The Out List

and now it's dry January. So here's the thing about January. What it is is that like it's like a kind of a lame month, kind of a bad month following a really good one. To me, like October, November, December, three of the best months of the year, no question, right, Like in my opinion, I mean, in October, first off, it's Halloween, my birthdays in October, my anniversaries in October.

October just jam packed full of great stuff. November is the month of Thanksgiving happens, and Thanksgiving is one of the best holidays I think, just the best. So much good stuff happening around Thanksgiving, very cozy holiday. And then you hit December and you're just you know, gliding towards Christmas, and the holiday season is super fun and exciting and there's gift giving and there's merriment and there's joy. And then January is the month where everything you'd like put

everything away, where you rip everything down. It's the it's the boxing up of all of your joyful aspirations back for you know, until next year. And I find that to be uniquely depressing and kind of sad. And then I used to for many years, for long period of time, I would go to a trade show in January called CS. Do you know what CS is? Oh, the Consumer Electronics Show. It's the largest electronics trade show in the world. It takes place in Las Vegas. I was just reminded that

people are there actually. For a long time, as a journalist and running teams of journalists who cover technology, we would have to go and cover it because it's usually

the first week of January. So we would go right after New Year's out to Las Vegas and then set up this huge production that we would have a huge amount of people and would cover this show like crazy for days and days and days where it was like no sleep and eating really badly, and we had like a trailer that everybody would work out of that was

absolutely disgusting on every level. So my associations over time with January became this kind of like stress and paranoia and dread of having to immediately put myself into this like very hardcore working situation. You know, you're you're all alone, and you're on a plane to Las Vegas, and you've got a blog about new TVs or something, and uh and and life just seems like all of its possibilities

have ended. All of the all of the hope and the dreams and the and the beauty that you were just recently embracing have slipped through your fingers like like

sand through an hour glass. And you look out across a crowded casino floor in Las Vegas at two in the morning, and all you're doing is drinking after working, and your body feels, you know, racked with whatever new virus is spreading from whatever, you know, part of the world it's it's come from to, you know, to be in Vegas, and and and what is there, really, you know, what is there? Just the blackness, just the yawning blackness of despair that you've been swallowed up by and so yeah,

I don't know. I guess January isn't that great of a month from me. I I was just wondering if you have any New Year's resolutions? Do you do that? I'm not like a New Year's resolution person, you know, like this is it, here's my chance, because to me, the passage from one year to another is not it's

not real. I mean, that's not real. You know, the Jews have a totally different calendar that has a different date on it, and the Jews the Jews, Yeah, you know, the Jews, as you know, the real I want to make sure I understood that. What did it sound like?

I said, yeah, the Jews us Jews. And the truth is that, you know, going from December thirty one to January one is the only thing that's important about it is that Sci Fi runs a Twilight Zone marathon for twenty four hours, and that is all that matters, and that is all that is worth thinking about on New

Year's Day. And as the passage of time, you know, moves from eleven fifty nine to midnight, all that you need to be thinking about is I can now put on the Twilight Zone Marathon on the Sci Fi Network. Did you see the Genie Lamp episode? Uh? I think I've seen it. I actually didn't watch that much Twilight Zone on the Sci Fi Network this year because I was busy, I don't know what, living doing other things, which is strange. I completely forgot about it for half

a day. Also, I illegally downloaded all of the Twilight Zone episodes, and so if I want to watch the one about the Genie lamp, I can put it on any time I want. So it's not the same. It's a favorite in our house, is it? Can you give me a little bit of a synopsis of what happens? An old couple finds a Genie lamp in an antique store and it's kind of like, you know, making a deal with the devil. Each wish backfires until the ultimate backfire. Yeah,

that's a classic Twilight Zone. I don't want to spoil it, but we quoted all the time in my house. Growing up in my house in Tennessee, we did watch the Twilight Zone on Sci Fi Marathon every year. It was great. This is no, we're not here to talk about Twilight Zone though. So yeah, I'm not a resolution guy as I was saying, because I'm not like, this is it. Here's my chance? You know, to me, every day is that is a chance. And also every day is a

