Dispatch 001: Oct 31 - Nov 8
Intellectual detritus from another week existing on planet Earth
Greetings & welcome to earthly dispatches. I’m your host, Jenn, and instead of doing a cheesy radio introduction, I’m just gonna cut myself off and let you read the tidbits of info I collected this week from reading/writing/existing.
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It snowed bogusly early this year in the Midwest, so I decided to take a look at past numbers on snowfall. Last year, on Oct 31, our high in Milwaukee was 55 degrees. No snow in the forecast till Nov. 9.
And two years ago, we didn’t get snow till December! There were frosty temps in Nov (we got something called “ice fog” on Nov 14), but the first real snow sighting didn’t happen until Dec 9. Literally a full month after the 2018 snow.
Also, turns out we set a record for the snowiest Halloween in Milwaukee.
I always get slightly pissy when it snows before my birthday (Nov. 17), but it’s fine, I can live with it. No seriously, it’s fine, I swear.
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Speaking of snow, you know who LOVES it? There are these tiny little bugs — aptly named snow fleas — that live on the stuff. They look like dirt, but if you peer a bit closer, you might see them wiggling around, eating their way through natural debris in the snow.
So, uh, don’t eat the yellow snow, but don’t eat the brown snow either (unless you want some extra protein).
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Apparently there are no McDonald’s in Iceland, but there is one lone McD’s hamburger living in a hostel on the southern tip of the nation. It was purchased in 2009 and you can peek at that bad boy via livestream. Besides a little packaging decay, the burger and fries look pretty much the same as a burger you might buy today.
But hold your fries — some Australians claim they have a burger that is 25 years old, and even made it a Tinder profile once.
The story about the Iceland burger was circulating like crazy around news channels this week, even though it’d gotten plenty of coverage in the past. But I guess, like the burger itself, the story is basically invincible.
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I learned this weekend about Shepherd Tones — an auditory illusion that makes it seem like a tone is constantly rising, creating a creepy-sounding cycle of intensity. They’re actually used a lot in movies to amplify suspenseful scenes. Vox did a great video explainer in 2017. (Shout out to my partner, Ryan, for showing me this)
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I guess quashed and squashed are two different words?
Squash: to beat down, mash to a pulp
Quash: to destroy forcibly
There’s obviously more to it, but this article gives the most concise description of the difference I could find.
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Title ticker (or, what I read this week):
Fetch - Nicole Georges
Home After Dark - David Smalls
Educated - Tara Westover
Songs of the week:
“Monster Mash” - Bobby “Boris” Pickett & The Crypt Kickers
“Brand New Key” - Melanie
“40 Mark Strasse” - The Shins
See you next Thursday, fellas!