Roadworks!
Diversions, detours and reroutings ... (The Bus 3.45)
Welcome aboard The Bus!
The Stop
Summer holidays are about to come to an end here in England, and while for most of the season it’s been summer in name only (I think can count on one hand the number of days it’s been above 26C/79F), the weather has been great for growing vegetables and fruits - and the grass has remained green. However, it’s also been a bumper season for roadworks. Seriously: everywhere I’ve driven this summer seems to have involved some sort of highway maintenance and all the associated inconveniences. Diversions, detours and reroutings have become the norm, and though it can be annoying, I’ve also been taken down some roads I normally wouldn’t travel - and some of those have been worth the trouble. So, in that spirit, today’s Stop is a collection of five diversions that hopefully might inform and entertain.
The Juggalos
For twenty years, the Detroit-based hip hop duo Insane Clown Posse (composed of Violent J and Shaggy 2 Dope) have hosted an ‘annual hillbilly bacchanalia’ called The Gathering Of The Juggalos.1 Unsurprisingly, the event used to ‘trigger moral panic,’ but it has now become an institution that extends an almost folksy ‘welcoming embrace’ to the ‘outcast or marginalised, whether poor, disabled, queer, or just too strange for straight society.’ This article is a great description of the author’s visit to a Gathering … and while I won’t be stopping by one anytime soon, it’s certainly worth a read to see what gets some people going.
Juggalo Family Values (Chicago Reader)
Happiness
This is a great animated video (4:16) depicting the rat race as lived by … rats. It’s funny, sad and a rather biting commentary on society’s definition of happiness. Absolutely worth the few minutes, and as the film’s set to Bizet’s ‘L’Amour Est Un Oiseau Rebelle’ from Carmen, there’s an added familiarity that makes it really work. Give it a watch!
Extreme Heat
This is a very interesting video (5:30) from The New Yorker, exploring the impact of extreme heat on the body. The results aren’t necessarily what one might expect - yes, there’s a profusion of sweat and an increase in heart rate, etc., but it’s the impact of heat on the brain - headaches and brain fog - which are most concerning. Especially as the world gets hotter and hotter.
How Does Extreme Heat Affect Your Body?
Earworms & Song Loops
Steve Goldberg writes one of my favourite Substacks - a regular deep dive into those songs that get stuck in your head and will not leave.2 It’s informative, always interesting - and if you like a chat about his selections, Steve’s always happy to engage. Not to mention he has an uncanny ability to uncover those songs you thought (you wished) you’d forgotten … but your mind hasn’t. Definitely give this one a try.
Situation Normal
I’ve mentioned Michael Estrin’s fantastic Substack Situation Normal before,3 but after laughing out loud last Sunday4 at his recounting of getting a colonoscopy … I thought I needed to include him again. Funny, intelligent and very, very dry - Estrin’s Substack is one I look forward to on a weekly basis. Highly recommended.
The Detour
Today’s Detour is to Obibini, a short video documentary (3:50) about a beach in Ghana that historically was restricted to working men, due to the risk of drowning. The video documents the start of a girls’ surf club - and their introduction to the sea and the fun that can be had in water. Atmospheric and beautifully filmed, it’s worth a watch.
The Recommendation
Today’s Recommendation is National Lampoon’s Vacation (1983). Written by John Hughes and directed by Harold Ramis, the film - starring Chevy Chase, Beverly D’Angelo, Randy Quaid, Anthony Michael Hall, Dana Barron and John Candy (along with Christie Brinkley, in her film debut) - is the story of the Griswold’s family mishap- and disaster-filled cross-country road trip from Chicago to Southern California’s Walley World amusement park. If a problem could possibly happen along the way, it probably does ….
National Lampoon's Vacation (1983) Trailer
National Lampoon’s Vacation streams on various formats and platforms.
The Sounds
Today’s playlist is composed of five great 80s tracks which are perfect for the end of summer: ‘When Smokey Sings’ (ABC, 1987), ‘You Should Hear How She Talks About You’ (Melissa Manchester, 1982), ‘I Can Dream About You’ (Dan Hartman, 1984), ‘She Blinded Me With Science’ (Thomas Dolby, 1982) and ‘Give Me the Night’ (George Benson, 1980).5
The Thought
Today’s Thought is one of my favourites, and one I think I finally understand. It’s from Ludwig Wittgenstein:6
‘A serious and good philosophical work could be written consisting entirely of jokes.’
If you have a thought on this Thought - or any part of today’s issue - please leave a comment below:
And that’s the end of this Stop - I hope you enjoyed the diversion!
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Until the next Stop …
‘Juggalos’ is the name given to fans of the band. Just for clarity: I am not a fan of ICP. I include this disclaimer because a few Bus Riders thought I was a supporter/member of the US Pirate Party. Nope. This is just another topic: The Bus has a wide, wide route - and everyone's welcome!
One of my favourite earworm stories comes from my friend Mark. Once he was backpacking in the desert and was supposed to meet up with another hiker. Circumstances intervened and he missed their rendezvous, but upon arriving at the point where they should have met, he found a prearranged note from his friend. However, instead of any helpful information, the guy had written: ‘Everybody Wang Chung tonight,’ - the chorus of which wormed itself straight into his head - exactly what you don’t want when you’re hiking alone in the desert.
Issue 3.5 (‘Easter Eggs’), another collection of suggestions.
I was at Lord’s Cricket Ground watching the final of The Hundred. People around me were silent and I was suddenly snorting with laughter. It was so, so undignified. But entirely justified, because Estrin is funny.
I love these songs - each takes me to a very specific place. Especially the Thomas Dolby track - it soundtracked the summer I turned 13. If asked, I’d say it was one of the top five tracks of the 80s. Which leads me to ask: what do you think? Let me know in the comments what your top five tracks of the 80s are … and don’t be pretentious. The Bus accepts nerds, too.
For more information about Wittgenstein, see: Wittgenstein (Britannica).
The Bus is a nutritious read where it feels like every item is a Cracker Jack prize. And not the chintzy kind of fake tattoos or plastic thimbles -- but the original quality items like baseball cards, metal whistles, and miniature books. Keep up the great work.
Top 5 tracks of the 80s is brutal. Knowing I’m leaving off some favorites I’ll go with Let’s Go Crazy (Prince), Photograph (Def Leppard), Billie Jean (MJ), Pride (in the Name of Love) (U2), and Sweet Child o’ Mine (Guns & Roses). I’d struggle narrowing it down to a top 50!