As noted a couple weeks ago in my Friday Playlist, the legendary Quincy Jones died recently. He had many epic interviews over the years. I had these two saved and re-read them over the past few days. What a storyteller!
Quincy Jones Has a Story About That
In Conversation: Quincy Jones
I had no real interest in reading Alex Van Halen’s new memoir, Brothers. He was always just the huge presence behind the drum kit in Van Halen, not nearly as interesting as either his brother or David Lee Roth in the band’s glory days. Then I read this piece in the New York Times. He seems far more complex and interesting than I ever knew him to be. And this passage, where he talks about why he wrote about he and his brother’s lives, and what he chose to share, made me put in a library hold immediately.
But “Brothers” is not a story of regret. It’s a tale of understanding, of acceptance, of love. Mostly, of humanness. “If you’re going to tell the story, you should give equal space to the good and the bad,” Alex said. “Because the good doesn’t make any sense without having the bad.”
Eddie Van Halen Changed Rock History. Now His Brother Is Telling Their Story.
It took me some time, but I finally got to Netflix’s Starting 5 earlier this month. So finally time to read/share this overview piece that has a similar perspective to mine on the series.
10 Takeaways From ‘Starting 5,’ Netflix’s Sweaty, Nosy New NBA Docuseries
I LOVED Richard Scarry books when I was a kid, and loved sharing them with my girls when they were young. So, of course, I loved this look at Scarry’s life and career.
Richard Scarry and the art of children’s literature
This line has more to do with the piece’s author than Scarry, but it screamed to be the pull quote.
I must have been a real pain in the ass as a kid. But Richard Scarry somehow made me feel safe and settled.
This piece by Chris Arnade was a suggestion from one long form newsletter or another that I’m subsribed to. I enjoyed learning about the fascinating little country of the Faroe Islands. It was also interesting to read about Arnade, who has carved out a controversial space among traveling photographers (despite being a self-described socialist who clearly is in favor of big government intervention in the economy and social safety nets, a couple prominent Republicans offered jacket blurbs for his book).
Walking Faroe Islands (part two)
Best of all was this photo he referenced, which is on the official Faroe Islands tourism site. That’s some public transit system!
