Plant Your Garden: Plant your garden 🌱 pic.twitter.com/88COH2VbFk — Austin Kleon (@austinkleon) January 20, 2025

The First of the Weird Bad Days: Chuck Wendig, writing at his site, on how to handle today and the future. It’s just the first of the weird bad days. And if we’re being honest, it’s not even the first of them, it’s just another in a long line of weird bad days where the weird part and the bad part are spiking simultaneously, like …

On the Questionable Side: CJ Moore, writing for The Athletic, did not like the officiating during the Illinois-Michigan State game. I was disappointed when Jakucionis fouled out in only nine minutes of action against the Spartans. Illini coach Brad Underwood was in the same boat. “The best player in the game played eight …

BrikTok: I could not care less about TikTok and would consider it an upgrade to the Internet if it were removed from the US and, frankly, everywhere else. Of course, I watch plenty of Reels, so my opinion is eye-roll-inducing. Anyway, John Gruber has all the details about TikTok and the roller coaster of the …

"Pop! Pop pop! Pop! Pop into Pop Up Video!": Between 1996 and 2002, VH1 had a show called Pop Up Video which paired music videos with trivia and jokes that “popped up” on screen, mostly without controversy. Most of it is unavailable today, but the Internet Archive has a number of episodes taped off televion. Here is a list: …

Instagram Alternatives: I recently read about a couple of would-be Instagram competitors out. Flashes (based on BlueSky’s protocols) and PixelFed seem to have been created at least in part as a response to Facebook’s decision to stop most content moderation. Personally, more power to them. I won’t be joining either …

The Weekly Click 1.18.25: 

Mr. Baseball Dead at 90: Ray Ratto, writing for Defector, gets it right. Bob Uecker was just the best: He was the face and voice of baseball cinema, the man whose line-reading made “Ju-u-u-u-st a bit outside” so good that “iconic” doesn’t remotely cover its impact. Even if you’re not a seamhead, you likely came across Bob …

Beyond Doomscrolling: Charlie Warzel, writing in The Atlantic, has some good advice for those still clinging to the chaos that is modern social media. To watch the destruction in Los Angeles through the prism of our fractured social-media ecosystem is to feel acutely disoriented. The country is burning; your friends are …

I Ditched the Algorithm for RSS—and You Should Too: Joey Einerhand, writing at his blog, has an interesting post about social media and RSS. I waste too much time scrolling through social media. It’s bad for my health, so why do I keep doing it? Because once in a while, I’ll find a post so good that it teaches me something I never knew …

This Middle-Man, This Monster: Until 2020 Diamond Comic Distributors had a decades-long near-monopoly as supplier of comics & merchandise to the North American direct market. This changed following the arrival of COVID-19 when many of the biggest publishers signed deals with new distributors. Yesterday Diamond announced that …

Marvel Television's Daredevil: Born Again | Official Trailer: I haven’t seen any of the previous series. I really need to catch up.

Reading Into the Work: Patrick Rhone – The problem of learning the turn of your favorite authors personal lives is that it becomes impossible to read their work without reading into their work. Might as well take the ones I have yet to get to and throw them in the bin knowing I likely wont be able to read them now. …

How the Biggest Rock Band in the World Disappeared: Will Leitch, writing for the Washington Post, has an in-depth story on how R.E.M. quietly quit. At the height of its popularity, R.E.M. regularly played before more than 100,000 fans. It was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2007. But because the band is so self-effacing and because …

We Deserve Pete Hegseth: David Brooks, in his opinion column for The New York Times, outlines what has happened to expertise, intelligence, and why this new administration wants figureheads and not qualified people in important jobs. We live in a soap opera country. We live in a social media/cable TV country. In our …

The 25 Best Films of 2024: Indiewire’s chief film critic, David Ehrlich presented his annual, and expertly edited, montage of his 25 Best Films of 2024.

Sundays: Sundays are for playing on your phone and unquenchable existential dread — Jonathan Edward Durham (@thisone0verhere.bsky.social) 2025-01-12T20:23:51.581Z

The Great Fire of LA: Steve Schmidt, writing in his Substack newsletter The Warning, has some eloquent words regarding the horrifying fires in Los Angeles. Like the Great Fire of London in 1666, the Great Fire of Los Angeles will be recalled for 500 years. The scale of the conflagration is biblical. These epochal fires …

The Weekly Click 1.11.25: 

The Problem with Common Sense: “The problem with common sense is that it isn’t all that common and many people think they have way more sense than they really do.” – Patrick Rhone

Trump skips jail, goes directly to White House as convicted felon: Emily Singer, writing for The Daily Kos, has the lead on the only story anyone should be talking about. Donald Trump is officially an adjudicated convicted felon, after a judge in New York on Friday sentenced him Friday morning for the 34 felony counts of falsifying business records Trump was found …

The Friday Threshold Trap Reminder: Nicholas Bate – There is a point at which the gains of a beneficial process disappear. And fall away rapidly. Exercise is good for you. But too much clearly isn’t. E-mail is efficient (gets stuff done), but over-reliance and an addiction curtails effectiveness (getting the right things …

Wicked January: This made me laugh so, so hard.

Chip, Skip, and Trip: Seeing Chip Carter's beautiful eulogy is reminding me of a fancy-people thing that I never learned until well into adulthood. Chip is a nickname for a guy named after his dad. Skip is a nickname for a guy named after his grandfather. Trip is a nickname for a guy named after his dad AND grandfather. …

An Escape Room...: An escape room but it’s just your nice warm car with your favorite songs on shuffle and the actual world is outside — Jonathan Edward Durham ([@thisone0verhere.bsky.social](http://thisone0verhere.bsky.social)) January 8, 2025 at 12:25 PM

Blind on the Moon: Warren Ellis – There are plans, I have read, to send humans to the south pole of the moon. That’s where the water is, and it presents a more stable communication position with Earth. The new issue it presents to human exoplanetary habitation is to do with light. At the South Pole, the sun …

We’re All Trying to Find the Guy Who Did This: Charlie Warzel, writing for The Atlantic, has the story on Mark Zuckerberg and Meta’s right-ward shift regarding “free expression.” The social-media hall monitors have been so restrictive on “topics of immigration and gender that they’re out of touch with mainstream discourse,” …

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Resigns: Justin Trudeau, prime minister of Canada and leader of the Liberal Party there, today announced his resignation after nearly a decade in the job. This feels like the passing of a torch, but I’m afraid the torch is going to set a bunch of things on fire.

The Truth About January 6th:  I don't usually post a link to a news article by itself. Most of the time, I'm good with collecting them for The Weekly Click, but this is one to remember.

The Value of Artifacts: Seth Godin – An artifact is an object that holds or signifies an idea. A book on paper is an artifact: it’s the object plus the words. Now that you can get the words in many other ways, the value of the book is changed. A wedding ring is an artifact. If lost, it has sentimental value far …

They’re Bribes: On his blog, Spyglass, M.G. Siegler has thoughts on all these tech bros, especially Tim Cook, dropping a cool million to Donald Trump’s inauguration. Oh, I’m sorry, did I say “fealty”? I meant “unity”, which is the rationale Cook is apparently giving for the …

Bowing the Knee. Again.: Charlie Sykes in his newsletter, To the Contrary, outlines the continued uselessness of the Washington Post. To fully absorb the profound stupidity of the Wapo’s decision, consider the alternative timeline in which the paper published Telnaes’s sketch. If the Wapo had published it, both the paper …

The Weekly Click 1.4.25: 

Death List 2025: The annual Death List has been posted for 2025. What famous people will probably drop in the coming year? I’d wager a buck or two that Dick Van Dyke and Eve Maria Saint likely won’t make it through the year. I hope Mel Brooks and Clint Eastwood last a while longer. I would love it if …

Size Comparison: Global Data created a rather thorough 3D animation that compares the size of common items, land animals, sea creatures, flying creatures, historical monuments, skyscrapers, air and land vehicles, universe objects, planets and constellations within our entire universe. Spend 20 minutes and go from …

“I have no hopes for 2025.": The New York Times asked Colson Whitehead what he hoped to see in 2025, andhe replied with this bleak statement: “I have no hopes for 2025. Humanity is disappointing. We killed the Earth. Villains triumph and the innocents suffer. I imagine these trends will continue.” Feels that way, …

An Observation: I must say it is interesting that the fall of the SEC’s dominance, the fall of Alabama, and Georgia coming back to normal all happened as soon as every team could start legally paying players. — Brandon Walker (@BFW) January 2, 2025

Quite a Week: In just the past three days: Illinois football beat an SEC football team for the first time in history. Illinois basketball posted the largest road win over a Top 10 basketball team in the history of the game. That's quite a week. — Dave Wischnowsky (@wischlist) January 3, 2025

Wayne Osmond of the Osmond Brothers Dead at 73: Wayne Osmond, the fourth oldest child of the Osmond family and second oldest Osmond Brother, died at the age of 73. The New York Times reports that his daughter Amy Cook confirmed he died at the University of Utah Hospital from complications from a recent stroke. He wrote one of the all-time best …

Illini Football | Highlights vs. #15 South Carolina at Cheez-It Citrus Bowl 12/31/24:  That was a fun game.

John Scalzi's 2025 Resolutions: John Scalzi posted some resolutions for 2025 that I really liked. Renew my commitment to my own personal health and fitness, because the next few years will not be ones in which to rely on the US heath care system; Spend more time on friendships and community, and both be looking out for …

2025 Predictions: Outrageous Predictions 2025 [Saxo Bank] PS Commentators' Predictions for 2025 [Project Syndicate] 12 Predictions for Life in 2025 [NY Times] End Times: Legendary oracle Baba Vanga’s scary predictions for 2025 [Euronews] 10 AI Predictions For 2025 [Forbes] The Ultimate 2025 Horoscope …

Jimmy Carter, Dead at 100: Jimmy Carter, former president of the United States, died Sunday at 100. He was the longest-living president in US history. His 1977–1981 term in office saw a landmark Egypt-Israel peace accord, economic struggles, and a failed Iran hostage rescue. After his presidency, he championed peace, human …

Sums it Up: This pretty well covers all the bases of what people voting for DJT in the 2024 election really meant/means 🎯👇🏾 pic.twitter.com/CR8hAC7Q58 — armand~ (@AreMond2) December 30, 2024

Greg Gumbel, Sports Broadcaster for Over 50 Years, Dead at 78: Longtime sports broadcaster Greg Gumbel died at the age of 78 on Friday, December 27, reports CBS News. Dan McQuade, writing at Defector, has a smart retrospective on Gumbel’s career.

"Brain Rot" Is Poisoning Our Minds: Frank Landymore, writing in futurism.com, talks about “brain rot.” …a growing body of scientific evidence over the past decade suggests that consuming mind-numbing content, from sources ranging from algorithmically driven social media junk to sensationalist news, can literally reduce …

77 Facts That Blew Our Minds in 2024: From The Atlantic Science Desk, 77 Facts That Blew Our Minds in 2024. My faves: 3. A group of butterflies flew across the Atlantic Ocean without stopping. It took them only about eight days. 7. Early space capsules lacked handholds and footholds on the outside, and some spacewalking astronauts …

The Weekly Click 12.28.24: 

Library Kids :  View this post on Instagram A post shared by Mychal (@mychal3ts)

The Week Between Christmas And New Years:  Nailed it.

Mood: 

The Best Part of Doctor Who‘s Christmas Special Is the Story Within the Story: I rather enjoyed the Doctor Who Christmas special. Although I’m a bit behind on the latest season, I’m a big fan, and I knew I could watch the special without having seen the previous season. For me, the best part of the Christmas special is the episode within the special. In the middle …

Christmas Day: The holidays ring differently when you’re nearing your 60s, and everyone is sick but you, and you’re doing your best to hold down the fort. This is my 57th Christmas morning, from a toddler barely understanding what’s happening to today with a wife and family. Life comes at you real fast. …

A Decade of Decorations 2024:  My favorite tracks from my Christmas playlists from 2013-2023.

The White House on Christmas Eve: JayByrd Films, which creates incredible drone videos, filmed a drone tour of the White House on Christmas Eve, documenting all the wonderful holiday decorations. The drone footage was accompanied by a heartfelt Christmas greeting by President Joe Biden. The holidays have always held a special place …

Illini Men's Basketball | Highlights vs. Missouri:  Highlights from Illinois' 80-77 victory over Missouri in the McBride Homes Braggin' Rights game on Sunday, Dec. 22, at Enterprise Center in St. Louis, Mo.

Living in a Fictional World: This man hit the nail squarely on the head. Regarding [@realDonaldTrump](https://micro.blog/realDonaldTrump): "He understands not the rules of reality, but the rules of fiction. So for him there's no such thing as lying, because there's no such thing as the truth." 👇👇👇👇👇👇👇 pic.twitter.com/9sbv1qSEAm …

Maze Generator: This website allows you to customize and create mazes in various shapes and sizes. I find maze puzzles to be a mindfulness practice and very soothing to get lost in. The generated mazes can be exported as PNG, SVG, or PDF files. They are free to use in any non-commercial way.

Rickey Henderson, Baseball’s Flamboyant ‘Man of Steal,’ Dies at 65: Craig Calcaterra, writing at his site Cup of Coffee News, has a note on Ricky Henderson’s passing. To say this is a massive loss is about as big an understatement as is possible. Henderson was the biggest and brightest star of his generation. There may not have been any player in history who …

Mediocre tools: Seth Godin on tools – Lousy tools are dangerous. They endanger our safety (physical or emotional) and undermine our work. Lousy tools are pretty easy to avoid, because they reveal themselves whenever we use them. Great tools are magical. They multiply our effort, amplify the quality of our …

The Weekly Click 12.21.24: 

The Night Before the Distance - Christmas Cake: Erik Stix verbally mashed together the inimitable words of “The Night Before Christmas” with the melody of the classic Cake song “The Distance”. The cadence of the poem worked very well with the half-spoken meter for which the band is famously known. Funny.

The Most Popular Recipes of 2024: Jason Kottke linked to the 25 most popular recipes published by NYT Cooking in 2024. Includes a link to the full top 50. I’m going to have to pull some of these recipes for 2025.

You Don’t Need An Algorithm: Patrick Rhone on year-end wraps and the like – You don’t need an algorithm to tell you what music moved you most this past year. I’m sure, if you took the time to think about it, you could fire off the same ten songs/artists/albums it can. You don’t need an algorithm to tell you your top …

Superman | Official Teaser Trailer: The most anticipated superhero movie of 2025 is James Gunn’s Superman. This movie must succeed for the rest of Gunn’s new DCU to take off. Obviously, it’s just a teaser, but the style, tone, and joy of the DC universe come through. I have heard that Gunn was greatly inspired by Grant …

Never Forgive Them: Ed Zitron has written a tremendous manifesto railing against the tech industry. Carve out some time in your day to read the whole thing. The average person’s experience with technology is one so aggressive and violative that I believe it leaves billions of people with a consistent low-grade trauma. …

Modern Societal Decay: Drew Magary, writing in his Funbag column for Defector, has some smart insight into how things are and why. …growing up in the analog age meant that I was forced to interact directly with people to get what I wanted. If I wanted a pizza, I had to call the restaurant and talk to a teenage …

Go Make Stuff: Will Leitch, writing on his Medium blog, talks about advice for your journalists. However, this bit about writing stuck out to me. When I was in my 20s and 30s, when I told people I was a writer, they usually asked some variation of “how do you make a living at that?” But as I, and they, have hit …

How One Man Upended The Comics Industry: When most Americans think of “comic books” and “graphic novels,” they think of one of the two “major” publishers - Marvel and DC. But outside of manga (becoming by far the largest visual art segment in the US), Scholastic is the largest publisher of graphic novels …

“I Think I’m Gonna Hate It Here.”: 

The Literary:  View this post on Instagram A post shared by Meghan | Midwest Family Travel | Medical Mama (@meghangarriott)

Simmons and Stanley: Nick Simmons and Evan Stanley. Check this out. Amazing. pic.twitter.com/EtjcBahLWM — Gene Simmons (@genesimmons) December 15, 2024 I want a full version of this.

Focus: Robert Rosenthal, writing at his site IlliniBoard, can’t stand the idea of running drones during free throws. Here’s the situation. With five seconds left, Kasparas Jakucionis was fouled and went to the free throw line. Make one and he ties it. Make both and Illinois will take the lead. …

Rick Beato interviews Mark Tremonti: Rick Beato interviews Mark Tremonti, the guitarist/vocalist from Creed, Alter Bridge, and his solo project Tremonti. They discuss his creative process and musical versatility beyond the rock genre, including his talent for covering Frank Sinatra classics. I had no idea he had two Sinatra albums, and …

The Weekly Click 12.14.24: 

Happy Anniversary... to Me!: Here's what I wrote on Facebook -- I don’t really share my thoughts on social media anymore, but today is a special occasion. I’m posting because it’s my ten-year wedding anniversary. Marrying Maria McDevitt was unquestionably the smartest decision I’ve ever made, and I feel extremely lucky that we …

Illinois State Flag Contest: The Illinois Flag Commission has released the 10 finalists for the new state flag design contest. Voting for the new flag design will begin in January 2025. 4669 - Interesting idea. Terrible execution. 5321 - The butterfly is unique and cool. Perfect color choices. Should win, but probably …

Those 2025 Goals: Nicholas Bate – Those goals we have in mind for 2025. How do make them happen? Make them STICK? Consistency is all powerful. The magic word is everyday. If you want to get fitter: every day. If you wish to produce your novel: every day. Your start-up? Plan and research every day. But, but, …

The Right Financial Decision: I’m so glad that I made the right financial decision in 2018 and ditched my $89/mo cable package so that I can now pay $83/mo for YouTube TV, $23/mo for Netflix, $16/mo for Disney+, $13/mo for Paramount, $15/mo for Prime, $10/mo for AppleTV, and $21/mo for HBO — Chris Bakke (@ChrisJBakke) December …

Social Media as a Dying Mall : Ted Gioia points out that social media platforms bear some unfortunate similarities with the downfall of the modern American mall. His three main points are as follows: People go there because other people go there—but this is a fragile foundation for a community. Malls died because there were too …

The New Rules of Media: The One Thing Substack Newsletter has a tremendous post titled The New Rules of Media. I don’t think I’ve seen something this strong, accurate, and eye-opening in a long time about our current media landscape. There are 20 rules, but I’ve highlighted a few of my favorites. …

Old-ass Bill Belichick is going to suck as a college coach — and I cannot WAIT: Drew Magary, writing for SFGate, spends an entire column making fun of Bill Belichick. The saddest thing you can do when you’re old and washed is to try to convince everyone you’re not old and washed. Take it from me, a 48-year-old man who doesn’t understand why kids today aren’t sufficiently …

What’s Your Word for 2025?: Nicholas Bate asks us to choose our word for the new year. Choose a word. Any word. One word. Make it yours for 2025. Start thinking about it now. Whiteboard it. Write it every day on your planner. Put the word on a handful of 3 by 5 cards and place them in strategic places as an ever-present …

Fact-Checking Time's Person of the Year: If you have to have a full-blown 2000-word article fact-checking your interview with the individual you designated Time’s Person of the Year, perhaps that individual was a poor choice. Seriously, this is shitty journalism.

Finding Distractions: Will Leitch, writing on his Medium blog, says it’s super important for everyone to find their distractions. As we prepare for what awaits, we can take our solace, and our comfort, and our escape, in our worlds of diversion, of frivolity, of goofy texts about basketball or bad television or …

Every SNL Cast Member EVER in One Intro: Everyone who was ever a billed-in-the-opening-titles cast member of Saturday Night Live. I’m amazed how many of these people I’ve never heard of and so many cast members I’d forgotten. Hello, Laurie Metcalf.

24 Things That Happened for the First Time in 2024: Tricia Tisak, writing for The New York Times, has an interesting collection of 24 things that happened for the first time in 2024. The selections range from groundbreaking scientific moments to technological breakthroughs and, of course, geopolitical events.

Iron Maiden drummer Nicko McBrain retires after final touring gig in his 42-year run: Malia Mendez for the Los Angeles Times – Nicko McBrain bid farewell over the weekend to the last crowd of metalheads he will ever perform for as a touring member of Iron Maiden. McBrain, 72, who has served as the British heavy metal band’s drummer for more than 40 years, announced his …

Childhood Trauma:  View this post on Instagram A post shared by Alissa Janeal (@alissa_janeal)

The Incredible Lack of Empathy: Bill Burr on his Monday Morning Podcast: What’s annoying me about this kid who killed the CEO, none of these news programs are talking about the incredible lack of empathy from the general public about this because of how these insurance companies treat people when they are at their most …

The Fall of the House of Assad: For more than half a century, Syria has been ruled by the Assad family – thirty years by the elder Hafez, and nearly as long by his son Bashar – a brutally authoritarian reign that, following the Arab Spring in 2011, devolved into an even more brutal civil war that has claimed half a …

Word of the Year: The word of the year: Australia’s Macquarie Dictionary says it’s “enshittification” (wasn’t that last year?) while Oxford says it’s “brain rot.” I know it’s still 2024, but I’m absolutely sure the 2025 word will be kakistocracy.

The Weekly Click 12.7.24: 

Slow, slower, slowest: Nicholas Bate – Is often just perfect. The slow-cooked meal. The relaxed endless tumbling obliques conversation. The amble rather than a hike. The new book a few pages at a time. The slow r e a c h i n g stretches prior to just one or two yoga moves. The pen to paper for those …

I Told You So: Recently, I stumbled upon the best post-election post I’ve ever read. Here’s Sam Kriss saying, “I told you so.” The opening is good enough that I could just post that, but you should read the whole thing so I’m basically reposting the entire piece here. There are two …

"A fun baseball team to watch.": In the latest article by Katie Woo regarding MLB winter meetings and the St. Louis Cardinals, the president of baseball operations, John Mozeliak, said this: We have every intention of fielding a good baseball team. It’s going to have a different profile, but we still have a lot of belief that some …

Doctor Who | Christmas 2024 Trailer:  Looks like fun. I'm a whole season behind.

Top 100 Streamed Songs on Spotify: Here’s a playlist of the 100 most streamed songs on Spotify. The current top pick is The Weeknd’s “Blinding Lights,” followed by Ed Sheeran’s “Shape of You” and Lewis Capaldi’s “Someone You Love.” I could not pick out Lewis Capaldi in a lineup. There …

Too True:  View this post on Instagram A post shared by Rock Music (@rockmusicreels)

The Popcorn Trick: Laura Theisen – I thought everyone knew The Popcorn Trick. But it has recently come to my attention that some people were unaware of The Popcorn Trick. Thus, I will explain The Popcorn Trick. Acquire popcorn at a movie theater. Acquire a straw. Stick the straw in the popcorn. Go to the …

The Golden-At-Bat: .@Ken_Rosenthal weighs in on the rumored Golden Bat rule: "My instinct is - it's not baseball" pic.twitter.com/ATKvMgcejN — Foul Territory (@FoulTerritoryTV) December 3, 2024 Ken Rosenthal is absolutely correct. It is not baseball. In fact, this idea pisses me off more than the stupid ghost runner …

KISS - "Turn On The Night" (franKENstein Remix and Video Redux): So good. Way better than the original. I’d love to hear a wholly reimagined Crazy Nights album done in this style. Here’s another version with a piano and more of the original guitars. He’s really talented.

Supergroup:  View this post on Instagram A post shared by 𓆣 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝙱𝙴𝙰𝚃𝙻𝙴𝚂 𓆣 (@thefab4archive)

Why, Exactly, Are We Letting All These Machines Make Our Decisions For Us?: Will Leitch, writing at his Medium page, has a few thoughts on AI, algorithms, and making decisions. The ability to organize your own thoughts — either through writing them down, or just simple, straightforward cognitive processing — is fundamental to being a person. It is what makes us who we are. …

You Don’t Actually Have to Stay on Twitter: Laura Olin – You don’t actually have to stay on Twitter. Even at the height of its influence, it was strategically only useful for a couple real reasons: because reporters were obsessed with it, and because it played some role in creating culture. The first is increasingly less true, and the …

Nothing Matters: No one outside the Beltway or Elon Musk's Right-Wing Dutch Oven™ cares about Biden's pardon. Why would they? For almost a decade, conservatives have shrugged at every one of Trump's scandals, convictions, and fuck-ups. Nothing matters! — John DeVore (@JohnDeVore) December 2, 2024

52 Things I Learned in 2024: 52 things I learned in 2024 by Tom Whitwell. A few that stuck out to me: Ozempic is a modified, synthetic version of a protein discovered in the venomous saliva of the Gila monster, a large, sluggish lizard native to the United States. [Scott Alexander] And before buying a web domain name, you …

Every Director: Every director should have the "Spike Lee joint" thing A Danny Boyle gem A Christopher Nolan unit An M Night Shyamalan disappointment — Mat™️ (@futurekid.bsky.social) December 2, 2024 at 7:08 AM

You Should Do The Work: Patrick Rhone – You do the work because the work is worth doing. There may be many reasons why doing the work to get something or somewhere you want wont get you the results you were hoping for. But, this is not a reason for not doing the work. The work is worth doing because it makes you …

Ryan Walters Fired: Purdue fired head coach Ryan Walters on Sunday afternoon. I have no ill will toward Coach Walters. He left Illinois, the program that helped make him a head coaching prospect, on terrible terms, and I doubt he’ll be a head coach at the D1 level ever again.

The Longest 25 Seconds in Cinematic History: In my opinion, this shot and this one from The Godfather focused on Michael’s eyes are two of the best shots ever committed to film. They just so happen to be in my two favorite movies of all time.

McDevitt Men: 

“Thank you” is a Complete Sentence: Seth Godin – It’s a way to offer connection or acknowledgment. It’s a recognition of feedback and the time it took someone to consider us. We can use it after we share something important, or someone shares with us. More than the end of an exchange, it can be the beginning of a relationship. …

Heartstrings:  Beautiful.

Avoid the Algorithms: Seth Werkheiser – Instead of posting something on social media tonight, email an old acquaintance. Text someone a photo or link. Tell them about a book you’re reading. Send an email to someone you admire. Ask someone how they’re doing. Write a letter. Call your bestie. In getting away from …

The Kennedy v Nixon Template: Dave Winer – Analogously, Trump is Kennedy and Biden/Harris is Nixon. And the social web is, in 2024, what TV was in 1960. Trump has mastered the new medium. To a large extent, he created the new medium, and the resulting network formed around him. So when Carville says he wants to figure out …

The Weekly Click 11.28.24: 

Jim Abrahams, RIP: Jim Abrahams, a film director and writer behind hit slapstick comedies like Airplane!, Hot Shots!, the Naked Gun series, and more, died Tuesday, his son Joseph confirmed to Variety. He was 80.

The Right Word: Niklas Göke – There is no magic thought that’ll solve your life forever, but there is always the right word at the right time. “Calm.” “Go.” “Stop.” “Breathe.” “Think.” “Speak.” “Accept.” “Sleep.” Usually, the right word is a simple one. Perhaps one of the first 100 you’ve ever learned. We panic …

Huge Dork: imagine being such a huge dork that an entire thriving web site and community exists simply because you suck — Ygrene ([@ygrene.bsky.social](http://ygrene.bsky.social)) November 26, 2024 at 12:39 PM

The Right People: Seth Werkheiser – A client who has worked with some big names wanted to build their email list, and I gave them this idea: Think of the amazing people you worked with throughout the years, and think of all those stories you shared, and the memories you’ve made. They’ve got to have dozens of …

My Beats: [handing mixtape to doctor] please, my beats, they're very sick — Ygrene ([@ygrene.bsky.social](http://ygrene.bsky.social)) November 24, 2024 at 10:24 AM

Populism, Media Revolutions, and Our Terrible Moment:  This is amazing.

The Weekly Click 11.23.24: 

Even Bruce Wayne Only Covers Gotham: Dave Pell – The notion that you need to know about world events right when they happen is a marketing creation of media brands. And yet, those news stories mingle in the same lock screen with the personal reminders and calls from your mom. The stuff that has something to do with you is now …

The American Nightmare Is A Rerun: Kelsey McKinney, writing at Defector, provides an insightful breakdown of our current political landscape. The second Trump Administration will surely be just as annoying and slapdash and dangerous as the first, and I cannot sit here with my LED light mask on and make fun of cabinet appointments …

Volvo Ad on Instagram: Volvo posted a 3 min and 46 second ad on Instagram, shot by Hoyte Van Hoytema, the cinematographer of Interstellar and Oppenheimer. It goes against every single rule you can think about as a social media spot. Length. Format. Over-produced. It is one of the best advertisements I have ever seen. …

Create More Stories, 11: Nicholas Bate – Stories will transform your presentation from a list of bullets to something which engages heart and soul. Stories embed values and principles deep in a child’s brain. There is far more to Goldilocks and those Three Bears than porridge. Stories help your customers …

Let Athletes Do the ‘Trump Dance’ in Peace: Will Leitch, writing for Intelligencer, thinks all this noise about athletes doing the “Trump dance” after touchdowns or goals is much ado about nothing. But in the same way that I do not believe that every person who voted for Trump explicitly wants the return of fascism and …

It’s Called Rationalization: Last week, bible scholar, author, vlogger (and owner of one of the finest t-shirt collections in town) Dan McClellan posted a video asking the question Did God choose an adulterous man to rule his nation? Apparently some viewers took issue with Dan’s message, so he immediately posted a …

Blue Skies: It started with Swifties leaving Twitter/X in droves and heading to Bluesky. They were the first to be noticed, but they were the tip of the iceberg. Bluesky gained its first wave of high-profile users last spring, and switched from being invitation-only to open to the public in February. In the …

The Great Social Media Descent: 

Operating Philosophy: My whole operating philosophy now is to just stack good days. If I had a good day, that’s a win. Then I get up the next morning and try to do it all over again. I had a good day today. Onward we go. — Drew Magary (@drewmagary.bsky.social) 2024-11-19T23:58:54.481Z

Triple Ranking: Jeremy Warner, writing at Illini Inquirer, reflects on the tenure of Josh Whitman as Illinois AD and the culmination of this week’s triple rankings. This week, all three of the most prominent programs in the Illinois athletic department are ranked: women’s basketball at No. 22, football …

The 365-Day-A-Year Campaign: Dave Winer: A quick podcast about the new 365-day-a-year campaign we need on the social web to keep our democracy alive. I’ve been saying this for twenty years – the Dems shut down their campaign presence on the social web on Election Day, and they come back when they need our money (to …

On Writing, 128: Nicholas Bate – There are many reasons for writing regularly. But one is that the more you write the more you will discover your style and with that comes expertise and with that comes fun and enjoyment. Go write.

Severance — Season 1 Recap:  I can't wait for Season 2.

The Greatest Productivity Tips, 134: Nicholas Bate – You simply can’t do everything. But you can do some things brilliantly. That will be more satisfying for you and more helpful for your family, friends and clients. What will you choose to do well?

Can you take a photo of us?: Tiny Idea put out a Saturday Night Live-level funny sketch. It had an excellent concept and incredible execution, and it legitimately made me laugh.

The Weekly Click 11.16.24: 

The Cleanse: Michael Lopp – I’m in the midst of a media cleanse. This started before the election when I canceled my Washington Post subscription. Jeff Bezos can do whatever he wants with the Washington Post, and he’s 100% correct that I don’t trust large media organizations. After the election, I removed …

Jon Batiste Hears Green Day For The First Time:  I needed something magical to clean the sadness from my disposition. This does the trick.

Do That Thing: Alex Dobrinko, at his Substack The Sublime, has a conversation with Adam Mastroianni, the writer behind one of Substack’s most popular newsletters Experimental History. He asks him how we might find optimism and hope in a world that often feels dark and cynical. His answer is glorious. “I think the …

True Freedom: James A. Reeves – As I stared at the reddening map of America, I wondered why I’d invested so much time monitoring the polls and listening to punditry, diligently following every gasp of two dying political parties, both driven senile by the craziest voices on the internet. So no more news …

Impotent Shriek of Disapproval: I’ve said it before, will doubtless say it again: These folks are going to be permanently resentful because they’re seeking political power as a substitute for cultural power, and it’s never going to give them what they actually want. — Julian Sanchez (@normative.bsky.social) …

Pearls of Wisdom: Kevin Drum, on his site Jabberwocking, lists a few nuggets of wisdom. All of them are worthwhile, but these are my favs. Tax cuts don’t boost economic growth in any meaningful way. The real dietary villain of the modern era is refined sugar. One out of seven people have no interior monologue. …

For some Trump supporters, regret is already setting in: Jennifer Sandlin, writing for Boing Boing, has a post about regret. Here’s a twenty-minute video recounting stories of regret, grief, and, honestly, pure ignorance, from people who voted for Trump and are beginning to suffer the consequences. The video was shared by MeidasTouch and features, …

The Onion Buys Infowars: The Onion has purchased Alex Jones’s Infowars out of bankruptcy [unlocked article via Nextdraft]. This is hilarious. Most importantly, they did it with the blessing of the Sandy Hook families, who have spent years working to hold Alex Jones to account for the spreading of his terrible conspiracy …

On Writing, 127: Nicholas Bate – It’s true that the luxury of a ‘free’ day simply to write is a joy. But such days are not necessary to produce your writing, your novel, your poem, your art. Grab moments here and there. Resist the temptation to scroll; instead open the document and continue. Neither the …

Seeds of Hope: In this time of madness, Heather Cox Richardson shares wisdom and small seeds of hope* regarding the days to come. “The rift between the pre-2016 leaders of the Republican Party and the MAGA Republicans is still obvious, and Trump’s reliance on Elon Musk and his stated goal of deconstructing …

Chancellor Jones Stepping Down: University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Chancellor Robert Jones has decided to step down at the end of the academic year. “I truly believe this is the greatest university in the world, which makes this the most difficult decision that has confronted me in my 47 years in higher education. My …

The Amateur: This looks like a movie right up my alley. Rami Malek is a nerdy guy with a vendetta in The Amateur trailer.

Find Your Space: Cory Dransfeldt says social media is broken. He may be right. Post on Mastodon, post on your own site, post on Bluesky, skip the algorithmic soup that is Threads (or — if you do — enable federation so I can follow you absent the noise) and please, please skip posting on the platform owned by the …

Clear Ice: Seth Godin – I love Zamboni machines. They’re ungainly, they’re slow but they’re also majestic. Like an elephant for ice hockey. After each period, when the ice is chopped up by play, the Zamboni rolls out and leaves behind a sheet of perfect ice. Cold, smooth and untouched. It’s useful to …

If I Get One More Email From Democrats Asking Me for Money, I’m Going to Lose My Mind: Luke Winkie, writing for Slate, has a story that had been bubbling up in me for the exact same reasons. I’m so glad he put it out there. The Harris campaign—now inexplicably dubbed the Harris Fight Fund—allows that, perhaps, Harris’ voters are hurting from an existential political defeat, one …

Just Enough News: Cory Dransfeldt – Follow just enough news. Pay enough attention to know the broad strokes of what’s going on. Don’t hyper-focus on things outside of your control. Mute as needed. Unfollow as needed. Stop scrolling as needed. Engage in good faith discussion. Walk away from bad …

Something for Someone: Jeff Goins – Art is the process of making something for someone. That’s it, that’s all I know. What I know is that when you try to make a thing for everyone, it ends up being for no one, because who wants to unwrap a present to “everyone”? No one. We all want something unique, something …

Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning | Teaser Trailer: Is it really final?

‘Wicked’ Dolls Link to Adult Porn Site: Mattel has issued an apology after customers spotted its Wicked edition dolls highlighting an adult website on the packaging. The box art copy mistakenly directed customers to the homepage of the Wicked Pictures pornographic movie studio, instead of the correct WickedMovie.com URL. As someone who …

"Whiteness Is Under Threat": Finally Professor Eddie Glaude of Princeton, confronted the issue as to why white people voted for Trump on a so-called liberal station like @MSNBC, you should see unless you too want to remain in the closet about the reality of what America is. It’s about time. pic.twitter.com/V9imvm6F5F — Mr. …

The Weekly Click 11.9.24: 

What I'm Reading About the Election: Caitlin Dewey, writing on her substack Links I Would Gchat You If We Were Friends, has made a good list of articles to read in this post-election time. The next morning, we woke up. Drank our coffee. Did our jobs. Bought our groceries at the same corner store. Walked past the same houses, “Harris” …

How It Went: A long post by John Gruber about his Dad, the election, loss, and hope. It’s one of the best blog posts I’ve read in a long time. To be clear, the election is hardly mentioned, but it does bring a different perspective on what’s important and what we make important. I was a bit …

Marvel Trailers: Here are a couple of Marvel movie trailers that have helped me get my mind off of [waves hands around at everything]. Captain America: Brave New World | Official Trailer Marvel Studios’ Thunderbolts* | D23 Brazil Special Look

Willson Contreras to First Base: Gabe Simonds, writing for Viva El Birdos, has the story about the future of First Base on the St. Louis Cardinals. The Cardinals had something of a unique problem entering the 2025 season. They had Willson Contreras under contract for 3 years, $59.5 million with a fourth-year club option (the …

More Star Wars?: Mile Fleming Jr, writing for Deadline, has the scoop on new Star Wars movies coming. EXCLUSIVE: Lucasfilm has closed a deal with Simon Kinberg to develop a trilogy of Star Wars films. Kinberg will write the trio and produce them with Lucasfilm chief Kathleen Kennedy. I heard this will comprise …

Regaining Focus: Manuel Moreale – The main thing I realized recently is how lost my mind has become. I stopped meditating, I stopped reading books, and I’m consuming an unhealthy amount of news. The worst part of all this is that I’m painfully aware of all this happening. I’m mindful enough to notice …

The Greatest Productivity Tips: Nicholas Bate – If it’s big, make it small: break it down into mangeable, time and brain friendly chunks. If it’s small, make it big: what’s the big reason behind this task, why is it important to me? Go produce.

The Cold, Awful Truth: 

The People’s Choice: Bill Kristol, writing at The Bulwark, wonders what this all means. The American people have made a disastrous choice. And they have done so decisively, and with their eyes wide open. Donald J. Trump will be our next president, elected with a majority of the popular vote, likely winning both more …

Every Day Starts Here | Episode 04: The Moment: 

Election Grief Is Real. Here’s How to Cope: Meghan Bartels – Short term, you have to do something you can control when you’re in a situation you can’t control. Do something you can control—in your house, in your home, with your family. Go running, listen to music, go to a movie, do something that requires action, that makes your body …

The Brutal Clarity of This Result: John Gruber – I realized this year — or perhaps over the last four years — that for me, belief in the merits of democracy is quasi-religious. It’s more than a philosophy. It’s a fundamental belief. I have faith in democracy, and part of that is accepting the results of any fair and free …

Cultural Shifts: I don't study politics, but I do study culture, and here are some of the signs that a cultural shift has been brewing for years in America that most of the professional political analysts just completely missed. Some of these may seem absurd, but hear me out. 🧵 We'll start… …

Democracy Is Not Over: Tom Nichols, writing for The Atlantic – Paradoxically, however, Trump’s reckless venality is a reason for hope. Trump has the soul of a fascist but the mind of a disordered child. He will likely be surrounded by terrible but incompetent people. All of them can be beaten: in court, in Congress, in …

Kinds of Power: Seth Godin – There’s the James Bond villian sort of power, based on division, dominance and destruction. This is the short-term power of bullies, trauma and mobs. And then there’s a more resilient form of power. This is power based on connection, discussion and metrics. A power based in …

What it’s Like Running the New York Marathon: Will Leitch, writing for New York Magazine, detailed his experience running the New York Marathon. Before Sunday, I had never run 26.2 miles in my life. Like many people preparing for their first marathon, I spent months training for the actual race and weeks constructing a perfect playlist for it. …

Election Day 2024: Election Day is finally here. (*gulp*) Democratic nominee Kamala Harris, after replacing a Biden campaign killed by an abysmal June debate, has run a historic sprint to the finish, promising (with Coach Tim Walz) “A New Way Forward” focused on reproductive rights, middle class economics, …

In Memory Of Quincy Jones (1933-2024): Quincy Jones, who distinguished himself throughout a 70-year career in music as an artist, bandleader, composer, arranger, and producer, has died. He was 91. Justin Curto, writing for Vulture, has a look back at his beginnings. Before he became one of music’s most visible moguls, Jones was a …

What We Do Tomorrow: Patrick Rhone – Thought for today: What do I want future generations to learn in their high school US History class? What we do tomorrow will determine that.

Kamala Harris, For the People: 

Skeleton Crew Official Trailer: The Star Wars universe has made its version of The Goonies. I’m unsure if I’m the audience for this trailer or the show. I guess I might watch it… I dunno.

Shorts: Half a dozen exceptional One Minute Films. Also, from Reddit, half a dozen exceptional Five Minute films. (five minutes or less, that is). Seven minute limit. Finally, ten good shorts under ten minutes. Looking for more shorts: Four dozen outstanding short films of varying duration. H/T: Metafilter

The Yankees May Have Blown Their Best Chance for Years: Will Leitch, writing for New York Magazine, thinks the Yankees have blown their chance at a WS win. For Yankees fans, one of the more charming story lines from this World Series was the emergence of a photo of current shortstop Anthony Volpe as an 8-year-old, taken in the parade after the Yankees …

Michelle Obama Has the Best Message to Voters: Rebecca Traister, writer-at-large for New York Magazine and the Cut, had a story about one of the best advocates Kamala Harris has on her side: Michelle Obama. On the last Saturday of October, Michelle Obama appeared in Kalamazoo, Michigan, and gave one of the most remarkable political speeches in …

The Dodgers Did it the Weird Way: David Roth, writing for Defector, reflects on the Dodgers winning the World Series. I’m such a fan of Roth’s writing. Incredibly jealous. So good. The team that finished off a five-game World Series victory against the Yankees on Wednesday night with an admirably ugly, brutal, and retrospectively …

KISS - 1976 Paul Lynde Halloween Special: franKENstein Creations upscaled the video and cut the whole special to just the KISS parts. He also remixed the songs by taking the music from the original version of Destroyer and then adding live vocals synced to what they were actually performing. The vocals for “Detroit Rock City” …

Every Day Starts Here | Episode 03: The Illinois Effect: 

What She Didn’t Say: On the National Mall in Washington DC last night, a crowd of at least seventy-five thousand supporters gathered to listen to Kamala Harris make her closing argument to the American people. The night was crisp. The visuals were stunning. She looked presidential. She said a lot of things last night. …

MAGADU - A Randy Rainbow Song Parody: Randy Rainbow has done it again. This time with a parody of “Xanadu." Perfect. No notes.

Please Vote for Kamala Harris for President: Will Leitch, writing on Medium, has endorsed Kamala Harris for President. He lays out his entire reasoning and then ends with this: I think this is a good country. I think it can be better. But I do not think it needs to be blown up. I want someone who believes in it, who is dedicated to it, who …

Terri Garr, RIP: Actress Teri Garr, best known for her comedic roles_,_has died at age 79. She worked with several high profile directors including Mel Brooks in Young Frankenstein, Steven Spielberg in Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and Sydney Pollack in Tootsie. She had suffered for years with Multiple …

Reflexive Belligerence: Watchman author, Alan Moore, has a few words about fandom. In the past he’s taken on comic book companies and how they’ve bleed dry every scrap of an idea he’s ever put down in a comic. However, this editorial is a bit different. Moore paints a portrait of the kind of fan who …

Messages for Life: Claudia Dawson, writing in Recommendo, featured an interesting free service. Messages for Life are short, inspirational emails that have been brightening my days. They arrive only on weekday mornings and always contain a positive message, like reminders to slow down, relax, celebrate yourself, and …

“Our Little Secret”: Heather Cox Richardson, writing on her Substack about the MAGA rally cosplaying as the 1939 Nazi rally at Madison Square Garden, had one particularly notable aside from its headlines: But Trump perhaps gave away the game with his inflammatory language and with an aside, seemingly aimed at House …

Freddie Freeman Hits A Walk-Off Grand Slam To Win Game 1 Of The World Series For The Dodgers!: The baseball was fun.

Democracy Dies Because of Billionaires: So, the LA Times announced it would not make an endorsement for President because the billionaire owner, Patrick Soon-Shiong refused to allow it, leading the editor to resign. Now, the Washington Post announced it will not endorse a candiate either, reportedly because the billionaire owner Jeff …

This World Series Is the Superstar Extravaganza Baseball Needs: Will Leitch, writing for New York Magazine, has an interesting take on this year’s World Series matchup. For all the story lines surrounding the Yankees-Dodgers World Series that begins on Friday night — the fact that the former NYC rivals are playing in their 11th World Series against each …

We Are Living in a Golden Age of Apples: Laura Helmuth, writing for Scientific American, explains that Apple experts divide time into “before Honeycrisp” and “after Honeycrisp.” Honeycrisp inspired consumer demand for excellent tasting apples, and that changed the apple market. “It wasn’t that consumers wanted Red …

Unfinished - Full Version - Edward and Alex Van Halen: This is the full six-minute version of "Unfinished,” the final song that Edward and Alex wrote together. It is featured in the audiobook version of Alex’s new memoir, _Brothers_. He didn't release it through any music distributors. It’s not on Spotify or Apple Music. He didn’t save it for some …

Every Day Starts Here | Episode 02: The Foundation :  These videos so far are really well done. I can't wait to see each new one.

Tuesday Turmoil Fifty: Nicholas Bate – (1) Life is messy. (2) Life is unpredictable. (3) Life can make you cry, (4) pull your hair out, (5) throw your hat in the air and even (6) sit down and weep. (7) Life is exciting, (8) scary and at times (9) daunting. (10) Life is funny and often makes you (11) giggle. At …

Cobra Kai Season 6: Part 2 | Official Trailer: In a world where far too many shows face an early cancellation or never see the light of day, Cobra Kai is in the middle of its sixth and final season. Part 1 came out back in July, and now, in anticipation of the show’s final episodes, we are getting a Cobra Kai Part 2 trailer. The Sekai …

Severance — Season 2 Official Teaser: “Things look a little different around Lumon.” The official teaser trailer for season two of Severance reveals a bit more about the upcoming season, but not much. January 17, 2025, can’t come soon enough!

Barack Obama Loses Himself Over Eminem at Harris Rally: Barack Obama raps the first verse of "Lose Yourself" by Eminem while campaigning for Kamala Harris in Detroit. pic.twitter.com/flWfopIvLT — The Recount (@therecount) October 23, 2024 Barack Obama only got one shot to follow up Eminem — and he didn’t blow that opportunity.

The Most Important Election of our Lifetime: Patrick Rhone – I know we keep saying this is the most important election of our lifetime. I know it gets old. I long for going the other way. To make each less important than the last. But the stakes keep getting raised. So it keeps being that way and therefore keeps being true.

Dodgers Legend Fernando Valenzuela Dies at 63: Andy McCullough, reporting for The Athletic: Fernando Valenzuela, the Mexican southpaw who became an icon in Los Angeles during his rookie season with the Los Angeles Dodgers and remained a vibrant part of the franchise’s fabric for the next four decades, died Tuesday, the Dodgers confirmed. He was …

Illini Football | Michigan Victory Recap: Amazing.

Trump: ‘I Need the Kind of Generals That Hitler Had’: Jeffrey Goldberg, in an incredible piece for The Atlantic: In their book, The Divider: Trump in the White House, Peter Baker and Susan Glasser reported that Trump asked John Kelly, his chief of staff at the time, “Why can’t you be like the German generals?” Trump, at various points, had grown …

Please, Do Not Vote for Donald Trump: Will Leitch, writing at his Medium site, politely asks us all to not vote for Donald Trump. I look at Trump and see the worst of humanity, and the worst of America, a man with no redeeming qualities, who cares about nothing other than his own aggrandizement and personal wealth, who has so many …

The Space of Time Between Two Thoughts: Warren Ellis – The first ever time someone takes your hand, and the first thought you have is “this is everything” and the second is “what happens when it’s gone?” The space of time between those thoughts defines the shape of your life.

