Five things on Friday #392
Newsletter writing is an insomniac's best friend.
Things of note for the week ending Friday January 17th, 2025.
#392
INTRO
The start time of the 392nd edition of Five things on Friday is 05:50am (GMT+1) on Friday Jan 17th. I’ve been up since about 3am and I can’t sleep. I don’t know about you but sleeping well the night before a flight is something I find tricky. Your body, subconsciously be all like ‘Yoooo dawg, what if you MISS YOUR FLIGHT thoooooo’ and so you become restless and sleep with it becomes broken. My Fitbit says I’ve been asleep tonight for 2hrs and 50mins.
Well then.
One hopes I’ll sleep on the plane.
Be that as it may: Happy Friday gang. I’ve been in Denmark this week (I’m writing to you from Billund), a last minute trip to help deliver a workshop for [redacted] which, based on early feedback, went well. So that’s good. To say this week has been hectic would be a mild understatement, mind.
A mix of travel, house repairs (an unexpectedly/considerably larger job than we thought, heavens (who needs a living room anyway?)- hooray for insurance), kids’ birthdays, some more travel later this month, and then planning a small hospital trip/op shortly thereafter (I’m fine, promise) means I’m currently taking bookings for beers, coffees, lunches and catch ups mid-to-late Feb (someone even put a date in for MARCH this week. MARCH! March. It’s January for crying out loud. Let’s just go all out and just say ‘Q2’ - jeez).
Point is: if we’re overdue, then give me a shout and let’s get something in.
What else can I tell you?
Quite a few of you wrote back in response to last week’s opener in regard to reflections, self-assessments, and freelance life. Pleased to know that struck a chord. I did a fair bit of open plan thinking about what I wanted to do with my[working]self back in the spring, so maybe my annualised thinking has moved slightly… we’ll see what happens in a couple of months. But it’s good noodle fodder all the same and, if anything, it’s really nice to a) hear from readers/subscribers and b) hear that these words I write out loud land in places that make people think and reflect also.
Life and its many ways and routes to connection eh?
What a wonder.
It’s 6:04 now. I’ve got some notes in a textedit file and I’ve spent the last couple of hours looking for some decent things to share (he says, lying about his insomnia-driven- doom-scrolling). Shall we crack on?
Let’s.
—
TO THE THINGS!
THING 1. 1000xRESIST
This is another way of distending time, or believing that you can. Living like we’re in the past is a futile effort, yet moving forward without resolving the crises of the past will doom us to repeating the same cycle over and over.
I cant remember where I found this.
It may have come from one of the many other newsletters I subscribe to and plunge the depths of (note to self: capture all the newsletters you read and share them here one day - would that be a decent thing to do? I think so) but this particular piece of writing by Emily Price has been in my open tabs for A WHILE and I only just got around to reading it (airports + travelling, great for catching up on the tabs of eternity).
And it is superb.
Titled ‘What is left when we move on?’ what starts out as a review for a little known game on Steam turns into a striking reflection of learning - or not - from what has come before. Specifically in this case: the impact of the pandemic.
Not only is this just a great piece of writing but it’s also about a game. I cannot tell you how many words or times I have used to talk up how emotionally impactful games can be. 1000xResist sounds like just one of those games. And hey listen, I don’t play many games on Steam. Barely any at all. So I don’t know when or if I’ll ever play this. I’m putting it here because I think you should read it. That’s all.
And y’know what, after reading it (and hitherto having heard NOTHING about this game) I went and looked for more reviews. In doing so, I found this equally great piece from Alexis Ong. She takes a different angle but the journey - and related perspective - is still fascinating.
Read about a game you'll unlikely play.
Twice.
Go on, I dare you.
THING 2. A CAVALCADE OF CRAP MEN
God, we are surrounded aren’t we?
I can’t not write about Neil Gaiman. I want to write more. I will. There are words in me that extend from Gaiman to Pelicot and every damaged woman inbetween (because listen, men, we need to lean in). I need to put them in the right order.
I will.
But for now, for the love of God read the ‘There is no safe word’ the extremely well researched piece about Neil Gaiman’s predatory behaviour and the awful impact it has had on the women he has been around.
