Strands of Genius: Why American Chips Are Boring, Web3 Needs More Bimbos, No One Is Actually Boiling Chicken in NyQuil
Plus: Froome creating her first NFT
WRITING FROM | Toulouse, France
WORKING ON | finalizing our talk for the event in Athens
LOOKING AHEAD
Sept 21-Oct 14 | Toulouse, FR
Oct 14-21 | Provence Bicycling Tour
Oct 21-24 | Arles, France
Oct 24-28 | Athens, Greece
Dec 1-7 | Nashville, TN
Dec 7-15 | Beersheba Springs, TN
Dec 15-19 | Atlanta, GA
Dec 19-21 | Athens, GA
Dec 21-Dec 31 | Nashville, TN
:: WHAT’S NEW & WEEKLY GRATITUDE ::
We arrived in Toulouse only to find out our friend Paul’s wife tested positive with Covid. And so we went back to early pandemic protocol and saw him, but masked and distanced and outside. A day later his daughter tested positive, and then a day later he did, too. And then it poured in Toulouse. A week of rain meant that we couldn’t really meet up masked and distanced and outside. It meant that the week we thought we were going to be hanging out was actually a week of not seeing each other. It’s easy to say ‘back when there was a pandemic’ but then things like this happen and we’re reminded that we’re still dealing with Covid, and it’s still interrupting plans (albeit with less frequency.)
Last week, it was so dreary and hard to work because of the weather and conditions around us. But, this week… the sun is shining! It’s 77F and sunny! Which is also a tough condition to work in… (Let’s just go outside and play! Ha!)
No, the truth is that the work’s been hard because we’re developing a new talk. Collaboration is hardest in this phase, and there’s that feeling of not having yet cracked something, rather than just delivering something that’s already been tested and met with applause before ;) But - we can do hard things! So here we go.
Hope your week is filled with productivity and some crisp autumnal walks as well.
This week, we’re especially thankful for:
Victor Hugo Market, our terrace, Paul & Anais & Apolline, new houses to celebrate, new kitties to cuddle, Eva, A Court of Thorn & Roses + all of the other books that followed - sexy young adult fantasy that I’m sad to leave behind, Kim Mackenzie who recommended those books, Alex & Collin & Lauren for reading along, too, canceled food tours & resilience, & YOU.
:: THE LINKS ::
WHY AMERICAN CHIPS ARE SO BORING
One of our favorite things about being in Europe is trying out all the delicious chip flavors, or “crisps” as they’re often called here. Even at Billy and Camille’s wedding in France, the oysters were amazing, but the late night snacks were the Poulet Roti Lays that we had snagged from the local market. All of the Americans were in awe. The Europeans and Brits thought it was funny how impressed we all were. Whenever we try these oh so delicious chips I can’t help but comment: “Why don’t we get these in America?! They’re by Lays!” And now — I have my answer. It turns out Jaya Saxena had already been thinking the same thing. She writes, “Everyone knows that visiting another country’s grocery store is one of the best things about traveling. But it is also one of the most infuriating, because here you are, confronted by all these things you now wish your own grocery store carried.. Nowhere is this frustration more prevalent than in the potato chip aisle. All around the world, people are enjoying flavors like hot pot, lamb and mint, poulet roti, and spicy Korean ramen. In America, we’ve been stuck with sour cream and onion, and our most “exotic” option in decades has been the one-note burn of “Flamin’ Hot.” Flamin’ hot is great, but it’s true — it’s the only new flavor we’ve gotten in forever! According to the article, it’s in part a demand thing, and in part a market research problem. But the deep dive is pretty interesting! (Eater)
NO ONE IS ACTUALLY BOILING CHICKEN IN NYQUIL
The media loves inciting a good panic. It was the satanic panic in the 80s, but these days you might find yourself worried that kids over on TikTok are boiling chicken in NyQuil. We’d understand if so, because hey even the FDA released a warning that this behavior was a ‘recipe for disaster’ (see what they did there?!). But it turns out ‘Sleepy Chicken’ is a 4chan original, that then gained some popularity on Reddit. But the trend on TikTok? It’s mostly a series of people warning their followers that this is a trend resulting in death. It’s interesting though because there have been no deaths documented, and videos of others making this ‘sleepy chicken’ are few and far between — and yet the FDA was prompted to get involved. This is the world we live in and Ryan Broderick does a great job of explaining how this all came about. (Garbage Day)
WEB3 NEEDS MORE BIMBOS
“The new internet is demonstrably lacking in vibes. Hot crypto queens could be the answer to that problem…. Of late, the bimbo has got herself an avatar and entered the metaverse, birthing the “Web 3 bimbo”: a new archetype who approaches technologies such as crypto and NFTs from a place of whimsy, curiosity, humour and openness. She makes no lofty promises of creating a feminist utopia or turning you into a billionaire overnight, but rather, is here to vibe, be cute, create, build community, and maybe make some coin. This new self-aware, cyber femmebot has the potential to revive a Web 3 culture that was dead on arrival,” writes Tara Kenny. Super interesting perspective that’s worth diving into further! (I-D)
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:: AND NOW: How To Make & Sell Your Own NFTs ::
Web3 can be befuddling, but we enjoyed this video of the artist Froomes learning how to make and sell an NFT for the first time:
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faris & rosie & ashley | your friends over at geniussteals.co
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It's called Genius Steals because we believe ideas are new combinations and that nothing can come from nothing. But copying is lazy. We believe the best way to innovate is to look at the best of that which came before and combine those elements into new solutions.
Co-Founders Faris & Rosie are award-winning strategists and creative directors, writers, consultants and public speakers who have been living on the road/runway since March 2013, working with companies all over the world. Our Director of Operations is nomadic like us, our accounting team is based in Tennessee where our company is registered, our admin extraordinaire is based in Playa del Carmen, and our collaborators are all over the world. Being nomadic allows us to go wherever clients need us to be, and to be inspired by the world in between.
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