Welcome!
Eek the first (of hopefully many) newsletters and an archive of all my crushes (intellectual or otherwise...)
Hello!
Welcome to the beginning of a kind of review/ recommendation/ newsletter thing. In lockdown I started subscribing to a whole heap of newsletters from journalists, authors, and cool people I follow. Reading a whole mixture of newsletters from pop culture commentary, politics, research, essays, poetry, interviews, and reviews. Basically, I thought it was super interesting and if you know me, right up my alley. I also loved waiting each week/month for them to come out (the joys of lockdown, right?).
I think my friends get tired of my endless recommendations and what my latest fascination is that week (I had an ex who literally hung up on me whenever I went to tell him about a book I was reading), plus its hard to keep track of everything. My laptop has a meltdown at least weekly from all my tabs which I refuse to close and promise I’ll get around to reading. So I thought I would start a newsletter of my own. I’m not sure what it will truly be about yet or if anyone will be interested in reading it but if anything, it’ll be a good way for me to keep track of my endless recommendations. I’ve always had lots of personal little obsessions and crushes which I get really excited about, so hopefully this will be a conglomeration of that!
I’m thinking it’ll look something like this:
Some reviews/ comments of things I’m reading/watching at the moment
A few pop culture highlights of the week (a guilty pleasure of mine)
Any good articles or research I come across (I’m a sucker for a good essay or research journal)
Links to interesting/funny shit
Some brief thoughts on the happenings of the week
In debating whether I will actually send this I’ve been thinking a lot about Jia Tolentino’s Trick Mirror, which I might talk about another time, (basically a series of essays which so accurately and well articulately describe what it means to grow up with and live with the internet/ social media). She discusses how the internet encourages us to overvalue our opinions and destroys our sense of scale. Because really, why do I feel like I should write a newsletter and share my reviews and interests? I’m really not all that special (yes mum I know you beg to differ). In saying this, I’ve decided to write something anyways, nothing serious, just something for myself!
Some things I can promise you; I will always update you on my wife, Zoe Kravitz (who btw is the next Catwoman) and continue to reference and compare my life with Offspring (I had my 18th in the pub, let’s not begin).
Btw anything pink is a hyperlink :)
This week!
A Bisexual Bachelorette
Succession’s Back!
Nature is healing…?
The Jean Milburn Effect (and some sexy essays)
and the Question of the week
A Bisexual Bachelorette!
Okay, first of all, about bloody time! An Indigenous, bisexual bachelorette! It makes me so happy. If for one second we forget about the total lack of any diversity in the show (past and present), problematic elements, and decline in date standard (sitting on a cliff, really?), I think we can get around it. Dad’s always been (though he will vehemently deny it) the true lover of relationship reality tv shows in our family (shedding literal tears in Married at First Sight), I tend to get frustrated at everyone and give up. Howeverrrrrr, I think Brooke has brought me, in the words of Soul II Soul, “back to reality” TV (and yes double points for extra reference to the infamous Bette and Tina dance scene). Speaking of queer clichés, name a more bisexual trope than; friends to lovers, bad timing and letter writing, Jamie Lee certainly brought the representation to the show. I don’t have much else to say, other than so far the men are VERY subpar and seem to stand no chance against the gorgeous women (shock horror). In saying that, she may follow the footsteps of fellow bisexual, Megan Fox’s and end up with Carpenter Machine Gun Kelly…
Succession’s Back!
Holy Moses a new season of Succession!! I’ve been in it from the beginning and amongst the twitter storm that was Monday. Maybe one day I’ll write a whole analysis deep diving into this show but for now I’ll keep it to twitter memes and my short thoughts. If you haven’t already watched season 1 and 2, get on it. If you have had your head in the sand the past few years (lucky you) and missed the cultural wave that is Succession, it’s pretty much about a huge right wing media mogul family, patriarch Logan Roy, and his 4 kids who are all trying to, you guessed it, succeed him. It’s filled with backstabbing, ugly people, enough swearing to last you the next 5 years and clever, clever, funny, complex characters. Once you get past how horrible the characters are and appreciate the dark humour, it’s very funny.
Quote from the episode this week: “Fuck the weather. We’re changing the cultural climate” -Kendall Roy (Also what I imagine a certain someone said to BOM the other week when we had all those suspicious forecasts…)
I will rant Succession with anyone, any day. For now, if you’re on the Succession train, here’s some good tweets
^^How my household and twitter felt Monday. Btw did I mention Rupert Murdoch played the theme as his 90th?! Can’t tell if I love it or hate it. It is also worth noting Kourtney Kardashian and Travis Barker are seemingly not Succession stans, having the audacity to get engaged on the night of the season premiere.