chance to blow it. So you know, I think it's like I'm on equal footing every time I wake up. You're like Penelope Cruise in Vanilla Sky. That's right. Does she say something like that or is that just her vibe? Every passing moment is another chance to turn it all around? That's right. That's how I That's exactly how I feel. Uh, just horribly optimistic about even the worst situations. Um like

this all could get way better soon. So I did, however, write down a few things I'd like to do in the new year, you know, to improve my sense of well being. And they're very boring though, Like one is like I'm gonna try not to drink for January, which is everybody does dry January. It's like a thing, and I,

you know, I don't know. I guess that my main reason would be because I want to see if, like I'll lose ten pounds or something more than anything, you know, because you really go crazy at the end of the year with the eating and the drinking. It's like I'm not like, wow, I'm an alcoholic or I need to slow down. It's more like, like, did I put on ten pounds in the last like a couple of months. Probably, And could I lose it by not drinking? Maybe? Is

that easier than doing real work like exercising or eating? Well? Probably? So that's that's one. You know, they really aren't good. I mean, they're kind of person that we're kind of personal, you know. Um, some of them are sort of work related. They're really boring. They're so boring. They're like, be more present for work stuff. It's like fucking the dumbest ship. Yeah, so you know, I don't know. I don't because, like you know, I think the reason my resolutions aren't that

interesting is because I don't believe that. Like mean, I get I guess people are like, well, it's a new year, this is a great time because you're starting it's from scratch, you're starting from zero. I guess that makes sense. But I think, yeah, I think you need a fake a trigger, you need Yeah, you need something to differentiate because it's very very difficult to make changes as an adult. It's really hard. I say, I'm going to go down a

different path now. But then yeah, but then it's then it's like January second, you know, and it's just another day. I mean, I think the problem with resolutions is that, you know, it's like on day one. It's like, especially after New Year's Eve, because people go pretty hard, which is always a mistake. I believe going hard on New Year's Eve huge mistake. Anytime you ever try to do anything on New Year's Eve, I feel like it's a huge mistake. Like the best thing to do is to

not do anything. But you know, I think you get to January two and then you're like, Okay, it's another day in January three, and it's another day, And what does it take to real change? I feel like it's got to be something more than the calendar turning to a new day at the end of and maybe still a little bit at the beginning of. There has been a huge spike in people doing in and out lists. You know, tired and wired, which is wired list? Yeah, right,

kind of same thing. Hot or Not I guess is it? No? Hot or Not was like a site where you rate people's beauty and hot and cold. I feel like every magazine has some variation of this, but it plays. It's like Vandity Fair is like do they have the Matrix? No, that's New York Magazine. I feel like Vanity Fair is like Uptown Downtown or something like that. You know. At any rate, so have you have you looked at any in and outlist? I looked at the l A times. It might have just been the l A like food.

I saw one and it was funny because they were like, what's out for the l A next year is Nashville hot Chicken? We have enough? Is that a thing to me? Because yeah, because Nashville Hot Chicken is everywhere, and it's as somebody who's from Nashville, you know, it's usually not Nashville Hot Chicken. But still it like became like a big trend and it just is like every place feels like they have to offer it anyhow, So everybody's speking is in an outlets as you just to discuss the

l A food, something made it in an outlets? Is it very popular on Instagram? From what I can tell, I suppose it's popular in TikTok, but I don't look at that. I've seen a little bit on Twitter, and of course a lot on Mastered on my social network of Choice. Here's what I noticed about the inn and outlets. All of the in things I've seen are like things that normal people do that people on like Twitter or

who are very online don't think normal people do. They're like in drinking a Coca Cola, It's like, yeah, no, people are drinking Coca cola like norm I mean, normal Core is like this in normal Core is this thing? I mean, I mean, I know it has previously been a thing, but I feel like there's I feel like gen Z is starting to adopt like the idea of normalcy. Like everything is just so fucking basic in the world.

