2 min read

Friday, October 31, 2025

Hey there. I made a half-hearted attempt to get into the holiday spirit today, as you'll see. Maybe quarter-hearted, honestly, but I did give it a shot.

My destination: Malmo, Sweden, a once-gritty shipbuilding town that has refashioned itself over the last two decades into the type of place this newspaper might recommend you spend 36 hours in. One minor but fascinating element of Malmo’s postindustrial turnaround has been an effort to incorporate skateboarding into the fabric of the city. Even more tolerant urban governments in the United States tend to cordon skaters off in parks, sometimes very nice ones, but in southern Sweden, they’ve been trying something different: treating skateboarding like a unique source of vitality rather than a nuisance to be managed. I flew there at the end of August to see the crowning achievement of Malmo’s efforts — the reconstruction of one of the most iconic spots in skateboarding history, imported, piece by piece, from Philadelphia.

As a former skateboard [video game] enthusiast, I enjoyed this piece about Malmo, Sweden's recreation of an iconic Philadelphia skate park that had been destroyed by Pennsylvania NIMBY monsters. The story takes a number of twists and turns, including at least one that made me quietly chuckle to myself in amusement. Okay, this is not really very spooky. Still, I enjoyed reading it, so I hope you do too.

Item 2: an eerie list

Universal Classic Monsters, Ranked:

  1. The Invisible Man
  2. Gill-Man / The Creature [from the Black Lagoon]
  3. The Wolf Man
  4. Bride of Frankenstein
  5. Frankenstein’s Monster
  6. Imhotep / Kharis / The Mummy
  7. Count Dracula
  8. The Werewolf [of London]
  9. Bride(s) of Dracula
  10. Dr. Jekyll / Mr. Hyde
  11. The Phantom of the Opera
  12. Dracula’s Daughter
  13. She-Wolf [of London]
  14. The Scorpion King

Item 3: a bewitching media recommendation

Burl Ives - Wayfaring Stranger

Item 4: rune of the week

Nugatory

You're a nugatory member of the class.
Thanks!
No, "nugatory" is not good.
Well screw you, then!
No, "nugatory" is not bad.
Oh. So, who cares?
Exactly.

Item 5: a ghostly image

The Oak test, June 29, 1958, Enewetak Atoll, Marshall Islands - Michael Light, 100 Suns

See ya!

Thanks for reading my silly little newsletter. See you next week with more nugatory tidbits.

Published by:

Jacob Wolman

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