Besides Asher Pacey, this is the benchmark for high performance fish surfing (Asher’s boards have a lot more high-performance attributes to them, whereas Burch rides more traditional fishes, what I am trying to get you on).
To keep something fresh, sometimes changes need to be made. Mindset, environment, etc. The list goes on and on. Some people might fear change. This is definitely a problem, considering no man or woman has achieved greatness by staying stagnant or true to their routine for too long. Sure, having something dialed feels good and if they are good habits and routines keep them going. But the old saying goes “variety is the spice of life”, so incorporating things outside of your comfort zone is essential for development.
Hard cut.
Everyone should own a fish. And no, not a gold or beta fish. A surfboard fish. It can be a twin fin or a quad fin fish. Ideally, start with a twinnie. If you happen to be my friend and ever talk about what board you want next, you’ve heard of this spiel. Unless you have a concrete image of the board you want, I always recommend a fish. A fish is classic. A fish has truly lasted throughout the test of time, and are having a huge resurgence. You probably see just as many fishes as shortboards in the lineup of recent (especially back home, where waves are tiny and weak).
There are two main reasons I recommend someone starts riding a fish. The first one is that it gets you in the water when the waves don’t look that fun. Personally, I think fishes tend to almost work best on medium to bigger canvases. It’s hard to fit such a wide and voluminous board in such small curvers. But having a short, wide, chunky twin fin fish can get you out there when it’s two-feet-and-firing. The glide these boards give you is unlike any other. The fish can help get you in the water when it is tiny. Take off and instantly you get a burst of speed. Catching waves is also a breeze, and you have to catch small waves first before you can surf them. Also in the bad wave spectrum, super fat reform waves are also the bread and butter for a fish. Generating speed easily and having the float and glide to get back to the power source or hop to another power source on the same wave are how the fish fries fat waves. A low rocker and middle to front of the board wide point help you catch waves and glide effortlessly.
Now on the other hand, owning a fish and riding it in both good waves and bigger waves can really open a new realm to your surfing. Riding different boards forces you to draw different lines. And the line you can draw on a fish is a fast one. Whether it is highlining a section instead of going low or getting in front of the wave before burning speed going back to the lip are things a fish is more conducive to rather than your standard shortie. Since the board isn’t as sleek as your regular shortboard, having a bigger more slopey than steep wave really grants you a blank canvas to paint upon. Riding a fish in these waves makes it really hard to get back on a regular board afterwards. And I know I am not the only one who feels this way.
The lines you learn to draw on your twinnie can really open up new routes and ways to plane when you hop back on a shortboard. Also in this same realm, getting the feel of the twinnie and then hopping to a quad fish will just elevate the ability to rip the same lines. Currently, I am stuck on quads. The amount of speed you can generate is incredible, and works quite well at walled beach breaks or gutless reforms (unfortunately the bulk of what I surf). Surfing your shortboards with the same flow and routine you might on your twinnie will eliminate extra pumps and help you draw cleaner, smoother lines. You will learn how to ride the contour of the wave for speed instead of hopping around pumping. In surfing, speed is your best friend. So gaining it effortlessly is always an added bonus.
If you don’t have a fish yet in your quiver, get on it. This is for my friends on both the east and west coasts. Getting those sneaky fun sessions when no one is out (almost impossible in California but very apparent in New Jersey) really keeps the stoke high. The days when you don’t expect a surf and end up scoring a fun little 30 minutes or hour are when you leave the water with the biggest smile (only tied with when the waves are absolutely cooking). I know, surfboards aren’t the cheapest things in the world. But next time you are looking to grab a freshie, looks towards the fun twin finned fish to round out your quiver.
This is more realistic: smaller waves with no push featuring Mr. Burch.