It is hard, horrible reading. But you have to face these things and stare them down. Into the black, the dark. Face them and push them away.
-
On a different note entirely and elevating the theme to be about white men who are merely bang average, Jemima Kelly of the FT writes about ‘The Cravenness of Mark Zuckerberg’
I would feel more comfortable if the man in charge of platforms that are used by two-fifths of the world’s population could show some moral courage and leadership. He might have successfully transformed his image, but at least lizards have backbones.
Quite.
I mean it could be worse, Zuck could be blaming women for everything. Oh no, wait. He is. From Platformer:
The Times report, which Meta declined to comment on, comes a few days after Zuckerberg told Joe Rogan that companies need more “masculine energy.” And for women in the workplace, few forms of masculine energy are more familiar than a top executive blaming a woman for the fallout of programs and policies that he agreed to and oversaw.
Oh my days.
-
Let’s move on to another. This time it’s Mark Read taking the WPP with the whole RTO thing (again).
In Thing 4 of last week’s FToF, I told you about WPP's misguided banter about forcing every single one of its 114,000 employees back to the office four days a week (with at least two Fridays a month baked in).
The petition to roll this policy back is now at over 16,000 signatories. Amazingly Mark Read has responded (to PR Week?) and said:
“Listen, I know for some people this is going to be a change but we are going to introduce this new policy co-operatively. It doesn’t come in until April and we’ll use that time to talk to our people about how to implement it carefully and pragmatically.
“We appreciate that many people have responsibilities such as dropping their kids at school or caring for an elderly relative, and we’re going to continue much of the flexibility we’ve experienced over the last few years. That said, with many of our clients in the office three, four and increasingly five days a week, we think this is the right move for the long-term success of the company and people’s careers.”
Tell you what, all credit to Campaign for carrying the WPP message of “Other WPP staff have… …expressed their support for Read’s policy.” - and then really making sure the message lands with calling out the job levels:
One managing director-level employee said: “We have a great culture in the office and work really well when we’re together as a team…”
Another director-level staffer said: ”I find working from home can mean you miss out on important discussions”
10/10. No notes.
It’s worth saying that Amy Houston at The Drum is also doing the due diligence, digging into more staff sentiment and finding WPP employees ‘feeling saddened, disgusted and quite angry’.
Not looking great is it?
THING 3. THIS WEEK IN… GREAT VIDEOS TO WATCH
There are a few gaming things dotted around the newsletter this week so I wanted to switch up the middle section for FToF #392 because it’s my newsletter and I can do what I want.
Here are some videos I’ve watched this week that I thought ‘hey, that was pretty darn good’ - for various reasons.
Starting off with THE TEN RULES OF TECHNO
You may have seen the original before but this new version is WITH DANCING and I loved it. You might love it too.
Good? Good.
What else? Oh yeah, as promised in last week’s edition, the Nintendo Switch 2 got announced/revealed by Nintendo this week (on Thursday, as rumoured) with a follow up ‘Nintendo Direct’ scheduled for April.
It also features new Mario Kart. Yey!
Also, here’s more on the new Mario Kart.
Back to music again, this time with OK GO and their latest, ‘A stone only rolls downhill’ -
64 videos on 64 phones. This is art.
Next, there’s a new trailer for Daredevil out, fam.
REMINDS ME: I don’t think I ever finished S3 on Netflix. Might have to do that…
What is James watching:
Slow Horses (finally)
Mindhunter (I started it ages ago, restarted it on this trip, forgot how good it is. Also: Fincher)
Traitors (obvs)
THING 4. SEVERANCE (AND OTHER MEDIA)
If you’ve been anywhere a Linkedin feed this week, then you’ve almost certainly seen this:
That’s because everyone is talking about Apple's Severance S2 launch stunt in Grand Central Station, New York.
And because this newsletter is not Linkedin (I still haven’t reinstalled it on my phone - I do not miss that app at all), I’m going to keep the warm takes light and say the obvious part out loud:
Smart social/creative people have known for a long time that you don't DO social creative, you do/create/produce ideas that people will take photos of and then share on social.
OOH is the new social for this reason.
Fake OOH, the same.
This stunt falls into the above category of ‘this is something so damn good that it’ll just go social on its own’ - and of course, the clincher here is that they got the goddamn stars involved for it.
