July 1
“The potato is inertial”
Potato physics with a knife is one of many videos made by Texas A&M University, featuring Prof. Tatiana Erukhimova, to have gone viral on TikTok. You can also find videos of Erukhimova on the Texas A&M physics and astronomy department’s YouTube channel, including such gems as Break a Ruler With Atmospheric Pressure, Pulling a Tablecloth with Inertia Physics and Will It Break? Egg Drop.
Lie to me: Mission: Impossible
Suppose your story situation is this. Character A is telling a story, but it's a lie. Character B realizes it's a lie, but doesn't signal that recognition. This is really two problems in one: How do you tell the audience A is lying? And how do you convey that B knows but doesn't reveal that knowledge? [more inside]
Who needs some hot tunes?
Lush, "Sunbathing," 1990 * The Sundays, "Summertime," 1997 * Camera Obscura, "Swimming Pool," 2001 * Florence + the Machine, "Swimming," 2009 * Wye Oak, "Hot as Day," 2011 * The Jezebels, "Endless Summer," 2011 * Yeah Yeah Yeahs, "Mosquito," 2013 * Courtney Barnett, "Avant Gardener," 2013 * Snail Mail, "Heat Wave," 2018 * Lanterns on the Lake, "Swimming Lessons," 2020 * Wolf Alice, "The Beach," 2021
Oooooooooooooooooooooooh
45 years ago, some people invented the future. In the summer of 1977, Donna Summer (an American), Giorgio Moroder (an Italian) and Pete Bellotte (a Brit) were all living and working in Germany. Alongside engineer Robbie Wedel (an actual German) and a pile of Moog kit, they managed for the first time to sync up all the music tracks to a steady pulse, adding sinuous, ecstatic vocals to a robotic bassline. [more inside]
Scenes from an Open Marriage
DeathSucks.pdf (also known as SayingGoodbye.pdf)
A free "workbook on the kind of bullshit you need to do when someone you love dies", available as a "version with lots of swearing at the useless, shitty situation you're in" or a "version with a fair amount of black humor but no cursewords". Including "Prepare to spend a long and miserable time on the phone," "Depressing Mad Libs" (obituary templates), "So You Suddenly Have To Become Some Kind of Hacker," and "How to plan a non-religious death party". Published 2019.
We're having special hotdish tonight
The United States' 2018 Farm Bill legalized the production of hemp and the extraction of cannabidiol (CBD) from hemp. In May, the 9th Circuit ruled that other hemp-derived cannabinoids, like delta-8 THC, are also federally legal under the Farm Bill. In an effort to regulate the sale of intoxicating delta-8 products, the Minnesota legislature amended state law to limit the level of hemp-derived THC in products and, perhaps inadvertently, explicitly legalized hemp-derived delta-9 THC edible products in the state, beginning today. [more inside]
How Ocean City cleared the gulls from its boardwalk
The Ancient Art of Falconry on the Jersey Shore (archive.org link) Devin Oktar Yalkin for The New York Times
"Hi I’m Amy. I’m too ambitious"
Introduce yourself with the wildest feedback you’ve ever received, a thread. Featuring all the greatest hits, including such gems as, "Hi, I'm Mary. I should go to trade school and learn how to become a receptionist." -- Mary L. Trump
Llegó Julio
It's July and, like every year, Spanish speakers are spreading memes punning on Julio Iglesias and the Spanish word for July.
Maybe "Seismic Shift" Isn't the Best Word Choice in re USC and UCLA...
The Big Ten Conference started as a Midwestern group of colleges. It grew beyond its original number in the 1990s by adding Penn State, then in the 2010s by poaching Nebraska from the Big 12, then Maryland from the ACC and Rutgers from the Big East. And now it's made its biggest expansion yet in both prestige and geography, stretching the B1G footprint all the way to Los Angeles with the addition of USC and UCLA. [more inside]
The Harm of Whole Food Absolutism
Minced, jarred garlic is a good substitute for fresh when you cannot mince it yourself. That this statement is unimaginable to many cooks is representative of a larger, ableist prejudice which keeps many out of the kitchen unnecessarily.
