Four Fun Things for February 9, 2025
Theories about Severance, a gorgeous (and versatile) tortilla press, a different kind of non-alcoholic Amaro, and more.
1. r/SeveranceAppleTVPlus
After three years waiting for the twisty scifi office mystery Severance to return, I’m finding myself looking forward to Thursday nights not just for the show—which ventures into new territory this season, and finally answers some questions—but for the online discussion after the show on the Severance Reddit, which briefly became the most popular subreddit last week.
As soon as the show ends every week, I head right over to Reddit to find out what the most popular theories are this week (my biggest current question: Why are the goal people so unkempt and hostile?) and see all the stuff I missed—from a coded message in a woodland dream to a name in the credits that might, but probably doesn’t, portend something about a certain character. (Any fact about Severance might be a spoiler.) I also look forward to seeing fan art — one person took a watercolor portrait of Mark/Adam Scott to [site redacted] from last week’s final scene—and fan edits that attempt to shine a light on what really might be going on.
Severance is a much better show than Lost (a show I love, but come on, there’s no comparison), but its compounding mysteries scratch a similar itch, and Reddit is where you’ll find every imaginable theory (AI? Clones? Nah, it’s never clones) about what’s really going on.
On Reddit
Could this reasonably be called a gentrification tortilla press? Absolutely. It’s stylish, slick, and at least twice as expensive as your standard round cast-iron press. They also want you to buy special liners at 5 for $7.50, which is just silly. But let me tell you, this thing works incredibly well—easily smashing masa into tortillas of consistent thickness—while looking great. It’s heavy, with a handle that can lock down for maximum pressure, and can make much larger tortillas than most round presses because of its greater surface area. As long as you’re making gentrification tortillas, might as well buy some gentrification masa—in Seattle, anything other than standard bags of Maseca is hard to come by, and Masienda’s white, yellow, red and blue corn masas come highly recommended (including on r/mexican food!); just skip the spendy liners and use produce bags like your abuela did.
Order tortilla press and masa from Masienda
3. Doctor Zero Zero non-alcoholic AmarNo
With an ingredient list that begins (after water) with sugar and caramelized sugar, Doctor Zero Zero is sweeter than most other nonalcoholic apertifs, trading some of the orange-pith bitterness of amaro-style beverages like Phony Negroni and Uncle Willard’s for a more balanced sipping liqueur, sans liquor. The anise overtones are balanced by the tiniest hint of olive brine, like a lightly salted licorice. Have it over ice in your fanciest glass, with a twist of orange.
Cone and Steiner, 532 19th Ave East in Seattle; or order here.
4. Wilco’s online merch store
This may be my most niche recommendation ever, but if you are even a casual fan of the band Wilco (or just like fun band merch), do yourself a favor and go over to Wilcostore.com, where you’ll find much more than just the usual tour shirts, posters (although I would happily cover several walls with theirs), and albums like the new special-edition 9-LP edition of A Ghost is Born. A small sampling of what’s on sale:
• A pair of socks that says “I’ve Got a Sock Full of Letters” (those letters? W I L C O);
• A car air freshener with the cat from the Star Wars cover;
• A chip clip that says “I am an American Potato Chip Eater”;
• Cherry ghost pajamas, after a line from the song “Theologians”;
• A 3D viewfinder;
• A font?!?!?
And much more. Personally, my finger has been hovering over the “buy” button for this Kay-Settes Starring Butchers Blind t-shirt all weekend.