The Daily Valet. - 3/26/21, Friday
✔️ Hot Vaxx Summer Is Coming
Friday, March 26th Edition
I’m not interested in a marshmallow-flavored soda.
Cory Ohlendorf, Editor ⋯ @coryohlendorf
Today’s Big Story
Hot Vaxx Summer Is Coming
Will it be a blissful release of pent-up desire?
Spring is here, vaccines are making their way into people’s immune systems, and everyone is looking forward to summer when we can hopefully touch each other again. You might say, nature is healing.
It appears, after long bouts of isolation, the lack of affection has frustrated singles, couples, and polyamorous people are itching to feel intimacy again—as evidenced by skyrocketing sales of sex toys and record-breaking dating-app use.
Hedonism is common after periods of mass isolation, according to Dr. Nicholas Christakis, a social epidemiologist and Yale professor. After all, the last year was something of a dry spell for a lot of people. A Match.com survey found that 71% of people said they’d had no action during the pandemic. Even partners who cohabitated succumbed to sex-life spirals.
But while the prospect of dating like “normal” is exciting, it can also result in FODA, or fear of dating again. One reason for this is the hesitance to plunge into the unknown.
The other fear is the weight so many of us feel we've put on while quarantining. The good news? Scales have once again been tipped in favor of the common man. Nearly 75% of singles are more turned on by a “dad bod” over any other body type—including a mate with six-pack abs, according to a new survey by Dating.com.
Of course, the same survey found the majority of solo flyers have amped up their workout routines, or returned to the gym in the last few months so they can put their best foot forward for 2021’s “Summer of Love” revival.
↦ Meanwhile: Vice offers up over 50 things to do with the rest of quarantine that aren’t “get hot”.
The Container Ship Is Still Stuck!
Obstructing a crucial trade artery like “a very heavy beached whale”
Have you been as interested in this container ship story as I have? What started out as a strange accident caused by heavy winds, has developed into a serious problem for consumers around the globe, experts say.
Dredgers, tugboats and even a backhoe failed to free the giant cargo ship Ever Given—as long as the Eiffel Tower is tall and holding 20,000 shipping containers—that remains wedged in Egypt's Suez Canal.
Authorities said in a statement Thursday that dislodging the ship is proving challenging. And as it languishes like “an enormous beached whale” on the Suez's sandy banks, everything from food, furniture, clothes, shoes, exercise equipment, electronics, car parts and even gas prices could be affected. Over 12% of the world's trade volume passes through the Suez Canal—processing about $10 billion a day in cargo.
Already, hundreds of ships are stuck in a holding pattern, according to shipping trackers who spoke to NBC News. Clearing up the logjam within a day or so may mean only a few extra days for the delivery of goods from Asia to the United States. But if the Ever Given remains stuck for a week or more, it could add at least 10 days of extra time as ships are rerouted to longer journeys.
↦ Follow Along: You can use VesselFinder to track the progress and movement of the Ever Given.
Bald Eagles Come Back from Near Extinction
An American conservation success story
The number of bald eagles—a species that once came dangerously close to extinction in the United States—has more than quadrupled over the last dozen years despite massive declines in overall bird populations, government scientists announced this week.
The species grew to 316,700 birds and 71,400 nesting pairs in the lower 48 states during the 2019 breeding season, per the report.
According to the Associated Press, though American bald eagles were previously removed from the list of threatened or endangered species in 2007, conservationists credit much of the population's recovery to decades of protection from federal regulations that made it illegal to hunt the birds. They're also now protected under the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act, CNN added.
↦ Meanwhile: Scientists also discovered the cause of mysterious bald eagle deaths after 25 years of sleuthing.
A Rooftop Park, 90 Years In the Making
A long-planned garden comes to New York
A skybridge that leads to a landscaped rooftop park is coming to New York's Radio City Music Hall after it was approved by the Landmarks Preservation Commission.
The commission's Frederick Bland called it “a great affirmation,” and given that barely a generation ago, Radio City Music Hall itself was on the verge of demolition because it seemed obsolete, it's hard to argue.
But what's really cool, to me, is that the interconnected green terraces were part of the original architectural vision for the Rockefeller Center complex. As envisioned in the 1930s by architect Raymond Hood and landscape architect Ralph Hancock, the rooftops and setbacks of nearly all the buildings were to be covered in greenery, but only some of the gardens were actually built.
In a 1934 article, the New York Times called Hood a “pioneer in the treatment of building roofs” for putting thought into the long-forgotten tops of towers, as well as the office workers looking down on them.
In Other News
Other Things We’re Talking About Today
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Your Weekend Pairing
Invincible + a New York Sour
Against all odds—with guidance from comic creator Robert Kirkman, and star-studded voice cast—Invincible on Amazon Prime Video manages to make something potentially fascinating out of what should be a disastrous recipe for whiplash, according to the A.V. Club.
And while Vulture says that there's room for improvement, they say the hour-long animated superhero drama with the violence of The Boys, the storytelling structure of a Netflix drama, the look of the animated ’90s X-Men. Definitely sounds pretty good to me.
↦ Your Pairing: The Whiskey Sour's wine-soaked sister cocktail is a tangy and tasty variation on the frothy whiskey classic. The key to a New York Sour? The red wine float. And Punch has the easy-to-make recipe.
What We’re Buying
Now that we've been blessed with more daylight, it's the perfect time to buy some new sunglasses. And Ashford just happens to have a slew of Ray-Bans on deep discount. We're talking up to 75% off. Our choice? The Meteor sets itself apart with a Wayfarer-esque style that has some sharp, vintage vibes thanks to its slightly flared rim. But at these prices, styles are selling out quickly.
↦ Get It: $205 / $59.99 by Ray-Ban
Today’s Deals
Expires 3/28
Expires 3/30
Expires 3/31
↦ Want More? See all 49 sales
Morning Motto
You don’t have to know everything ...
↦ Follow: @rickrubin
That’s all for today...
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