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Pretend you want to do a crypto impersonation scam. You might purloin the likeness of a known cryptocurrency expert. Especially a handsome one. A balding Average Joe who has made a very modest name as a stock expert would seem an odd choice, but there’s a first time for everything. (Seeing your photo misappropriated is painful. Seeing your photo misappropriated next to clunky English slogans is devastating.) The above photo is at least one of the active groups.

In 2018, I created the SerenityOS project after completing a drug rehab program. I needed something to soak up my free time while learning to live a normal life, and it turned out that building a new operating system was a task of just the right proportions. After six months of working on it by myself, I posted it online, and invited others to participate. Since then, SerenityOS has grown into a large OSS community with over one thousand contributors all over the world.

In 1974, two years before his adaptation of Stephen King’s novel Carrie would push him into mainstream success, trailblazer of pervy freak cinema Brian De Palma wrote and directed an indulgent, hedonistic rock opera movie musical called Phantom of the Paradise. Though a commercial and critical flop at the time (except, uncannily, in Winnipeg, Manitoba and Paris), the low budget, independently-produced passion project has developed an increasingly avid cult following in the nearly 50 years since it was released.

Hello Miami friends — if you missed me last week, it’s because I was in our 49th state enjoying crisp air, gorgeous vistas, and gorging myself on fresh salmon. There’s no other way to put it — Alaska is the most gorgeous place I’ve ever been on the North American continent. If you’ve been putting off Alaska because of the extremely long travel time to reach your destination or if you’re waiting to save up two or three weeks to go, my advice would be to not make any more excuses.

I started this Substack a while ago and then stopped for reasons I can’t quite explain. I got depressed there for a little while, that’s for sure. Got busy with paid writing gigs. Got the itch to make pasta again. Tears of The Kingdom came out. Dated somebody who vaped constantly. Got lost at the Ross Dress for Less on Western and Hollywood (it’s a lot easier than you think). Truthfully, though, the main reason I stopped is that I ate a real big sandwich back in March and simply haven’t recovered.

The year is 2014. Audio of Donald Sterling, owner of the The Los Angeles Clippers, has just been released to TMZ. It is horrifically racist and sends the NBA into a brief moment of chaos. It bring the uncomfortable racial dynamics at play in Basketball and most major sports in America to the forefront of conversation. Franchises worth billions of dollars are built and sustained on the bodies of black players, while managed and controlled by white owners, who seem to get older and richer with each passing year.

Yay! I'm so happy you're doing this. As a side note, I would point out that Europe is full of talented audio people who you could hire for a smaller sum if money gets tight. I would imagine you have networks of people you'd like to work with and might have doubts about undercutting their pay by outsourcing, but do keep that in mind. Expand full comment ncG1vNJzZmibn6S5pcHDnrGoppVjwLau0q2YnKNemLyue89ooKZlnqTBbq2Mm6ysoZ6awLS5wKdkoqVdlnqjwdKipZ6ro2SwsLnMnqWtqw%3D%3D

I’ve never been the type to fall for straight girls, but Elizabeth Wurtzel may be an exception. Last month, when I was working on a story about the Indigo Girls’ triumphant legacy with a song like “Closer to Fine” (as celebrated in Barbie), I remembered how it was Elizabeth Wurtzel (most well-known for her dark confessional memoir Prozac Nation) who first called out the freedom lesbian musicians like Amy, Emily and Melissa Etheridge exalted.

Hi, welcome back to Mixed Messages! This week, in a change to our advertised schedule, I’m speaking to presenter, author and journalist Vick Hope, who is of mixed Nigerian and white British heritage. We sat down at One Hundred Shoreditch after Vick hosted a panel with Mastercard UK, celebrating the next generation of creatives driving change in the music industry ahead of this years BRIT Awards. Read Vick’s story of her mixed identity below.