These are the words, images, and beers that inspired the GBH Collective this week. Drinking alone just got better, because now you’re drinking with all of us.
READ.// “Here’s a thought that used to be funny to me: There were members of the live audience of The Ed Sullivan Show on February 9, 1964, who weren’t there to see the Beatles.” Dave Holmes’ profile of BTS—the biggest band in the world—for Esquire paints a picture of a culture-shaping movement that I’ve barely heard of and understand even less. And there’s something simultaneously disturbing and freeing in that. Take it away guys, it’s all yours now.
LOOK.// Loners, lemmings, and longing—the portrait of a next-level retirement community called “The Villages” in the film “Some Kind of Heaven” offers an uncommonly complex and sympathetic view of elderly Americans in their element—and towards the end of their lives. It’s thrilling and terrifying to realize that we never really grow up: We just keep getting older.
DRINK.// Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales’ Oro
Can-conditioned and with a shortened name, Jolly Pumpkin Oro (previously Oro de Calabaza) is exactly what American Wild Ales have always striven to be, and it just happened to get there before most people started trying. Golden, slightly floral, and featuring a bit of stone fruit character, it has the ability to nudge your meal in whatever direction it’s already heading. It’s a perfect beer.
READ.// “The first spring and summer made me think I really knew what I was doing. It wasn’t until a year later, when I moved into a new apartment which wasn’t as bright that I first started to become a better plant parent.” I’ve written about this before, but my pandemic obsession has been gardening. In the midst of a Northeast winter, however, there aren’t a lot of places I can direct that energy until spring. Enter Hilton Carter: interior plant stylist, author, and fellow Baltimore native. With his third book due out in April, I have been reading his earlier ones and gaining inspiration for our home’s greenery. Wild at Home gives recommendations on plant types based on the available light, plus tips on watering, styling, tools, and beyond. I was so inspired, I spent 45 minutes this past Sunday wiping the leaves of the latest addition to our home, a rubber tree named Iggy.
LOOK.// If you don’t want to wait to read the book, Hilton Carter’s Instagram feed is also plenty inspiring. One of my favorite posts is from January 31, 2021 and features a wooden canoe used to make a plant chandelier!
DRINK.// Saison Dupont
2021 has marked my one and only attempt at Dry January. One reason I committed to the 31-day hiatus was a hope that I would rediscover the joy of drinking at home—as the pandemic has dragged on, it’s lost any real sense of anticipation. As the end of the month approached, I found myself excited to revisit classics like Saison Dupont. As the calendar ticked into February, I marked a Friday night as the date I would pull the bottle from the fridge. Twisting the wire on the cage, hearing the pop of the cork, I poured the beer into my glass. I could barely pour a few sips’ worth before the foam reached the top of the glass. Clearly this beer was going to make me wait a little longer before I could retreat to my favorite reading chair to try it.
READ.// “‘The ERCOT grid has collapsed in exactly the same manner as the old Soviet Union,’ said Hirs. ‘It limped along on underinvestment and neglect until it finally broke under predictable circumstances.’” This is more of a what-pissed-me-off Read than a what-inspired-me Read, but to see my home state of Texas crippled by winter storms and backward ideals is frustrating to no end. Via deregulation of our state power grid—yes, we have our own!—our state government has avoided federal “interference” since the mid ’90s. Sure, we saved a few pennies, but ERCOT avoided preparing for extreme cold while ignoring signs from previous winter storms (like those in 2011 and 2018) that the system couldn’t hold up against severe conditions. Now attempts to blame frozen wind turbines instead of the rugged individualism that got Texas to this point are leaving many of my friends and family out in the cold, without power for days in flooded homes, fearing they’ve lost everything.
LOOK.// Guy Fieri’s Flavortown Kitchen just arrived in Seattle (and other cities across the nation) and hoo boy am I ready for a round of Cheesesteak Egg Rolls and Jalapeño Poppers. Look at this menu and tell me you aren’t tempted to have some of the Frosted-Tip King’s food delivered to you, hopefully via convertible. Y’all can keep the Fieri hate—this man has been a godsend to hospitality workers throughout the pandemic, raising millions through the Restaurant Employee Relief Fund. As a personal thank you to this legend, I’m about to take a donkey-sauce-fueled ride to Flavortown.
DRINK.// Wayfinder Beer’s Russian Circles Black Pilsner
I’m not much of a metalhead, but I do hold a special affinity for a few bands: The Sword, Sabbath, Khemmis. So when Wayfinder Beer released a Black Pilsner as an ode to the instrumental metal group Russian Circles, I figured, hey—what could go wrong with grabbing a four-pack? Nothing went wrong, my friends. I sipped, then guzzled, and the bitter, exceptionally balanced beverage hit all my tastebuds much like a steadily rising Russian Circles track. Not only did I get a great drink out of the deal, but a new favorite metal band was added to the list. Rock on and drink up, y’all.
Curated by The GBH Collective
