Finkel's Fast Five - Issue #46

FINKEL'S FAST FIVE - ISSUE #46 DECEMBER 14th, 2018

A vast majority of my work takes place using a word processor, so it's only fitting I pay tribute to the woman who invented it: Do you know who the Godfather of the software behind Microsoft Word is? Neither did I. And it turns out it's actually a Godmother, according to this amazing obituary of Evelyn Berezin, who passed away this week at the age of 93. Anyone who writes or uses a computer with word documents for a living owes her a huge debt of gratitude. She was also a fascinating, brilliant person who helped pioneer tech start-ups, was a powerful entrepreneur and, in something else we should thank her for, developed the first computer system for making airline reservations. Genius!  An interesting and curious casting "what-if" in one of my favorite movies: I could be wrong, but I've never come across anyone who doesn't either love (or at least appreciate) the movie, The Princess Bride. Among most people's favorite performances in the film is Andre the Giant's role as Fezzik. But did you know that the role almost went to Kareem Abdul Jabbar? This information was revealed in a great interview with Kareem for the New York Post by my pal Kirsten Fleming. Kareem drops some other great info in the piece as well, but Fezzik Sky Hooking Humperdinck's hench men is a thought I can't get out of my head.  My favorite thing that I watched this week: I lived in Los Angeles for ten years and envisioned myself becoming an incredible surfer while I was there. The truth is that no matter how often I tried (which was often, every single summer), I was never very good at it. Still, 90% of the fun for me was floating out in the ocean on my board, taking the sport in, hoping to catch at least one wave that would make me feel like Kelly Slater for a few minutes. The absolutely awesome new surfing documentary, Momentum Generation, shows a version of the surfing upbringing I day dreamed about having if I'd grown up in Hawaii and, you know, had any actual surfing skill. This article in Outside Magazine talks about the piece and shows the trailer. If you're into surfing at all, or just curious, you'll love it.  The fast, smart cure for a stiff neck that you've been waiting for: Between being hunched over a computer, naturally crappy posture and general wear and tear from weight lifting, my neck (and yours too, probably) takes a beating. I woke up with a very stiff, very sore neck this week and went to my go-to guy (Athlean-X) online to fix the issue. As always, he has a short video explaining why you have a problem and then offers a very quick, painless fix...that actually works. Next time you have a stiff neck, watch this video, do the exercise and it'll feel at least 5x better fast.  A tremendous sentence in Evelyn Berezin's obituary. We should all be so lucky to have something like this written about our careers: "Ms. Berezin was a lioness of the young tech industry, featured in magazine and news article as an adventurous do-it-herself polymath with the logical mind of an engineer, the curiosity of an inventor and the entrepreneurial skills of a CEO.." - from the New York Times Obituary of Evelyn Berezin.  Have a great weekend and good luck being an adventurous do-it-yourself polymath!

PS: 'Tis the season to share Finkel's Fast Five  Thank you all so much for reading. I love hearing from you and it's awesome when something in the FF5 helps you out, gives you something new to read or watch or eat, fixes your neck or back or sore eyes, or simply entertains you to start your Friday.  All I ask is that if you're into this newsletter, please share it with someone else you think would like it as well. They'll also get a free E-Book catching them up on 149 recommendations. Send them this link and they're good to go: Fast Five Sign-Up & Free Book   THANKS!  - Jon