New music has been coming out. A ton of it. I can’t say I’ve been super on top of it. Lately I’ve been heavy on the pods. But thanks to a couple friends with similar taste we always end up hearing about all the different albums and giving them a sampling. If there’s one positive to come out of quarantine, it’s that artists are not holding back as far as putting out music and interacting with fans. Whether it’s hosting live sets, playing unreleased music, or putting out smaller projects to hold you over until the next album drops, our ears are definitely getting a little spoiled. Honestly, a ton of huge names have put out some really good albums. Some have definitely put out some mid with hits mixed in. And others might have flopped a little. Overall, it’s all been pretty fun to listen to. If we are saying quarantine started in the middle of march, here are some artists that have put out albums you might want to check out: Drake, Future, Polo G, Buddy, Westside Gunn, Tory Lanez, and it goes on and on. But while some of these albums have been in heavy rotation, one has stuck out amongst all the rest.
Now I know this is extremely premature, but this new Gunna tape is that shit. As far as a little backstory on my personal following of Gunna (because no matter what music will always be subjective to someones taste and opinions): aside from songs he had been featured on, Drip Harder (his collaboration tape with Lil Baby) was the first time I was consistently hitting play on Gunna tracks. Fast forward to his “debut album” Drip or Drown 2 and to me it was a flop. The only song I paid attention to was 3 Headed Snake, one for the Thugger feature but also because it was charting at the time. While I know he has a ton of hits from mixtapes, we just aren’t talking about that right now. Sure, I loved his features that came out in between but it just seemed like too much of the same sound (I felt this about his tapes too, it had a *new* but similar sound and flow). I probably missed out on some good songs in between on that album, but it just wasn’t doing it for me. I tried to go front to back but couldn’t. But with Wunna, it really is just a whole different vibe. I took a small chunk of time Friday night to listen, and immediately thought some tracks were hot. Next morning I ran it front to back and my initial hunch was right: this album was hitting. Hard.
While I’ve always liked Gunna, he has been way more of a feature artist for me. Add a verse from him over beats with a certain type of vibe and it’s a smash. Team him up with Baby or Thug and it’s a home run. He has a pretty good ability to match the flow of the beat, fast or slow, and can deliver catchy bars even if sometimes it takes multiple listens to actually decipher what he’s saying. On that first listen Friday night, I got through the first 5 songs in order, actually stopping in the middle of the 5th track (which was somewhat sacrilegious, as it was in the middle thug featuring on the track). I quickly couldn’t believe what I had just heard: four solid songs that featured Gunna on his own. I hadn’t looked up from what I was doing while listening, so I had to go back to find the 2 where I was really floored. Argentina and Feigning were the two tracks that really caught my attention, and I probably play them both once-to-twice a day as of recent (this has held true to the day this was posted: Wednesday). To me, the tracks where Gunna is solo on the beat are the ones that I really enjoyed for this project. And I think those first four songs are the hardest string of songs on the album. Other no-feature songs that are also getting a ton of playtime are Skybox, Met Gala, Rockstar Bikers and Chains, and Do Better.
Gunna’s rise to fame was with a ton of his peers who are currently sitting with him on the upper tier of the rap game currently. I first heard both Wheezy and Turbo on Gunna and Lil Baby’s tracks. Along with Tay Kieth (think Yes Indeed), this crew has been budding for the past couple of years and now are go-to producers for artists both young and old. The same can be said about a Gunna or Baby feature. While some of their beats sound similar and always incorporate sounds they are famous for, the beats on this tape really are “outta here”. From crazy trappy robotic beats to beautifully constructed string samples, the beats selected by Gunna and his team really are next level. Along with this Mount Rushmore of globally recognized producers, we get a couple beats from a relatively less known Taurus,who has chefed up beats for Gunna and Thugger plenty of times. One of my favorite beats on the album Skybox was cooked by Taurus. Bottom line: some of my favorite beats of 2020 so far have been on this album.