On Writing, 124: Nicholas Bate – Write every day, rain or shine. Write every day whatever your mood. Write more and more. Write on boats and planes and trains and in a queue and while waiting for the storm-cloud to pass. Write for quantity. Then edit for quality. Write fingers on keyboard, pencil on paper, chalk …

"Do you want lies with that?": Kevin Drum has a few choice words and tweets to say about Donald Trump’s stint working at McDonald’s today. It’s heartwarming to see Trump serving the little people, sort of like Jesus did. But you will be unsurprised to learn that it was all staged. The store itself was shut down …

Your Writing: Michael Lopp – Less than 1% of your writing will be life-changing. 3% will be trivial to write. 4% will strongly resonate with others in a way you didn’t expect. 5% will be quite good. 15% probably should’ve never been published. 26% will elicit a reaction you did not expect. Positive or …

Chocolate Seven​: Nicholas Bate – All you need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn’t hurt. Charles M Schulz. Choose quality over quantity every time. Explore the incredible range of new producers dedicating their kitchens to the art. Eat with mindfulness. Instant meditation. Perfect at a …

CBS Intro: Illinois vs Michigan: The full CBS intro to the Michigan - Illinois game. Spectacular. Well done CBS. pic.twitter.com/U59nGoTiJq — Illinois Football Focus (@IlliniFB) October 19, 2024 CBS honored the day on Saturday with an incredible open to the broadcast. Friday marked exactly 100 years since ‘The Galloping Ghost’ ran …

Red Grange Uniforms: These look incredible.

Game Day Run Club: Such a cool video, showing a beautiful sunrise, ⁦@StateFarmCenter⁩ and an incredible turnout for the Game Day Run Club! Grateful to all who came! Let’s get a win! 🔶🔷👊 pic.twitter.com/sABeLr6AFT — Josh Whitman (@IlliniAD) October 19, 2024 Name another Athletic Director who runs four miles before …

Andrew Garfield and Elmo Explain Grief: Actor Andrew Garfield shared his feelings with Elmo on Sesame Street about grief and how it can be a good thing because it makes you remember the good things about someone you love, his mother, whom Garfield sadly lost to pancreatic cancer in 2021. This is a fantastic clip. Sesame Street is so good …

Come Out and Plaaaayyyy: Here’s one of the oddest sentences I think I’ve ever put together: A new concept album by Lin-Manuel Miranda & Eisa Davis is a musical based on the 1979 movie The Warriors and sung by a cast that Lauryn Hill, Nas, Ghostface Killah and Billy Porter to Broadway stars Phillipa Soo, Jasmine Cephas …

October 18, 1924: Robert Rosenthal, writing at his site IlliniBoard, has a wonderful look at what happened 100 years ago. Red Grange had become a superstar. He was a First Team All American the previous season as a sophomore. People came from far and wide (most importantly, sportswriters like Grantland Rice) to see …

On Writing, 123: Nicholas Bate – Never discard any of your writing. You may decide to abandon it. You may decide it’s simply not working. But file it away: sometime in the future that scene may be just what you need and with space, time and a different context it might be a winner. To the writer, there are no …

Dave Bautista explains why Donald Trump is a "whiny b!@#&!": Dave Bautista mocked Donald Trump’s masculinity, calling him a “weak, tubby toddler,” on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” in a clip that’s gone viral. Yeah, I’d love to see a shortened version played as a political ad during the World Series, NFL games, college football games, NBA games… all the …

“Oh, you guys are at the wrong rally.”: Kamala Harris: Oh, you guys are at the wrong rally. I think you meant to go to the smaller one down the street pic.twitter.com/tjhbDB9m3R — Acyn (@Acyn) October 17, 2024

12 Principles: Kevin Wammer, on his site Cliophate, made a good list. Always carry a book. Don’t shy away from “hard”. Get your reps in. Prioritize sleep. Listen more than you speak. Write to think. Be useful. Never half-ass anything. Create room to think. Look at the sky more. Look at screens …

Every Day Starts Here | Episode 01: The Head Coach:  I also really enjoy walking outside with my wife.

Jimmy Carter, at age 100, casts his 2024 ballot by mail: AP – Jimmy Carter cast his ballot in the 2024 election Wednesday. The former president voted by mail, the Carter Center confirmed in a statement. It happened barely two weeks after Carter celebrated his 100th birthday on Oct. 1 at his home in Plains, Georgia, where he’s been living in hospice …

Purpose + Kindness + Yes: I stumbled upon Lisa Buscomb and I find her short writing delightful. She has a couple of books full of these short pieces that are just long enough to make a point and short enough to read in a spare moment. Here are a few she’s shared from her website. PURPOSE There is a little voice inside your …

Trump sways and bops to music for 39 minutes in bizarre town hall episode: Heather Cox Richardson, writing on her Substack newsletter Letters from an American, describes Trump at his most recent campaign stop. In Oaks, Pennsylvania, tonight, Trump was supposed to take questions from preselected attendees at a town hall with South Dakota governor Kristi Noem. He did, at …

Silo — Season 2 Official Trailer : The first Silo Season 2 trailer promises to build on that jaw-dropping first season cliffhanger with even more surprises, including Steve Zahn as a survivor from another silo. Mysterious. Apple TV is killing it. Too bad not enough people know this show exists.

Monday Move Mood 7: Nicholas Bate — Move from your chair, your desk, your screen. Move in all three dimensions. Move on your own two feet. Move in the outside for as long as your lock-down ‘freedom pass’ allows. Move on rough terrain, through wilderness and where there is no wi-fi if you can, when you can and as often …

If Ghost wrote 'Like a Prayer' by Madonna:  His Tobias impression is spot on.

Warren Ellis on Megalopolis: Warren Ellis on Megalopolis – My first thought on leaving the cinema was: this was the cinema that made Coppola. The bones of the film come from the 1930s-1950s, to my untrained eye. But there are parts of Sixties filmmaking in there, Fellini, flashes of Seventies experimental filmmaking, …

Kamala Harris’s Hundred-Day Campaign: Evan Osnos, writing in The New Yorker, on what has been, win or lose, one of the more remarkable rises in American politics. By gaining the nomination so late, Harris spared herself the obligation of courting the orthodox wing of her party in primaries. But a short run has risks; it left her little …

Journey Through Cinema: YouTuber Emeric has compiled a marvelous montage encompassing 629 films from all over the world, reflecting the constant evolution of cinema over the course of 147 years. Here’s a complete list of the films used in the montage.

Illinois vs Purdue with Ryan: I still can’t believe Illinois won the game.

Star Trek: Lower Decks The Final Season Trailer: Paramount+ released a trailer for the final season of Star Trek: Lower Decks. I’m going to miss this show. There’s a lot of comedy, silly situations, and call backs, but there’s also a real message of friendship, loyalty, and healing. More so than most Star Trek shows. The fifth and final season …

Tropicana Field Shredded By Hurricane Milton: Barry Petchesky, writing for Defector, has a small story on the aftermath of Hurricane Milton. The image of the destruction of Tropicana Field’s roof is something to see. Winds were so powerful they temporarily blew the water out of the Bay. This morning, there hasn’t been much to see of …

Vice President Kamala Harris on the Howard Stern Show : I hoped the Howard Stern Show would post the entire interview. It's well worth your time to watch. She's natural, conversational, and touched upon the personal and the professional. Donald Trump could not sit for an hour-long interview from Stern. Not today. Just recently, Trump was laughed at …

Trump’s Speeches, Increasingly Angry and Rambling, Reignite the Question of Age: Peter Baker and Dylan Freedman, reporting for The New York Times, have finally noticed Donald Trump is a rambling, incoherent mess. Former President Donald J. Trump vividly recounted how the audience at his climactic debate with Vice President Kamala Harris was on his side. Except that there was no …

The Hurricane That Scientists Were Dreading: Zoë Schlanger, writing in The Atlantic, explains how incredibly powerful and potentially dangerous Hurricane Milton is going to be on Florida’s Gulf Coast. She also outlines how Milton has been supercharged through climate change. As Hurricane Milton exploded from a Category 1 storm into a Category …

The Diplomat: Season 2 | Official Trailer: Netflix has released a trailer for the next season of The Diplomat, and I’m reasonably excited. It’s definitely one of the finer original shows Netflix has put out lately, with excellent writing. The Allison Janney appearance made me smile.

Tuesday Zero to Possible Seven: Nicholas Bate – Zero soda; maximum water. Zero in-box; maximum filed to category OR action list. Zero lifts/escalator; maximum stairs. Zero processed food; maximum fresh, local and cooked by self. Zero technology-at-table; maximum great uninterrupted conversation. Zero mall; maximum small, …

Forever ✱ Notes: After learning about the organizational system of Forever ✱ Notes, I implemented it with my Apple Notes on my phone and iMac. I have the initial setup complete, but now I’m slowly applying it to my existing notes. Forever ✱ Notes is not an app, but a simple framework and scalable digital …

On Writing, 122: Nicholas Bate – Momentum is certainly your assistant. Write daily to train the mind and body, write daily for quantity, write daily for pleasure. But do not be guilty about a break. A break can provide the creative breakthrough, the fresh angle, the rejuvenated spirit. Like much in life, it’s …

Rick Beato Interviews Rick Rubin: Rick Beato spends some time with Rick Rubin, and it’s well worth watching. In this interview, legendary producer Rick Rubin shares insights from his incredible career, spanning decades of groundbreaking music. From his early work with Run DMC, LL Cool J, and the Beastie Boys, to producing …

State of the Race: Daily Kos examines the state of the presidential race with 30 days to go. It’s remarkably steady. The polling won’t perfectly predict this year’s election results, but if Democratic nominee Kamala Harris were to take every state where she currently leads, she would win the election with a narrow …

James Bond Day: October 5 is “James Bond Day,” because it celebrates the release of Dr. No in 1962. If this date inspires you to want to have a movie marathon of Bond, here’s my list of the best six Bond flicks to stream. My list isn’t weird or unique, but it might help you. Here you go: Goldfinger (1964): I …

The Fuck Around And Find Out Queen: Former Colorado county clerk, conspiracy monger, and election denier Tina Peters has been sentenced to 9 years incarceration for providing pillow and conspiracy peddler Mike Lindell access to Dominion voting machines in the wake of the 2020 election along with using her position to push baseless …

Batting Helmet Bilboards: Since the St. Louis Cardinals did not make the baseball postseason (again), I have not been making any effort to watch any games. Yesterday, I happened to stop on a game when flipping channels on my YouTube TV, and I finally saw the gaudy “Strauss” on both sides of every player’s batting helmet. …

Van Halen's Last Show - Hollywood Bowl 10/4/15:  Nine years ago today.

Bruce Springsteen Endorses Harris/Walz:  View this post on Instagram A post shared by Bruce Springsteen (@springsteen) “Donald Trump is the most dangerous candidate for president in my lifetime."

Is Disney Bad at Star Wars? An Analysis: James Hibberd, writing for The Hollywood Reporter, examines Disney-fied Star Wars and finds it lacking. Disney gave Star Wars fans what they wanted for decades — a lot more Star Wars, from different visionary filmmakers, and some of it has been terrific. A dormant franchise that once followed a …

The Boring Debate: Dan Pfeiffer, writing at his Substack The Message Box, said JD Vance didn’t win the debate. JD Vance is a slick debater. He has the natural advantages of lacking a moral core and an ability to lie shamelessly. It’s how you go from calling Trump “America’s Hitler” to licking every boot in the …

Sometimes, You Don’t Take the Photo: Warren Ellis – I finally saw The Milky Way, the other week. A bit of it. I’d never seen it before — never actually seen that many stars at one time before. The night after, I saw the Northern Lights for the first time. Well, a bit. It was white, and dilute. But clearly there. The others in my …

Ranking Big Ten basketball programs: Tournament teams abound, but is anyone elite?: Brendan Marks and CJ Moore, writing for The Athletic, do a deep dive into the state of Big Ten Basketball and provide some real insight into the teams and the league. However, their rankings are sus. Still, who cares? It’s October. Let’s see how this shakes out in Q1 2025. The only thing …

Pete Rose, All-American: Ray Ratto, writing for Defector, has the definitive take on the passing of Pete Rose. He wasn’t complicated as a player, a manager, or in the end, as a self-parodic martyr. Rose had smaller measures of the skills that great ballplayers have but a greater capacity to employ them tirelessly, …

The Future of the St. Louis Cardinals: Katie Woo, Writing for The Athletic, has the post-press-conference story regarding the future of the St. Louis Cardinals. …a lengthy transition period is coming to St. Louis. The organization will completely rehaul what has become a lacking player development system. Mozeliak will oversee …

Happy 100th Birthday, President Jimmy Carter: Happy 100th birthday, President Carter! Thank you for your friendship, your fundamental decency, and your incredible acts of service through the @CarterCenter. Michelle and I are grateful for all you’ve done for this country. pic.twitter.com/9TcYABwUO3 — Barack Obama (@BarackObama) October 1, 2024

Blank Space (Donald's Version) - A Randy Rainbow Song Parody:  This is one of his all-time best. I usually link out videos, but this one needs to be seen.

Kris Kristofferson, Songwriter Whose Poetic Lyrics Transcended Genre, Dead at 88: Kris Kristofferson—actor, songwriter, and outlaw country star—has died. Stephen Betts, writing for Rolling Stone, described him as a musical storyteller. As the songwriter of legendary compositions like “Help Me Make It Through the Night,” “Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down,” and “Me and Bobby McGee,” …

Drake Hogestyn, RIP: Best known for playing the slippery John Black and his myriad personalities for nearly 40 years on Days of Our Lives, Drake Hogestyn has died. In an Instagram statement, the show confirmed Hogestyn died of pancreatic cancer. He was 70. When I watched Days of Our Lives back in college, he was one of …

Marvel and DC Lose Trademark for ‘Superhero’: Isaiah Colbert, writing in Gizmodo, has the story about Marvel and DC losing their joint trademark for “super hero.” According to Reuters, the US Trademark Office canceled several of Marvel and DC Comics’ set of “Super Hero” trademarks in an order on September 26 at the request of …

Coppola’s ‘Megalopolis’ Plays to Near-Empty Theaters: Brooks Barnes, writing for The New York Times, describes the failure of Megalopolis. There is no kind way to put it: Francis Ford Coppola’s “Megalopolis” died on arrival over the weekend. Mr. Coppola, 85, spent decades on the avant-garde fable, ultimately selling part of his wine business to raise …

Songs of a Lost World: Sixteen years after their last album, five years after Robert Smith said “I feel intent on it being a 2019 release and would be extremely bitter if it isn’t,” and three years after long-time bassist Simon Gallup “appeared” to have quit the band because he “got fed …

Broken Man: Aptly named “Broken Man,” the Lincoln Project’s latest video mercilessly trolls Donald Trump for being what he fears most: an old, scared, worn-out has-been. Say what you will about The Lincoln Project, they do create some sharp videos.

Maggie Smith, RIP: Dame Maggie Smith, latterly famed for the cantankerous matriarchs she played so well but long-recognized for a lifetime of acting excellence, is dead at 89. She was the dowager of Downton Abbey and Professor Minerva McGonagall in the Harry Potter film series.

Stop scrolling. Start reading. : Nicholas Bate – AI… Wants you to stop reading so that it becomes smarter than you, more rapidly. Don’t fall for the trap. Build a book pile and start devouring the intelligence of the ages and the imagination of authors. Stop scrolling; start reading. As always, good advice.

No Idea: I really love writing on my blog, having no comments, and having no idea how many people read it — Austin Kleon (@austinkleon) September 27, 2024 Me too.

Wait to Fill Up Again: Warren Ellis – I sat outside for a bit around half past five. Watched sparrows bouncing around one of the holly trees, the one that’s berried in red jewels. Scrappy winds tumbling across the garden looking for a fight. Lilac bellies on the clouds heading east for the night. Today was that …

The St. Louis Cardinals have lost their way. Now they must fix their failure: Katie Woo, writing for The Athletic, has a story on what the St. Louis Cardinals off-season moves might potentially be. The Cardinals have lost their way, according to people within the organization interviewed by The Athletic, all of whom were granted anonymity in exchange for their candor. All …

Guided by Vices: Nick Heer on the ever-increasing user-hostile demand for your attention from the biggest social platforms. When I open any of the official clients for the most popular social media platforms — Instagram, Threads, X, or YouTube — I am thrust into an environment where I am no longer encouraged to …

David Sedaris On Undecided Voter​s: On Undecided Voters: “To put them in perspective, I think of being on an airplane. The flight attendant comes down the aisle with her food cart and, eventually, parks it beside my seat. “Can I interest you in the chicken?” she asks. “Or would you prefer the platter of shit with bits of broken …

As the Light Leaves: Warren Ellis – Nights drawing in. Dark already. A damp warmth: damp already, damp like those days in March and April when it feels like winter has gone on too long. Three squares of very dark chocolate and a glass of Sauternes as the light leaves.

The Beauty of the White Sox’s Historically Abysmal Season: Will Leitch in New York Magazine – It’s natural to focus on successful teams: Winning is, after all, the point of every game, the reason we have scoreboards in the first place. But we remember the truly great teams far more than we remember the regular everyday champions: to be the best at …

Illinois vs Nebraska Cinematic Recap: Illini Football. Being talked about.

Walking Around the Neighborhood: Patrick Rhone – One of my favorite things is walking around my neighborhood. Especially with my wife. We live in such a lovely place with beautiful homes and wonderful neighbors. All the shops and restaurants are great too. Gratitude overload every time. I’m lucky enough to have that …

Thunderbolts* Teaser Trailer: Marvel Studios has released the latest teaser trailer for the upcoming Thunderbolts*. It’s practically a full trailer. The big tease is Bob, who everyone who knows comics realizes is Sentry. I’m looking forward to seeing the Void.

Civilization: Seth Godin – A poignant definition of civilization is all the conveniences, courtesies, standards, insulation and tools that we hardly notice now but that we would miss if they were gone.

The Neighborhood Optimism of the Lawn Sign: Will Leitch, writing at his Medium account, outlines his version of civic engagement. There is something charming, even endearing, to me about a political lawn sign. In an age where everyone seems to be shouting for your attention all the time, a political lawn sign just sits there, lo-fi and …

Josh Whitman: Ready for the Win: #WeWillWin

Elon Owes You $100: Cards Against Humanity is suing Elon Musk for 15 million dollars. Why do we need to do this? Even if Musk un-fucks our land, that doesn’t un-fuck the damage he’s done to our reputation. 150,000 people gave us their hard-earned money, and in exchange we vowed to protect this land from racist …

The 50-50 Club : Los Angeles Dodgers DH Shohei Ohtani entered last night’s game in Miami with 49 stolen bases and 48 home runs for the season. Only five other players in MLB history have ever hit 40 home runs and stolen 40 bases in a season. No player had ever achieved a 50-50 season. On September 19, 2024, Shohei …

You Make Me Feel Like Stayin' a Rocket Queen: Bill McClintock’s latest mashup is titled “You Make Me Feel Like Stayin' a Rocket Queen." It combines the Guns N' Roses song “Rocket Queen” with “Stayin' Alive” by the Bee Gees and “You Make Me Feel Like Dancin'” by Leo Sayer. Of course, …

Harris Landslide?: Writing in AlterNet, Carl Gibson has an incredible story about a data scientist who has successfully predicted the last few elections. Data scientist Thomas Miller of Northwestern University correctly predicted the 2020 Electoral College map, with the exception of Georgia. He also accurately …

The Cardinals Should Embrace a Rebuild: J.P. Hill, writing at Viva El Birdos, has a decent breakdown of how he thinks the St. Louis Cardinals should handle the upcoming off-season. Entering 2025, the Cardinals should not bother merely tweaking or retooling their roster as they have done in recent seasons. It’s not working. They also …

Lunchables Have Lead in Them: View this post on Instagram A post shared by Mikey on Drums (@mikepetroff) This made me laugh so hard.

KISS Unmasking - September 18, 1983: Over 40 years ago today, KISS had a special on MTV where they appeared for the first time without makeup. I did not see it live. However, I did leave my high school at lunch (there was an open campus back then) to go to the local record store a few days later, buy the album Lick It Up, and see the …

Veribify: Austin Kleon – Your word of the week is “verbify.”

Reboot Your Personal Compass: Nicholas Bate – 1. Your career. What are you doing this week to make it sustainable, enjoyable, and still viable 2 years from now? 2. Your wellness. How much are you simply moving? What's the quality of your nutrition? Sleeping sufficient? Taking some time out? 3. Your finances. A focus on …

Smart Women: “To all the guys out there, here’s my life hack. Surround yourself with smart women and listen to them and you’ll do just fine.” — Tim Walz He’s absolutely correct.

Grifter Keeps on Grifting: World Liberty Financial is the name the Trump family has given to an obvious cryptocurrency scam. Trump himself doesn’t have any idea how it works. Questions have arisen about what Trump is even doing with his new crypto company. Whatever you do, don’t invest any real money into this “endeavor” and …

Eye in the Sky: Drone Awards 2024 – in pictures.

What A Lie Is For: Writing at Defector, David Roth has a brilliant takedown of all the lies Trump and Vance are espousing all campaign season. The whole article is great, but I particularly liked how he describes Trump. Donald Trump is one of the most thoroughly known quantities in American life; the country has been …

Shōgun: The only thing I learned after not watching the Emmy’s last night is that I should watch Shōgun.

Miami Vice: Forty years ago today, Miami Vice premiered on NBC. Born out of writer-producer Anthony Yerkovich growing awareness of the practice of asset forfeiture (and not a memo by Brandon Tartikoff that said “MTV cops”), and originally imagined as a movie, the five-season, 114-episode show would …

Never Can Say Goodbye: Tito Jackson, along with brothers Michael, Jermaine, Jackie, and Marlon, was a founding member of the iconic family group the Jackson 5. He died Sunday at age 70. His sons Taj, Taryll, and TJ remembered him on Instagram.

Bad Blood: Donald Trump told his supporters how he felt about Kamala Harris' most famous booster on his stupid Twitter clone. He wrote, “I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT!” which might be the stupidest thing a presidential candidate can say in 2024. Although, to be fair, “They’re eating the dogs!” is up there.

Friends for 16 Years. Lovers for One Night.: This story by Elizabeth Laura Nelson in the Modern Love section of The New York Times wrecked me. Read it via RemovePaywall and prepare to cry. Also, call your best guy/girl friend. They might just need to hear your voice.

Exploration or Persistence: James Clear: Exploration is how you discover what works. Persistence is how you make the most of what already works. What does your situation require? More exploration or more persistence?

Friday Seven: Nicholas Bate – Choose: Love Effectiveness Reading Wellness Creativity Music Mountains & Coast and things can only get better.

A Debate Recap With Song, Dance and Joseph Gordon-Levitt: Obviously, we need a good debate recap right about now. And who better to moderate it than Joseph Gordon-Levitt? Joe really comitts to this bit and the song is kind of catchy.

"Childless cat lady" Makes Her Endorsement: Signing her post as “Childless Cat Lady,” music megastar Taylor Swift endorsed Kamala Harris and Tim Walz. I was impressed with her eloquent and clear writing. In the post, she explained how she’d been alarmed by seeing an AI video of herself saying something she didn’t say. Do celebrity …

Post Debate: Kamala Harris beat the shit out of Donald Trump in their first (and likely last) debate. She destroyed him. She broke him. She killed it. She shattered his glass ego. It was the strong performance that Democrats had hoped to see. Every time, Trump took the bait and looked like a “raving loon.” Even …

Tycho’s Burning Man Sunrise Set 2024: I’m a huge fan of Tycho and his electronic ambient instrumental style. The artist uploaded his annual Burning Man Sunrise Set 2024 to Soundcloud. If you don’t have Spotify, you can check out more of his music on his Soundcloud page. Right now, I’m jamming to his brand-new album, Infinite …

How to Write a Book…: Patrick Rhone – How to write a book… Think very, very deeply about something for a very long time. Write it down once your head gets too full to keep it in anymore. That’s my experience, anyway.

Comic Artist John Cassaday Has Died : John Cassady, multiple Eisner award-winning comics artist, has passed away at the age of 52. I loved his work on Astonishing X-Men. However, his work with Warren Ellis on Planetary was transcendent. Damn.

You Might Be Old: I keep seeing this image online, so I thought I’d take a minute to make some checkmarks. I’ve used a rotary phone, a floppy disk, a typewriter, an encyclopedia, a phone book, and a paper map. Check. I’ve taken pics with a film camera, listened to music on a CD and a Boombox, made a …

James Earl Jones Dead at 93 : James Earl Jones, famed for his deep, powerful voice and commanding screen presence, is dead at 93. Deadline reports that he died at his home in Pawling, New York. I had forgotten he was an EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony) winner. He was Darth Vader, Mufasa, King Jaffe Joffer, the voice of CNN, and …

Every "Now That's What I Call Music" Compilation: abundantmusic has compiled a track listing for all 114 volumes of Now That’s What I Call Music! and turned them into a single, 4500-plus-song-long Spotify playlist. That’s almost 300 hours of music.

How Presidents Shape Pop Culture : While guesting on the podcast “Park and Recollection,” about the TV show Parks and Recreation, Patton Oswalt discussed how he thinks each president’s personality “sets the tone for the pop culture.” View this post on Instagram A post shared by Team Coco Podcasts …

From Zero: Linkin Park is reunited with two new members: Emily Armstrong as co-vocalist and Colin Brittain as drummer for the first time in seven years. Their new album, From Zero, will be released in November. Here’s the new single and the announcement concert. I was never a huge LP fan, but this is cool.

The Keys: According to his keys to the White House model, American University professor Allan Lichtman calls the 2024 election. Here’s the video. Spoiler alert: he says it’s going to be Harris.

Francis Ford Coppola’s Megalopolis : Here’s the latest trailer for Megalopolis and it’s visually interesting, but I have no idea what’s going on. Karsten Runquist has seen the movie, and I appreciate his review. In short, he calls it “a big, beautiful mess.”

Sort Our Your Life : Emma Beddington, writing for The Guardian, has written a fantastic piece with tips and tricks on how to sort out one’s life. All of these ideas are great. I need to start implementing a few, though.

Compared to Perfect: Seth Godin – Perfect is useful. It’s an absolute measure, a north star, a chance to improve our work. But it’s also a shortcut to persistent dissatisfaction. Compared to perfect is helpful when we’re creating something. But it’s also worth noting that perfect is unattainable. What’s on offer is …

John Denver meets Black Sabbath : There I Ruined It provides a fantastic mashup of John Denver singing a Country Roads/War Pigs rendition. What a perfect mash-up.

Why A.I. Isn’t Going to Make Art: Ted Chiang with a thought-provoking essay on “Why A.I. Isn’t Going to Make Art:” It is very easy to get ChatGPT to emit a series of words such as “I am happy to see you.” There are many things we don’t understand about how large language models work, but one thing we can be sure of is …

The 100 Best TV Episodes of All Time : Rolling Stone has published a list of the 100 best television episodes ever, and of course, there are all kinds of things to nick pick about it. That’s also the point. These lists are entirely designed to get people fired up and engaged and to provoke nasty comments about why their favorite …

Your Audiobook: Seth Godin – Here’s a useful habit that’s more than a hack… The next time things are going well, when a project is about to launch, when a meeting has been successful, when the sun is shining… take your phone and go for a walk. Hit record on an audio app and make a twenty-minute audiobook. …

Why TV Is Wrong for Tolkien : Evan Puschak, at Nerdwriter1, hypothesizes that, unlike movies, TV is not the right medium to tell Tolkien’s stories. He makes some interesting points, but I’m not sure I agree. However, I admit that I did not finish the first season of Rings of Power because I was bored and didn’t really like the …

"Same old, tired playbook": An excellent response. I’m tired of the news organizations asking her response to Trump’s race-baiting, misogynistic, and quite frankly stupid statements that aren’t worth the American people’s time. It’s obviously one of the reasons she hasn’t done a sit-down …

On Writing, 118: Nicholas Bate: 1. Write every day. 2. Write fast. 3. Write when you do want to. 4. Write when you don't want to. 5. Write a lot. Edit a lot. From quantity produce beautiful quality. 6. Write anyplace. 7. Write from keyboard. 8. Write with pencil and paper. 9. Write stuff. 10. Write thoughts, things …

Interpolation?: Rick Beato outlines the latest practice in popular music…interpolation. It’s all bullshit, though. It’s just a term that lawyers came up with for stealing. I mean, the Dua Lipa riff on INXS is so ridiculous. I’m glad the band got a writing credit. Still, all of these examples are just …

Memorial Stadium: It’s time for some football.

House of Ideas: Marvel celebrates its 85th year in 2024, a kinda-sorta anniversary the company has marked with some special comics and merchandise — and now a YouTube video that contains clips of Marvel writer Stan Lee, current Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige, and assorted images from throughout Marvel’s long …

Lazy and Gullible: Patrick Rhone – The problem with our modern press is not just that they are lazy, it’s also that, because they are lazy, they are gullible.

Just Use Paper: Andy Bell – I’ve tried Notion, Obsidian, Things, Apple Reminders, Apple Notes, Jotter and endless other tools to keep me organised and sure, Notion has stuck around the most because we use it for client stuff, but for todo lists, all of the above are way too complicated. I’ve given up this …

Good Boy: Dodgers fans are notorious for arriving late to games. But not when there’s a Shohei Ohtani bobblehead to be had. Shohei Ohtani bobblehead night: Dodgers star makes MLB history after catching first pitch from his dog. Decoy, a Dutch Kooikerhondje, has been in the public eye since Ohtani's MVP …

DeWitt Killed the Golden Goose: Bernie Miklasz on the state of the St. Louis Cardinals. When Bill DeWitt Jr. purchased the St. Louis Cardinals before the 1996 season, the franchise was in decline. Diminishing crowds, a shortage of stars, mediocre results, and no postseason appearances since 1987. It was a bad time, but DeWitt …

Write for Someone: Seth Godin: It’s so tempting to write for everyone. But everyone isn’t going to read your work, someone is. Can you tell me who? Precisely? What did they believe before they encountered your work? What do they want, what do they fear? What has moved them to action in the past? Name the people …

Sycho Sid, RIP: Wrestler Sid Eudy has died. The WCW and WWE champion wrestler, who went by Sid Justice, Sid Vicious, and Sycho Sid throughout a three-decade career, most recently wrestled in 2017, but his best-known years were in the mid-’90s. WWE remembers Sid Eudy. Sad.

Jessie's Girl: Ryan Cook says sometimes you just gotta play Rick Springfield.

21 Minutes with Pete Buttigieg: Mark Leibovich spends time in the Pete Buttigieg bubble and learns a few things. The next day, in the final hours of the convention, I was granted brief access to the inner swirl of this particular dust cloud. “Keep moving, keep moving,” someone called out as the entourage wound its way through a …

How Star Trek: Picard Ruins Star Trek: Dr Angela Collier, a Star Trek fan, eviscerates Star Trek: Picard for nearly four hours. This is a long runtime, but it seems to fly by much faster and in a more entertaining way than an episode of the aforementioned Picard. I get this point of view, but I dug the last season.

The Fundamental Belief: Will Leitch on the Harris-Walz ticket, the DNC, and most importantly, the legacy of Barack Obama. There are many reasons the Harris-Walz campaign has caught fire, that it has conjured up those 2008 feelings, that there is a sense that, if we can follow this through, we can finally slam the door on …

The Last Word On Pete Rose Is Deeply Unpleasant: Ray Ratto, writing for Defector, has a column about the new Pete Rose documentary and Rose himself. Up front, Rose was banned from baseball and the Hall of Fame for gambling on his own team as the manager of the Cincinnati Reds. More to the point, though, he remains banned because of the enemies he …

"War Machine" by Bryan Adams: Bryan Adams has unveiled a video for his new song, “War Machine.” Except it isn’t a new song. He wrote it with Gene Simmons and Jim Vallance for the KISS album, Creatures of the Night. The whole thing feels like a cover of a KISS song, but can it be a cover when you are one of the …

Stump Dump: This tree stump has been vexing me for years. It took me a while, but I dug the son of a bitch up.

Country Road: Take me home.

Why Call the Film Joker?: Then, you know, why call the film Joker? https://t.co/S2sZ3cY9Jw — Sean McDevitt (@sean_mcdevitt) July 27, 2024

Chill White Guy: Hate to bring this up in the middle of a heist but when I said I was a safe cracker I meant I'm a chill white guy — Hanch Tarchup Jr. (@misharipov) June 16, 2024

What is Project 2025?: You may have come across this term in the last few days. It has finally bubbled up from the cauldron. If you don’t know what it is, I highly recommend visiting this Reddit site, Explain Like I’m Five. There’s a great post there with simplified explanations. Also, this picture is right to the point. …

Illinois Basketball Phonetics: And while we're on the subject, let's all practice some more. Repeat after me. yah-koo-CHOH-nis. yah-koo-CHOH-nis. EE-vee-sitch. EE-vee-sitch. HUM-rick-house. HUM-rick-house. — Robert Rosenthal (@ALionEye) June 25, 2024 Keep it for reference later.

In the Evening in Ephraim: 

On the Beach in Ephraim: 

Star Trek The Next Generation and AI: 

Terrance Shannon Jr. Found Not Guilty: The jury in Kansas deliberated for only 90 minutes and came back with a full acquittal over the rape and sexual battery charges the former Illinois basketball star Terrance Shannon Jr. had to endure for most of last season. I can’t imagine the ordeal he was put under and how well he handled the …

The Talk: Jonas Hollerup Helle is a visual artist from Copenhagen who created The Talk. He recut old episodes of Charlie Rose to have notable people interviewing each other. Bernie Sanders and Slavoj Zizek. A very funny Will Smith/Chris Rock. And a meeting between Philip Seymour Hoffman and Robin Williams …

Cherry Ice Cream Smile: Since 1982, people have admired the drawing by the late Patrick Nagel that graced the cover of the Duran Duran album _Rio_. But who was the model that inspired it? The mystery has been solved 42 years later.

Everything Apple Just Announced: Apple crammed an overwhelming number of new features into its WWDC 2024 keynote event. This video showcases the highlights. The proofread/rewrite tool may have just killed Grammarly.

The Best Vanilla Ice Cream: I’m a big fan of vanilla. I love the smell and taste of vanilla. I add it to my coffee, use it in my aromatherapy, body wash, and cologne, and, of course, I love vanilla ice cream. Apparently, this is the best ice cream. I’ll have to try some.

Comic Book Store Launches ‘Smell Policy’ To Keep Out Stinky Fans: A comic book store in Iowa is having issues with smelly customers, and they’re doing something about it. It’s not a stereotype if it’s true…

Why Trump was Found Guilty of 34 Felonies: Here’s a detailed breakdown of the recent guilty charges former President Donald Trump was given on 34 felony counts. If you really didn’t follow the trial, this explains everything in less than 30 minutes.

Racism is Still Here: Matt Eddy, the father of a high school graduate at Baraboo High School in Wisconsin, rushed the stage at graduation to prevent the school’s black superintendent from shaking his daughter’s hand. This is the same school where a group of white students gave a Nazi salute and then claimed they didn’t …

After Golf: Uncle Ed, Uncle John, Katie, and Dad

End Of An Error As Ángel Hernández Calls It Quits: The worst thing an umpire can do is teach fans their name. Finally, Angel Hernandez has left the game. He was absolutely horrific. I’m glad he’s gone.

Stop Acting Like Your Famous: “You aren’t famous. Anything you do or create will probably receive little to no attention, so stop optimizing for a non-existent audience and instead focus on what makes you enjoy the activity.” Excellent advice. The rest is pretty good, too.

50 Things I Know: Sasha Chapin has created a wonderful list of fifty things he knows about himself and the world. It is full of little notes and observations. I highly recommend reading through them.

Illini Football | Memorial Stadium: It’s good to remember what the “memorial” in Memorial Stadium means. Let’s never forget.

FORTY-FIVE! - A Randy Rainbow Song Parody: Randy Rainbow’s tour is on a break, so he’s back home making new videos. The political satirist channels Dolly Parton’s “9 to 5” in a perfect takedown of Trump.

Threads and Lists: One of the only reasons I still check Twitter is because of the curated set of Lists I have to follow my various interests. I subscribe to lists focused on favorite sports teams, one for local news, one for entertainment news, and a couple of others. The old Tweetedeck (RIP) was amazing at handling …

Megalopolis: Francis Ford Coppola’s _Megalopolis_ trailer looks epic, weird, and mind-bendy. I have no idea what’s going on. Is that good?

GPT-4o: OpenAI introduced GPT-4o to the world, and it is flat-out amazing. I was amazed at how the voice was totally conversational and fun—it could even sing! I believe this is another revolutionary moment in the world of tech. The presentation reminded me a lot of Steve Jobs unveiling the iPhone, but in a …

How to Create More & Consume Less in 2024: Tiago Forte has some lessons on how to create more and consume less. I’m currently failing at this, so this is good information.

Rick Beato talks to Ed Roland of Collective Soul: I’m a huge fan of Collective Soul, and this wide-ranging interview is great. I learned so much. RELATED: This concert is so good.

Commencement Announcer Butchers the Names of Graduates: About ten minutes into the College of Nursing graduation ceremony at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, the woman announcing the new graduates’ names was replaced. Why? Because she was mispronouncing their names in a comical way. Of course, it went viral. It was basically a real-world Key …

Cheap Trick: Steve Albini Sessions 1997: The untimely death of Steve Albini led me to find the best recording session he ever did (yes, better than the Nirvana one). His magic touch takes Cheap Trick _In Color_ and makes it shine with rawness and energy. Take a listen.

Write Like Your Dream Employer Is Watching You: Zulie Rane writes and works at Medium, and she pushes the product with intelligence and meaning. I really like her unsolicited advice about writing in general: “You never know who’s watching—and who’s hiring. Medium gives you a wonderful platform to write like they’re watching.” I need to write more …

Pearl Jam Clubhouse Tour With Eddie Vedder and Jeff Ament: Bill Simmons gets a tour of Eddie Vedder’s impressive baseball collection in the band’s home away from home. There is too much Cubs stuff, but I get it.

Dead Simple Sites: I’m a big fan of clean, simple, usually single-page websites. I have one myself at seanmcdevitt.com, but I’ve also found a new site called Dead Simple Sites that has been cataloging these types of web pages. If you like that sort of thing, here you go.

Behind the Music: Wolfgang Van Halen: I had no idea they were still making Behind the Music episodes. The Wolfgang Van Halen one is a journey through a relationship between a father and a son. They just happened to be Wolfgang and Edward Van Halen. It’s a must-see.

Blue Eye Samurai: I’m late to the party, but this Netflix show is amazing. I’m not very far into it, but _Blue Eye Samurai_ is worth the time. Beautiful animation, a strong voice cast, and a well-executed story. Here’s the trailer from November so you can draw your own conclusions if it’s right for you.

Cobra Kai: The Final Season: One of my favorite nostalgia trips has been the last few seasons of _Cobra Kai_. It’s a great extension of that universe and has been a lot of fun. Season six will release its episodes in what Netflix is calling “a three-part event.” The first trailer provides a few teases. Looking forward to this.

The Life of a Swedish Writer: In this hilarious video, international bestselling author Fredrik Backman takes the stage at the Simon & Schuster centennial celebration, humorously admitting that he’s only there because his agent insisted it would be good for his career. It just keeps going from there. I laughed several …

The Jada Peebles Story: Joey Wagner has a great piece about University of Illinois Women’s Basketball player, Jada Peebles. The five-year student-athlete has a story to tell and Wagner hits it out of the park.

The Phantom Menace: Reviewed As if It Were the First Star Wars Film Released: Love this. Simon Dillon’s review perfectly captures why you should never start your Star Wars viewing experience with The Phantom Menace. Perfect tone.

Ex Machina and the Disconcerting Way That Sci-Fi Movies Age: This piece by Ben Ulansey is an excellent look back at science fiction technology shown in movies and television and how some of it is coming true. It also specifically looks at _Ex Machina_ on its ten-year anniversary. Truly chilling today.

The Onion & Global Tetrahedron: The Onion has been rescued from an agonizing death by private equity (see Sears, RadioShack, Deadspin, etc.) via an acquisition by people who actually care about the product and the people. Good name for that company, too.

Drew Carey & Phish: In the middle of Taylor Tomlinson’s _After Midnight_ panel show, Drew Carey reminded the audience that he built his career on raunchy material. He didn’t let up calling his attendance at a Phish show at the Sphere a spiritual experience that he compared with explicit sexual terms. Tomlinson is …

Deadpool & Wolverine: _Deadpool and Wolverine’s_ new trailer is filled with mutant mayhem. There are so many Easter eggs. Screencrush has found them all—they usually do. My favorite is the Liefeld joke.

Connor Milton & Illinois Baseball: Have a week, Connor Milton! On Monday, he was named the Big Ten Player of the Week, and on Thursday, he was named the Scholar-Athlete of the Week. Well deserving.

For All Mankind & Star City: For All Mankind has been renewed for a fifth season, and the show is getting an Apple TV+ spin-off called Star City. The new show will follow the same alt-timeline but from the Soviet perspective. The first two seasons of _FAM_ are fantastic, but the last two have not been as great. Here’s hoping …

‘Who Killed the Video Star? The Story of MTV’ Podcast: I don’t usually listen to miniseries podcasts, but this one caught my eye and then I just binged it. I’m a big fan of Dave Holmes, and this story about the rise and fall of MTV is fantastic. By the time this goes out, the last episode will be dropping. You can listen on Spotify or wherever you get …

The Midnight Special: I went down a rabbit hole of videos from The Midnight Special, the original late-night concert show. If you love 70s rock and roll, catch performances by Fleetwood Mac, Journey, KISS, Cheap Trick, The Cars, REO Speedwagon, and Humble Pie. There’s so much more.

Katie and Me: 

A Unified Theory: Mandy Brown’s A unified theory of fucks is required reading, especially the paragraph around working: “Why love your work? It won’t, of course, love you back.” Perfect.

Hello from Cypress Harbour Villas: 

Boxing Day: 

Keenan and Katie: 

Christmas Eve: 

Ryan and me, Memorial Stadium: 

Illinois vs Kansas: 

Doctor Who 60th Anniversary Specials: Watch the latest trailer for the Doctor Who 60th-anniversary specials. Bringing back David Tennant helps create a proper mystery.

Leave The World Behind | Official Trailer: When an idyllic getaway suddenly erupts into chaos, trust unravels fast. This Netflix movie has an incredible cast: Julia Roberts, Mahershala Ali, Ethan Hawke, and Kevin Bacon. I’m looking forward to watching Leave the World Behind because this trailer is intense.

Obama on Israel and Gaza : Barack Obama’s Thoughts on Israel and Gaza. Israel has a right to defend its citizens against such wanton violence, and I fully support President Biden’s call for the United States to support our long-time ally in going after Hamas, dismantling its military capabilities, and facilitating the safe …

Chuck Klosterman on Writing, Being Wrong, and The Nineties: I can’t believe I’ve never seen this video before. This interview with Ryan Holiday opens with a frank discussion about Iron Maiden in the 90s and then doesn’t let up. It’s a great interview, and Klosterman has excellent insights.

Robert Plant - Live at Soho Farmhouse in Oxfordshire: Robert Plant singing “Stairway to Heaven” at 75 isn’t bring a tear to my eye. It’s just allergies. It was the first time since 2007. Damn, that solo was shredded.

Reinventing Bond in a post-Craig Era : Producer Barbara Broccoli explained to The Guardian that the James Bond franchise’s executives are still deciding what to do with him for the next set of movies. This is an easy call. Bond is a period piece. It has to be set in the 60s when the books were written. Start over.

Burt Young, Dies at 83 : Burt Young—the actor known for playing tough guys in films like Chinatown, Once Upon A Time In America, and most notably, the Rocky franchise—has died. I had forgotten he received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his performance as Paulie Pennino, best friend and brother-in-law to …

Travis Kelce Is the NFL’s Taylor Swift : Will Leitch accurately describes the ridiculousness of Aaron Rodgers and the Kelce-Swift “relationship.”

Behind the Scenes : Kimberly Nelson shares in Chicago Magazine her forays into the movie extra gig, along with the ups and downs, challenges, disappointments, and moments of elation when you finally see yourself on the big screen.

Social Internet Is Dead. Get Over It. : Om Malik believes the Social Internet Is Dead. The internet, as we have known it, has evolved from a quaint, quirky place to a social utopia, and then to an algorithmic reality. In this reality, the primary task of these platforms is not about idealism or even entertainment — it is about extracting …

Suzanne Somers, RIP: RIP Suzanne Somers, dead at 76 from breast cancer. Actress, entrepreneur, Thighmaster spokesperson. She will forever be known as Chrissy Snow and for her subsequent firing by ABC.

The Mandoverse Needs a Writers Room : Ben Lindbergh, writing at The Ringer, thinks Star Wars on TV needs more writers. Dave Filoni and Jon Favreau deserve plenty of praise as the primary architects of ‘Star Wars’ TV. As their responsibilities grow and the show quality dips with inconsistent seasons of ‘Ahsoka,’ ‘The Mandalorian,’ and …

My Delirious Trip to the Heart of Swiftiedom : Taffy Brodesser-Akner, writing for New York Magazine, has a great story about Taylor Swift. Our only proof that she was actually in the stadium was that the people close to the stage seemed to believe that she was, and we chose to believe them. Great piece of writing.

Keith Giffen, RIP : According to a post on his official Facebook page that was reposted on his Twitter/X account, legendary comic book artist Keith Giffen—co-creator of Marvel’s Rocket Raccoon and DC’s Ambush Bug, Lobo and [the Jaime Reyes version of the Blue Beetle](nerdist.com/article/w… His run on the Legion …

Country Road at Dusk: 

The Nones: The Nones. In many countries around the world, there has been a dramatic increase in the number of people who are nonbelievers or unaffiliated with any organized religion. These so-called ‘nones’ — atheists, agnostics, or nothing in particular — comprise 30% or more of the adult population in the …

Dick Butkus, Hall of Fame linebacker for Chicago Bears, dies : Dick Butkus has died. He was 80. So many great remembrances: Josh Whitman, Chicago Bears, Illinois Athletics. For me, the two best things to watch that encapsulated the man are his Illinois Hall of Fame speech and his press conference after the unveiling of his statue at the Smith Center on the …

18 Life Lessons I’d Give My 18-Year-Old Self : Scott Young wrote a blog post detailing the advice he would give his 18-year-old self. Lessons include cooking and traveling more, embracing one’s weirdness, and avoiding assholes. What a cool idea.

100 Food Hacks I Learned In Restaurants: Joshua Weissman has spent countless hours honing his cooking craft, first in professional kitchens and then at home, for his millions of YouTube fans. Here are his 100 nifty tips that may make you a better cook.

Songs That Stop on the Word "STOP" Supercut : A compilation of my favorite cliche in music.

Angel Hernandez, Terrible At His Job : Bryce Harper flips out on Angel Hernandez, the absolute worst major league umpire, for calling a ball a strike. As usual, Jomboy has some fun with it. Rich Eisen chimes in as well. At some point, Hernandez has to be relieved of his duties, right?

Top 10 Arcades Games Every Year From 1980-1989 : Here’s a trip down memory lane. Top 10 Arcades Games Every Year From 1980-1989 (100 Games)

The Writer’s Strike is Over : Jennifer Maas, writing in Variety, has the scoop on the writer’s strike. On the 148th day of the work stoppage, the board of the WGA West and council of the WGA East voted unanimously on Tuesday to lift the strike order as of 12:01 a.m. PT on Wednesday. following a tentative agreement on a new …

Science Fiction Star Systems : The Overview Effect YouTube channel has an interesting video focusing on the scientifically accurate depiction of where a select few sci-fi star systems are in our galaxy. The Dune ones were interesting, as I don’t know where they got the stars for those planets.

