Five Bullets 10.17.25

Synesthesia, D'Angelo, Al Capone, & more.

Good Morning Friends!

It’s Friday and we’re back with another Five Bullets! Here’s what’s capturing my attention this week:

• Synesthesia blurs the boundaries between the five senses, like seeing sounds or associating numbers with colors. It’s possible we experience synesthesia as babies but lose the ability over time. Drummer Aaron Sterling describes the experience as constructing a chainlink fence of colors corresponding to a song’s emotions.
  
  

• Neo-soul artist D’Angelo passed away this week. His masterpiece 2000 album Voodoo ushered in a new era of Black music, blending soul, pop and rap. The album was created at Electric Lady Studios with the Soulquarians including Erykah Badu, J Dilla, and Questlove who called D’Angelo “a genius beyond words.”
  

  

  Russian Orthodox Church in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

• In the Seinfeld episode “The Conversion”, George converts to Latvian Orthodox to woo a woman. The episode includes an exterior shot of the Russian Orthodox Church in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Built in 1922, the church is a city landmark featuring a Byzantine Revival design with belfries topped by copper domes. (Listen for the bells next time you’re in McCarren Park!)
  
  

• What does a war photographer carry on assignment? Jonathan Alpeyrie describes his job as “embedding himself in historical moments to bring them back to the general public.” Alpeyrie is intentional with his gear and each piece tells a story from covering conflicts across the world.
  
  

• On October 18th, 1931, gangster Al Capone was convicted of tax evasion. Capone was born in Brooklyn to an immigrant Italian family and later became boss of the Chicago Outfit during prohibition. Capone was sentenced to 11 years in prison, part of which he served at Alcatraz Island. He was released seven years later for good behavior.

Ok, that’s my list for this week!

Now it’s your turn: What’s the best thing you read, saw, heard or did this week? No wrong answers!

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See you next week!

Keith.