And to top off this album analysis, we must lastly give credit to Gunna again. First, for selecting features that really compliment him. Obviously we knew that Thug and Baby were going to pull up on a song or two. Travis and Roddy both also work well with Gunna and you can feel each of them feed off the energy of the other. Gunna on this album really finds different flows and cadences for his raps, and I think that is something that shines the brightest of all the stars in this album. He raps in fast paced pockets we aren’t used to hearing. Whether he is matching and going along with his feature, or completely going to the beat of the drums, Gunna is proving that he isn’t a one trick pony. Before this album I thought Gunna for me was purely a feature artist. I thought I would only toss Gunna on if I was vibing that auto-tuned style and barely-legible lyrics. Boy was I wrong! I have now been listening through WUNNA close to once a day front to back. And haven’t gotten tired of it (yet). Let’s see how long it’ll last.
No matter what could be going on in the world, no matter how thrown off or distant our normality may seem, no matter what day-to-day routine may be in store for us, one thing will always remain constant for some: coffee. The fuel for your engine. The love for the joe can definitely be set to varying levels. Wake up, turn on the Keurig, press a button, walk away, come back and BAM! Coffee ready for consumption. Everyones guilty of it, whether it was ignorance early on, ease of use, or finding it the only brew method at work. Maybe you were so hungover you just needed a quick fix (but if you are THAT hungover, it’s probably not going to do much). Some may take it to the next level with a method that requires multiple steps (french press, pour over, Moka pot, Aeropress, etc..). Some may buy pre-ground beans from Starbucks. Some may buy whole bean from the grocery and grind there. Some may scour to local and smaller coffee companies and buy beans from them. Grind all at once. Grind morning of. It doesn’t matter (but it kind of does). The thing that ties all this together is the love of coffee. Some see it as necessity. Some see it as luxury. Some see it as both. 1 cup. 2 cups (hopefully is the limit per day). Red cups (but we ain’t talking about sinking piss). Blue cups. For some, thinking of the cup of coffee the next morning brings a smile to their face (some may see this as concerning, but ignore that).
We find ourselves in a strange time. It does become rather tiresome to keep talking about this mess our world has entangled itself in, but it is too real and too present to ignore. For a while, peoples normal routines and passions will be neglected. Better hope you can do what you love inside, or you might need a new hobby. Those who have not been completely confined to limited resources are blessed. But it seems as though at one point it will be a level playing field. Sure, you will always be able to go walk around or get outside, but activities might start to get limited. You have the control to keep it spicy. Last week, music was the center of the discussion for switching things up. No matter what, we will always be able to listen to music. This week it’s coffee. In order from least to most difficult (in terms of time, money, effort, and an open mindset), here are some ways to expand your taste and preference for coffee, and really tap into all the aspects of the brew.
Bean Variety (the spice of life)
This is the beginning of the journey to coffee enlightenment. There are hundreds of thousands of different coffee beans waiting to get brewed into your morning cup. From different sourcing locations, to flavor notes, to brands, etcetera, the amount of options are endless. This is the very first way you can switch up your morning brew and try something new. At this point, at least in more populated areas, your local grocery store will have an array of options, from giants in the coffee game, artisan roasters, and even locally sourced beans (if you are lucky). With minimal time and effort (just grab em during your routine grocery run), this is a good start to expanding your coffee taste. Price depends on the beans you pick, but put it this way: most of the time, the more expensive it is the better it’s going to taste. This may seem foreign at first, but if you expand your taste you can tell the difference between a normal bean and a single origin. One last thing: flavor notes. It’s best to keep 2 styles in rotation, a tried and true and a wacky one. Your coffee will never literally taste like stone fruits or green apple candy, but the more exotic the flavor notes, the more exciting the first sip.
