Just nice things, vol. 2
The crab iceberg, explained
Hi! How was your week?
This week I had to travel and then go to jury duty, so we’re doing another edition of JUST NICE THINGS. This one is all about crabs, kind of!
Nice thing #1: This crab pen holder!
You know how sometimes your desk is covered in loose Skittles and, as a result, there’s no room to put your pen down on your desk? You’re just sitting there, holding your pen in your hand like a caveman, wondering if someone will ever invent a solution to your problem?
Sure, we’ve all been there. And good news!
It’s a crab that holds your pen! It has a pretty small footprint, so you only need to move a few Skittles around. The crab then holds your pen safely aloft, like an inch higher or so, hovering above the Skittles like a crab-angel.
Awesome! THANKS, CRAB!
This one is made of plastic and I bought it at the Maido in San Francisco on Monday because it reminded me of the crabs from Crab Rave. Which led to…
Nice thing #2: Crab Rave!
Isn’t it weird how you can have so much in common with someone and yet fundamentally inhabit a totally different version of the internet than they do?
That is how I felt when I learned my wife did not know about Crab Rave. Then, after we realized this because I kept talking about Crab Rave, I got to watch her go through all five stages of Crab Rave in just a handful of days.
Denial. “Please stop singing that. Seriously. You can sing it on Friday.”
Anger. “Oh no, it’s Friday.”
Bargaining. “Fine, but you can’t play it that loud.”
Acceptance. “That was better than I expected. You can listen to it again.”
Rave. “OK, the video is cute. I get why you like this.”
Here is the video. Just let it play until the rave starts. It will make your week better.
Here is my favorite cover, done in chiptune.
Nice thing #3: this t-shirt of jazz crabs featuring Shella Fitzgerald!
When I woke up on Friday and realized that, by prior agreement, I was allowed to listen to Crab Rave, I wore this shirt. It was how my wife knew she was in for an eventful Friday.
This shirt, which you can buy here SO WE CAN BE TWINS, is a creation of Jeff Wysaki, better known as the artist Obvious Plant. If you have found this blog, you will also like Obvious Plant. He even made a planner:
Everything he does is like this. Go buy a bunch of his stuff!
Nice thing #4: this book about a crab attack called Crab Attack!
Books are great because they can transport you to a totally different place and time. And they are especially great when that place is “mutant crab invasion” and the time is “crab attack o’clock.” Which brings us to Crab Attack by Michael Cole.
Michael Cole is an author from Michigan.
Cole writes creature-feature sci-fi/horror books that read like film treatments. I describe his books as “Jaws, but with _____.” Cole is rather prolific; among many other things, the “blank” has included electric eels, pistol shrimp, giant leeches, and (my favorite) very very large-mouth bass. I love stuff like this and have just finished his latest, Nautilus, in which an oil rig is attacked by a giant nautilus.
Crab Attack is about crabs who attack. You get it. Buy it on Amazon here; most if not all of his stuff is on Kindle Unlimited as well.
Nice thing #5: Crabcore!
Finally: the Attack Attack! video for Stick Stickly. I think about this video a lot.
This song was dubbed “crabcore” because of the impressive hip flexibility on display. Look at the guy on the right!
I think the opening riff to this song is great, as is the breakdown that happens at 2:30. And then the thing that happens at 2:45 is SO UNBELIEVABLY BONKERS that, 14 years later, I’m still thinking about it.
(Start listening at 2:30 to get the full effect and, if you do not like metal, just put up with it until things take a turn at 2:45. Trust me, it’s worth it.)
This video did not get a kind reception when it came out; “crabcore” was not intended to be complimentary. And yet you can see how a lot of the -core stuff that works today had its roots in this era of experimentation, and there’s something really admirable about getting so far ahead of the market that everyone is like I HATE IT and then, ten years later, begrudgingly admits you were on to something. It’s even more admirable when you stick it out long enough to see that change happen. I hope these guys are well.
SO, in light of that: this week, may you have so much confidence and faith in your work that you stick with it until everyone who is like “booo” at first eventually has to say “on second thought, it’s genius, you were right.”
See you soon!