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 Running and Brainstorm.

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 public perception of vaccinations and mandates.

In Denmark, people are in favor of vaccines, with more than 81 percent of adults doubly vaccinated, but also very opposed to vaccine mandates. There are no political parties in Parliament that are loudly advocating for vaccine mandates. When the legal framework for pandemic restrictions was formulated, there was a big discussion about vaccine mandates, but that provision was ultimately taken out. I think this is partly related to the fact that our vaccine coverage is so high, so people might feel less of a need to force people to be vaccinated. But also, research suggests that vaccine mandates might enhance what makes people anti-vaccine in the first place, like distrust of authorities and feeling like they’re being forced to do something that’s bad for them.

I hope this goes well for the country. Obviously, the kicker is the vaccination rate. If the United States had that number, we’d be opening everything up too (we already are, I know).

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 actually really fun to play. I really hope I have done the song justice, Professor Pearts’ playing is incredible. I hope I got the strength and smoothness balance right. I have a new found love for RUSH now too!

The best thing about watching Nandi play is not her otherworldly talent. It’s the sheer joy it looks like she’s having. So infectious.

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…

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 sick. But they’ll also get better nearly always at this point. And even quickly and seamlessly most of the time. We have learned to live with COVID even if we don’t want to fully admit it yet. The admission is coming because it has to… It’s time.

I think he’s probably right.

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 all is not so bad. This time, it didn’t work that way. In fact, Facebook’s price continued to slide even lower. Zuckerberg, in his trademark nasal drawl, seemed to acknowledge that the tide was turning against the business he has been running for 18 years as of this week. “The balance of content that people see in feeds is shifted a little bit more towards stuff that isn’t coming from their friends, which they may discuss with their friends, but it’s kind of shifting towards more public content,” he said. The upshot here is that the voyeuristic behaviors that made social media as we know it so profitable — what are my friends talking about? Who did my high school ex marry? — were actually starting to fade.

It dropped from $900 million to something like $670 million. That’s what happens when individuals and companies start killing the ad tracking power of Facebook. People are finally quitting the app. I mean, these apps and companies aren’t going disappear. However, I can easily see Facebook and less so Instagram turning into Tumblr or worse Friendster.

No one under 20-25 uses Facebook. They might use Instagram, but not Facebook. The bottom line is Facebook can’t recruit new users for the same reason people don’t start smoking in their 30s. They’ve learned not to even start.

Social networks have a shelf life. Just ask what’s-his-name from MySpace.

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.

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 helped foster, they will have a serious chance to do so in 2022 and beyond.

That’s the impact. That’s the legacy.

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, which is fantastic.

Drew Magary loves it, but probably not for the reasons the powers-that-be want.

It’s extremely boring, but at least it’s not racist.

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 this stuff all along. But it’s true that we’re now at a point where Trump is essentially admitting everything in public:

• He wanted Mike Pence to overturn the election.

• He personally asked his aides to investigate seizing voting machines.

• He has suggested he would pardon the January 6 insurrectionists if reelected.

• He asked his supporters to hold “the biggest protests we have ever had” if prosecutors try to hold him accountable.

• He tried to persuade the Georgia secretary of state to find some extra votes for him.

As always, keep in mind that his supporters don’t care about any of this. Thanks to Fox News and others, they believe that Democrats stole the election and therefore Trump was justified in doing practically anything to fight them.

Why hasn’t the Justice Department just arrested him? Was any of this not illegal? This smells like it’s too expensive or time-consuming to actually prosecute and Trump knows it.

Look, Trump nor anyone in his family will ever face serious consequences for their crimes. There are a lot of investigations happening, so maybe something will stick? I’m just not holding my breath.

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 regular-season wins.

• 35 postseason wins.

• 14 starts in a conference championship game.

• 10 wins in a conference title game.

• 10 Super Bowl appearances.

• 7 Super Bowl wins are a league record.

• 5 Super Bowl MVP awards.

No quarterback will ever win like Brady won.

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 week later, both played and scored in double figures as Illinois lost to Cincinnati by 20. OK, then! Thanks to concussion symptoms, Curbelo then missed Illinois’ next 11 games. Illinois went 10-1, with the lone loss coming narrowly at home to Arizona. Cockburn was brilliant throughout.

The duo finally got back on the floor together Jan. 17, against Purdue, for a game that fully showcased Curbelo’s dynamic potential when he’s playing well; ironically, it was perhaps in defeat that Illinois best showed what it might be capable of at full strength. Then, Cockburn missed Illinois’s trip to moribund Maryland with a concussion of his own, and the Illinois lost 81-65.

Then both players missed Jan. 25’s game against Michigan State … which Illinois won anyway! True story! And then Cockburn, but not Curbelo, who is in COVID-19 protocols at present, returned for the Northwestern escape last weekend.

Did you get all of that? Are you following? You’d surely need some kind of visual aid to do so. 

It will be interesting to see how the committee sees it overall.

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.

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.

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.

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 had undergone last summer. He was 81 years old.

He was amazing on so many things.

My favorite is when he “wakes up” and creates the immortal Dr. Johnny Fever.

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 the 10 biggest things college doesn’t teach you.

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 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 the full conversation right here. There’s so much to learn and discuss, and I’m sure you’ll all spend the evening doing just that in the comments section.