great(ish) pt 26: Folklore dancing, headphones, Dune
Hello! This week, an article about bad headphones, a film about learning how to set a table, a book about desert imperialism and a video workout that made me almost cry in a good way.
Article: AirPods Are A Tragedy by Caroline Haskins, published by Vice in May 2019
I re-read this article this morning after a conversation over breakfast on the ubiquity, stupidity and environmental damage of AirPods (Apple's wireless headphones). Haskins outlines not only the planned obsolescence and bad product design of AirPods, whose battery stops working after about eighteen months and cannot be replaced or easily recycled since they're a compound of plastic, lots of glue (!) and lithium-ion battery. She also touches on the headphones as a symbol of conspicuous consumption. Bad product design is one of my many unhealthy obsessions (have you ever cut open your BB cream tube to see how much product is left in there when it's ostensibly empty?), greenwashing is another (Apple claim they're working with recycling companies to recycle AirPods, but you can't actually recycle most e-trash), and the weird outgrowths of consumerism are a third, so this article ticks several boxes for me.
Film: L'apprendistato (The Young Observant), directed by Davide Maldi (2019)
This documentary/fiction hybrid follows a group of apprentices training in a hospitality and catering school in Northern Italy, focusing in particular on Luca, a teenager who seems singularly unsuited to being a waiter. Maldi focuses both on the strange, outdated rules and rituals of the school – folding napkins just right – and the incredible awkwardness of adolescents. Stylised, beautiful and strange, this film doesn't sit easily in any genre categories, but I found it weirdly transporting and moving.
Note: This is currently streaming on Mubi for the next two weeks or so; here are the director's notes.
Book: Dune by Frank Herbert (1965)
I usually don't recommend books that I'm only halfway through, and I also don't usually recommend books that are sci-fi classics, which means that you've either already read them or have no plans to read them. But 1) this is a Dune fan account now, and 2) Dune is what is currently keeping me from taking 1pm sadness baths. I started reading it partly because I want to see the Denis Villeneuve-directed adaptation when it eventually comes out and partly because I heard from the only two sources I trust – my partner and random strangers on hockey twitter – that it's actually good. Guess what! It is! Personally, the blurb on the back spoiled some major plot points for me so avoid that if you, like me, have no idea what it's about, but essentially you get a teen who moves to a desert planet, plus environmental exploitation, colonisation, political drama and adventure. I've stayed up reading it every night. Thank you Dune.
Learning: ...will be back when I'm absorbing information again!
Other: Folklore 15 min dance workout
Here is something that has brought me unexpected joy and catharsis: this random youtube video workout to four songs from Taylor Swift's recent Folklore album! I find most video workouts incredibly boring or hard or both, but this hits the sweet spot, perhaps because I love swaying like a leaf and then doing a plank (losing & regaining control) while someone sings about how they were living for the hope of it all (same).
That's all! Until next time.