Baller moves.
I guarantee no one was sat around in the studio going ‘OK but if we don’t have a hashtag somewhere, how will people know where to find it?’
Severance
STREAMING JAN 17
That’s it. Not even an ‘S2’ on the end of the first line on the Grand Central box.
Have the confidence to say less.
THING 5. TONY SLATTERY
We lost a few good men this week. David Lynch, The Vivienne, Paul Danan, and Tony Slattery. But at the time of writing, I only had words for Tony.
Way back in may of 2019, in Five things on Friday #295, I wrote:
Growing up in the 90s and staying up late on a Friday night to watch Whose Line Is It Anyway was always a highlight of the week. Seeing Proops, Lawrence, and Slattery absolutely kill it week in week out in improv - IMPROV! - was a joy to behold.
Then Tony disappeared off our screens and, well, this is what happened next.
The best thing in the newsletter this week by a mile. Read it, then go and say hi to Tony on Twitter. He's enjoying a resurgence right now - and long may it continue.
Here's to Tony, here's to Mark Michael Hutchinson, and here's to unconditional love.
We lost Tony this week and The Guardian, who wrote the original piece I linked to six years ago (above - still worth revisiting), has published how above all else, he was simply a lovely man.
A true loss.
Go watch some old Whose Line is it Anyway videos. It’ll cheer you up. Promise x
BONUS SECTION
THIS IS THE BONUS SECTION. BONUS LINKS THAT PUSH US OVER OUR WEEKLY SELF-IMPOSED LIMIT SO ARE THEREFORE RELEGATED TO HANGING OUT DOWN HERE. SORRY NOT SORRY X
Both in this edition and last I’ve alluded to removing more apps from my phone. I think in part it’s because OH MY GOD I needed a break this past Christmas but also in part due to watching the two-part Channel 4 documentary, ‘Swiped: the school that banned smartphones’ - even if you’re not a parent, it’s recommended watching.
Nominations for the next cohort of The Marketing Academy Scholarship are NOW OPEN. I did this years ago and it remains one of the best things to ever happen to my career. GO GO GO.
I wonder when the wheels will fall off Open AI (I read something about Open AI being like Tinkerbell and clapping and I really can’t get over how great that is as a simile)
I found it! ‘AI IS LIKE TINKERBELL’
Related: A couple of editions ago I spoke about rhe governments need to explore what and how the UK's approach to AI might be. Turns out the TECH MINISTER IS ALREADY DOING IT WITH GEN AI and has kind of put his job on the line along with it. Madness.
Related related: Apple is DISABLING the AI feature that summarises the news. Going well then. Lol.
A bunch of people (OK, like, A LOT of you) had BALATRO down as your 2024 game of the year. I haven't played it (mainly because I have a fear of having another card game completely take over my life (NO MARVEL SNAP, STAY OUTSIDE, you are NOT coming back in!)) but at some point I might and you might too. If that day happens, here are some tips I found on Bluesky.
QUEEN OF THE RING is a true story!
YOU ARE REACHING THE END OF THE NEWSLETTER. MIND THE GAP.
Right then. I think that’s me done. It’s 0747am GMT+1. I’m getting picked up to head to the office in about 15mins. I’ll give this a quick proof and hit send. Shall we do that?
If you only do one thing this weekend, then please reach out to an old mate and say hi. The Tony Slatterys of this world are not with us for long. And sometimes they don’t make it out the other side to rejoin us again.
Spend time with friends. Do so, wildly.
I managed to get a brunch in with some old faves at Brother Marcus in Covent Garden last weekend and we ended up walking FROM there to a friend’s leaving town drinks in Stoke Newington (via a couple of bars and a fish and chip shop). Took 2hrs and it was great. What bliss!
Recommended.
Both spending time with faves and the food at Brother Marcus. Not the traipsing across London bit, though. It’s hardly the weather for it is it?
Ok so maybe..
Whatever.
Until next time,
Whatley out x
Just to say... I have pre-orderd the Switch 2 that was on the website and which you were probably saving for Christmas Forgive me Kong's arms swung it so big and so swoles
— James Whatley (@whatleydude.com) 2025-01-16T16:21:51.349Z
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