I’ve run into the limitations of optimism. But we’ve the democratization of humiliation.
However, this sentence appears below, and it’s my favorite sentence in a long time:
“Matthew Sweet is only relevant to me because I dated a Magician’s Assistant that was babysat by Sweet when she was a kid.”
HERE WE GO! This one has many, MANY beautiful pictures and seems longer, but it’s actually all inside the newsletter and there’s 30% less links this edition. Huzzah!!!!

SPACE!
- SEX INNNNNnnnnnn SPAAAACE!: Once the consenting adults become comfortable in their weightlessness, they can come up with all sorts of exciting and interesting positions, but it will take a time and effort to make it happen, the scientist notes. Sex in space may sound romantic but it’s not as easy as it may seem: there are lots of factors which can reduce one’s drive, starting with astronauts’ fairly busy work schedule and difficulties of accepting a match and ending with Newton’s third law of motion in conditions of microgravity. https://sputniknews.com/society/202104251082714652-sex-in-space-why-do-astronauts-keep-it-on-hush-hush-and-will-it-become-new-normal/
- Fictional Space Vehicle Rabbit Hole, and artist created a blog of concept ships and DROOL: https://conceptships.blogspot.com/
artist: https://www.artstation.com/igorstshirts

- Kids these days don’t say they want to be astronauts. they say they want to work in the space industry. It’s mind blowing.
It’s hard to compartmentalize how amazing everything is in this sector, in space… and we’re just bashing each other’s fucking heads in down here.
NASA’s bold bet on Starship for the Moon may change spaceflight forever “It is transformational to degrees no one today can understand.” https://arstechnica.com/science/2021/04/five-reasons-why-nasas-starship-award-is-a-watershed-moment-in-spaceflight/
- Can’t look at it without thinking “space debris”. In fact, an astronaut lost a mirror this week. This shot is from the first untethered space walk in history, 1984, Bruce McCandless. https://appel.nasa.gov/2020/02/06/this-month-in-nasa-history-astronauts-make-first-untethered-spacewalk/

- CAMPFIRE ON THE SUN!
- Shot by Alex Brock, SpaceX launch as seen from the Indian River, Florida: https://www.instagram.com/alexhbrock/

WHEN SCIENCE & TECH IS FUN!
- 2021 being extra:
This man is living in 2030! ???? pic.twitter.com/fgXLCEPldS
— Buitengebieden (@BuitengebiedenB) April 24, 2021
- Wood without trees: A culture of cells grown from zinnia leaves points to the possibility of generating plant materials in the lab. https://www.technologyreview.com/2021/04/27/1021725/wood-without-trees/
- Good job sir…

https://petapixel.com/2021/04/26/icelands-eruption-and-the-northern-lights-captured-in-one-photo/
- CLIP: DEEP VOICE GAS IS DEEP and fun. =)
- ANOTHER THOUGHT EXPERIMENT, LESS SCARY:
How Maxwell’s Demon Continues to Startle Scientists The thorny thought experiment has been turned into a real experiment — one that physicists use to probe the physics of information. https://www.quantamagazine.org/how-maxwells-demon-continues-to-startle-scientists-20210422/
Two thoughts from this thought experiment:
I) “In the 19th century, no one knew about information,” said Takahiro Sagawa <– this blows my mind. I sometimes wish I didn’t know, as well.
II) “Information is physical,”, ie if you erase a hard drive, there’s associated heat dumped into the environment, tying information to thermodynamics. More on that here: There are no unavoidable energy consumption requirements per step in a computer. Related analysis has provided insights into the measurement process and the communication schannel, and has prompted speculations about the nature of physical laws. https://physicstoday.scitation.org/doi/10.1063/1.881299
WHEN THE TRUTH & DATA OF SCIENCE IS SAD
- ALWAYS the bad news first. This is extremely worrying:
Climate tipping points may have been reached already, experts say https://www.cbsnews.com/news/climate-change-tipping-points-amazon-rainforest-antarctic-ice-gulf-stream/
Despite pandemic shutdowns, CO2 & methane surged in 2020. Co2 levels are now higher than at anytime in the past 3.6M yrs https://research.noaa.gov/article/ArtMID/587/ArticleID/2742/Despite-pandemic-shutdowns-carbon-dioxide-and-methane-surged-in-2020
Is this the part of the disaster film where a scientist at the North Pole looks up & says “The data shows unexpected acceleration!”=(
- An Asteroid Impact Simulation Is Currently Underway—and It’s Absolutely Terrifying https://gizmodo.com/an-asteroid-impact-simulation-is-currently-underway-and-1846783079
- IN FACT… I usually watch this impact set to Pink Floyd’s “Great Gig in the Sky” when I wake up and go to bed:
- We’re going to end up Cronenberging ourselves mucking about with DNA:
Scientists Create Early Embryos That Are Part Human, Part Monkey https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2021/04/15/987164563/scientists-create-early-embryos-that-are-part-human-part-monkey
- People have always messed with sat-imagery, but this is concerning:
Deepfake satellite imagery poses a not-so-distant threat, warn geographers 12 Geographic deepfakes could be used for misinformation and much more https://www.theverge.com/2021/4/27/22403741/deepfake-geography-satellite-imagery-ai-generated-fakes-threat
NATURE DAMN YOU SCARY
- Avalanche in Nepal:
DAMN PEOPLE YOUR DUMB ASS BELIEFS ARE SCARY
- January 2020: Man who threw ‘lucky’ coins into plane engine fined https://www.bbc.com/news/business-50979485
Aaaaannnnddd…. It just happened again: Man throws coins into plane engine for ‘good luck’, airline cancels flight for safety reasons https://www.timesnownews.com/the-buzz/article/shocking-man-throws-coins-into-plane-engine-for-good-luck-airline-cancels-flight-for-safety-reasons/750012