Nolan to Write Bond : According to a rumor from World of Reel, Christopher Nolan is allegedly in talks to write and direct the next two James Bond movies for EON. The outlet notes the company plans to present a “full reboot” of the franchise, adapting remakes of the Ian Fleming novels in period settings, sticking “close …

Why Scalpers Can Get Olivia Rodrigo Tickets and You Can't: Jason Koebler, writing for 404 Media, looks into the shady world of Ticketmaster. Olivia Rodrigo is using a system very similar to the one used by Taylor Swift, which Ticketmaster calls “Verified Fan.” This is essentially a weighted lottery in which people have to pre-register for a chance to buy …

Authors Sue OpenAI for Piracy : Ashley Belanger, writing for Ars Technica, has the story of popular authors joining together to sue OpenAI, alleging the company trained its large language models by pirating their books. Yesterday, popular authors including John Grisham, Jonathan Franzen, George R.R. Martin, Jodi Picoult, and …

It’s Decorative Gourd Season : It’s Decorative Gourd Season, Motherfuckers. I don’t know about you, but I can’t wait to get my hands on some fucking gourds and arrange them in a horn-shaped basket… This evergreen McSweeney’s piece always makes me laugh.

Kurt and Me, Memorial Stadium: 

Strike Force Five : Late-night hosts Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel, Seth Meyers, and John Oliver have joined forces for a new joint podcast called Strike Force Five. It’s their simple way of earning money for their striking staffs without crossing the picket lines. You should listen, it’s funny.

Deion Sanders and Colorado Football : Jordan Ritter Conn, writing for The Ringer, has the scoop on Deion Sanders and Colorado football. For a brief moment, on Saturday afternoon in Boulder, Deion Sanders is invisible. Hard to believe, I know. Since he took over as head coach at the University of Colorado, Sanders has become college …

Popular Nasal Decongestant Doesn’t Actually Relieve Congestion: AP News – The leading decongestant used by millions of Americans looking for relief from a stuffy nose is likely no better than a dummy pill, according to government experts who reviewed the latest research on the long-questioned drug ingredient. This is like a bit on SNL or something. …

Aaron Rodgers Tore his Achilles : Joseph Salvador, writing for Sports Illustrated, has the story on Aaron Rodgers and his torn Achilles. The 39-year-old played just four snaps before the catastrophic injury when he was sacked by Buffalo’s Leonard Floyd. The hit itself didn’t seem like much, but a pop can be seen in Rodgers’s left …

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Danny Masterson Gets Prison : AP News – A judge sentenced ‘That ’70s Show’ show star Danny Masterson to 30 years to life in prison Thursday for raping two women, giving them some relief after they spoke in court about the decades of damage he inflicted. What a horrible human being.

The Decomposition of Rotten Tomatoes : Lane Brown, writing for Vulture, outlines the overrated metric of Rotten Tomatoes. Another problem — and where the trickery often begins — is that Rotten Tomatoes scores are posted after a movie receives only a handful of reviews, sometimes as few as five, even if those reviews may be an …

Angry: The Stones just released their first new song in 18 years.

How Democracy Fell So Far Behind : In The Atlantic, Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt cover the state of American democracy. Since 2016, America has experienced what political scientists call ‘democratic backsliding.’ The country has seen a surge in political violence; threats against election workers; efforts to make …

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Jimmy Buffett Found Paradise on Earth: Rob Harvilla, writing for The Ringer, remembers the endless summer of Jimmy Buffett. His job was just beach. His art, his science, his philosophy, his religion, his ethos, his billion-dollar brand: beach. Just beach. “No man is an island entire of itself,” wrote John Donne; “If we couldn’t laugh / …

Shoes : Jillian Willson, writing for Huffington Post, says Read This If You Never Take Your Shoes Off When You Go Into Your House. It’s worth noting that there is risk associated with bringing another human being into your home, too. This is because every human releases about 30 million bacterial cells …

Back to the Water Below : There aren’t many bass/drummer duos in the world, but Royal Blood is one of them. They have such a unique sound. They are out with a new album, and it sounds good so far. Check out Royal Blood’s Back to the Water Below.

Arleen Sorkin, RIP: Arleen Sorkin, noted stage and television actress who was the inspiration and first voice actress for Batman: The Animated Series and DC villain Harley Quinn, has passed away at 67 following a long term illness. I had no idea she was sick. In my college days, we would watch Days of …

My Dumb Little Book: David Roth, writing at Defector, has a simple essay about the joys of writing things down in a notebook. My little diary of all the art I looked at and movies and TV shows I watched and shows I went to and books I read will not be made public, and not only because I find my own handwriting very …

Murdered By My Replica: Margaret Atwood, writing in The Atlantic about the news an AI is being trained on her work without permission, thinks it’s mostly crap. At least for now. Once fully trained, the bot may be given a command—“Write a Margaret Atwood novel”—and the thing will glurp forth 50,000 words, like soft ice …

Bob Barker, RIP: Bob Barker, legendary The Price Is Right host, has died at the age of 99, confirmed by his publicist Roger Neal. Bob, thanks for encouraging the world to have our pets spayed or neutered. What a life. This is Bob Barker’s greatest moment.

How many religions do you not believe in?: Kevin Drum – This is going to sound weird, but hear me out. There are upwards of 4,300 religions in the world, and even faithful churchgoers don’t believe in 4,299 of them. My only difference with them is that I don’t believe in 4,300. Is that really such a big deal? Perfect.

Threads on the web is here: Jay Peters, writing for The Verge, has the story about the long-awaited web version of Threads. The new desktop web interface looks a lot like the one in the mobile app, though with some small differences; the navigation icons are on the top of the page, and to switch between the For You and …

The Harsh Glare of Justice: Susan B. Glasser, writing for The New Yorker, talks about the surrender, the mug shot, and what this all means. There was no real news in this, of course, since he was indicted earlier this month. But that did not stop the breathless hours of coverage—the scenes of his plane slowly rolling down the …

Dune Part 2 Pushed in 2024: Pamela McClintock and Aaron Couch, writing for The Hollywood Reporter, has the story that Denis Villeneuve’s sequel to the Frank Herbert adaptation Dune will now release March 15, 2024, a four-month delay from its original planned November 2023 release. This sucks. Pay the writers, set AI …

Scatter: Jason Fried – Scatter. Scatter is the silent killer at work. Scatter is tools siloed by teams. Scatter is multiple apps to do one thing. Scatter is doing the same thing at the same time in multiple places. Scatter is asking around rather than doing it right now. Scatter is pulling people off this …

Mugging: Mark Evanier – I hope Donald Trump takes a good mug shot tomorrow…because we’re going to be seeing that photo everywhere and forever. He and people who love him will put it on banners, posters, t-shirts and anywhere else they can make money off it. People who dislike him will put it on banners, …

Don’t Arraign on His Parade! - A Randy Rainbow SongParody: Randy Rainbow is a genius. Here’s his latest, “Don’t Arraign on His Parade!” One of his best.

Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap by Chevy Metal featuring DaveGrohl and Chad Smith: Dave Grohl of Foo Fighters and Chad Smith of Red Hot Chili Peppers joined the late Taylor Hawkins‘ side band Chevy Metal to perform the classic AC/DC song “Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap” during a show at Harley’s Valley Bowl in Simi Valley, California. So much fun.

Silence, Exile and Cunning: “I will try to express myself in some mode of life or art as freely as I can and as wholly as I can, using for my defense the only arms I allow myself to use — silence, exile and cunning.” — James Joyce

How Metallica Hard-Wires a Different Set List Every Night: Austin Considine, writing for The New York Times, has a story about how Metallica puts together setlists for their current tour. There’s a lot that goes into it. I love their idea of “Never again play the same set list twice.” But that doesn’t mean it’s easy to narrow things down. For that, they’ve …

Trump, 18 Others Indicted for Trying to Overthrow 2020 Georgia Election: Tamar Hallerman and Bill Rankin, reporting for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, has the story on indictment number four. Former President Donald Trump orchestrated a sweeping criminal enterprise, committing more than a dozen felonies, as he tried and failed to overturn his defeat in Georgia’s 2020 …

The Most Powerful Productivity Tips, 60: Nicholas Bate – Plan your week as a timetable: days and subjects. Plan your day as a timeline: what and when. Choose your attention by your compass, the six key areas which allow you to realise your hopes and plans and dreams: career/money/wellness/people/fun/contribution.

One Thing: “There will be one thing you do today that would have been difficult or impossible twenty years ago, impossible or unimaginable forty years ago, and unimaginable or half-described in a cheap science fiction paperback sixty years ago. Look for it. When you find it, think about it for a minute. When …

First or Last?: James Clear – Sometimes the first move is the most important. The first set in the gym. Now you’re working out. The first sentence. Now you’re writing. The first call. Now you’re in the game. Other times, the last move is the most important. The last brick. Now the building is built. The last line …

What We Don’t Know: Annie Mueller – You don’t know how it’s going to work out, if it’s going to work out. Sometimes it becomes obvious that it’s not going to work out, and then you stare at it like, Well what now? And you don’t know. You have absolutely no idea.

Oregon, Washington to join Big Ten in 2024 as Pac-12 stumbles further: Nicole Auerbach and Scott Dochterman, writing for The Athletic, detail the crazy story of The Big Ten officially approving Oregon and Washington as new members, with competition to begin in all sports in 2024-25. After much speculation last summer and fall that Washington and Oregon would follow …

Optimize for delight: Annie Mueller thinks we should take the well-meaning optimization for efficiency and turn it into optimizing for delight. Less escaping, more transforming. Lovely.

Hopemine: Shawn Blanc – When you get a dopamine hit from the false first step of simply buying a product or watching a video that you hope will help you, but you stop at that point without ever taking action or applying anything new to your life.

Call You As A Witness: Dave Pell, writing at his site Nextdraft, has a great summation of the latest Trump indictment If you hadn’t seen it with your own eyes, you’d accuse Jack Smith of crossing the Hollywood writer’s picket line to write the latest, and by far the most damning, indictment of Donald Trump. But you did …

Trump Indicted… Again: The New York Times began its coverage of Trump’s third indictment thusly: Former President Donald J. Trump was indicted on Tuesday in connection with his widespread efforts to overturn the 2020 election following a sprawling federal investigation into his attempts to cling to power after losing the …

Paul Reubens, RIP: Ethan Shanfeld, writing for Variety, reports Paul Reubens, best known for performing as Pee Wee Herman, died Sunday night. He was 70 years old. Reubens wrote a farewell statement, disclosing his illness and apologizing to fans, which went live after his death. “Please accept my apology for not …

Be Creative, 7: Nicholas Bate – It all starts with believing that you are creative: ‘I am creative’. As we all are. It’s just some have had more practice and some have had more encouragement and some have had both. Simple tip 1 is to generate quantity of ideas. ‘50 ways to disrupt the competition’. Quantity …

Incredible Video Made from Wikimedia Commons: Connor Griffith made this incredible video using images from Wikimedia Commons. The video is a montage of many different awe-inspiring images that feature the microscopic, everyday objects, tall buildings and monuments, the planet, and the universe. I love it when it goes wide out. So cool.

Classic arcade game Discs of Tron left out for garbage collection: Tony Temple, writing at The Arcade Blogger, tells the story of his friend Tim Lapetino who miraculously came across an environmental cabinet of the 1983 arcade game Discs of Tron in pristine condition just sitting at the end of a driveway in Chicago in the hopes that the garbage truck would pick it …

We Are What Musk Paid For: Ryan Broderick, writing on his Substack Garbage Day, has some intriguing thoughts on WeChat, Musk and Twitter. The most recent version of the Twitter logo was designed by three people, built from concentric circles, meant to be read clearly at any size, inspired by the Nike logo. The new X logo is …

The Freeze: Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell was escorted away from the cameras during a news conference yesterday after he froze and appeared unable to continue speaking. Odd moment: McConnell freezes at start of Senate GOP leadership press conference and is escorted to the side by his colleagues …

The @X handle on Twitter is so valuable that Elon Musk just took it: Matt Schimkowitz, writing for the AVClub, has the latest story about how Elon Musk is just the worst. Ah, Elon Musk, the patron saint of being unfunny online and letting everyone know about it. After spending the last 10 months turning Twitter into a deteriorating wasteland of Cheech & Chong …

Sinéad O’Connor, Fiery and Uncompromising Singer, Dead at 56: Irish singer Sinéad O’Connor has died at the age of 56, her family announced. It hasn’t been announced as a suicide, but I’m sure that’s the case. Keith Harris, writing for Rolling Stone, has a great obituary on the singer. This paragraph probably encapsulates her career more than any I’ve read. …

Non-Human: Whistleblower David Grusch, a former representative on the U.S. Defense Department’s Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP) Task Force, testified under oath this morning that the U.S. government has in its possession “non-human” remains of UFO pilots. C-SPAN has the fun clip. .@RepNancyMace asks about …

Focus vs Unfocus: Shawn Blanc – A few symptoms of an unfocused life include things like: reacting to daily fires; feeling unsure about the future; lacking any margin / breathing room; unclear goals; no plan forward; procrastination. Compared to a focused life where you are in control; clear long-term vision and …

Threads Now Has A Chronological Timeline: The @threadsapp account has announced a chronological tab. The For you feed includes a mix of posts from profiles you follow and recommended accounts. Following shows you posts from profiles you’re following, starting with the most recent. To switch from For you to Following, tap on the Threads …

Jonathan Frakes Looks Back at His ‘Star Trek’ TV Directing Career: Adam B. Vary, writing for Variety, has a fun story about William T. Riker himself Jonathan Frakes, looking back at his directing career. He’s such a good director.

If Not Now, When?: Wil Wheaton, writing on his blog, presents his point-of-view regarding the SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes. To give some sense of what is at stake: There are actors who star in massively successful, profitable, critically acclaimed shows that are all on streaming services. You see them all the time. They …

With X, it is Twitter R.I.P!: Om Malik, writing at his site, has what I think is the definitive take on Twitter, the rebranding, and Elon Musk. When you pay billions to buy something, you can do anything with it, including self-mutilation and brand destruction. It doesn’t mean you entirely understand it or can bend it to your …

Bizzaro Twitter: Ryan Mac and Tiffany Hsu, reporting for The New York Times, has one of the craziest stories regarding Twitter, so far. The tech billionaire, who bought Twitter last year, renamed the social platform X.com on its website and started replacing the bird logo with a stylized version of the 24th letter …

Bulls bringing back Ayo Dosunmu on 3-year deal: Restricted free agent G Ayo Dosunmu has agreed on a three-year, $21 million deal to stay with the Chicago Bulls, agent Mike Lindeman of @excelbasketball tells ESPN. pic.twitter.com/whY8tifPLA — Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 21, 2023 Good deal.

Do Less and Achieve More: Nicholas Bate – Just as an over-stuffed washing machine doesn’t do its job, an over-full day causes its owner to become stressed, fatigued and to lose focus on the true priorities. The true priorities? Do less and achieve more.

Eleven Reasons for Stories: Nicholas Bate – Stories will transform your presentation from a list of bullets to something which engages heart and soul. Stories embed values and principles deep in a child’s brain. There is far more to Goldilocks and those three bears than porridge. Stories help your customers understand what …

Five reasons Threads could still go the distance: Casey Newton, writing on his Substack Platformer, does a quick rundown of Threads after a couple of weeks and why he still thinks it will supplant Twitter as the micro-blogging service of choice. The demand is there, the product is good, and its chief rival is circling the drain. (Other rivals …

Two Strikes Against You: Dave Pell – Even with the widening and ever-damaging economic divide, Americans haven’t seemed to be willing to get behind workers. But things could get personal as major strikes, the actors and writers strike already happening, and the UPS strike that looks likely, are gonna take away the shit you …

Personal Effectiveness: Nicholas Bate – Always have a plan; But understand that the reason for a plan is it allows more flexibility in a world of surprises. Always know your true priorities, work and home. NOT (necessarily) what is most urgent nor most easy. Ensure work is aligned to those priorities. To execute 4, get …

Routine: Routine | The Most Advanced Calendar for Productive People Unify your calendars, centralize your work, plan your days and focus on what matters now! This looks interesting. I’m on the wait list. Feels very Apple to me.

Inside the college newspaper investigation that got a football coach fired: Laura Wagner, writing for The Washington Post, has an eye-opening look at the Northwestern allegation, the aftermath, and the student newspaper that broke it all wide open. The Daily Northwestern operates independently from the university. It is published by a nonprofit organization called the …

The stunning wreck of Pat Fitzgerald and the ’Cats: Jeremy Werner, writing for the Illini Inquirer, weighs in on the damage happening at Northwestern and the subsequent firing of head coach Pat Fitzgerald. All of it is stunning. Often we want to paint people as black or white, good or evil. Most times, we as people are more complicated than that. …

Please Let Shohei Ohtani Play for a Team That Doesn’t Suck: Will Leitch, writing for New York Magazine, writes a piece where he pleads for the Baseball Gods to find a better landing place for phenom Shohei Ohtani than where he’s been the last few years, the Angels. …Ohtani is set to become a free agent the likes of which we’ve never seen. Any team that …

Blue Beetle Trailer #2 and Wonka Trailer: Warner Brothers has dropped a new trailer for the Blue Beetle. I’m definitely getting Iron Man mixed with Spider-Man with a dash of Shazam’s family stuff thrown in. I dig it. Blue Beetle hits theaters everywhere on August 18. Additionally, Warner Brothers also dropped the first trailer for Wonka. …

Ahsoka | Official Trailer: Watch the brand-new trailer for Ahsoka. August 23 can’t get here fast enough.

Things That Will Destroy Your Goal: Shawn Blanc – In order to accomplish your goals you need: (1) a clear goal; (2) a winning action plan; and (3) consistency. Take away or invert any of those things, and you’ve eliminated the possibility of succeeding at your desired outcome. Here’s what they look like when inverted: (1) unclear …

Napoleon — Official Trailer: Joaquin Phoenix and Vanessa Kirby star as Napoleon and Josephine Bonaparte in Ridley Scott’s forthcoming film about the French dictator. Here’s the first trailer. It has promise. Nice ending line. Phoenix does well when he plays dark, brooding characters.

Journey To Ahsoka: What a great two-minute video showcasing Rosario Dawson’s journey to becoming Ahsoka. I have a feeling I’m going to love this series.

If You’re Looking To Blame Someone For 2023, Start At The Top With Chairman Bill DeWitt Jr.: Bernie Miklasz, writing for Scoops with Danny Mac, explains in no uncertain terms who has the power to fix the St. Louis Cardinals. DeWitt controls all of this. He can change all of this. He received immense and justifiable praise for all that he’s done since his ownership group purchased the …

Elon Musk goes low against Zuckerberg as Twitter-Threads spat intensifies: Martin Pengelly, writing for The Guardian, reports on the latest “news” regarding a couple of billionaires with nothing better to do. Twitter owner Elon Musk has suggested he and Mark Zuckerberg should have “a literal dick-measuring contest” in the latest broadside aimed at his rival billionaire. …

An 11-year-old superfan meets her 1970s soft rock idol: Eleven-year-old Paisley Gardner, of Des Moines, Iowa, isn’t your typical tween music fan. Her favorite singer isn’t Taylor Swift or Justin Bieber or Harry Styles; it’s Michael McDonald, a founder member of the 1970s rock band the Doobie Brothers. Correspondent Steve Hartman reports on how McDonald …

Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s Great ‘Indiana Jones’ Adventure: David Marchese, writing for New York Times Magazine, has a wonderful profile on Phoebe Waller-Bridge that’s worth reading. This bit stood out to me – Really early on, I would deliver a script to a producer, and they’d go, “This is a bit —” and I’d go: “I know! I hate it! This is what I really want …

Former NU football player details hazing allegations after coach suspension: Nicole Markus, Alyce Brown, Cole Reynolds, and Divya Bhardwaj, writing for The Daily Northwestern, have written a story that is incredibly damning of Northwestern Football and I don’t see how head coach Pat Fitzgerald can stay employed. The former player said he reported his experiences to the …

Elly De La Cruz stole THREE BASES in the span of two pitches!: Watch Elly De La Cruz steal second base, third base, and home. Easily the most exciting two minutes I’ve seen in sports in a long time. “He just stole Homeplate!”

Jack Quaid, Champion of the Nerds: Josh Rosenberg, writing for Esquire, has a cool profile on Jack Quaid. He’s definitely becoming the go-to guy for comic book stuff. Lovely bit here – My attitude has always been: If it scares you, do it. Because that’s probably where you should be. But there are weird subsets of everything in this …

Friday Percentages: Nicholas Bate – 1%: be 1% better than you were this time last month. 100%: move 100% every day. 2%: invest 2% of your income in your personal development. 80%: of your non-fiction book planned before you start. 70%: say presentation skills are critical for their career. 40%: of your novel …

Threads: Meta has finally launched their Twitter rival, Threads. My quick thoughts: The killer feature is that signing in was exceptionally easy using my existing Instagram credentials, which were already on my phone because I have Instagram installed. I didn’t even need to re-enter my password. Same …

Suck It, Kirk and Picard: The Best ‘Star Trek’ Captain Is Pike: Geoffrey Bunting, writing at The Daily Beast, has taken it upon himself to anoint the erstwhile captain of the Enterprise, Christopher Pike, as the best Star Trek captain. He makes dozens of great points. I still think everyone’s space daddy is Pedro Pascal.

Mad Men Meets Severance for Fight Club in the Corner Office: Lionsgate has just dropped a new trailer for an interesting film, Corner Office, and I feel like it will be playing behind my eyeballs for a while. It’s weird. In all the good ways. I’m not sure I want to know anything else about this flick and just go in cold.

Foundation — Season 2 Official Trailer 2: Apple TV has posted a new trailer for the upcoming season of Foundation. It looks gorgeous. I just wish the writing was a little bit better.

Don’t let “opportunity” steal your focus: Shawn Blanc – When your attention goes to many things, no real progress is ever made. Not all opportunities are worth pursuing — especially if it means being pulled away from something that is currently working.

The real problem with Twitter: Kevin Drum – I know this is obvious, but . . . Everybody seems to have forgotten what Elon Musk’s real problem with Twitter is. The wellspring of everything that’s happened since last year was a single moment of stupidity in which he agreed to massively overpay for it. And it’s not like he doesn’t …

The MSG Sphere: The MSG Sphere, the World’s Largest LED screen, lit up for the first time in Las Vegas on the 4th of July 2023. This $2.3 Billion Entertainment Venue at the Venetian Resort officially opens on September 29, 2023, but the video of it lit up is insane. It certainly looks like something that you can’t …

Gizmodo’s io9 Published an AI-Generated Star Wars Article That Was Filled With Errors: Todd Spangler, writing for Variety, has the story about an article that appeared on io9. The byline “Gizmodo Bot” wrote one of the worst listicle articles about Star Wars I’ve ever read. “As you may have seen today, an AI-generated article appeared on io9,” James Whitbrook, deputy editor at io9 and …

David Zaslav kills everything he touches, including GQ: Drew Magary, writing for SFGATE, eviscerates David Zaslav and the handling of an article in GQ magazine. Personally, I liked how he ended the piece. David Zaslav is an eel who sucks at his job. He’s destroying HBO. He’s destroyed what bare credibility the DC Universe had left with moviegoers. He’s …

101 Tiny Philosophies for a Better Life: Tim Denning, writing on Medium, made a long list of potentially life-changing thoughts, ideas, and philosophies. Here are a couple of my favorites: It’s cheaper to hire a professional than it is to invest in an amateur and save money. Stay out of debates on the internet. You’ll never win and …

100 Words — Get On With It: Nicholas Bate – Get on with it. Less victim, more volunteer. There are some for whom life has not been fair: we need to support them in whatever way we can. But for many of us, life is simply messy. Planet Earth-consistently voted the Best Planet in the Known Universe-cannot be perfect. It’s far …

Tweetdeck is Going to Live Behind a Paywall: Twitter is officially launching its “new” version of TweetDeck to everyone, according to a tweet from Twitter’s support account, which is a step that it had to take to help mitigate some of the issues TweetDeck has been experiencing lately. The switch comes with a potentially-heartbreaking catch: …

Sky Elements Drone Shows Makes Guinness World Record: From Sky Elements Drone Shows YouTube Page – This Fourth of July, history was made. Sky Elements Drone Shows achieved the GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS™ title for the largest aerial sentence formed by multirotor/drones. 1,002 drones armed with bright LED lights took flight and dazzled the crowd with a …

On Writing, 77: Nicholas Bate – Write for quantity. Then edit for quality. Write to the stopwatch with zero distractions. Accept no excuses: fingers to keyboard same time, same place; rain or shine. Do the day-job brilliantly so you become invaluable and you can negotiate more time for writing. Write for love …

TweetDeck suffers as Musk enforces read limits on Twitter: Ivan Mehta, reporting for TechCrunch, explains the new Musk Twitter changes and how they completely broke the site. Over the weekend, Elon Musk limited the number of tweets users can read in a day, which he said was to prevent data scraping. While this measure has affected all Twitter users, …

So where are we all supposed to go now?: David Pierce, writing for The Verge, is lamenting the end, so to speak, of Twitter and social media. He wants someplace else to go. …the social web is changing in three crucial ways: It’s going from public to private; it’s shifting from growth and engagement, which broadly involves building good …

On the State of the Web: Manuel Morale – You can still set up your tiny quiet corner on the web, do your own things, and connect slowly with other people. You can still set up a forum dedicated to something you’re passionate about and create a community with 50 other people, even if Reddit turns to shit. Things can live on …

When Georgia Football Players Are Accused Of Crimes, This Fixer Shows Up: Diana Moskovitz, writing for Defector, has an interesting story about Georgia Football and a guy on the football staff with an interesting set of skills. This guy, Bryant Gantt, seems like a lovely fellow.

Dave Grohl’s Monument to Mortality: Jeffrey Goldberg, writing in The Atlantic, has one of the best reviews of the latest album by the Foo Fighters and about Dave Grohl. The latest Foo Fighters album, But Here We Are, is a soaring, frenzied guitar attack whose songs often recall the band’s best stadium-shaking anthems. But more to the …

Katie and Me, Fish Creek, Door County, WI: 

Stay Young: Nicholas Bate – Ignore chronological age: hang on to a child-like curiosity. Ignore physiological age: hang on to physical flexibility. Scribble outside every damn box you can get hold of and boost your psychological age and mental agility. Ask why there is sand in the sand pit anyway; there is …

Sci-Fi Prophet Ted Chiang on How to Best Think About AI: Delia Cai, writing for Vanity Fair, has an interview with Ted Chiang about AI and what the future holds. I think this is the kicker of the piece – There’s no software that anyone has built that is smarter than humans. What we have created are vast systems of control. Our entire economy is this kind …

Dune: Part 2: It’s time for Paul Atreides to fulfill his destiny. Dune: Part Two opens November 3 and it just released a new trailer that’s leaps and bounds more epic than the first one.

Domingo Germán Throws the 24th Perfect Game in MLB History: Lindsey Adler, reporting for The Wall Street Journal: Before the season began, New York Yankees pitcher Domingo Germán changed his jersey number from 55 to 0. It turned out to be a prescient move. On Wednesday night, Germán became just the 24th pitcher in MLB history to throw a perfect game, using …

How Long Will Trump Go to Jail?: You’ve undoubtedly already heard the audio recording of Donald J. Trump allegedly committing one of the offenses for which he is accused. This shifts the question of “Will he be convicted?” to “How much time will he do?” in many circles. YouTube’s Legal Eagle has a new video available right now that …

Elvis Presley Sings “Baby Got Back” : The always creative Dustin Ballard of There I Ruined It quite hilariously reimagined the late, great Elvis Presley singing the lyrics from the 1991 Sir Mix-A-Lot single “Baby Got Back” in the style of his hit 1956 song “Don’t Be Cruel.”

You Have Six Areas of Life: Shawn Blanc: They are your health, your relationships, your inner-personal life, your work, your finances, and your rest and recreation. Each area of your life overlaps with and impacts the others. And yet you only have the capacity to give your full attention to one or two areas at a time. Use …

Good Things: Holly Hein, writing on her blog, found a “good” list. I found a list of good things, written in purple ink in an old notebook in 2021. chocolate milk, the way things get still and luminous after sitting in silence somewhere for awhile, freshwater pearls, my iPhone, dirt paths and the way dirt lies …

Rick Astley’s “Highway to Hell”: Rick Astley shocked and delighted the crowd at the Glastonbury Festival by not only doing a genre 180° to classic heavy metal, covering AC/DC’s “Highway to Hell,” but played drums as well! I love this.

Why the right is so terrified of “woke?” There are truths it just can't face: Kirk Swearingen, writing for Salon, has a commentary about the word “woke” and about what conservatives hear when it is used and what they refuse to listen to when it is invoked. Conservatives didn't want to hear about white privilege. So they abandoned reality and joined the orange man's cult. I …

The State of Illini FamILLy is Strong: 

5 Best Personal Traits for Life: Mark Manson lists out five personal traits that everyone should master to get through life. They are spot on. SELF-AWARENESS: THE ULTIMATE OPERATING SYSTEM RISK TOLERANCE: EMBRACE THE ART OF FAILING AND EMBARRASSING YOURSELF SKEPTICISM: QUESTION EVERYTHING (EVEN THIS POST) COMPASSION: WE’RE ALL …

Trump Seems to Be Afraid, Very Afraid: Tom Nichols, writing for The Atlantic, has some astute observations regarding Donald J. Trump and the ringing in his ears about the level of trouble he is truly in. Brett Baier interviewed Trump and came prepared. Trump’s discomfort had a lot to do with Baier. One-on-one interviews are hard for …

There is No Debate : John DeVore, writing on Medium, takes us through the kind of discourse pouring through right-wing media. I’m not saying it’s impossible for two people who don’t see eye-to-eye to have a civil conversation. But If someone demands you debate them, they’re selling something, and your soul is part of …

Barack Obama Sets The Record Straight On Those Year-End Lists: Hasan Minhaj tries to sus out if those “best of the year” lists President Obama puts out are actually made by him or done by his staff. But he does, in fact, read all those books and watch all those shows! Watch the whole interview. It’s great.

When Work Didn’t Follow You Home: Cal Newport, writing at his site, has a post about work-life balance. He cites an article by Slate write, Dan Kois. “The very idea that, once work hours were over, no one could get hold of you—via email, text, Slack, whatever—is completely alien to contemporary young people,” Kois explained. But …

The Story We’ve Been Told About Juneteenth is Wrong: Penial Joseph, writing in Texas Monthly, has a story about Juneteenth. It’s fitting as today is Juneteenth. It is fascinating.

You’re Getting Old: You’re Getting Old! Is a website that reminds you of just how old you are. If you’re in the mood to ponder the fleeting nature of time, enter your birthday and see the results. The site lets you know how many days you’ve lived, which celebrities’ ages add up to your total age, significant events …

The Cardinals are not the Cardinals: David Roth, over at Defector, wrote a couple of paragraphs about David Freese. It is tempting, and not entirely incorrect, to sum up David Freese’s decision not to accept induction into the St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame as “some extremely Cardinals shit.” Freese, a St. Louis native who made one …

Fabled Super Powers: Nicholas Bate – Everyday simple courtesies. Stop & Think. Encouragement. Agree something. And keep to the agreement. Appreciation. Enthusiasm to learn. Healthy debate.

I Was Made for Boogie Wonderland: Earth, Kiss, and Fire - “I Was Made for Boogie Wonderland” Bill McClintock has combined the iconic KISS song “I Was Made for Lovin’ You” with Earth Wind and Fire‘s “Boogie Wonderland.” McClintock also borrowed the guitar solo from the Wild Cherry song “Play That Funky Music.” It is amazing.

A Terminal Case: Olivia Nuzzi, writing for New York Magazine, has the story about Trump’s second arraignment. It is a giant spectacle. On the eve of his 77th birthday, the former president and current 2024 GOP front-runner arrived at the Wilkie D. Ferguson Jr. Courthouse as a criminal defendant facing 37 federal …

AI Will Not Replace You: Manuel Moreale – AI will not replace who you are. It will not replace what you mean for the people around you. It will not replace your importance for the people you love and those who love you. It will not replace your empathy, it will not replace your kindness. This is not something that should …

2023: Still Every Chance of It Being Your Best Year Yet: Nicholas Bate – You’ve already got a plan. You created it in January. Re-fresh it. Every day refine it, hone it and ensure it’s a winner.  You are going to be SO fit that energy for the plan will be 100% unleashed. How? Hunter-Gatherer 21C. Zero blame. Zero negativity. Zero crap food.  Every single …

Babylon 5: The Road Home: Babylon 5 was one of my favorite shows in the 1990s. It eschewed the stand-alone model of television episodes and instead had a compelling five-year story with evolving characters. The show very much had a beginning, middle, and end. Of course, several decades later it’s coming back as an animated …

The Orange Man is Bad: Matthew Yglesias, writing on his Substack Slow Boring, has a tremendous breakdown of Trump, the latest indictment, and what the Republican party needs to do now and in the future. I’m rather partial to how he opens the essay: The central political fact of our era is that Donald Trump is a total …

The Beatles are releasing one last song—with the help of A.I.: Mary Kate Carr, writing at the AVClub, has the story about The Beatles having a new song in the works thanks to modern technology. Who would’ve guessed that AI was the fifth Beatle all along? Or maybe the walrus? Before you get visions of a ghostly, semi-robotic John Lennon being resurrected from …

Trump Indictment Day II: Electric Boogaloo: Very busy today…but I took some time out to read a few things about Trump’s legal troubles. He sure has a lot of them and I don’t think “You can’t prosecute me because you didn’t prosecute Hillary” is going to make them go away. And I have the feeling that the folks arguing that it’s wrong to bring …

The Music Explosion of 1978: Rick Beato, on his YouTube channel, talks about all the releases of 1978 and asks if it was the greatest year for rock music ever? It’s definitely up there. I think the music spanning 1978 — 1983 is pretty amazing.

On Writing: Nicholas Bate – Once you have started your novel and written the first few chapters, ensure you write the final chapter. You’ll have noticed from your own reading and viewing how hard it can be to close a story in a satisfactory way. Ensure you don’t have that problem. Get it written and then you …

John Romita, Sr., RIP: John Romita Sr., the groundbreaking comic book artist who co-created some of the most influential characters in Marvel Comics history and drew some of the company’s most celebrated stories, died Tuesday, his son announced. He was 93. I grew up reading a ton of those 1970s Spider-Man issues that he …

Foundation — Season 2 Official Trailer: The official trailer for Foundation Season 2 is finally here, and it’s clear the Second Crisis is imminent. I love this adaptation for what it is… names, planets, and psychohistory from Asimov and little else. I’m still waiting for the Mule.

Cormac McCarthy, RIP: Cormac McCarthy, a critically acclaimed author, has died. McCarthy was awarded a Pulitzer Prize for The Road. I tried to read The Road and gave up. Maybe I should try again.

Yes, The Cardinals Make Too Many Mistakes. When Will Marmol and Mozeliak Do Something About It?: Bernie Miklasz, writing at the Scoops with Danny Mac website, has been, shall we say, critical of the St. Louis Cardinals organization. He leads his latest story thusly: “We have to be perfect to win right now,” manager Oli Marmol said. “It feels like we can’t make a mistake because the other team …

Read the First Chapter of Starter Villain: John Scalzi has a new book coming out entitled Starter Villain. His publisher, Tor, has kindly put the first chapter up on their blog. I’m looking forward to this book.

Saturday Walking 7: Nicholas Bate – Walk tall. Walk free: no phone, no plan, no concern. Walk in all weathers. Walk barefoot whenever the surface allows it. Walk by default and leave the car at home. Walk every day. Walk.

Trump indicted on 37 counts in Mar-a-Lago case: On Thursday night, twice-impeached, criminally indicted, and liable-for-sexual-abuse former President Donald Trump was indicted once again, for taking classified documents away from the White House and refusing to give them back. He is still under investigation for allegedly trying to overturn the …

The Flash Was on Life Support—Then the Muschietti Siblings Stepped In: David Sims, writing for The Atlantic, has a great story on how The Flash was saved from cinematic limbo. I haven’t seen the film yet, but I’m anxious to get a good look at what’s been created. I keep reading good things.

College Basketball Players Can Wear Digits Above ‘5’ Again: Dan McQuade, writing at Defector, has the story on some new college basketball rules with one of them being players can wear digits above five. The NCAA’s Playing Rules Oversight Panel recently approved multiple rule changes for college basketball next season. The one making the most news is part …

4 takeaways from Trump’s federal indictment: Aaron Blake, writing for The Washington Post, has some reporting on what might be actually happening regarding this latest indictment. Of course, there is going to be endless speculation about all of this, but honestly, the best takeaway for me is from author John Scalzi: 1. He’s guilty as fuck 2. …

Pat Robertson is Dead: Ben Finley, writing for the AP and picked up by USAToday, tells us Pat Robertson is dead. Pat Robertson, a religious broadcaster who turned a tiny Virginia station into the global Christian Broadcasting Network, tried a run for president and helped make religion central to Republican Party politics …

Donald Trump charged in classified docs probe: J.D. Capelouto, Diego Mendoza, and David Weigel, writing for Semafor, have one of the thousands of stories about Donald Trump getting indicted. Again. Federal prosecutors charged former U.S. President Donald Trump for allegedly holding on to classified documents after he left office, the former …

All the Ways ChatGPT Can Help You Land a Job: David Nield, writing for Wired, has an interesting story about using ChatGPT to help you with your job hunting. I think the preparing for the interview section is a decent idea, and I guess the prompts for career paths are interesting if you hate what you are doing currently. Not sure about the …

The Iron Sheik Will Never Die: Hossein Khosrow Ali Vaziri, a.k.a. The Iron Sheik, one of the most hated villains in professional wrestling history, has died at the age of 81 according to his official Twitter account, where he had enjoyed a second career of rants and insults. As my friend Grant put it, “HE’LL BE WAITING IN HEAVEN …

How streaming caused the TV writers strike: Vox has an incredible video about the writer’s strike. The way scripted television gets made today has transformed the careers of writers. Warren Leight, Julia Yorks, Erica Saleh and Joe Riccobene explain how going from producing 80 to 500 shows a year, because of streaming sites, has been possible …

CNN fires CEO Chris Licht: Daniel Arkin, writing for NBC News, has one of the hundreds of stories about the firing of CNN CEO Chris Licht. When Licht took over CNN, he sought to differentiate himself from Zucker, who had publicly clashed with former President Donald Trump. Licht, reportedly following a mandate from Zaslav, …

Charlie Brooker Got ChatGPT To Write A Black Mirror Episode, But It Was ‘Shit’: Owen Williams, writing for Empire Magazine, has a story about how Black Mirror creator Charlie Brooker recently enlisted the help of AI chatbot ChatGPT to create an episode. “I’ve toyed around with ChatGPT a bit,” Brooker reveals in the new issue of Empire. “The first thing I did was type ‘generate …

Cardinals’ John Mozeliak on his last-place team: ‘We have to figure this out’: Katie Woo, writing for The Athletic, has a Q and A with St. Louis Cardinals’ president of baseball operations John Mozeliak on just how terrible the team has played all season. I think any answer I give is just going to seem like an excuse, and I’ve been in this business long enough to know that …

Why Is Everyone Watching TV With the Subtitles On?: Devin Gordon, writing for The Atlantic, has a story on something I’ve been noticing as well. What is it with watching TV with the subtitles on? The first time it happened, I assumed it was a Millennial thing. Our younger neighbors had come over with their kids and a projector for backyard movie …

Two Visions of the Future: Jason Fried, writing in his newsletter, sees an interesting moment on the horizon. We’re staring at two distinctly different visions of the future. They may co-exist, but they are radically different takes on what’s modern, what’s current, and where things are headed. One vision gets the UI out of …

Can Bret Bielema lead Illinois football out of its 30-year slumber?: Scott Dochterman, writing for The Athletic, has an in-depth feature on the University of Illinois football team. I was really impressed with the level of detail. It’s a great read.

Blogging Myths: Julia Evans, writing on her site, has compiled a list of blogging myths, including “writing boring posts is bad” and “more material is always better.” It’s great.

NIL & Transfer Portal Force an Evolving Coaching Paradigm: Mike Cagley, writing at IlliniGuys, has a good look at how NIL and the transfer portal has changed and challenged head coaches at Power Five schools. Collegiate coaches must adapt to the new realities and the new balance of power that exists thanks to both the transfer portal and the NIL money that …

Monday Productivity Boosters, 7: Nicholas Bate – Every 45 minutes, take 5 minutes. Stretch, walk, sip water, look out of a window at the horizon and ask what’s really important at this moment? Control what you can, which is a lot: your mood, choosing what’s really important not just urgent (see 1, above) and your dealings with …

Life: Life is less about what happens to you, it’s more about what you do about it.

Healthy Mechanisms: 90% of being a successful adult is learning how to identify stress and having healthy coping mechanisms to deal with them.

My Date for the Wedding: 

Inside The Meltdown At CNN: Tim Alberta, writing for The Atlantic, has a profile on Chris Licht. I’m not sure if this is going to be true or not, but this reads like a Licht just shot himself in the head. It does not paint him in the best of lights. I imagine the CNN newsroom and staffers will not be happy.

Devolved: The internet has devolved from a platform for the exchange of information and ideas, to an exchange of opinions and insults.

Utah School District Bans the Bible for “Vulgarity” and “Violence”: Tori Otten, writing for The New Republic, has the story about a Utah school district that banned the Bible for younger students after someone complained that it contained too much sexual content—in an interesting twist on the book bans sweeping the country. Smart. Maybe we can start learning in …

Succession Scripts: The complete scripts for all four seasons of Succession are coming out in book form. Collected here for the first time, the complete scripts of Succession: Season One [Two, Three, and Four] feature unseen extra material, including deleted scenes, alternative dialogue and character directions, and …

A.I. Sees Classic KISS Albums in a New Way: KISS Asylum was playing around with Adobe’s A.I. Generative Fill and asked it what the bigger picture would be out of tightly cropped classic KISS album covers. It’s pretty cool. I really liked the KISS Alive! and Love Gun images.

Milky Way Photographer of the Year: Capture the Atlas announced their picks for the 2023 Milky Way Photographer of the Year competition. These are all amazing. My favorites include The Eyes of the Universe, Night Under the Baobab Trees, and Shapes of the Nature.

Headbanger’s Ball — The Complete Collection: I used to live for Headbanger’s Ball on MTV. If I wanted to watch the videos that I cared about, this was the show. Now, one dedicated fan has put together the complete collection of the 1,215 videos that were played from the show’s airing in 1987 until its demise. It is glorious.

Who Cares?: Seth Godin: A question we don’t ask ourselves very often, but a choice we make every day. It’s tempting to not care. If you choose to not care, you’re off the hook. It’s simply to do as little as possible, avoid too much trouble, ask if it will be on the test, try to stay off the hook, so what… On …

Terrence Shannon Jr., Coleman Hawkins withdrawing from NBA Draft: Sam Vecenie and The Athletic staff, writing for The Athletic, has the story on the return of two important pieces on the Men’s Basketball team at the University of Illinois. Illinois guard Terrence Shannon Jr. and forward Coleman Hawkins are withdrawing from the 2023 NBA Draft and will return to …

Month Notes: CJ Chilvers, writing at this site, outlines a practice he’s being doing called Month Notes. Basically, he has section on his Notes app that’s about things to remember about a specific month. Every month or so, he goes into the note, adds a few thing to keep in mind about that month. This …

Breaking the Fourth Wall: Filippo Ulivieri, writing on his twitter account, has made an interesting observation about The Shining: Jack Nicholson breaks the fourth wall by micro-glancing at the camera over and over during the film. This is a cool trick with a million reasons “why.”

Black Mirror Season 6: Netflix just dropped a trailer for the latest season of Black Mirror with five episodes that explore the dark side of technology and its impact on society. I need to catch up on last season.

Tuesday Sometimes: Nicholas Bate: You get it wrong. Take notes and learn. You are lost. Try a different map. You are too fatigued. Rest deep and long. You can’t be heard. Be bolder. You lack focus. Find stillness and meditate until clarity returns. You need greater resource. Ask nicely and persistently. You need …

The Last Good Website: Danny Furst, writing for Columbia Journalism Review, has a great story on the creation of Defector out of the ashes of Deadspin. They have come a long way. I’m actually astonished the base salary at Defector is 70 grand. The piece ends with the epitome of Defector – Defector’s co-owners anticipate …

The Company Where Every Employee Earns the Same: Megan Carnegie, writing at Wired, has a story about location-based pay. Paying employees equally no matter where they live is a reflection of today’s internet labor market—a global landscape of suppliers and buyers who connect as if they were on the same street. “There’s a lively debate in big …

Lost Illusions: The Untold Story of the Hit Show’s Poisonous Culture: Maureen Ryan blows the roof off with a behind the scenes story on the toxic culture of the hit show Lost. Vanity Fair posts an excerpt from her new book Burn It Down. “I can only describe it as hazing. It was very much middle school and relentlessly cruel. And I’ve never heard that much racist …

The Nuno Bettencourt Interview: Rick Beato interviews legendary rock guitar icon Nuno Bettencourt from the band Extreme. The influence of Eddie Van Halen on Nuno is way more than I originally thought. Just great storytelling across the board. There is nothing better than watching an interview with somebody who is just so deeply …

Indiana Jones and the Treasure of the Peacock's Eye: What’s the story of the diamond from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom’s opening scene? Well according to a licensed Indiana Jones reference book, it was the same diamond he sought to find in his youth! This re-edit ties the Treasure of the Peacock’s Eye with the opening scene of Temple of Doom! …

FASCISM!: Heather Cox Richardson highlights a pamphlet distributed by the US War Department to Army soldiers during World War II on the topic of fascism: what it is and how to combat it. The War Department thought it was important for Americans to understand the tactics fascists would use to take power in …

The Odd Appeal of Absurdly Long YouTube Videos that Play Nothing on Purpose: David Pierce, writing at The Verge, has a post about weirdly long “nothing: videos on YouTube. In a way, I’ve come to see “24 hours + of pure black screen in HD!” as a perfect microcosm of YouTube. YouTube is part entertainment platform, part information library… and part tools repository. It can …

“We’ve figured it out.”: Pedro Pascal has shown his face three times on The Mandalorian. Once, briefly, in season one; twice, more extensively, in season two; and then not at all in season three. It begs the question, is Pascal even in the suit? In the most recent Actors Roundtable video put out by The Hollywood Reporter, …

In Defense of Choosing a Musical Era and Living In It Forever: Dave Holmes, writing in Esquire, has a piece on, what else, music. There is something in the air about that medium-mope, wounded-dude mid-’90s music moment: Counting Crows, Collective Soul, Soul Asylum. Somehow I’m hearing it more now than in 1996, my glory days of wearing a Kangol hat backward and …

Here’s How Bad CNN’s Post-Trump Town Hall Ratings Have Been: Justin Baragona writing at The Daily Beast: More than a week after CNN’s disastrous town hall with former President Donald Trump, the negative impact the fiasco had on the network’s ratings is coming into clearer focus. Last week, the cable news pioneer suffered its lowest-rated week since June …

Intermittent Fasting: Matt D’Avella tries intermittent fasting for 30 days. It sort of worked for him. Of course, he’s pretty lean already. I need to make it part of my priorities.

DeSantis Blows Up on the Launch Pad: Taegan Goddard, writing at Political Wire on Ron DeSantis’s much-ballyhooed campaign launch on Twitter Spaces yesterday: In the end, the event had all of the appeal of a glitchy conference call. Apparently, the event eventually did launch, but it was stuck with constant problems. When moderator …

The Books of No Excuses: CJ Chilvers, writing at his site, dropped a bomb. The truth is: we all have books that are already written…somewhere. They live in our blogs, social feeds, and notes. It’s the constraints and strategy, and the decision to ship, that eludes us. I’m trying to get the book done. Really, I am.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds | Season 2 Official Trailer: Paramount Plus just dropped the official trailer for Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 2. I don’t know about you but I am really excited to see what happens in this upcoming season. Especially excited about that Star Trek: Lower Decks crossover.