As if you didn’t need enough of a reason. Shiv Roy played by Sarah Snook looking fine as hell.
Btw if you’re a fan, one of my many crushes, Hunter Harris went to Tuscany on set to write about season 3! Here’s the article:
https://www.vulture.com/article/succession-season-three.html
Nature is returning…..?
In other news, I spotted someone walking a lamb in South Yarra?! Is this a southside thing? Is this a rich people thing? Did someone recently watch A24’s lamb? So confused. In saying that, did I mention the time I almost bought a baby goat for $50? Usher gets it. Big regrets… (I recently told this to a guy but said ‘kid’ (the name for a baby goat) and I’m pretty sure he thought I was a human trafficker for a brief second, so I’ll be retiring that one for the time being).
The Jean Milburn Effect
I’ve had a few conversations with friends recently about sexologists/ sex educators/ sex therapists and them being interested in becoming one. The past few years, I’ve been seeing a lot more resources/ books and accounts on sex (be it therapy, activism, education or pleasure). Part of this, I attribute to yet another one of my crushes Jean Milburn (played by Gillian Anderson) and her role in Sex Education as a sex therapist. Honestly, she could make anything look cool and the show does wonders for shining a light on sex education. I coin the Jean Milburn Effect to describe the wave of popularity and peak in interest in sex therapy thanks to yours truly, which is exciting. There’s not much I wouldn’t do for her, her house, or her wardrobe…
I want to do a bit more research into sexology and these women and their projects in sex positivity, empowerment, and activism which is rooted in intersectional feminism, decolonization and pleasure! So, in the spirit of that, before I get around to writing anything more, here are some Instagram accounts of sex educators I follow/ have been discovering the content and resources of.
Okay, I also had to include two more links while I was here and on the topic of sex. One is a fabulous essay ‘Does anyone have the right to sex’ written by Amia Srinivasan in the London Review of Books in which she asks (as stated by Bri Lee in the Monthly) “If nobody is entitled to sex, and individual choice is the paramount consideration for each sexual interaction, how do we make sense of the fact that some people are discriminated against to the extent that they are denied affection and intimacy? What is the middle zone in which we grapple with how our preferences are shaped by social and cultural forces? If the conversation is only about consent, what do we do with the politics of desire?”. The essay (and book which I’m ordering) discusses incels, consent and sexual discrimination, considering what I thought was a really fascinating angle given the societal and political discussions of consent at the moment.
You can read the essay Amia wrote here: https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v40/n06/amia-srinivasan/does-anyone-have-the-right-to-sex
Of course, talking sex we’ve got to come back to Audre Lorde and one of my favourite essays of hers, ‘The Uses of the Erotic’ beautifully analysing female power and sexuality offering the ‘erotic’ as a tool of deconstruction, subversion and imagination.
Here’s the link: https://uk.sagepub.com/sites/default/files/upm-binaries/11881_Chapter_5.pdf
Question of the week:
Is Tony Armstrong single? I ask this as a community service, we’re all wondering it and so far my social media stalking as got me nowhere. This question was originally posed by my unofficial Granny and old neighbour, and we would both appreciate an answer. I might also add, this man is the reason I wake up at 7am to watch ABC News Breakfast, always a pleasure.
Points to Michael for being the dad in the earthquake and taking charge on the ‘let’s go’. I strive to be as cool, calm, and collected as Tony but for now think I’m probably the guy in the background saying “fuckin scary”.
Can never pass a good Pauline Hansen meme
No book reviews this week, I am starting Beautiful world where are you? (Cliché I know, but can anyone really avoid the cultural storm of Rooney?) Terrified of what existential state she will land me in this time.
Also stay tuned for my thoughts on the Sopranos, (late to the game I know but I’m getting through it and loving it!)
Btw, this was written 4am Friday morning and on the last night of lockdown in Melbourne! Who knows what I’ll be like next week now that we can see the world again? I can only guess one of two options:
Thank you for reading and for the next fortnight I’ll be channelling Carrie Bradshaw, Meg Ryan in You’ve Got Mail and this pic of Beyoncé in a beret.
Btw this week was much much longer than I intended/this will be in the future, apologies for the essay, congrats and thank you for making it through!
Let me know what you thoughts, any and all feedback appreciated (except criticism of Tony Armstrong)
Love,
Rimini