IN PARTNERSHIP WITH GRANOLA
Happy Saturday. Here’s what we’re watching, tracking and thawing this weekend.
EDITOR’S PICKS
Santa we’re not messing with
J.K. Simmons might be Hollywood’s most unusual Santa. He studied music in Montana and sang on Broadway. He played a neo-Nazi on HBO’s Oz, then won an Oscar as the terrifying jazz teacher in Whiplash. He’s also been the voice of the yellow M&M since 1996.
He’s played Santa three times:
At 24, fresh out of college, he spent one season as a mall Santa. He calls it the worst job he ever had.
In 2019, he voiced the title role in Netflix’s Klaus, night 1 on our calendar.
In Red One, he played a Santa who spends the off-season in the gym. Dwayne Johnson said Simmons trained for months to get in shape for it, in his late 60s.
Red One is night 20 on our Christmas movie calendar, which lands on Friday, Nov. 20.
Notetaker we’re talking to
Your favourite notetaker now does the typing too. [Partner*] Granola, the AI notepad for people with back-to-back meetings, just launched Voice Typing. Hold Fn and talk, and clean text appears in any app you are already using including Gmail, Slack, Docs or Claude. Now available on Mac and Windows (iOS and Android coming soon). Speak naturally and get clean text in any app. Unlimited words for all Granola users. Try it here.
Price alerts we’re setting before Black Friday
Black Friday is Nov. 27, and plenty of “deals” are last month’s price with a red tag. Two no-cost ways to know a real drop when you see one:
Anything online: Chrome’s built-in price tracking watches a product page and emails you when the price falls. You’ll need to be signed in to Chrome.
Amazon: CamelCamelCamel shows each item’s price history and emails you when it hits a price you pick.
Set them on the three things you’re already eyeing. If the “sale” price matches the history’s usual low, wait.
Turkey math we’re doing this weekend
Thanksgiving is 12 days out, and the bird is the one thing you can’t rush. In the fridge, a frozen turkey thaws at about a day for every 4 to 5 pounds. The math for Thursday, Nov. 26:
12 to 16 pounds: in the fridge by Monday, Nov. 23.
16 to 20 pounds: in the fridge by Sunday, Nov. 22.
20 to 24 pounds: in the fridge by Saturday, Nov. 21.
Still shopping? Butterball’s Turkey Talk-Line says to plan on about a pound per person, more if you want leftovers. Forgot to start? A cold-water bath takes about 30 minutes a pound, with fresh water every half hour. Never the counter.
Journal we’re starting with one sentence
Ryan Holiday’s favorite gift to give is the One Line a Day journal. He’s kept one for 10 years.
The rule is one sentence a night. Each page is a single date with five short spaces, so next year you write right under this year’s line, and the year after that. Holiday says he’d forgotten most of what’s in there. Now he can flip back and see the person he was.
We kept one and loved it. Start one tonight, or wrap one up for someone. It’s a gift that sticks around for five years.
MARGINAL GAINS
Lance Bass made $35 a day in *NSYNC. You can channel-surf ‘90s cable again, no sign-up. Ben Affleck’s legendary Armageddon commentary. Kevin James spent months posing as a fake art teacher. A Kegel trainer that buzzes when you get it right*. (*Partner)
Tried something this week worth passing along? Hit reply. It might make next Saturday’s picks.
The 1% Better Team
