You’re probably finding yourselves sobered after a blurry/slurry summer “sleep” by this week’s crisp fall air. And, now that you’re being forced back into reality, here are a few distractions from said reality:
Check out Refinery29’s list of 16 albums you need to listen to before 2015 — oh, and look, despite the proliferation of Thom Yorke/Sam Smith/other-British-dude music news, it’s nice to get a couple girls in the mix. Because we’re making music and it fucking ROCKS. Add the release dates in this list to your fall calendar; you’ll be glad you did.
This week marks Kernel Magazine’s first NSFW Issue, with all (or almost all) you could ever want to read about porn, cybersex, Fleshlights, and Sydney Leathers, Anthony Weiner’s former sexting partner. Just be sure to wait until you get home — and maybe clear your browser history. Especially if you’re a mayoral candidate.
Sarah Baird traveled to Mexico City for Punch to investigate an ancient liquor called pulque, which Baird describes, if you’re lucky, as having “the consistency of room temperature spit,” and if you’re not, resembling “a thick, pungent mucus.” Apart from sounding completely disgusting, the drink has a fascinating political history, from fueling Aztec beheadings to being the victim of a smear campaign that turned it from a popular drink to a nearly-forgotten one. It’s a fascinating profile of a very obscure drink.
Gone Girl came out this weekend, and the think-pieces are everywhere. The A.V. Club‘s is excellent — it questions the duality of perspectives with which Fincher portrays the novel’s folie à deux narrative. Fincher has a history of incomplete, unsympathetic depictions of his female characters, and, as The A.V. Club’s Nico Lang says, Gone Girl is merely an addition to that long list.
Speaking of Gone Girl, since that’s all anyone’s talking about right now: BuzzFeed has a mindblowing list of potentially familiar faces from the movie. Remember this guy, for example?
Or… this cat?
Fine, the cats might not be the same. But the resemblance is startling.