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🤏🏽 We have had it up to here...
...WITH 2024'S BULLSHIRT
Here's hoping you have a bullshirt-free weekend! I myself have been dealing with entirely too much bullshirt since the start of this cursed year, so hopefully a respite is nearly at hand for me, too.
In case you were not aware, there are some random holidays being observed today!
First up is National Cut The Cord Day, which seemed more worthy of celebration in the previous decade before every major Hollywood studio decided to slap a "+" after their name and charge $10/mo to watch things we've already seen dozens, if not hundreds, of times.
Remember when the streaming space was basically just Netflix, Hulu, and something-something Prime? Virtually everything ever filmed was available between those three platforms for like $20/mo.
Now we're back to paying cable prices to access the same amount of content, with the added inconvenience of having to login to each service with a strong password comprised of a billion weird characters using a single-button remote. By the time you're logged in, you've forgotten what you wanted to watch in the first place! Isn't modern living fun?!
Massage all you want, Charlie, it only gets worse from here!
GIF courtesy It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia / FX / Hulu
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Don't worry, though — today is also National Pizza Day! Callooh, callay!
It's also National Toothache Day, which honestly is very much a bummer, so if one arises I plan to just rub some pizza on it and see if that helps.
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While you're waiting for your new Boredwalk gear to arrive you can also treat your earholes to the latest episode of the Boredwalk Podcast!
This week Meredith & Tess pay tribute to the insect mass grave that keeps appearing in the same spot in our recording studio each week. This sparks debate on whether the cause is scientific or supernatural in origin. Opinions are split!
Tess then shares a review of Boredwalk's Good Company guest book, which sparks a discussion about marketing fails. This leads into a fun dissection of recent troll comments — delightful!
They then react to fan response to the recent Question of the Day "what is your favorite emotion?" before sharing their own answers.
The episode wraps up with a rant from Tess about commercial audition requirements before she and Meredith trade answers to questions from the Delve Deck Venting and Joy Editions: "What ruined an enjoyable hobby for you?" and "what is your favorite memory?"
Meredith talks about the conundrum of being a feminist horror fan, and Tess reveals her best concert-going experience ever — and it shockingly was NOT opening night of Taylor Swift's Eras tour! Tap here to listen to all of the things!
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Alright! Let's send you off into the weekend with some notable events and famous birthdays from February 9ths of yore! If that includes yours, happy birthday to you!
• In 1942 year-round Daylight saving time (i.e., the summer one) was reinstated in the U.S. as a wartime measure to help conserve energy resources.
Reinstated?! You mean this was just the normal, sane way we lived, we got rid of it, brought it back, and then got rid of it again?
Look, I get that there are some people that enjoy living like Morlocks in the dank, depressing clutches of standard time so they can get their precious "extra" hour of sleep, but they're like the folks who love Hawaiian pizza: I acknowledge that they exist and are entitled to their terrible opinions, but I prefer that they just keep it to themselves so the rest of us can continue moving society forward. Down with standard time! Do it for the environment! #DST4life
• In 1961 The Beatles — performing as "Lunchtime" — gave their first performance at Liverpool's Cavern Club following their return from Hamburg.
• In 1964 The Beatles — them again! — made their first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show, performing to a then-record setting audience of 73 million viewers across the U.S.
• In 1971 Satchel Paige became the first Negro league player to be voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame
• Birthday pizza all around — even Hawaiian, if they insist — for: English-American philosopher, author, and activist Thomas Paine of Common Sense fame (1737), Peruvian-American artist Alberto Vargas of pin-up painting fame (1896), Portuguese-Brazilian entertainer and large hat enthusiast Carmen Miranda (1909), renowned sci-fi & fantasy artist Frank Frazetta of Fire & Ice fame (1928), singer-songwriter Carole King of Tapestry fame (1942), actor Joe Pesci of Raging Bull, Goodfellas, and Home Alone fame (1943), novelist Alice Walker of The Color Purple fame (1944), actress Mia Farrow of Rosemary's Baby fame (1945), actress Judith Light of Who's The Boss? and Transparent fame (1949), English singer-songwriter & bassist Holly Johnson of Frankie Goes to Hollywood fame (1960), journalist, screenwriter, and TV producer David Simon of The Wire fame (1960), actor, producer, and screenwriter Charlie Day of It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia fame (1976), English actor Tom Hiddleston (1981), and actor Michael B. Jordan of Creed, The Wire, and Black Panther fame (1987)
• Pour one out for: Singer-songwriter & guitarist Bill Haley of "Rock Around The Clock", "See You Later, Alligator", and "Shake, Rattle, and Roll" fame (d. 1981), Frisbee inventor Walter Frederick Morrison (d. 2010), and jazz composer Chick Corea (d. 2021)
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OK, that's it for this week! Meredith and I are extremely eager to get back to working on new art and other products for you, but other more tedious and less fun aspects of running Boredwalk are preventing us from doing so. Soon! (We hope.)
