{D}117: Glitch Pull
Breakfast Club, Demolition derbies, and deep travel in humid jungles
Well, it’s been a week. It’s been two weeks. It’s been a lot, these weeks, todo esto.
I’ve been traveling. I’m also in-between gigs. So everything feels very scattershot and very unrelated and very George Clooney in Up in the Air, but about everything. So you’re gonna get that vibe in here, this newsletter, today.
Most important to me: I’ve been publishing travel diaries regularly over at Julian’s, a substack where I’m writing a deep travel guide to Mexico City. I’m building momentum for an upcoming 5,000-word piece on Catholicism and religion and death and being mugged by the police (all related!). Julian’s is important to me. It’s the type of writing I’ve always wanted to do, and I think I’m pretty good at it. So if you’ve any interest in travel journalism, it would mean the world to me if you took a look (and maybe subscribed).
What else is happening? Oh yes. I’m helping some friends at the Global Private Capital Association fill their open role for a managing director, marketing and communications. GPCA has been a client of mine for a few years. They’re a mission-driven non-profit that influences global capital toward sustainable growth. I’m looking for someone who is brilliant at setting marketing priorities and strategy, developing comms channels, boosting engagement, and leading teams. The role is NY-based and hybrid. Know a talented human who’d be a good fit? Are a talented human who’d be a good fit? Drop me a line.
Last but not least: I run the CDMX chapter of Breakfast Club every Wednesday in, yes, Mexico City. Breakfast Club is IRL conversations over bacon and eggs. Our esprit de corps is simple: everybody’s invited, especially you. If you live in Mexico City or know someone who does (or who’s even just visiting), please let them know they’re invited by tagging them in our weekly post. We’d love to meet them!
-s.
p.s. I have taken delivery of Maxell UR90 cassette tapes and a recording deck. The mix making process for Merry Mixmas has begun.
This ☝🏼 is Demolition, a short, eight minute New Yorker doc about demolition derbies in upstate New York, and it’s so good it caught me crying a little bit. Reminds me of growing up on the farm in the summers in North Carolina. Filmed with actual film. Astounding color. Wonderful voiceovers instead of direct interviews. Ends with an absolutely stunning track by legendary late night Milwaukee DJ Bob Reitman, “A Few Thoughts”.
Wizened capitalist Ridley Scott on Gladiator II: “I am something of a businessman … I am so over-rewarded …I get overpaid.”
Jane Schoenbrun and Richard Kelly in conversation on I Saw the TV Glow and Donnie Darko: “All of the best films are creating these little worlds. They’re not trying to replicate reality, they’re trying to break reality in beautiful ways.”
Comfort in discomfort: why horror so popular right now.
Eyecandy is a visual library of film techniques
Documentary Source is a library of the best docs available online
Novelty is overrated // “When you’re starting something new, the most important thing is knowing what to learn.” // the trap of the expert beginner // The Mythmakers is about the productive friendship between CS Lewis and JRR Tolkien // divination by flipping to a random page is called bibliomancy // related: Barnes & Noble will open 60 new stores this year // Practical Betterments is a collection of one-off actions that improve your life continuously — however marginally // What’s your “I can’t believe other people don’t do this” hack? // Just wow: How the world’s religious devotees use technology // Color Walks are walks devoted to documenting the colors you see // Eyeball is an iOS widget that just shares links to your close friends // this is a brief video about a cute bus loading a cuter bus //
Delightful is a 100% organic, free-range, desktop-to-inbox newsletter devoted to helping you nurture creativity in your daily life and work. Links every Tuesday (free), resources on Thursdays (occasionally, paid). Your host is Steve Bryant, friendly neighborhood content strategist, who is for hire (linkedin).
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{ 🔒 archive }
Content frameworks for advertising agencies
4 frameworks for agencies shifting to a content modelMy content strategy toolkit
14 tools for organizing, measuring, and creating contentMy value proposition template
A Canva whiteboard for designing a value proposition that targets a customer segment with your unique valueMy concept diagram template
A Figjam for diagramming the complex relationships between conceptsProduct Content Strategy 101
For anybody who’s creating a product that requires editorial contentThe Bento Box Method for developing topical content
A cute and useful way to structure your content topicsMarketing strategy for agencies 101
The four different content marketing strategies for agencies, written for the exec team at a previous agencyPositioning strategy for agencies 101
The four different ways to compete, written for the exec team at a previous agencyHiring scorecards and why you should use them
Stop using voodoo hiring methods, friend
Thanks for reading. Be seeing you.
Dogged determination is often the only trait that separates a moderately creative person from a highly creative one. Never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.