Two things I’ve been waiting for all year arrived in July: the summer heat, and our daughter. Thankfully, by the time we headed home from the hospital, the worst of the oppressive weather — high 90s with dew points in the mid-70s — had subsided, and we’ve been able to get outside for some neighborhood walks and other adventures in the cooler and less humid aftermath.
One thing that catches me off guard every year is just how powerful the summer storms can be here. This shouldn’t be the case — the legendary 2012 Derecho hit in my first year in town, knocking down power lines and bringing triple-digit heat in its wake. But the first set of really violent storms each summer is always a shock to the system, and riding around on my bike in their aftermath feels like surveying the damage after an aerial bombing. They also bring some pretty incredible natural phenomena, like the full double rainbow above, the likes of which I haven’t seen outside of Hawaii, but which we witnessed from our own rooftop a couple weeks back.
If there are two things I’m sure to experience much more of the rest of the summer, it’s the heat and time with Emerson. I’ll put up with as much of the former as I have to in order to get more of the latter.
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I stumbled upon John Paul Bremmer’s ¡Hola Papi! Because of this hilarious musing about the nature of living through our ever-growing scam-based economic sector, one that has made every online interaction with a strange name or number tedious at best, and often an exercise in dodging digital wallet snatchers. Definitely read that, and definitely read about what happened at Braum’s — I dare you not to laugh out loud.
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We’re all about great leads here at PGL, and this one from Reeves Wideman, on “the IHOP kingpin of the Bronx,” is a doozy. It’s also got a great URL, if you’re into that kind of stuff.
At one particularly raucous dinner party with some friends a few years back, my friend Dan and I got in a good-natured argument about whether or not a “meatball parm” was an actual thing (I still contend it is just a meatball sub, and that a parm requires a more specific preparation, specifically deep frying its contents). I don’t know if the revelation of the fabled artichoke parm, featuring internet friend Charles Star, does anything to solve this debate, but it does give me another kitchen project to tackle later this summer.
More food? More food. For those who’ve been enjoying FX’s The Bear, you’ll probably love this Eater interview with Courtney Storer, the show’s Chicago-raised culinary producer, who is in charge of all the food on the show.
For the fellow urbanists among you, this essay from 1973 on the fundamental problem with the motorcar rings ever more true today. It’s one of those pieces of writing that’s worth going back to every few years, and worth distributing to friends who take our transit priorities for granted, to remind them that nothing has to be this way.
If you enjoyed the original 1996 Mission: Impossible as much as I did, you probably remember one of its more memorable small characters, company man Kittridge. He smarmily lectures Ethan Hunt about the way things really are, shortly before Hunt detonates an aquarium in the middle of a fancy restaurant to make his escape, dashing away through town square with the water lapping at his heels. Anyway, improbably, Kittridge is back in the new film, which I have yet to see, but which I am even more excited about knowing he’s in it. Here’s how that happened.
If you’re not already aware of the scourge that is venture capital and how it has decimated sectors of the American economy, by acquiring distressed assets, then stripping and selling them for parts, it’s time to get caught up. While they’ve been most publicly tied to newspapers, CJR discovered another target — low income housing communities.
You might have thought the pandemic would have reinforced the need for early disease warning systems to be accessible to as many people as possible. Well, as happens too often, some folks have learned the wrong lesson, trying to charge for ProMED, which was crucial in spreading awareness for both SARS and COVID-19. This has left the future of the service in jeopardy.
We’ve got another entry in one of my favorite genres, “bizarre mysteries of the universe.” This time, scientists have discovered a light that has been blinking every 20 minutes since 1988, and they have no explanation for why. Party on.
Finally, if you’re looking for a rooting interest heading into this year’s Little League World Series, how about Maryland’s own answer to Shohei Ohtani? Sana Watanuki leads off, plays shortstop, and pitches for the Montgomery County Lower County squad that won the state title and will play in the Mid-Atlantic Regional starting Sunday for the chance to go to Williamsport. In the state tournament, Sana hit for the cycle in just three innings. Be sure to catch her before she’s gone. Oh, right, she’s the only girl on her team, and is only over in the States from Japan this year, during her father’s temporary employment in D.C.
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I brought my annual awards predictor model back to Baseball Prospectus at the All-Star break. I’ll be updating it once or twice as the season winds down, and possibly adding in Rookie of the Year predictions — if this is your bag, let me know if you’d like me to do that. For those who don’t know, this isn’t some talking head-style pontificating about who should win the MVPs and Cy Youngs. Instead, it’s an attempt to predict human behavior when it comes to who will win those honors at season’s end. The model’s been 75% accurate since I refined it five years ago, and went a perfect 4-for-4 last year. With at least two close races right now, it will likely be put to the test again this fall.