The Daily Valet. - 3/23/21, Tuesday

✔️ After the Pandemic ...

Tuesday, March 23rd Edition

Cory Ohlendorf, Editor in Chief of Valet.

I'm definitely jealous if you’ve already been vaccinated.

Cory Ohlendorf, Editor ⋯ @coryohlendorf

Today’s edition is presented by

Today’s Big Story

After the Pandemic

Is there such a thing as “going back to normal”?

“You are not the person you were before the pandemic,” reads the headline from Fast Company. Ain’t that the truth, I thought ... I’m softer around the middle and mildly agoraphobic, but on the bright side, I’m a better cook and have come to realize just how much I value my family and friends.

The story also starts to imagine post-pandemic life. With parents and even friends getting the shot, it feels close to the moment you can start making plans again. (Remember when canceling plans was a small joy to be relished?)

I, for one, can't wait to sit inside a restaurant. And have a server ask “Have you all dined with us before?” before bringing a platter of appetizers—not steaming inside a takeout container. But what will restaurants be like in The After? InsideHook had some industry titans weigh in with their predictions on what to expect from the dining scene. Their predictions? Quality takeout will continue, but old school menus and online reviews will play a different role.

And then there’s our work life. The rise of working from home has meant that companies once inextricably linked—in identity and in spirit—to centers of industry like New York and San Francisco have essentially become firms from nowhere, reports Digiday. As long as deadlines get met, invoices get paid and Zoom backgrounds are sufficiently professional looking, geography has come to mean very little to a lot of bosses.

As the fate of the physical office space remains uncertain for much of white-collar America, Index wonders if the hybrid-remote office model is a good idea after all ... when you focus on a “hybrid” model, does that mean that neither experience (home and in-office) are inherently that great?

As Byrne Hobart wrote earlier this year, a wide-scale adoption of the part-time office model could “introduce an imbalanced power dynamic for employees who choose to return to the office versus those who may opt to continue working from home.” It’s not exactly the best-of-both-worlds scenario we’d hope for, right?

↦ FYI: Most people would be happy to never shake your hand again.

Health Officials Question Vaccine Results

AstraZeneca may have used outdated info in vaccine trial

Federal health officials said early Tuesday that results from a U.S. trial of AstraZeneca's Covid-19 vaccine may have relied on “outdated information” that “may have provided an incomplete view of the efficacy data,” casting doubt on an announcement on Monday that had been seen as good news for the company as well as the global vaccination drive.

In an unusual statement released after midnight, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases said that the data and safety monitoring board, an independent panel of medical experts under the National Institutes of Health that has been helping to oversee AstraZeneca's U.S. trial, had notified government agencies and AstraZeneca late Monday that it was “concerned” by information the drugmaker had released that morning.

The statement comes just one day after the findings of a large U.S. trial showed that the coronavirus vaccine is 79% effective in preventing symptomatic illness and 100% effective against severe disease and hospitalization.

According to the Associated Press, authorization and guidelines for use of the vaccine in the United States will be determined by the Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention after thorough review of the data by independent advisory committees.

↦ FYI: Vaccines and vaccine passports are being sold on the darknet, reports the BBC.

Partner

Spring comes with a lot of promises. Warmer weather, longer days and a fresh start. Keep things loose and easy as the weather turns.

NFTs Continue Shaking Things Up

Billionaires, celebrities and artists all join in

Earlier this month, we discussed NFTs, or non-fungible tokens. The digital assets operate as a type of collector's item and can't be duplicated—and they're now over a $1 billion market.

On Monday, Twitter boss Jack Dorsey sold his first tweet as an NFT for just over $2.9 million. Billionaire and Shark Tank star Mark Cuban recently sold an NFT of a motivational quote. As for the music industry, Shawn Mendes teamed up with Genies (which makes 2D avatars) to produce virtual versions of his guitar and gold ring and sell them as NFTs.

At face value, the whole enterprise seems absurd: big-money collectors paying six to eight figures for works that can often be seen and shared online for free. Critics have dismissed the craze as just the latest bubble, but many in the art world have lunged headlong into the craze.

According to Dezeen, Toronto-based artist Krista Kim has sold the first NFT-backed digital home for over half a million dollars. Of course, not everyone's onboard. “The world has gone terminally insane,” Monty Python’s John Cleese told Vanity Fair. To wit, he's now selling an NFT of his own: a Vonnegut-esque drawing of the Brooklyn Bridge. For $69 million.

↦ Low Brow: Taco Bell to Charmin toilet paper, there are several big brands now jumping on the NFT bandwagon.

Keanu Reeves Will Bring His Comic to the Screen

The film and anime will both star Keanu, too

Well, that didn't take long! Less than a month after Keanu Reeves told Entertainment Weekly that he wants to play the protagonist of his new comic BRZRKR on screen someday, official confirmation has arrived. On Monday, Netflix announced that it has acquired the rights to BRZRKR and will first adapt the story into a feature film, followed by an anime spin-off series.

BRZRKR is a new 12-issue series from Boom Studios co-written by Reeves himself (in his comics debut) with art by Ron Garney. Fittingly, Reeves will play the title character in both the upcoming live-action series and the anime, although there's no release date announced yet.

The ultra-violent comic follows an immortal berserker—who coincidentally looks like our man Keanu—over his 80,000 year life, culminating in the present day, where he works for the U.S government in exchange for help discovering the secrets to his life and how he can finally die. Good times, right?

Here's hoping he doesn't figure it out right away. We'd like to watch at least a few seasons of that anime series before the government finally catches him up to speed.

↦ Dig Deeper: Who is Keanu Reeves, really? Vulture investigates.

In Other News

↦ 10 People Killed in Colorado Supermarket Shooting

↦ Why Is Tower Records Coming Back Now, of All Times?

↦ Are Plastics and Pesticides Responsible for Declining Sperm Counts?

Other Things We’re Talking About Today

These beer-adjacent boots

The benefits of professionalism

Hedonism’s return

Partner

What We’re Wearing: Light Layers

Keep things loose and easy as the weather turns

Spring comes with a lot of promises. Warmer weather, longer days and a fresh start. Of course, it doesn't always live up to its promises but we're always glad it arrived. This outfit plays upon those feelings—a little sweet, a little salty, but it sure feels good. Pair Amiri's flowing silk snake-print shirt with some washed and worn Japanese denim from OrSlow. Top it off with an easygoing hoodie and finish the look with a pair of handsome shades and some cartoon-emblazoned sneakers.

Clockwise from top left:Miansai Test of Time gold-plated necklace, $165; AMIRI rattlesnake printed camp-collar shirt, $790; Mr P. suede belt, $115; Kingsman + Cutler and Gross square-frame tortoiseshell sunglasses, $550; Gucci + Disney New Ace printed Huey, Dewey and Louie sneakers, $830; Stone Island garment-dyed cotton-jersey tee, $145; NN07 flannel baseball cap, $90; Derek Rose Devon brushed loopback zip-up hoodie, $325; Filson nylon dry sling backpack, $225; OrSlow 107 slim-fit jeans, $420

↦ Shop: Spring looks at MR PORTER

Sales We’re Eyeing

For the next 48 hours, you can use the code PLUS50 to get an additional 50% off any and everything on sale at Levi's. So this would be an excellent time to score some classic pieces built to last.

↦ Shop the Sale: at Levi's