Thanksgiving Week 2020 – what a doozy with new COVID spikes and shutdowns all around the country! But remember: It’s always darkest before the dawn.

AND despite all the downsides, there’s still plenty to be thankful for this year.

My “gratitude list” includes:

• Good health – never been more important than this year!
• My friends – both my inner COVID-POD and those in my FaceTime/Zoom circle.
• So grateful that I stayed put in NYC through the dark days. It’s made the recovery so much sweeter.
• Restaurants reopening — MAJOR! And outdoor dining is a gamechanger, even in the cold.
• The vaccine! And the fact that it is *this* close to being available.

I also agree with Jim Cramer when he recently said he expects the economy to explode in early 2021. As the vaccine becomes readily available, he foresees a boom not unlike “the end of prohibition.”

And on that note, please Scroll down for this week’s Top 10 List.

1. Demand for Dry Ice Spikes along with Ultra Freezers

A few months ago businesses were scrambling for plywood and outdoor heaters, now the hunt is on for dry ice and ultra freezers for safe distribution of COVID-19 vaccines.

“Our plan is to be able to ship vaccines to the immunization sites within 24 hours from the approval, so I expect maybe on day two after approval on the 11th or the 12th of December.”

Moncef Slaoui, head of the US vaccine program (The Guardian)

And kudos to Ford Motor Co. and UPS for getting out ahead of this thing (Source: Jalopnik, The Hill)

• Ford will be offering vaccination to all its workers, on a voluntary basis.

UPS will be producing 1,200 pounds of dry ice an hour at its Worldport air hub in Louisville, Ky.

• It will be shipping dry ice within 24 hours to U.S. and Canadian hospitals and clinics.
• UPS also partnered with freezer manufacturer Stirling Ultracold to distribute freezers capable of reaching minus 112 degrees Fahrenheit for care providers that don’t have facilities to keep the vaccines from spoiling.

2. ELON MUSK’s STARLINK INTERNET SERVICE (Source: ArsTechnica)

It’s in Beta in rural areas at the moment but soon to expand to urban metros. I’m signed up! Thank you Brandi Moody (the best trend person I know) for tipping me to this!

• Elon Musk’s SpaceX Starlink is designed to deliver high-speed internet to anywhere on the planet. It cost about $10 billion to build but is estimated to bring in as much as $30 billion a year, more than 10 times the annual revenue of Musk’s rocket business.
• Starlink launched its private beta test in June and 700,000 people signed up.
• The public beta test was introduced in October (I signed up this week).
• Starlink already gives users speeds of more than 160 megabits per second (“blisteringly fast”). But upgrades are ongoing.
• The Starlink kit, which includes a tripod, a WiFi router, and a terminal to connect to the satellites, costs $499, plus $99 a month for the subscription to the public beta.

3. GPS is a $1 billion a day economic engine (Source: CNet)

GPS, managed by the US Space Force, is embedded throughout the high-tech world we live in and it’s just gotten a big upgrade. And, once again, Elon Musk and his SpaceX is at the center of it, delivering satellites into space that beam down the signals.

• GPS plays a critical role in financial transactions, stock trades, forecasting the weather, monitoring earthquakes, keeping the power grid humming.
• Driving directions are the most well-known but perhaps least valuable (monetizable) thing about GPS.
• GPS started with the US military. It was opened to civilians and civil aviation in 1983 by President Reagan after a Korean Air Lines passenger jet strayed into Soviet airspace and got shot down, killing 269 people.
• Today, it is a vital service to all of us from pilots to Uber drivers, bankers, geologists, precision agriculture farmers, users of drones, and self-driving cars.

Sometimes I wonder if Elon Musk just uses Tesla as a diversion so others can’t see where the real money and opportunities lie. Much in the same way that Bezos let people mock him for years for not making money selling books while he was actually developing AWS, Amazon’s highly profitable cloud business?

4. WATCH: TOM GREEN’s VAN LIFE!

I LOVE how Tom Green has evolved over the years from a teen prankster on MTV to marrying/divorcing Drew Barrymore to surviving testicular cancer to now leading a creative nomadic life exploring the beauty of America. He’s also remained a tech world pioneer. Joe Rogan credits him with being the first podcaster, in 2004, and for inspiring him to start JRE.

Tom Green’s newest project has him tooling around America in van. But not just any van.

• He has a Rocinante Boho Van, which is a Ram ProMaster 2500 high roof 159″ van converted into a camper by Boho Camper Vans out of Tempe, Arizona. (Source: TinyHouseTalk)
• What’s unique about his van conversion is that it’s designed to be a recording studio for music, podcasts, and other productions.
• I’ve subscribed to his YouTube channel to follow him on his journey around America. His photos, music, and drone footage from Utah, New Mexico, Arizona, and Texas are sublime.

5. KFC rolls out self-driving food trucks in China (Source: CNet)

• Users on Twitter first spotted these in China serving up contact-free fried chicken in mid-November.
• These “restaurants on wheels” are part of a partnership between Chinese company Neolix and Yum Brands, which owns KFC.
• You order via a screen, pay via a QR code, and voila! a window opens and your fried chicken appears.