Everything is so mass market. You know, every idea of the second you have it, every it's like fashion concept, every interest in art, all of them just feel so broad and mass market to me. Now, you know, like people don't even want obscure stuff anymore, Like it's uncool to be into obscure stuff. So anyhow, So I saw people a lot of people doing these in an outlets. So I've decided to make one for the first episode of for What Future. I thought, maybe I will have

some predictions of my own about the year ahead. Right. We ended the year with me talking about things I loved in So what what better way to begin a year than two? For me to you know, pre sage the year ahead. Would you like to hear my in and out list? I actually have it arranges out and

then in. I feel like that's more dramatic. You hear the thing that is out and then you hear like, what's once we'replacing it right, for instance, out posting your take, right, people putting their thoughts online being like here's what I think, or they shouldn't have made the Chilier whatever, you know, whatever Taylor and I were talking about a few weeks ago, or you know, having an opinion online. I think that's out. Okay, you know it's in keeping it to yourself, just thinking

you don't have to tell anybody. That's gonna be very a very hot trend, I believe alright. Number two, how do you say this? Is it? She? And is that? How you say the name of the fast fashion retailer shean? Is debt over? That ship's over? You know it's in nineties style good will halls. It's all about goodwill and housing works and whatever. Any thrift store, not the fancy ones, the cheap ones. Yeah, like it was in the nineties

when things were good, when everything was perfect. Just incredibly bad fashion stuff going on right now, Like there's so much bad fashion that speaking of following trends that is like considered now considered to be like what is on trend, and it's all like late nineties early Choose House and stuff, which is like I get it, because we just are

now recycling decades. Every like decade or two. We're just going like, hey, remember when remember this thing that looks sort of unfamiliar now because we haven't been staring at it for so long. And you know, it's like it's like Janko jeans, like baggy super I Giet, like braver pants like lyra if you have some on. You know, I don't want to like knock your personal style or whatever, but they're remarkably on flattering on every person who wears them. And and and I'm not sure like even in their

heyday that anybody was like these are good looking. It was just like, you know, if you're fifteen and going to a rave, you probably don't think about it too much. A lot of room for dancing inside of those things. But it's just strange to me how we keep recycling these ideas over it over again, and I feel like, don't be really taking a step back and going like

does this actually look good? Now? Of course this is one old man's opinion, you know, one ft in the grave, you know, like a it's the scale half skeleton voicing his opinions. But but you know, while I have a pulse, I'm going to tell people that I don't think like you. It's like people like wearing like basically bootcut like pants, like I don't know, like bootcut just bootcut jeans are not they don't look good. I'm sorry, I don't know, right, am I wrong? Do you think they look good? No?

But I do think that they can look good if they're cropped and they're the right cropped. Let me think about what that means here crops you mean hemmed or they're high like they're you know, high waters flood chances. So so I'm more like a hem hemmed seven is a hemming down at the bottom. You can have a hem or they can have a raw hem raw him you mean, like do you think raw hems are in raw hems? Like where like maybe there's some thread or string,

you know, it's like some thread hanging out. Yeah, like that it has. I don't know if it's on how close the ground it is, like, because if I see a thread touching the ground, that's it over the ground because it would be cropped, right. I think floods look best when they're when they're straight or taper personally, slight, taper straight. That's a classic look. That's a that's a

never going to age out type of look. You know, that's a real nerd from the fifties kind of thing going on there that now, we'll never look wrong because it's frozen in time. You're ready, more ready, Vinyl is out, it's over, vinyls over. Unless you're basic, you know what's in? You probably know it's in. Do you know what's in? You don't. It's all about CDs. This year is gonna be everybody's me talking about CDs all fucking year. I can tell you right now, you're gonna read article after art.

In fact, I has has the New York Times written the article yet, because it's coming, Mark my words, write it down, Jane very fourth. I believe within the next three months, three to four months, the New York Times will have an article about CDs and how they're cool and everybody's buying them. Now, okay, got that. Where are people are going to be playing their CDs on CD players?

