Tag Archives: Friday Links

If you’ve already had the joy of listening to the original Yakko’s Nations of the World song, here’s something new for you: Yakko’s Nations of the World Song stitched together out of clips from 168 movies.

The more films Nicolas Cage appears in, the more people drown in pools. Friendly reminder that correlation ≠ causation.

Think about all the crazy science gear that scientists have to lug around the country. Now think about what it’s like to take that gear through airport security. The whole article’s great, but my favorite is this exchange about a Nobel Prize — as in the actual, physical object:

Uhhhh. Who gave this to you?

The King of Sweden.

Why did he give this to you?

Because I helped discover the expansion rate of the universe was accelerating.

Next, there’s MasterClass, which I just discovered. It looks amazing. Steve Martin teaches comedy, Garry Kasparov teaches chess, Jane Goodall teaches conservation, Aaron Sorkin teaches screenwriting. Planning to sign up for that last one when I get a chance.

Finally: I made a thing. The editor-author relationship, explained.

Have a good weekend!

Trump’s transition to power has been more depressing than I expected. His childish taunts, absurd boasts, and surreal tweets were mildly amusing when he was a candidate. Now that he’s actually taking the reins of the country … well, it’s sad.

So here’s something apolitical: a fan-made Majora’s Mask tribute video called “Terrible Fate.” The writing isn’t exactly stellar, but the animation is top-notch.

Have a good weekend.

Enjoy.

Merry Christmas!

How Wikipedia is making the Internet slightly saner

A photo of the vortex at Saturn’s north pole, courtesy of NASA’s Cassini probe

A cool new comic I found (note: many of the strips are R-rated)

Have an outstanding weekend!

You know, I actually like Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson. I would never want him as president, but I wouldn’t mind having a beer with the guy. He seems smart, compassionate, and honest. Most of all, he asks questions that are good for the national dialogue.

“What is Aleppo?” was not one of those questions.

Maybe he really didn’t recognize the name Aleppo, which is a major city in Syria and (for better or worse) a focal point of U.S. foreign policy decision-making. Or maybe he just misunderstood the question and stumbled on national TV, as anybody might. Either way, it was a Bad Day.

Or, as the Washington Post put it:

It would be easy to describe Gary Johnson’s appearance on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” on Thursday as having doomed his third-party candidacy for president were it not for the fact that his candidacy was already doomed. The English language lacks a good way to describe something that was already in very bad shape and then, somehow, becomes far worse rather dramatically. Like if the Titanic had begun sinking but then blew up.

The English language is a vast and variegated creature, and I’d like to think that somewhere in its myriad chambers is a phrase (or, better still, a word) that hits just that note. But if not, the Titanic image should do nicely.

Of course, as WaPo elsewhere explains, it’s still better to have one major blunder, like Johnson did, than to stitch an entire campaign out of nothing else, like (ahem) a certain other candidate I could name.

Stay thoughtful, my friends.

do u get it

do u

I’ve recently been intellectually seduced (is that a thing?) by the website Wait But Why. The guy (Tim Urban) has got essays on everything from how much to tip in different situations, to how to pick a baby name, to Elon Musk, and lots more. He combines logic, good writing, compassion, and colorful stick-figure drawings in a way I find impossible to resist.

Last night I read the Wait But Why essay Why Procrastinators Procrastinate (which I strongly recommend). I’ve always been a procrastinator, and it’s always bothered me. This guy has the same problem, and he explains the mechanics of procrastination so thoroughly and so precisely that I feel like he has a webcam in my head. (The followup essay, How to Beat Procrastination, was also surprisingly insightful.)

Have a fabulous weekend!

It turns out that in 1946, Salvador Dalí and Walt Disney collaborated on a short film called Destino. Financial problems halted work on the project, and neither man saw it finished in his lifetime. But later animators took up the challenge and restarted work based on Dalí’s notes. The completed six-minute short was released in 2003.

It’s every bit as trippy and beautiful as you’d expect. Enjoy.

(Contains some artistic nudity.)

Wiki article.

Happy weekend!