Simply the Best: Tina Turner, the ’Queen of Rock ‘n’ Roll’ noted for a multi-genre mastery that propelled her to massive pop hits in the 80s, is dead at 83. Her publicist Bernard Doherty announced she died at her home in Küsnacht, Switzerland. Being a kid of the 80s, What’s Love Got To Do With It is the song that …

Generative Fill: Rands in Repose has a post all about the latest beta for Photoshop called “Generative Fill.” His example is pretty wild. It drew the goddamn bike. Click on the image and look at the larger size. It took a good swing at an appropriate color palette, and it drew the goddamn bike. Sure, it …

Twitter Is a Far-Right Social Network: Charlie Warzel, writing for The Atlantic, has a story that most everyone with half a brain already knows. Twitter has evolved into a platform that is indistinguishable from the wastelands of alternative social-media sites such as Truth Social and Parler. […] Twitter has so fully assumed the role of …

The Flash — Final Trailer: The Flash dropped its final trailer and it looks amazing.

Sunday Compass, 7: Nicholas Bate: Head in the direction of… Love Effectiveness Profitability Wellness Creativity Music Mountains & Coast And things will improve.

Foo Fighters Reveal New Drummer Josh Freese: Charu Sinha, writing for Vulture, has the story on the newest Foo Fighter, Josh Freese. The band announced the news during the Foo Fighters: Preparing Music For Concerts livestream. A prolific session drummer, Freese has worked with artists and bands including Lana Del Rey, Rob Zombie, Bruce …

Five Reasons Why Fringe Was a Dark Warning For Our Future: I was a big fan of Fringe when it was on. I haven’t watched any episodes since they aired, but I know I can drop in on them anytime. This article explains what I loved about the show and why it still resonates today.

More is More: Seth Godin: More hope. More health. More security. More innovation. More breakthroughs. More connection. More creation. More joy. Read the rest.

Joaquin's First School Shooting: This is one of the most biting commentary on school shootings I’ve ever seen. Patricia Oliver lost her son, 17-year-old Joaquin Oliver, in a mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida in 2018. Since then, Oliver has committed herself to the cause of gun reform …

Willson Contreras Against Kenley Jansen: Jomboy breaks down a fun moment between St. Louis Cardinals catcher Wilson Contreras and Boston Red Sox pitcher Kenley Jansen. Contreras messed with Jansen with his wits and that pesky new pitch clock rule.

The Four Freedoms, According to Republicans: Jamelle Bouie, writing for The New York Times, takes a look at the legislation that Republicans around the country are pushing and, in the style of FDR’s Four Freedoms speech, outlines what goals they are attempting to achieve. There is the freedom to control — to restrict the bodily autonomy of …

The Final “Voyage” of the Galactic Starcruiser: The Galactic Starcruiser hotel never made sense to me. Obviously, it didn’t connect with enough people. I’d do a Star Wars hotel if it was just that, a hotel. I think all the interactive crap (that skyrocketed the price) they forced guests into doing for an “experience” didn’t help, and it’s …

Neil Gaiman New College Alt-Grad Speech 2023: Neil Gaiman, Author and Professor of the Arts at Bard, addresses New College of Florida Students, who organized their own Alt-Graduation Ceremony in defiance of the hostile takeover of their college and attack on their Academic Freedoms. It’s a powerful speech.

Killers of the Flower Moon — Official Teaser Trailer: AppleTV dropped a teaser trailer for the next great Scorsese film, Killers of the Flower Moon. Martin Scorsese has a long history with Robert De Niro and Leonardo DiCaprio. Now, the iconic director is uniting his two muses for an AppleTV feature. Based on the best-selling book, Killers of the Flower …

Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One | Official Trailer: This trailer looks great. According to the official plot synopsis, Tom Cruise’s Ethan Hunt and the IMF crew are tasked with “track[ing] down a terrifying new weapon that threatens all of humanity before it falls into the wrong hands.” Isn’t that the plot of nearly all of them? Oh, hey. We get …

The Creator - Official Teaser: The synopsis for The Creator illuminates more of the plot we see in the trailer. Apparently the movie is about the following: Amidst a future war between the human race and the forces of artificial intelligence, Joshua (John David Washington), a hardened ex-special forces agent grieving the …

The Importance of Religion in the Lives of Americans is Shrinking: Religion’s importance is shrinking. Good. The report, titled "Religion and Congregations in a Time of Social Upheaval," surveyed more than 6,600 adults from all 50 states. Despite the deep political divides in the U.S., the majority of churchgoers — 56% — do not believe their own church is …

What will replace the International Space Station?: It will be a sad day when the ISS heads to Point Nemo. What’s the replacement?

Ryuichi Last Playlist: In preparation for his demise, the great composer and musician Ryuichi Sakamoto—who died of cancer in March at age 71—prepared a playlist for his own funeral. The funeral playlist features beautiful pieces by Ennio Morricone, Claude Debussy, Erik Satie, David Sylvian, Laurel Halo, Bach, and the Bill …

Sunday, 7: Nicholas Bate – Know when enough is enough. Of anything: salted caramel and chocolate tart, push-ups and ‘success’. Sometimes you can ignore the views of other people. Nobody can take your learning away from you. Read, read, read. Walking does actually solve pretty well anything from the …

Burning Down the House: David Roth, writing at Defector, has been thinking about Twitter. Because Twitter is so big and open-ended, and because it is a product of the grandiose and impatient and deliriously shallow world of Silicon Valley, the ways in which it has been talked about by the people who talk about it most …

Saturday, 4: Nicholas Bate – Coffee brewed. Pencil paused. Sun rose. Thoughts tumbled.

Doctor Who in 2023: Doctor Who returns later this year for its 60th anniversary with three special episodes. Special One: THE STAR BEAST Special Two: WILD BLUE YONDER Special Three: THE GIGGLE I’m looking forward to watching Tennant and the returning Catherine Tate as they likely get into some more time travel …

Foundation — Season 2 Official Teaser: I was generally pleased with the first season of Foundation. It helps to lean into the “adaptation” part of the adapted from Isaac Asimov’s novels. Practically everything was new except for names of people, planets, and psychohistory. Overall, it worked pretty well. Season two …

Dooce, RIP: Sad news. “The pioneering mommy blogger Heather Armstrong, who laid bare her struggles as a mother and her battles with depression and alcoholism on her site Dooce.com and on social media, has died at 47. Armstrong died by suicide.” I did not really read her, but I knew her story. My heart goes out …

Alice Cooper: 

There is No Middle: Wil Wheaton, writing on his site, has a long essay about our current political climate. Remember how much fun it was to harmlessly TP your friends’ houses? How silly and goofy it was to ding-dong ditch someone? Just to do silly, childish, ultimately harmless expressions of being a kid who’s fooling …

Donald Trump liable for sexual abuse and defamation in E. Jean Carroll case: In the civil case brought by E. Jean Carroll, a jury took only 2.5 hours to find that Donald Trump sexually abused Carroll and later publicly defamed her. Carroll has been awarded $5 million in damages. He’s a criminal. A con man. And a rapist.

Oppenheimer | New Trailer: Finally: a full-length trailer for Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer. Definitely one of the summer movies I’m interested in seeing this summer.

Happy Mother's Day: 

If Rammstein wrote ‘Every Breath You Take’: Moonic Productions puts out some amazing videos. I like a lot of his stuff (such as this one, this one, and, of course, this one), but the If Rammstein wrote ‘Every Breath You Take’ is spot on. I’m not even a very big Rammstein fan, but I dig their vibe. Finally, the lyrics match the music.

Illinois to Become First State to Ban Book Bans: Book Riot has the story. The Illinois Senate has passed HB 2789, a bill whose terms dictate that state funding from public or school libraries that remove books from circulation will be withheld. As per the bill, the $62 million of funding that goes to the state’s libraries will only be eligible …

Dune Part Two: Here’s the first trailer for the second part of Denis Villeneuve’s Dune. The delivery of “May thy knife chip then shatter” is perfection. I am looking forward to this.

The Hollywood Writers’ Strike Explained: After weeks of negotiations, for the first time in 15 years, the Writers Guild of America has officially gone on strike. Dan Casey breaks down everything you need to know about why this strike happened, how long it might last, and what it means. It does an excellent job explaining what the Writers’ …

Magic: A group of real-life scientists at the RIKEN Interdisciplinary Theoretical and Mathematical Sciences in Japan have identified a new quantum property to measure the weirdness of spacetime. They are officially calling it “magic.” From the scientific paper, “Probing chaos by magic monotones,” published …

‘Collectively, really bad baseball’: Katie Woo, writing for The Athletic, outlines just how bad the St Louis Cardinals were in April. Lots of quotes from players and managers, but this is the central question. No, the Cardinals did not play good baseball in April. They didn’t even come close. How they respond after one of their worst …

Mike Shannon, RIP: Simply one of the voices in my head when I think about St. Louis Cardinals baseball. A sad day.

Andor Scripts: Journalist Jeff Goldsmith, who attended the Disney+ series’ Emmy FYC event, is reporting that Tony Gilroy, the Andor creator, showrunner, and screenwriter, will be launching a website to release the production scripts for all 12 Andor episodes online, for free, for everyone. I think these scripts …

All the Enterprises: John de Lancie, the incredible actor behind the mischievous character Q in Star Trek and Picard, offered a wonderful tour inside the bridge of every USS Enterprise for The Roddenberry Archive. For this, de Lancie describes the history and evolution of each ship. He also explains how it was designed, …

Foo Fighters - "Rescued": One of the most important Foo Fighters’ songs in a long time. Massive. Plus, the announcement of a new album, But Here We Are.

Fox News Lost the Lawsuit but Won the War: David A. Graham, writing for The Atlantic, has the story regarding the Dominion Voting Systems lawsuit, and it’s a big one. Fox News has agreed to pay Dominion Voting Systems $787.5m to avoid a defamation trial it expected to lose. The case centered on Fox News' broadcasting of lies and …

My High-Flying Life as a Corporate Spy Who Lied His Way to the Top: This story should be a movie.

Substack reportedly in financial trouble: I had a Substack email for a bit. It was easy to use but lacked a lot of the functionality I wanted. It also looked so restrictive—everybody’s Substack looked exactly like everyone else’s. So, I dropped it but held onto an account just in case things changed or I decided to go all in. It …

Is the GOP becoming the American fascist party?: The whole piece is good, but this is the main point: We are witnessing the logical culmination of win-at-any-cost Trump Republican politics — scorched-earth tactics used by Republicans to entrench their power, with no justification other than that they can. Democracy is about means. Under it, …

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny - Official Trailer #2: Here’s official trailer #2 for Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. I have high hopes. Probably misguided.

Mötley Crüe Guitarist’s Lawsuit Says He Was Kicked Out: Mötley Crüe guitarist Mick Mars has filed a lawsuit against his former bandmates, accusing them of forcing him out of the band and keeping him from all future profits. The alleged cut-off occurred after Mars announced he’d be retiring from touring due to a chronic inflammatory disease. The disease …

We Finally Know the Case Against Trump, and It Is Strong: From the article: Whatever happens next, one thing is clear: Mr. Trump cannot persuasively argue he is being singled out for some unprecedented theory of prosecution. He is being treated as any other New Yorker would be with similar evidence against him.

Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse - Official Trailer #2: Here’s official trailer #2 for Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse. This will be the movie that gets me to go to an actual theater to see it.

A Return to the Presence of Love: What a wonderful post from Chaz Ebert.

Let's Go For A Walk: 4k POV walks , no commentary. Tokyo. London. New York. Paris. Sydney. Mumbai. Hong Kong. Bangkok. Rome. Vienna. Seoul. Buenos Aires. Santiago. Montreal. Cairo. Marrakech. Nairobi. I haven’t watched them all, but I love putting them on the TV and kind of forgetting it’s on and then glance …

Escape: Nicholas Bate: Into a book. A novel of a different world. An explanation of something new. Escape from the busyness for a while. Good advice.

GPT-4 is not AI. Stop calling it that.: Kevin Drum: For all the good it will do, I would like to remind everyone yet again that GPT-4 is not artificial intelligence. Neither is anything else. AI, by any reasonable definition, doesn't exist yet. GPT-4 is amazing. It will have a huge impact on the world. It’s definitely on the road to …

Ron DeSantis Got Played by Disney: Disney did all of this out in the open after published notices and at public hearings. The Florida GOP is sloppy and incompetent. The people who run Disney are pretty smart, and Ron DeSantis seems pretty dumb, so I’m not surprised at how this turned out.

Welcome to Brandon Sanderson's Fantasy Empire: I have never read a Sanderson book, but I admire what he’s accomplished. The piece also casually mentions that he wrote twelve novels before one sold, which I think is something worth pointing out: Most “first novels” aren’t, and persistence is important to getting to that …

Giving Up the Ghostwriter: Not much of a ghost if she sucked this bad at stealing passages for books. Also, I can’t believe the publishers of these books did not find this plagiarism earlier.

Flowful: Flowful is a wonderful site that plays procedurally generated (everlasting) ambient music in your browser while you work, surf the web, or simply listen. There’s no need to skip tracks because the sounds are infinitely unique. You can choose from a selection of free tracks to play every week, …

The Age of Average: Cars, coffee shops, book covers, cosmetics — everything embraces the same Instagram aesthetic.

Brie Larson Refuses to Stick to Hollywood’s Script: I’ve always found her to be super interesting.

KISS Biopic Chronicling Band’s Early Years Coming to Netflix in 2024: Apparently, there’s a KISS biopic on the horizon. If it’s as good as the silly Motley Crue one, it should do well and probably bump up the band, especially in 2024, when I expect them to do close to nothing until a likely Vegas residency in 2025 or 2026.

Everything is a Remix: Kirby Ferguson has released the final and “definitive” full-length version of his fantastic Everything is a Remix video series. Memes are remixing. You take a photo, you repurpose it, then someone else tries it, then there’s a flood of everyone trying out combinations, including remixing other …

Milton Catch vs. Bradley: Connor Milton making plays in left!

Focus: Rebecca Toh: Our brain craves focus. When it is focused, it is happy, still, powerful. But a focused brain is a rarity in today’s world. What do you do to keep your brain focused? I try, and I try to remain focused, but my brain likes to jump around.

Bono and The Edge: Tiny Desk Concert: The most recognizable half of U2 made the trip to the NPR offices to perform a Tiny Desk Concert recently. Accompanied by the Duke Ellington School of the Arts Choir, the pair sang four songs from their 2000 album All That You Can’t Leave Behind, including Beautiful Day. I’m not a huge U2 fan, …

The Nuno Bettencourt Solo Everyone is Talking About: Rick Beato reviews Nuno Bettencourt’s INSANE solo from Extreme’s new single “Rise.” It’s incredible. The best solo I’ve heard in a long, long time.

Ben Affleck on ‘Air,’ New CEO Gig and Those Memes: “I Am Who I Am”: Lexy Perez writes a profile of Ben Affleck. It’s not bad. So if DC came to you now and said, “Do you want to direct something?” I would not direct something for the [James] Gunn DC. Absolutely not. I have nothing against James Gunn. Nice guy, sure he’s going to do a great job. I just wouldn’t …

The Brandon Miller Situation Is Completely Grotesque: Writing for New York Magazine, Will Leitch has a take on the Brandon Miller situation. At the risk of sounding histrionic, it is downright ghastly the extent to which the University of Alabama has attempted to normalize what’s happening here, simply because the school’s basketball team is so good. …

Aaron Judge and Paul Goldschmidt and the day they spent together: Chris Kirschner, Andy McCullough and Brendan Kuty, writing for The Athletic, has a cool story about Aaron Judge and Paul Goldschmidt hanging out in the off-season. One day in January, the most exclusive club in baseball convened a meeting. Aaron Judge, the reigning American League MVP, booked a …

The Hierarchy of Productivity: Shawn Blanc: Least Important: Tips and tricks and hacks and shortcuts. Very Important: Habits and routines. Your daily actions and behavior. Your system of execution. Most Important: Vision and values. Your purpose, your priorities, your why. I’m not sure I spend enough time on the most …

What Makes Poker Face a Triumph: Spencer Kornaber, writing for The Atlantic, has a great in-depth story on the success of Poker Face. The brutality contained in Poker Face’s 10 episodes is outweighed by humor, humanism, intelligence, and, perhaps most crucially, optimism. The fact that the show is a hit speaks to a hunger for …

Just a Reminder...: For any who believe anything Fox news or any of their hosts tell or show them, the hosts themselves are now on public record not only telling you it’s all a bunch of lies to boost ratings but they also laugh at you and call you idiots behind your back. So, yeah. Keep watching. H/T: Patrick Rhone

How Shaquille O'Neal Made Himself Bigger Than Ever: Will Leitch, writing for Inc magazine, has a business oriented profile of Shaquille O’Neal. And to be sure, O'Neal's approach to business, at least until recently, has looked like a holdover from an earlier era of celebrity business that was rooted in sponsorships, endorsements, and licensing …

Rooted in the Game: My friend Joe created the graphic and photography for this profile of Illinois Basketball player Coleman Hawkins. I know Coleman wants to play in the NBA, but I hope he strongly considers coming back to the Fighting Illini for one more year and, hopefully, increasing his stock.

A Powerful Message: Arnold Schwarzenegger has a powerful message for those who have gone down a path of hate.

Watch Jon Stewart's epic takedown of Second Amendment absolutist Rep. Nathan Dahm: Is it epic? Well, yes. Sort of. Stewart does what most Americans want done to our politicians and leaders who have stupid ideas–call them out on it. Hey, look at all of this hypocrisy. The thing is, nothing is going to change because of this viral video. The people who seek to regulate the …

ICON Collective launches to strengthen Illini NIL effort: Jeremy Warner, writing for Illini Inquirer, has the story about the brand new NIL collective for Illinois Athletics, ICON. ICON Collective is Illinois athletics' reaction to the NCAA’s guidance in October that schools cannot directly engage in negotiations for collectives or student-athletes, …

KISS Announces Their Final Concert Ever Will Be in 2023: KISS was on The Howard Stern Show and announced their final concert. There’s one more show in November in Rosemont that I kind of want to go to, but I’ve already seen them so many times. That show is on a Monday, which sucks. It is good to remember this is just an end to touring. I fully …

The Baseball Clock Is Good: Will Leitch, writing for New York Magazine, has a story about how great the pitch clock has been for MLB. This year, pitchers have 15 seconds to throw a pitch if no one is on base, and 20 seconds with a runner on. If they don’t throw a pitch in time, umpires will call a ball. But hitters have new …

A Chatbot Is Secretly Doing My Job: Ryan Bradley, writing for The Atlantic, outlines how he’s using AI to generate copy for work. I have a part-time job that is quite good, except for one task I must do—not even very often, just every other week—that I actively loathe. The task isn’t difficult, and it doesn’t take more than 30 …

The Case For Shunning: This is one of the best articles I’ve read on this subject.

Paul Stanley and His Paintings: Jim Ryan, writing for Forbes, has an interesting story on Paul Stanley and why he started painting. I really like his abstracts. I really hate his self-portraits, KISS-related paintings, and guitar stuff.

This Is What You'll Pay For: Jaime Brooks has an incredibly in-depth look at music today, what it will become tomorrow, and how we will consume it. I don’t like his conclusions.

John Wick: Chapter 4: Here’s the final trailer for John Wick: Chapter 4. Looks as amazing as the previous three installments. What a cool world.

World Series champion, TV analyst Tim McCarver dies at 81: Tim McCarver has died. I will miss hearing his voice and his insight.

America’s unique, enduring gun problem, explained: Li Zhou, Nicole Narea, Ian Millhiser, and Cameron Peters, writing for Vox, has a story on the gun problem in America. Call me cynical, but nothing is ever going to change. There is literally nothing that will change people’s minds about this subject. There is no amount of people killed that …

Future Letter: Future Letter is a website that allows users to write a letter to their future selves. The website has a simple design. Just type your message, select a time frame, and click “configure.” The letter will come to your future self through your email address. You can choose to receive your …

Gods and Monsters: James Gunn shares his vision for the future of the DC Universe and the upcoming slate from DC Studios. I wish him all the luck in the world.

Just Checks: Shawn Blanc with some good ideas: Here are a few alternatives to what I call the “Just Checks”. Scroll through your Day One timeline and read a previous journal entry or browse some old photos and memories. Launch Day One and log how you’ve spent your time so far for the day. Doing this for a few …

The Flash - Official Trailer: The Flash – Official Trailer is here. It looks good. Even though Ezra Miller is problematic, I’m pretty hyped for this one. The Flash is all about time travel and explores the commonly-discussed paradox of meeting your past self, which happens to the Flash’s alter ego Barry Allen. Also, …

ChatGPT is a Blurry JPEG of the Web: Ted Chiang explains how ChatGPT is better understood as a lossy compression algorithm: Imagine what it would look like if ChatGPT were a lossless algorithm. If that were the case, it would always answer questions by providing a verbatim quote from a relevant Web page. We would probably regard the …

Burt Bacharach, visionary pop composer, has died at 94: Elizabeth Blair, writing for NPR, has the obituary of Burt Bacharach. So many songs. What a body of work. My favorite is “What the World Needs Now is Love.”

Behind the Essence of Matthew Mayer: Joey Wagner, writing for the Illini Inquirer, has a well-written profile on one of the most interesting dudes in college basketball and one heck of a player. Matthew Mayer is a little weird, which is a good thing. I think.

Critical Ignoring: Ralph Hertwig, Stephan Lewandowsky, Anastasia Kozyreva, and Sam Wineburg have an interesting article in The Conversation. I’d never heard of this concept before. Critical ignoring is more than just not paying attention – it’s about practicing mindful and healthy habits in the face of …

54 Small, Nice Things To Do for Yourself: The editors at Fatherly made a list of things every father should do for themselves. It’s important to spend a little time every day attending to your mental and physical health. Why? Simple: Finding—no, making—the time to go for a walk, work on a hobby, establish a better relationship with your …

The Big Hollywood Quiz: This Saturday Night Live sketch was on point. Everybody remembers the finale of _MAS*H _and All About Eve, but we don’t share those experiences as a society anymore. There’s hundreds of streaming choices on dozens of platforms that anybody can watch anytime. There just aren’t any …

The Multi-Faceted Genius of Drummer Stewart Copeland: Brandon Toews of Drumeo took a deep dive into the incredible, multi-faceted genius of legendary drummer [Stewart Copeland](The Genius Of Stewart Copeland). He further notes how Copeland’s international upbringing, sense of adventure, and search for knowledge gave him the percussive tools to make him …

The GOP is Just Obnoxious: David Frum, writing in The Atlantic, thinks the GOP is obnoxious. I believe Frum is spot-on here. It will take a transformative candidate to really make a difference in this political landscape. I’m not sure who that person is. Who in the Republican party can exorcise him or herself from the …

De-Aging for the Super Wealthy: Ashlee Vance, writing for Bloomberg, has a story about Bryan Johnson (no, not the one from AC/DC), who made $800 million in cash by selling his company to eBay. He decided to do everything in his power to de-age himself. Johnson, 45, is an ultrawealthy software entrepreneur who has more than 30 …

Happy Birthday, Katie: 

The Best Time to Own a Domain Was 20 Years Ago; The Second Best Time Is Today: Jim Nielsen on the best time to own a domain. That is why owning a domain (and publishing your content there) is like planting a tree: it’s value that starts small and grows. The best time to own a domain and publish your content there was 20 years ago. The second best time is today. While, I …

Chip Caray, New Cardinals Broadcaster: Katie Woo and David O’Brien, writing in The Athletic, has the story on Chip Caray joining the announcing team for the St. Louis Cardinals. I’m excited about the prospects of this change. I haven’t really followed Chip Caray’s career, but I love the Cardinals and St. Louis …

David Sedaris on Word Choice: Humorist/National Treasure David Sedaris went on CBS Sunday Morning to share his thoughts on “irritating word choices” like being called “boss” by other dudes. It’s completely spot on, I mean, perfect.

Happy Birthday, Paul Stanley: Still a legend.

Record-Setting Daredevil Robbie Knievel Dead at 60: Robbie Knievel has died. I grew up idolizing Evel Knievel and always thought Robbie was the best extension of what I loved as a kid. My favorite jump of his is Caesars Palace.

Is This The End for Third-Party Twitter Clients?: Twitter’s API, the data interface that allows third-party apps and websites to fetch tweets and post new ones, died mysteriously right before I went to bed last night. I refuse to use the actual Twitter app on my phone. Twitter’s official client is hot garbage and it isn’t worth …

The Republican Clown Show is Scary, not Funny.: I wish I could muster much energy to write about the clown show currently happening and has been happening for several days now in the United States House of Representatives. I’m not one for popcorn watching the proceedings with glee. I’m more in line with what Dahlia Lithwick of Slate …

My Homescreen 2023: I always find it fascinating how others set up their iPhones. Do they use widgets? Are they minimalist, or do they just have a springboard of icons in no discernable pattern? Do they use wallpaper from Apple or one of their pictures? Do they use a third-party app to change icons? A simple Google …

Foundation — Official Season 2 Sneak Peek: Here’s a sneak peek at season two of Foundation. I generally liked the first season even though I don’t think it uses it’s source material much. Dune was a better adaptation. Still, I get they had to deviate significantly from the original Asimov to make any of it work in the 21st …

The Reaction to Damar Hamlin’s Collapse Represents Progress: I didn’t see it live. My brother texted me to let me know something happened. I flipped over to the coverage and eventually watched a replay of the event on Twitter. It is horrifying, but not in a gory way, as if someone’s leg or arm is broken. He just fell. Will Leitch has his finger on …

The Expanding Dark Forest and Generative AI: This essay by Maggie Appleton foresees AI such as ChatGPT and others will consume the internet with “content” that no one will be able to get away from. I have no idea if she’s right or not, but it is interesting to see where all of this goes.

Bring Back Personal Blogging: Monique Judge has a few interesting ideas about bringing back blogging. Watching the demise of Twitter under the helm of Elon Musk has made me nostalgic for the personal blogging days. The decline of Twitter with the current erosion of legacy media has left me thinking we need to bring personal …

Sting Rounds the Bases: Cameron Hawkins, writing for The Ringer, takes a nice look back at Sting’s wrestling career. A well-written piece.

Brazilian soccer legend Pelé dies at 82: Pelé has sadly passed away. I have never been much of a soccer/football fan. However, growing up I loved the movie Escape to Victory. I have no idea why it stuck with me. Pelé, of course, plays an important part in the film.

Life Lessons for 2023: Jason Kottke pointed me to Yung Pueblo’s list of life lessons from 2022 that he’s bringing into the new year. So good.

2022 in 7 Minutes: This video, which lasts just seven minutes, examines the good, bad, and ugly that defined 2022.

Merry Christmas, 2022: The most difficult part of life isn’t getting what you want, it’s wanting what you already have.

How do you survive in college basketball these days? Think like an ex-juco coach: Brian Hamilton, writing for The Athletic, has a great story on Brad Underwood and the advantages of being a former JUCO coach in the NIL era. It’s sad, he says, that college basketball players often are rentals. It’s sad that it has occurred to him to think like a junior college coach again and …

Make Fewer Small Decisions: Shawn Blanc on decision fatigue: You and I only have so much willpower, decision-making ability, and/or creative imagination throughout the day. Try to reserve that energy for things like deep work, deep conversations, and big decisions. The more you can automate the inconsequential areas of your …

Doctor Who's Stylish Fifteenth Doctor: Introducing the Doctor and Ruby Sunday, played by Ncuti Gatwa and Millie Gibson ❤️❤️➕🟦 #DoctorWho pic.twitter.com/x1pUBGAPPN — Doctor Who (@bbcdoctorwho) December 17, 2022 ✨ The lewk ✨ #DoctorWho #NcutiGatwa @MillieGibson01 pic.twitter.com/dBUrWAOFZL — Doctor Who (@bbcdoctorwho) December 17, 2022 …

Weirdest Sports Moments of 2022: The weirdest sports moments of 2022. Hilarious. Across the board.

Trump Selling NFTs: Molly White of Web3 Is Going Just Great had the right take on Trump's "major" announcement" Trump supporters got all excited when Trump posted on social media to tease a “major announcement”. Was he going to run for speaker of the House? Return to Twitter? Unveil a presidential running mate? His …

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Official Trailer: Here’s the trailer for Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. They just nailed the tone and aesthetic with these Spider-Verse movies. The first one was the best superhero movie of all time (IMHO). Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is coming to theaters June 2023. Really looking forward to …

Every Star Wars movie and TV show, ranked: Joshua Rivera, Pete Volk, and the Polygon Staff, writing for, you guessed it, Polygon, created a ranking of the best Star Wars movies and TV. I thought I might not agree here, but surprisingly, it maps out pretty much the same way for me as well. Granted, I have not seen all the TV shows, but I have …

In The Long Run, We Are All Dead: David Roth has an extended essay about Major League Baseball’s free agency. There are three types of Major League Baseball teams where free agency is concerned. There are the ones that try to sign players, and ones that do not try to sign players, and then there are the teams that sort of try …

Good Stories: Seth Godin on stories and how they relate to facts. The thing is that facts almost never get in the way of a good story. Because a good story feels true. A good story resonates. A good story is based on our feelings, long-held and hard-earned. A good story sticks with us, regardless of the facts. If …

The Choice: The Choice is a three-minute video from Project Better Self. Small choices become actions, actions become habits, and habits become our way of life. It is devastatingly simple, the choices we make determine how we live our life. Watching this is a great reminder.

The Game’s Afoot: Ken White, writing for The Atlantic sums up your weekend read: The president said on Twitter that Friday’s news “totally clears the President. Thank you!” It does not. Manafort and Cohen are in trouble, and so is Trump. The special counsel’s confidence in his ability to prove Manafort a liar appears …

Ain't Talkin' 'bout Feliz Navidad: José Van Haliano - “Ain’t Talkin' ‘bout Feliz Navidad” So good. The best mashups on the internet. That last “Yeah!” made me laugh.

Start Small: Shawn Blanc on creating habits. When you begin a new habit and you’ve started taking action, only commit to it for 30 days or so. And then commit for another 30 days. Then commit for 90 days. Then commit for 6 months. At first it’ll be fun. But then it will be hard and mundane. If you start out by …

Santa visits Horizon Hobby Headquarters: I wrote this for Horizon Hobby, and I can be seen in a couple of shots.

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny: Here’s the teaser trailer for Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. Honestly, I wasn’t sure about this movie and now color me excited. My humble prediction… looks like they might be going after the Nazi Bell. Still, Harrison Ford is 20 years older than Sean Connery, when he …

See You On The Other Side: I’m taking a sabbatical from posting on Twitter for December. I still like using and reading Twitter, but I’m not sure I want to remain there. On January 1, I’ll evaluate how I feel and what Twitter looks like in the new year. In 2023, I’m rethinking my social media presence. …

Christine McVie, Hitmaker for Fleetwood Mac, Is Dead at 79: Christine McVie has sadly passed away. She leaves a legacy of amazing songs. I love so much of her writing, but “Songbird” is my favorite Fleetwood Mac song of all time.

The Mystery of the Vanishing Blockbuster: Jamie Lauren Keiles, writing for The New York Times, has a piece on Avatar. A franchise is an ecosystem oriented toward an infinite horizon, in which a common set of characters and stories are constantly refreshed and reworked across platforms. The whole piece is filled with interesting ideas. The …

Lux Æterna: Metallica’s official music video for “Lux Æterna,” from the album 72 Seasons available April 14th, 2023. I’m not a massive Metallica fan, but the fact that they just dropped this out of nowhere makes it that much sweeter. It’s the Best Christmas carol I’ve heard this season. …

The Liquid Death Story: I love this marketing masterclass video that CNBC has put together. Liquid Death founder and CEO Mike Cessario spent years figuring out how to make water cool. Now his brand is valued at $700 million. After attending the 2009 Warped Tour, Cessario realized bottled water lacked irreverent marketing …

Twitter and Me: I was never on MySpace. I barely use Facebook. I was on Tumblr, but deleted before the takeover. My Instagram has eight posts. I am never going to have a TikTok or a Mastodon account. I have curated Twitter to be absolutely perfect for me. If it dies, I will be sad. In all likelihood, Twitter will …

The Lovable Douche: Anne Victoria Clark, writing for Vulture, has a great profile of AEW wrestler, Maxwell Jacob Friedman (a.k.a. MJF). In the world of professional wrestling, shoot is a term for a performer going off script — usually in a very bad way. When CM Punk, star of three-year-old wrestling promotion AEW, …

Detonation by Design: Ian Douglass, writing for The Ringer, has a great profile on Tony Khan and AEW. I was lucky enough to interview Mr. Khan several years ago, right when AEW was just getting started. He was as enthusiastic and excited then as he is now.

Back to the Moon: Writing for The Atlantic, Marina Koren wonders where the fanfare has gone for the first uncrewed trip to the moon. She has a point, but I’m happy we are returning to the moon. I think it’s all pretty exciting and I’m really looking forward to the crewed missions. Maybe I’ll …

Action Brings Clarity: Shawn Blanc on action: Clarity comes through action and experience. Thus, you should focus on getting started and taking action more than you focus on the perfect end result. Optimize for the starting line instead of the finish line. Instead of committing to a giant, year-long undertaking. Commit to …

John Lewis & Partners | Christmas Ad 2022: British department store John Lewis, known for its wonderfully creative annual Christmas advertisements, shared their heartwarming video for Christmas 2022. It shows a man clumsily but unashamedly learning how to skateboard with the encouragement of his wife, and for a very good reason. Puddles Pity …

Kevin Conroy, RIP: Kevin Conroy, known for his iconic performance as the Caped Crusader over a range of media starting with Batman: The Animated Series, has passed away at the age of 66. I love this… View this post on Instagram A post shared by sean murphy (@seangordonmurphy)

Inside the Twitter Meltdown: Casey Newton and Zoë Schiffer, writing on Platformer: Musk’s whim-based approach to product development, his rapidly depleting executive ranks, and the very real likelihood of hundreds or even thousands of additional departures at the company in coming weeks threaten to leave Twitter a shadow of its …

Ranking the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductees: Bill Wyman (not the one from The Rolling Stones) has ranked all 240 artists in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for Vulture. He’s wrong, of course. First, far too many of the artists included aren’t even rock and roll musicians. Eliminating the country, blues, and hip-hop artists would greatly lessen …

Normal Candidates: Writing for New York Magazine Intelligencer, Jonathan Chiat has a few thoughts on the midterm elections. Republicans have been trying to create an environment that would allow them to enjoy all the benefits of Trump’s hallucinatory grievance narrative without any of the costs. But the midterms may …

Quantity and Quality: Nicholas Bate has a thought about writing that I love: Write, write, write. Then edit, edit, edit. Out of quantity you can produce quality.

Jony Ive on Life After Apple: I have always found Jony Ive among the more exciting creatives working today. It is his vision that catapulted Apple to the level it enjoys. This Wall Street Journal profile by Elisa Lipsky-Karasz is wonderful, but I was struck by this bit about his most current company, LoveFrom. One of the first …

Tweet, Tweet: I can tell already that Elon Musk owning Twitter and trying to use it to make money is going to be a real thing that people will talk about online for weeks and weeks. Who is leaving? Who might get unbanned? Which companies will keep ads on the platform, and which ones are done? What new iteration …

Musky Twitter: The CEO of SpaceX and Tesla, who previously criticized Twitter for restricting free speech, outlined his motivations for buying the company in a message addressed to advertisers and posted to the social platform. Stupidly, Musk dropped in on Twitter’s headquarters in San Francisco, carrying a …

The New DC Studios: Borys Kit and Aaron Couch, writing for The Hollywood Reporter, has the scoop on the new DC Studios. Gunn will focus on the creative side of things, while Safran will focus on the business and production side. Both are expected to continue to direct and produce projects, respectively. They will …

Stillness Before the Storm: I apologize to Rod Stewart, but it’s late October, and I should be back in school. And when I say “back in school,” I totally mean back writing on this site and finishing up my long-awaited (HA!) collection of short stories and essays, Captured Ghosts. To be fair, I think I’m as close as I have ever …

The Disgust Is The Product: A paragraph in David Roth’s Defector piece encapsulates this moment in time and describes what is happening right now in crystal clear imagery. In its current state, Trumpism is entirely about feeling and fantasy. Instead of any plan to deal with crime, for instance, there is only the …

KISS Performs Secret Philip Morris Concert In Austin, Texas: According to Robert Moseley, who was in attendance, on October 22, 2022, KISS played a secret show for Philip Morris International, the largest tobacco company in the world. This private concert was not open to the public and took place at Vulcan Gas Company, a small club at 418 E 6th St in downtown …

Puddles Pity Party - WAR PIGS: Puddles Pity Party sings “WAR PIGS.” What an incredible rendition.

Josh Whitman's Tour of Ubben Basketball Complex: Illinois athletics director Josh Whitman gives the media a tour of the almost-complete renovation of the Ubben Basketball Complex.

1-15: Writing for The Athletic, Katie Woo explains how the Cardinals were eliminated. Their best two position players and two top National League MVP candidates in Nolan Arenado and Paul Goldschmidt combined to go 1-for-15 with six strikeouts, and the rest of the offense was just as lifeless. Their …

The Battery and the Bat: pic.twitter.com/mkgtgHa3yM — St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) October 2, 2022 We will likely never see something like this again.

The Friendly Confines: To the best fans in baseball, You make Wrigley Field the Friendly Confines. pic.twitter.com/Gtdr3boTXH — Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) September 30, 2022 This took a lot of work and some very skilled drone pilots.

Batman Speaking with Bruce Wayne: Every Batman actor should have to audition with this scene. pic.twitter.com/jzqKqVo9QO — Bob Cesca (@bobcesca_go) September 26, 2022 I don’t remember why there’s a seal in the chair…

Prairie Fire: 

How "Spider-Verse" Forced Animation to Evolve: The look of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse was like nothing before it. It certainly broke away from the Pixar style. Vox breaks down the evolution from Toy Story to today and how Pixar’s photorealistic style is shifting into an experimental and almost avant-garde style, which frankly, is …

Mountaintop: Will Leitch, writing in his newsletter, had a profound paragraph about sports. One of the best things about sports is that it gives us simplicity and clarity that real life cannot — and should not — provide us with. If we win, I’m happy. If we lose, I’m sad. But that’s not just true in the moment. …

Sky Fire: 

The Last Minute: Seth Godin: If you do anything at the last minute that takes more than a minute, you’re not organizing your project properly. The last minute is not a buffer zone, nor is it the moment to double-check your work. The last minute is simply sixty seconds to enjoy and to remind yourself that you …

Barney: Depending on when you grew up, Barney was either a caveman, a dinosaur, an alcoholic, or a womanizer.

Republicans in key races scrap online references to Trump, abortion: Colby Itkowitz writing in The Washington Post, outlines how Republicans in swing districts are freaking out. At least nine Republican congressional candidates have scrubbed or amended references to Trump or abortion from their online profiles in recent months, distancing themselves from divisive …

Mikhail Gorbachev, dead at 91: Mikhail Gorbachev, whose efforts to reform the Soviet Union only hastened its political collapse, is dead at 91. At least he tried.

J.K. Rowling’s New Book Just So Happens to Feature a Character Persecuted Over Transphobia: Cheyenne Roundtree, writing in Rolling Stone, talks about the new book by J. K. Rowling and the interesting premise it features. Rowling’s new novel The Ink Black Heart — part of her crime thriller series Cormoran Strike and penned under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith — involves a storyline that …

Do Less: Shawn Blanc on doing less. You don’t have to take action on every idea. You can make a decision without knowing every last detail and option. It’s okay if you don’t finish every book you start. You don’t have to respond to every email you receive. There’s no need to push every project to the max. …

WEIRD: The Al Yankovic Story Trailer: WEIRD: The Al Yankovic Story trailer. I had no idea the Weird Al Yankovic movie was a parody of biopic movies. I mean, I should have known, but after watching the trailer… My goodness, is this going to be hilarious. It looks amazingly crazy. Rainn Wilson playing Dr. Demento is genius. It also took …

It Happened on Medium: The First 10 Years: The Medium staff looks back at the first ten years of the platform. Medium turned 10 this month. A decade ago, we built a place on the internet for stories that aren’t too long or too short, but… that in-between length. Our simple, beautiful publishing tools gave you the freedom to focus on your …

Bad Defenses and Worse Lawyering: Legal Eagle Devin Stone explains in language that everyone can understand how much trouble Donald Trump is in and what his lawyers are doing wrong. I have no idea where this all going to end up. I’d like to speculate and say an indictment is in the future, but until it actually happens, I won’t …

Sunset Over the Pond: 

10-Minute Head Start: Niklas Göke woke up early and then blogged about it. It’s kind of genius.

The Ongoing Influence of QAnon and Its Self-Made Mythologies: Mike Rothschild, writing for Lithub, has a deep dive into conspiracy theories and the creation of QAnon. In the post-Trump world, the QAnon movement split along two parallel tracks. Sometimes they happened to intersect, but many other times they went their own way. Most believers went down one, and …

Styx "Renegade" - But the Lyrics are AI Generated Images : This video is interesting. Not great. Not amaze-balls. Just interesting. Like a thought experiment. Great song, though.

Will Sandman Get a Second Season?: Because Sandman is a really expensive show. And for Netflix to release the money to let us make another season we have to perform incredibly well. So yes, we've been the top show in the world for the last two weeks. That still may not be enough. https://t.co/m7VusGL2rW — Neil Gaiman (@neilhimself) …

Republicans Are America’s Problem: Charles M. Blow, writing an opinion piece in The New York Times, has an interesting premise: Republicans are a problem. He starts by lamenting Liz Cheney’s primary defeat because she would not bow down to “The Big Lie.” However, her loss does crystallize something for us that many had already known: …

The “Real” Home-Run Record Is 73, Not 61: Will Leitch, writing for New York Magazine Intelligencer, has a strong opinion on performance-enhancing drugs and Major League Baseball. He invokes the unholy trinity of McGwire, Sosa, and Bonds. If Bonds and company had to face the caliber of pitchers standard in today’s game, would they have …

Breaking Down My Favorite Journey Song: Rick Beato is just the best at explaining why particular songs are amazing.

Trump Took Top Secret (and higher) Files from the White House: The Wall Street Journal outlined the contents of the boxes the FBI took from Mar-a-Lago on August 8: The Federal Bureau of Investigation agents took around 20 boxes of items, binders of photos, a handwritten note and the executive grant of clemency for Mr. Trump’s ally Roger Stone, a list of items …

Quentin Tarantino’s 40 Favorite Films: Few people love movies like Quentin Tarantino loves movies. So, it’s a lot of fun to peruse the list of his favorite 40 films put together by IndieWire and Christian Zilko. It’s a good list, and I’ve seen several of the films included. I was a little surprised he did not include …

Where Is Donald Trump Going to Be in Five Years?: Will Leitch asks the question: Where is Donald Trump going to be in five years? I find myself fascinated with that central question: Where will Donald Trump be in five years? The range of potential outcomes here as wide a range as any in American history. He could be in prison. He could also be the …

Olivia Newton-John, RIP: Olivia Newton-John has sadly passed away. She was one of my childhood crushes. Sad. What better way to celebrate her life and career than to revisit this absolutely bananas 20 minute medley featuring Olivia, ABBA and Andy Gibb from her 1978 ABC special Olivia!

Making Meatloaf: 

Vin Scully, RIP: Richard Goldstein, writing for The New York Times, had this to say about one of the greatest to have ever done it. Vin Scully, who was celebrated for his mastery of the graceful phrase and his gift for storytelling during the 67 summers he served as the announcer for Dodgers baseball games, first …

Countdown with Keith Olbermann: Keith Olbermann is back, again, this time with a version of his old MSNBC show “Countdown,” in podcast form. He’s calling it… waitforit… Countdown with Keith Olbermann. Olbermann was the first talking-head-who-had-a-show that I watched regularly. It might have been …

Nichelle Nichols, Trailblazing ‘Star Trek’ Actress, Dead at 89: Nichelle Nichols has died. My only encounter with Nichelle Nichols involved standing in line to get a few autographs from Star Trek actors at a comic book convention. I put the Star Trek Compendium in front of her to sign. She then proceeded to go on a five-minute rant about the cover (it featured …

Ephraim Beach, Door County, WI: 

Quadball: Quadball is the new name of the sport formerly known as Quidditch. If you are a muggle, Quidditch is the magical game played by witches and wizards in the Harry Potter books and movies. The non-magical version of the game is played as a club sport in colleges across the country. Today, Major League …

What Happened When A Young Traveler Bumped Into David Bowie: Teenager Brad Miele spent the summer of 1984 exploring Europe by rail. One night in London, Miele says he unexpectedly crossed paths with cult musician David Bowie and ended up appearing in a Bowie music video. What a sweet story.

The Future of Star Wars:  FilmJoy is awesome.

James Caan, RIP: James Caan has passed away. From The Godfather to Elf. What an amazing career.

USC and UCLA Join the Big Ten: The Big Ten announced today that the University of Southern California and the University of California, Los Angeles will become conference members effective August 2, 2024, with competition to begin in all sports the 2024-25 academic year. Kind of a big deal. I expect four more schools to join in …

Robot Umpires: Buried in an ESPN story on Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred is something I’ve been screaming about for years—robot umpires. Generally, Manfred wants to speed the game up and hears the complaints about three hour games and that game needs fixing. He tells me, in terms far …

Go to Jail: It’s a good day for bad people to go to jail.. R. Kelly has been sentenced to 30 years in prison for federal racketeering and sex trafficking charges. Ghislaine Maxwell has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for her role in Jeffrey Epstein sex abuse case. I can think of a few more …

Interesting: CJ Chilvers believes you are more interesting than you think. He longs for the “generalist” era of blogging and yearns to bring it back. The trust was always about the person behind the index.html file, not the information itself. We gave that up in the years since. We put our …

Instagram and Facebook remove posts offering abortion pills: Amanda Seitz, writing for the Associated Press, has the scoop on Meta’s haphazard enforcement of it’s policies regarding abortion pills, guns, and illegal drugs. The AP obtained a screenshot on Friday of one Instagram post from a woman who offered to purchase or forward abortion pills …

Blade Runner at 40: Tom Ward, writing for Esquire, does a deep dive into the movie as it celebrates 40 years. Visually and sonically assured, intelligent and moody, there is much to be admired in Blade Runner. But why has its legacy endured to such a degree? Perhaps in its gloomy portrayal of environmental catastrophe, …

The Great Divergence: Ronald Brownstein, writing in The Atlantic, believes it might be time to start considering, in the wake of Roe v. Wade being overturned, America as two separate countries entirely — maybe for good. All of this is fueling what I’ve called “the great divergence” now under way between red and blue …

Patient Number 9: I’m glad Ozzy is still making music. Also, yes that’s Jeff Beck.

Writing Essays: Here’s a good quote I found that I wanted to keep: The best way to write an essay is to sit with a blank piece of paper and a pencil. Then set a timer for 30 minutes and start writing. Don’t stop until the timer goes off.

A Lesser Minimalism: CJ Chilvers writes about a lesser minimalism. Mainly focused on the “why” behind our clutter and dealing with it before it’s too late. Our attachment to information can be profitable, distracting, emotional, or fleeting. The cognitive weight of words is not equal page-to-page. The process is the …

Cardinals vs Brewers at American Family Field: Eddie caught a Nolan Arenado ball, which he threw into the stands between innings.

Homelander is Just Donald Trump: Justin Carter, writing at Gizmodo, has a story I can’t quite believe. You can say a lot of things about Amazon’sThe Boys, but you can’t exactly call it subtle. The show, based on Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson’s acclaimed comics from Dynamite Entertainment, focuses on a group of corporate …

Prince of the House: 

Biden Is Too Old to Run for President: Mark Leibovich, writing in The Atlantic, outlines why President Biden shouldn’t run in 2024. Let me put this bluntly: Joe Biden should not run for reelection in 2024. He is too old. Biden will turn 80 on November 20. He will be 82 if and when he begins a second term. The numbers just keep getting …

Line Rider Race #2: DoodleChaos brings us a video in which eight Line Riders compete in a race set to the tune of Wagner’s “Ride of the Valkyries.” It’s survival of the fittest in a steeplechase, as they crash into each other, fall, lose their sleds, and sometimes regain them. A free fall …

Black Adam — Official Trailer : The latest DC movie, Black Adam, now has an Official Trailer. I’m looking forward to this. It may not be obvious now, but I’m 100% positive this movie does not take place in the current DCEU, just like The Batman and Joker. No other explanation for a Justice Society when there’s an obvious Justice …

John Cena is Amazing: John Cena meets Misha, a teenager with Down syndrome who fled Ukraine after his home was destroyed. To motivate Misha on their journey to safety, his mother told him the fantasy that they were on their way to find Cena. They spent the afternoon building blocks and eating cake. “How special is today? …

Illinois is Finally Recruiting like a Power 5 Program: Drew Pastorek, writing for The Champaign Room, noticed something significant. It’s only been about 18 months since Bret Bielema replaced Lovie Smith as Illinois’ head football coach. I must admit I was initially not a fan of the hire. But I was optimistic after a promising debut season. And after …

The To-Do List: Will Leitch is one of the most productive people I know. In his Medium column, he outlines what he does in a typical week and how he achieves the amazing results. I’m a little in awe. I should actually be taking notes.