Method of Brew
How you brew your coffee is always going to come down to a personal preference in the long run. You are always going to have the way that you find is the easiest but still yields the results you have come to yearn for every morning. For some it might be a french press. Others a Keurig. Some run it old school and brew it by the pot. There are a handful of different ways to brew a cup of joe, with varying levels of dedication and time. While some may claim one way superior to others, this all comes down to personal preference. However, some brew different styles of coffee, so while taste may be preference, you can’t argue that a different style might be worth trying. While pour overs and Aeropresses might scare people based on the super precise method to the madness, one great switch up is brewing “espresso”. This is said lightly, as you would need to break the bank to make actual espresso. But something like a Moka pot is a cheap and easy way to get espresso-style coffee cheaply. It isn’t very expensive, and brews a stronger, smaller batch of coffee. Take it like a shot (RIP going out on the weekends) or water it down with hot or cold water for an Americano. Just be careful: drink too much and this might give you the shakes. This is just one way to switch up the process. French presses are also a cost-effective alternative to brewing, giving a similar style to a regular cup of joe from the pot or Keurig.
Out Here Grinding
People would believe you might take your coffee a little too seriously if you are grinding your beans freshly. But if they knew the cup it would produce, they would be believers too. The two easiest ways to level up your morning cup is buying higher quality beans and grinding them yourself. For this, you first would need to acquire a grinder. Electric or manual, it all does the same thing. It isn’t the worst coffee instrument to invest in, as you start to get higher quality and more tasty coffee, it is going to come in whole-bean form only. Sure you can get it ground at the location of purchase (hopefully), but this then puts a ticking clock on the freshness of the coffee (this is for sure some coffee snob thinking, but the facts are there). Grinding at home also lets you adjust the coarseness of the grind per batch. Certain methods require a certain coarseness. More coarse for a french press, medium for pot and pour overs, fine for Moka pots, and so on. Being able to give the process the required grind will again increase the quality and taste of the batch. And nothing’s more fun than hand grinding beans first thing in the morning.
Mixology & Garnishes
At this point, if you have been drinking coffee for a handful of years, you most likely have how you like your coffee dialed. Maybe it’s black with a pinch of sugar. Maybe it’s a lot creamer. Maybe it’s a mix of both or neither. While you shouldn’t go too far away from what YOU like the most, there are plenty of options in which you can spice up your coffee without deriving too far from the original formula. Let’s say you are a classic coffee with a splash of cream type. In our current age, there are tons of different kinds of milks/creamers to choose from. Artisan creamers, almond milk, oat milk, macadamia milk (a personal favorite). Each has its own properties that transform your cup, but still keep it tasting familiar enough. Maybe you are about black coffee with sugar. There are so many different sweeteners and ways to spice up a black cup, that you might as well play around with alternatives to your go to. Even if you end up back to your traditional cup, you can’t say you didn’t try. Become a coffee mixologist and play around with different ways to transform that familiar cup to something of a cousin to its original flavor.
Resourceful Rationing
We’ve talked about getting creative, and let’s just throw a couple more in there before we go into the next idea. Cinnamon in hot or cold coffee can add a little flavor to a normal cup. Maybe warm up a chocolate chip or two and add that and let it dissolve. Simple and easy ways to add flavor to your cup (without super sugary simple syrup). But enough of this, let’s talk about being resourceful. This is sort of restricted to those with multiple brewing mechanisms, but can make sure you are never coffee-less or needing to leave the house to go get a cup. If you have a large french press, pour your first cup of hot coffee into your morning mug, and then place the remainder into the fridge. Boom, you have a supply of chilled coffee that kind of gets stronger and stronger the longer you leave it. Then go ahead to brew into your smaller french press to keep those morning cups piping hot. Have a Moka pot that makes a little too much for one sitting? Make your morning shot or Americano, and then later in the day make that iced Americano for the 2 o’clock kick. If you want to get crazy, add that leftover shot to your iced coffee supply to blastoff for the next 3-4 hours. If you make your coffee, you should try not to pour out what’s leftover. When you start buying nicer coffee, you are definitely going to want to get as much out of the bag before you buy another.
