Friday news drop and videos of the week
Prices peak on hot softwood lumber demand If there was ever an incomprehensible year for forestry and sawmilling, it was 2020. Macroeconomic conditions in Canada and the U.S. weren’t any easier to decipher. However, one sector that clearly did well was housing: home building and selling activity across the continent revved up to white-hot levels. Indeed, according to the latest U.S. employment data, job gains in the construction sector entirely offset all the other job losses put together. (Forest Industries)
Marvel’s Most Superhuman Feat Was Saving Itself In 1996, Marvel filed for bankruptcy. Its business was in shambles. That wasn’t the first time in the company’s history that it stumbled hard—but each time it’s reemerged, stronger than before, like that supervillain you think you’ve defeated who suddenly reappears in the final battle. How is Marvel so resilient? Seems like its real superpower is making comebacks. (Slate)
The engineers building ridiculous dart blasters that Nerf won’t touch Out of Darts is at the forefront of a cottage industry selling original blasters and parts that can leave the official Nerf brand (owned by giant Hasbro) in the dust. It’s almost something of an arms race, where the Nerf internet community one-ups each other by making their toy blasters shoot more foam faster, farther, and more accurately, whether to show off or to perform that much better in an actual game of Nerf. (The Verge)
CEO Pay Tied to ESG Sets Canadian Banks Apart From the Crowd Canada’s six largest banks have all added ESG components to their chief executive officers’ compensation frameworks, putting them in a small minority of companies that tie executive pay to such measures. (Bloomberg)
How Amazon Crushes Unions In a secret settlement in Virginia, Amazon swore off threatening and intimidating workers. As the company confronts increased labor unrest, its tactics are under scrutiny. (New York Times)
The Longest Winter - How Parks Got Us Through a Tough Winter The pandemic showed just how important green spaces are to our mental health. How can we keep them accessible during the coldest months? (Walrus)
What Happens When Investment Firms Acquire Trailer Parks The financial industry’s pursuit of profits from mobile-home communities is undermining one of the country’s largest sources of affordable housing. (New Yorker)
Reverse Wealth Transfer on Steroids Stop scrolling, stop gaming, stop trading, stop making memes. Stop collecting things that don’t function and will, with the passage of just a year or two, become completely laughable. Nobody’s going to want to buy any of this stuff from you because they’re going to make 70 billion versions of everything you’re buying now. It’s artists today, but eventually it will be corporations. They will sell you limited edition ziploc bags filled with air if you demonstrate a willingness to buy it from them. (Reformed Broker)
P/E Ratios and the Case of the Dueling Denominators The E, not the P, is the driving force behind P/Es these days—and shows why stocks aren’t overvalued. (Fisher Investments)
It’s A Bubble If you know nothing else about a bubble, know this: “Assets whose prices more than double over one to three years are twice as likely to double again in the same time frame as they are to lose more than half their value.” (Irrelevant Investor)
Chapter 11 TV - SURFERS - Matt Mccabe, Craig Anderson (One shit wave from when we got skunked in PR) , Eithan Osbourne (Maybe only clip of the trip), Dane Reynolds, Dylan Graves (Fly’s through frame), Jake Anderson (He’s either going hate or love this),Andrew Doheny (Last track is the first song he ever wrote)
Into the gnar - Crazy steep lines on the North Shore in Vancouver in the rain with Steve Vanderhoek
Hitting Rowdy Loamers on The Shore with Gully & the Crew in 'Weekend Slayer' The local crew on the steep, and wild loamers of Mount Seymour! We link up with Geoff Gulevich, Scott Mackay, Brian Serneels, and Fraser Vaage for an insane ride, packed with loose moments and hilarious trail banter.
Rémy Métailler Pushing the limits with Yoann on some steep terrain.
Quiver Collective is a series that invites the viewer to look into a collection we might not otherwise ever get to see. From professionals to enthusiasts these collections might be fit for a museum someday, but for now here is the visual archive. Join in as we go to private homes, garages, closets, backyards, vaults, even shoeboxes. These are the stories of the collectors of memories because it's important to them. Maybe the collections are important to you too.
Brute SF in Miami Video Jafin Garvey, Jonathan Perez, Blake Norris and the Brute crew bring the Bay vibes to MIA’s steep steps and sketchy rails.