Yanks figure out pitcher is tipping his pitches, a breakdown:  Jomboy is pretty great at these.

The Other Kind of Dead Time: Via Niklas Göke: Robert Greene once told Ryan Holiday that there are two kinds of time: Alive time and dead time. Dead time is when you wait for life to happen to you instead of for you. It’s when nothing seems to change for the better, yet when you take an honest look at the last six months, you …

Star Wars: X-Wing: Really amazing work.

Society: I don’t wish to sound apocalyptic about this, but one has the sense that at present our society is simultaneously characterized by wildly disproportionate accountability for trivial transgressions and zero accountability for profound institutional failure. — David Polansky (@polanskydj) May 27, 2022 …

West Coast Eats: 

“Obi-Wan” by John Williams: “Obi-Wan” by John Williams. This is glorious. Having John Williams come back to create this theme is just incredible. It is melancholy and hopeful at the same time and that takes tremendous skill. I love it so much.

Raging Against the Insanity of Guns in America: Writing at The Message Box, Dan Pfeiffer thinks there is a path forward after continued deaths by guns. He thinks there must be a continued push to fix our laws because NBA coaches and potential governors are making waves post-tragedy. He is wrong. Nothing will ever change because people voice their …

A Culture That Kills Its Children Has No Future: Elizabeth Bruenig, writing for The Atlantic, makes an excellent point about gun violence. Then there are some who say that every terrible thing—including even this untenable thing that no civilization could endure, this demonic murder lottery of schoolchildren—simply must go on, and …

Why We Keep Letting This Happen: Ross Barkan, writing for New York Magazine, echoes President Biden’s question, “When in God’s name are we going to stand up to the gun lobby?”  The answer is, of course, never. Republicans do not care about mass shootings. They can’t be shamed by their …

The Real Reason America Doesn’t Have Gun Control: Ronald Brownstein wrote a whole story about gun control for The Atlantic explaining why there’s not really any gun control in this country. Here’s the answer: Republicans. Oh yes, and the stupid filibuster. But really it’s just Republicans. You want this to stop? Quit voting for …

Unfair in my Favor: 

Pink Glasses: Randy Rainbow is a genius.

Zander Moricz Grad Speech: This Florida High Schooler was told he couldn’t say gay in his Graduation Speech, so he found a clever workaround. You see, he has curly hair.

Yadier Molina Pitches the Entire 9th inning for the Cardinals: The Pirates are really bad, but this was fun.

The Smallest Viable Audience: Seth Godin with some smart insight. The strategy of the smallest viable audience doesn’t let you off the hook-it does the opposite. You don’t get to say, “well, we’ll just wait for the next random person to find us.” Instead, you have to choose your customers-who’s it for and what’s it for. And …

Pujols Breaks Down His Pitching Performance: Hall of Fame… Pitcher?@PujolsFive breaks down his epic performance out of the ‘pen! pic.twitter.com/lHnLTvNHZj — St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) May 22, 2022 Last week, St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame first baseman/designated hitter Albert Pujols took the mound for the first time. On Sunday, …

Yadier Molina knows what the other team is going to do, a breakdown: I could not care less about Shady Rays sunglasses, but the rest of the analysis is spot on.

Misinformation: 

Maximum Clarity: Shawn Blanc on focus and decision making. One definition of Focus is “Maximum Clarity”. But, in life, having maximum clarity doesn’t always mean having absolute, perfect clarity. Focus can be a graduating scale. Sometimes, having maximum clarity right now, may still seem a bit vague… maybe you are …

Taking a Break from Social Media is Good for You: Results of a study that asked participants to take a week-long break from social media find positive effects on well-being depression, and anxiety. This should come as no surprise to anyone on social media. A team of researchers from the University of Bath (UK) evaluated the mental health impacts …

In The Blink Of An Eye: A James Bond Fan Film: I can’t believe something like this exists. The George Lazenby bit was incredible. Everyone was having a good time here.

Proof of Life - May 2022: 

Three Steps to Being More Productive: Identify what you want to do. Plan a time you will do it. Celebrate that you followed through. (And then, repeat.)

This Is Spinal Tap 2: Jordan Moreau, writing for Variety, has the scoop on the sequel to one of the greatest movies of all time, This is Spinal Tap. A sequel is in the works to the 1984 rock mockumentary “This Is Spinal Tap,” with director Rob Reiner returning alongside stars Michael McKean, Christopher …

Thinking About Friendships: Patrick Rhone has a few thoughts about friendship. This bit got me. Even worse, messaging a friend to get together for no reason at all often doesn’t even occur to us as an option. We have some open time in our self-important schedules and in the myriad of things we could choose to do, we don’t …

The Puzzle-Box Sci-Fi of Severance: Kevin Townsend, Sophie Gilbert, David Sims, and Spencer Kornhaber, writing for The Atlantic, outline what’s great about Severance. It’s an interesting discussion, but I wish they’d talk more about the true inspiration for the show, namely The Prisoner and Lost. Although they do …

Ncuti Gatwa is the Doctor: The future is here! Ncuti Gatwa is the Doctor. ❤️❤️➕🟦 #DoctorWho Read more here ➡️ https://t.co/KoxPmoNAdL pic.twitter.com/peKsH6gCjI — Doctor Who (@bbcdoctorwho) May 8, 2022 I have not seen a single thing he’s been in, but I’m sure he’ll be fantastic.

George Pérez: My all-time favorite comic book artist has died. George Perez, comic book artist and cornerstone of the industry, has died aged 67. George was diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer in 2021. Official obituary at CBR. DC comics remembers him. Marvel pays tribute. I met him once, and he spent an …

Wesley Crusher, Time Lord: I kinda like the idea of Wesley Crusher as a Time Lord. Imagine if they took the Ben Templesmith and Pia Guerra version of the 13th Doctor and copy and pasted Wesley. Obviously, no TARDIS or K9 and add a beard, but that could work.

Obi-Wan Kenobi Official Trailer: Here’s the official trailer for Obi-Wan Kenobi. This continues to look amazing. May 27 can’t get her fast enough.

The Story Behind Star Wars Day: A simple pun somehow turned into a worldwide celebration of all things Star Wars. It’s futile to try to pinpoint who first made the joke, but Zaron Burnett at Mel Magazine tries to pin it down. With Burnett’s investigation, it seems to me the real culprit is Randy Thom. It was further …

The Quality of your Questions Matter: Shawn Blanc reminds us the quality of our questions matter. Perhaps, like me, you grew up being taught that there are no stupid questions, only stupid answers. But that doesn’t mean all questions are equal. A great question will go much further in getting you to a great answer. Three of my …

Neal Adams, RIP: One of the most influential comic book artists of the 20th century, Neal Adams, died at 80. Along with Mike Grell, Carmine Infantino, and Curt Swan, Adams was one of a handful of artists I could identify without looking at the credits page. Looking at modern pencilers like Jim Lee, you can see the …

How to Plan Your Week: Per Shawn Blanc’s Twitter: Every Monday I start with this template: • Top 3 projects  • Events or themes each day  • Any misc tasks  • How I want to celebrate at the end of the week  Even a simple plan like this will eliminate dozens of …

Brandi Carlile Singing “Love Can Build a Bridge”: View this post on Instagram A post shared by Brandi Carlile (@brandicarlile) RIP Naomi Judd

You Don’t Have to Clap: Warren Ellis pointed me to this breakdown by Robin Sloan of recent developments with Twitter. It’s a good read, but this bit is the kicker: Wishful descriptions of Twitter as “the de facto public town square” or “the closest thing we have to a global …

Mystery Incorporated: Mystery Incorporated is the gritty live-action reboot of a beloved children’s animated show that we all deserve.

Memories of Things Nobody Cares About: Will Leitch, in his newsletter, spent most of it focused on his favorite movie of last year, The Worst Person in the World. The movie is about Aksel, a 43-year-old man who is dying of pancreatic cancer and reflects on his life. I have not seen the movie, but Leitch says the movie’s protagonist makes …

Instapaper Triage: In a post about a lot of different things, Alan Jacobs slips in a bit about how he uses Instapaper. Whenever I see something online that I think I want to read, I put it in Instapaper — and then I try to leave it for a while. Often when I visit Instapaper the chief thing I do is …

Elon Musk to Acquire Twitter: As it turns out, I was wrong. Elon Musk did, in fact, buy Twitter. I’m still not sure why. Per a press release from Twitter, Elon Musk is in the final stages of acquiring Twitter. Twitter, Inc. today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by an entity wholly owned …

Kyle Schwarber Explodes And Gets Ejected: Kyle Schwarber, the Phillies, and the Brewers are fed up with Angel Hernandez. This is a really bad call. For a long time, my hot baseball take was bringing the DH to the National League. It’s happened and no one has blinked an eye. The next take? bring on the robot umpires.

Non-Zero Every Day: Matt Gemmell has some good advice for writers. It’s a three-step process to eliminate zero days. I have yet to implement it, but I think I’m going to have to do something to get back on track with my own writing.

Corrective Measures Trailer: I can’t wait for everyone to meet Payback, Warden Devlin, Officer Brody, and the rest of the inhabitants of San Tiburon.

The Onion Has Been Permanently Banned from Twitter: This is an elite level of satire from The Onion as first reported by Metafilter. I laughed and laughed… Just hours ago, in a sudden, inexplicable, and chilling act of censorship, The Onion has been permanently banned from Twitter. Read all about it on their Twitter page. This is a …

Holoportation: According to a recent release from NASA, a NASA doctor appeared as a hologram at the International Space Station for a telemedicine visit with an astronaut in Oct. 8, 2021. NASA called this experience a holoportation, combining hologram and transportation. Dr. Josef Schmid and his crew were …

Sacred Space: The Morning News pointed me over to this post by Nick Cave. I liked this bit right here: I came to understand that the sacred space is the imagination itself, or rather the time spent inside the actual idea — the song you are composing, the story you are writing, or the picture you are painting. …

Wrod as a Wlohe: 

Thor: Love and Thunder - Official Teaser: Here’s the official teaser for Thor: Love and Thunder. Cool reveal at the end.

Slap bass with Synth Pedal: The very talented musician Charles Berthoud hooked up his bass guitar to a synth pedal and proceeded to perform a slap bass-forward heavy metal instrumental. The pedal gave the instrument’s usually rich, baritone sound an excellent, intriguing electronic tone. And then I found Liquid Tension …

Overhauling DC Entertainment: According to Brent Lang, writing at Variety, David Zaslav, the new CEO of the combined Warner Bros. Discovery, is reportedly looking for his version of Marvel Entertainment’s Kevin Feige. He wants: …candidates with experience in creating and nurturing blockbuster intellectual property with a goal …

The Strange (but True) History of Easter: Stephen Johnson, writing for Lifehacker, has an amusing look into the origins of Easter. Easter is weird. To religious people, it’s the most sacred day of the year, a time for reflecting on the central miracle upon which Christianity is based. And, for children, a side …

Corrective Measures on Tubi April 29: It's official!!! The @Tubi original Arcana production film "Corrective Measures is releasing on April 29th! 🌟 Who's ready to watch? • • •#correctivemeasures #tubi #arcanastudio #arcanacomics #newmovie #brucewillis #michaelrooker #tubioriginal pic.twitter.com/W31Y30S2d9 — Arcana Studio …

Elon Musk Offers to Buy Twitter: According to a report from Reuters, Elon Musk has offered to buy Twitter for $41.39 billion. Musk, who calls himself a free-speech absolutist, has been critical of the social media platform and its policies, and recently ran a poll on Twitter asking users if they believed the platform adheres to …

Star Trek: The Next Generation: The Animated Series: What if Star Trek: The Next Generation was animated in the 70s instead of produced as live-action a decade later? How fun is this? The attention to detail is astounding, from the lack of whites and shifting of their eyes to the strange angles of the shots and the weird pacing. It’s the music that …

Movies and Streaming: Peter Kafka, writing for Vox, peers into a crystal ball and sees where movie theater experiences and streaming are headed. Going to the movies — with friends, with strangers — and enjoying something together in the dark for a couple of hours is a very specific experience, and it’s getting taken …

Start From Quiet: I loved this post from Niklas Göke. How often do you sit in a quiet room, by yourself, before you take the next step? It could be any step: buying bread, heading to the office, opening your laptop to send an email, powering up your gaming console, reading a book, making dinner, taking a nap, …

Gilbert Gottfried Dead at 67: Gilbert Gottfried, whose amazingly grating voice so perfectly illustrated his abrasive brand of comedy, is dead at 67. “In addition to being the most iconic voice in comedy, Gilbert was a wonderful husband, brother, friend and father to his two young children,” the Gottfried family …

They Think Their Hate Makes Them Special: John DeVore, writing at his site Humungus, explains the mind of the current Republican Party simply and without any pretension. It is obvious that their plan to win back the House and Senate during the 2022 midterm elections is straight from their oldest playbook: preach prejudice, spread lies, and …

WATCHTOWER: Warren Ellis wrote a new short story entitled WATCHTOWER, and it’s a fun read. Here’s how Ellis pitched it to potential readers: I was in the mood to try some pop-sci Andy Weir style good time writing, a mood that was responding to the preponderance of Sad Astronaut stories in tv and …

Alternate Universes: Nicholas Bate on writing: Incredibly, there are whole new alternate universes hidden deep in your brain. Unique to you. Writing will access them. He’s not wrong.

Transforming in the Here and Now: Rebecca Toh, writing on her site, explains where she’s at with self-improvement. There is simply no imaginary day in the bright future ahead when we’d wake up in the morning transformed, an ideal version of ourselves. There is only transforming in the here and the now. She is …

Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 8: Honestly, this is what everyone really wanted at the start.

Now is the New: Niklas Goke wrote something worthwhile about “newness” and “nowness.” In Effortless, Greg McKeown muses that “the word now comes from a Latin phrase, novus homo, which means ‘a new man’ or ‘man newly …

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: Damn it. I’m going to have to break down and get Paramount+ aren’t I?

In the Shadow of the Star Wars Kid: In 2002, a 15-year-old Quebec boy named Ghyslain Raza filmed himself swinging a golf ball retriever in imitation of Darth Maul’s double-bladed light saber from The Phantom Menace. The private video leaked onto the internet and became perhaps the biggest viral video of the …

The Slap Trap Clap: Dave Pell, the managing editor of the Internet, has had enough: A request from the managing editor to the internet I cover: Stop. Seriously, stop with the bothsidesing think-pieces about Will Smith’s slap. I’m sure Alopecia can be a traumatic condition, but this isn’t story about Alopecia. We’re …

Belo: Andre Curbelo has entered the transfer portal. I am not surprised, but I am a little sad. He had one of the best freshman seasons last year and one of the worst sophomore seasons this year. Perhaps, as everyone seems to say, a fresh start would do wonders for him and the Fighting Illini Men’s …

Welcome Home: pic.twitter.com/Q1CoB8REUW — St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) March 28, 2022 I still can’t quite believe it.

Will Smith Smacks Chris Rock, a Breakdown: Here’s the Jomboy breakdown you didn’t think you needed but will give you all the necessary context for the slap heard ‘round the world at the 2022 Oscars. Personally, I watched Will Smith smack Chris Rock live. He then went on to win the best actor award and deliver a rambling, semi-coherent speech …

Foo Fighters Drummer Taylor Hawkins Dead at 50: Kat Bouza has the story for Rolling Stone: Taylor Hawkins, the jovial, ferocious drummer for Foo Fighters for more than two decades, has died at the age of 50, according to a statement from the band. “The Foo Fighters family is devastated by the tragic and untimely loss of our beloved Taylor …

The Japanese Sword as the Soul of the Samurai: This documentary on the making of Japanese swords, narrated by George Takei, offers a fascinating look at the exhaustive process of forging samurai swords. In the 1969 short documentary The Japanese Sword as the Soul of the Samurai, the US filmmaker Kenneth Wolfgang (1931-2011) is allowed rare …

Jackassery: Nebraska Senator Ben Sasse (R), during today’s confirmation hearing for Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson: I think we should recognize that the jackassery we often see around here is partly because of people mugging for short-term camera opportunities. I’m sorry, but no …

Digital Dust: Rick Beato plays the demo he made with a country duo, Muddy Magnolia, that was lost to the sands of time, and it sounds like something you should’ve heard on the radio. I enjoyed the Muddy Magnolia live version, but the demo is better.

If We’re Back to ‘Normal,’ Why Am I Still So Exhausted All the Time?: Dan Sinker, writing for Esquire, wonders what is normal after two years of the pandemic. Going back to normal is the wrong direction anyway. We need to move forward, to build new lives, better lives. Lives that address the inequalities laid bare in the pandemic, that pay people doing work we deemed …

Joe Buck and Troy Aikman Become New Voices of Monday Night Football: From Derek Volner in the ESPN Press Room: ESPN has signed acclaimed play-by-play commentator Joe Buck and leading football analyst Troy Aikman to multi-year deals, as the NFL’s longest current booth pairing and Pro Football Hall of Fame members will become the new voices of Monday Night …

Online Roland Synthesizer: This is a time killer. In celebration of 50 years, Roland has collaborated with sound designer Yuri Suzuki to create Roland50 Studio, a digital reworking of some of their most famous and influential devices. You can play with a trio of Roland music machines for the musically inclined (and the no …

I Need A New Butt: I have never heard of I Need a New Butt, but it sounds hilarious and perfectly appropriate for second graders. A young boy suddenly notices a big problem — his butt has a huge crack! So he sets off to find a new one. Will he choose an armor-plated butt? A rocket butt? A robot butt? Find out in this …

Scott Hall, RIP: Hey…yo. Scott Hall, WWE Hall of Famer and co-founder of pro wrestling’s legendary New World Order faction, died on Monday after being taken off of life support by his family following complications from hip surgery. He was 63. He was the man who kicked off the biggest boom …

Cardinals Maybe Interested in Albert Pujols: Do you want to get Cardinals fans excited? Tell them Pujols is returning to St. Louis to join the Wainwright/Molina farewell tour. At the very least, tell them there’s a chance. Last year, Pujols became a free agent during the regular season. Fans got excited about a potential reunion. President of …

There Will Be Baseball: Let the fun begin! pic.twitter.com/c7KQKSj618 — MLB (@MLB) March 11, 2022 Baseball is back! After 99 days of a lockout on the players, the MLB owners and Players Association agreed to a new Collective Bargaining Agreement. So, after all that hand-wringing and soul-crushing shenanigans, what exactly …

Friday Night Baseball: Somehow, I missed this news from Apple entirely. The Verge outlines the new way for people to watch baseball: During the company’s Peek Performance event on Tuesday, Apple boss Tim Cook announced that Apple’s streaming service will feature two Major League Baseball games on …

3x5: The 3 x 5 life of Patrick Rhone. This is an interesting approach to task management. I’ve always thought his Dash/Plus system was cool. I appreciate Patrick providing his GTD guided mindsweep. I might have to try this.

Star Trek/Wars Teasers: New Star Trek and Star Wars television series are coming soon, and their first real teasers have hit the interwebs. Both shows hit their respective streaming services in May. First up is the Star Trek: Strange New Worlds teaser trailer, which fans of Star Trek: Discovery have already seen glimpses …

Emilio Delgado, Luis on Sesame Street for 45 Years, Dead at 81: Emilio Delgado, who portrayed singing shop owner Luis Rodriguez on Sesame Street, died in New York. He spent more than half of his life on the show, and he holds the record for the longest-running role for a Mexican American actor in a television show. Sesame Workshop mourns the passing of Emilio …

Heardle: I watched someone else play Wordle and thought a.) This seems like fun and b.) I would suck at this, like really suck. However, I found Heardle which is like if Name That Tune and Wordle had a baby. It seemed way more up my alley. First opportunity to play, I had no clue at all what the song was. …

How Did This Many Deaths Become Normal?: Ed Yong, writing for The Atlantic, examines the distinct lack of societal change that is occurring after millions have died and nearly a million alone in just the United States. He starts and doesn’t let up: The United States reported more deaths from COVID-19 last Friday than deaths from Hurricane …

Did Dua Lipa ACTUALLY Plagiarize Levitating?: I’m sure you’ve heard Dua Lipa’s song, “Levitating.” It’s super catchy and set some Billboard records. You may have heard a band called Artikal Sound System saying that “Levitating” was ripped off from their song “Live Your Life.” They absolutely sound the same …

Illinois Basketball - Big Ten Champs: 

Marketing Designer for Publishing: This is a really interesting and useful article: the job of a marketing designer at a book publishing house. It is not book cover design. It is all the promotional and branding work that wraps around that cover and that book.

Death Don’t Wait: Chris Farren has put together a (mostly) instrumental soundtrack for a Bond-esque spy movie that exists entirely in his head. I love everything about this project. Peter Helman, writing on Stereogum, has the story. “I thought about what every action movie has,” Farren says. …

Ted Chiang: Last year during the pandemic, I read the two collections by Ted Chiang, Stories of Your Life and Others and Exhalation: Stories. He’s easily one of the best authors in contemporary science fiction. What’s surprising is Chiang has published only eighteen short stories in the last thirty years, one …

Falling Asleep to Fake Baseball: It looks like there isn’t going to be any Major League Baseball in the foreseeable future, but if you are old enough to remember staying up late with a radio tuned to a baseball game and gently falling asleep to the dulcet tones of Jack Buck, Vin Scully, or Curt Gowdy, a Chicago-based media producer …

Why Russia Invaded Ukraine: RealLifeLore and Open Culture have made a tremendous video explaining everything leading up to the invasion of Ukraine by Russia. Why did Russia launch an unprovoked war in Ukraine and risk creating a wider global conflict? If you haven’t closely tracked the ambitions of Vladimir Putin, this …

Musical Jenga: Musical jenga is when strangers on the Internet take turns adding another level of music to each other’s creations. Sometimes they sing about muffins or procrastination. Sometimes they duet with frogs or dryers. Sometimes the original participants know …

Zero to Possible: Nicholas Bate gifts us all with a new list: Zero soda; maximum water. Zero in-box; maximum filed to category and action list. Zero lifts/escalator; maximum stairs. Zero processed food; maximum fresh, local and cooked by self. Zero blackberry-at-table; maximum great uninterrupted conversation. Zero …

Rocco in Repose: 

The Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser: To be crystal clear, I would never pay $6,000 to pretend to be an inhabitant of the Star Wars universe for two days. Maybe in 1978, but not in 2022. If you love LARPing, more power to you. It is not my thing. Joel Cunningham, writing for Gizmodo/io9, outlines what you get for that crazy …

Pressure: I don’t know about you, but I have a general feeling of helplessness right now, and I don’t like it. I imagine we are all experiencing that same depression and inability to fix [waves hands around randomly] everything. The pressure keeps building. Flashpoints are happening in a dozen different …

Hard Truths: Casey Newton wrote a lengthy piece about Donald Trump’s new social media app, Truth Social. It’s really good. What else is there to say about Truth Social? It’s based on technology from Mastodon, the open-source social network. Its parent company, Trump Technology & Media …

Sally Kellerman Dies at 84: Sally Kellerman, best known for her role as Margaret “Hot Lips” Houlihan in M.A.S.H. and Dr. Elizabeth Dehner in the Star Trek episode, “Where No Man Has Gone Before” has died at the age of 84. She was obviously great in M.A.S.H and Star Trek, but I think I liked her performance in Back to School …

Russia Begins Large-scale Invasion of Ukraine: Russia has invaded Ukraine. So far, this has been a conventional war with shelling and missile strikes. I think this is the first major European war in which one country has invaded another with the intent of permanently taking its territory since World War II. Chilling stuff. The New York Times has …

Hanlon’s Razor: From Patrick Rhone: These days, Hanlon’s razor is about the only way I can make sense of the world. Unfortunately, I share this sentiment.

The Anti-Trilogy: Star Wars YouTube scholar So Uncivilized dives into the sins of the sequel series from The Force Awakens devolving Han Solo into an anti-hero, The Last Jedi subverting itself, and The Rise of Skywalker existing, and in doing so, creates an anti-trilogy …

TWOsday: It’s TWOsday! Today (February 22, 2022) is both a palindrome and an ambigram in some formats, which is cool. I’m also afraid, 2/22/22 will be remembered as the start of a massive European land war. Or maybe just as code for urgently needing a public restroom.

The Madison Punchslap: Chris Branch, writing The Athletic Pulse newsletter, outlines the mess at the end of the Wisconsin versus Michigan basketball game. In the final minute of Wisconsin’s 77-63 win over Michigan on Sunday, Badgers coach Greg Gard called two timeouts with less than a minute to go, the last one coming …

Nightbirde has Passed: Nightbirde, who went viral after her performance on America’s Got Talent has died after a cancer battle. Her story and performance of her original song are amazing. Her line, “You can’t wait until your life isn’t hard anymore before you decide to be happy” was inspirational. She was …

A Full Hall of Fame Career Player Away: Kevin Wildes has an ice-cold take that should settle the Michael Jordan versus LeBron James GOAT debate once for all. It’s just brilliant. "I'm going to invent a player here: guy w/ 2 titles, 2 Finals MVP, league MVP, 3 All-Defense teams, DPOY & 9 scoring titles. That's the …

If NFTs Were Honest: Cracked’s “Roger” is a real straight shooter known for telling it like it is in their Honest Ads series. ​So, he’s been enlisted to share the truth about the “exciting world of non-fungible tokens.” This whole series is smart …

Lockout Timing: The Athletic has everything the casual professional baseball fan might need to know about the lockout they might have only just started noticing. MLB and the players association met for 15 short minutes Thursday, but the sides will likely reconvene soon to go over the players’ latest …

You Need to Be Watching Ayo Dosunmu: Kevin O’Connor breaks down why the Bulls rookie’s game is advanced beyond his years, how he fits on this team, and what he needs to do to become a star player. Steal of the Draft. Illinois fans knew.

Our Country is Filled with Problems; Reading Too Many Books Isn’t One of Them: Ryan Holiday has an essay that speaks directly to me personally even though it was written for everyone. America has many problems. Reading too many books is not one of them. In fact, I would argue that our problems stem from the exact opposite. We spend too much time online. We watch too …

In the Dark: Eliza Strickland and Mark Harris, writing at IEEE Spectrum, outline a trend I never would have thought possible. Hundreds of recipients of retinal implants will be “in the dark” after the company makes them goes out of business—an outcome expected imminently after layoffs …

Thinking About the DH: Bernie Miklasz, on his Bern Baby Bern column for Scoops With Danny Mac, has a few smart thoughts about the DH coming to the National League Pitching has become so specialized, MLB makes extensive use of designated pitchers — mostly relievers that have a specific duty for a …

Joel Coen’s The Tragedy of Macbeth, Reviewed by Ethan Coen: Jeff Maurer has a fun Substack called I Might Be Wrong, writing humorous essays. He was a former Senior Writer for Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, so the guy has some chops. It was recently brought to my attention that I needed to read one from way back in January, where he wrote a review of …

The Fourth Star Trek Movie is Coming Soon: JJ Abrams says a new Star Trek film “with the original cast” will start shooting by the end of the year. — Jason Lynch 🇺🇦 (@jasonlynch) February 15, 2022 Matt Shakman, fresh from directing WandaVision and has done work on Game of Thrones, has been tapped to direct. It will be interesting to see if …

Pulling Back the NIL Curtain: David Ubben, writing for The Athletic, published a fantastic story about what’s going on behind the scenes at Tennessee, where an in-house “college sports collective” is aiming to raise $25 million a year to fund athlete name, image, and likeness deals. Not a typo. Things that …

Metamates: Mike Isaac and Sheera Frenkel, reporting for The New York Times, has the most important story of our time: What employees of Meta will now be called by their android/alien boss. Google’s employees are called Googlers. Amazon’s workers are known as Amazonians. Yahoo’s employees …

Will He Stay or Will He Go?: I don’t really care too much about Sean McVay or the Los Angeles Rams. However, the story about McVay considering retiring at age 36 is interesting. Dylan Hernandez, writing for the Los Angeles Times, has the story. The Rams were only a handful of hours removed from a Super Bowl LVI …

Ivan Reitman Dies at 75: Ivan Reitman, director of comedies such as Animal House and Ghostbusters, is dead at 75. Known for bawdy comedies that caught the spirit of their time, Reitman’s big break came with the raucous, college fraternity sendup “National Lampoon’s Animal House,” which he …

It’s the Sweet One: I was today years old when I learned Season 1 American Idol runner-up Justin Guarini plays and sings as Lil’ Sweet, the Dr. Pepper commercial mascot. My mind is sufficiently blown.

Can Rams-Bengals Give the NFL’s TV Ratings a Hollywood Ending?: It seems the Super Bowl has not been getting tremendous ratings these last few games. If you’ve been following along this year you might know the last six NFL playoff games have all come down to the final minute, with five of those games being won on the last play. Those games have jumped up …

Star Trek vs Star Wars in the New York Times Crossword Puzzle: Caitlin Lovinger, writing for The New York Times, has a breakdown of last Sunday’s New York Times crossword puzzle. The constructor, Stephen McCarthy, embedded a wonderful trick centered on the Star Trek vs. Star Wars debate. For the clue “The better of two sci-fi franchises,” …

The Ultimate Minimalist Phone: Greg Morris, writing at his site, thinks he’s figured out the ultimate minimalist phone. SPOILER: it’s a cellular version of the Apple Watch. Perhaps my perfect combination would be an iPad Mini and an Apple Watch. I can’t see a future where the smartphone won’t dominate …

My Personality Transplant: Olga Khazan, writing in The Atlantic, gave herself three months to change her personality.   I’ve never really liked my personality, and other people don’t like it either. In grad school, a partner and I were assigned to write fake obituaries for each other by interviewing …

Obi-Wan Kenobi Release Date: The long-awaited Obi-Wan Kenobi series has finally set a release date, one Star Wars fans will recognize. Obi-Wan Kenobi, starring Ewan McGregor as the iconic Jedi Master, will release on May 25. That date, of course, is when the original Star Wars movie hit theaters. A …

Explaining Russia and Ukraine: Here’s what seems like a good “explainer” about what’s going on with Russia and Ukraine. Like you, I have no idea what’s going to happen there but someone — actually a lot of someones, plural — will be very unhappy.

Douglas Trumbull, Dead at 79: Douglas Trumbull, visual effects visionary, has died at 79. Legendary for his work on 2001: A Space Odyssey (including the Star Gate sequence), he also had a hand in Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Blade Runner and The Tree of Life, and directed Silent …

Why Denmark Is Done With COVID: Derek Thompson, writing for The Atlantic, explains Denmark’s decision to lift all COVID restrictions. The author spoke with Michael Bang Petersen, a Danish researcher who led a global survey of COVID attitudes and advises the Danish government. It is interesting how the country handles the …

Nandi Bushell Playing Tom Sawyer: Nandi Bushell is a drum prodigy with the most incredible drum covers. This one is for you Professor Peart. I wanted to try a @rush song that would really challenge me. I watched an interview were the Professor said Tom Sawyer ‘remains so difficult to play’. So I thought I would give it a try. It’s …

Hot Toddy: Since the big snow fall, I’ve shoveled the driveway three times and have finally finished. Each time, I’ve come inside and my amazing wife has made me an absolutely awesome Irish whiskey hot toddy. Now, I’m hoping for more snow1… Not really.↩︎

The End of the Pandemic is Here: M. G. Siegler, writing on his site 500ish, outlines his feeling that we are on the other side of the pandemic. He makes a lot of good points and comes to this conclusion: We are coming out of this. Not in the most graceful way, but in a human one. The virus will still remain. People will still get …

The Worst Day of Mark Zuckerberg’s Reign: Kevin T. Dugan, writing for New York Magazine Intelligencer, explains the slide of Facebook. At times, an earnings report causes a stock’s price to fall precipitously only for it to moderate in the hour or so after, when the company’s executives calm down Wall Street by saying that …

Ignore Them: People sometimes ask me, “Hank, how do you stay hopeful when many people you deeply disagree with are powerful, whiny, and intolerably annoying?” Wanna know my secret? I ignore them. — Hank Green (@hankgreen) February 4, 2022 Good advice.

Ayo Dosunmu’s impact on Illinois Basketball: Michael Bales, writing for Smile Politely, has a nice retrospective on Dosunmu’s Fighting Illini Basketball career. The whole thing is a nice little writeup, but the killer sentence is this: Illinois may not have won the NCAA tournament in 2021, but thanks to the winning culture Dosunmu …

The Washington Commanders: One legacy. One unified future. We are the Washington Commanders #TakeCommand pic.twitter.com/Eav9NOV5Mm — Washington Commanders (@Commanders) February 2, 2022 I don’t hate it, but I don’t love it either. I wanted Redtails as the new name and something akin to this concept, …

Donald Trump is practically daring prosecutors to indict him: Kevin Drum, writing on his site Jabberwoking, marvels at how Donald Trump is out there just incriminating himself. I haven’t written about the mounting evidence of Donald Trump’s desperate attempts to hold onto power after losing the 2020 election, mainly because it seems like we’ve known most of …

Tom Brady Retires: In a post on Instagram, Brady formally announced his retirement. He’s hanging up his cleats to focus his time and energy on his family, businesses, and brands. He might be the greatest quarterback ever. Easily the best I was able to witness. He holds NFL career records for: 243 …

Illinois and the problem with extremely weird circumstances: Eamonn Brennan, in The Athletic, has a fascinating look at how the NCAA Tournament committee will look at the resume of the Fighting Illini Men’s Basketball team. On Nov. 15, star guard Andre Curbelo played disastrously in a one-point loss to Marquette, a game Cockburn missed. A …

Mondays: Nicholas Bate, offering up more ideas about Monday. Have no fear. Stare it straight in the eyes. Choose the play-list carefully. Monday: a nomenclature, an attitude, a day in the schedule. Not a reality.

Roses are red…: When you hear a rhyme which goes: Roses are Red, Violets are ‘Blue’… You need to prepare yourself to hear something which is at best only partly true.

Reboot: Nicholas Bate on productivity. Use the time-period change to re-focus. At the end of the day, consider tomorrow. At the end of the week, consider next week. At the end of the month, consider next month. Consider? That’s plan, anticipate and schedule.

Howard Hessman, RIP: J. Kim Murphy, writing for Variety, has the news. Howard Hesseman, a prolific character actor who became a beloved TV mainstay through his roles on sitcoms “WKRP in Cincinnati” and “Head of the Class,” died Saturday at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center Los Angeles of complications from colon surgery he …

Tennessee School Board Removes Holocaust Graphic Novel Maus From Its Curriculum: Rob Bricken, writing for Gizmodo, outlines the short-sighted school board's decision to remove Maus from its middle-school curriculum. As reports, the 10-member board voted-unanimously-to remove Maus from its eighth-grade literary curriculum because of its “objectionable language” and nudity back on …

10 Things College Doesn’t Teach You: Matt D’Avella made a cool video about college and after. His videos are always smart and entertaining. College rarely prepares you with practical life advice that will help you keep your shit together. But hey, who needs a six-figure degree when you have YouTube? In this video I want to dive into …

Getting it Back: Peter Jackson’s Get Back has, rightfully, been much-discussed. This essay by Ian Leslie, for his site The Ruffian, is one of my favorite takes. I think this is the definitive examination on Get Back. Perfect long read on a lazy Sunday.

This is Joe Rogan?: This is the worst rendition of “Who’s on First?” I’ve ever seen pic.twitter.com/YneZcoOmQU — Robin Tran 🏳️‍⚧️ (@robintran04) January 26, 2022 I don’t give a shit about Joe Rogan, but this clip makes me think he has some of the stupidest people ever on his show. I highly recommend that you all watch …

Searching for Suzy Thunder: A really entertaining and interesting piece by Claire Evans about Susan Thunder aka Susan Headley, a pioneering phone phreaker and computer hacker who ran with the likes of Kevin Mitnick and then just quietly disappeared. This is just a wild, perfect profile. She was known, back then, as Susan …

The Important Thing: The important thing to remember about the VR Metaverse is that it’s not going to happen. — Hank Green (@hankgreen) January 26, 2022

Behind the Scenes of DeMar DeRozan and Ayo Dosunmu: When Ayo had his Illinois jersey retired, DeMar had to be there to support 🙌@AyoDos_11 | @IlliniMBB pic.twitter.com/UZELryl7Az — Chicago Bulls (@chicagobulls) January 25, 2022 What a great video.

“We have jetpacks and we do not care.”: Dave Eggers, writing for The Guardian, explains that we have jetpacks and do not care. Not one bit. Jet packs meant the future. It’s here, and most of us are whatever… We have jetpacks and we do not care. An Australian named David Mayman has invented a functioning jetpack and has flown it all over …

A Non-Zero Life: From Shawn Blanc – As anyone who knows about building habits, long-term consistency is everything. There is an idea with habits and routines that you always want a non-zero day. A non-zero day is a day where you at least do something — just so long as you don’t do nothing: Do …

The Unvaccinated Are the Extreme Fringe: Will Leitch on how finally the unvaccinated are the extreme fringe. People like Djokovic — and Aaron Rodgers, and Kyrie Irving, and Joe Rogan, and Ice Cube — always think people are on their side, like they’re the leaders of some sort of vast movement, like they have public …

Dumb: I can’t stop thinking about how dumb the Cowboys-49ers game was. I don’t watch much NFL football, but I did have this game on in the background. The last play of the game, a shockingly dumb call that had Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott run the ball up the middle …

Mini-Golf in Gerrymandered Districts: The Washington Post has an interactive game that’s smart and fun. Play a 9-hole course of mini-golf where each hole is shaped like a gerrymandered voting district. The 8th hole, of comically shaped 4th district in Illinois, is a par 12. (Hole 9 is a par 26 in Maryland.)  This is more fun …

Carl Sagan Predicting the Future: 

The New York Times to Buy The Athletic for $550 Million in Cash: Lauren Hirsch, Kevin Draper, and Katherine Rosman, writing for The New York Times, tell the story of their acquisition of The Athletic. The New York Times Company has reached an agreement to buy The Athletic, the online sports news outlet with 1.2 million subscriptions, in an all-cash deal valued at …

Ayo Dosunmu Jersey Raising: Just an incredible honor. What a great ceremony. It also speaks volumes that DeMar DeRozan, his Bulls teammate, NBA All-Star, and MVP Candidate made the trek to watch this ceremony. DeMar came out to Ayo’s jersey retirement ceremony in Champaign. That’s love ❤️ pic.twitter.com/T5X68wmsMw — Chicago …

The Big Lie: Kevin Drum lays the basics of what happened a year ago today. Here are the basics. Gruesome details are available everywhere for anyone who’s interested. On November 3, 2020, Joe Biden was elected president. Donald Trump then spent months promoting lawsuits and other efforts designed to …

Rein in the Panic: Kevin Drum, on his blog, has a few ideas about COVID panic. I think it’s time to rein in the testing panic a bit. It’s probably also time to rein in the overall COVID panic a bit, but this message is aimed more at the media than at ordinary people. News coverage of COVID is just …

Mayo Clinic Fires 700 Unvaccinated Employees: CBS Minnesota reports the firing of hundreds of unvaccinated employees from the Mayo Clinic. The dismissed employees make up about 1% of Mayo’s 73,000 workforce. Officials say while it’s sad to lose valuable employees, it’s essential to keep patients, the workforce, visitors …

Preview the Kaiju Preservation Society: #TheKaijuPreservationSociety is @scalzi’s first standalone adventure since the conclusion of his @nytimes bestselling Interdependency trilogy. Download a FREE sneak peek today!https://t.co/XAyrZyA8BT — Tor Books (@torbooks) January 4, 2022

Defensive/offensive/actual: Seth Godin somehow has found a way to describe me perfectly. I don’t like it. The problem with becoming defensive is that our internal narrative gets in the way of expressing what’s actually going on. Because we’re imagining all the blame and shame and scorn that the other …

Behind Low Vaccination Rates Lurks a More Profound Social Weakness: Anita Sreedhar and Anand Gopal writing in The New York Times about vaccine hesitancy in the US hits on an idea that is disappointing, but not surprising. Public health is no longer viewed as a collective endeavor, based on the principle of social solidarity and mutual obligation. People are …

Twitter Permanently Suspends Marjorie Taylor Greene’s Personal Account: Daniel Politi, writing for Slate, reports on Marjorie Taylor Greene not understanding the First Amendment. Twitter permanently suspended the personal account of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene for repeatedly violating the company’s policy against publishing COVID-19 misinformation on the …

The Story and The Climb: It's all about the cliiiimb 🗣 @MileyCyrus and @BrandiCarlile perform "The Story" and "The Climb" at #MileysNewYearsEveParty on NBC and @PeacockTV. pic.twitter.com/2Mxws9xwke — NBC Entertainment (@nbc) January 1, 2022 The best part of the special. Easily.

January 1: December 31 means a great deal to me. It’s the last day of the year, of course. However, it’s also my mother’s birthday and the day I lost my right eye in a freak accident. My accident isn’t something I think about daily. I was only eight years old. When I do think about it, I only think of fleeting …

Don’t waste the good days: Seth Godin on not wasting time with the wrong priorities. If you’re feeling creative, do the errands tomorrow. If you’re fit and healthy, take a day to go surfing. When inspiration strikes, write it down. The calendar belongs to everyone else. Their schedule isn’t your schedule …

Don’t Look Back: Boston’s second album is called Don’t Look Back. The title track’s lyrics are inspirational — A new day is breakin’/It’s been too long since I felt this way/I don’t mind where I get taken/The road is callin’/Today is the day While the song is probably more about the band on the road than embracing …

The Pattern: Dave Pell took a story about Ben Affleck, his marriage, and drinking and turned it into a treatise on how the media screws up stories. You should read his assessment of the Affleck kerfuffle, but more importantly, why his explanation and description of the reports fall right in line with the dumbest …

Can the U.S. Men’s Soccer Team Unite the Divided States of America?: Will Leitch would like to turn back the clock on sports and politics. I, for one, cannot wait to root hard for the USMNT tomorrow night, when they host Mexico in Cincinnati: Beating our rivals in World Cup qualifiers in Ohio is a U.S. Soccer tradition I’m ready to return to. But can the …

Kyle Rittenhouse Is A Dumb Kid Who Killed Two People And Is Adored By Angry White Men: This headline by John DeVore is troubling, a little shocking, and sadly all too true. I have only seen the odd clips of this trial, but from what little I’ve seen it looks like the judge is biased, but ultimately it won’t matter what the jury decides. It doesn’t …

How Newsletters Survived Technology: The killer medium is email. The killer service is the newsletter. Why? Because you have control. Dave Pell should know… he’s the Managing Editor of the Internet. Thanks in part to humanity’s success against the scourge of spam, the inbox is one of the few places …

Turn It Up: Nicholas Bate on turning up. Turn up at the page rain or shine, good mood or bad mood, inspired or not. Much writing is the mechanics of fingers on keyboard and pencil jottings in a notebook. And habit makes that easier. I really need to get into a better writing habit.

Football Will Never Stop Coming Up With New Ways To Ruin Football: I have found, late in life, that I kinda sorta enjoy watching games when they are on my television. I don’t go out of my way to watch, but sometimes it’s fun to take in a game without a rooting interest. I do not have a favorite NFL team. On Monday, I got sucked into the Steelers/Bears game and saw …

Eddie Kingston Got No Business F***ing Being Here: I’m not up on the current events of professional wrestling. I used to be. I used to know it all inside and out. The shoots. The bookers. The legends. The up and comers. Now, I’m out. Been out for a while. And then my friend points me to this post about a wrestler I’ve never …

The Real Benefits Of Staying Off Social Media: Ivaylo Durmonsky has a very well-written article exploring social media's deeper aspects. Yes, quitting social media or doing a social media detox will calm your senses and increase your well-being. Plus, you keep your personal data for a little longer. But there is something else. Something I don’t …

Aaron Rodgers sucks and has always sucked: Drew Magary on the tired act of Aaron Rodgers: If you still wanna call Aaron Rodgers the greatest quarterback of all time, whether it’s because of his incomparable style of play or because you just don’t wanna say it’s Tom Brady like everyone else would, go right ahead. …

Seriously, You Can Still Ignore Trump: It’s still racist.   Will Leitch on Trump: I’ve enjoyed the last 10 months of not having Trump barge his way into every conversation I’ve had about anything, whether it was sports, movies, music, food, whatever. Trump’s signature skill is turning every conversation into a conversation about …

How Stupid is the Metaverse?: I’d say pretty stupid. I mean, it’s a science-fictional idea that may or may not happen in my lifetime. In the short term, it’s just a shiny object that Zuck wants to use to fool people into thinking his company is not a terrible one on practically every level. Matt Birchler …

Stories For Imaginary Friends is an emotional journey through the dark night of the soul: Zed Snyder, writing for Smile Politely, has a nice write-up for Dan Wild’s new collection. Stories For Imaginary Friends guides you into the dark, but it also brings you out the other side realizing that you didn’t just read a collection of stories. You’re …

The Halloween Song: Tim Curry explains why Halloween is great in “The Halloween Song” from the 1986 film adaptation of The Worst Witch. This is always the best thing about Halloween.

