Hivemind Times Issue #18

Welcome To The Hivemind Times!

Graydon Weaver here, reporting in from the final moments of my twenties. In my last hours of youth I write to you, the loyal fan at home, and I beg forgiveness for everything I’ve ever said or done and I vow 30 will be so much worse. 

For real though, thank you all for helping me get here - I know a lot of people thought it would never happen. We are really slapping a newsletter together this week as production has been our main focus to ensure you guys get a healthy amount of holiday content. 

Btw if you live in New Jersey send me drone vids.

- Riley & Graydon

WEEKLY PLAYLIST

This is an old playlist of mine, but a great jumping off point to getting into the world of Contemporary Jazz aka Watercolors. One of my all time faves.

- Tony

TONY’S UPDATE

Alright, so here’s the deal—I was supposed to whip up something for this newsletter, but, like, the inspiration gods totally ghosted me. You ever sit down to write and your brain’s just like, “Nah, not today, bro”? That’s me right now. Full-on tumbleweeds up there.

At first, I was like, “Okay, I’ll write about something profound. Maybe life lessons or productivity hacks.” But nah, that felt way too serious. Then I thought, “What about a listicle? People love those.” But guess what? No list ideas either. Zilch.

So here I am, writing about not knowing what to write about. Weirdly, it feels kind of freeing, y’know? Like, why stress over the perfect idea when you can just roll with whatever’s in your head? Maybe there’s a life lesson in that—like, sometimes you just gotta lean into the chaos and see what comes out.

I guess what I’m saying is, if you’re ever stuck, just write. Doesn’t matter if it’s good, bad, or downright weird. At least you’re doing something, right? And honestly, sometimes the stuff you create when you’re totally winging it ends up being kinda great. Or maybe it doesn’t, but who cares? You tried.

- Tony

SPORTS

Two Miserable Red Wings Fans Lamenting

Hey everyone, this is Ray (@raycoyleiv) and Tyriek (@allkrabnoab), your local diehard Detroit Red Wings fans, and it’s beginning to look grim. We are writing this after we just got embarrassed by the Philadelphia Flyers. It’s been 2,809 days since our last playoff win. We are losing hope. We need defense. We need a leader. Our rebuild is teetering on needing to be rebuilt. 

The chosen one, Steve Yzerman, is on his last stand. He needs a revive, but will he be able to crawl over to it? Only time will tell. 

The amount of times we’ve yelled at the TV is starting to alarm our friends and we will not apologize for our behavior.

What’s going wrong? Why are we at our wits’ end? 

• Our coach looks like Gru and has seemingly has no answers

• What’s worse than losing? We nearly always lose by 1

• Our goalie situation is in shambles

• We maybe have 2 defensemen that are worth a damn 

• We have the worst Penalty Kill in the NHL

• Our sports broadcaster, a 76 year old Red Wings legend, has to spend his elderly years watching this dogshit squad, when he himself has more spark than the chemistry of this team.

And if you have read all this, and don’t give a fuck about hockey, good. Don’t let it ruin your weeks like it ruins ours.

In agony,

- Ray and Tyriek

INTERVIEW TIME!

Ally Evenson Interview

CRONK’S UPDATE

’Tis the season for love, which is why I recently rekindled my long-lost flame with Guitar Hero 3: Legends of Rock. This game is iconic, and I would do unspeakable acts to the CEO who drove the Guitar Hero franchise into the ground.

I managed to download all the Guitar Hero games plus DLC onto my modded Xbox 360, and I’ve been racking up hours like crazy.

What are your favorite Guitar Hero songs to play? Here are some of mine:

• Weezer - My Name Is Jonas

• The Fall of Troy - F.C.P.R.E.M.I.X.

• Disturbed - Stricken

• Bloc Party - Helicopter

Tune into the stream next week, where I’ll be braving Through the Fire and Flames on Expert (no audio, of course, because of copyright).

- Cronk

RECIPES

Oktoberfest Kebab

I was visiting sweet Huntley who supplied a great playlist for y’all last weekend and I had to cook him something proper and boy did this hit. With access to a grill, kebabs always call my name. But with it being winter, I had to pull a twist. I decided on a winter beer inspired skewer.

The skewer was two chopped up Kielbasa sausages with hasselbacked mini potatoes and quartered shallots. Boil the taters till they are fork puncture soft.. not too soft!! And I know, “Graydon how does one hasselback a potato?” Well you can google it. Basically you turn that fucker into an accordion. 

Most importantly these stinkers need constant glazing. The glaze is gonna be about 20oz of a dark classy beer (I used Chimay) maybe 8oz of maple syrup and a bunch of fresh cracked pep. Put this in a little pot and reduce and whisk on low heat till it thickens up a bit. 

Once they hit the grill paint those fuckers constantly like you’re fucking Jackson Pollock. Your result will be a sugary peppery sausage stick with crispy potatoes. Just look at em. 

I paired with jasmine rice, a fresh cucumber salad and another simple chicken kebab.

- Graydon

MERCH