Leopards, Mountain Lions, and Cities
Two Megacities, Los Angeles and Mumbai, have large felines that breed, hunt, and maintain territory within urban boundaries.
June 30
Yo.
Technoblade, known for farming potatoes and posting the funniest Minecraft videos around, has died of cancer at age 23. His father reads a final letter from him in this video.
Country Roads, Let's a-Go
How the Supreme Court could radically reshape federal elections
The U.S. Supreme Court announced Thursday that it has agreed to hear a case next term that could upend election laws across the country with the potential endorsement of a fringe legal theory about how much power state legislatures have over the running of congressional and presidential elections. [more inside]
Here Comes the Sun (hopefully not too close)
Every so often, our star fires off a plasma bomb in a random direction. Our best hope the next time Earth is in the crosshairs? Capacitors. [Wired; Archive] [more inside]
*crumples up thesis on Kashin silver mine*
Recently we learned that 折毛 spent a decade writing fake Russian history. Wikipedia just noticed. [English summary/translated Chinese summary] A good reminder to peruse the list of Wikipedia hoaxes, idly speculate if citogenesis has already occurred, and to pour one out for all the frustrated novelists out there...
let's never go back to dinosaur island
Tom Cardy: Jurassic Park 12: It's Dino time! slightly NSFW for some lyrics + closed captions, tom cardy [previously]
An area where the egg will not roll away
Without the presence of eggs, the average pigeon nest could pass as a coincidental aggregation of twigs or jumble of debris. To our human eyes, a pigeon nest looks objectively half-assed. It is a nest that seems to mock other nests. — Why Do Pigeon Nests Look So Shitty, Sabrina Imbler investigates for Defector
Ketanji Brown Jackson sworn in as first Black woman on the Supreme Court
Ketanji Brown Jackson was sworn in Thursday at noon as the 116th Supreme Court justice and the first Black woman to serve on the high court.
At a noon ceremony at the Supreme Court, Jackson was joined by her husband and two children for the swearing in. A formal investiture will follow in fall.
Jackson took two oaths during the livestreamed event: a constitutional oath, administered by Chief Justice John Roberts, and a judicial oath, administered by Justice Stephen Breyer. [more inside]
COVID vaccines approved for Americans under five.
For the second time in less than a year[YT] Ted Cruz (Republican senator for Texas) has got into a Twitter fight with a muppet; this time 3.5 year Elmo of tickle me fame. The feud the result of the FDA approving COVID vaccines for children under five.
A Hideous Monstrosity Made Out Of Computers And Greed
Bitcoin Is A Hideous Monstrosity Made Out Of Computers And Greed That Must Be Destroyed Before It Devours The World, Part I. On the final day of the first third of the 6th month of Our Year Of The Coin 13 (2022 C.E.) a mysterious account named Michel de Cryptadamus appeared on Twitter bearing a prophecy given to him by The Oracle of Tulips foretelling cryptocurrency's end of days that he had recently inscribed into the hard stone of r/Buttcoin. The redditors of r/Buttcoin, long used to playing the part of modern society's Cassandras, with memes in place of their forebear's mantic verse, watched in amazement as these predictions began to come true. [more inside]
Linda Skeens is too busy WINNING, for all your social media nonsense
At the 109th annual Virginia Kentucky district fair, one contestant started to win categories. Several categories, including canned fruit, canned tomato, non-cucumber pickled item, relish, jelly, jam, quilt, cakes, pies, cookies, brownies, savory bread, sweet bread, candy, chow chow, corn relish, applesauce, pears, embroidery. Many categories. (Facebook post). But, as 'the internet' goes looking and pesters the wrong person, who is Linda Skeens? And is Robin Moore (best overall pickled cucumber - bread and butter, best overall fruit - peaches, salsa, blackberries) her nemesis?
June 29
What's New Pussycat?
This morning, a soft rock station in Vancouver, Canada, played Killing in the Name by Rage Against the Machine. And then again. And again. They're taking calls for requests!
