Friday's Five ✋ #448
A city with two faces
Happy Friday! ☀️
Two days with a leadership team above the Frankfurt skyline this week. Floor 31, views across the city. Walking to the financial district from the hotel in the morning, turned a corner and came face to face with a group of addicts preparing their next fix. Another turn, cross the street, and men and women in suits streaming into skyscrapers to start their day. A few blocks and two completely different worlds. That strange feeling stayed with me all day.
What I’m reading 📖
Angel Down by Daniel Kraus is a WWI novel unlike any war book I’ve read. The central character is an angel, encountered by five soldiers, and what sounds like a strange premise turns out to be the thing that makes the book work. The prose is so poetic that the whole thing reads more like a long poem than a novel. In fact, it’s written as a single unbroken sentence, starts mid-sentence and ends with an comma. The war details are vivid and unflinching but never gratuitous, woven into the story rather than put on display. Truly unique. Not for the faint hearted. More about the book.
What I’m listening to 🎧
L’Aupaire is a regular here and for good reason. Whenever a new song lands, it’s the first click. This one is about raccoons. That’s all you need to know.
What I’m watching 📺
Legends is the best show I’ve watched so far this year. This British series, based on a true story, follows the assembly of a band of customs misfits forming the first anti-drug unit in Liverpool and London to fight the influx of heroin into the UK in the 1970s. Subtle action, great cast, sharp writing. A well-developed and executed show. Watch the trailer.
What I’m thinking about 🧠
This week, someone who was like an aunt to me passed away at 95. A life fully and well lived. She will be missed.
What else?! 💯
If you watched Game of Thrones, you remember the moments that made you gasp. Key characters killed off, the story lurching in a direction you didn’t see coming. Someone used AI to reimagine those pivotal scenes with different outcomes. A fun rabbit hole to fall into if you ever wondered what the alternate reality looks like.
Thanks for reading, have a great weekend!
David
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