Artisan drinks Odd-ball Shit
This is the end all be all for the purist coffee drinker. On one end is normal and on the other end is somewhat sacrilegious for some. Let’s start with the normal. Artisan drinks are what we treat ourselves to when we go out for a cup (at least I do). The go-to might be a cappuccino, a latte, or a flat white. Dirty chai, iced lavender, and the list goes on and on. There is a high chance if you try to craft these, they are not going to taste nearly as good as the coffee shop. But hey, that’s why they are a coffee shop. It’s what they do. But if you find yourself unable to support your local cup creators and want to play around in the kitchen, trying to imitate these sought-after sips could prove to be fruitful. Who knows, you maybe were a barista ad just never knew it. Now the weird stuff. There are ways to brew coffee that will have your family, roommates, and even yourself just saying “what am I doing.” Making coffee with a whole egg, adding cheese to your coffee, and the highly touted bulletproof coffee are all ways to really go into left field with your morning fix. If you aren’t someone with a super picky palate, you might as well try a couple just to add that level of uncertainty to your morning. The more you look into these wacky methods, the more you question your morning cup. However, don’t knock it until you try it. (Personal story time: I had tried a coffee soda recently [half tonic water, half coffee, a quarter of a lemon squeezed in] and it actually tasted great]). While some methods may just seem sacrilegious to coffee purists, if there is any time to sin it’s now.
Can ya believe it? Still locked down and cooped up. How quickly could the world absolutely be turned upside down. When this was first coming on, I never would have anticipated the extremes in which it has gotten to. Never in my lifetime have we had such strange and turbulent times. Where seeing friends and meeting strangers is a bad move. Going into public is frowned upon. We are spending a lot of time with our house. Or an apartment. You might be spending time with family. Or your roommates. Or total isolation. Either way you splice it, every one of us is having our social sanity taken away, and we are unsure when it will come back (for good reason, I am no way against social distancing and quarantining). This time alone is going to grow stale quicker than it came on in the first place. Whether it’s working from home or just cruising around the crib, you might as well take some time to try new things. Yesterday, I tried this thing called “Coffee Soda”, in which I mixed cold brew with tonic water and squeezed a quarter of a lemon into it. You would surely only do that if you had been locked inside your house for 2 weeks. It actually tasted really good. As a coffee snob and coffee purist, I thought there was no way I’d like it. And that’s the point. We should be trying new things we never thought we would do in this quarantine time, simply to pass the time and maybe find new things to adore.
Now is a good time to listen to good music. If your life were a movie (and not like IG clout-chasers saying “Yo, last night was a movie”), the pictures associated with it would grow tiresome quickly. But maybe if you put a fire soundtrack behind the monotony it could be slightly more tolerable. I imagine walking to the kettle to turn on the hot water for coffee as an example. If I sequenced that to Al Green, you would think it’s another mellow early morning. But maybe if I put it to some wild techno or heavy bass rap, you would think something different was going to happen afterwards. No matter what, the next thing that was going to happen was the grinding of the beans. But the music could make you think otherwise.
We all have our go to sounds and the music we bump on the daily, pandemic or no pandemic. However, you might get tired of your normal wheelhouse of tunes, and be looking for something new to spice up the rotation during these quarantine times. So here is a small gift for all social distancing: I’m going to call it a 5×5. A pentagon. 5 genres and 5 songs from each genre. Maybe you’ll discover a new song you like. Maybe after listening to 5 songs, you might have a changed mind about the certain sound. Maybe you’ll still hate rap music. While there are tons of sub-genres and all that jazz (no pun intended), the 5 in this rotation are to the writers preferences: Hip-hop, Rock, Electronic, Reggae, and Blues. Hit play. Shuffling them is up to you.