Comedy
I’m going to hell….but between “mcstop/mcwindows”—- https://t.co/t4zyOBknr3
— B.R.O.theR. ?uestion (@questlove) April 23, 2021
- I embedded Uncle Roger on Monday. This undoubtedly ruined my week until Friday. As a hotelier, this is horrifying, but too funny not to share. “Uncle Roger” is this comic’s persona, and yes, you’re allowed to have a conversation with whether his persona is problematic. I for one have reconciled my issues, because he’s not being derisive. It’s just a character, and he does it well. He is so funny.
- If you can’t appreciate eff yer momma raps and Eric Idle talking about poop, then you don’t like the perfect song.
- When Comedy is Comedy and not supposed to be Comedy, outtakes from Orson Welles’ commercials:
- OR FROZEN PEES GRUMPY BOI
MUSIC
- “Are you not ashamed of yourself, you who gaze upon riches with astonished admiration?” – Seneca
PRODUCT PORN. ROTARY MIXERS…. My Allen & Heath Xone is a little wonky, and I was looking at spending too much money on PORNOGRAPHY. These are all hand made, and tested, and expensive, and no I don’t think I will, but wow.
https://condesaelectronics.com/shop/lucia/

https://mastersounds.co.uk/products/radius-2-black

BUT THIS:
https://www.varia-instruments.com/

- This is AWESOME, and these guys at Archive are heroes:
At the Internet Archive, this is how we digitize #78 rpm records.
Our partner @georgeblood_lp has perfected this technique, digitizing with 4 different styli at once.We put as much effort into capturing the #metadata as we do digitizing the music. pic.twitter.com/dn4EjXTS9z
— Internet Archive (@internetarchive) April 25, 2021
- A brilliant workday background mix of a collective DJ Crew’s Middle Eastern and interesting beats:
- NEW ZEALAND RIGHT NOW:
- Wave XR Virtual Reality DJ community with videos that you get to interact with:
- The Commodore 64 Alien strategy game was pretty good for its time, but hella neon city retro 80’s synth vibe that SLAPS:
MOVIES AND TV AND BOOKS ACTUALLY, NO BOOKS. RADIO? NO, JUST MOVIES AND TV
- Yay: David Cronenberg And Viggo Mortensen Reunite For CRIMES OF THE FUTURE Are the pair revisiting the director’s 1970 avant-garde plague film? Eastern Promises and History of Violence are modern classics, but to return to body horror would be a treat: https://www.fangoria.com/david-cronenberg-and-viggo-mortensen-reunite-for-crimes-of-the-future/
It is purported to be a revisit of his earliest work, NEARLY 50 YEARS OLD. ugh (time is such a spectacular horror)
- The world of fan edits of movies is WILD and DEEP. Basically, any film you like has a different representation. It’s like DJ remixes. Was looking at what was the definitive Prometheus edit and goodness a rabbit hole: https://ifdb.fanedit.org/fanedit-search/tag/franchise/alien/?order=rhits
- Gladiators in ancient Rome endorsed products like Olive Oil. They were going to do this in Ridley Scott’s film, but took it out as audiences wouldn’t believe it, and it would look on-the-nose weird. But it’s true. “advertisements” would often end up on frescoes:
“how did you keep up with the news of your favorite gladiator or which olive oil he was endorsing? There were a couple of options. First, check the walls of the city. Much like today’s giant billboards, graffiti were drawn as sponsored ads for products and mosaics depicting fights between famous gladiators boosted popularity for the sport.[2] Numerous wall inscriptions from Pompeii give us a view into the celebrity-status of these men and the fact that they were a vital part of Romans’ daily lives. https://antiquitynowdotnet.wordpress.com/2013/01/31/super-bowl-xlvii-and-the-superstars-of-ancient-rome/
They even had graffiti on the side of the coliseum that was tantamount to “For a good time, call xxx-xxx-xxxx”.
http://www.the-colosseum.net/games/graffiti.htm
- Toys, man. This is so damned cool:
They Live ReAction Figure – Female Ghoul (Black & White)

