2026
A continuing.
Why hello there. Welcome back to another exciting edition of The Loop, a product of Three Point Four Media, LLC. Thanks for being here.
It’s the first one of 2026 because we took a minute or two weeks who is counting these days for some R&R. The office is back. Well, not for us, we don’t have an office. I’m currently writing this from an outdoor bench overlooking the can’t spell arsenic without scenic Gowanus Canal because 42 degrees feels like 80 after the run of cold we’ve had. Anyway, RTO, sure, but one of the nice outgrowths of pandemic-era “knowledge working” is this acceptance that there are periods of the year when nothing happens, and it makes more sense to admit that and not work than make people come in or log on just to read Reddit all day.
Not to plant our flag too firmly, but Three Point Four Media was a pioneer in this regard.
An article
As a “wine guy” (qualifications: owns small wine fridge, recently reviewed a wine store), I enjoyed (maybe not the right word) this piece on saving wine from wildfires. Smoke, bad for grapes! (Smoke, bad for everything, apparently: “researchers in Europe concluded that they had underestimated death tolls from short-term wildfire-smoke exposure by ninety-three per cent.”)
The part where an intern figures out why the grapes taste smoky by talking to a bunch of chefs is a rollicking good time. Make it a Benoit Blanc film:
Collins’s lab revealed that the leek tea was indeed loaded with smoky chemicals, and that it also contained another class of compounds: thiols. Thiols are responsible for the distinctive aromas of skunk spray and ripe durian; they’re also added to natural gas to provide a detectable rotten-egg smell at even trace levels. When Tomasino spiked red wine with guaiacol and similar chemicals, the mixture tasted like Band-Aids; if she used only thiols it had a vegetal aspect, reminiscent of Brussels sprouts. It took adding both to create the particular licking-a-grill notes of smoke taint.
Related: Highly recommend Enfield Wine.
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A book
Lorne arrived almost immediately, a surprise given the Brooklyn Library system’s propensity for mysterious wait times. (Who Knew, Barry Diller’s autobiography, is in transit. Big month for books about and by old white men with outsized influences on culture.) It’s almost 600 pages. I should really start looking at the length of books I request, for expectation setting if nothing else. An exhaustive history of the man who created Saturday Night Live. I’m 130 pages in and we’re still in Canada with Lorne in his mid-20s.
Morrison makes for a wonderful biographer, with an ability to explain one of Lorne’s traits, show how it makes him successful, and critique its failings all in the same paragraph.
This book isn’t for everyone, and I’m not even sure why I’m reading it, but it’s exceptionally well done.
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A show
Black Sails debuted in 2014, ran for four seasons, and no one watched it or heard of it because it was on Starz. By no one, I mean me. And possibly you. Now it’s on Netflix, and Game of Thrones plus pirates minus magic is getting a new life. And by getting a new life, I mean I started watching it. It’s fun. A little slow at points with a few too many scenes of meetings that could have been emails but running a pirate colony involves a lot of logistics and coordination, apparently. The pirates are all very attractive or very not, which feels maybe not historically accurate. Not a lot of average looking people in New Providence.
Or you could go watch Industry. Pirates of a different manner.
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A project
Bookending our two-week hiatus, we opened conversations with a potential new client and then got the job in the new year. A three-month engagement with the possibility of continuing on indefinitely.
The work came out of going to coffee with a friend, no expectations at all other than catching up, then boom, a glimmer of a shot, one opportunity, a chance to connect some dots. You never know from whence the next job will appear.
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A run
Tomorrow, I’m running the Aramco Houston Half Marathon, not to be confused with the Chevron Houston Marathon, which takes place at the same time, or the We Are Houston 5K presented by Aramco and Chevron, which starts a day earlier in the same place. Here’s hoping the on-course hydration isn’t crude.
This is a fast race. Last year, Conor Mantz broke the American record and nearly won (see video above). My goal is to finish somewhere between 1:23 and 1:25, which would put me in 400th to 500th place, an astonishing five miles behind whoever wins. Running in the age of super shoes and nutrition and whatnot is the best sport.
Next week, a Q&A about pirates and treasure with a real, live author. For now, go start something.
“I want For Starters to be a moment in someone’s week.”
Danny Giacopelli is a starter in his own right. He founded For Starters, a “weekly newsletter for starting the small business of your dreams.” The publication is thoughtful and helpful, tightly curated yet expansive, a resource and a community. An excellent read, dropped into your inbox every Friday morning.