Dinner and a Movie

The classics are classics for a reason

Highly Enthused is a newsletter, once a podcast, concerning all the best things to consume in life. It’s written twice per month by Sophie McComas-Williams and Sophie Roberts, and today’s dispatch is written by SoRo! This newsletter is free!! Paid subscribers also receive a second newsletter with five extra recs, and a monthly voice note download from the two of us. The Fast Five is often where the gold nuggets lie! Thanks for being here!

The most clicked link in SoMo’s May fast five was a perfect, true blue denim shirt. See the post here to check it out for yourself.

Well, I made it through the restructure of death and found myself washed up, still employed and stunned on the other side. Blinking in the harsh light, alive, but feeling like a burnt out husk of a person. I was shuffling my tarot cards the other night and pulled the ten of swords not once but TWICE. Even the universe is telling me I’m at a low point.

Hopefully this will be the last work related update you have to hear from me for a while and we can focus on more interesting things. Like should I book another holiday? (A week in Bangkok or Taipei to just eat delicious food? A month in Greece and Egypt?) Should I try botox? (Just a little bit? Just to experiment?) Should I try to get my work to let me do a compressed fortnight and take every other Friday off? Should I finally try to write a book? Should I start HIIT classes and get really into macros? Start going to raves? Feeling like some kind of big change is necessary, so sound off in the comments if there’s something you recommend I try.

Underneath that pile of sauces and garnishes up there are some slippery, silky sheets of rice noodles. Fried until the outside is a little crunchy and charred on the outside, and meltingly soft on the inside. Making these cheung fun is so simple it barely qualifies as cooking! I picked up a pack of these fresh, rolled rice noodles in the refrigerated section of Harris Farm (or check your local Asian supermarket), sliced each roll into two pieces, popped them in my last remaining non-stick pan with a little vegetable oil, mixed up the two sauces (one is literally just..melted peanut butter), and roughly chopped a scallion and some coriander. Once the rolls are done, pop them on a plate and douse them in the two sauces, scatter on your toppings and dollop on some Lao Gan Ma chilli crisp. I also splashed a little black vinegar on to cut through the creamy saltiness of the two sauces and think it’s essential. Voila! You’re done! Perfect late afternoon snack, or work from home lunch.

I first discovered Beverly Glen-Copeland through an episode of Death, Sex and Money, and was immediately enraptured by his gravelly, sweet voice. After finishing the episode - worth a listen in itself to enjoy his immense personal charm, and wonderful life story - I went and started listening to his music. Start with Keyboard Fantasies, recorded onto cassette in a cabin in the wood in 1986 and rediscovered by a Japanese music collector in 2015. It’s a meandering, experimental electronic record, with Beverly’s voice warbling over the top. I can’t get enough of it. From there dive into their 2004 work Primal Prayer - I love the song In the Image for shimmying around the kitchen to. His music feels somehow outside of time, his voice hypnotic and magical. There’s something so joyous and wonderful about a musician getting their recognition later in life - brought out of obscurity and into the light. I’ll be queuing up the 2019 documentary about his life to watch soon.

It’s my FAVOURITE TIME OF THE YEAR - the Sydney Film Festival!! Honestly it’s kind of weird I love this festival so much. I barely pay attention to the Sydney Writer’s festival despite being an avid reader, but every time the SFF program launches I’m immediately poring over it and texting my friend Hannah about which film's we should get tickets to. This year I’ve got two lined up so far - Ira Sachs new film The Man I Love (was obsessed with his film Passages that showed a couple of years ago), and a Saturday night screening of Fjord with Renate Reinsve and Sebastian Stan. I’m still contemplating a few solo trips to see Taiwanese New Wave classic Vive L’amour, John Early’s directorial debut Maddie’s Secret, and Lea Seydoux’s new film Gentle Monster - honestly there are SO many more I think I’d enjoy. It kicked off this week so go book some tickets, get a pre film cocktail, and deconstruct it over late dinner with a pal afterwards.

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Ok rec of the month for me - apart from ideas for my new life direction - is I want to buy one of those blow dry brushes but I have NO idea which one to choose?! EOFY sales are coming up so sound off in the comments if you have one you love (and ideally has lasted longer than 18 months).

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For paid subscribers next week’s fast five includes the BEST search terms for finding incredible leather and suede jackets on ebay (I’ve got the jackets to prove it), the ankle boots that finally filled a critical gap in my wardrobe, my new favourite thing to order at Vietnamese restaurants, a delicious wine for under $35, and a classic crime drama you should binge on the couch.

See you next week! SoRo x