6. Walmart’s first ever ‘Holiday Drone Light Show’ — hitting 8 cities in December (Source: KCRA)

From Dec. 4 to 20, the “Walmart Holiday Drone Light Show” will light up up the skies over Kansas City, Dallas, San Antonio, Doswell (VA), Phoenix, Charlotte, Sacramento, and Fayetteville.

• The light show consists of 1000 Intel drones which create three-dimensional seasonal shapes and characters, like snowflakes, reindeer, snowmen, etc.. It’s choreographed to a soundtrack of classic and modern holiday favorites, from Bing Crosby’s Frosty the Snowman to Run Run Rudolph by Kelly Clarkson.
• The event also includes pre-show entertainment with music from local DJs and a short holiday special, DreamWorks Trolls Holiday.
• Link here for more info and free tickets.

7. GOODBYE HOLLYWOOD? Netflix Commits $1 Billion to ABQ Studios in New Mexico (Source: Deadline)

After spending (a measly) $100M on a production hub in Bushwick (BK), Netflix upped their spending to $1 billion in New Mexico.

• The Netflix expansion adds 300 acres to the company’s existing ABQ studios, making it one of the largest high-tech production facilities in North America.
• Production is ongoing there on the original films The Harder They Fall and Intrusion.
• Filming will begin soon on Stranger Things 4 which Netflix is moving completely to ABQ (from Atlanta).
• Netflix also committed to supporting New Mexico’s Native American, Latino, and Black content creators and filmmakers.
• Meanwhile in NYC, Netflix is building out six new sound stages in Bushwick and expanding their Manhattan corporate offices.

8. Whoa! Everyone’s suddenly Moving To Texas?

The most recent high-profiler to leave LA for Texas is Joe Rogan. However, Tim Ferriss was way ahead of him, abandoning Silicon Valley for Austin back in 2017. Meanwhile, Dropbox CEO Drew Houston just announced he’s also moving to Austin from Silicon Valley. If I were Gavin Newsom I’d look into this but I doubt it’s even on his radar (too busy booking lunch at the French Laundry?).

I’ve been keeping tabs on both Dallas and Austin to see what’s trending there and although crime and homelessness and COVID are as rampant as elsewhere in the country, Texas gets a lot of shoutouts for being “freer” and more welcoming to “growth” than either California or NY:

• Texas’ homeownership rate clocks in at an all-time high of 70%, exceeding the nation’s 67.4% for the first time since 2012. (Source: Dallas Culture Map)
• The numbers are even higher in Austin where homeownership skyrocketed to 74.7% in the 3Q of this year, up almost 9% from 65.8% in the 2Q.
• More of Silicon Valley is uprooting to Austin: besides Dropbox’s Drew Houston, Austin has also become home to Douglas Merritt, CEO of software company Splunk, and Joe Lonsdale, the cofounder of Palantir who is moving his VC firm there as well.  
• Dell founder Michael Dell has long been based near Austin, and Elon Musk will be spending more time there as Tesla builds a new Cybertruck factory in Austin.
• On the food front, Michelin-starred Italian eatery Carbone (a NYC fave) is opening in Dallas in April 2021.
• Eataly is also opening a brand new, three-story space at NorthPark Center in Dallas next month.

9. NYC’s office occupancy is finally climbing! (Source: NY Post)

Kastle Systems’ Back-to-Work Barometer says New York saw the nation’s highest-percentage post-pandemic increase in occupancy in its most recent report for the week ending Nov. 10.

• NYC posted a 4.2% rise to 17.3%, followed by Chicago’s 3.4% increase to 19.6%.
• The leading cities for physical office occupancy post-pandemic were Dallas at 42.2% and Houston at 39.7%.

10. WATCH: VANS SKATEBOARDING FILM – It’s a masterpiece!!

OMG! I love everything about this short but magical piece of film making – the vibe, the skateboarding, the 50’s aesthetic, the music (esp. Roy Orbison and Reverend Baron). It’s a 20-minute triumph. I hope you enjoy it. It has a lot to offer, even if you’re not into skateboarding.

• It’s directed by acclaimed filmmaker Greg Hunt.
• It reunites Elijah Berle and Gilbert Crockett for the first time since the release of Vans PROPELLER in 2015.
• It’s filmed at skate spots all over the globe from Australia to New Zealand, Spain, Portugal, New York, and the skaters’ home states of Virginia and California.
• Kudos to all my friends at VANS.

And that’s a wrap.

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. I know I did! So happy I got to celebrate with Brad and my COVID-POD friends: Richard, Jourdan, Joseph, and Susan. And big shout out to the fantastic staff and owners of Peasant. Chef/Owner Marc Forgione in pics below, along with his sister, Cara, who handles front of house, and his son who already feels right at home in the kitchen.

Today (Friday), I will be checking out the holiday windows along 5th Avenue. Also, the skaters at Rockefeller Center, and the curlers at Bryant Park’s Ice Rink. I’m also planning to get over to Hudson Yards where the Christmas decorations look out of this world (a big step up from last year). Photos and report next week. I’m sure I’ll also be having a mulled wine or two along the way.

Hard to believe that next week’s post will be dated December 4! Crazy.

Have a great weekend everyone! Hang in there, there is definitely light at the end of the tunnel.