C and I are off to Bloomington for a campus visit today, so weekend notes will have to wait. To tide you over, a slew of links, including three oral histories.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m rarely at the beginning of any trends. But I did get my first Livestrong bracelet right around this time 20 years ago. I was wearing it when M was born, as my first pictures as a father can confirm.<\/p>\n
I can\u2019t take any credit for knowing that the bracelets would turn into a ubiquitous accessory within a few months. I was just buying something from Nike.com when they were first released, and there was a suggestion to add one to my basket at checkout. This must have been shortly after they were first released, based on how quickly they became impossible to find. I liked Lance Armstrong. I was into everything Nike. My step-dad was a cancer survivor. Why not for a buck?<\/p>\n
One of the proudest moments of my life came a few weeks later when one of our neighbors\u2019 kids, who was in middle school at the time, came running over to me when I was working in the yard to show off his Livestrong bracelet.<\/p>\n
Of course, we all know that Livestrong bracelets and clothes went from being everywhere for nearly a decade to something no one wanted to be seen in again. Makes sense for a trend that I was onto at the start.<\/p>\n
Anyway, this is a look back at how a 15-cent ring of silicone changed the world.<\/p>\n
Whole companies now exist to manufacture silicone bracelets\u2014tens of millions each year\u2014in every color of the rainbow, customized for specific types of cancer, for other diseases, or as individual memorial totems. That all started with a little band of yellow.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Making the Band: An Oral History of the Livestrong Bracelet<\/a><\/p>\n
\nI\u2019ve avoided any reviews or discussion of the new Beverly Hills Cop<\/em> movie because I want to hope it\u2019s decent and not be disappointed when I watch it sometime this week. But I did read this spoiler-free breakdown of the series.<\/p>\n
Ashton:<\/strong>\u00a0I remember the \u201csupercops\u201d thing in the first one. Well, Eddie made all that up. It was just all made up. He said, \u201cWait a minute.\u201d He walked away for a while and he came back and he says, \u201cOK, I\u2019m ready.\u201d And then it was a\u00a0three-shot<\/a>\u00a0with me and Judge and Eddie, and Eddie\u2019s going, \u201cThese guys are supercops. You ought to give \u2019em capes.\u201d I was trying not to laugh.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
The Heat Is On, Again: The Oral History of Axel Foley<\/a><\/p>\n
\nThis history of Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story<\/em> features one of the greatest celebrity anecdotes I\u2019ve ever come across.<\/p>\n
Williams:<\/strong>\u00a0I don\u2019t really spend money in strip clubs. I\u2019m making sure that I\u2019m OK for work the next morning. I\u2019m in the bathroom, and Vince is in there. I\u2019m like, \u201cHey, I\u2019m gonna head back to the hotel.\u201d He\u2019s like, \u201cWhat are you talking about?\u201d I was like, \u201cYou know, we gotta work in the morning.\u201d He\u2019s like, \u201cNo, no, no, no.\u201d He pulls out $400, gives it to me, and he goes, \u201cYou go back out there, and you make me proud.\u201d So I was like, \u201cOK, I guess I\u2019ll stay for a little longer.\u201d We had such a great time.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Go Balls Deep: The Oral History of \u2018Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n
\nIn advance of the latest Crowded House album, Neil Finn got the full treatment at Stereogum. A terrific, first-hand review of his career.<\/p>\n
We\u2019ve Got A File On You: Neil Finn<\/a><\/p>\n
\nWhere my weather geeks at? A cool site that shows which of the many forecasting tools out there have been most accurate for your location recently.<\/p>\n