We'd all love to make the trip home this year for the holidays, but the reality is, that's probably not in the cards for millions right now. But with encouraging signs that a COVID-19 vaccine in early 2021 may be the light at the end of our dark and dreary 2020 tunnel, it isn't too early to start thinking about all those trips you've spent months planning. — Read the rest
• Scott Atlas has resigned from his position in the White House as Donald Trump's special adviser on COVID-19, multiple news agencies report
Mister 'Herd Immunity' has resigned, reports CNN:
— Read the restDr. Scott Atlas, a highly controversial member of the White House's coronavirus task force, has resigned from his post in the Trump administration, according to a person who works with the task force.
HE'LL GET BACK TO YOU
Reporter Brahm Resnik of Phoenix, AZ NBC 12 News/KPNX TV tweeted this incredible video of Arizona's Republican governor Greg Ducey seeming to blow off an incoming call from the Trump-Pence White House, while the governor is in the process of certifying Arizona's election results for a Biden win, earlier today. — Read the rest
In 1976, Björk, then 11-years-old and studying classical piano and flute, sang Tina Charles's "I Love to Love" for a school recital. According to Wikipedia, "her teachers sent a recording of her singing the song to the RÚV radio station, which was then Iceland's only radio station. — Read the rest
The new They Might Be Giants single, "Who Are The Electors?", is a pop-rock civics lesson that belongs up there with "I'm Just A Bill" from Schoolhouse Rock. As the band explained in their newsletter:
— Read the restPlease note this song is FACT-BASED and does not represent They Might Be Giants' personal views on the Electoral College system.
As I get older Fred the Dog becomes the best part of Smokey and the Bandit.
Yes, that's right: for just $20, you, too, can have a Richard Simmons Chia Pet growing your own home.
Simmons is apparently offering lockdown workout videos as well. He also offered this helpful advice for dealing with isolation, in a 2012 interview with Men's Health:
— Read the restWhen the king gets depressed, he doesn't call for his wife or the cook.
A new article from the US Naval Institute — which is not necessarily representative of the US Navy — claims to have spotted evidence of dolphin holding pens along the Taedong River in North Korea. However, the author, HI Sutton, also conceded that, "It's also possible that the pens are some type of fish farm. — Read the rest
In an astonishing display of control and focus, Andrey Matveenko calmly dives about 390 feet straight down into the ocean depths.
There are several kinds of freediving, including with or without fins or bifins, constant or variable weight, and dynamic, free, or static apnea. — Read the rest
As noted by Tom McKay, the sons of outgoing president Trump enjoyed the nicknames "stank" and "choad" as high-schoolers. Don Jr is Stank, Eric is Choad. These revelations come courtesy of their yearbooks.
Scotty H created this spectrographic animation of a classic dial-up modem's startup noise. Here's a breakdown, by Oona Räisänen, of what each section concerns:
Aleia Murawski and Samuel Copeland create delightful dioramas featuring live snails.
They did a fun video for the Bully song "Guess There":
You can also flip through their upcoming book, Snail World: Life in the Slimelight
You can pre-order the book via Broccoli.
Trump's current behavior, refusing to accept defeat and insisting that the election was fraudulent, was inevitable: he's made the same claim about every poll that ever failed to go his way. But it certainly didn't help that on and after election night, his closest advisors simply lied to him about what was happening. — Read the rest
Tom Scott looks at how the web devolved from a universal linked information system into a bit of a mess.
There are two reasons, he says: advertisers and people. The web was originally stateless. Then came cookies, which were so useful that they got built into web standards. — Read the rest
Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, Iran's chief nuclear scientist, was shot with a remote-controlled machine gun, reports Iranian news agency Fars.
— Read the restThe Fars News report said Fakhrizadeh was traveling with his wife in a bulletproof car, alongside three security personnel vehicles, when he heard what sounded like bullets hitting a vehicle, and he exited the car to determine what had happened.
Aron Fromm worked with the late Stan Lee as a sound editor for more than a decade. He recently dug up some old archival recordings of the excelsior man — including one in which the ever-jovial Stan Lee soliloquizes about the versatility of the word "fuck." — Read the rest
If the Beijing Olympics ceremonies were more concerning to you than inspiring, the North Korean Mass Games may remind you of how tight choreography and totalitarianism often go hand in hand. Presented by one of the few tour operators still offering trips to North Korea. — Read the rest
Mattes Kuche shared this demonstration of how flexible cold glass can be by wobbling this wine glass with an extremely thin stem.
If you want your own, they look like Camille wine glasses, which I believe are sold at several major retailers. — Read the rest
From Vice:
— Read the restThe set will feature two Ross landscapes representing each of Magic's five different land types—plains, swamps, forests, islands, and mountains. "I thought swamp was going to be the hardest, but it turned out to be plains," Tom Jenkot, Sr.