Bloodshed: A ton of reporters contributed to this Washington Post feature today about how the insurrection of January 6 played out. It starts off with these damning first five paragraphs. Live television news coverage showed the horror accelerating minute by minute after 1:10 p.m., when Trump had …

Let it fly: Andre Curbelo, Kofi Cockburn lead an Illinois team ready to run and shoot: I’ve been waiting forever for The Athletic to do a feature on the Fighting Illini Men’s Basketball team since I saw the first of their “The Program” series. Brendan Quinn’s article is insightful, smart, and ends with these two paragraphs: Underwood has established himself as one of the better …

Beggin’: So, I was today years old when I learned that the big international hit “Beggin’” by Måneskin is actually a cover of a Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons song of the same name. I was surprised how close Damiano David’s voice is to Frankie Valli on the song. Also, I …

Dune: Part Two: This is only the beginning... Thank you to those who have experienced @dunemovie so far, and those who are going in the days and weeks ahead. We're excited to continue the journey! pic.twitter.com/mZj68Hnm0A — Legendary (@Legendary) October 26, 2021 I really didn’t think it …

Oliver Marmol Is A Manager Made For These Times.: Bernie Miklasz with the inside story. I can’t say that Oliver Marmol was born to manage the Cardinals. But this is true: he was raised to manage the Cardinals. The inevitable became official on Tuesday morning, when chairman Bill DeWitt Jr. and president of baseball operations John Mozeliak …

Facebook Papers: ‘History Will Not Judge Us Kindly’: Here it is. Facebook is bad. You already knew this, but whatever. Over the weekend, we learned even more about what Facebook has known about its platform all along. Seventeen news outlets, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, Politico, and released dozens of stories based on thousands …

Truth Social: In case you were wondering whatever happened to that one guy who used to occupy the Oval Office, he tried to start a blog. It failed. Now, he’s back at it trying to launch a “social media” site called Truth Social. Looks like it’s gone belly-up before it even got off the …

NHL player suspended for 21 games after trying to submit a fake Covid vaccination card: Evander Kane, a forward with the San Jose Sharks, is out for 21 games after turning in a fake Covid vaccination card to his team and the National Hockey League. Officials were not fooled; Kane is apparently apologetic. “I would like to apologize to my teammates, the San Jose …

The Key Art Edition: Key art, if you don’t know, are the images that identify shows in streaming menus. I am old enough to remember TV listings in the newspaper and TV Guides. I still surf channels on the guide with my digital cable, but I also scroll through the onscreen menus of streaming services. …

Paul McCartney tells the story of writing Eleanor Rigby: In the New Yorker, Paul McCartney wrote down the story behind all the lonely people. The song itself was consciously written to evoke the subject of loneliness, with the hope that we could get listeners to empathize. Those opening lines—“Eleanor Rigby / Picks up the rice in …

Facebook is planning to rebrand the company with a new name: Alex Heath, writing for The Verge, has the scoop. Facebook is planning to change its company name next week to reflect its focus on building the metaverse, according to a source with direct knowledge of the matter. The coming name change, which CEO Mark Zuckerberg plans to talk about at the …

Productivity for a Monday: Nicholas Bate with some advice to add a bit more productivity to your life… by subtraction Just when you are being seduced into adding more to your life, subtract something. Just when you feel driven to do more stuff,  choose what is actually important and do less.  Just …

Mike Shildt Fired: The Cardinals have agreed to part ways with Manager Mike Shildt. — St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) October 14, 2021 Shildt has been in the organization for the better part of a decade I think. What could those “philosophical differences” be at this juncture? We’ll probably never know. I sure hope …

Cleartones: Josh Ginter pitches the wonderfulness of Cleartones. Cleartones are awesome. They’re simple notification tones and ringtones made with simple instruments. To me, these are the ringtones Apple would make if they, you know, made better ringtones. I remember seeing Cleartones years …

Big Deal: 

Illinois’ message to the rest of the Big Ten? Stay mad: So, a whole article about fans and their interaction and loyalty to a program. What the hell is this? Illinois is going to be ranked in the top ten and probably top five of CBB this season. They are going to be good. And all we get is a commentary about Hunter Dickenson hating on Illinois and their …

The Bill Maher Prediction: Bill Maher on his program, Real Time, said the following: “Here’s the easiest three predictions in the world. Trump will run in 2024. He will get the Republican nomination. And whatever happens on election night, the next day he will announce that he won.” The clip is getting some traction around …

Superman loves Louis Lane: A+ typo, can’t be beat pic.twitter.com/N5pPIO9wHj — andy™ (@andylevy) October 11, 2021

Pick Good Stories: Seth Godin, writing on his blog, has some smart insight about changing one’s mind. What evidence would you need to see to change your mind? The honest answer to this question is usually: “I need a new story that’s more immediate, more vivid and most of all, more culturally …

Facebook is Too Big, Fail: M. G. Siegler, writing on his 500ish site, explains the problems with Facebook. He’s been doing it for years, but I really like these paragraphs: Facebook is over because they won. Because they have two billion-plus users. Because they created a service which mirrors humanity. And humanity, …

A COVID Serenity Prayer: Lucy McBride, writing in The Atlantic, has a few thoughts on moving forward in this world with COVID. Acceptance is not about agreeing with or surrendering to suffering. It is not about reckless abandonment of caution or carelessness toward others. It means letting go of the false promise of …

High School principal who enjoys Iron Maiden subject of dueling petitions: I hate people sometimes. Apparently, there are petitions for and against a principal in Canada over Iron Maiden. The website LoadedRadio.com has more: Students at Eden High School in St. Catharines, Ontario have started a petition to keep their principal, a Mrs. Sharon Burns, in …

The Daniel Craig James Bond movies were always about Vesper Lynd: Tim Grierson examines the impact of Vesper Lynd on James Bond through all of Daniel Craig’s time as 007. It’s fair to say that James never got over the death of her character, Vesper Lynd — and neither could the filmmakers who worked on Bond pictures after Casino …

Interstellar on Pipe Organ: Music filmmaker Michael Bártek captured the wonderful sight of musician Antonino Buschiazzo performing his own haunting rendition of the Hans Zimmer soundtrack for Interstellar on a gorgeous pipe organ at Saint-Paul’s Church in Strasbourg, France. …

Every James Bond Movie, Ranked: Bilge Ebiri, writing for Vulture, takes some low hanging fruit and writes a listicle that will get all the fanboys up in arms: ranking the Bond movies. I’m not going to argue with his number one, but the rest… I’m not so sure that would be my ranking.

The Real Conspiracies Are Staring Us Right in The Face: Jessica Wildfire, writing on Medium, throws down some truth bombs. The world isn’t run by lizard people. It’s run by a bunch of greedy, short-sighted billionaires who want to build massive fortunes at all costs, while delaying the consequences as long as possible. Everyone loses, but …

Foundation Renewed: Foundation has been renewed for a second season on Apple TV Plus, Apple announced today, ahead of the release of the fourth episode of the first season on Friday. I’m happy. I like the show even though it’s mostly Foundation in name only. Obviously, it could not be a straight …

You Are What You Consume: Mark Manson always has interesting insights into culture and psychology. This time his focus revolves around the information you take in and the medium you use to do it. This is why I call the struggle around choosing media “The Attention Diet,” and not “The Attention …

To Instruct Myself Over and Over in Joy: I’m not sure where I found it originally as I had simply saved the link and recently found it as I was going through items to add to the blog, but Parker J. Plamer, a columnist at On Being wrote something that resonated with me. It requires no special talent or effort to look at our world …

The Problem with Jon Stewart: I watched the first episode of The Problem with Jon Stewart. At first blush, I think this is a fine show, but not super newsy and not super funny. It’s trying to walk that edge, and it works mostly because Jon Stewart is an incredibly smart and engaging guy. This first episode addressed something I …

The Danger of Writing: Rebecca Toh on writing: Writing or words not backed up by action will end up ringing hollow. Similarly, a person who only talks but does not practise ends up living a hollow existence. There is nothing at the core — no real substance — because the actions …

Contribute Joy: A quote from Roger Ebert that I found surfing the interwebs is universally true for all intent and purpose.

3-2-5-4-2-8-6: This is, by far, the craziest double play you will ever see.

Media ignore a monster story — the brainwashing of Covid zombies: Eric Boehlert writes about how the press keeps describing such people as “vaccine hesitant,” which he thinks (and I think) trivializes the problem. A recent Wall Street Journal report on a deadly Covid surge in West Virginia driven entirely by the unvaccinated noted, …

What Newsom’s Landslide Victory Says About National Politics: Gabriel Debenedetti and Benjamin Hart, in New York Magazine Intelligencer, wonder in a back and forth story what it means for national politics that Gavin Newsom romped to victory in Tuesday’s California recall election. I’m not sure their discussion landed on anything other than …

Norm Macdonald would hate this obituary for Norm Macdonald: Drew Magary, writing for SFGATE, has a brilliant obit for the eternally funny Norm Macdonald. The whole thing is quite good, but I really like this take: It didn’t even matter to him if other people got his jokes, especially if he didn’t know them. He was an alien: watching humanity comfortably from …

Religious Exemption Letter from The Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster: The Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster has been made aware of religious exemptions for COVID-19 vaccines. However, recognizing that it’s important for churches to take a position on this literal life-or-death matter, they are offering religious exemption letters enabling their …

Unvaccinated are 5X more likely to catch delta, 11X more likely to die: Beth Mole, reporting for Ars Technica, lays out the facts. COVID-19 vaccines are largely holding up against the hyper-transmissible delta coronavirus variant, particularly when it comes to preventing severe disease and death, according to three studies published Friday by the Centers for Disease …

Instead: Seth Godin on thinking about alternatives. A simple substitute might change a habit. Instead of a snack, brush your teeth. Instead of a nap, go for a walk. Instead of a nasty tweet or cutting remark, write it down in a private notebook. Instead of the elevator, take the stairs. Instead of …

Apples, Ranked: Leanne Butkovic, writing for Thrillest, bit into 20 varieties of eating apples, ranking them from worst (Red Delicious) to best (Braeburn). My go-to apple, Fuji, comes in fourth place. I’m not sure I’ve even tried a Braeburn. I guess I need to find one.

Texas Republicans Think Masks Are Tyranny And Wombs Are Property: John DeVore has a few thoughts on Texas Republicans. Texas abortion law banning most abortions after six weeks, as well as allowing random private citizens to sue abortion clinics, went into effect today. The law is dishonest and backward and a successful attack on the landmark Supreme …

Joseph Mazzello III: I was today years old when I learned that Joseph Mazzello III, the young actor who played Tim in Jurassic Park, also played Queen bass player John Deacon in Bohemian Rhapsody. I feel old.

Did Olivia Rodrigo steal from Paramore?: Did Olivia Rodrigo steal from Paramore? Adam Neely makes the best argument for plagiarism, then shows all the problems with it. Well, he explains that the chord progressions are the same. The melody is also the same and that’s why they added Paramore to the royalties list. Sure, the Green Day …

TikTok, Reddit, and Facebook are Struggling with Ivermectin Misinformation: Kait Sanchez, in her story on The Verge, highlights a big problem on social media: misinformation and lies. On TikTok, Rolling Stone found videos, some of which had more than a million views, promoting ivermectin as a COVID-19 treatment under tags like #ivermectin4covid and …

The Definitive Guide to Protecting your Private Information Online: Mikael Thalen, writing for The Daily Dot, has several good ideas to help protect the private information you have online. It is far too easy for nefarious scumbags to get to your info if you aren’t careful. With so much of our lives now conducted online, it can feel overwhelming trying to …

Charlie Watts, RIP: pic.twitter.com/wi6333F6QF — The Rolling Stones (@RollingStones) August 24, 2021 You can’t deny Charlie Watts was one of the most iconic drummers in history. I always loved his playing… simple and magical.

Covid-19 Updates: F.D.A.’s Vaccine Approval Leads Pentagon and Others to Add Requirements: Daniel E. Slotnik and Helene Cooper, writing for The New York Times, have a short article regarding the mandates that will be coming down now that the FDA has approved the COVID-19 vaccine. The Food and Drug Administration on Monday granted full approval to Pfizer-BioNTech’s coronavirus …

Parents Are Not Okay: Dan Sinker, writing for The Atlantic, focuses on how everything about Covid-19, politics and the public school systems have broken parents all across the country. Instead it was a year in limbo: school on stuttering Zoom, school in person and then back home again for quarantine, school all the time …

Time Dilation: This post by Seth Godin is fascinating to me. I’m going to drop the whole thing here: You can read this post in six minutes. It took me more than an hour to write. That extra editing and polish is a benefit to the reader. You can read this post instead of 100 others, because people highlighted or …

Type the Alphabet: Type the Alphabet is an online game that challenges the player to type the English alphabet to see how fast they can type. The timer starts when the player starts typing and finishes when the alphabet is complete. I think my fastest was about six seconds.

“A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky dangerous animals and you know it.”: I had a thought at the start of summer 2021 that now seems ridiculous. I thought people would get the free, safe, and effective vaccine and our country would usher in a decade of “roaring twenties.” People who had been isolated away to keep themselves and their loved ones safe… …

Nestflix: Launch day! Are you like me and love a fake movie within a movie? Or show within a show? Check out Nestflix: the only platform for your favorite nested films and tv shows. 🎬 https://t.co/HZrR3gfKVu pic.twitter.com/xw3OXrcnh4 — Lynn Fisher (@lynnandtonic) August 11, 2021 Finally, a way …

Not What You Asked For, but Just What You Needed: Seth Godin on leadership: Not what you asked for, but just what you needed That doesn’t happen very often. When someone combines generosity, insight and bravery to provide something before we know that’s what we need, we are particularly grateful. It’s a special form of …

Wil Wheaton’s Guidelines: Over on Instagram, Wil Wheaton posted what he calls guidelines to help you live your life. I thought I’d share.

CNN Fires Three Employees For Going Into Office Without Covid Vaccinations: Ted Johnson, reporting for Deadline: CNN head Jeff Zucker said that the network has fired three employees for going into the office without being vaccinated against Covid-19, and that parent WarnerMedia may ultimately require proof of the shots. […] “In the past week, we have …

Unvaccinated People Need to Bear the Burden: Juliette Kayyem, assistant secretary for homeland security under President Obama, writing for The Atlantic: The White House has rejected a nationwide vaccine mandate—a sweeping suggestion that the Biden administration could not easily enact if it wanted to—but a no-fly list …

The First Two Hours Of MTV: Where were you on August 1, 1981? The video starts off with a Space Shuttle countdown, the iconic launch of Apollo 11, and the planting of the MTV flag, during which the famous phrase “Ladies and gentlemen, rock and roll” was uttered. The first music video to air was The Buggles song …

A Crisis for the Unvaccinated: Aaron E. Carroll, the chief health officer for Indiana University, echoes a lot of my thoughts about mandates in a guest column for The New York Times. Many may read the C.D.C.’s continued focus on masking and distancing as an acknowledgment that the vaccines don’t work well …

“The only people who are not vaccinated are just assholes.”: Jade Scipioni, writing at CNBC, reports on the comments from Charles Barkley, a guy who famously said he wasn’t a role model. “Yes, I’m vaccinated,” says NBA legend Charles Barkley. “Everybody should be vaccinated. Period.” “The only people who …

Defining Domestic Terrorism: "I can see why someone would take issue with the title of terrorist, it's gained a lot of notoriety in our vocabulary in the past few decades ... But I came prepared," Officer Hodges explains why he refers to the Jan. 6th rioters as 'terrorists.' pic.twitter.com/jkkN4g9EDE …

The Cleveland Guardians: When I first saw it, I didn’t love it. After a bit, it’s growing on me more and more, especially after learning its origins. I have never been to Cleveland and have never heard of the ‘Guardians of Traffic’ or even noticed them in Major League (a comedy about the Cleveland Indians, among other …

Randy Arozarena with a Little League Homerun: Randy Arozarena hits a single and then comes around to score because of two errors by the third baseman fielding a throw and then making a bad throw to homeplate. Even worse a second throw to home by the pitcher trying to get Arozarena who’s kept running the entire time is wild and …

Back to the Future with RSS: Nicky Case explains RSS and why it was so damn good: Imagine an open version of Twitter or Facebook News Feed, with no psy-op ads, owned by no oligopoly, manipulated by no algorithm, and all under your full control. Imagine a version of the newsletter where you don’t have to worry about …

Anti-vaccine groups changing into ‘dance parties’ on Facebook to avoid detection: Ben Collins and Brandy Zadrozny, reporting for NBC News: Some anti-vaccination groups on Facebook are changing their names to euphemisms like “Dance Party” or “Dinner Party,” and using code words to fit those themes in order to skirt bans from Facebook, as the company …

“I’m sorry, but it’s too late”: Dennis Pillion, writing at AL.com: Dr. Brytney Cobia said Monday that all but one of her COVID patients in Alabama did not receive the vaccine. The vaccinated patient, she said, just needed a little oxygen and is expected to fully recover. Some of the others are dying. “I’m admitting …

Level 99%: Honestly, if you can just show up around when you said you were going to and do some approximation of what you said you were going to do and be half decent at your work I’d say you’re operating at a level 99% above most human beings right now — Austin Kleon (@austinkleon) July …

If I Were a Billionaire…: Kevin Drum has a good idea on what a billionaire should do with their wealth. If I were a multi-billionaire, what would I do with my money? Unfortunately, the really big problems—climate change, national healthcare, racism, etc.—are too big even for a billionaire. Only national …

Stephen A. Smith’s Racist Take on Shohei Ohtani: Drew Magary, writing on Defector, has a few choice words regarding Stephen A. Smith’s racist take on Shohei Ohtani. I have never, ever been a fan of Smith and his horribly stupid comments are really just the icing on the cake. Shohei Ohtani could end up being the most remarkable and exciting …

How Sad, No One Wants To F**k Trump Supporters: John DeVore, writing on his site Humungus, mentions how college-age women don’t want to date Republicans. Apparently, a think-tank writer named Eric Kaufman wrote an essay in The National Review this week that postulated “conservatives need to make more babies or risk securing a future for white, …

Richard Donner, The People’s Choice (1930-2021): Glenn Kenny, writing on the Decider, has a fantastic piece about Richard Donner. It starts off this way: If a filmmaker’s critical stock were based on the amount of pleasure they brought to mass audiences, Richard Donner, who died yesterday at age 91, would be in the pantheon. You can …

Donald Rumsfeld On The Bus To Hell: John DeVore, on Humungus, wrote a little something about the passing of Donald Rumsfeld. Under Rumsfeld’s watch, the U.S. tortured and abused prisoners and tens of thousands of innocent people were killed in wars that still smolder. That ‘war on terror’ transformed America into …

Inside William Barr’s Breakup With Trump: Jonathan D. Karl, writing for The Atlantic, has an article about William Barr and his refusal to go along with the big lie — that Donald Trump won the election. Barr also looked into allegations that voting machines across the country were rigged to switch Trump votes to Biden votes. He …

The Alston Case: In a unanimous ruling, the Supreme Court has upheld the the Ninth Circuit’s ruling that the NCAA’s restrictions on paid educational benefits violate antitrust law. Directly, this ruling will have only moderate impact as it only affects payments tied to an educational benefit (say, …

How Roku used the Netflix playbook to beat bigger players and rule streaming video: Alex Sherman, writing for CNBC, has a great story regarding Anthony Wood, the founder and CEO of Roku and how he had his finger pressed firmly on the pulse of television viewers and the future of TV. The best line is right here: Wood also noted that Roku’s relatively unchanging user …

Will Leitch’s Annual Father’s Day Story: Will Leitch has been posting this piece every Father’s Day since 2003. It isn’t the best thing he’s written, but it is one of the ones that I identify with most. Here’s a taste. Until the age of 18, all I ever did was play baseball, and this time of year fills me …

No Lockdowns Anymore: As COVID-19 statistics improve thanks to vaccination efforts, Ariana Grande, Marissa Jaret Winokur and James Corden celebrate the end of mass lockdowns in this “Good Morning Baltimore” parody from “Hairspray.” I don’t watch his show unless it’s a video like …

Mondays: Nicholas Bate is trying to get me to like Mondays. Are merely a date, a bolder punctuation point, a shift, an association. Mondays no longer affect your mood; you are bigger, bolder and more Zen than that. In fact you love Mondays. It isn’t working.

KISS in Battery Park: At the A&E KISSTORY World Premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival KISS performed a short set. It wasn’t perfect. It was rock and roll. Paul’s voice live just isn’t what it used to be but watch that recent awful Vince Neil performance and you’ll appreciate …

The Fundamental Question of the Pandemic is Shifting: Ed Yong, writing in The Atlantic, does not have good things to say about “rugged individualism” and deadly viruses. From its founding, the United States has cultivated a national mythos around the capacity of individuals to pull themselves up by their bootstraps, ostensibly by …

Homemade Disneyland Star Tours Attraction: Dad Of The Year recreates Disneyland Star Tours attraction in the garage for daughter’s birthday. The finished outcome is mind-blowing.

Classic Music Mashup: Musician Grant Woolard composed a brilliant classical music mashup in 2016 that featured 57 Popular Songs by 33 Composers, followed by part II in 2017 which featured 52 Popular Songs by 31 Different Composers and again with part III in 2019 featuring 70 different …

You Should Learn the Truth About the Tulsa Race Massacre: Tom Hanks, writing for The New York Times, thinks everyone should know more about the Tusla Race Massacre. Until recently, the Tulsa Race Massacre was not seen in movies and TV shows. Thanks to several projects currently streaming, like “Watchmen” and “Lovecraft …

Have you ever changed your mind?: I like to think I have an open mind. I also like to think if I read something that fundamentally challenged my point of view on a topic, I would seriously consider it. Honestly, I’m not so sure. My belief system and understanding of the world is from a place of privilege. I get that. I have a …

Welcome to the Internet: Bo Burnam has a Netflix special out. This song is unreal “Apathy’s a tragedy, and boredom is a crime” This is fantastic.

Delusional Thinking: Recently,Maggie Haberman, reporting for The New York Times, said Donald Trump believes he will be reinstated as President of the United States in August. This sounds utterly ridiculous, and I attributed it to right-wing news sources and others trying to keep “the big lie” in the news cycle. …

Helpful Reminders: Nicholas Bate with a couple of helpful reminders Remembering the past need not dictate the future. Your genes are just one factor in your health. Educational qualifications are not good indicators of earnings. Love is a verb. You manage your destiny, not your corporate personal development …

U.F.O.’s Don’t Impress Me: Adam Frank, who is a professor of astrophysics at the University of Rochester, writes a few thoughts on the uptick in UFOs in  The New York Times. There are also common-sense objections. If we are being frequently visited by aliens, why don’t they just land on the White House lawn …

Kintsugi: Kintsugi is the Japanese art of putting broken pottery pieces back together with gold — built on the idea that in embracing flaws and imperfections, you can create an even stronger, more beautiful piece of art. There are many days I see myself as a broken piece of pottery. Cracked dreams. Things are …

When It’s Critical to Have a Plan: Adam Chitwood, writing for Collider, has an article that has Star Wars fans in an uproar. Chitwood simply asked if the last Star Wars trilogy would have benefitted from having a plan from the very beginning? “I’ve been involved in a number of projects that have been — in most cases, series — that …

Write it Down: Have you ever had a good idea, and you say to yourself, “That’s good. I’ll remember it.” What happens next? You forget it, right. The solution is simple. Write. It. Down. Find a scrap of paper and a pen or open your notes app on your phone and write it down. Whatever the kernel of an idea you have… …

Faith vs. Facts vs. Fear: [Patrick Rhone](a href=“https://www.patrickrhone.net/faith-vs-facts-vs-fear/) wrote something on facts, faith, and fear that I fundamentally think is pure and utter bullshit. It is agreeable bullshit. It is well-written bullshit. However, it is absolute and total bullshit nonetheless. I will …

“You’ve Got Mail!”: For years, I would walk into the local Barnes and Noble and buy a book or two. The employee checking me out always asked for my email address. I always said no. I don’t want more sales offers and pitches in my email. I already filter what I do get and most times I delete them without looking. …

Library Literacy vs. Street Sign Literacy: Dave Perell, in his Monday Musings newsletter, described something I was also thinking about in the back of my head. I’ve long believed that we’re experiencing a decline in advanced literacy. On this topic, I don’t really care what the statistics say because they’re …

Pearl Jam Announces ‘Deep’: Daniel Kreps, writing for Rolling Stone, has the story on this new Pearl Jam archive. Pearl Jam are offering fans an immersive plunge into the band’s live archives with their newly announced Deep, a digital collection of nearly 200 Pearl Jam concerts spanning from 2000 …

A Beautiful Life: Rebecca Toh answers what it means to live a beautiful life. A beautiful picture of your life isn’t the same as a beautiful life. A beautiful life isn’t about loving yourself or loving others but loving both yourself and others. A beautiful life looks like a vase with scars on it …

Los Angeles Angels Releasing Albert Pujols: The Los Angeles Angels are releasing future Hall of Famer Albert Pujols today, per sources. Pujols is in the final year of his 10-year, $253 million contract. — Mark Feinsand (@Feinsand) May 6, 2021 This is incredible news. While not totally unexpected, the timing is weird and the question remains …

Stupid is as Stupid Does: Writing for The Atlantic, Derek Thompson wondered about all these batshit crazy people refusing to get the vaccine. What are they thinking, these vaccine-hesitant, vaccine-resistant, and COVID-apathetic? I wanted to know. So I posted an invitation on Twitter for anybody who wasn’t planning to get …

The Complete Star Wars Timeline: It’s Star Wars Day! Alex Damon and Mollie Damon of Star Wars Explained have updated their Complete Canon Timeline for the Star Wars saga for 2021, just in time for May the 4th, using every item of reference they could find to explain everything that ever happened in a galaxy far, far away in one …

Marvel Studios Celebrates The Movies: I’m surprised how much this video gave me chills. Excellent work.

Focus: Sunday, for me, means preparing for the upcoming week. Sometimes it’s simply mentally preparing. Sometimes it’s listing out everything that needs to get done. The thing is, I’ll never get everything done that needs to be done. I won’t get on top of my to-do list. It is always updating. What I can do …

Joe Biden’s Popularity: Alex Roarty and Adam Wollner, reporting for McClatchy on Joe Biden’s popularity: Sarah Longwell, a former GOP operative and founder of the anti-Trump Republican Accountability Project, said her studies of voters who supported Trump in 2016 and Biden in 2020 show they are …

What Do I Want?: On his blog, Greg Morris asks a pretty important question about upgrading and wanting more. Upgraded my phone, tablet, computer, and anything I could get my hands on almost constantly in a search for something better. When in fact it wasn’t better it was looking for, it was an …

Illini Basketball | Season Highlights: All the season highlights of a year like no other. What an incredible basketball program. I think this is just the beginning.

Seasonal IKEA Employee with the Responses He’d Like to Say toCustomers: Scott Seiss made me laugh pretty hard with his honest answers to inane questions from customers as a seasonal employee of IKEA. I think this one is my favorite: Customer: I’d like to speak to your manager Seiss: I’d like to speak to your mother. Tell her she should be embarrassed she raised someone …

Languishing: Adam Grant, writing for The New York Times, explains the not quite post-pandemic feeling we are all experiencing.  At first, I didn’t recognize the symptoms that we all had in common. Friends mentioned that they were having trouble concentrating. Colleagues reported that even with …

I Tried to Recreate the Original Four Loko to Prepare for a Summer of Chaos: Katie Way had a fun assignment from Vice: try and recreate the banned Four Loko drink and write about her attempts. To be totally transparent, I was born in the wrong generation: I should be 31 right now, because if I was, I would have taken the full brunt of the original Four Loko craze …

THE INTERNET K-HOLE: The INTERNET -K-HOLE is a vast amount of very amateur snapshots taken from the mid-1970s to mid-1990s, with absolutely no other context provided or needed. Mostly a whole bunch of people I’ve never seen before… but if I scroll long enough—hours maybe—I will see …

The Hotel Bathroom Principle: Dave Perell, in his weekly Monday Musings email, made a smart observation. Whenever I’m in a city and I need to use the bathroom, I walk into a fancy hotel. Fancy hotels always have nice bathrooms. And if you’re dressed well and walk confidently, you won’t be hassled for using …

100 Day Plan: Seth Godin wants you to make a plan. What do you want to be doing 100 days from now? What change do you seek to be making? With which skills? Surrounded by which people? For that to happen, day 99 will need to be different from today. And so will day 98. In fact, so will tomorrow. If …

Welcome 2 America: The first new song from Prince. “Come on in… sit right down.” Ahead of his time. I’ve been waiting for new Prince music since he passed away. I can’t wait.

Will it Be the Roaring ’20s Again?: Rebecca Onion (What a great name…), writing for Slate, reviews the expert opinions on if the 2020s might copy and paste from the 1920s. I remain very interested in the reasons the ’20s appeal to our imagination right now. Of course, it’s the booze, the sex, and the …

Private Choices Have Public Consequences: David Roth, writing for Defector, explains the stupidity of anti-vaxxers. That minority’s inability to take anything in stride, or to sublimate even the smallest personal comfort for the most urgent and essential collective good, invariably winds up being political, but it is also its own pursuit …

Just Blog: Gabz wrote a little something that made sense to me. It doesn’t matter what app you use, what system, or where you host your site. Whether you use a static site or not. It doesn’t matter if you have images in all your blog posts or not, how big or how small. What syntax, …

In the Dark: Sarah Morrison, writing at Vox, explains the concept of apps and websites using dark patterns to trick users into doing what they want you to do. It’s hard to know what’s an actionable deceptive act or practice when there’s no privacy law in the first place. And …

We Are Idiots: Kevin Drum explains that people are idiots because they can’t understand a few simple facts about COVID-19. We know this relationship. It’s obvious and well established. If cases start to rise, then deaths will start to rise a couple of weeks later. By then, however, it’s …

Escape the Zoom Zoo and Mobilise the Metabolism: Nicholas Bate with some advice All days are special. Monday: fresh start. Friday: whooopeee!. Wednesday: almost there……But Saturdays. What a day. A-slippin’ and a-slidin’ between the world of work and the world of play and rest. Some chores, some catch-up. Fewer …

We’re in a Time Loop of Time-Loop Movies: Miles Surrey, writing for The Ringer, has some thoughts on the recent run of time-loop movies. Whether or not you currently have the mental fortitude to endure a time-loop binge in the middle of our loopy monotonous reality, there is a reason we keep getting drawn into these stories. There’s …

Dr. Seuss Enterprises Will Shelve 6 Books, Citing ‘Hurtful’ Portrayals: NPR reports that several Dr. Seuss books are actively going out of print. On purpose. Dr. Seuss Enterprises will cease publishing six of the author’s books — including And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street and If I Ran the Zoo — saying they …

Kill the Newsletter: Kill The Newsletter is a website that converts email newsletters into Atom feeds. It is glorious. By eliminating so much email from my life and pushing it into my RSS feeds, I can manage it so much easier. Of course, you have to be using an RSS Feed reader. The real question is why …

Literary Collective Nouns: Tom Gauld suggests some literary collective nouns. My favorite by far is “a gruop of proofreaders.”

Tending the Garden: I am not a gardener, but as I understand it, if you don’t tend to the garden, it will get overgrown and cumbersome. Weeds will kill the real plants you are trying to cultivate. If you don’t take care of things, they will start to accumulate. Suddenly, you have hundreds of emails, jobs that are …

Ayo Dosunmu’s Moment Is Now: Pat Forde, writing in Sports Illustrated, has an in-depth profile on Ayo Dosunmu that gets to the core of who he is and how his family and friends have shaped him. He can be heard chattering in the gym at just about any hour—early, late, whenever. The pandemic might have curtailed the …

Thank You, St. Louis: Kolton Wong penned a heartfelt goodbye to St. Louis with The Players’ Tribune. This was home. You guys are family. And I just really hope that you know that I always gave you guys everything I had. I hope you remember me as someone who never left anything out on the field. Who was always trying to …

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Makes No Sense: This will not be a hot take or even an original take. I don’t understand the criteria for what constitutes “rock and roll” in the eyes of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The latest list of potential inductees has surfaced. It includes Mary J. Blige, Kate Bush, Devo, Foo Fighters, the Go-Go’s, Iron …

I Sure Hope You’re Happy, Gina Carano: John DeVore sure hopes Gina Carano is happy with her anti-semitic social media posts and anti-mask wearing social media posts, and the rest of her general shitty posts. I think it’s super disappointing Carano showed us who she is but maybe it’s for the best, for her and …

The Spectacular Fall of the Lincoln Project: Alex Shepherd, writing for The New Republic, outlines the downfall of Election 2020’s social media darlings-The Lincoln Project. In the days leading up to the 2020 presidential election, the Lincoln Project, the viral ad-making Never Trump group, was riding high. Over the previous 11 months, the …

Never Forget: Will Leitch, writing on his Medium account, asks us to do one thing. This week, former President Donald Trump will face impeachment for the second time. It is unknown, as of yet, how the trial will go down. There are rumblings that Democrats, not wanting to distract from President Biden’s …

Tom Brady: I really don’t watch much NFL and I do have a soft spot for the Super Bowl, but Tom Brady’s dominating presence for so many years is… annoying? Bothersome? Tiresome? I don’t know, so I turn to two writers who definitely know more than me about sports and Tom Brady …

It Was A Good Day: Tyler Cottingham likes fun. Whoever said history isn’t fun? Ayo Dosunmu messing around for just the third triple double (21–12–12) in school history? Fun. Kofi Cockburn with a school record 8 dunks in a single game? Fun. (I actually can’t seem to verify anywhere that 8 dunks is actually a school …

Why Fleetwood Mac’s “Rumors” Needs a TV Show: Lindsey Romain, writing at Nerdist, has an interesting article about the making of Fleetwood Mac’s Rumors album. Buckingham and Nicks were a folk-rock duo from the Bay Area, and also a romantic pair. Buckingham’s guitar skills impressed Fleetwood, who invited him to …

The Vision of Speed Racer: Movies with Mickey has a video love letter to the film. I thought for a long time I was the only person who loved this film. Speed Racer was an attempt at making a live-action 2D animated film and it succeeds on so many levels. A new version of Speed Racer in the style …

The March Of The American Kooks: David Roth, writing for Defector, matches old-school dumbshits to the new era dumbshits. Here is the synchronicity that binds old-fashioned American kookery’s longstanding suspicions and signature fantasies to the person Donald Trump, and which sent them charging into the Capitol last month …

Foo Fighters Wanted to Rule Rock. 25 Years Later, They’re Still Roaring.: Jeremy Gordon has a terrific profile of arguably the best rock band working today, the Foo Fighters. “I just want to stay alive and play music, especially after Nirvana,” he said. “When Kurt died, I truly woke up the next day and felt so lucky to be alive, and so …

Nolan Arenado, St. Louis Cardinals Third Baseman: The St. Louis Cardinals have acquired five-time All-Star third baseman Nolan Arenado from the Rockies. I can’t believe it. Seriously, I can’t believe the deal they got. Cardinals chairman Bill DeWitt Jr. and president of baseball operations John Mozeliak made a deal for Arenado that seems …

Your Big Idea: Seth Godin on big ideas: It’s probably not completely original. It’s probably not breathtaking in scope. It’s probably not immediately popular. But… it’s definitely worth pursuing, consistently and persistently for years and years. If you care. If it’s …

No one Elected to Baseball Hall of Fame: Bradford Doolittle, reporting for ESPN: No player on the Hall’s 2021 Baseball Writers’ Association of America ballot reached the 75 percent threshold needed for enshrinement in Cooperstown. The results of the voting were announced by Hall of Fame president Tim Mead on MLB Network on …

Doomscrolling at Scale: Michael Lopp, writing at his site Rands in Repose, had an interesting experience with real-time news. He was trying to follow the storming of the Capitol via Twitter and quickly learned a valuable lesson about the social media platform. As it became clear the domestic terrorists were breaching the …

Apple Watch Series 7 Rumored to Feature Blood Glucose Monitoring: MacRumors has posted, well, a rumor that the next Apple Watch will have a blood glucose monitor that eliminates the need for fingersticks, testing strips, and a separate glucose monitor. Apple is said to have secured patents around blood glucose monitoring, and the company is now purportedly …

The Enemy Isn’t Republicans. It’s Liars.: William Saletan, writing in Slate, has some smart insight on “right vs. left.” He says it doesn’t exist anymore. It’s not right versus left or conservative versus liberal. It’s “people who care about basic facts vs. people who …

Meet the Ansel Adams of Liquor Store Photography: You’ve probably heard of Patton Oswalt. He’s an actor, stand-up comic, and voice actor. His brother, Matt, is a writer and photographer. Over at the Daily Beast, he put together a showcase of sorts of his most recent photos highlighting his new coffee-table book, Liquor …

The Hill We Climb: Amanda Gorman read her poem, “The Hill We Climb,” at the Inauguration, and I couldn’t take my eyes off her. The words were wonderful. Her eloquence was on full display. The power of her poetry was inspiring and moving. I had to learn a bit more. There’s Anderson Cooper’s interview with her and the …

The Unlamented Man: John Scalzi, on his personal site, has a few words about the ex-president. He starts off hard and doesn’t let up. First and always, a liar. Then a con man, a thief, and a grifter. A man who never saw a venture he couldn’t make fail, which is why he was always starting new ones: It was …

Onward: Donald Trump was the worst president this country has ever had. You may disagree, but you’d be wrong. Who do you suggest is worse? I guess James Buchanan, who let the country slip into the Civil War, is up there. Still, Trump is worse because he would have loved for the country to fall into a Civil …

Paul Stanley’s Soul Station: I’m not sure how I feel about Paul Stanley covering “ O-O-H Child.” The idea of Stanley turning into Rod Stewart-doing-the-American-songbook era of his career is oft-putting. I don’t dislike what he’s doing here, it just isn’t something I’d actively go out and purchase or even be remotely excited …

Wake Up Call for Republicans: This video from Matthew Cooke is an excellent and succinct plea for Republicans and Trump supporters to come back to reality. It won’t happen, but it is an amazing video.

Illini manager Bobby Gikas brings ‘juice’ from the bench: Joey Wagner, writing for the Illini Inquirer, has a fantastic story on Bobby Gikas, one of the basketball managers for this year’s Fighting Illini Basketball team. The story behind “juice” is the best. The Illini had a shiny, top-10 ranking and — though Underwood has since heaped praise on Ohio …

The Future of Superhero Movies Is the Multiverse: Miles Surrey, writing for The Ringer, has a few thoughts on the recent trend of multiversal superheroes showing up. The biggest issue with DC and Marvel going full multiverse isn’t a financial consideration, but more of a creative one: a superhero movie landscape shaped by myopia. These …

Don’t Prosecute Gotham’s Supervillains for Their Latest Scheme: This is some pretty good satire from Slate. Here’s the brilliant opening written by, ahem, the Joker: It’s been a traumatizing couple of weeks in Gotham City, full of unthinkable violence and chaos. We’ve all seen the appalling footage: the exploding shark, the pier bombing, and the United World …

We Need a New Media System: Matt Taibbi is one of those writers that makes me think about things in a new way. I don’t always agree with his ideas, but I admire his thoughtfulness in what he writes. In his Substack, he outlines the problems with the traditional news media today and outlines how a new type of media …

The Atlantic Stole My Work: On his personal site, freelancer Dean Sterling Jones, accuses The Atlantic of stealing his work and denying him credit and compensation for the work. Jones said in his post that Atlantic editors have declined to give him credit in spite of “whole sentences and …

The Innocence of Youth: When I was a kid, I watched my favorite shows just like any other kid my age. If you grew up in the 70s, you probably watched the same programs I did, give or take a few. I watched The Six Million Dollar Man and the Bionic Woman. I loved the original Battlestar Galactica andBuck Rogers in the 25th …

The Assault On The Capitol Wasn’t A Coup, It Was A Warning: John DeVore, writing on his site on Medium, echoes a lot of what I think about the event at the Capitol. It wasn’t a coup. It was more like a “fuck you.” A half-ass uprising fueled by revenge and hysteria. A theatrical production of Les Miserables KKK. There are photos of armed men dressed for …

When the President of Mediocrity Incites an Insurrection: Rebecca Solnit, writing in the Literary Hub, has one of the better truth bombs I’ve seen lately. One of the indigestible facts of this country is that most of its terrorism and nearly all its mass shootings are committed by mostly conservative-leaning white men, conservative here meaning …

Declutter Your Devices to Reduce Security Risks: David Murphy at Lifehacker has a good idea I’m going to try and implement: a digital declutter of my digital devices. Everyone should set aside dedicated time to review what they’ve installed on their various devices—typically apps, but that can also include games and …

Star Wars — Everything Coming in 2021!: Star Wars Explained has a video outlining everything Star Wars for 2021. As you may already know, we are going to see more Star Wars “stuff” than ever before — movies, TV shows, comics, novels, games… you name it. For example, on Disney+ we are going to be …

How We Will Talk About 2020 In the Future: Will Leitch contemplates how we will reconcile 2020. We will be dealing with the ramifications of 2020 for as long as we live. We’ve lost nearly two million people worldwide, 340,000 of them (and counting) Americans, and millions more have contracted Covid-19, a disease, I remind you, …

KISS Alive-streamed: “Wearing more makeup than your Mommy” I’m a massive KISS fan. In fact, for Christmas, my wife bought me a new turntable and a 180-gram vinyl copy of Destroyer. It’s been fun to spin the old vinyl records and reminisce a bit about being in my bedroom and dreaming about …

One Lie: Shattered lives Last Sunday morning, Jimmy Collins died at the age of 74. Will Leitch, in his weekly newsletter, discusses the life and the lies of Jimmy Collins. He tells the story of Deon Thomas and Bruce Pearl and how one lie changed the trajectory of one person’s entire life. …

Tenet: “Don’t try to understand it” Joshua Rivera, writing for The Verge, has the best review of Tenet I’ve read. That’s perhaps the biggest disappointment of Tenet: it wants to be an unusually clever spy film, but Nolan isn’t terribly invested in …

There Is No Such Thing as Normal— So Stop Waiting for It: Time is a flat circle Ryan Holiday, writing on his site, has some excellent advice for everyone about how the world should react to the “new normal.” Why should I pine for it to be over or different? What matters is right now. What matters is the quiet hour we had together on that …

The Force is With Them: This is the way Star Wars is an important touchstone in my life. I saw the first movie in 1977 in a crowded theater in Florida on vacation. Just shy of my 9th birthday, this event was monumental in creating my fandom. As fans speed to the ending of The Mandalorian on Disney+, I have not …

Thanksgiving 2020: Surprisingly, I did not eat too much This is the first Thanksgiving I have not celebrated with my Mom and Dad and my brother and his family. My wife made an amazing meal. We had turkey and ham, corn, Hawaiian dressing, and mashed potatoes. We had pumpkin and apple pie. It was wonderful. An attempted …

Scar: Remember when Tiger King was a thing? Will Leitch, in his weekly newsletter, talks about time and 2020. It is clear that we will be talking about 2020 the rest of our lives. The thing is, though, when we say things like that, “we’ll talk about 2020 the rest of our lives,” we …

Election Day 2020: I don’t know what’s going to happen today and the rest of the week and, frankly, neither do you. The not-knowing is not fun. The anticipation, one way or another, is disquieting. It’s disconcerting. I’ve been home for more than 230 days and the continued fear of the unknown is almost paralyzing. …

Nobody Did It Better: You’re the man now, Dog Sean Connery is gone. He was 90. He died peacefully in his sleep. My father loved Ian Fleming novels and, of course, the movies. I was named after Connery, and I was keenly aware of him through his cinematic career. When I was younger, it was always a knowing nod …

I Voted: I’m currently in line to vote early. I have never experienced a line to vote early before. I don’t know for sure what this means, but my gut tells me it’s not at all good for the incumbent. I’m lucky my line is entirely indoors. While it is a crisp, sunny day, standing outside would be uncomfortable …

Eddie Van Halen, 1955 — 2020: Andy Greene, writing for Rolling Stone, has the story that has just gutted me. Eddie Van Halen has passed away at 65. When I heard the news, I cried. I love this little tidbit in Greene’s story about what he wanted his guitar playing to do to people. Were it not for his titanic influence, hard rock …

All 131 Van Halen Songs Ranked: Chuck Klosterman is a writer I admire. I think his books are fantastic. Here he is doing a massive list post for Vulture and really knocking it out of the park. You may disagree with the ranking, but sometimes that’s the fun and the point of the whole thing.

Move Forward: Will Leitch, writing in his weekly newsletter, had a paragraph that spoke to me directly about this day and age we are living in: When you are at your darkest moments, when you are exhausted and collapsing and at your wit’s end, remember that continuing to move forward in the midst of all this, …

A New Covenant: I’m a writer. Most of the time, I write sales copy for product boxes and websites. I’m a writer and editor of a couple of publications for my company that is also focused on selling not only products but a lifestyle as well. My point is not the company I work for but what I’ve done for decades: …

Careless People: There’s a tendency to think of crime families in terms of cinematic ones. We call Donald Trump, Jr. “Fredo” as a comparison to the dumbest, most inept of crime family boss Vito Corleone’s sons. The problem with that analogy is Donald Trump isn’t Vito Corleone. The Trumps may be a crime family, but …

The Election That Could Break America: Barton Gellman, writing in The Atlantic, has the scariest piece on the 2020 Election I’ve read. Entitled, The Election That Could Break America, it explains a wide variety of tactics the Trump administration and enablers in Congress and states could pursue to create unprecedented chaos on November 3 …

Never Know: WASTED OPPORTUNITY I’ve never read a Bob Woodward book. I haven’t seen All the President’s Men. However, I do know you don’t speak to Bob Woodward and think you are going to “beat” him at his game. Everyone always says something stupid. Donald Trump is …

Star Wars Meets Rock and Roll: In the summer of 1981, I turned 13. My life revolved around comic books, Star Wars, and KISS. I’m pretty sure my brain would have exploded if I had heard about Halyx. Live From the Space Stage — A Halyx Story is a crowd-funded documentary about a band that only existed for one summer, but what a …

Frustration: I am beyond frustrated with the willfully ignorant. Those who don’t want to understand the reasons for protests highlighting grave injustices always say the same things: “all lives matter” or “blue lives matter” or “black on black crime is bad so why do we need to care about black lives now?” They …

The NBA Strike Is Jarring. That’s the Point.: Will Leitch, writing for New York Magazine, would like to talk about how unprecedented it was for NBA players to simply go on strike. What was so powerful on Wednesday afternoon — after the Milwaukee Bucks announced that they weren’t going to play their first-round NBA playoff game against the …

Rationalizing: Seth Godin is on a roll. This time he’s explaining, in simple terms, no matter what you say or think or make up, the virus doesn’t give a shit about what you say or think or make up. All of us are good at rationalizing. It helps us process the world, navigate our choices and live with ourselves. …

Spit Takes: Anti-science is no way to go through life, son Here’s how the United States is going to beat COVID-19–Coronavirus saliva tests. Meryl Kornfield, writing in The Washington Post, outlines how this got started and how it will work moving forward. As the United States grapples …

Ayo: #LETSMAKEHISTORY I am shocked that Ayo Dosunmu is coming back to Illinois Basketball for his junior season. It is a dream come true for Illini fans. With Ayo back and Kofi Cockburn of Big Ten Freshman of the Year accolades coming back (hopefully… please…), plus two senior leaders in Trent Frazier …

Eulogy for Congressman John Lewis: Barack Obama’s eulogy for John Lewis might be one of the greatest speeches he’s ever given. It was political in a way that honored the civil rights achievements Lewis strived for during his life and challenged everyone to continue. His words were incredibly powerful. If politicians want to honor …

Baseball Men: Keep your eye on the ball Here’s a guest post by my friend Grant Chastain. While not really a direct response to The Asterisk Season, it was his unvarnished thoughts on the current state of baseball. He graciously allowed me to present it here. == Baseball is a pastime that’s …

The Asterisk Season: Jeff Passan and Jesse Rogers, writing at ESPN, start their baseball story like this: Major League Baseball plans to hold a 60-game season that will begin around July 24 but first needs players to sign off on a health-and-safety protocol and to pledge to arrive at home stadiums by July 1 to prepare …

The 2020 Season: Baseball during the time of COVID-19 Mark Feinsand, writing for MLB.com, has outlined the Major League Baseball official announcement of a 60-game regular-season schedule to begin on July 23 and 24. MLB has submitted a 60-game regular-season schedule for review by the Players Association. In order …

Juneteenth: Seth Godin on Juneteenth — Today is Juneteenth, a holiday that should be more widely observed. It doesn’t mark the date of Lincoln’s proclamation that freed the slaves, nor does it occur on the day that the 14th amendment was passed. Both were overdue and urgent and important steps forward. …

Get to Work: The other day, in a phone call with my parents about my weekend, I said, “I was enjoying my white privilege painting my front porch.” I was trying to make a joke, but my wife pointed out that it sounded like I was being a dick. It made me pause and reconsider. I am about to turn 52. I was born in …

Anger is a Gift: I won’t do what you tell me My friend Grant Chastain is on a roll and unleashing his honest emotion. I’m reprinting his Facebook post for those who don’t follow him or care to be on Facebook anymore. == It’s temporarily quiet, and I’m talking in terms of …

Mentally Unhinged: The pathology is the point Never once have I spent my time going over and reading the tweets Donald Trump puts out on his account. The ones that have crept up into the news are always shocking and stupid, and mostly just frightening. I would never subscribe to get his tweets delivered to me. Why …

Newsletter vs Blog: Email is still the killer app Robin Rendle on newsletters versus blog posts: I think the weird thing about newsletters is that they’re so…formal. It would make for a cruel and unusual punishment if I sent an email out to a bunch of people that was nonsensical, doesn’t …

Fear Mongering: Michael Moore was not the only person who predicted Trump would win in 2016, but he gets so much credit for going on Real Time With Bill Maher and saying it. If he would have been wrong everyone would say, he overreacted. Since he was right, now he’s some sort of futurist. He is not. Personally, I …

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: Finally, we will have a Star Trek show that sounds like what I’ve been hoping we’d get for quite some time. CBS All Access has ordered a full series of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, based on the years where Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount) helms the U.S.S. Enterprise. The series will feature …

No Shame: Will Wheaton, writing on his site, presents a gentle reminder to everyone who isn’t lazy or selfish out there. This whole thing we are living through is a lot, and it’s really understandable to want to get back to normal. The thing is, science and virology don’t care about your timetable, and until …

A Good Night’s Sleep: Photographer, writer, editor, and publisher, Rick LePage , wrote an essay a few days ago that I’m just getting around to reading. He starts off this way: Good sleep is a questionable endeavor these days. It is understandable, given the pandemic, with the lockdowns and quarantines, and its associated …

Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist: One of the best things to come out of this crazy time is the ability to try something new. Of course, everyone can try something new at any time-no need for a global pandemic as an excuse to get started. That is factually correct. However, this stay-at-home to flatten the curve life we now lead has …

The Cancer in the Camera Lens: David Roth, writing for The New Republic, is just at the top of his game. The descriptions here are delightful. In close up, on television, at a glance, with the volume down, Donald Trump can from time to time look like a president. That effect becomes less convincing the more you pay attention, …

Happy Place: Some call it the happiest place on earth My friend Grant has posted another fantastic Facebook post about losing his happy place, at least for a little while. I’ve reposted it here because I know not everyone wants to access Facebook and I think it deserves an audience outside of …

Don’t Inject Disinfectant: At a press conference on Thursday, Trump pondered out loud in a sort of free associative way that bringing “light inside the body” and injecting or consuming disinfectant are ways to stop the coronavirus. So supposing we hit the body with a tremendous — whether it’s ultraviolet or just a very …

Happy Birthday, Rocco: This is an occasion where we might’ve had a party, found some appropriate treats, and baked a cake (for the humans). As it stands with this cursed pandemic, none of those things are happening. Still, I wanted to mark the day for posterity. Rocco, our wonder-pup, has been an incredible member of the …

Worry: In 2013, my wife Maria was diagnosed with ankylosing spondylitis, which, if you don’t know, is a chronic inflammatory disease where the bones in the spine start to fuse. It is an autoimmune type of arthritis. People who have autoimmune disorders have an immune system that attacks healthy cells. …

Marking Down the Moments: My family left for a Florida vacation on Friday, March 13. When we came back a few days later, the world turned upside down, and we were all working from home and self-isolating. It’s not quite yet been a month, but everyone is finding some sort of new normal. None of us like it. All of us miss our …

This Is What Happens When a Narcissist Runs a Crisis: Jennifer Senior, writing for The New York Times, explains what everyone with a brain knew before 2016. And most relevant, as far as history is concerned: Narcissistic personalities are weak. What that means, during this pandemic: Trump is genuinely afraid to lead. He can’t bring himself to make …

Thank God for the Internet: Josh Topolsky, writing at Input, has some smart thoughts on how the internet has completely made a difference during our new Work from Home situation. But thank god for the internet. What the hell would we do right now without the internet? How would so many of us work, stay connected, stay …

Art in the Middle of a Pandemic: It occurs to me that one of the most important aspects of staying home is the ability to access and create art. I’m seeing it every day. The joke is our forefathers were asked to go to war, and we are asked to sit on the couch… we can do this! Of course, we can. It’s even easier with a million shows …

Adam Schlesinger, RIP: Adam Schlesinger passed away from coronavirus-related issues, and I’m shaken. You may not know the name, but you know the songs. So many perfect pop songs were written by the co-founder of Fountains of Wayne. Sure, you know “Stacy’s Mom,” but that isn’t even the best song on that album. Spenser …

One Day at a Time: I’m so drained. Of course, I’m not alone. My family is safe. My extended family is safe. My wife and I can work from home and have been doing as best as possible. It has not been easy, nor has it been ideal. But we are getting through this. Feeling fortunate gives way to feelings of uncertainty and …

Looking Out for One Another: Below was a Facebook post by my friend, Grant Chastain. It is heartbreaking and inspiring all at the same time. I’ve reprinted it here for those who can’t see Facebook or choose not to visit the site. It’s 6:57am on a Tuesday, and I’m just arriving at work, to do a job I’ve loved more than most of …

Kobe Bryant: On Sunday, Kobe Bryant died in a helicopter crash. Eight other people also died, including his 13-year-old daughter Gianna “Gigi.” When I heard the news, I was as shocked as anyone, but I was not emotionally affected. He was not a personal friend of mine or a member of my family, so I did not cry or …

Who Can Beat Trump?: I barely watched the last Democratic debate. I did not watch much of the earlier ones either. The reason is simple: I’m voting for whomever the Democrats put forward because making Donald J. Trump a one-term president is of utmost importance. The problem I see is I have no idea which of these …

Pink Sky: 

Rudy Giuliani Should Delete His Account: Cory Doctorow at Boing Boing tells the story of fatfingered Rudy Giuliani: Rudy Giuliani fatfingered a tweet last week and inadvertently referenced a nonexistent URL (G-20.in); some clever wag registered the URL and stood up a static landing page that reads “Donald J. Trump is a traitor to our …

Wisconsin 23 Illinois 24: 

The Wounded Vet with the Penis Transplant: Andrew Zaleski, writing for MIT Technology Review, has an inspiring and remarkable story about a veteran with a horrific injury and what it took to give him back his dignity. I had no idea this was even possible.

