Hello from snowy Washington, DC, where I’m back from a long weekend in LA and preparing to see Victor Wembanyama play in person this weekend.
This week includes recommendations for the city of angels, doing anything in nice clothes, my love of Snoopy, and more. Let’s get into it.
Art School Dropout Snoopy Mug
During a holiday party, I discussed the sudden increase in the popularity of Snoopy with another couple. As someone who grew up watching A Charlie Brown Christmas every season, I questioned the idea of a 74-year-old newspaper comic being abruptly en vogue. Nevertheless, that line of inquiry dovetailed nicely with a Snoopy Puffer mug release from Art School Dropout, which my buddy and GQ editor Yang-Yi Goh posted on his IG stories. While this mug’s a bit pricey, it is stoneware, holds a lot, and that puffer design is as timeless as Peanuts itself.
As an avid mug collector — Tiki or otherwise — the mug is my new favorite; I haven’t stopped using it since it touched down. The mug is out of stock now, but I anticipate ASD will toss up another preorder soon, so check out the site and set your push notifications accordingly.
Galaxy’s Edge
Disney, of all megacorporations, does not need an advocate, let alone someone whose job it is to turn a critical eye to their cultural output. Yet, I remain highly impressed by the entirety of the Galaxy’s Edge experience. I went to Disneyland in 2019, not long after the dedicated Star Wars section of the park opened, and had a near-spiritual experience when building a lightsaber. Returning last weekend evoked a similar feeling, especially when building my own droid and finally riding Rise of the Resistance. The former isn’t quite as splashy as the lightsaber building, but the quality of the fully-remoted controlled robot is worth every penny of its ~$100 price. That’s to say nothing of Rise, which evoked a real “how in the world did they do this” from me. Sure, some of the narrative specifics will perplex those who haven’t watched the sequel trilogy, but the ride is like the Harry Potter Hogwarts ride on steroids. While the HP ride has patrons walk through the castle as part of the line, Rise takes riders from a planet's surface into a First Order base and through a daring escape with some real sense of scale and spectacle. I remain baffled by how it exists. Good stuff!
Los Angeles
Equally as silly as recommending Disneyland is a co-sign for the city of LA. “Yeah, man, of course, one of the biggest cities in the world is worth seeing!” Here’s the thing: for a long time, Los Angeles felt too sprawling, too overwhelming, and too much for me. With each subsequent visit, I find more to like about that sprawl — mostly that the city feels like a bunch of distinctive (albeit massive) neighborhoods. Driving around there is chaos, and leaving at the wrong time can torpedo an afternoon, but I’ve found it more interesting the more time I’ve spent there. Plus, as a fan of pop culture, there’s so much to do there that aligns with my particular interests; seeing Upon a Time . . . in Hollywood at the New Beverly on 35mm felt like going to church.
Dressing Up
With more suits than reasons to wear them, I’ve started to come up with excuses, starting with (annoyingly) convincing the lads here in DC to dress up for a steak dinner. It happened again last weekend after attending the Critic’s Choice Awards, wherein I didn’t have time for an outfit change between the ceremony and dinner plans. As my bud, Tres, said when he showed up suited for dinner to match my energy, there’s rarely a chance to break out the formalwear, but I’m all for creating and cultivating opportunities to do just that. Wearing your nice stuff is, well, nice! We should do it more often! It shouldn’t sit in a bag collecting dust and waiting for a “special occasion”; instead, we should find ways to make an ordinary day special.
Director Fits
My pal Director Fits is having a strong run. The latter portion of 2023 saw the beloved Instagram account partner with Netflix for a May December shirt before the brand launched its first button-down, complete with screen printed buttons — from films like Taxi Driver, A Clockwork Orange, and more — on it. Some IG moodboards are kinda lame, but that’s never the case with DF, and if you’re not in the market for a shirt, you can at least give ‘em a follow for some good sartorial inspo.
Quick Hits:
If you’re curious about my Critic’s Choice Awards experience, I chatted with Benti about it during our weekly-ish Two-Player Thursday stream. TL;DR: extremely surreal.
I’m keeping track of all the ongoing Easter Eggs/references to True Detective seasons past for Complex.
I struggled to write about Jonathan Glazer’s The Zone of Interest but did my best. It’s a masterpiece that I can’t shake.
Chat next week. Stay warm.
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