Five Things on a Friday: Catching Up Since 2020

I have a LOT to do today, friends. But I need to warm my brain up a little before we get into it, and for that, we turn to Five Things. If you're wondering, our last Five Things on a Friday occured on Friday, September 11, 2020. 

So yeah, it's been a while. I hope you're all doing well in what very much feels like a world gone mad.

1. I Left Most Social Media Last Week

In the last week, I’ve left Twitter, Instagram, & Netflix. Apart from everything else, I feel like I’m doubling down on my actual life, & it’s a net positive.

— Danno E. Cabeza (@dannoecabeza.bsky.social) January 26, 2025 at 7:22 PM

I don't know if anyone has noticed other than my wife. Sally misses my presence on Instagram because she's on there a lot for her business, and she likes for me to help her boost her posts. I, however, think the change has been good for my mental health, and I'll add that I've read two books since leaving social media and a Hell of a lot more traditional news.

If you're interested, I've gotten way into independent, accredited journalism over the last couple of weeks. There are lots of good reads out there, but my favorite is The Handbasket from Marisa Kabas. I've also started taking The Contrarian via email subscription because that's where Paul Krugman went when he left the NY Times.

Anyway. Find me if you dare on Bluesky or here.

2. Sally & I Are Starting a Podcast

We've talked about this thing for years, but we finally figured out how to do it on a hike through the woods last weekend. I wrote the outline for the first show earlier this week, and we're going to shoot tomorrow.

I'd like to shoot maybe five of these things before we release the first one, hopefully on Valentine's Day. Obviously, I'll let you know when the first episode drops.

3. From the, “Stories I Didn’t Realize Could Be Super-Important” Department…

In a week when AI chipmaker Nvidia suffered the biggest one-day loss of value on record and the Federal Reserve said it was in no hurry to cut rates again, a few gauges underscore markets' vulnerability to big swings reut.rs/3WCoUZN

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— Reuters (@reuters.com) January 31, 2025 at 6:07 AM

I got a little confused last week when folks started saying that the stock market had cracked up because of the Nvidia/DeepSeek news. The S&P 500 looks fine, and speaking personally, so does my personal my portfolio. But apparently there are a bunch of idiots who went super-long on a leveraged basis into the NASDAQ, and if you lived through the late 90s, you already know how that's going, and here we are.

Can a bunch of assholes lose their money without taking the rest of us with them?

In theory, that should be exactly what will happen, at least until the tarrifs hit the greater economy. Granted, this is exactly why I've been investing in bonds for years at a loss. 

But you're right to be skeptical. Everybody at Fordham Business School knew that the Housing Market Crisis was coming back in 2006, but somehow it still caught "the Market" and the financial media off-guard, and it therefore took the rest of us down the drain.

I don't honestly know if there's still such a thing as a diversified portfolio, but like I said, I've had quite a bit of money in bonds for quite a long time, so hopefully when the crack-up happens, it won't take my personal family with it.

4. Stratford sells beachfront house seized over unpaid taxes for $555K, records show

This isn't an important story or anything, but look at this house! Single story right on the water built in 1923. This thing could never be built today. They'd put a three-story McMansion on the same piece of property and sell it for $3M.

Which, by the way, is the REAL cause of the housing crisis. There's no money in starter homes for builders, and here we are. Young people can't afford homes.

5. Black Country Communion's "Song of Yesterday"

Black Country Communion’s SONG OF YESTERDAY. Never heard of this band until they popped onto my Spotify “Blues” feed. These guys are incredible. open.spotify.com/track/6aVCLo...

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— Danno E. Cabeza (@dannoecabeza.bsky.social) January 29, 2025 at 6:49 PM

It strikes me that releasing a blues record — even a GREAT one — is not some kind of get-rich-quick scheme.

— Danno E. Cabeza (@dannoecabeza.bsky.social) January 29, 2025 at 6:51 PM

Two things:

1. The song slaps, obviously.

2. Somebody blocked me yesterday on Bluesky for that second skeet, which is incredible. Black Country Communion is an awesome band with just 83K monthly listeners, and you're telling me that these guys are part of a "get rich quick" scheme?

C'mon. I like the band, seriously, but let's don't play pretend right now. 

Consider the Sammy Hagar/Joe Satriani project Chickenfoot by comparison. I really, really liked that band, but NO ONE would consider them commercially successful, and indeed, Hagar's Best of All Worlds Tour plays exactly one Chickenfoot song in their 90+ minute set. 

They have 115K monthly listeners. With Sammy Hagar, Michael Anthony, and Joe Satriani in the lineup!

Apropos of nothing, but my favorite snowboarding album of all time is the live half of Chickenfoot's Best + Live. It rocks hard enough to make me feel good about myself without getting so heavy that I start making bad decisions out there. Works for everything from warm-up runs to moguls.

That's it, friends. Have a great weekend!