That's one way to launch
The Naphtha Engine: "After steamboats got a reputation of danger from explosion, the Coast Guard required operators to be licensed, thereby removing steamboats from small owner/operator utilization. The outboard motor would solve this problem eventually, but in 1885 it didn’t exist. In 1883 Frank W. Ofeldt took out a patent on a naphtha engine which was essentially a closed loop steam engine that used naphtha instead of water." A Twitter thread on naphtha launches from Dreadnought Holiday. Some extant examples: "Anita" and "Frieda." See also: Powered by Boiling Petrol.
🎸🎸🎸 I AM IN SO INTO YOU 🎸🎸🎸
Canon Balls
Over the past decade or more, the conquest of the cultural landscape by quippy spandexed superheroes has been Napoleonic. The idea that a citadel of bookishness has fallen to this siege of adolescent fantasia could easily take on outsize importance. from Prestige Comics: On the Penguin Classics Marvel Collection [more inside]
Viva Terlingua?
Farewell to the Last Frontier. "For those who live here year-round—among them, cave-dwelling desert rats, sun-scorched river guides, musicians, alcoholics, survivalists, artists, eccentrics, wanderers (and millionaires camouflaged as one or more of the aforementioned figures)—that sense of isolation is often experienced as a kind of primordial liberation. The feeling of being free from convenience and unshackled from expectations—of existing in “Terlingua time,” as locals put it—has always been as appealing to the flag-waving pilot of a forty-foot RV as to the tent-dwelling, peyote-smoking vagabond. But like some Daoist riddle, the more newcomers seek out Terlingua’s magic, the harder it is to find." (SL Texas Monthly)
You really should watch a manhole entrance get replaced
This German video of a manhole cover replacement [SLYT] is surprisingly soothing in a kind of How It's Made / Slow TV way, even for those who don't speak the language. (Content Warning: efficient and methodical; discussion of DIN standards)
Where are all the assheads?
Colin Morris scraped 15 years of Reddit comments to perform a detailed analysis of the frequencies of compound-word insults. The results are presented in the document
Compound pejoratives on Reddit – from buttface to wankpuffin.
The Only Thing to Do Here is Walk Around the Desert
Terrible National Park Reviews (Illustrated). Designer Amber Share took one-star reviews of American National parks and “put a positive, fun spin on a negative mindset” by creating a set of travel posters.
Ten Million Power
I don’t want no other baby but you; Paul after Linda
Glastonbury reminded the world of the power of Paul McCartney, but in 1999 Paul McCartney had to remind himself. And he used Rock 'n' Roll. Following the death of Linda McCartney in early 1998 saw Paul McCartney take time away from music to grieve. His return was the late 1999 release “Run Devil Run”, a quickly recorded collection of covers from the 50s with a few friends… Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour, Johnny Kidd & the Pirates’ Mick Green. and Deep Purple’s Ian Paice on drums. McCartney mostly stuck to bass, just as in the early Beatles days. [more inside]
June 28
Where the love go?
Hybrid Bharatham EPISODE 5 | Usha Jey Choreography #HybridBharatham is my way of switching between Hip-Hop and Bharathanatyam, 2 dances that I love, learn and respect. My aim is to keep the essence of each dance and create something that do justice to who I am. [more inside]
his nest of adopted goose, duck, and chicken eggs
"This emu has taken over the duck coop and is now diligently siting on goose eggs. I just watched a chicken run in, burrow under him, lay an egg, and leave." [Twitter thread with photos]
That's My Reading List for the Next Two Years Sorted
Over in the /r/DCComics subreddit, they've collectively voted on a list of the 71 best runs, "run" in this context roughly meaning a specific creators' tenure on a specific title. Roughly. (SLReddit)
Needles, Noodles, Doodles, and the Length of a Potato
In 1777, the Comte de Buffon studied the odds of landing a round coin on a single square of a tile floor. (Those early probabilists, always thinking about gambling!) Buffon then proposed a famed variation with needles. Though there are no overt circles in this version of the problem, π still shows up in the answer. For a beautiful explanation, trade needles for noodles (YT, 9m 59s; text alternative). You can simulate tossing noodles to empirically calculate π, or count grid crossings to estimate the length of a mountain trail. But that's not the end of the story… [more inside]
Close up they are sensual, huge, fragrant, warm, gentle.
