Five Things I Think (I Think) 🗣️

The presidential debate showed why rhetoric matters

It’s launch week!

I’m releasing my short film Buildin’ next weekend. I’ve been working on this project on-and-off for about two years now, and I can’t wait to finally share it.

I’ll break it down a bit more in next Sunday’s blog. For now, make sure you’re subscribed to the Powder Blue YouTube channel to get notified when it drops—I’ll also be sharing teasers on Instagram throughout the week.

And if the film resonates with you, sharing it with even just one person who you think might enjoy it means the world to me.

— NGL

P.S. Last week, I wrote about worldbuilding as “plumbing,” the best movies about doing journalism, and Drake’s failed content dump. If you missed it, check it out here.

I think rhetoric matters—a lot. We talk about cable becoming increasingly irrelevant…and for good reason! Not only has streaming taken over, YouTube is eating the world, as the platform recently became the first streamer to top ten percent of total TV usage.

This change in consumer preference isn’t just about user experience, or what shiny app we decide to open after turning on our TVs. Format matters just as much, too.

I mean, just look at CNN’s post-debate analyst team this week:

i would love to talk to the person who designed this desk

They had nine people sitting at that desk. Nine! Past gracing us with that beautiful curved desk (a feat of interior design ingenuity, if I do say so myself), how the hell is any pundit supposed to deliver meaningful commentary on a highly consequential election when a large chunk* of the cable format’s success hinges on keeping time constrained in between commercial breaks?*

This talk show format feels outdated when any “pundit” can instead speak sixty seconds of analysis from their bedroom and blast them across every vertical video platform in a matter of minutes. But while legacy TV might lack in modernity, it still fills a gaping hole in the media ecosystem: providing a backdrop of legitimacy.

It’s one thing for MAGA, Inc. to spew a cocktail of hateful messaging mixed with conspiracy theories on Truth Social. It’s another thing entirely for its leader to mainstream and abet the spreading of that dangerous cocktail via a debate watched by 67 million people on Tuesday.

Yes, I’m talking about the very much debunked claims of “Haitian immigrants eating dogs and cats” in Springfield, Ohio. And yes, I’m talking about how some of the city’s public buildings (including its city hall, a high school, middle school, and two elementary schools) had to evacuate on Thursday and Friday after receiving bomb threats over email, just two days after the presidential debate.

Maybe you saw this essay and checked out by the end of the first sentence due to a lack of interest in the subject matter. Or maybe I’m coming off as a little too partisan, or speaking from my high horse, for your liking. Both fair points! I’ll never pretend to be objective, and with the endless slew of #content these days, most of us can choose to move on with the click of a few buttons—and might not even remember that Springfield, Ohio ever existed by next week.

Nevertheless, I’ll conclude with these two things. The first is that when someone manufactures rumors to evoke a certain feeling or reaction from their base, it’s normal people that get hurt the most. Like Springfield resident Nathan Clark, whose eleven-year-old tragically died after a car crash with a Haitian immigrant in 2023:

In this emotional statement before the Springfield City Council on Wednesday, Clark called out Trump and JD Vance for using his son’s name for “political gain”—and forcing the Clark family to relive one of the worst moments of their life.

“They can vomit all the hate they want about illegal immigrants, the border crisis, and even untrue claims about fluffy pets being ravaged and eaten by community members.

However, they are not allowed—nor have they ever been allowed—to mention Aiden Clark from Springfield, Ohio.”

There’s nothing partisan about that pain.

The second thing is that certain people with platforms don’t have to share in that pain because they can just move on to their next piece of shit-posting and fear-mongering due to our hyper-reactive ecosystem’s incentive structure. There is no consideration of consequences when Trump posts “I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT!” (like he did this morning) because it’s just another piece of silly content that will undoubtably spawn a new meme format and nothing more dangerous than that…right?

Rhetoric matters. You would think we would’ve learned that after the words “if you don't fight like hell, you're not going to have a country anymore” led to an insurrection. But at what point is it too late to continue brushing off words as nothing more than meaningless drivel, when we continue to see how social media leaks into real life?

Anyway, in lighter news…

I think I wore the wrong shirt. Vicky and I attended the premiere of Dracula’s Ex-Girlfriend on Monday night. It’s a dark comedy short film by Abigail Thorn—a YouTube creator and actor who’s really having a moment this year, appearing in both House of the Dragon and Star Wars: The Acolyte.

a solid time at the cinema!

