Please enjoy this week’s dramatic reading of Monday’s post: “Hello, I’m the Sea Otter Who Stole Your Surfboard.”👇
Enjoy!
Notes from the Captain
It’s good to take a left turn. I mentioned in last week’s video that since last week was quite serious, this week I might try to do something lighter. Luckily for me, this was the week of Sea Otter 841 getting her big break on the national news circuit. I talk through her backstory and how it inspired me in the video. I hope you enjoy this deep dive - I had a lot of fun making it.
There are a bunch of links below relating to the video and elements that the post referenced that were slightly deep cuts if you’re not up on internet nerdery. Also, Sea Otter 841 is a very Santa Cruz thing, so big news here, but not everywhere so I put a lot in to give it context.
By the way, my favorite missed connection in the piece was the poem. I really do think Sea Otter poetry could be a thing…
Until next we meet, love what you love, and I’ll see you out there, making stuff.
Your Captain, Janeen 🫡
Thangs mentioned in this video episode…
👩✈️ All the Sea Otter 841 news fit to print. (Ok, some of it)
Just one news story of many that sets the initial tone
The NYT headline: She Steals Surfboards by the Seashore. She is a Sea Otter.
Mom of the surfboard-stealing Santa Cruz otter had similar behavior problems
Failed capture attempt update:
The backlash: Surfboard Stealing Sea Otter Sparks Controversy in Santa Cruz
Side note: Is she a greedy crab grabber? No. She’s just highly SKILLED at her job.
I thought there was a video of SO841 catching a wave, but turns out I was remembering a photo that was in a video. Whoops!
👩✈️ All about the “Acid Test” era (well, not all, but plenty)
“Kesey and his followers, the so-called “Merry Pranksters,” hosted the first acid test in the Santa Cruz County town of Soquel in November 1965.”
Here’s a rundown of what the Acid Test events were all about.
And here is a “Good Times” (classic free newspaper here in SC) 50th-anniversary story about it from 2015 Testing Ground: Remembering the First ‘Acid Test’
This is not about the first acid test (although it doesn’t mention it), and gives the general vibe: On Halloween 1966, The Grateful Dead, Ken Kesey and His Merry Pranksters ‘Graduated’ From LSD
👩✈️ Corpse Flower bloom
The Santa Cruz Corpse Flower bloomed in August 2022 and is actually at the UCSC Arboretum and Botanic Garden. When blooming, a corpse flower can be smelled from half a mile away. The corpse flower takes many years to bloom — and dies within just one day.
Look at this beaut!
It was a bit of a tease there for a spell, but it finally came through.
“The corpse flower at the University of California, Santa Cruz arboretum has bloomed after it was previously announced that it would not bloom and would be autopsied.”
Autopsied? Wow.
Here are 10 facts about Corpse Flowers
👩✈️ Rick Astley at Glasto
This is not a Rick Roll, this is Rickastonbury! He CRUSHED at Glastonbury this year, and I’d embed the whole set, but it’ll get taken down eventually so watch it while you can. Meantime, here’s Justin Hawkins reacting to The Smiths cover Rick did during that set. So many of my Gen-X joys are having a moment. (Can’t wait for my new Blur which shipped yesterday, new Hives, and my The Darkness “Permission to Land (Again)” 20-year anniversary vinyl pre-orders to arrive.)
👩✈️ (M)oarfish!
The Oarfish with all the bites on its body was in Taiwan, not Thailand. There’s actual footage of that fish at this link: Divers encounter enormous ‘doomsday fish’ riddled with shark bites.
It’s called a doomsday fish - or earthquake fish - because if you see one it is considered by some to be a harbinger of doom and a predictor of earthquakes.
Also, the shark bites were believed to be delivered by a cookie-cutter shark (on Sea Otter 841’s orders obviously 😉), hence the nice circular shapes on the oarfish’s body.
👩✈️ Attenzione Pickpocket!
Attenzione Pickpocket explainer: “What is the ‘Attenzione Pickpocket!’ sound on TikTok? Where did it come from?”
Tiktok failed to load.Enable 3rd party cookies or use another browser
👩✈️ Random
You can’t leave Threads without deleting your Instagram… (for now?) (The Verge)
Pickleball explodes in popularity, starting turf wars (CBSnews)
What are nepotism babies, and why is everyone talking about them? (Augustman)
I think that’s it…. thanks for listening/watching/being. If I missed anything you were curious about, leave a comment.
Do something great this weekend. Do something great your whole life if you can.
Do. Make. Be.
🫡
Behind the Streams, Ep 17: "Otter"