Friday .. Fun?
A treatise in the perfect reactions
If you were on the internet yesterday - and I’d bet you were - you probably saw the news of the Astronomer CEO Andy Byron and the head of HR Kristin Cabot getting caught on camera at a Coldplay concert. Here’s a link of the full video:
I’m not here to shame these two - they clearly know they’re up to no good. And it’s worth remembering there are two other spouses who just found out they’re being cheated on at a scale none of us would wish upon anyone else. Humiliating. But… a few things struck me.
I’ve tried, but I can’t think of a funnier concert for this to happen at.
Their reactions say EVERYTHING. Actors and writers, take note! There’s no dialogue of them freaking out, they weren’t making out or worse, but the intimacy, followed immediately by her turning her back to the camera and him walking out of the picture … that’s it. That’s ALL we need to know.
Their reaction got Coldplay lead singer Chris Martin to say, “Either they’re having an affair…or they’re very shy.” So, yeah, he saw it all exactly like the rest of us.
But my favorite part? My absolute favorite is … this:
Kristin Cabot, the woman who got caught, turned her back and seems to be talking to THIS woman, who CAN NOT STOP LAUGHING. Of course, it turns out that’s because she ALSO works with these two. And almost certainly knew they were having an affair, and has almost immediately realized how utterly busted they are. Her name is Alyssa Stoddard, and her (current) boss Kristin Cabot posted this all not that long ago. Note that they’ve worked together in four separate companies. Alyssa knows the juice.
This entire incident, among almost everything else, is a treatise in perfect reactions. (It’s of course also a treatise in bad judgment. Not just having an affair but doing so in a public place WITH other employees? What was the GOOD outcome here?) Astronomer just raised over $100 million in capital, and I gotta wonder if any investors are wondering about the judgment of the guy running the place. Just a bad, bad scene.
And hilarious.
While we’re here, let’s check in on the 2025 Music Project. Faithful readers will know that two years ago I started actively trying to introduce myself to new music (even if it wasn’t brand new music overall). Each year, I create a playlist with the songs I’ve not (consciously, at least) heard before this year and really like. You can listen along here:
One band I discovered last year is The Beaches, and they have a new album coming out in late August. Five of the songs have dropped already and … I sort of can’t stop listening to them. Did I Say Too Much is the singer asking a former girlfriend if she got too close too fast, or … was it something else?
Gave you my summer to choose
I get it, you were confused
Yeah, I believed it
Did you even mean it?
Every time I almost call you
I just take a drink
Was our whole relationship
Just your boyfriend's kink?
Every other song is also a banger, just great pop punk, and songs I’d expect crowds to sing along with at full volume. “Last Girls at the Party” seems destined to become a…well, party song, and it’s just so much fun. Easily one of my favorite releases thus far. Two other songs I have been listening to on repeat are En Forma by Hinds, even if I have no idea what they’re saying as it’s in Spanish, as well as Bonnet of Pins by Matt Berninger, a solo release from the lead singer of The National.
Finally, I mentioned a week or so ago that I had started to get targeted by “BookTube,” a part of YouTube where folks talk about books. Being that reading is one of my biggest hobbies, I’ve watched a few, and have some mild observations.
People actually film themselves reading (for “reading challenges”) and … people watch? I mean, I have out of curiousity, but … that’s weird, right?
Some of these videos make me want to buy new copies of the books on my shelves to get the fancier editions. This is NOT a smart investment, but some of them are so ridiculously gorgeous. Just look at this:
It also got me looking through my StoryGraph list of books to read and I discovered two miraculous things - I have a book by two of my favorite authors I have yet to read! Somehow I’ve never read The Elephant Vanishes by Haruki Murakami or Invisible by Paul Auster, despite owning them both. This is impossibly exciting.
Finally, because it was on sale and because I kept seeing it recommended everywhere, I just read Dark Matter by Blake Crouch. I’m not normally a science fiction guy, but I read this in just two days. It’s almost more of a thriller than anything else, but it was really fun. I know there was an Apple TV show based on it, but has anyone seen it? It feels like it should translate well but … I have my doubts. Chime in if you’ve seen it.
Started to watch the show, then gave up. Then again, I also started the book and gave that up too when, after six chapters, I was yelling at the main character, "You're a scientist! Think like a scientist! Not some schmuck from a Hitchcock movie." My wife, who'd recd the book, assured me he would start doing so soon, and he did, so I finished it. It was good. RECURSION was OK; kind of the same book, in some ways. I put down the book after that because the central idea wasn't as compelling or at least not developed in a compelling way; the tricks that worked in the first two books didn't work in that one..
I saw Dark Matter. Liked it a lot. They did it pretty well I thought. I'm sure the book is better but the TV show works.