(If I can’t get the embedded player to work, here’s a list of the 25 tracks):
[Peso-A$AP Rocky, Cabin Fever-Wiz Khalifa, Murder To Excellence- Jay-Z & Kanye West, Gatti-Popsmoke & Travis Scott, Soundtrack 2 My Life-Kid Cudi, Call It What You Want-Foster The People, Up All Night-The War On Drugs, Easy Tiger-Portugal, The Man, The Longest Wave-Red Hot Chili Peppers, Lost In Yesterday-Tame Impala, Land Of Promise-Nas & Damian “Jr. Gong” Marley, Sorry-SOJA, Reelin-Iration, Stone Love-Pepper, True To Myself-Ziggy Marley, Wall Fuck-Flume, Runaway (U&I)-Galantis, Happy Violence-Dada Life, The Half-DJ Snake, The City(with QuinnXCII)-Louis The Child), I’m Still in Love with You-Al Green, Cigarettes and Coffee-Otis Redding, What’s Going On-Marvin Gaye, Pusherman-Curtis Mayfield, Changes-Charles Bradley]
We have a lot of time on our hands. Whether we like it or not, we are going to be stuck in the same routine for a while. Working from home, not really leaving the house, and seeing whoever you live with all day long are going to be very real circumstances for the time being (and most likely quite some time after). If you dwell on it too much, you are going to bum yourself out. Remember: it is for the greater good. The quicker we oblige to social distancing and quarantine practices, the quicker we can get out of the very funky time (hopefully). With all this free time on our hands and about a quarter of the social interactions we are used to on the daily, you need some noise to fill the gaps. Music is obviously a great choice (and that, we will be saving for pt. 2), but sometimes we need to switch it up. Ever listen to a podcast? Well, now’s the time to start. Here are some recommendations per the writers interests and biases (with duration included, as some are into short-form and others into long-form):
MUSIC
The Joe Budden Podcast (Long)
This podcast got me through transitioning from working in places that required interaction with customers to working in an office space. While I have loved all my previous and current coworkers, there are certainly times where I just need to plug in and focus to get things done. I felt often that music I was familiar with I would sing along or get easily sidetracked. Locking into a podcast of just banter was one of the best ways I could effectively get work done (at the time, this was mainly copywriting so it wouldn’t side track my word flow on docs). The Joe Budden Podcast is predominantly a music podcast, starting with roots in hip-hop but now covering most everything music related (from releases to the business to specific artists, even to Joe’s music career). The more you listen, the more you start to know about each of the characters and get the jokes that often fly under the table. In it’s evolution, they also cover current events and just about anything that makes headlines. The JBP is for sure the podcast I listen to most, and haven’t missed an episode since 217 (they are now on 334).
This music podcast differs starkly from the JBP. It’s main contributor is Cole Cuchna, a music nerd much like myself, but he is on a completely different level. Dissect takes iconic albums and breaks them down song by song, really taking a deep dive on underlying themes and even the construction of modern music. His selection is for sure Hip-Hop based, but covers some of the most critically acclaimed albums, from KDots TPAB and DAMN to Kanye’s MBDTF. I started with the Kanye album, and by the time I was finished I would argue that MBDTF is probably the best album of the 2000s. While some of it might be a little too in depth on musical notes and history, it does feel awesome to finish a season and have a whole new understanding of an album you already loved.
The first surf podcast I really took a liking to and since I’ve I listened and enjoyed every episode. The two hosts carry the show quite well, one a more average surfer and one an ex-QS surfer turned coach. They both typically tend to have varying perspectives, but always are crushing salt lagers (beers) in unison. Whether it’s contest wrap-ups, contest previews, fantasy surf picks, or the odd guests, they have classic surf banter you and your mates have. They definitely are tapped in to surfing, and especially that coming from their homeland (Australia). It is always nice to hear from the ex-QS surfer (Cahill Bell-Warren) as he has had a wildcard spot on the CT and has grinded the QS for quite some time. Now a surf coach, it’s funny to hear him talk either ultra technical as far as surfing or aussie-slang heavy about surfs or nights out on the piss.
Guilty bias since my dad was a guest on this one (you even can here me chime in on occasion), I actually had listened to the podcast before the invite was extended. The surf world is massive, and there is a lot going on in between the CT surfers, huge corporate brands, and just the culture itself. L8 Night and Choccy do a great job highlighting the more low key but integral parts of surfing’s upbringing. Whether it’s lifelong shop owners, people who steered some of the biggest brands before buyouts, or small groups of surf-minded individuals (companies or boardrider clubs), they cover it all. Both lifelong rippers and both currently working in the industry, it doesn’t get much more core. Whether it’s surf talk, brand talk, or just about anything surrounding the sport or the industry, these guys have the inside scoop.