We'll be back here in your inbox on Monday with another email and maybe a fresh customer Q&A! If you'd like to be featured in an upcoming email reply to this and let us know!
Peace, love, and less bullshirt,
The key to mental health? Find out inside! 🧠
SETTING HEALTHY BOUNDARIES...
AND THEN IGNORING THEM
Happy National Girls and Women in Sports Day! Fitting that this is mere days away from Caitlin Clark breaking the all-time women's college basketball scoring record! Something else sportsball related is happening this weekend, but it escapes me...
Before we get to today's sweet link roundup, let's acknowledge some notable events and birthdays from February 7ths of yore! If today happens to be YOUR birthday, I hope it's a happy one full of celebratory delights!
• In 1497 Florentine supporters of ascetic Dominican friar and noted buzzkill Girolamo Savonarola burned cosmetics, art, and books in a "bonfire of the vanities." This is why we can't have nice things: religious weirdos are always setting fire to our coolest stuff — books, art, music, witches, etc.!
• In 1992 the Maastricht Treaty was signed, leading to the creation of the European Union. Only took a few thousand years for them to learn the lesson "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em!"
• In 2013 Mississippi officially certified the 13th Amendment, becoming the last U.S. state to approve the abolition of slavery. Yikes. Better late than never, I guess? But also: woof. Do better, Mississippi.
• Birthday cake all around for: English lawyer & philosopher Sir Thomas More of Utopia fame (1478), blacksmith, businessman, and plowing enthusiast John Deere of riding lawn mower fame (1804), English novelist & critic Charles Dickens of "look, you know the books, I'm not listing them all here" fame (1812), author and prairie enthusiast Laura Ingalls Wilder of "look, you know the books, I'm not listing them all here" fame (1867), Irish shipbuilder Thomas Andrews of RMS Titanic fame/infamy (1873), actor/80s teen movie villain James Spader (1960), singer-songwriter, guitarist, and friend of people in low places Garth Brooks (1962), English comedian, actress, and producer Suzy Izzard (1962), actor, comedian, and filmmaker Chris Rock (1965), rapper & producer J Dilla (1974), actress Tina Majorino of Napoleon Dynamite and Veronica Mars fame (1985), and actress Deborah Ann Woll of True Blood and Daredevil fame (1985)
• Pour one out for: Jazz singer & pianist Blossom Dearie (d. 2009), and Major League Baseball Hall of Fame outfielder, manager, and 2-time World Series champion Frank Robinson (d. 2019)
The way Boredwalk's year is going, you'd think Thomas Andrews built our company, too.
GIF courtesy of Titanic / Paramount Pictures
Now on to the amusing links!
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1. 🛋️ Boundaries? Those are the things made to be broken, right?
The doctor is in... and he has had about enough of our bull****!
We were VERY pleased to have our friend Ky stop by Boredwalk HQ last week to shoot some content! Be sure to give him a like, a follow, and watch ALL of the things wherever you consume content. Links to all of @TheVibeWithKy's social accounts can be found here.
For more LOLs from our team be sure to follow us on our OG social accounts such as Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and/or Facebook.
2. 🏰 Disney never seemed so sinister!
Voice actor & content creator Lucas pulls back the curtain to show us what REALLY happens during pitch meetings at Disney.
3. 😹 When positive feelings are too intense...
... you may be suffering from cute aggression! YouTuber Anthony Vincent will explain.
4. 😟 Self-checkout stressing you out?
Voice actor Tawny Platis has just what you need to get through this harrowing ordeal.
5. 🥣 Trader Joe's is the best!
Sketch comic and content creator Davie Bailsig breaks it all down for us! (Just don't mention the cereal. Or the parking.)
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Winter weather headed your way? 🥶
WE HAVE JUST THE SOLUTION FOR YOU
Happy Rain-ageddon from soggy Los Angeles! I have to imagine that after getting pummeled by "atmospheric rivers" for two consecutive winters, any southern Californian who interacts with singer-songwriter Albert Hammond, Sr. would accuse him of selling us all a false bill of goods. It most certainly DOES rain in southern California.