Cowspines is a recent project by photographer Kate Kirkwood that documents the landscapes of cows. (Not landscapes containing cows.)
The right can and will be/against you.
Last week, the Supreme Court gutted Miranda rights. In Vega v. Tekoh, SCOTUS found that Miranda is merely an evidentiary trial rule (evidence obtained improperly can still be suppressed at trial), rather than a substantive constitutional right. Police can no longer be sued for failing to Mirandize a suspect. [more inside]
not (yet) sponsored by Apple
If you have a minute for a lighthearted break from the general grimness, you might enjoy this video of texts tones as dance moves (on Twitter - here the original video on TikTok), a compilation of 40 text tones with associated dance moves performed by dance/choreography duo Cost n’ Mayor (also on Instagram). Enjoy!
'The idea for Truth Social started with the duo from the “Apprentice”'
Trump's Truth Reuters dives into Truth Social, the Trump-backed social network that, as of this writing, has 2.8 million downloads.
Well, this lake is indeed superior
(CW: Just a bit risqué; Twitter links as noted.) Chilly Lake Superior stands with women's right to choose (Twitter), but did you know the lake itself is capable of delivering a massive burn (Twitter)? Gordon Lightfoot might need to put out a new album (Twitter). [more inside]
Is this a bike bell? THAT's a bike bell
Cody Hovland didn't feel safe biking anymore because nobody heard him coming, so he built a very large and loud bell for his bike out of a barbecue grill, using an inkjet printer, a microwave oven, and organically grown wooden gears.
Everything happens so much
Ten years ago today, the Twitter account @horse_ebooks tweeted "Everything happens so much". 2016: Present Tense Journal - "The Moral Act of Attributing Agency to Nonhumans: What Can Horse ebooks tell us about Rhetorical Agency?" 2014: Pitchfork - "the strange fatigue of digital life..." 2013: Medium - "Happy third birthday, @Horse_ebooks!." Previously on MetaFilter: Sep '11, Jan '12, Feb '12, Apr '12, Feb '13, Aug '13. Also previously: (23 July 2013) Something is going to happen in 77 days and (24 September 2013) Something is going to happen ... tomorrow (thread contains reveal point, much MeFite arguing, and reactions -ve and +ve).
June 27
MetaFilter Blue™
Most marketers are aware of the effect color has on consumer behavior. Surveys and studies have shown that: 62%-90% of a consumer’s initial judgment of a product is based on color. 52% of consumers say the color of packaging is an indicator of quality. Color increases brand recognition by up to 80%. So, if you’re thinking about making your entire brand one solid color, go ahead and try your luck. Just don’t pick magenta. from Can a corporation "own" a color?
Online Transgender Archives
In 1960, Virginia Prince founded Transvestia magazine, which continued for 111 issues. The FTM Newsletter was first published in 1987 by Lou Sullivan and extended for 67 issues. Starting in about 1971, Adèle Anderson kept a series of thirteen scrapbooks documenting her interest and experience in gender identity. These online resources are a small part of the collated online resources at the University of Victoria's Transgender Archives which can be followed on twitter, itself part of the Digital Transgender Archives network (twitter).
No Potatoes Were Harmed In The Making Of These Excellent Videos
This is the silly, talented video content I needed today. Next, the one about cleaning. I have a crush on Joseph now. [more inside]
These beautiful antique photos were made with potatoes
In 1903 the Lumière brothers developed the autochrome process, the first viable single-exposure color photography technique, with potatoes. [more inside]
The Hungry Ghost: the problem of heroic individualism
The Constant Restlessness You Feel Has a Name. Even before the pandemic, people were feeling that their work was unsustainable. Many were on the edge of burnout, overwhelmed by the unrelenting frantic and frenetic energy of today’s world. A common experience was, and still is, a mix of fatigue and restlessness, nervousness and dread. It is helpful to have language for what this is, how it works, and what you can do about it.