I really like The Lineup. For me, I am guilty of listening to them all but really only love the ones based on the guest. One thing I love about every single episode though is the lightning round: 10 questions for the guest. My favorite to hear people’s response to is best & worst person to share a session with.
Forerunners is a Surfline-powered podcast that explains wave forecasts to their perspective zones. I couldn’t put it as a favorite since it covers everywhere, and I don’t need to listen to the east coast forecast if I ain’t gonna be over there. But I do love to get the most in-depth breakdown on surf if there is a forecast that looks promising.
Perspective
YNK (Medium)
Mike Stud has always been an artist I’ve been fond of since I found him. While I do like a ton of his songs, his personality at first is what sold me. I was tipped off by a friend to check him out around sophomore/junior year of college, and then fell into the vortex of his Tourings Boring series. One of the earliest vlogs for musicians (salute Wiz Khalifa with DayToday), it follows Stud and his childhood friends in all sorts of debauchery and trouble a couple of lower to mid-20 year olds could get into. Super loose, he was a party guy. When I listened to the first episode of the pod, I realized he had definitely made a lifestyle switch. Post break-up, Mike took his time to slow down and find himself, and in the process became very spiritual. He has taken the podcast platform to interview his friend circle and beyond: fellow musicians, top-level athletes, and entrepreneurs. You can cherry pick the people who you are familiar with, watch ’em all, or listen to their friendly banter when they are sans guests and just with the Steves.
Most of the pods spotlit during this post are in the middle or on the longer side. For me, I typically like to save podcasts for longer periods of time. However, there are some bite-sized podcasts out there that really give you a bang for your buck as far as quality content in a smaller package. While one that comes to mind is the NYTimes podcast The Daily, it recently got a little too corona crazy for me to want to listen to. The GQ podcast Airplane Mode gives you easy to digest tidbits of information, coming from all sorts of different people. From trainers to artists to writers, they all cover topics that they can transfer valuable info based on experience. From 30 minutes to an hour, with the odd long form podcast in there, Airplane mode is good to just get a quick fix. And I always gotta stay true to the GQ brand.
Here’s some shameless self(brother)-promotion. My brother recently beat me into getting into the podcast space (more on that potential later) by starting a pod with two of his closest friends. One thing brought them together when they were younger and it’s something they all still do currently, and that one thing is their love for classic nintendo games. Enter the Nintendads, as these 3 fathers chop it up about game news, express their biases, and overall just goof around. I gotta put some respect on the brozay, as they are only getting more and more quality. While I can’t always follow the subject matter, we all grew up on nintendo games, so the nostalgia just hits home. My one beef with theirs is that there is no video to go along with (while it is understandable since they do not live near each other). Knowing how all of them are, it would be pretty good to see their facial reactions to certain topics.
The Medium Rare Podcast (Short-Medium)
This one is my newest discovery on the podcast front. It is for sure my guilty pleasure podcast. It is no way embarrassing, but sometimes I just think to myself “why am I watching this”. It pretty much details the late-night antics and clout-driven activities between 3 close friends with money. While I am sure if me and my buddies somehow attained a nice amount of loot and a social following, we would be doing the same shit. In a nutshell, it covers girls, going out, fashion, and food. The food part is definitely what first drew me in, as it is interesting to hear their opinions about different food scenes (although it is all very high-end dining, which I won’t be partaking in anytime soon). But like I said, I got sucked in and now am playing catch up. It will act as an inspiration for when we are off quarantine and back to sending it (that’s some shit they would say). This is one I’d say is essential to watch, just because you can see how close of friends they are based on the body language and jargon between them.
James Giordano 