Now, I only brought so many clothes to Los Angeles when we moved out here, and my day-to-day does not exactly require even “business casual.” So my wardrobe really just has the essentials…and I didn’t pick up a button down shirt until Colin’s wedding in April.

Naturally, whenever I’ve needed to dress up for something since then, I just wear that black button down! Therefore, I figured I’d mix it up on Monday. Without thinking all too much, I got back to our apartment after work, changed into a Hawaiian shirt, and hopped in the car.

Now, it might come as a shock, but some people really go all out with how they dress for these types of things. And naturally, when it’s a movie about vampires, patrons are gonna wear black and put on makeup that looks like blood. Some people in front of us were even wearing horns.

And my dumbass was sitting there looking like he got lost on the way to a new Adam Sandler rom-com.

rough.

It served as a lesson for next time: just wear the black shirt.

I think I use too many rhetorical questions. I was reading back last week’s blog and noticed a frightening trend. Here’s the last sentence from my essay on Drake’s content dump:

“Can we ever really connect with someone whose appeal was always best enjoyed at a distance?”

I followed that up with this concluding line:

“But why can’t we celebrate a big project or achievement in the present for what it is, and the work that went into getting there…as opposed to always focusing on the future, and that elusive thing called ‘potential?’”

It’s a sign that I can certainly continue striving to grow as a writer. After all, aren’t rhetorical questions a lazy way to finish an argument?

I think I’m very grateful for having friends who always pick up the phone. I heard some buzz recently about a potential acquisition in the creator world that, to my knowledge, hasn’t been reported yet. In the grand scheme of things, it’s not that big of a scoop, but the right audiences would find it pretty interesting.

Regardless, I’ve never really done the breaking news thing before—nor is it what I necessarily aspire towards doing in the long run. Still, I called up two of my college roommates, Peter and Andrew. They’re both full-time reporters whom I respect quite a lot, so I asked for their opinions on how I should proceed in this scenario.

Long story short, I’m still waiting on more concrete confirmation from the sources, and nothing’s been made public yet. But the experience did make me really reflect on how appreciative I am for the group of smart, hard-working friends I made in college. The three years since graduation have flown by, yet it’ll be so cool to track what everyone’s doing over the course of the next decade.

Also, this essay served as a way to hype some of them up. You can check out Peter’s work at The Houston Chronicle and Andrew’s work at The Washington Post here and here, respectively.

I think you’ll never know what you’ll find at Venice Beach. When we’re both in town, Vicky and I try to make it out to the beach at least one morning each weekend to sit on the wonderful beach blanket we acquired in January and read.

The boardwalk is a fascinating place. We live about a thirty minute walk away, so we don’t spend that much time there. When we do, I always come away thinking that there might not be a better spot in the entire country to just stroll and embrace the wackiness—with all due respect to Times Square and the Vegas Strip.

a great read thus far

There’s surprises to be found on the beach itself, too. On Saturday, once we’d made the trek from the boardwalk and found the best possible angle to position ourselves so we could read without the sun in our eyes, this is what I heard:

Vicky: “No way! I found a Hi-Chew in my tote bag!”

*puts candy in mouth*

*pauses*

Vicky: “And it’s green apple!”

Oscar-worthy dialogue, if I do say so myself.**

My friend Keith mentioned a couple weeks ago that he’d been reading these blogs—and jokingly reminded me I still owed him a Powder Blue tee from way back when.

If I’m good at anything, it’s two things. First, missing deadlines I set for myself. And second, still committing to something, even if it’s several years down the line.

In all seriousness, I appreciate the message, Keith. And it inspired me to introduce some sort of trivia section at the end of these to give away “Off White” Stormy Dad Hats.

I’d love for reader input, so let me know what you’d want to see here! And yes, I’ll make sure to send a hat to the first person who sends me an idea :)

Thanks for reading! And shoot me a reply or DM if anything resonated with you in particular—I respond to them all.

* Licensing actually drives the majority of CNN’s revenue.

** We’ve had a recurring bit that Vicky needs a cameo line in each blog, so I dedicated more space today to make up for last week’s exclusion.