Feeling This: The Neck Hammock, Problematic Band Names, and More

Welcome to Feeling This, a Friday column about cool stuff site editor Chris Gayomali has been digging.

Whattup feelers, I'm back in the saddle this week. Yeehaw. My heart to Drew, Rachel, and Sam for ably providing stuff to feel these last few weeks.

I recently got off a [checks non-existent wristwatch] 19-hour air journey from southeast Asia, a leg of which entailed sitting in the middle seat. The stranger to my right, in the aisle seat, was nice enough, although there was a fair bit of mental jiu-jitsu involved as we sparred over the arm rest. (Airplane etiquette PSA: GUYS, IF YOU ARE NOT IN THE MIDDLE SEAT, THE COURTEOUS THING TO DO IS TO ALLOW THEM BOTH ARMRESTS. ANYONE WHO DOES NOT DO THIS SHOULD BE FORCED TO SIT NEXT TO THE FART FUMES SEEPING FROM THE LAVATORY, IN MY OPINION.)

Basically I got off the flight feeling all coiled up and gnarly, like I'd been origami'd into a retiree. Part of my recovery involved yoga stretches, blasting my back with a Theragun, and, most crucially, using my Neck Hammock, which gently stretches out your neck and vertebrae after using it for ten to fifteen minutes. (A special thanks to the PR person who I'm presuming listed my beat in their database as "WASHED.") Behold the Neck Hammock in action:

Lying in the thing makes my big head feel like a small baby. (I'm baby?) I have no idea if it's all a scam or placebo, but there's a wonderful palliative quality that washes over me after using it. Here's me using it from a few months ago. Five stars!

Also feeling: this very lovely Americana ballad by a great band with a problematic name.

Did I discover it by way of a forgettable A24 film shot in Valencia filter? Perhaps.

What We Read This Week:

At the New Republic, this inside look at MSNBC, where business is booming.

From our neighbors at Wired, this inside look at Facebook, where business is slightly less booming and everything is a fresh hell.

Really enjoyed this interview with Daniel Dae Kim at Elle by fellow small pore-enthusiast Estelle Tang. (Alex Wong also interviewed him for GQ if you would like to read a conversation that involves approximately 90 percent more Lost.)

A bit on the older side, but this piece over at Intelligencer by Luke O'Neil on the families ruined by Fox News is lowkey devastating.

Also old but no-less fascinating: This fascinating story over at Technology Review about a scientist who is building machines to suck excess carbon out of the atmosphere.

ICYMI on GQ:

A warm welcome to new GQ reader Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. We had Nathaniel Friedman aka FreeDarko on the improbable rise of the Brooklyn Nets, suddenly the funnest gang of misfits in the league. A razor-sharp Jay Willis on why the Mueller Report is actually an invitation to Congress to begin impeachment proceedings. Five words: Rachel Tashjian on nudie suits! Brennan Carley wrote about Beychella Live. Alex Siquig, one of the funniest writers alive, wrote about the Golden State Warriors blowing a 31-point lead. And Sophia Benoit, one of the funniest writers alive, ranked every one of Harry's outfits in When Harry Met Sally, which somehow turned 30 this year.

We also put a gentleman you might have heard of named Keanu Reeves on the cover of the May issue, and the story by Alex Pappademas includes both Peter Stormare talking about sea turtles and a shout out to Toronto noise band Metz. Here is a long story about Acronym designer Errolson Hugh by a writer no one's heard of, and here is Robert P. Baird with a harrowing read about the deadly California wildfires and the four heroic friends who decided to fight against it.

That's all for this week. Remember to moisturize and subscribe to GQ.