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JFK's vision for the stars; 1001 films to watch before you die; Can you Scroll Happy?

3 Things adds video this week and the poem "love"

Thanks for spending part of your weekend with Things I Wrote Down. I’m suffering from a bout of whiplash. All these tariffs being added then removed has been like attending a tennis match (without the trophy or the athleticism).

I did go grocery shopping and noticed that strawberries were $1.99 and cucumbers were $0.89 each, prices we haven’t seen since Confederation!

Last week I did a video version of my 3 Things for the first time, and it got a bunch of views, so I thought I’d give it another try. Thanks for reading and watching.

Here are some interesting places I landed on the web this week and a poem called “love”.

Subscribe to Things I Wrote Down. It’ll spark some hope in your week.

1. JFK's vision for the stars

Do you think humanity will ever occupy the planets? Ten years ago I wouldn’t have believed it. But I’m getting more and more convinced.

This week over at The 49 (the new fiction series I’m releasing week-over-week) I asked that question. In Part 8, we learn that a breakthrough of in-orbit refuelling at the end of 48’s first term was what started to make the galaxy seem smaller, the planets an actual neighbourhood. And how the territory that used to be known as the province of Alberta became an integral hub of Phase 2 of Occupy Mars.

I found this video of JFK as he challenged humanity to overcome its differences and aim, together, for the stars

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2. 1001 films to watch before you die

When I recommend a book, if I really love it, I tend to say, “I don’t want you to die anytime soon, but this is definitely a book you should read before you die.”

So, when I was at our local library, this title jumped right out at me.

Its a rare kind of publication. Heavy, coloured print, glossy. It could double as a murder weapon. (View the video above to get a sense of just how weighty it is).

If you wanted to start your own Substack and don’t have a hook, you could probably just work your way through this book and talk about it (and in so doing save me and a lot of others some time. Your newsletter would be a service to humanity).

The coffee table book recently came out with a new edition, bumping some films from the list and adding new films such as 12 Years A Slave and Mad Max: Fury Road. Here’s some included. Have you seen any of them?

  • All Quiet on the Western Front

  • The Maltese Falcon

  • Cool Hand Luke

  • The Rocky Horror Picture Show

  • Forrest Gump

  • Once Upon a Time... In Hollywood

  • And so many more!


Can you actually Scroll Happy?

I get to meet so many interesting, creative people in my work at Compassion. Last week I shared about my time at NRB in Dallas where I met people working in media in the faith space.

One of these fascinating individuals was the CEO of a new tech start up called UP.

Get on UP's waitlist


A poem

Love. It escapes the carnage and chaos of the world. Builds. Upholds. Breaks through.

Here’s a poem about love.

love

I reach for you
quake
feel around 
blind
blood caked to my eardrums
in the rubble
of a world scorched
by light,
cut fingers on split concrete
memory
exposed rebar 

you are somewhere
buried deep
below screams
for air,
water
horrors imagination won’t 
produce

breathing

© 2024 Andrew Kooman

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