In which we look at one of the great spoofs of all time, a clever twist on a viral physics video, one of the great cartoons of all time, the puzzling lack of relationship between violence and the NFL's popularity, the new approach of the US National soccer team, one of the greatest musicians of all time, and the diary of a Yankee.
-------------
- The Great Moon Hoax of 1835
In which Richard Adams Locke wins the Internet 150 years before it existed.
- Day 170: Horizontally Dropped Slinky - Noschese 180
You probable know what happens when you drop a slinky vertically, but what happens when you drop a slinky horizontally? Were you surprised? I'll be honest, my initial prediction was wrong. But looking back and using the same model for the vertical slinky drop, it makes perfect sense.
- “De-Zanitized / The Monkey Song / Nighty-Night Toon” | Animaniacs | TV Club | TV | The A.V. Club
The A.V. Club begins a detailed rewatch of Animaniacs, one of SteelyKid's favorites. Unusually for the Internet, the comments are also pretty good.
- The nonexistent intersection of the NFL's popularity and its violence - Grantland
We all understand that this is how the Attention Economy works — if something is shocking and popular, the popularity is fueled by the shock. Those two qualities dovetail. It's always possible that too much controversy can destroy something over time (which is what's happening to Mel Gibson's directing career), and it's just as possible that certain controversies can normalize while success continues onward (which is what happened with Madonna in the '90s). But when these two things are happening simultaneously — when social outrage and commercial power are both occurring in the present tense — they are inevitably linked. Except, it seems, with football.
- Is the U.S. Men's National Soccer Team making progress under new coach Jurgen Klinsmann? - Grantland
This isn't simply another case of "we lost 4-1, but there are lots of reasons to be optimistic!" (Though Preki knows I, like most American fans, have said that often enough.) Under the domed, doomed gaze of Bob Bradley, the USMNT often seemed to be raising its ceiling by small increments while focusing on the parts of the game that are supposed to raise the floor: organization, defensive cohesion, stamina, muscle, heart. Klinsmann seems to have decided — spectacularly if not wisely — that the floor is actually a boring place to be, and that what we really ought to do is focus on technique, creativity, and speed, push the ceiling up into the exosphere, and let the ground take care of itself. Party on the roof!
- A guide to Bob Dylan, from the ’60s to now | Music | Primer | The A.V. Club
A comprehensive guide to the most important musician of the last 50-ish years.
- Derek Jeter's Diary: A W Is a W Is a W - The Triangle Blog - Grantland
We'd all been worried about how A-Rod seems to have lost his power stroke, but he promised everybody he was about to "go off," and he hit two of them. That's great. Also great was the look on his face when I asked him, "Why not three?" I mean, I was just trying to stop him from smiling because when he smiles, he kind of looks like an evil horse doing math, but really, why not? He's getting paid like $30 million a year through age 49 — let's do something a little more special than two home runs. Give the doctors in Germany something to be proud of.
- Log in to post comments