrade from a Roku streaming device to an AppleTV 4K device ($130), particularly since we are an Apple systems family. This small box is a huge and surprising improvement. It was insanely easy to transfer all streaming accounts using my iPhone, which I can also use as a remote. It easily pairs with Airpods for private sound, instead of the old wired earphones we had. But the best thing is how Siri is incorporated. You can ask, “what did they say” while watching a video and it will back up and repeat the last bit of dialog. Or I can audibly ask it to run “For All Mankind” and it will search and find it among all the streams we subscribe to. No typing to find out where a particular show can be watched. That alone is worth the price of admission, but there are a lot of other cool smart features as well, like displaying photos from my phone. — KK
SaveWisdom.org is a project dedicated to preserving individual wisdom. On the website, there are 1000 questions designed to interview someone about their early life, formative experiences, values, perspectives, and challenges. These questions are intended to invite deep reflections and greater self-understanding. They are open-sourced and can be used freely for personal use. Because of this website, I feel empowered to interview my grandmother, who is flying in from Morelia, Michoacán at the end of this month to celebrate her 80th birthday. Inspired by this list, I have been creating my own list of curious questions I would like to ask her. I plan to record her answers to gift to my extended family. — CD
This retro-style Amazon Basics suitcase turntable is an inexpensive way to rediscover your vinyl collection. Audiophiles with precious LPs should steer clear, but this lets you play your dusty collection without committing to a complex setup. It has built-in stereo speakers and it plays all three speeds (33/45/78). Bonus: it doubles as a Bluetooth speaker for your phone. — MF
I am really enjoying the book The Mythmakers, which is mostly a graphic novel about the productive friendship between JR Tolkien and CS Lewis, who basically invented the fantasy literature genre for adults. This book slips in and out of text and comic drawings in an easy way, and it makes it fun to see the two friends inspire each other to invent. The pair, and the graphic novel, explore the meaning and power of myths, versus mere stories, as a transcendent medium. It’s the best thing on myth making since Joseph Campbell’s Power of Myth, which is free on YouTube. — KK
I appreciated this Instagram post as a reminder that happiness or a happy ending does not necessarily mean getting what you wanted. When faced with challenges, I experience the most growth not by everything working out as I had hoped, but often by accepting situations and people just as they are. Acceptance also helps me discover a better, more resilient version of myself, one with a greater capacity to face obstacles. Some of the other possible happy endings listed are: finding yourself again, making new connections, and trusting yourself to take the next steps. — CD
Tom Rosenthal wanders London’s parks with a simple mission: find someone sitting alone on a bench and ask if they’ll chat for his podcast, his podcast “Strangers on a Bench.” He keeps his guests anonymous – no names, no workplaces. Listening to a few episodes hammered home the realization that there’s no such thing as an ordinary life. — MF
