The Daily Valet. - 1/20/23, Friday
✔️ What's This All About?
Friday, January 20th Edition
By Cory Ohlendorf, Valet. Editor
I’m ready to celebrate with all the dumplings this weekend.
Today’s Big Story
What’s Lunar New Year All About?
More than a billion people celebrate it and it's becoming more of an event worldwide
This weekend is the beginning of the Lunar New Year celebration. On Sunday, billions of people will welcome the Year of the Water Rabbit (except in Vietnam where it will be the Year of the Cat). The 15-day celebration—also known as the Spring Festival—is expected to be a big one, since the last three have been hampered by the pandemic.Also known as Chinese New Year, Lunar New Year, as its name suggests, is based on the cycles of the Moon and falls on a different day each year, typically between late January and the middle of February. It's celebrated throughout much of Asia, as well as within Western countries with a large Chinese diaspora.The event serves as a time for people to gather with families and to celebrate by having huge feasts with symbolic dishes. This annual movement of people traveling from their places of work (often in cities) to their hometowns is so significant in China that it has a name—chun yun (the spring movement)—and is often called the world's largest migration.As with any new year celebration, there are some rituals included as well. People will often thoroughly clean their homes and get rid of unneeded items to cleanse themselves from the bad luck of the previous year to make room for happier times to come. Lucky red papers that have auspicious sayings on them (think “good health” and “more wealth year after year”) known as duilian and other decorations are then put up all over the home.Of course, the Year of the Rabbit's arrival may herald a slight reversal in fortunes for some. Long-held festive traditions include purchasing brand new clothing (often in red), to ensure a fresh, auspicious start to the year. Luxury brands have quickly caught on and now most offer some kind of themed goodies, from high-end candy to designer goods plastered with rabbits and red.
Mythology:
As with many beliefs and customs of Chinese origin, the beginnings of Lunar New Year are also steeped in folklore.
U.S. Cracks Down On Organic Labels
Biden administration announces move to fight ‘organic fraud’
The U.S. government has announced new nutritional rules to determine what's really organic and what's essentially a sham. On Thursday, the USDA updated its regulations on food labels, as part of an effort to close loopholes and increase confidence in the agency's organic seal.According to Axios, the term “organic” has been stretched over the years as these foods become increasingly popular — and pricey. Which meant products labeled organic that don't meet government standards were hitting store shelves (and costing consumers more without the benefits).The new changes include requiring those in the middle—such as traders and brokers—to be certified alongside the food producers themselves, per the Washington Post's Laura Reiley. And as she points out, “Though some consumers view organic as a synonym for healthy, the science on whether organic food is healthier is mixed.” But U.S. organic food sales hit $57.5 billion in 2021—more than double what they were about a decade ago.
Meanwhile:
Tasting Table has an informative guide to decoding the different terms currently on organic labels.
French Workers Protest Retirement Age Increase
Paris ground to a halt as The ‘Black Thursday’ strikes disrupt schools and halt trains
The French government faced some of the biggest strikes in years on Thursday, which could evolve into weeks of discontent and a key challenge for President Emmanuel Macron, as unions show a united front against plans to raise the country’s retirement age from 62 to 64.Paris ground to a halt as teachers and railway, health and oil workers went on strike and more than a million people took to the streets—forcing many schools and nurseries to shut down. Several museums, including the Louvre, said parts of their collections wouldn't open. Trains and buses were delayed while dozens of flights were canceled.The French government has said this is necessary to tackle a pension funding deficit, but the reforms have angered workers at a time when living costs are rising. Recent polls show that as many as 60% of the French people oppose the planned reforms. For Macron, who is eight months into his second five-year term and lacks an absolute majority in Parliament, this is “a test case” and serves as a proxy for broader questions, reports the Washington Post: “Does he have the capacity and mandate to govern, or does he not?”
FYI:
Plans to reform the country's pension system in 2019 were also met with major protests, but the proposal was scrapped during the onset of COVID-19.
Artists ‘Rebuild’ Monuments With Light
The Drone technology also can be used to help architects visualize a new building
This is one of the coolest uses of drones I think I've seen so far. The Dutch artist duo DRIFT has embarked on a new project that uses the flying drone technology to imagine what famous landmarks would look like if they were finished or restored to their former glory.The ancient Colosseum in Rome and Gaudí's Sagrada Familia in Barcelona are among the life-size renderings so far completed by the collective. The idea originated after Notre Dame in Paris was damaged by fire. “We started to think of rebuilding it with light,” one of the artists told Artnet.The flight of drones is planned to complete the architectural lines of the missing structures and the result is rather hypnotic and ghostly. But there's another upside to the software and drones, the artists imagine. It will help architects realize their future projects in a real yet sustainable way by visualizing what they look like on a life-size scale.
In Other News
He's been running the company for 25 years.
Have you heard about ...
A Weekend Pairing
‘Truth Be Told’ + a Slope Cocktail
One of Apple’s longer-running series, Truth Be Told, returns for its highly-anticipated third season today. The theme for this season fits well with the overall theme of the series. Based on Kathleen Barber's novel While You Were Sleeping, the show examines America's obsession with true-crime podcasts and what happens when justice becomes part of the public discourse.Octavia Spencer stars as Poppy Parnell, an investigative reporter-turned-true crime podcaster who seeks to shine a light on unexplored and forgotten cases. In this season, Poppy sets her sights on a group of missing Black girls who the public has turned a blind eye to. Gabrielle Union also stars as a local school principal who finds an ally in Poppy, though the depths of this mystery may be too dark for these two women.
Pair It With
I don’t know why, but the Slope just feels like the right cocktail to pair with this show. It’s dark, yet surprising and ultimately very satisfying. The recipe calls for Punt e Mes, but if you don’t have it you can sub in a 2:1 mix of sweet vermouth and Campari.
Also Worth a Watch:
‘That ’90s Show’ on Netflix, ‘Game Theory with Bomani Jones’ on HBO Max and ‘Happening’ on Hulu
Let Brown Noise Hack Your Brain
The gentle noise is a simple way to master both your sleep and focus
We've all heard of white noise, the sound of well, nothing really—it's more of a mix of sound frequencies to create a static-like sound. That fizzy buzz has been used since the 1960s to help drown out the world around us, but there's another sound that's all the rage right now on social media platforms and music apps and it promises better results than white noise: Brown noise.In scientific circles, it's technically classified as red noise, but the name comes from the way it's produced. The sound signals change randomly to produce the sound of static, mimicking a type of erratic movement pattern, called “Brownian motion,” named after Scottish botanist Robert Brown.Brown noise has fewer high frequencies than white noise, so you'll recognize it as a lower sound, explains Anahita Mehta, a researcher who studies sound pitch at the Kresge Hearing Research Institute at the University of Michigan. Examples would be the deep roar of an ocean wave crashing or thunder rolling. This deeper sound, many have said, allows your brain to feel calm, freed from an internal monologue. Which is why it's being called “audible Adderall,” “the elite noise” and “a deep focus hack.”
Read:
Shopping
What We’re Buying
The Balmacaan Coat
Still looking to update your outerwear arsenal? You'll definitely want to add a raglan sleeve overcoat. It seems that every menswear label worth its salt is currently offering its own take on the coat these days. The construction technique, renowned for the range of motion it offers, tends to favor oversized silhouettes that are really popping right now. And UNIQLO happens to make a decidedly good one for a remarkably low price. But they're moving fast, so if you're interested, you'd better pick one up quickly.
Get It:
Balmacaan coat, $79.90 by UNIQLO
Morning Motto
Let go of your expectations.
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