Good Things #17
I've been scrolling TikTok a dangerous amount, I've found the world's best white wine vinegar and I'm surprised by what freaks postboxes really are.
Dear friends,
I hope you’re well. I just broke my favourite glass from Anthropologie. Smashed it to smithereens in the sink (yes, Mum, THE glass) so I’m feeling mad with myself for doing the washing up like Edward Scissorhands. As Taylor Swift says, This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things. Sigh.
Anyway, life goes on.
Ready for some good things?
TikTok: Deco Band 80’s mash-ups
Check me out being on TikTok again like a cool young person!? Genuinely, since I made a TikTok account a few weeks ago (purely to watch Dr Julie Smith videos), I have become someone you might see featured in a social media-addiction news report, with my voice provided by an actor and just a camera shot of my phone as I scroll madly in my dark bedroom. I’d say I’m currently spending at least 28 hours a day scrolling through TikTok videos. It’s very addictive and I’d recommend not getting into it.
But also, it’s brilliant. And I’ve found so many things on there to enjoy. Like this guy. Deco Band create mash-ups of pop songs, but reimagined with an 80’s twist. If you’re on TikTok already then you’ll have seen a few of them pop up, probably, but if you’re not, the above video is just one example. Will it be enough to tempt you to search for more…? Smells Like Teen Spirit…but 80s? Bittersweet Symphony… but 80s? Craig David’s 7 Days…but made in the 1980’s? Come on.
Podcasts: The Polyester Podcast
I’ll be 40 this year. I’m sorry to tell you that. I know the above TikTok knowledge implies I’m only 20 but I was actually born in 1982 and that makes me a “millennial”. Aside from not quite being able to believe that I’m almost FORTY when in my heart I’ll always be sweet 16 (is this just what getting “old” is like? Because I hate it…) I feel as though I’m straddling the world now, with one foot trying to keep up with young Generation Z people and the other foot preferring very much to stay home because nothing will ever be as good as the 1990’s (give me a Britpop playlist, some TLC baggy jeans, 20 Marlboroughs and a new pair of Adidas trainers any day *chefs kiss*).
The Polyester Podcast feels like it represents the very tail end of my generation (at a push) but totally represents people from Gen Z, so if you’re wondering what the kids are talking/thinking about, this is a great insight.
I’ve listened to hours and hours of it this week - it’s fun, clever and interesting with topics that feel current like: Is Instagram in its Flop Era? Should marginalised people be the only ones to tell their stories? How has social media aestheticised loneliness? Etc. The team “pull apart the #discourse and try to make sense of it all.” One review says it’s: “like chatting with your mates but your really cool ones,” and I can’t put it any better, it’s exactly like that.
Investigating further I discover that the podcast is a spin-off from the website polyesterzine.com and the host is Editor-in-Chief, Ione Gamble - a writer whom I hadn’t heard of and I must say I’m a little ashamed to admit that because the internet says amazing things like this about her:
“One of the world's leading voices in intersectional feminist publishing. Focusing on the rise of social media and identity politics, Ione and Polyester have built a community of strong-minded, marginalised people determined to carve their place in a world that continues to ignore them. She has been named an editor shaping the future of magazines by i-D magazine, and a New Debutante by Tatler.”
Pre-order Poor Little Sick Girls by Ione Gamble here.
TV: Billi, All 4
I started following Harry Trevaldwyn on Twitter during lockdown because his posts really made me laugh in the perpetual gloom of 2021. The little videos he posted up were of himself playing a bratty, self-absorbed character with exaggerated traits you’ll probably recognise from some real people whom you don’t really like. Some of his videos had me crying with laughter and so I was pleased to see that Harry’s made the character into a Comedy Blap on All4. Watch the video above to enjoy 10 whole, indulgent minutes of the character “Billi”.
Food: Trebbiano White Wine Vinegar, Waitrose, £4.99
If you like a little splash of white wine vinegar on your salad, this is the one. Who knew vinegar could be this delicious? It’s….vinegary… but kind of sweet too. And Waitrose, if you’re reading this, email me if you want to use this incredibly eloquent description for marketing purposes.
Treasure from the internet: Postboxes secretly look like this…
Is seeing postboxes like this a good thing? I don’t know what this feeling is when I look at these postboxes, secretly being freaks under the ground, but you should see it too.
Thanks for reading.
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See you next week.
Love, Emily xx
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More stuff by me:
By day I’m a TV writer and this week I wrote about Martin Lewis (The Money Saving Expert). And Martin even shared it on his own social media accounts saying it was the “most bizarre thing anyone had ever written” about him but was also “quite funny”.
I also write a column in Velvet. This month it’s about the sun-creaming of children and I had a lot to say.
You can find me on Twitter @emilyincam.