The NCAA Will Never Fix Itself: Jemele Hill, writing for The Atlantic, has an interesting story on what’s wrong with college sports and why Congress needs to step in and fix the problem. It smartly focuses on Cory Booker, who was a D1 college athlete and is now a Senator and Presidential Candidate. Basically, the NCAA …

David Freese Retires: pic.twitter.com/czVJztm9iY — David Freese (@DavidFreese) October 12, 2019 He provided one of the greatest moments in St. Louis Cardinals history and will be remembered forever because of it.

Football Vibes: 

Nobody’s Above the Law: Mark Frauendfelder, writing at Boing Boing, points us to a video by Jonathan Coulton that appeared at the end of The Good Fight episode “Day 450.” It’s a loving tribute to Schoolhouse Rock. I don’t watch The Good Fight and had no idea this existed. Seems apropos.

5 Tenants of a Negative Self-Help: Mark Manson, writing at this site, has coined a new term, “Negative Self-Help.” Whereas positive self-help believes that we’re all wonderful and destined for greatness, Negative Self-Help admits that we’re all kind of shitty and we should come to terms with that. Whereas …

Impeachment Record: Dana Blanton, reporting for Fox News, has a story the White House won’t like. A new high of 51 percent wants Trump impeached and removed from office, another 4 percent want him impeached but not removed, and 40 percent oppose impeachment altogether. In July, 42 percent favored impeachment …

Cardinals Manager Mike Fucking Shildt Gets All Fucking Riled Up After Beating The Fucking Braves: Bill Haisley, writing for Deadspin, recounts a social media post by St. Louis Cardinal player Randy Arozarena that, undoubtedly, was not for public consumption. Mike Shildt: “The [Braves] started some shit. We finished the shit. And that’s how we roll. No one fucks with us ever. Now, I don’t give a …

The Right Book: Austin Kleon on recognizing a good book. If a book makes me want to keep reading, it’s the right book. If a book makes me want to start writing, it’s the right book. Any other book is not the right book. (Right now.)

Projects vs Tasks: Seth Godin on understanding the difference between projects and tasks. This is the kind of observations I love that Seth does. It’s all about ownership.

Kenny Loggins and Richard Marx: I’ve been friends with @kennyloggins for thirty years and every time we’ve had dinner somewhere and the server asks if he’d like anything else and he says, “I’m alright” as soon as they walk away I look at him and go, “Seriously?” — Richard Marx (@richardmarx) October 8, 2019 ’80s yacht-rock …

Beating the Odds: Anne Rogers, writing for mlb.com, has an excellent profile of St. Louis Cardinals manager Mike Shildt. “Believing in individuals and teams only gets tested when things aren’t going your way,” Shildt said. “And the easiest thing in the world is to punt on somebody. …

Who else?: WHO ELSE?! 🐐 pic.twitter.com/zKq8msNJer — St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) October 7, 2019 #THATSAWINNER and #THATSAWALKOFF!!! 👏👏👏 pic.twitter.com/tEUSEEG6Eg — St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) October 7, 2019 Yadi is clutch. Time to put the Braves away …

The Outsized Importance of Stan Lee’s Origins of Marvel Comics: Jim McLauchlin, writing for Newsarama, has a great story on the importance of a book that came out in 1974 — Origins of Marvel Comics by Stan Lee. Without this book and the marketing showmanship of Stan Lee going around and promoting it, the Marvel Comics of today might not have existed. "Origins …

Mid-Day News: Shirley Li, writing in The Atlantic, highlighted one of the better sketches from the most recent episode of Saturday Night Live. The racial stereotypes and the “game” was funny and smart. SNL could use more sketches like this.

Black Sorcery: One of the most interesting subreddits is r/blackmagicfuckery. Here are the best clips of all time. Here is the regular flow of posts. H/T: MetaFilter

“Obviously, we got punched in the mouth.”: Kolten Wong: “It’s postseason baseball. If you need any fucking build-up or anything, then you don’t belong here. Obviously we got punched in the mouth, but we did the same thing to them at their place.” https://t.co/kyZ3qKgM57 — Mark Saxon (@markasaxon) October 7, …

Old Friends and New Secrets: James Whitbrook, writing for Gizmodo, takes a deep dive in “Breaking Down the Old Friends and New Secrets of Star Trek: Picard’s Latest Trailer.” Nice gifs. Stay for the analysis.

Hairdoo: 

The Scandal Has Spiraled Out of Trump’s Control: David Graham, writing in The Atlantic, outlines what we know so far in the Ukraine scandal and how it has ballooned into something that involves nearly all levels of the Trump administration from the vice president to his personal lawyer/fixer to the top U.S. diplomat in the Ukraine to the European …

Puddles Covers Crazy Train: What a totally cool version, however the end mash-up was genius.

KISS Cover Band Guitarist Leaves To Start Vinnie Vincent Invasion Tribute Band: KISS fan website KISS Asylum pointed me to an old Onion article that made me laugh. AKRON, OH—Citing growing tensions between bandmates, Harvey Shapiro—aka “VeeVee,” the guitarist for KISS cover band Destroyer—left the group Monday to create VeeVee’s …

52 Things I Know at 52: Patrick Rhone has put together a pretty cool list of a bunch of posts of his. I need to do something similar. Love this concept.

This is the Moment Rachel Maddow has Been Waiting For: Amanda Hess, writing for The New York Times, has an incredible profile of Rachel Maddow. Maddow has hosted “The Rachel Maddow Show” on MSNBC at 9 p.m. five nights a week for 11 years. But over the past three, her figure has ascended, in the liberal imagination, from beloved cable-news …

The Murder of Jamal Khashoggi: Evan Ratliff, writing for Insider, has an incredible long-read on the disappearance and murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. It’s a good reminder that the Saudi government isn’t really our friend and the indifference by the White House is indicative of how they would like to treat …

Joker Is One Unpleasant Note Played Louder and Louder: David Edelstein, writing for Vulture, tells me everything I need to know about the movie Joker, starring Joaquin Phoenix, in one simple sentence. The downside to the performance is the downside to the movie: It’s one note played louder and louder.  I don’t need that in my life. …

In the Dark: I just updated my phone to iOS 13.1 and experimented with dark mode. Overall, it’s kind of meh for me. M.G. Siegler, in his 5ish newsletter, pointed me to a story back in May about dark mode that I hadn’t seen. Adam Engst talks about Apple’s introduction to Dark Mode and then …

Zero: Nicholas Bate with some zero basics. Zero In-box Zero, Coke Zero Zero Netflix Monday to Thursday.  Read. Zero taking the lift/elevator down. Zero time to waste. Zero poor coffee. Zero excuses.

Remember: Kevin Drum wants us all to remember what this whole Ukraine business is all about. Ukrainegate is about Donald Trump holding military assistance hostage unless a foreign leader helped him win an election. To the best of anyone’s knowledge, this has never happened before. It is an obvious and …

Cardinals Manager Predicts Popping Champagne: Mike Shildt: "We don't have any team meetings, but we do have three more left: When we pop champagne after the Division Series, When we pop champagne after the Championship Series and when we When we pop champagne after the World Series." #TimeToFly pic.twitter.com/ofyjAxbH7g — Bally Sports Midwest …

Maddon’s Out: Jordan Bastian, writing for MLB, says Joe Maddon is meeting with Theo Epstein. Entering Saturday’s game, Maddon had guided the Cubs to 470 wins, the fifth-most for a manager in team history. His run of four consecutive postseason berths (2015-18) is unprecedented for a Cubs manager, the 2016 …

Go Force Yourself: You misspelled "Fraud."#GoForceYourself https://t.co/ORY6eeyGgj — Mark Hamill (@MarkHamill) September 29, 2019 "Force"? Doubtful. Your son is dressed as a Stormtrooper, who serve as the Palpatine Empire's shock forces and were originally introduced in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. Originally …

Apple Picking: Easily the best sketch from Saturday Night Live last night. Really funny. “For just $45 you call bring home $10 worth of apples…”

There’s a Horse Loose in a Hospital: This might be my favorite bit ever by a stand-up comedian.

The Whistle-Blower’s Guide to Writing: The director of the Writing Center at Harvard University, Jane Rosenzweig, writing for The New York Times, says the whistle-blower’s writing is amazingly clear. Her piece showcases several points from the letter that illustrate clear, concise writing. All writers should read the story.

Richly Deserved: Jonathan Chait, writing for New York Magazine, predicts this whole Ukraine scandal just might be Trump’s downfall. Trump responded to the threat of impeachment by reaffirming why he deserves it. He told reporters impeachment (a mechanism in the Constitution) “shouldn’t be …

Eurythmics + White Stripes Mashup | Pomplamoose ft. Sarah Dugas: Pomplamoose is know for doing really cool and interesting mashups. This one is great. Eurythmics’ Sweet Dreams are Made of This and The White Stripes’ Seven Nation Army have never sounded better. Way better than you might expect.

Whistleblower Complaint: Mark Frauenfelder, writing in Boing Boing, points to a cool bit audio. Saskia Maarleveld is an audiobook narrator and voiceover actress. If you listen to audiobooks, her voice will sound familiar. Here, she reads the whistleblower complaint released by the House Intelligence Committee. …

The Most Dangerous Divide: Patrick Rhone speaking the truth. Increasingly, I feel the most dangerous divide in our nation is between those who read and those who don’t.

Kingdom Come Superman: Look, up in the sky ... it's @BrandonJRouth as Superman! Take flight in the #DCTV Crisis on Infinite Earths crossover, starting December on @TheCWSupergirl, @CWBatwoman, @CW_TheFlash, @CW_Arrow and @TheCW_Legends. pic.twitter.com/KsTFLDvgdY — Superman (@Superman) September 27, 2019 This looks pretty …

He Has No Idea What He’s Talking About: David Roth, writing for The Concourse in Deadspin, believes it’s a problem that the president can’t talk or think. It is a problem for President Donald Trump that it’s often impossible to tell what the hell he’s talking about. This is not one of those signature Trump defects that can readily be spun …

Impeachment is Bad for the Image?: So, the White House released a memo of a conversation Trump had with the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. I’m not sure what the purpose of doing this was because it clearly makes Trump look like he’s doing the mob shakedown thing. Kevin Drum has a perfect abridged version of the memo, and …

Here Comes the Sun: Today is the 50th anniversary of The Beatles’ “Abbey Road” album and to celebrate, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and their collaborators have released a new video for “Here Comes The Sun.” From a statement: The “Here Comes The Sun” music video welcomes …

The Three Basics for Individuals: Michael Wade with the three basics: Mindfulness. Watch your drift. Pay attention to the small things. Get the “incrementals” going in the right direction. Self-Discipline. Restrain or eliminate any behavior that you know is negative. Stop making excuses. Nobility. Act in such a …

Albums I Wish Existed: Albums I Wish Existed features albums that could have been made, perhaps should have been made, and now they are made, by a man who just seems to be doing what he can to make the world a better place for those of us who love music. The guy seems to know everything about …

Yellow Submarine: This is one of the better Classroom Instruments bits from Fallon’s Tonight Show.

Three Months Of Prep Made Our Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge Trip Amazing: Dan Amrich, writing in kotaku, tells the tale of him and his wife preparing to visit Disneyland’s Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. They spent a lot of time planning, making costumes and accessories and then, surprisingly, being rewarded. Cosplay! Who knew?

The Growing Threat of Journalism Around the World: A. G. Sulzberger, publisher of The New York Times, printed the contents of a speech he made at Brown University. In it, he told an astounding story. To give you a sense of what this retreat looks like on the ground, let me tell you a story I’ve never shared publicly before. Two years ago, we …

40 Sentences: David Leonhardt, writing in The New York Times, outlines Donald J. Trump in forty sentences. I deem it worthwhile enough to repost here. Sometimes it’s worth stepping back to look at the full picture. He has pressured a foreign leader to interfere in the 2020 American presidential …

RIG: Nicholas Bate on RIG (Random Idea Generator) During showers, in synaptic gaps and on walks along the beach with an excited dog, ideas are formed. The RIG (Random Idea Generator) embedded deep in your brain loves to engage but it needs space, a spark of stimulation and a little encouragement. It …

Just Impeach Him Already: Ellen Nakashima, Shane Harris, Greg Miller, and Carol D. Leonnig, writing in The Washington Post, tells the familiar tale of someone thinking the President of the United States did something so wrong as to use an official whistleblower complaint, and now the White House is blocking the …

Aron Eisenberg, RIP: Aron Eisenberg, the actor responsible for bringing the Ferengi Nog to life on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, has died. Far too young.

2019 Illinois Athletics Hall of Fame Induction Program: Here’s the full program from the 2019 Fighting Illini Hall of Fame Induction ceremony, hosted by Dave Revsine, at State Farm Center honoring the third Illinois Athletics Hall of Fame class on September 20, 2019.

Promises, Promises: Ellen Nakashima, Shane Harris, Greg Miller and Carol D. Leonnig, writing in The Washington Post, tells the familiar tale of someone thinking the President of the United States did something so wrong as to use official whistleblower complaint and now the White House is blocking the investigation. …

Matt Carpenter: 🤫 pic.twitter.com/feFUkBSSyr — St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) September 20, 2019 When the Cubs tied it in the 10th, I turned the TV off I was so pissed. I just knew the Cardinals and Carlos Martinez had just choked the win away. I played with the dog a bit who could tell I was worked up and he …

I Wanna Go Back: I’m listening to a compilation of Eddie Money tunes on Spotify as I’m thinking back to 1983 when his videos for Shakin’” and “Think I’m In Love” were all over MTV. A year later, Ric Ocasek was walking on water in the Magic” video and turning into a fly in the “You Might Think” video. These artists, …

Every Mac Wallpaper Recreated: Josh Gitner, at his site, pointed me to a cool video. My friends and I visited and recreated every default Apple wallpaper on a one week road trip. Starting with MacOS Mojave in Death Valley National Park, we traveled to each of Apple’s California Locations to try and make an identical photo …

A Night at the Opera: Bernie Miklasz, writing for 101ESPN, called the Cardinals versus the Cubs game last night operatic. Just when you thought that the Cubs owned all of the momentum and positive emotion and cranked-up energy, just when you thought the Cubs would win the night on a stunning comeback, Carpenter reset …

Creative People: Seth Godin on becoming a creative person: There’s just one way to become one: Do something creative. It’s a little bit like leaders. What they have in common is that they lead. Simply begin.

The Age of the Athlete-Politician Almost Upon Us?: Will Leitch, writing for New York Magazine, posits and interesting premise: Is it time for superstar athletes to become politicians? It would seem time, though. There has never been a time when sports and politics have been so inextricably intertwined. From the NFL protests — which not only drew …

Powerful: Survive the school year with these must-have #BackToSchool essentials. https://t.co/9KgxAQ0KGz This PSA contains graphic content related to school shootings & may be upsetting to some viewers. If you feel this subject matter may be difficult for you, you may choose not to watch. …

No America, It’s Not Gonna Be Okay: John Pavolvitz, writing on his site, has some strong opinions on the state of the American experiment. The only way things are going to be okay—is if good people make them okay… I’m afraid he’s right.

Let’s Have a Good Show: Jeremy Werner, writing at his Illini Inquirer site, has one of the best behind-the-scenes stories on what it takes to be the lead broadcasters on a Big Ten football game. It is in-depth and practically minute-by-minute. In my opinion, it’s one of the best stories Werner has put together. …

Obama 2020: The 22nd Amendment says a person can only be elected to be president two times for a total of eight years. But Trump’s GOP never follows rules, norms, or laws. Why should we? Obama 2020. pic.twitter.com/xX8ROP3cjB — Dave Pell (@davepell) September 18, 2019 It would be my choice too, …

It’s Greta’s World: David Wallace-Wells, writing in New York Magazine, has an incredible story on Greta Thunberg. She was the Joan of Arc of climate change, commanding a global army of teenage activists numbering in the millions and waging a rhetorical war against her elders through the unapologetic use of …

Tennessee Offers Scholarship to Bullied Young Man: Adam Rittenberg, writing for ESPN, has a positive sports story that I definitely needed. Tennessee announced Thursday that it has extended an offer of admission and a four-year scholarship — for the Class of 2032 — to the elementary school student in Altamonte Springs, …

Pugwash: I’m a huge fan of power pop. I usually like a bit more crunch a la Cheap Trick, but the Romantics, Gin Blossoms, Honeymoon Suite, the Knack, and more all have amazing power pop songs. I mean, technically, the Beatles were the first power pop band. Last summer, I stumbled upon a post at …

The Decline and Fall of the Modern Nerd: Rob Bricken, writing his Nerd Processor column on Medium, has decided fandom has been transformed from being about love and diversity into hate and intolerance. As usual, he’s full of shit. There are an increasing number of things I used to enjoy that feel tainted by the hate other so-called fans …

The Final 16: Bernie Miklasz, writing for 101ESPN, tries to ease Cardinals fans fears as meaningful September baseball is about to be played. I like his way of seeing things. The Cardinals will play 10 of their final 16 games against the Brewers (three) and Cubs (seven.) That might unnerve some folks, …

The Resentment of Joker: After reading David Edlestein’s review in Vulture of Joker, I’m even surer I’m going to hate everything about this film. It tells me everything I need to know about the movie in one simple sentence. The downside to the performance is the downside to the movie: It’s one note played louder and …

The Best Gift: Patrick Rhone on plans - The best gift one can give to any plan is time. The more time given, the more sure the plan. The more sure the plan, the better the work. Plan the work. Then, work the plan.

A Glimpse of Freedom, in Glittery Heels: Sara Luterman, writing in Slate, has an uplifting story about people with Down Syndrome dressing in drag and putting on a show. The obvious villain of the piece is a Republican who doesn’t understand it and never will. The name of the group is perfect.

The First Game of the Rest of Our Lives: Nate Jackson, writing for Deadspin, has a 9/11 story I’ve never heard before. It would make an excellent movie.

The Falling Man: Today I was reminded of a story that resonated with me ever since I read it. I remember the image. It haunts me each year. I will not post it, but I will direct you to the story by Tom Junod in Esquire. It is enough.

Denied: The AP has a report out today outlining why the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office denied Ohio State University’s trademark filing on the word “The.” The patent office cited the trademark appears to be used for “merely decorative manner” and as an “ornamental …

Are Cubs at Risk of Becoming MLBs ’85 Bears?: Will Leitch, writing for mlb.com, outlines a fear I think most Cubs fans have-the 2016 Cubs are basically the 1985 Bears. It is possible that the most famous NFL team of the last 40 years and the most famous baseball team of the last 40 years both are from Chicago. The 1985 Bears … well, the 1985 …

Trump is Not Well: Peter Wehner, writing in The Atlantic, states the obvious. Trump is not well. Donald Trump’s disordered personality—his unhealthy patterns of thinking, functioning, and behaving—has become the defining characteristic of his presidency. It manifests itself in multiple …

The Scale of Corruption: Heather Digby Parton, writing for Salon, has a story beginning to outline the full extent of the lies and corruption at the heart of the Trump administration. It’s a tired thousands words that everyone who’s paying even the slightest attention already knows. They either find this …

I Was Caroline Calloway: Natalie Beach, writing The Cut, has an extraordinary story to tell. When I was a sophomore in college, I took a creative-nonfiction workshop and met a girl who was everything I wasn’t. The point of the class was to learn to write your own story, but from the moment we met, I focused instead …

Who Is Your #GUNSAFETYPRESIDENT?: 2020 candidates agree: We must do more to protect our kids from gun violence. Watch the first video in our new #GunSafetyPresident series with @JoeBiden, @CoryBooker, @PeteButtigieg, @KamalaHarris, @AmyKlobuchar, @BetoORourke, @BernieSanders, and @EWarren. https://t.co/frfrgwCFNj …

How to Be More Intelligent: Nicholas Bate has a cheatsheet to be more intelligent. How many of these have you done or currently do?

Sick: Warren Ellis is sick. I am sick. But I won’t be sick forever. This too will pass, and I’ll be left with just the usual medical issues and hitches and scars and aches and pains that come from having survived on this weird little rock for half a century. But, not only is it better than …

Typewriter and Publisher: M. G. Siegler, writing at his site 500ish, takes us through his experience with iPad OS and in particular Safari. Now that this Safari is just like the desktop Safari — like real Safari — we’re all good. No, I don’t know what …

NOAA Staff Warned Against Contradicting Trump: Andrew Freedman, writing in The Washington Post, outlines a story that should make everyone mad. “This is the first time I’ve felt pressure from above to not say what truly is the forecast,” the meteorologist said. “It’s hard for me to wrap my head around. One of …

How M.I.T. Concealed Its Relationship with Jeffrey Epstein: Ronan Farrow, writing in The New Yorker, has a damning expose on Jeffrey Epstein, Joi Ito of M.I.T., and Bill Gates. Perhaps most notably, Epstein appeared to serve as an intermediary between the lab and other wealthy donors, soliciting millions of dollars in donations from individuals and …

All 11 Star Wars Movies Ranked: Nahila Bonfiglio, writing for The Daily Dot, needed a story to file so she remembered there’s one of them Star Wars movies coming out in December, so I’ll just write up a thing that ranks the rest of the movies using Metacritic, IMDb, and Rotten Tomatoes. It is boring.

The F-Word is Going the Way of Hell: John McWhorter, writing in The Atlantic, argues slurs are the real profanity and using “fuck” to describe a mass shooting sounds about right. In an America in which a hit children’s book can have the F-word in its title, as can a hit pop song by CeeLo Green, when WTF is …

We’re All Fake Fans Now: Will Leitch, writing in New York Magazine, explains the complicated relationship between fan and athlete. His focus is on the recently retired Andrew Luck and the bevy of boos and downright ugliness of his retirement. Even using the callous calculus of the fan-athlete relationship, this seemed to …

The Room Where It Happens: Seth Godin on making things happen. The best way to be in the room where it happens is to be the person who called the meeting. Things rarely happen on their own. Everyone is waiting for you to organize the next thing.

The Big Show Never Ends: Bryan Curtis, writing for The Ringer, looks back at the beginnings of ESPN’s SportsCenter. The interviews with Dan Patrick and Keith Olbermann are awesome.

Harry Potter Books Banned at Nashville School to Avoid ‘Conjuring Evil Spirits’: Want to get me pissed off? Tell me a book of fiction for young readers that extols the virtues of friends, family, and love is evil. A Catholic school in Nashville has banned all the Harry Potter books because they contain real spells. What the actual hell? The Reverend Dan Reehil explained is …

Parliament of Cowards: Kevin Drum, writing at Mother Jones, calls Boris Johnson and the British Parliament out. If Boris Johnson weren’t such a blithering jackass I’d almost feel sorry for him. I mean, what does Parliament want? They refused to accept Theresa May’s Brexit deal. They refuse to exit …

How an Ex-CIA Officer Became the World’s Hottest Comic Book Writer: Melissa Leon, writing for The Daily Beast, has a tremendous profile of comic book writer Tom King. I had no idea of his past and this article really dives right in. Love it.

On Becoming Batman: Ramin Setoodeh, writing in Variety, has a great interview with Robert Pattinson about his latest film, The Lighthouse, and, of course, becoming the new Batman. If you are still stuck on Twilight or Harry Potter, Pattinson is more than that. I think it’s a really great casting choice.

Linda Hamilton Fled Hollywood, but Terminator Still Found Her: Kyle Buchanan, writing in The New York Times, has an incredible profile of Linda Hamilton. This bit was super telling: No romantic sparks had been struck between Cameron and his leading lady during the first “Terminator,” but not long after making “Terminator 2,” they …

Separately: Matt Gemmell, writing on his site, describes a concert experience with his family and the estrangement of his brother. The writing is melancholy in its presentation with more than a hint of sadness behind experiencing one of the last few Mark Knopfler shows and experiencing it separately, but at the …

Hard Work: Nicholas Bate on hard work – 1.What you seek will take hard work. 2. There is no quick fix for health, publication nor financial security. 3. Hard work-once started-feels good. 4. Hard work-once decided-is 100% under your control. 5. Hard work-once applied-is the easiest competitive …

4 wins in 5 games squeezed into 3 days: Mark Saxon, writing in The Athletic, talks about the mental and physical demands of professional baseball. Specifically, the St. Louis Cardinals who just played five major-league games in less than 52 hours. It’s patently ridiculous at this level. Plus, they won four of the five. …

Hyphens: To the horror of decent writers everywhere, The Associated Press has issued new guidance on the use of hyphens, upending the normal order of things, and precipitating the decline of Western Civilization. I’m sure they are coming for the Oxford comma next.

Everything Else: Seth Godin on everything else: Everyone else also thinks it’s about them. Everyone else is in a hurry. Everyone else is afraid. Everyone else wonders if they’re being left behind. Everyone else is tired. Everyone else isn’t sure, either. The good news is that everyone else also …

Cheeto Christ Stupid-Czar: Randy Rainbow has done it again with this video.

10 Things We Learned From 2019’s Summer Movie Season: Tim Grierson, writing in Rolling Stone, bemoans the state of the movie industry with his ten hot takes on Summer 2019 at the movies. He’s probably not wrong. Disney dominates, sequels and remakes are all the rage, original scripted movies are far and few between, some studios are smarter than …

No Offense: For some reason, the internet has suddenly caught on to this hilarious video. Madilyn Bailey wrote a song only using hate comments from her YouTube channel. Brilliant.

Football Doesn’t Let You Leave: Nate Jackson, writing for Deadspin, tells his own tale of professional football—“the cycle of injury, pain and rehab.” While Andrew Luck’s decision to retire has baffled many fans (and I include journalists here, because journalists are the biggest fans), every NFL …

Vicious Circle: Mark Evanier, writing on his personal blog, makes a really interesting observation about Trump. So I’m thinking Trump’s trapped in a vicious circle of his own making. Whenever he feels his stature as President/God slipping away from him, he gets nastier and more insulting and more …

Let’s Meet Again in Five Years: What a wonderful, romantic story Karen B. Kaplan shared in The New York Times Modern Love section. It is ripe to be snagged for a movie.

How to Disarm America: Jack Crosbie, writing in Splinter, has a thoughtful, well-researched piece about what to do about guns in these United States of America. I have no idea if any of his ideas or others will do any good, but it will likely save lives to at least try something.

Truth: Seth Godin, writing at his site, is wrong. It happens. He conflates truth and the acceptance of truth. Truth is truth. In every fourth-grade classroom, the statement, “9 is bigger than 7” is clearly true. We can count out nine marbles. We have a mutual understanding of what “bigger” means in this …

Dungeons and Deceptions: Ceclia D’Anastasio, writing for Kotaku, has an in-depth story on the origins of Dungeons & Dragons. It is a fascinating read. Of course, I played D&D as a kid and really enjoyed the game. The first time I played my character died in the first few minutes and I was apoplectic as much …

The Henry Dale and Betty Smith Football Center: In this video, University of Illinois Athletic Director Josh Whitman takes members of the media through the brand new Henry Dale and Betty Smith Football Center. It is quite impressive. H/T: Jeremy Werner and Illini Inquirer

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Teaser Poster : Check out the new poster for Star Wars: #TheRiseOfSkywalker that debuted at #D23Expo. See the film in theaters December 20. pic.twitter.com/FUSZaGQZE6 — Star Wars (@starwars) August 24, 2019 December can’t come fast enough.

Me and the Girls: 

Inside the Twisted, Worldwide Hunt for a $7 Million Stolen Car: Stayton Bonner, writing in Esquire, has a fun story about a private investigator who specializes in “a niche of a niche of a niche.” Joe specializes in recovering stolen cars, but not just any old cars. He finds rare, collectible cars worth upwards of millions of dollars. Take a lazy …

Yadi Knew: Yep, this is the coolest thing you'll see tonight. Yadi knew Dex hit that out of the yard before he even swung the bat. #TimeToFly pic.twitter.com/mdiptBq46M — Bally Sports Midwest (@BallySportsMW) August 23, 2019 Of course he did. Because Yadi is the GOAT.

If Trump Were an Airline Pilot: James Fallows, writing in The Atlantic, has an interesting take on Donald Trump’s interesting week of verbal vomit. He thinks “a flat ban on at-a-distance diagnosis doesn’t really meet the common-sense test.” Of course, he thinks any medical hypothesis would be futile. …

Absurd: Andrew Sullivan, writing in New York Magazine, writes poor Donald Trump’s trigger word, “absurd,” is emblematic of his entire presidency. President Donald Trump is absurd. His presidency is absurd. His party is absurd. We have known this ever since that absurd journey down …

XFL: I was vaguely aware that WWE’s Vince McMahon and others were relaunching the XFL. Apparently, this “league” starts up in 2020 and they just announced the first eight teams in a borderline ridiculous video. Barry Petchesky, writing in Deadspin, has the hottest take looking at the …

Uncomfortable Conversations:  A person’s success in life can usually be measured by the number of uncomfortable conversations he or she is willing to have. - Tim Ferriss

The Greatest Baseball Card Ever: Who cares about the T-206 Wagner or the 1952 Topps Mantle? For my money, Keith Comstock has the greatest baseball card ever. Thirty years after his card’s release, Comstock told me the story. This was the funniest interview of my life. (via @ESPN) https://t.co/VPSz0dVVDy — Robert …

The Widespread Suspicion of Opposite-Sex Friendships: Ashley Fetters, writing in The Atlantic, talks about if it’s possible for men and women to be friends. In 1989, When Harry Met Sally posed a question that other pop-cultural entities have been trying to answer ever since: Can straight men and women really be close friends …

The Subtle Politics of Graphic Design: Kate Wagner, writing in The New Republic, reminds us of Barack Obama’s iconic logo and then goes over the branding of the current Democrat candidates. Personally, I’m partial to the Beto O’Rourke and Pete Buttigieg brands. Although, I think the Joe Biden campaign …

The Popeye’s Chicken Sandwich is Here to Save America: Helen Rosner, writing in The New Yorker, has a strange story about fast food chicken sandwiches. There are dozens of fast-food chains in America, débuting hundreds of new menu items each year. Of these, maybe two or three in a generation make significant inroads into our collective …

Time: Michael Wade, writing on his site, asks a few questions regarding time. Is time linear or circular, an hour-glass, or ocean waves? Can time be managed or should it be regarded as an investment? Once lost, can it ever be recovered? If it could, would we know where it went? Is time a collection of …

Structure: Leo Babauta, writing at his site Zen Habits, outlines why we should attempt to create structure in our lives. I agree with everything here and fail horribly at it. I need to try again.

Make a Habit/Break a Habit: Seth Godin, writing on his site, has a few ideas about habits (but that isn’t anything new) If you’re trying to help yourself (or those you serve), the most effective thing you can do is create long-term habits. They become unseen foundations of who we will become. The goal of running …

Early Polling: Dana Blanton, writing on the Fox News website, reviews a new Fox News Poll showing Donald Trump is in a world of hurt come next November. He’s losing to every conceivably viable Democrat with registered voters. >A Fox News poll released Thursday showed President Trump losing head-to-head …

The Decision: I spent a day with my parents driving to a birthday party. We talked about sports, family, and, of course, politics. They are in their 70s and obsessively watch… wait for it… MSNBC. They have come to the conclusion they will vote for the person who isn’t Donald Trump. They have opinions on the field …

Pen and Paper: Om Malik, writing on his blog, explains why pen and paper are good for you. …here are my top reasons for sticking with pen and paper: Paper and pen help you recall things better. They activate the “reticular activating system,” which allows us to filter out unnecessary information. This is in stark …

Wedding Day, Game Day: 

The Athletic on Illinois: Eamonn Brennan, writing in The Athletic, have a few words about this upcoming season of Illinois Basketball. There’s a lot to like about Illinois, both in the immediate term and beyond. As for the immediate term, the 2018-19 season felt like a platform year, the …

Illinois Football: 2020 College Football Playoff Champions: Matt O’Neall, writing for The Champaign Room, has obviously drunk all the Orange Koolaid. In this piece that rivals The Song of Fire and Ice and The Lord of the Rings in its fantasy roots, he envisions how Illinois wins the 2020 College Football Playoff. A couple of my favorite bits – …

The Secrets of Success: Nicholas Bate’s secrets of success in handy PDF form. Four pages of brilliance.

The Californication of America’s Restaurants: Nick Mancall-Bitel, writing in Eater, has an interesting story on the concept of “California cuisine.” …even without a clear definition of the food on the plate, diners then and now harbor an image of California dining. The concept conjures a place more than a flavor: a table …

That True Detective Scene with Alexandra Daddario: Luke Winkie, writing for MEL Magazine, shines a light on a highly specific subreddit on Reddit named r/TTDSWAD an acronym for That True Detective Scene with Alexandra Daddario. If you seen the first season of True Detective, there’s a pretty (in)famous full-frontal sequence with Alexandra …

The White of the Plate: Jayson Stark, writing in The Athletic, has the most recent take on the upcoming robot apocalypse i.e. computerized ball-strike calls via TrackMan. What James Skelton sees — what everyone in the Atlantic League sees — is that TrackMan has no feelings, doesn’t care who is on the …

WordPress Buying Tumblr: Madison Malone Kircher, writing in Vulture, takes the Wall Street Journal story that Automaticc, the owner of WordPress, has purchased Tumblr from Verizon and, interestingly, goes straight for the smut angle. But, Automattic … this could be your moment. Bring back the porny stuff. Bring back …

The Truth About Jeffrey Epstein Is Far Uglier Than the Conspiracy Theories Surrounding Him: Eddie Kim, writing for MEL Magazine, outlines all the crazy conspiracy theories, memes, and social media posts involving the apparent suicide of Jeffrey Epstein. His ending pretty much sums up my feelings on the matter until I hear something different. But here are the facts: People kill themselves …

Surrogate Angels of Death: Rhonda Garelick, writing at The Cut, tries to wrap her mind around the photo of Melania Trump holding a newly orphaned baby while her husband grins like a ghoul and gives the camera a thumbs up. Imagine this: A shooter has entered a public place, where you are walking with your family. You have but …

The Texas Blue Wave: Bob Moser, writing in The New Republic, has a story on the gradual blue-ing of Texas. The wave is starting to get some kinetic energy and it’s not just Beto O’Rourke. Suddenly, Texas Republicans are on the defensive in their national fortress—and they’re both talking and …

The Plan to Save Barnes and Noble: Justin Bariso, writing for Inc., deduces the short, smart plan of new Barnes and Noble CEO James Daunt to save the retail operation. It’s painfully simple. Let stores choose which books to stock, let managers configure stores they way they want, and make the stores comfortable and inviting. I …

Peak Wellness: Brad Stulberg, writing in Outside Online, takes the whole wellness industry to task. The problem is that so much of what’s sold in the name of modern-day wellness has little to no evidence of working. Which doesn’t mean that wellness isn’t a real thing. According to …

A Circle of Words: Om Malik, writing on his site, talks about the cycle of emails to blogs to newsletters basically created by Dave Winer. Dave Winer, the godfather of blogging, and in my mind, the singular most influential thinker on all things Internet, media and mediums, shared a link to a Wired post about …

Into the Personal-Website-Verse: Chris Bower, in his The Weekly Review newsletter, pointed to a piece by Matthias Ott about ditching social media and publishing platforms like Medium for personal websites. Personal websites are called personal websites because they are just that: personal. Thus, the primary objective still is to …

Words That Matter: Seth Godin makes a list of important words. Discipline, rigor, patience, self-control, dignity, respect, knowledge, curiosity, wisdom, ethics, honor, empathy, resilience, honesty, long-term, possibility, bravery, kindness and awareness. All of these are real skills, soft skills, learnable skills. …

Damon Sheehy-Guiseppi Scored A Return Touchdown In His NFL Debut: Four months ago, Damon Sheehy-Guiseppi was sleeping outside because he couldn't afford a hotel. He talked his way into a contract with the @Browns and today he scored an 86-yard punt return TD! What. A. Moment. @damon015 pic.twitter.com/apiNylE7Wn — NFL (@NFL) August 9, 2019 The dude lied his way …

A Story About Kevin Smith: Warren Ellis, writing on his site, tells a tale about filmmaker Kevin Smith. It’s a brief account, but says a lot about Smith.

Streaks: Seth Godin, writing at this blog, talks about streaks versus habits. Streaks require commitment at first, but then the commitment turns into a practice, and the practice into a habit. Habits are much easier to maintain than commitments. I’m pretty sure that the blog would still have an …

In the Present: “The sum total of my existence is being written in the present by the choices I make and the priorities I live for. Right now.” — James Shelley H/T: Patrick Rhone

Giorgi Bezhanishvili on going home, being an Illini fan favorite and getting to the NCAA tourney: Brian Hamilton, writing in The Athletic, has fun interview with University of Illinois sophomore forward Giorgi Bezhanishvili. What a wonderful personality. Giorgi is an amazing ambassador for Illinois Basketball and the University of Illinois.

The Secret Sauce: Emma Baccellieri, writing for Sports Illustrated, tells the story about how Major League Baseball requires every ball to be rubbed with special mud from the banks of the Delaware River before being used in an official game. This always does the trick. It prevents anyone from exploring what he’s …

The Mystery of the Old Stars: David Machese, writing in The New York Times, has wonderfully quirky interview with Nicholas Cage. I’ve taken risks. But there has been a collision between the acting experiments and the memeification extrapolated from them. That has not been intentional. I have no social media presence. …

Uncertain and Afraid: I haven’t really read any of John Green’s books, but I probably should. Occasionally, I see a video post and I remember that his vlog is an excellent source of information and comfort. This one expresses many of the same feelings I have today.

Here is the Best Three Minutes You Will Watch About Trump and Racism: "It’s easy for us to place it all on Donald Trump’s shoulders... This is us. And if we’re going to get past this we can’t blame it on him. He's a manifestation of the ugliness that’s in us." @esglaude says white people must reckon with the continued presence of racism in the U.S. …

“DID WE JUST HOMER OFF DEGROM?!”: "DID WE JUST HOMER OFF DEGROM?!" @diaz_isan's PUMPED-UP dad was mid-interview when his guy took a Cy Young winner DEEP for his 1st hit in his MLB debut. 🥺 pic.twitter.com/rOwjYdjr01 — Miami Marlins (@Marlins) August 5, 2019 What a reaction.

The Hierarchy of Importance: Often, too often, I need to be reminded of what’s really important in my life. I easily get sidetracked selfishly focusing on the next shiny object. I lose track of the hierarchy of importance. Family, friends, the here and now are important. Entertainment, the news, and social media should …

Obama on the Recent Mass Shootings: pic.twitter.com/nNOVtQ50O4 — Barack Obama (@BarackObama) August 5, 2019

It Me.: Look, up in the sky! It's a bird, it's a plane.... it me. — Superman (@Superman) August 5, 2019

The United States of Guns: Jason Kottke, writing at his site, has put up a new version of the same article. Like many of you, I read the news of a single person killing at least 20 people in El Paso, Texas yesterday and another person killing at least 9 people In Dayton, Ohio …

Space Helmet Poster: I need all of Ocean’s 11 to get their own space helmet poster pic.twitter.com/EattJf5pnL — Kqcn (@academyframe) August 4, 2019

Unpopular Opinion: Easy pick for me: Speed Racer (2008, 40% Rotten Tomatoes). Unapologetically corny, occasionally strangely affecting, and beautiful in an unreal, hallucinatory way. Also the first ten minutes are a master class in 21st century digital cinematic editing.https://t.co/bJO7UJ3uZM …

The Remarkable Healing Power: Nicholas Bate with a list of seven things with remarkable healing powers – A good night’s sleep. Fresh, local and perfectly steamed green vegetables. A trusted friend. Sun-rise plus freshly-brewed coffee. A good book. A long bath. A proper week-end.

Kaenan and Cresynthia: 

The Speculative Review: Rob Bricken, writing his Nerd Processor column in the OneZero publication on Medium, thinks the new Star Wars-themed Galaxy’s Edge amusement park is too real. The thing is… he hasn’t even been to the park. He hasn’t set foot inside, rode the rides, tasted the food, and interacted with the “cast …

Froze in the Headlights: John LaRue, writing for Viva El Birdos, outlines what happened or more accurately what did not happen at the trade deadline. Not trading Bader or O’Neill for pitching probably was a mistake.

Be In The Moment: It is far too easy to bite back boredom with a smartphone. Of course, is that the way you want to live your life? Constantly immersed in your social feed, email, text messaging, etc.? Life should be lived. One way to do that is by being in the moment. Put the phone away. Keep it in your pocket. Be …

The Stroop Effect: This is fun. The Stroop Effect is a well-known psychological phenomenon that challenges how we name physical colours when they are used to spell the name of a different colour. Take our test and see how quickly your brain responds to the task.

Questions For A Better Future: I’m at a crossroads. I need to change some hard entrenched habits. While I’m aware of what I need to do, sometimes I still need to remind myself. There are two questions I have to answer: What am I not doing now that one day I’ll wish I had started earlier? What am I doing now …

Time to Get Rid of the Lottery: Leah Muncy, writing in The Outline, has an in-depth story on state lotteries. She calls it a scam that predominately targets poor people. She’s absolutely right. Despite the one-in-292-million odds of winning the multi-state Powerball jackpot (you have a greater chance of dying from a …

There Are No Alternate Universes: If there is an alternate universe for every possibility, then there is a universe where alternate universes don’t exist. And we exist so we have to live in that universe. Therefore there are no alternate universes. However, we are definitely in the darkest timeline.

Join the Fight: JOIN THE FIGHT 😤#Illini x #JointheFight 🔶🔷 pic.twitter.com/hK2jHAAn8B — Illinois Football (@IlliniFootball) July 30, 2019 What a great design.

Handy Equations: I’ve never been very good with math or equations, but this post from Nicholas Bate certainly makes a lot of sense to me. innovation=creativity + action work in+lag=results out EQ (emotional intelligence)=2 x IQ, in terms of importance.  Wellness=M(meditation) xE(exercise) xD(diet) x S(sleep) …

“Lost in You” by Childish Gambino: Like A Version is a segment on Australian radio station triple j. Every week a musician or band comes into the studio to play one of their own songs and cover a song they love. This version of the Garth Brooks/Chris Gaines song by Childish Gambino is freaking incredible. Stripped down to just a …

I Played Trump in Hillary Clinton’s 2016 Debate Prep. Here’s What It Takes to Beat Him.: Philippe Reines, writing in Politico, presents several suggestions on how to beat Trump in a debate. He should know, he played him during Hillary Clinton’s debate prep. Never admit you’re wrong. It is safe to say in a debate against Trump that he or the moderator will press a weakness in your past …

All 180 Rush Songs, Ranked: Jordan Hoffman, writing for Thrillist, has put together a ranking of all of the Rush catalog. While I’m certainly not a Rush aficionado, I’m not sure Hoffman’s top ten is even remotely right. Still, I admire his gumption on taking on this challenge. Makes me want to try my hand …

Mondays: Nicholas Bate with some start-of-the-week advice. Still there until you get the hang of them. It’s you or them. Decide. Sometimes, attitude is all.

