💪Finkel's Fast Five - Issue 104 - January 24, 2020

 ISSUE #104 - January 24th, 2020

ONE

PODCASTS - For all of my fellow movie buffs out there, how would you feel about a podcast where Quentin Tarantino not only talks about one of his all-time favorite films, but he gives inside info about how it was made, what went into the screenplay/filming, how it compares to his style, how the actors were cast and even what the ramifications of those casting decisions were and why he loves Christopher Walken? Highly interested? Salivating?  Then let me introduce you to one of my top ten single podcast episodes of all time, Quentin Tarantino on The Rewatchables, talking about King of New York. If you don't remember, King of New York came out in 1990 and starred Walken, Laurence Fishburne, Wesley Snipes, David Caruso, Steve Buscemi and more. I'd recommend watching the movie before listening, but you really don't have to. Tarantino will make you love this movie even if you hadn't seen it in 15 years like me. And 60% of the pod isn't even about the movie. It's about casting, writing, Samuel L. Jackson v. Fishburne, cool Pulp Fiction and True Romance anecdotes and a TON on Walken. Definitely download it here.

TWO

SNACKS - If you do choose to watch King of New York, and you're looking for something new to snack on other than popcorn, then let me share my favorite new snack with you: Moon Cheese.  In fact, I first came across Moon Cheese at our local movie theater. It's basically a bag of dried cheese pieces that taste incredible. They have a flavor called Cheddar Bacon Me Crazy that tastes like a crunchy mini-cheeseburger in your mouth. The good: a serving size has 11g of protein. The bad: it also has 13g of fat... HOWEVER, who cares? It's a snack. It is super low carb, has no sugar and a decent amount of calcium. Way healthier than a bag of M&Ms. Check'em out.

THREE

BOOKS - My early contender for best book I read in 2020 is the one I'm about to wrap up called The Three-Year Swim Club: The Untold Story of Maui's Sugar Ditch Kids and Their Quest for Olympic Glory by Julie Checkoway.  Longtime readers of the FF5 know that I'm a lifelong swimmer, so naturally, this book appeals to me right off the bat... But I was not prepared for how brilliantly written and exciting the book is. Checkoway is a tremendous storyteller and she sets up the impossible circumstances of the main characters and plot expertly: The book is about how a group of poverty-stricken, rudderless, completely written-off Japanese-American kids in Maui did the impossible. They went from having swim practice in the concrete draining ditches leaving the sugar factory (amidst the garbage and refuse because they were banned from local pools) to eventually becoming Olympians by signing a pact with a maniacal coach to train with everything they've got for three years. It's inspirational. It's aspirational. It's a book you'll read and never forget.

FOUR

DIE HARD- You've seen Die Hard about one hundred times. I've seen it maybe two hundred. And yet, it took a Tweet from one of the stars of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia to point out an important plot device that he just noticed that will kind of blow your mind...  I won't step on Rob McElhenney's reveal, but once you read it, you'll wonder how you never picked it up either. And if you did pick it up, good for you! You should have shared it with us!

FIVE

A great quote about luck I've been thinking about:  "Luck is not chance, it's toil; fortune's expensive smile is earned."   - Emily Dickinson

Share the FF5 and get TREMENDOUS STUFF:  1 SHARE = Enters you into a raffle to win a free copy of one of the books I mention here in the FF5. I'll do a drawing every 10 issues, but you have to forward the FF5 to a friend to enter.  3 SHARES = 1 Abe Lincoln as Tyler Durden Fight Club Sticker - perfect for your laptop, office, fridge or on your squat rack like Tommy John  10 SHARES = 1 Official Finkel's Fast Five Coffee Mug like this one that my man Marlin won last year  25 SHARES = If you share Finkel's Fast Five with 25 friends who you think would like it, I will take you to the movies... (well, not literally) ...but I will Venmo you money for a ticket to your next movie, on me. We'll cap this at 4 people for now.  FORWARD TO A FRIEND RIGHT HERE  DID SOMEONE FORWARD YOU THIS E-MAIL? GET MY FREE STARTER LIBRARY HERE  FYI: The sharing of the FF5 is cumulative... You don't have to share this e-mail 10 times if you don't want to. It can be 10 issues over 10 weeks or 10 months, whatever... The point is, please share it. We've grown from less than a hundred to a few hundred to a few thousand readers in under two years... Let's see how fast we can get to 10,000! - Jon

  And if you haven't yet, you can buy Jocks in Chief below.