Welcome to The Daily Uplift, a new side-project from HODINKEE. Given the current climate, we wanted to make sure that some positivity still made its way into your day. Moving forward, we're going to offer a story or activity you can experience from home and a great album that is worth a closer listen. Pulled directly from the mindshare of the HODINKEE staff (a positive crew if I've ever seen one), it's a token of our appreciation for you stopping by the site and a small investment in cultivating positive vibes among the greater community.
Today, we're joined by our intrepid Cold War wheelman Cole Pennington as he looks longingly at a world without sun.
Something to watch...World Without Sun ?Jacques Cousteau (YouTube)
Spearheaded by the famous Jacques Cousteau, the Continental Shelf Station Two project experimented with the idea of humans using an undersea living habitat as a base for ocean research. Of course, this is currently happening ?Dr. Williams speaks about his time with NASA's NEEMO project here ?but the idea of undersea research colonies on a larger scale didn't quite proliferate in the way that Costeau had envisioned it. Regardless, this project did result in an amazing documentary called World Without Sun, which takes you inside the daily life of an oceanaut living 32 feet beneath the surface. The first scene inside the habitat depicts the oceanauts returning from a dive, lighting up a smoke, and pouring themselves a large glass of wine ?this was in 1963 after all. The documentary explores the idea that in certain environments, time takes on an entirely different meaning. This is something we're all experiencing now, that sort of weird phenomenon where it's hard to tell what day it is. I find the documentary uplifting because it asks viewers (those of us facing the stay-at-home orders) to reframe their view on what living in a confined environment means. I won't deny that I, for one, would like to live the life of Cousteau, and maybe the current confinement exercise is a great way to train for it!
?Cole Pennington, Editor
Something to listen to...Try The Bass ?Ronald Jenkees (YouTube)
This is an old internet deep cut, but Jenkees and his signature "Hello YouTubes" never fails to make me smile, and it's a considerable departure from most of the tunes offered in previous Uplifts. In the earlier days of YouTube (some of his videos are more than a decade old), Ronald Jenkees started producing videos of him performing his music, which is a special and always peppy blend of electronica with similarities to Daft Punk, Carpenter Brut, and maybe even a little of The Glitch Mob. The link above is to one of my favs, but don't miss other fire like "A New Tune In Progress," or my introduction to the Jenkees vibe "Stay Crunchy." If it hits you right, be sure to show Mr. Jenkees some love on his Bandcamp: He has several full albums and you can't go wrong.
The-daily-uplift LIVE AUCTION The replica Rolex Daytona Capsule Collection at Sothebys Bid now 9842