Greetings, Consumers.
It’s Friday and I’m back with your roundup of joyful, cathartic content from across the cobwebby corners of the digital universe. it’s taking everything in me not to make this whole thing about eclipses and natural phenomena. I really relish in the moments where we all look up, in collective disbelief and awe, and turn into children again. I wish the sky would do something funky just a tiny bit more, still retaining the rarity and mystery of it but giving us another reason to drop our phones and baggage and take stock of the beautiful place we’re occupying. We could all do this voluntarily, fwiw, but… we might just need an extra push.
Song: Goodness, this song. It still hits all these years later. Do you remember the music video? If not, I’m sorry to re-hash it but there’s a lot to unpack here. Justin Timberlake in a 7-11 t-shirt dancing intensely in front a 7-11. I thought adulthood would be more like this. The best part of the song has nothing to do with JT, it’s all about brotherly duo Clipse who have the best verse on the track (naturally). They also get a bit more dancey than I expect to on camera, followed by Pharrell doing some popping and locking at the very end.
Why do you think I included that nostalgia trip in this week’s Friday Five? Because our next topic is a new one… scary yet funnily accurate celebrity parody. I keep getting served videos from this creator who keeps riffing on “Like I Love You” and I can’t stop thinking about them. Instagram isn’t embedding on Substack today, so linking to the one I’ve shared from TikTok below in case you aren’t on that platform. One of the comments described it as JT x Buster from Arrested Development which is unfortunately accurate. Am I horrified? Am I scared? Am I laughing? Yes.
An Interior Study… or a Study in Interiors (two-parter): Sharing two very different interiors that have been on my mind this week. First, let’s start with Nancy Meyers blessing us with a peek at her office this week. Those french doors, the rafters in the ceiling, the shelf overflowing with books, photos, trinkets, and memorabilia. All signs of a life well lived. I would like to sit at that desk in complete silence and write a beautiful, hilarious, deeply affecting romantic comedy set in Santa Barbara.
Next, The World of Interiors did a piece on Iranian zurkhanehs, which I can best describe as some sort of traditional wrestling gym but that doesn’t quite do it justice.
They’re absolutely dazzling and what’s just as interesting are the descriptions of ritual that take place in the space: Above the arena sits the morshed, or guide, who typically presides from an elevated platform known as the sardam, often the most decorated area of the room, positioned to overlook both the athletes and spectators. When an important person or athlete enters, the morshed rings a bell. Working with the miyander, a senior pahlevan who leads exercises from the centre, he recites poetry, prayers and passages from Persian literature while striking a zarb, a goblet-shaped drum. The recitations do more than keep time; they reinforce the ethical principles of javānmardi, a philosophical concept loosely linked to chivalry, which emphasises humility, generosity, self-discipline and service to one’s community, reminding participants that strength is measured as much by character as physical ability.
Joyful Internet Content:
Bonnie Tyler did an eclipse tutorial in partnership with Jaffa Cakes several years back, which kinda sounds like a “Curtains for Zoosha” moment.
Hilary Duff teamed up with Good Charlotte to perform “The Anthem” in NYC and it looked like a healing experience for everyone in the arena. I’m deeply jealous. Speaking of anthems, Pow Magazine sorted out what the song of the summer was and I’m in complete agreement:
We don’t talk about the ad libs in that song enough. I love it when he says “oh my GAWD” like even he, the narrator of this whole story, is surprised that the mack has returned.
Finally, as a treat for those who made it this far, a reminder that “Like I Love You” spawned this gem… which I now realize is not unlike the video whatsoever.
Dancing outside 7-11,
Roya
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