- OH BOY OSCARS OoooOh man. Rearranging the entire show because of Chadwick Boseman’s assumed win, then Hopkins not even being there was the sad trombone of the year.
But the memes…
anthony hopkins rn not knowing he accidentally ruined the oscars pic.twitter.com/qEOfbiKAQh
— iana murray (@ianamurray) April 26, 2021
riz ahmed already has a best picture pic.twitter.com/8fad3lhI55
— Marc (@MarcSnetiker) April 26, 2021
Anthony Hopkins stumbling out of his bed tomorrow pic.twitter.com/nzSp04DGSx
— DANIEL (@dpatt0) April 26, 2021
- It was Alien day on Monday, due to the planet being LV426. April 26. Huzzah! Here’s a concept artist that does Pixar versions of films:
https://www.instagram.com/monica_ion_art/
You can order prints of dogs, nature, and more: https://www.inprnt.com/gallery/monica_ion/
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- Alexandre Aja, who did Switchblade Sisters / Haute Tension / High Tension, as well as the Hills Have Eyes remake, has moved from profoundly disturbing gore in brilliant films to more sophisticated horror and Hollywood sellable tension type thrillers, especially with Crawl, the hurricane thriller about being trapped in a house and GATORS! But, what’s really interesting is he has a new sci-fi thriller coming about a woman running out of oxygen in a cryogenic chamber… and a LIVE ACTION REMAKE OF THE FAMOUS “Space Adventure Cobra” – an old late 70s Manga.
Why is this sorta cool? First… Aja is doing different things than scrambling my mind and hurting my feelings with over the top horror. But second, is that you have all seen some of the original 80s Anime, because Matthew Sweet used clips in his awesome and most watched video (at the time) to great acclaim!
Also, Matthew Sweet is only relevant to me because I dated a Magician’s Assistant that was babysat by Sweet when she was a kid. I love this sentence.
VHIDEO GHAMES
- This is sorta hard to comprehend.
The Oscars vs The Game Awards ratings
Oscars
2021: 9.8m
2020: 23.6m
2019: 29.6m
2018: 26.6m
2017: 33m
2016: 34.4m
2015: 37.2m
2014: 43.7mTGAs Livestreams
2020: 83m
2019 : 45.2m
2018: 26.2m
2017: 11.5m
2016: 3.8mThe shows are headed in completely opposite directions pic.twitter.com/OiyU5baEZb
— Benji-Sales (@BenjiSales) April 26, 2021
SOCIETY AND CULTURE
- This man is all of us:
OLD COOL PHOTOS


VEHICLES
- Imagine sitting in traffic and seeing a $70,000,000 dollar vehicle in front of you? It may be $50M, and if so, this is what Pierre Noblet and Jean Guichet drove to win the 1962 Le Mans. I am so baffled by this picture (which has been proven to be real).

- What’s the opposite of hotdog down a hallway?
Huge superyacht squeezes down narrow Dutch canals https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/superyacht-pulled-through-netherlands-canals/index.html





- The Foil Revolution is something else. She’s great, but no Doug Demuro, so I just went to the point of speed and lift:

- HONDA IS KILLING IT. Like, if this is the inside of their new cars, they’re back on the menu again since a 1990 Accord.

- RESTOMOD conversation. https://unclefishbits.com/restomods
We’re going to see conversions of classics into EV when properly regulated aftermarket conversions are easier to do. I also wonder about autonomous conversion, because as laws change, *something* will need to happen to keep these cars on the road.
It’s going to create a whole new world of sleepers. Like this Sleeper Golf. I LAUGH OUT LOUD ALWAYS:

I DO NOT EVEN LIKE SHOES
So for Alien day I sorta bugged out at some of the cool merch, and found these: https://www.space.com/aliens-reebok-stomper-sneakers.html
I’m not a shoe dude, but holy cow I sorta am. No I did not spend egregious amounts on a pair of sneakers.

which led to these: https://www.space.com/42333-vans-nasa-sneaker-collection-commemorates-apollo.html
HEY YOU ALL THE WAY DOWN HERE? HOW ABOUT A TIMELINE OF THE UNIVERSE FROM BIG BANG TO HEAT DEATH?





