Farther Along

I could listen to Chris and Morgane sing all day, but Leslie is a treasure of a man. How lucky we are to witness things like this.

Matches

There are no stories told in a vacuum
There is no prophecy lighting our way
There is just a lot of darkness to be afraid of
So it's a good thing we are not afraid

There is no Superman in that phone booth
There is no rewarding our faith
There is no one who can save us
So it's a good thing we don't need to be saved

There are no starships in low earth orbit
No alien to save us from ourselves
There is no voice willing to speak for us
So it's a good thing we know how to yell

There is no chosen one
No destiny, no fate
There's no such thing as magic
There is no light at the end of this tunnel

So it's a good thing we brought matches

So I'm a cornball, so sue me

We just passed the 50th anniversary of humanity setting foot on the surface of the moon. Quite possibly the most awe-inspiring accomplishment in our history.

Often unnoticed are the engineers and programmers who got us there and back again. Well, someone aimed to correct that, and highlight a remarkable woman in a field whose history is jam-packed with remarkable women:

We just got back from seeing the touring production of "Hamilton" last weekend. Coming off of that experience and seeing this tribute inspired me to take one of my favorite NASA photos ever, Margaret with her source code:

hamiltonfull.jpg

And do this:

margarethamilton.png

Pachydermatous Outer Melon Layer

Ricky Jay died this weekend. If you have the time, I strongly recommend you read this New Yorker profile of him from 25 years ago.

If you don’t have the time, I strongly recommend that you watch him throw playing cards at a watermelon.

If you want to learn how to do that, you will have to pay for it.

A delightful man, unsurpassed at his craft, who evidently hated kids. I never met him, but I will miss him.

Snowpiercer is the Sequel to Willy Wonka

Normally this kind of fan theory stuff ranges somewhere from uninteresting to mildly annoying for me. I can’t tell you how tired I am of my son bringing up that Darth Jar-Jar thing. But this is delightful.

It also stands as a good example of what analysis of pop culture can do if it’s done right and isn’t just The Church of Bazinga. The sequel theory itself is clever and diverting, but under the surface of this video lurks a really perceptive critical analysis and comparison of what these two films say about the world in which they were made.

Also: HUGE spoilers of Snowpiercer, which, if you haven’t seen it, you should, and if you didn’t like it, you were of course wrong.

Pilotless DRONE, SIR?

This baby’s got range. Early on in the video you’ll see that it shoots both London AND France.

Stay for the sweet-ass clubhouse landing.

...and Peggy [thhbbpppt]

Weird Al has managed to simultaneously hit a very specific intersection of my interests while creating the perfect musical representation of what it sounds like inside an ADHD-addled brain.

Leaving LA

I know he isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, and a 13-minute acoustic song with no chorus certainly isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but I’ve probably listened to this song more than any other single track in 2017.

Choosing “Pure Comedy” for the album’s title track was the right pick, as it's essentially the thesis statement for what follows. But it feels like this was the one he tore himself open for.

Listening to FJM is kind of like reading Vonnegut. There’s a constant thread of simultaneous contempt and love for our species. He sees that we’re hideous and beautiful all at once, and he doesn’t flinch from it. He sings to it.

Sometimes the cynicism on this album goes a bit overboard. I have to be careful about how often I listen to it, because optimism doesn’t come easily for me these days. But when I listen to it, I feel a little less alone in beholding the inherent absurdity and savagery of our existence and not knowing what to do.

Jesus made "It Follows" extra creepy

Discovered that the remotes for the TV and the sound bar sometimes set off the LED tape I used for my antique church window project in certain contexts. It does creative things with the color setup. This is what happened after my wife patiently requested that I turn down the subwoofer.

They're two different remotes but from the same manufacturer, so either they use the same frequency or else the IR receiver for the LED tape is super slutty.

Or it was a poooooltergeiiiiiiiist

Massive cock-up

10 minutes of newscasters, sportscasters, and meteorologists accidentally drawing dicks.

The hockey guy's combination of poker face and commitment to the bit should earn him an SNL guest appearance at least.