That's gonna be a big new market new CD players, old CD players that people a can be carrying around those CD those c D walkman, you know that are like the portable CD changer with the headphones that have the little foam things covering the little of metal headphones. The foam things that would be cool. That's gonna be very hot. Are those met the metal ones with the

year buds you know what I'm talking about. They have like the things that go in your ears, but they were just like attached to a metal basically a hanger, a code hanger. You have to put like six double A batteries in the CD thing. It's incredible. No, it's gonna be great, alright. Out being real. Being real is out in looking at your friends in real life. That's right, that's right. You're not gonna look at the little picture anymore. We yes, we're gonna finally be real. It Actually that

brings me to my next one out quote. The pandemic is over in masking all year. That's that's what's gonna be happening. So while you're looking at your friends, they're gonna be wearing cool, great masks they bought on. Nay, I hate wearing a mask. I just want to say, I'm not an anti masker. I will mask up. I'm happy to do it. I'm happy to do my part. Yes, but I personally don't enjoy I don't care that much. But I don't like it. And by the way, I

think my face is terrifying. So it's actually a lot on a lot of levels for me as a as kind of a benefit. Oh, I absolutely I loved mask sunglasses, hat. Nobody's telling you to smile or anything. I know women are calling people constantly smile beautiful, Like they don't say ship to you when you get a mask on. No one knows I'm looking what I'm thinking. Yeah, I can't

tell women to smile. It's very annoying. I've been walking, wandering around the city, dying to tell someone in a demanding manner that they should be smiling, but to no avail. But I think no one wants to. Nobody wants to do that. They want to go back to living like normal, like in a normal way. But I don't think we

can do that now, Like not right now. I think we need whatever that spray is in um class Glass on You, which is I gotta say, one of the best parts of that film, the return is Sunday night appointment viewing. Everybody knows that that's already been happening all through the whole thing. With everybody's got hot prestige television that's dead. People want reliable, knowable Sunday night properties, you know, against all odds, House the Dragon delivered. It delivered for people.

They gave them what they want. I know. I hear everybody talking about Yellowstone. Is Yellowstone on the fucking t NT or something like? It's apparently like the most popular show one and it's got three I think three spinoffs. Yeah. No, that's is what people want. They want to go back to the golden age when it was like these network shows. It's like Netflix just canceled the show. It's some you know, it's made by the people who made Dark which I

guess everybody loved on Netflix. You know, it's some kind of like Mystery at Sea with like time travel and drugs and who knows what. I only watched one episode, but that was the vibe. I Cott and I was like, oh, that's interesting, Like I might watch more of that, but you know what, I didn't because it doesn't matter. There's no stakes. Like I think, yeah, prestige television is like it's going to return to a state of being a

more rarefied commodity. You know, they can only be attained by a certain you know, sort of complex set of circumstances, right like it's on a net known network, it's you know, produced, got a certain kind of like leading men or woman with some gravitas. I don't know, although on the other hand, you think about the great prestige television of Yestery Year,

mad Men, Walking Dead, Game of Thrones, those are all nobodies. Actually, maybe it'll be a return to nobodies, although there's so many nobodies hard to say there are a lot of there's so many nobodies. That's not a knock on them. There's a lot of actors, you know, there's a lot of people out there who want to act and and it's been honestly an incredible time for actors because there's just so many pieces of content being created. I do think we're in a we're overloaded on content. I think

there's just too much of it. I know again I'm old, but yeah, at any rate, how's the Dragon White loadus. That's what's in. That's what's happening this year. I mean it was happening last year, but you could see the trend coming and now it's just gonna be that in Yellowstone all the way down. There's also the new there's a documentary produced based seth Regon that's airing on Sundays.

Documentaries are out, actually, that's out for documentaries are out and over actually, and what's in is only films like American beauty style movies, serious adult dramas that are actually box office smashes. I believe there is an incredible waning of interest in superhero films. I'll be honest with you. They gotta bring Robert Downey Jr. Back and and I guarantee you. Right now at at Disney Headquarters, Bob Iger is sitting with Kevin how do you pronounce the last name?

Is it? Fe? Was like giving it too much credit, you know, said, look, you want to say Kevin Fiege, but that's definitely a house prodouns. Let's find out fig figy is what is what? Wikipedia says Kevin Figi Anyhow, right now, Bob Iger and Kevin Figy, which may or may not be the way you pronounce his last name, are sitting in a room trying to figure out how much they have to pay Robert Downey Jr. To be Iron Man again, because if that doesn't happen soon, the

whole thing is going to fall apart. And they can't even make a good Star Wars movie, and they can't even sell Star Wars. One of my predictions is that the entire like industrial complex of like franchises, particularly those that were precious to like jen X and Millennial to some degree, is going to wane hard, starting like right now.