Thankfully our office is slightly elevated, so we should be dry enough to continue printing shirts and packing up orders without issue, but as the shirt up top says, maybe worrying about it will help? Seems like sound advice, so I'll be fretting my way slowly down the 605 this morning in case anyone needs to get ahold of me.
No, this is not Albert Hammond, Sr. of "It Never Rains In Southern California" fame. It is his son Albert Hammond, Jr. of Strokes and solo career fame, which is the closest Albert Hammond in GIF form I could get. They look pretty similar, though, so this'll do in a pinch.
GIF via Red Bull Records (because apparently Red Bull also gives you record contracts in addition to wings)
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We have quite a smorgasbord of random occasions to observe today, so let's get celebrating! It is:
• International Clash Day (the English punk band, not a celebration of geo-political conflict)
• Disaster Day (if this rain keeps up that's exactly what we'll have here in SoCal!)
• National Chocolate Fondue Day
• National Fart Day
• National Shower With A Friend Day
I imagine eating too much chocolate fondue could lead to farts, which could lead to a disastrous clash with your bestie if you let one rip while showering together, so, uh, eat wisely I guess?
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Alright! Let's kick off the week with a few famous February 5th historical events and notable birthdays:
• In 1907 Belgian chemist Leo Baekeland announced the creation of Bakelite, the world's first synthetic plastic. Vintage household items made of Bakelite have since become popular collectibles.
• In 1919 actors & filmmakers Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, and D.W. Griffith launched the production and distribution company United Artists
• In 1971 NASA's Apollo 14 mission completed a landing of a crew of astronauts in the lunar highlands
• Birthday chocolate all around for: Beat Generation novelist & essayist William S. Burroughs (1914), famed session drummer Hal Blaine, who played on 150 U.S. Top 10 hits and 40 #1 hits (1929), baseball Hall of Famer Henry "Hammerin' Hank" Aaron (1934), Swiss artist H.R. Giger of Alien film franchise and Danzig and Emerson, Lake, and Palmer album cover fame (1940), singer-songwriter & pianist Barrett Strong of "Money (That's What I Want)" fame, among many others (1941), Atari, Inc. and Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza Time Theatre founder Nolan Bushnell (1943), English actress Charlotte Rampling (1946), engineer & astronaut Mary L. Cleave (1947), actor & filmmaker Christopher Guest of This Is Spinal Tap, The Princess Bride, Best In Show, A Mighty Wind, and Waiting for Guffman fame (1948), English actor Tom Wilkinson of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Batman Begins fame (1948), actor & screenwriter Tim Meadows of Saturday Night Live, The Ladies Man, and Mean Girls fame (1961), actress & filmmaker Jennifer Jason Leigh of Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Single White Female, Backdraft, and Weeds fame (1962), actress Laura Linney of The Truman Show, The Big C, Love Actually, and Ozark fame (1964), bassist & singer-songwriter Duff McKagan of Guns n' Roses and Velvet Revolver fame (1964), actor & comedian Chris Parnell of Saturday Night Live and 30 Rock fame (1967), Puerto Rican-American baseball Hall of Fame second baseman Roberto Alomar (1968), singer-songwriter Bobby Brown of New Edition and solo career fame (1969), Welsh actor & director Michael Sheen of Underworld and Twilight film franchise and Masters of Sex fame (1969), and programmer and creator of LiveJournal Brad Fitzpatrick (1980)
• Pour one out for: Actor and inspiration for The Simpsons' Troy McClure Doug McClure (d. 1995). You may remember him from such TV shows as The Virginian and Out of This World and such films as Gidget, At the Earth's Core, The Land That Time Forgot, The People The Time Forgot, and Warlords of Atlantis.
Also pour one out for actor Kirk Douglas of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Spartacus, The Fury, The Man from Snowy River, and The Final Countdown fame (d. 2020), and Canadian actor Christopher Plummer of The Sound of Music, Starcrash, Somewhere in Time, Dragnet, and An American Tail fame (d. 2021)
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OK, no new customer Q&A this week, unfortunately! If you're feeling even moderately outgoing and would like to be featured in an upcoming Monday email (and are a customer with some Boredwalk tees, tanks, hoodies, towels, bags, books, or Delve Decks to show off), just reply to this and let us know and we'll send you some fun questions!
We'll be back here in your inbox on Wednesday with some more random holidays to observe, historical tidbits to acknowledge, and fun links to entertaining content! Until next time...
Peace, love, and melted chocolate,
Matt