Rats: In case you missed it, the President of the United States is a racist. Over the weekend, he decided to go after Rep. Elijah Cummings and the city of Baltimore. ....As proven last week during a Congressional tour, the Border is clean, efficient & well run, just very crowded. Cumming District is a …

Cable for Streamers: M. G. Siegler, writing at his site 500ish.com, says piracy is coming back in full force not for music but for television shows and movies. He thinks the price isn’t the issue but the lack of a unified service to connect all the services together. Even if you are eventually paying for all of these …

How My Daughter and I Connect Over Our Favorite Pastime: Elizabeth McCracken, writing for Real Simple, has a charming story about her and her daughter bonded over going to the movies last summer. It made me think a lot about my own daughter and me going to see movies as often as we could when she was little because it was something we both truly enjoyed. …

“I Was Cyber-Blackmailed Over a Consensual Dick Pic”: Adam Elder, writing in MEL Magazine, has a horrifying story about cyber-blackmail. It made my skin crawl.

The Ways: Time to pave the way. There’s the hard way and the easy way. The better way and my way. Any way you want it and anyway you slice it, but not in a family way. You’re probably on the way and maybe set in your ways. I know it’s just across the way, but that’s way off. In more ways than one, I’ll have …

Easy Watercolor: Shibasaki is an elderly Japanese watercolor artist with a YouTube channel in which he teaches you to paint a rainy day in a village, figures on a street, and cherry blossoms. Watching him work is soothing and inspirational. I’ve never really had a desire to do watercolors, but after watching …

Time to Die: Rutger Hauer, best known for his performance as replicant Roy Batty in Blade Runner, has died at 75. Blade Runner is not my all-time favorite film, but it’s in the top three. Bilge Ebiri, writing in The New York Times, writes about his performance in the film with obvious reverence. It was a …

The Only Thing That Matters: Lieu: "The reason again that you did not indict Donald Trump is because of OLC opinion stating you cannot indict a sitting president, correct?" Mueller: "That is correct." pic.twitter.com/yemIYmMkmb — Brian Beutler (@brianbeutler) July 24, 2019

Daily Productivity: Nicholas Bate with your productivity list Address true priorities for the day (set by Personal Compass, not urgency nor ease. More here.) Vertical timeline: 30 minutes slots. Priorities matched to timeline. Batch work on digital interrupts. Minimise meetings by reducing …

Customs: Fifty years ago, the Apollo 11 astronauts had to go through customs after landing. Basically, they left Florida, took a detour to the Moon, and landed in Hawaii. Plus, they declared moon rocks and dust.

The Mueller Report: The Mueller Report, originally released as a scanned image PDF, is now available via the Digital Public Library of America as a text-based EPUB document with 747 live footnotes and is conformant with both Web and EPUB accessibility requirements. Seems appropriate about now.

Racist-In-Chief: A couple of days ago, Xeni Jardin, writing at Boing Boing, criticized national reporting for not calling Trump’s racist twitter tirade what it was: racism.>On Sunday morning, popular-vote-losing illegitimate president Donald Trump tweeted some awful racist tweets that you can read about …

The Secular Church: Faith Hill (not that one), writing for The Atlantic, has a fascinating story about the rise and fall of secular churches. I’ve often thought a secular church would thrive, but it’s interesting to see how difficult it is to maintain. Visiting a Sunday Assembly near me might be fun.

David Tennant Cursing for One Minute: y'all dirty bitches here's david tennant cursing for one minute straight nsfw, obviously kskdkdk pic.twitter.com/hU0mD9iypU — charlie vickers supremacy💍 (@halbrandthinker) July 23, 2019 Both surprisingly cathartic and entertaining. A true artist can make an F-bomb have some gravity, but here it’s …

Unhittable: This pitch might have broken physics. pic.twitter.com/9M62Y5gzRt — MLB (@MLB) July 21, 2019 We need to call Montgomery Scott because I think this pitch broke the laws of physics.

The Gentlest of Rain: Nicholas Bate with 100 words – The gentlest of rain on the oldest of pebbles on that most misty of mornings. A Saturday, a thermos of coffee and damp. Damp, damp, damp. But secure in a ‘proof’ and secure in a thought or two. A dog observed as a stick is thrown and a walker …

Tailgating: Seth Godin on finding your own lane. It doesn’t make you go any faster. It doesn’t make the leader go any faster. Tailgating creates frustration, limits your choices and isn’t safe. If you want to make a difference, you’ll probably need to find your own lane.

One Giant Leap: The Atlantic has 50 photos from 50 years ago in honor of the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11 landing on the Moon. Worth taking a long look.

Chicago: 

The Process: I’m terrible at meeting my goals. I set monstrous goals and always fall short. What I should do is take the time to figure out the process of achieving the big goal. What are the smaller goals that I can do every day to finish a big goal? Time to make a real plan. Execute the plan day by day. …

Apple Moving in on Podcasts: Jason Snell, writing for Macworld, has a few thought on the news that Apple plans to fund original podcasts: The great thing about podcasts—and I say this as both a listener and a creator of podcasts—is that it is, like the web, a free and open ecosystem for content. You can …

Carve Out the Clutter: I want to simplify my life. This is difficult for me. One of the best things I can do is a self-evaluation to clear out the chaos. However, being honest with myself is troublesome. I’d rather have someone else tell me the hard truths. Ultimately, that feels expensive. Simplifying also means thinking …

Are You Paying Attention?: It’s hard to walk the line of being informed, being outraged at the news, and not caring. I don’t get on Facebook much anymore because it’s designed to suck my attention and I don’t want to be sucked in anymore. It’s easy to stay on the 24 hour news cycle and get …

Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr: Ringo joined Paul on stage. It was magic. They played “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” and “Helter Skelter” and shut up those aren’t tears in my eyes. Peace and love everybody.

I Don’t Care How Successful You Are: Jamie Varon, in an Instagram post, tries to redefine what a good life looks and feels like. I kinda sorta love this.

Chuck Klosterman is Here for the Weirdness: Bryan Walsh, in the new GEN publication on Medium, has a fascinating interview with Chuck Klosterman ostensibly about his new book of short fiction, Raised in Captivity: Fictional Nonfiction. Of course, it dives into the commercial challenge of short stories, the sophistication of readers, …

My Cousin the Major Leaguer: Donnie Kwak, writing in The Ringer, has a fun, inspirational story about the newest St. Louis Cardinal, Tommy Edman. In short: Tommy is a rookie with a total of 55 MLB plate appearances. These are early days yet, and pro sports could care less about your feel-good stories. But seeing Tommy shine on …

Binge Watching to Appointment Viewing: M. G. Siegler has an idea for Netflix. What if a show like Stranger Things started as a binge show, but then morphed into weekly, appointment viewing as it proved its popularity? So, once Stranger Things became a sensation after season 1, and people were nice and hooked, season …

You Can’t Make A Person Change: Mark Manson with another of his long essays. This time it’s about change and how you can’t make anyone change. This is profoundly insightful and so, so me. You can’t make somebody change. You can inspire them to change. You can educate them towards change. You can support them …

Robot Umpires: Johnny Flores Jr., reporting for Yahoo Sports, has a story about the future of baseball. On Wednesday, the independent Atlantic League, which is a partner of Major League Baseball, debuted the electronic strike zone during its All-Star game, making it the first American professional league to do …

A Virus: Brent Simmons: Social media is a virus from outer space. I’m increasingly thinking the same thing.

Rip Torn, RIP: Ross O. Lincoln, writing for The Wrap, has a glowing obiturary for the late, great Rip Torn. Known for his gravely drawl and sinister-looking smile, Torn excelled at playing shady, amoral characters and outright villains, as in his depiction of the evil wizard Maax in the fantasy film “The …

Distractions to Manage: Nicholas Bate lists the distractions we all need to manage – Wonderful drugs distract us from basic self-care. Screens from conversation. Instant food from deep nutrition. Share-holder demands from long-term strategy. Gyms from simply being a mover. The cheap immersive download from …

The Jeffrey Epstein Case Is Like Nothing I’ve Seen Before: Ken White, writing in The Atlantic, outlines the crimes of Jeffrey Epstein and they are horrifying. What Epstein’s legal team managed to get when faced with extensive, detailed allegations was not remotely normal. Epstein’s team secured the deal of the millennium, one …

Remembering Chris Gaines: Tarpley Hitt, writing for The Daily Beast, has a fun story taking you back to the crazy days of 1999 when the best-selling solo artist of all time tried to, I think, take a page from David Bowie and turn into someone completely different. It didn’t work. …twenty years out, the project seems anything …

Hack: Brent Simmons has a simple calendar hack. My calendar hack is that I add two alerts for each thing. One ten minutes before, so I have plenty of time to prepare — and another five minutes before, because I will have forgotten about the previous alert. This is me.

“I Did Not Die. I Did Not Go to Heaven.”: Ruth Graham, writing in Slate, has the definitive story on the bullshit of The Boy Who Came Back From Heaven. Of course it wasn’t true, but so many rubes want it to be true they dropped hard earned cash to feel better about themselves. The cover of The Boy Who Came Back From Heaven …

The Music of 1985 Was a Perfect Mixtape: Elizabeth Nelson, writing in The Ringer, takes us on a musical journey of that faraway time of 1985. Inspired by season three of Stranger Things, she reminds us all how incredible that year was for music. I was in high school, and all these songs and artists take me back there. Personally, I was …

Role Models: Will Leitch, writing in New York Magazine, makes the point that the political activism of the USWNT means their win was all the sweeter. They spoke up, they stood their ground, they taunted, they danced, they sipped tea, they were joyously defiant from the very beginning. And that’s why …

Default Mode: Michael Wade asks a good question What is your default mode? Is it positive or negative? Does it tend to blame others or does it foster personal accountability? Is it quick to anger or is it less volatile? Is it universal and consistent or do you easily make exceptions for yourself or your allies? …

Broken Things: Daniel Nesbit is here for the broken things. I am here for the broken things. The daily struggle to just make ends meet. The harsh unfairness of dumb chance. Cracked dreams. Unbearable cruelty. I am here for the broken things because in them I see the hope of a world repaired. An unshakable …

Frank Chimero and Good Trouble: Writing in Creative Boom, Katy Cowan has a fantastic interview with creator Frank Chimero. I love this concept. Good trouble is questioning and re-imagining the status quo, and having your actions stand in contrast to the norm. Maybe it’s society’s status quo. Maybe it’s your …

The Truth About Phenibut: Isabelle Kohn, in MEL magazine, has an in-depth story on the latest wonder drug, Phenibut. I admit, I had no idea about this drug, but the story is intriguing. I know I wish there was some sort of “Limitless” drug that could help everyone achieve greatness. It almost makes me want to …

Stuff, stuff and more stuff: Nicholas Bate with just a 100 words for us. Stuff, stuff and more stuff. Pings and mails and requests. One walk along a deserted beach at dawn puts everything in perspective. Of course, it’s not really empty. It’s just full of the things that heal rather than the things …

Wanderers: Chuck Wendig has a new novel out titled Wanderers. I’m four chapters in and hooked beyond much of anything I’ve ever read in the last few years. I’ve never read Wendig before, and his similes and descriptions are interesting, fun, and original. Here’s the big blurb - A decadent rock star. A deeply …

So the President F*cking Hates My Girlfriend: Sue Bird, writing in The Player’s Tribune, has one of the most delightful and jubilant stories all about how Donald Trump, the real honest-to-god President of the (literal) United States hates her girlfriend who happens to be Megan Rapinoe. Bird is a three-time WNBA champion. Rapinoe is a …

Remembering Action Park: Every summer we end up getting a rewrite of the “Action Park was American’s Most Dangerous Amusement Park” story. This time it’s Jack McCallum, writing in Sports Illustrated, slinging the text. It’s a great story and I look forward to the movie.

For Shame: Heather Timmons, writing in Quartz, has a harrowing account of a dozen lawmakers visiting the detention centers in Texas. CBP officers were “contentious and uncooperative,” said Joe Kennedy, the Democrat from Massachusetts. “They tried to restrict what we saw, take our phones, …

A Presidential Prediction: At this point on July 1, the Democrat nominee for President will be Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, Elizabeth Warren, or Bernie Sanders. Warren, Sanders, and Biden will not be anyone’s choice as VP, and, of course, Biden would never be asked. If it’s Biden, he’d do well to convince Harris to be his …

Self-Discipline: Michael Wade has some good advice - We need self-discipline far more than motivation. Restrict your exposure to life’s never-ending distractions.

Jony Ive is Leaving Apple: So apparently Jony Ive, Apple’s chief design officer for many, many years is leaving the company. The only person’s take on this development I care to read is, of course, John Gruber. I’ve never been an “Apple is doomed without Steve Jobs” person. But part of what …

Long Form Content: Mark Manson has some good thoughts about ones attention diet - Long form content should be your bread and butter for news content and the majority of your entertainment content. Long-form content means any medium—Books, Podcasts, long-form articles, documentaries—the key is that shit …

Ten Stories: Seth Godin has an interesting idea for presenters, “memorize your stories.” Watch a great performance and you’ll see no artifacts of memorization. Instead, you will see someone speaking from the heart. This is what it means to know something by heart. Memorizing the words …

Things: Things happen in seconds. We react to them in minutes. We talk about them for hours. They mess up our days. We tell people for weeks. We think about them for months. They have consequences for years and they change a lifetime.

The Jock-ification of Data: Jack Hamilton, writing in The Atlantic, has a review of a book by Ben Lindbergh and Travis Sawchik called The MVP Machine: How Baseball’s New Nonconformists Are Using Data to Build Better Players. Apparently, it is a Moneyball version of using “statistical metrics, biomechanical …

Foreigner: 

The Unsolved Mystery of the Malibu Creek Murder: Zach Baron has a tremendous story in GQ that you should take some time and read this weekend. The opening is just great. When a man was killed in Malibu Creek State Park last summer while camping with his two young daughters, it sent the placid Southern California community into …

He Raped Her: Elle advice columnist E. Jean Carroll has accused President Donald Trump of raping her in her new book, What Do We Need Men For? A Modest Proposal. The cover story in New York magazine is believable and horrifying. The excerpt is realistic and in any other time would force a resignation. This is the …

Summer Solstice: Today is the summer solstice, the longest day of the year. My wife reminded me this morning. Today, we get the most sunshine out of any other day of the year. Unfortunately, as I look outside all I see are rainclouds and all I hear is thunder. So much for the hours and hours of daylight.

Small and Memorable: Michael Wade on small acts - No matter how small an act may be, if it is kind or cruel and needlessly done, there is a good chance that it will be remembered for many years.

Five Minutes: Right this second, you are reading a post that will more than likely be forgotten in five minutes.

Bodies in Seats: Casey Newton, writing at The Verge, has one of the most upsetting stories in a while. The working conditions of these content moderators for Facebook is appalling. It makes me rethink my engagement with the platform. It should probably do the same to you.

Not Trump: The Orlando-Sentinel, which leans far more Republican than Democrat, is already out with an editorial endorsement for the next President: Not Donald Trump. The following paragraphs made me smile. There was a time when even a single lie — a phony college degree, a bogus work history …

Bunt Double: Matt Carpenter just bunted for a double... yes, you read that correctly! pic.twitter.com/mtJUNpG4ji — St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) June 18, 2019 That must have been humiliating.

Time for a New Plan: Nicholas Bate reminds us that there is always time for a new plan. There can always be a new plan. You just need a fresh page and a sharpened pencil. Some quiet. Some time. A decent cup of freshly brewed coffee. Build on what was working. Be radical about new horizons

Lyrics Site Accuses Google of Lifting Its Content: Robert McMillan, writing in The Wall Street Journal, has an interesting story about theft. “Over the last two years, we’ve shown Google irrefutable evidence again and again that they are displaying lyrics copied from Genius,” said Ben Gross, Genius’s chief strategy …

Gloria Vanderbilt, RIP: Today I learned the late, great Gloria Vanderbilt was Anderson Cooper’s mother. I had no idea.

The Art of the Lie: Andrew Sullivan, in his weekly column for New York Magazine, talks at length about how brazen, breezy, and ridiculous Donald Trump’s lies are. For Trump, lying is central to his disturbed psyche, and to his success. The brazenness of it unbalances and stupefies sane and adjusted people, thereby …

The Appropriate Medium: I very much liked Seth Godin’s post today – We spend all day communicating, and we’ve invented myriad ways to do it. You can buy a stamp, press a button, rent a room or use a microphone. Choose wisely. Don’t send an email when you should pick up the phone instead. …

The Little Things: Michael Wade with some wisdom – You know the answer to this:  Which makes a greater impression on a person: assistance on a major project or assistance on a minor item that will nonetheless be noticed every day? There are times when it is very risky to describe any action as minor.

The St. Louis Blues are Stanley Cup Champions: I really don’t follow hockey, but I did watch Game 7 of the Stanley Cup playoffs and rejoiced when the Blues won the whole thing. I have a couple of friends who are long time Blues fans and I’m so happy for them I could just burst. The best roundup of tweets celebrating the win that I …

Every Member of Team Trump Is Now Enabling Treason: Rick Wilson, writing at The Daily Beast, has a pretty strong opinion about the recent interview Trump had with George Stephanopoulos. We live in a world of counterfactuals, hypotheticals, and more tu quoque scenarios than a reasonable person can process. That said, I have to beg my Republican …

What Happens When Our Lives End: Jack Gronsky, writing at Viva El Birdos, paints a picture of what it’s like to be at the end of a career and trying to figure out what’s next. Brilliant piece of prose.

The Coming Apocalypse: David Brooks, in his column in The New York Times, describes an impending disaster for Republicans. But it’s hard to look at the generational data and not see long-term disaster for Republicans. Some people think generations get more conservative as they age, but that is not borne out by the …

Post Death Internet Service: Warren Ellis has a modest proposal that made me laugh. What I need is a post-death internet service. This is something people have been talking about a lot over the last few years. I don’t know if any true solutions were found for the thing that, this morning, I think I’d like the most. A year …

Jon Stewart’s Plea: Jon Stewart, former host of The Daily Show, spoke on Capitol Hill today about continued funding for health care and benefits for 9/11 first responders. His passion is moving. I really wish Stewart would run for political office someday.

Blog Posts can be Questions: Brent Simmons, regarding the web ― The web is a conversation. Blog posts can be questions.

25 Episodes that Changed Television: Writer Emily Todd VanDerWerff and designer Amanda Northrop, in Vox, have put together a fantastic overview of the episodes that pushed the envelope of television. It’s a fantastically designed and written piece and exactly what how a good listicle webpage should be created.

Your Future Self: In many ways, right here is where I write daily. Sometimes it’s just a quick snippet or commentary on someone else’s piece of writing that I’ve shared. I’ve never ever been good at keeping a diary. I’m more of a “commonplace book” guy than writing …

A Baseball Win: Here’s video of Paul DeJong warming up with a young #Cubs fan, wearing a Rizzo shirt, before Sunday’s game. #Cardinals #MLB https://t.co/y3mWNuobTj — Derrick Goold (@dgoold) June 10, 2019 This is how you make a baseball fan for life.

We Only Do the Good Shit: Warren Ellis, writing in his newsletter Orbital Operations, commented on what he wants to talk about. Here’s a thing that came up in an email conversation the other week, that I don’t think I’ve ever made explicit to you: herein, I only talk about the things I like. This was an important decision …

Paul Darrow, RIP: Actor Paul Darrow died at age 78. I remember him as one of my favorite characters, Kerr Avon in Blake’s 7. If you’ve never seen the show, it was a science fiction show about freedom fighters against a malevolent empire. Firefly and Andromeda are direct descendants. Finding this show during my …

In Praise of Sleep: Andrew Sullivan, in his weekly column for New York Magazine, had an awesome section on sleep. His whole column is great, but this part made a lot of sense. Can’t we just accept sleep for what it is — not a means for more productivity, but an integral, simple, enriching part of a natural human life? …

Trump Wants This: Writing for The Concourse, David Roth is killing it these days. His diatribes against President Trump have been nothing but glorious take-downs. His latest regarding the recent UK state visit sheds a white-hot spotlight on the psyche of Trump. It’s unquestionably true that Trump wants things. He …

Digital Privacy: I’m generally okay with giving away a bit of privacy to use tools that treat me as the product. Google and Facebook are pretty notorious for gathering a ton of data on individuals who use their services. I like Gmail and Google Drive, and sometimes Facebook is ok, but I probably should worry more …

Exercise Tiger: Today is the 75th anniversary of D-Day. Dan Lewis, in his Now I Know newsletter, re-shares a story written in 2012 about the failed D-Day dry run. I don’t believe I’ve ever heard of this before.

50 Years Ago: Not enough people are talking about the fact that 2019 is the 50 year anniversary of the moon landing and it makes me sad. Over the last few weeks, Jupiter and Saturn were in the night sky bright and beautiful. It puts things in perspective. We are small. Fifty years ago we leaped out into the …

What Do I Want?: Every few months, I start having passionate debates with myself about what I want to do creatively. A newsletter may inspire me to restart my newsletter operation. Someone on Medium tells the story of how she made loads of money using the platform, and I want to do the same thing. I think to myself …

Ranking Every Black Mirror Episode: In anticipation of the latest Netflix episodes, The Ringer staff has made a ranking of the first 20 installments of Black Mirror. I’d flip “USS Callister” and “Hang the DJ,” but the rest is pretty spot on.

Patio Vibes: 

Tuning Online: I came across this old post from Warren Ellis on his (I think) defunct site, Longwave. You don’t have to live in public on the internet if you don’t want to. Even if you’re a public figure, or micro-famous like me. I don’t follow anyone on my public Instagram account. No shade on those who follow …

Currently: Currently, you’re wasting your time.

Questions: Michael Wade with a whole bunch of questions managers ought to be asking themselves. As someone who is terrible at this, I find this list totally refreshing. What is their baggage? How do they learn? Can they explain it? Do they think they’ve completed their education? Do they know the …

Prayer: Praying for something implies that, despite My omniscience, I don't already know what you want. Prayer insults Me. — God (Not a Parody, Actually God) (@TheTweetOfGod) June 2, 2019

Not Enough Time: While I was not disappointed with the last season of Game of Thrones, there was something just a bit off. I said to my friends that I think they needed more episodes to make the twists and the turns feel more real and not rushed. YouTuber Just Write had that same thought, but explained it …

Navy Pilots Report Unexplained Flying Objects: Helene Cooper, Ralph Blumenthal, and Leslie Kean, writing in The New York Times, has a story regarding several Navy pilots encountering unidentified flying objects What was strange, the pilots said, was that the video showed objects accelerating to hypersonic speed, making sudden stops and …

Write More, Do Other Stuff Less: As we fast approach the middle of the year, I’ve been working on tweaking my focus for my creative output. I’m reminded of a quote from writer Brian K Vaughan. Write more, do other stuff less.That’s it. Everything else is meaningless. You can take all the classes in the world and read every book on …

Petrichor: My all-time favorite scent is the smell of rain on soil after warm, dry weather. If I could bottle it up I would.

A Plan to Win the Impeachment Fight: Dan Pfeiffer, writing at his site crooked.com, outlines what he sees as the way Democrats can win what looks like an impending impeachment battle. I’m especially enamored with his main message: Donald Trump has abused his power to hide multiple crimes and massive corruption. He has used the …

Randy Rainbow Profile: Margaret Engel, writing in The Washington Post, has a tremendous profile of political satirist Randy Rainbow. He’s great and this gushing piece matches his gusto. Hundreds of thousands watch the short videos he produces every 10 days or so, featuring show tunes and pop songs he has …

Jack of all Trades, Master of None: I’ve been thinking about my own personal focus for several weeks now. I’m trying to be more focused on my family, focused on my job(s), and focused on my personal projects. My problem is I tend to go scattershot with my attention, and then I run into problems. This blog, for instance, has no theme …

Fakebook: Kara Swisher, writing at The New York Times, has called out Facebook for not doing anything to stop the proliferation of a doctored video of Nancy Pelosi. This is ridiculous. The only thing the incident shows is how expert Facebook has become at blurring the lines between simple mistakes and …

The Last Gift: The last gift the three-day weekend gives us is the four-day week. — Jason L Blair (@jasonlblair) May 28, 2019 So true.

Read the Report: David Frum, writing in The Atlantic, reported on Robert Mueller’s first public address since his report landed echoes what Mr. Mueller wants everyone to do: read the report. The basics are not in dispute. A foreign power interfered in the U.S. election to help the Trump campaign. The Trump …

Make a Decision and Focus: As much as I’d like to, it is impossible to change the past. Unless I get into a souped-up DeLorean, the past will always be the past. However, the future isn’t written. Changing the future starts right now. I’ve been bouncing around different ideas on what I should focus on. …

Check-Lists: Nicholas Bate on making check-lists… There are fewer mistakes with accurate, easily-accessible check-lists. Ask your pilot. Your surgeon. Your roadie. It’s time you had a few.

Veterans Day versus Memorial Day: Just a small reminder, Veterans Day celebrates the service of all U.S. military veterans. Memorial Day honors those who died while in military service.

Men Need to Make Friends: Melanie Hamlett, writing in Harper’s Bazaar, has a story that I had saved to Instapaper a while back and then saw again recently. I read this bit, and then I realized it’s me. Kelly’s boyfriend refused to talk to other men or a therapist about his feelings, so he’d often get into “funks,” picking …

Intentional Habits: Jason Fried, writing in his company’s blog Signal v. Noise, has a smart post about advice for young people about to graduate. His advice makes a lot of sense. The advice was this: Habits are always forming. No matter what you do, you’re also forming habits too. Keep that in mind with …

The 25 Best Star Trek: The Next Generation Episodes: Mike Bloom, writing for The Hollywood Reporter, pulls ye olde chestnut out ranking the episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation in honor of the 25th anniversary of the series finale. Surprisingly, I have little to quibble with his list. “Family” and “Inner Light” should …

1% Better: It’s easy to feel overwhelmed. Time is finite, but there’s always too much to do. I’ve found that I only operate well when I focus. I have to focus on what’s most important, what I can do to make a difference, and where the resources are to help. Personally, I get caught in the weeds a lot. I can be …

The Dark Forest: Jason Kottke pointed me to an essay on Medium from Yancey Strickler linking the rise of advertising, tracking, and trolling of the mainstream internet to the movement towards online environments more private such as newsletters, podcasts, invite-only message boards, etc. Strickler uses the dark …

The Rise of Skywalker in Vanity Fair: Lev Grossman wrote some words and Annie Leibovitz took some pictures previewing Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker. Of course, everything looks incredible. I am uncharacteristically anticipating J. J. Abrams will actually pull this off.

Puzzle Peace: Patrick Rhone, writing in his email newsletter, tells the story of minimalists and maximalists, puzzles and preconceptions. It is smart and exactly what I needed, especially the last part. The difference between the puzzle being a soul-draining burden or something that brought me peace was all in …

Our Guys: Robert Rosenthal, writing on his IlliniBoard.com site, talks about what it’s like to root for Illinois athletics and to root for the players. If you don’t understand college athletics or University of Illinois sports, you might be itching to scroll past this post and story. I would …

The Memory Book: This story is amazing. Emily Buder, writing in The Atlantic, tells the tale of Byron Levy and his grandson Colin in a video that stunned me when I watched it. The younger Levy came to call it the “memory book.” But it wasn’t just one journal—it was hundreds, filled to …

The Trauma of Daenerys Targaryen: Jonathan Michael Erickson has put together an in-depth study of the Daenerys Targaryen character arc. Erickson has his doctorate in depth psychology focusing on embodied psychology, the unconscious mind, and imagination. His analysis is spot on and something I had not thought of throughout the …

Bittersweet Taste: More thought required. But I liked the #GameofThrones finale. I did not love the majority of this last season, but I thought they ended it in a fitting manner. Which is to say, a coda. Bittersweet in nature. Yes, like ‘Lord of the Rings’ and many tales before it. — M.G. Siegler …

The Big Bang Theory Theory: Todd VanDerWerff, writing in Vox, explains in perfect detail the rise of The Big Bang Theory and why it endured for as long as it did at the top of the sitcom game. Here’s the kicker: …the secret of The Big Bang Theory’s popularity: It was never about nerd culture so much …

The End of the Great Game: I’ve watched every episode of Game of Thrones. I haven’t read any of the books. The anticipation of this season and the upcoming series finale is palpable. However, after watching the penultimate episode, it seems quite obvious how the showrunners are going to end everything. I mean, I guess they …

Brick Mode: There’s a new idea that’s been floating around lately regarding productivity and dealing with the distractions of owing a device that is quite good at doing so. It’s called Brick Mode. Thomas Sobal outlines the whys and the hows of this approach to “significantly …

Worry Monsters: Do you know those Pom Wonderful TV commercials where a giant “worry monster” complains about not being able to keep their human counterparts from leading healthier lifestyles? The monsters are the inner voices of anxiety. I get the hook, but I sure wish it would take just drinking some Pom to make …

100 Words: Write: Nicholas Bate wrote 100 words on writing and it’s delightful. Take a sheet of paper. Blank, unlined is good and just write. But what? Well, start your novel. Or what’s worrying you at the moment? Or how about things to appreciate, things you’re excited about this week? Keep it …

Can’t Do Attitude: Here’s a question I saw recently, “Would you rather believe you can’t achieve something you haven’t but that others have, or that you chose not to?” I find this kind of internal monologue question interesting mostly because I don’t usually have internal monologues with myself. I told this to my wife …

All Other Noise is Cancelled: Olga Khazan, writing in The Atlantic, has a great piece that’s superficially about noise-cancelling headphones, but does a bit of a deep dive into some of the reasons why she continually wears headphones. I loved this paragraph: This auditory selectivity is, in some ways, part of a trend …

Tim Conway, RIP: Tim Conway passed away today. He was 85. I remember watching the Carol Burnett Show and hoping I would catch a sketch where Conway made everyone break character. Writer John Scalzi summed up my feelings perfectly. “It occurs to me that one day every celebrity I ever loved growing up will be …

No Need to Impeach?: William Saletan, writing for Slate, outlines recent polls showing there are smarter ways to hold Trump accountable before the 2020 election. His ultimate idea is that the upcoming election will be the “impeachment.” I’m not sure. I have no fantasy dream that impeachment would …

What Is Writing and Does This Count as It?: [Mia Mercado](https://www.newyorker.com/humor/daily-shouts/what-is-writing-and-does-this-count-as-it), writing for The New Yorker, set up a “helpful” guide for those times when you are wondering if the thing you just did was actually writing. A few of the bullets – • Writing is when you have an …

One-Handed Dudes: Luke Skywalker and Jaime Lannister are both one-handed dudes who’ve made out with their twin sisters.

Illinois Nazi: Patrick Redford, writing for Deadspin, outlines a report and the result of a racist fan using the OK gesture behind Doug Glanville, an African-American sports reporter. The Cubs have permanently banned the individual from Wrigley Field. I’m glad they didn’t ignore the act. I’m …

From Chicago, with Love: Steve Greenberg, writing for the Chicago Sun-Times, has full-color, cover feature on Illinois basketball soon-to-be-a-sophomore star, Ayo Dosunmu. It’s a great read and, hopefully, a harbinger of things to come.

The Art of Not Having an Opinion: Philip Ellis, writing for Man Repeller, has some thoughts regarding having an opinion about the political news of the day. The urgency to be informed about politics and have a vocal position on everything was palpable. I would rage and rant about injustice and inequality, and half the time my …

Beating Yourself Up: The best thing about beating yourself up is that you never fight back.

Since He Was in Kindergarten: Jack Healy and Liam Stack, writing for The New York Times, report on another school shooting that left one student dead and eight injured. The money quote is this: “I heard a gunshot,” said Makai Dixon, 8, a second grader who had been training for this moment, with active shooter drills and …

Scene 38 Reimagined: Christopher Clements has recreated the lightsaber duel from Star Wars IV: A New Hope making it longer, more action-oriented and smartly incorporated call-backs from the prequel trilogy. It reminds me a lot of Star Wars Revisited.

Make Them: Brian Beutler, writing for Crooked Media, pens an essay lambasting the Deomocrats response to the Mueller Report. Their dithering about the Mueller report is sadly typical of the party’s general paralysis in the face of the most corrupt and dishonest administration in the country’s …

Legal Opinion: Zachary Basu, writing for Axios, reports on an interesting development into the Mueller Report. More than 650 former federal prosecutors have signed onto a statement asserting that if the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) did not prohibit a sitting president from …

Large and Small: Microscopes show us how large we are and telescopes showed us how small we are.

Teenage Pricks: Alex Pareene, writing for The Baffler, has an incredible long read about Trumpism, young boys, and race. He opens with this perfect paragraph. A bit of symbolic generational warfare has always suffused American politics, with various cliques of self-appointed “adults in the room” …

The Story of the Queen of the Mommy Bloggers: Chavie Leiber, writing for Vox, has an incredible profile on Dooce.com founder Heather Armstrong. I admit, I had not heard of her prior to reading the article, but I learned a great deal.

Seven Minutes Ago: The sun could have blown up seven minutes ago and that would really ruin the rest of your day.

Adam Wainwright Deserves Better: A blogger named bgh, writing on his Cardinals site On The Cardinals, wrote an inspiring piece about St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright. It features one of the best uses of a movie quote I’ve ever seen.

Science Fiction Daydream: If I would have read the following sentence as a kid, I’m sure I would have thought it was a science fiction daydream — “In the second decade of the 21st century everyone owns a hand-held computer capable of video communication with anyone on the planet and off, …

Steak and Shake Date: 

Star Wars Day: I just fished two tennis balls from under the basement couch with an old lightsaber so I could play with the dog. So, happy Star Wars Day.

Ulysses, Bear, or Apple Notes?: Curtis McHale, writing for The Sweet Setup, has an in-depth comparison between three of the most well-known note-taking, writing, and research apps: Ulysses, Bear, and Apple Notes. For me I’m want to use Ulysses more, but I seem to revert back to Google Docs because I can write on different …

Selling Tumblr: I used to have a site on Tumblr. It was kind of a commonplace book of quotes, images, and videos. It took up loads of time to no one’s benefit, so I killed it after about two years. I kind of miss it. Every now and then, I get the urge to make another Tumblr site and unload all the quotes, images, …

Consider the Value: Patrick Rhone with some thoughtful insight - Consider the value of doing nothing when there is nothing of value to be done. Consider the value of saying nothing when there is nothing of value to say. Consider the value of simply being present, listening, and bearing witness, as something of value …

“Have you ever had a job where you did nothing for years and nobody found out?”: The story of Bob is amusing to me. H/T: Laura Olin

Sign of our Times: Michael Wade writes about how people view major events now through a prism of a political point of view. There are moments when it seems that a sign of our times is that large groups of people can watch the same event and walk away with completely opposite descriptions of what happened. Perhaps …

Peter Mayhew, RIP: It saddens me to note Star Wars actor Peter Mayhew, forever known as Chewbacca, has passed away. He died on April 30 at the age of 74. For those of you not in the know, Joonas Suotamo took over the role of Chewbacca beginning in 2015. However, Mayhew was a consultant and helped Suotamo …

Mario Speedwagon: I bought the latest Mario Kart game for my nephew’s birthday a couple of weeks ago. I had a fleeting thought that Nintendo clearly missed an incredible marketing opportunity by not naming their Mario Kart games Mario Speedwagon.

The Paradox of Progress and The Uncomfortable Truth: Mark Manson has a new book coming out May 14th called Everything is F*cked: A Book About Hope. He gives us a sneak peak with two posts to his blog, The Paradox of Progress and The Uncomfortable Truth. Both are long, but inventive and smart reads. I’m looking forward to getting the new book …

The Five Conclusions: Benjamin Wittes, editor in chief at Lawfare and writing for The Atlantic, outlines in simple terms his conclusions after reading the Mueller Report. They are damning. His five conclusions are: The president committed crimes. The president also committed impeachable offenses. Trump was not complicit …

Ka-Blooey: It’s fun to imagine 50-year-old me time-traveling to visit 15-year-old me just to tell him I’d seen the latest Star Wars movie trailer and that I’d watched the latest episode of the most popular television show on the planet. It’s a Dungeons and Dragons-type show, and I enjoyed the latest superhero …

Declined: The University of Virginia’s NCAA championship-winning men’s basketball team has declined an invitation to visit the White House. I’m sure the decision was made on the advice of the team’s nutritionist worried cold fries and KFC would be served. They also probably wanted …

The Magical Productivity Commitment: Seth Godin has some thought on the snooze button. The snooze button is a trap. It’s a trap because not only do you have to decide later, but you just expended time and energy to deciding to decide later. Do it once, move on. ‘Decide once’ is a magical productivity commitment. …

A Starter Guide for Going iPad Pro Only: Ben Brooks, writing at his site The Brooks Review, has one of the better outlines to help you turn an iPad Pro into your everyday computer. I’m so close to biting the bullet and doing this. Not quite there, but so, so close.

‘If You Want to Kill Someone, We Are the Right Guys’: Mara Hvistendahl, writing in Wired, has one of the most interesting stories I’ve read in a long time. Weaving in and around the dark web, bit coin and murder, this story would make a great movie.

Why I’m Leaving Marvel Universe’s New York: Sam Weiner, writing for McSweeney’s, made me laugh out loud with his take on why he’s moving from Marvel Universe’s New York. It makes sense to me.

The Rise of Skywalker Speculation: M. G. Siegler, over at his 500ish Words Medium site, spent a bit over 600 words to discuss a few personal theories on the next Star Wars movie, Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker. He’s got some great ideas, especially how Palpatine fits into all of this. I agree the title is a bit bland. I prefer my …

Appeasement: Andrew Sullivan continues to impart a careful study of where the United States of America currently finds itself in with Donald Trump as President. This week he calls the current climate “appeasement.” We are appeasing an angry king. And the usual result of appeasement is that the …

Twitter and the Problem of White Supremacists: Jason Koebler, writing at Motherboard, explains in no uncertain terms why Jack Dorsey and the rest of the Twitter higher-ups can’t ban Nazis and white supremacists on the platform. They’d be banning Republicans too. Twitter has a white supremacist problem, and it’s one the platform has had trouble …

Collective Soul “Right as Rain”: I’m really digging this new song by Collective Soul. Sounds a lot like classic Collective Soul. Unfortunately, all I hear is the “Jammin’ Me” by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers riff. Is that good or bad?

A New Culture War in Sports: Will Leitch, in his weekly New York Magazine column, talks about how Sports now has its very own “Confederate Monuments” controversy. Apparently, singer Kate Smith’s rendition of “God Bless America” will no longer be played at Philadelphia Flyers games because …

In The Future 9: More from Nicholas Bate – We’ll be very pleased to go back to work after the long holiday. As in the World of the Robot, we’ll be delighted to still be needed, wanted and loved.

How Mortal Kombat Set the Bar for 30 Years of Fighting Games: Don Nero, writing in Esquire, has a great story on Ed Boon, co-creator of Mortal Kombat. In the 90s, there weren’t many arcades of my high school days still around. However, I spent far too much time and money playing Mortal Kombat at the truck stop with my friend Grant. Grant was …

An Ode to Adam Wainwright: Will Leitch, writing for mlb.com, compares St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright to Billy Chapel, the main character in the book and movie For the Love of the Game. Wainwright has finessed and struggled to still be a Major Leaguer at age 37. This go-around will surely be his last. The hope for …

The Gamble: Mima M, writing for Discussing Film, takes us on an incredible journey chronicling the creation of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It’s a fun look at how Iron Man, an absolute second tier Marvel character, kicked it all off and no one knew if it was going to succeed. And now here we are just …

Finite Energy: Curtis McHale has a good thought experiment. If you had a finite amount of energy to use up and when it was gone you died, what would you not bother with? Would you worry about things you can’t change? Would you drop those clients that are stressing you out? Would you be doing much of …

Bittersweet: Game of Thrones, the Marvel Cinematic Universe Phase 3, and the Skywalker Saga ending this year is a bittersweet end to this decade.

What If Everything Mueller Told Us Had Been New?: David A. Graham, writing in The Atlantic, posits and interesting theory. What if everything in the Mueller Report had been new? … it isn’t hard to imagine that if Mueller’s revelations had all been fresh, they might have, as the saying goes, shaken the political world. At the …

Keanu: Alex Pappademas writes an incredible profile of Keanu Reeeves in GQ magazine and while I know it exists mostly to promote John Wick: Chapter 3―Parabellum, I can’t help but want to be friends with Keanu after reading the piece. The story about the emergency landing is just awesome and …

Enough Money: Carl Kinsella, writing on the Irish website Joe, sees the fact that hundreds of millions were immediately pledged to help rebuild Notre Dame after the fire means there is a massive failure in will for other arguably more important things. It would be incredibly cheap to suggest that it is in some …

Unfinished Business: #NewProfilePic pic.twitter.com/7q2lwBUEGa — Dos (@AyoDos_11) April 19, 2019

In The Future 8: More from Nicholas Bate – “Alexa, handle my e-mail and stand in for me during today’s conference calls’, will allow more time for the real things in life.

The Graphical Branding of Pete Buttigieg: I’m a sucker for brand guides. I love the breakdowns designers put together regarding fonts, colors, logo usage, and all of that stuff. How a brand is presented is incredibly important because it showcases how they want to be seen and how much thought has been put into the materials. For me, it …

OBSIDIAN NOMAD: Nick Turse and Sean D. Naylor, writing for Yahoo! News, have put together a list of all the code-names of the 36 operations happening in Africa and they all sound amazing. If you are looking for cool names for your Pacific Rim Jaeger or Star Wars spaceship, you can’t go wrong with Obsidian …

Facebook and Medium: Two articles did incredible deep dives into companies that have been at the forefront of my mind for a few years: Facebook and Medium. Laura Hazard Owen, writing for the Nieman Journalism Lab, takes a long look at the history of Medium with plenty of bumps along the timeline. Seven years of Medium …

Just the Beginning: Seth Abramson, writing an opinion column for Newsweek, outlines what he sees as what’s going to happen tomorrow when the redacted Mueller Report is released. It’s a good primer before the analysis of the report is everywhere by Friday. I particularly like these two paragraphs: …

Now: Patrick Rhone reminds us the best time is always now. When is the best time to see something? Right now. When is the best time to say something? Right now. The time to do anything on your list you care about? Right now. There are no guarantees. That place, those words, that thing? All may be gone …

Notre Dame Cathedral: I’m saddened to watch the coverage of the fire at the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, France. Admittedly, I’m not big on organized religion and have never visited France or Europe. However, the cathedral is an incredible landmark of a building, historical and museum-like. While not …

Game of Screens: M. G. Siegler, writing in his newsletter First Draught, presented an interesting idea on how HBO left millions, potentially billions, on the table with the eighth and final season of Game of Thrones. Anyway, the first episode was great. I’m sure the other five will be as well. So …

How the SNL Portrait Became Its Own Art Form: Devon Ivie, writing at Vulture, profiled the longtime official photographer of Saturday Night Live, Mary Ellen Matthews. She’s the one who creates the portraits used as bumpers between commercial breaks. You’d immediately recognize a bumper if you see one. Sandwiched between the …

Wonder Boy: Olivia Nuzzi, writing in New York Magazine, has one of the best paragraphs I’ve ever read describing Pete Buttigieg. Sick of old people? He looks like Alex P. Keaton. Scared of young people? He looks like Alex P. Keaton. Religious? He’s a Christian. Atheist? He’s not weird about it. Wary of …

Irish Guacamole: Mashed potatoes are just Irish guacamole.

Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker: And now the trailer for Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker My title was so close.

Hustle Porn Narrative: Warren Ellis talking about how he works is fascinating to me. The concern in writing about work, writing this sort of thing — and I’ve been trying to hit this note in the newsletter — is that it presents like This Is The Only Way To Do Things, Join …

The Moral Peril of Meritocracy: David Brooks, writing for the New York Times, has put together an important essay of our times. You should read it.

Eye of Sauron: Dennis Overbye, writing for The New York Times, described the first photo of a supermassive black hole in quite the pop culture way. The image, of a lopsided ring of light surrounding a dark circle deep in the heart of the galaxy known as Messier 87, some 55 million light-years away from here, …

Play Golf and Screw Porn Stars: Cody Fenwick, writing in Salon, says, “Donald Trump still doesn’t really know how to be president.” Sigh. Are we just now figuring this out? I mean he really didn’t want to be president back when he was running. He wanted $300 million from a building project in Moscow, …

Over and Over Again: Neil Gaiman on the Tim Ferriss podcast: Part of what I discovered, particularly about being a novelist, is writing a novel works best if you can do the same day over and over again. The closer you can come to Groundhog Day, you just repeat that day. You set up a day that works for …

My Star Wars Episode IX Predictions: Star Wars has dominated my life since I was nine years old. The only other “thing” that impactful was probably hearing KISS Alive! at my friend Mark’s house quite possibly that same year. Since the sequel trilogy kicked off, I’ve been wondering how the whole saga might end. Unsurprising to no one …

A Championship Game Only College-Basketball Fans Could Love: Will Leitch, writing for New York Magazine, explains why yesterday’s NCAA Men’s Basketball final game was great and those who wanted to bash college basketball are wrong. He starts his argument this way: In fact, for most of Monday night’s title game, the general consensus was that the sport, and …

Privileged: Kyle Korver, writing at theplayerstribune.com, put together a pretty powerful piece on him understanding his racial blindspots and the difference between guilt and responsibility. Two concepts that I’ve been thinking about a lot lately are guilt and responsibility. When it comes to racism in …

Technically True: I have been jokingly introducing my wife as my “ex-girlfriend” because it’s technically true and funny. And now @Little_kg76 has started to introduce me as her “first husband”...which is also technically true but not funny. pic.twitter.com/b4QvVpjdXA — Jason Little (@BobIsInMyHead) April 7, 2019 My …

Recommended for You: I’m a big fan of Twilight Zone/Black Mirror-type anthology shows, so when I come across a really great short video with that same kind of vibe I get excited. Have you ever noticed how Amazon always seems to have recommended products you were just in the market for? The short Recommended for …

Contrast: Andrew Sullivan, in his article in New York Magazine, outlines the striking contrast between Donald Trump and Pete Buttigieg. Trump would be the oldest president in history at 74; Buttigieg would be the youngest at 39. Trump landed in politics via his money and celebrity after years in the …

In the Future 7: More from Nicholas Bate – …we will consider: how could we ever have been too busy for music, cooking or conversation?

The Real Burger King: Every few years a variation of this story comes up into the blogosphere. This time Elizabeth Atkinson, writing for Eater, has just discovered the original Burger King is in Mattoon, Illinois. The Burger King in Mattoon, Illinois, is not your typical Burger King. You won’t find Whoppers or …

Shocking Report from Neptune: So, Nicholas Fandos, Michael S. Schmidt and Mark Mazzetti, writing for The New York Times, has a report that investigators for Mueller’s team finds the Barr pamphlet misleading. Some of Robert S. Mueller III’s investigators have told associates that Attorney General William P. Barr …

The Importance of Comics: Science fiction writer Jack McDevitt, in his most recent blog post, waxed poetically about newspaper comic strips and comic books of his youth. How do we learn to read? The reality is that, at least for fiction, we need something we care about.It certainly echoes my experience with reading and …

Join the Battle: Dan Pfeiffer, writing at his Crooked Media site, implores Democrats and their Super PACs to start joining the real battle for the 2020 election right now. While more than a dozen Democrats are criss-crossing Iowa and New Hampshire talking to Democratic primary voters, Trump is already running a …

The Inside Story How the Ricketts Family Purchased the Cubs: Tom Ley, writing for Deadspin, has an in-depth story about how the Ricketts family purchased a 95% ownership stake in the Chicago Cubs in 2009. It is a fascinating tale of the inner workings of an incredibly wealthy family and how they maneuvered around various tax issues and family squabbling to …

RSS is Better Than Twitter: Patrick Howell O’Neill, writing for Gizmodo, sings the praises of Real Simple Syndication. He calls it an “ancient and unsexy alternative to Twitter,” which is weird because personally, I don’t see Twitter and RSS really living in the same address. Twitter is micro-blogging, and you follow a bunch …