I think we're just we're going to reach the end of this cycle, which has been a long cycle of this known i P that has been out there being sort of like childishly, you know, regurgitated in an infantilized manner for an infantilized audience. And I say this as a as an enjoyer of many of the products that I'm denouncing currently. I think fresh original i P is

gonna be very hot. I think original movies like you know, somebody's gonna write like a new die Hard, Like when's the last time we had a die hard right, I would say, what's the Keanu Reeves john Wick? John Wick was the last time there was like a brand new and it was huge franchise. John Wick four is going to be I think of disappointment. My gut tells me john Wick four is going to disappoint somehow. I think we're just at that point. It's too much, too many sequels,

too many franchises. I think we're gonna be returning to um it's all gonna be like American Beauty. Every movie is going to be like American Beauty. You're with me, and we got a lot more to go through here out right wing boomers, in right wing millennials, big big wave coming, big red wave of right wing millennials. And I'm ready. I'm ready. I think we all have been waiting for this day. I think we all knew it

was coming, and now it's gonna happen. In if we have a Republican president at the end of four, you can blame right wing millennials. You heard it here first out biking in rowing. Many of these are ripped from my personal headlines, by the way, for the record, although I will say, and maybe this is a new out and in. Even though I just said the biking is out, I believe Peloton is going to mount a big comeback in And I say this as a person who just turned on his Peloton bike for the first time in

one year and contemplated re establishing a subscription to the service. Sowhere. Yeah. Well, they say that they have a great new ad campaign where they tout the sort of commitment rate of people who start on Peloton and like the new year, like stick with it. I don't know what their metric is. It's like maybe they stick with it till March, like I have no idea actually think it's like for a full year or something. Anyhow, Biking out unfortunately for them,

rowing big, big time in right now. Huge, everybody's talking about it. Out Beans, beans are out, Beans are over. Yeah in nuts being a big year for nuts, Hugette switch up, huge year for nuts. Beans unfortunately are going to suffer staggering defeat this. It's very sad, but roasty Elon on Twitter that's out for roasted elot on mast and on that's in. That's a big end for me. Horrible. This is a horrible list. Uh, let's see what else

I have on my list AI art that's out. That's out for artists who use AI is in, however, so huge distinction, in big difference. Pink, the color pink is out, Orange oranges in just just a fact. I believe that hot sauce is going to be out for I think hot foods. I think it's gonna be a big trend downward for hot foods, and mild food is going to make a big re emergence, big reappearance on the plates

of many. I think people are looking for a more mild flavor, something that's less agitating to their gastro intestinal system, and they just generally want to take it easy, you know, when they're eating. I think they can be a lot of bananas, a lot of like bread products. I gotta tell you, my sixteen went old would completely agree with your whole list. Yeah. Well, I get a lot of my information from sixteen month old children. I gave him some beans yesterday. He was not a fan of He

loves bananas. Okay, there you have, I mean, empirical, empirical proof that my list is matically accurate. I'll tell you, you know what's out for me buying crap? What does that mean it means that I got like addicted to online shopping and just just buying things thinking that they were going to like fix my life. Yeah, well it depends on what you buy, I guess. But like, well,

give me an example. I bought a okay, this, I don't actually regret bad example the well, okay, here's an so I started returning anything I could, returning in, buying out, returning in. I love it. I love it. I got a I got this thing called a worky m h. And it's like a briefcase that opens up and it's a home for your laptop and it's got like dry it's just like the thing that is this like the thing that Nathan Fielder uses in his show that's like he straps no, but it could, I mean, it could

go on that. But it has like you know, it's got like a ring light. It's like a little it's like a briefcase full of your workspace. Yes so, and then the ideas that can close it at the end of the day for the remote worker. For the remote worker. I bought it, and I and it just sat next to my desk for long enough that I took it back. It sounds like a nightmarish item. To be honest with you, is it workey with like two ease? It's working with a y. It's even worse. There are new sponsor work