In this video, a man gently grooms Hamish, a colossal Highland cow. It ends with a harmless but telling example of how much trouble you can get into around those horns, even with such a docile breed.
The Mysterians is a must-see Japanese sci-fi flick from 1957, and over at ourculture, they give it a thorough and thoughtful analysis.
— Read the restIn the film, a series of earthquakes and forest fires precedes the appearance of a giant robot, Mogera. The mechanical monster wreaks havoc before it is blown up by the self-defence forces.
It's become a tradition in the Boing Boing Store. Just like winter and Santa, every year's end isn't complete without the most tricked-out set of killer Mac apps included in the annual Cyber Monday Mac Bundle.
Last year's assortment was a monster hit, spawning more than 100 5-star reviews from thousands sold. — Read the rest
Baltimore's public schools are closed this week after a ransomware attack brought down its network. Administrators hope to bring students back in on Wednesday, but "it could take weeks" to bring up the computers.
— Read the restThe district was hit last Wednesday, before Thanksgiving Day, but schools will remain shut on Monday and Tuesday.
Like Uncle Roger, I liberally apply MSG to savory dishes, but this steak dry-aged in pure MSG is next level:
— Read the restMSG is something used quite often in many restaurants. Today I Dry Aged Steaks with it and the results are insane.
An auction house called up Music Is Win with an amazing chance to play Eric Clapton's "Slowhand" 1954 Fender Stratocaster. From the auction house:
— Read the restIt appears that Clapton first used it on stage circa 1979-1980 to play his opening numbers "Tulsa Time" and "Early in the Morning" in the set list for his 1979 tour.
While Cyber Monday is ostensibly about helping you save money on holiday gift ideas, the true sneaky joy of it all is scoring deals on stuff for you.
Friends and relatives are great…but let's not stop considering the home team in all this, OK? — Read the rest
When a review begins by stating that the product stands as "the weirdest headphones you'll ever own," that has to at least get your attention.
And make no mistake, the Human Headphones are unquestionably weird. But then again, it wasn't long ago that AirPods looked weird dangling from people's heads too. — Read the rest
After you come out of your annual turkey coma, you probably don't wake up and think, "I'm gonna buy a bidet today." But if we're being honest, that probably isn't a statement you consider on most days.
However, facts are facts. — Read the rest
David Prowse, the towering English weightlifter and actor who played Darth Vader in the Star Wars trilogy, is dead at 85.
— Read the restProwse was cast as Vader for his imposing physique, even though the role was voiced by James Earl Jones.
Not too many years ago, the router market was dominated by names like Linksys, Netgear, and others. Of course, that was before a little company called Google walked into that tech sector and threw down the gauntlet with its Google WiFi Router. — Read the rest
Many call it a wonder drug. Others, including some doctors, wonder if it makes any legitimate difference at all. Either way, the sale of CBD-infused products are skyrocketing, doubling between 2018 and 2020. And, totals are anticipated to almost double yet again by 2022. — Read the rest
As the final hours on many of these Black Friday deals tick down, you will undoubtedly be struck with the sudden memory of someone who somehow escaped your holiday list up to that moment. Maybe it's the mailman. Or it could be that officemate you haven't seen in-person since March. — Read the rest
According to a new study in a journal appropriately titled Aging, scientist at Tel Aviv University have allegedly found a way to make Benjamin Button happen. The process, known as hyperbaric oxygen treatments or HBOT, can reportedly stop blood cells from aging. — Read the rest
The McDonald's McRib, a sandwich that has 70 ingredients but no rib meat, was first introduced in 1981 and wasn't much of a hit. But in the years since, it has established a cult following, and when it returns to the menu sporadically, those fans come out of the woodwork. — Read the rest
As if the pandemic didn't punch enough holes in your day-to-day life, it also seriously messed things up for office workers who had finally talked their boss into getting them a standing desk. No sooner than they'd started working it in, they're now working from home – all while that gorgeous standing desk just sits in their office…alone and idle. — Read the rest
Todd McShay did his normal sideline reporting before the start of the Northweastern-Wisconsin college football game last Saturday, but didn't look quite right. His regularly fluid, concise delivery was choppy and slowed. It was later learned that McShay could not finish the game due to illness, and when you watch the video you can see why. — Read the rest
Last month, I posted about Ben at Questing Beast doing a live stream of him flicking through some of the many D&D zines that he gets sent. Here he is with another installment where he gives us a rather detailed tour through five zines.
Ikea no longer makes the translucent plastic Fniss trashcans, sadly, and I can confirm that the current opaque model's thicker polypropylene material is useless for performing free jazz on glass tabletops.
Previously: Happy birthday to John Coltrane!
Watch this baby do several double-takes between her dad and her uncle, who are identical twins. Playing family mind games with an infant is an important holiday tradition. Thank you, twins.