Finkel's Fast Five - Issue #17

May 25th, 2018

A great column on what a classic TV character might be like today:  Cheers' owner/bartender Sam Malone turns 70 years old this year. The question one of my favorite writers tackles is, 25 years after the fictional bar shut down, how would a real-life Malone exist in a world of gastro pubs, Twitter, Tinder and his contemporary ex-athletes dancing on TV? This is a fun read by Steve Rushin.  My new favorite matcha green tea: It's been above 90 degrees for three weeks straight here in Dallas and I like to start my work days with an ice cold green tea or matcha. I've tried this before but most matcha clumps up when you add ice. The good people at Tenzo Tea reached out to me after reading a post of mine on tea and said I had to try theirs. I accepted the offer and I was pleasantly surprised. The tea is delicious and stays mixed over ice. This is the starter pack they sent me.  The book I am really excited to start reading: I'm in a nice reading groove at the moment and what I mean but that is I like my current rotation of historical non-fiction, biography, "literature", mainstream fiction and then I run it back. I just ordered the new, definitive biography of Jim Brown by Dave Zirin. Been wanting to dive into Brown's life and career for a while so I'll let you know how it goes.  The light deadlift workout that very quickly gave me dead legs: I made this up at 6am on Thursday morning because I had a good sweat going and sometimes I just wing it the last 15 minutes of my workouts to see if I stumble into something. You be the judge. Using a warm-up level weight for you, do 30-seconds of deadlifts, followed by 30-seconds of burpees, followed by one minute rest and keep it up for fifteen minutes... Or do it for twelve minutes and then take a five minute break before you finish the last two rounds. Here's a shot of me about 3/4 of the way through.  A tremendously written book opening I can't get out of my head:  "The Swede. During the war years, when I was still a grade school boy, this was a magical name in our Newark neighborhood, even to adults just a generation removed from the city's old Prince Street Ghetto and not yet so flawlessly Americanized as to be bowled over by the prowess of a high school athlete." - these are the opening sentences to American Pastoral, the Philip Roth masterpiece. Roth died this week and while I didn't read all his books, the ones I did read are unforgettable. If you're looking to read a major piece of fiction this summer, read American Pastoral.  Have a great weekend and try not to be bowled over by the prowess of a high school athlete!  If you love this newsletter please forward it to a friend immediately. No, don't wait until later when you forget... Just send them this link now: Thanks!

- Jon