I love worky. It's a depressing idea that your whole little like a professional life is in this briefcase and then you you close it up. What was appealing to me is that you close it and then it's over. But it's never really over. I really live in a kind of Brazil world, you know, you know the film Brazil just kind of a nightmarish society of never ending pain and h and small amounts of weird suffering that all adds up over time, but isn't like on its

own one terrible thing. It's like all these little things, you know, death by a thousand cuts. But it's like it's a worky here and and zoom call there and whatever. It is just tragic. Why don't you just ask me about things and I'll tell you if they're in or out? Um? Is target shopping at target hugely out? Question targets out hugely? Sorry, it's just not that's that's the kind of crass consumerism that America's rejected. But where am I going to get

like poop bags for my dog. That's a different story. You'll order those on Amazon, where you do most of your Well, you should start because that's very in this year. Amazon's big time in targets, big time out unfortunately. But it's just that's those are the rules. Renting movies. Buying blue rays is in, Renting movies is out. I'll be honest with you. I was at Target the other day against my will, and I was looking at some of their blue rays and I thought, I think I'm gonna

start buying blue rays. And I feel strongly that a lot of people. Here's the thing, ownership. I think ownership is going to be a big deal in this year. I think owning the things that you want instead of like borrowing them from Netflix, that's gonna be big. That's a huge trend. Line. C These you can own for very cheap, and that music is yours forever. No one can take it away from you. They can't, you know,

swap it out on Spotify. They can't decide that they're you know, the deal fell through with the band and now there's no you can't listen to the song anymore. Ownership big deal in three running for exercise in or out. I think running is is permanently in. You know, running is one of the first things that we learned to do as as people, right, running from an animal, running towards an animal, right, trying to get an animal to eat,

running away from an animal to not be eaten. I believe running is an intrinsic part of our human experience and it can never go out of style. Veganism, I mean it's obviously out. Obviously obviously veganism is out and over, and I think you'll see a lot of businesses that try to appeal to a vegetarian and vegan movement failing in twenty three, Like you know, all these meat companies. Although I'm a big I support veganism and vegetarianism at all in every form, I just feel like it's a

popular trend line. Yeah, I've seen multiple no meat like fast food alternative places have popped up around me, and I'm like, I just don't know if there's enough people who want no meat fast food alternatives. I mean, there may be a place, there may be a place, but I just feel like it's there's one that's here that's been super popular forever there's always a lying around the block. But have you had an impossible whopper? Yeah, they're amazing.

I mean there is good as a regular walker. I think if you gave a person out an impossible whopper without telling them that it was not real meat, they would not know the difference. Though it does would have proved that, like the most important parts of something like a whopper are actually not the meat, it's like all the stuff around it. Yeah. I had my first ever Carl's Jr. Burger the other day and I can't stop talking about it because it was incredible. Wait, Carl's Junior

doesn't impossible. No, I mean this was just a regular burger. But I just I've never gotten what I'm saying. I've never gone. No, I'm agreeing with you. It was the tomato slices were perfect. The lettuce, it was perfect, the sauce. Burger Burgers are in, Burgers are in. You know, it's a big trend scars having scars. I mean, I don't think scars can be in or out. No one's getting

a scar, you know what I mean. I mean, sure they're scarring as a body mod but I think you either have a scar you don't that exists at a kind of Schrodinger's cat situation could either be in nor out. Do you understand overhead lighting in or out out? It's always out out forever and should be ba and and banished from all existence. Overhead lighting is a pox and

a curse on a society and humanity. And and anyone who tells you otherwise has bad eyesight or is lying to themselves and or you garbage disposals and are out, I mean in. It's a great convenience. Everybody should be disposaling. Wow, I thought you're gonna say out, No carbage disposals rock. If you don't. If you've lived in a world where you don't have one and then you get one, which I did, you'll understand very quickly how awesome they are. I've only had one once and it broke. The problem

is people abuse them. People try to put all kinds of crazy ship down garbage disposals. They think like my parents come from a generation where they think it's like a magical whole that you could put anything into and it just disappears into some magical place. Like you have to understand there's a whole generation of people who were like when I throw something away, it's gone. It gets

zapped out of existence by the langoliers or whatever. I don't know if you understand why, Stephen king Raffords, But that's fine. People can research it. You know. That is like the generations that have come before us believed the garbage just disappears somewhere. They didn't think about landfills are leaving the ground water or any of that. Ship they have a US is like