Wish I could read the date- is it the 60s or the 80s? (Thanks, WTM!)
Sunday, June 28, 2026
Calorie Sources and How They've Changed
Through most of civilization, people have been getting the majority of their calories from whatever carbohydrates were available: bread, potatoes, rice, or yams depending on location. But in the last couple hundred years, food technology and culture has upended that. This video from Data is Beautiful tracks the source of caloric intake among Americans aged 20-39 from 1930 to 2026. Keep in mind this does not take into account the total amount of food consumed; just a comparison of the calorie source. That's why fruits and vegetables stay so low- you can eat an awful lot of those and still get few calories.
Bread stays at the top during the Great Depression. Then when World War II vets came home, they continued to eat red meat every day like they did in the military, and their families did, too. Then the rise of fast food took over, and soda pop became an everyday drink. Late in the 20th century, red meat became less popular and more expensive. You'll spot more trends on a second watch that can be linked to prices, trends, and health concerns. (via Born in Space)
Never Bet Against a Raccoon
Think you're going to outsmart a hungry raccoon with your silly technology? Watch this trash panda foil a critter-proof bird feeder! You get the idea that it's not the first time he's seen this kind of setup. While the folks inside admit defeat, they are impressed with both the raccoon's intelligence and his dexterity. (via Tastefully Offensive)
Saturday, June 27, 2026
The Undying Monster
The Undying Monster is a 1942 horror mystery based on a 1922 novel. The residents of a family estate in England are being killed one by one, but is it a supernatural monster, or is one of them a killer? (Thanks, WTM!)
The Great Dismal Swamp
My family has spent vacations at the Outer Banks of North Carolina for at least four generations now. You let the kids think it is for fun in the sun, but they learn a lot of history, too. The Lost Colony. Blackbeard's pirate base, The Wright Brothers' first flight. And getting there, you pass through the Great Dismal Swamp, over engineered roads that weren't possible a couple hundred years ago. Full of mosquitos, snakes, choking vegetation, and unstable ground, the inhospitable swamp was a refuge for enslaved people who escaped and hid out for generations.
"The Power of Disco" by Huey Lewis and the Trammps
Listen to this super nostalgic mashup, new from Bill McClintock! It's a medley of disco hits from the 1970s, set to the tune of Huey Lewis and the News' 1985 song "The Power of Love." The first disco song is "Disco Inferno" by The Trammps. I was a little disappointed there, because it's my favorite disco song mainly because of its tune. But that's just the beginning- you'll also hear "Lady (You Bring Me Up)" by the Commodores, "All Along the Watchtower" by Jimi Hendrix, and "Serpentine Fire" by Earth, Wind & Fire.
The five songs are accompanied by a video that incorporates the music videos from each song, plus the movie Back to the Future, which is where we got "The Power of Love." You'll want to get up and dance, but keep in mind the disco hits are all a little slower to match the tempo of "The Power of Love." But that's okay, because if you recall all these songs, you probably dance a little slower than you used to.
Casually Explained: Moving Out
James from Casually Explained gives young people a honest and detailed rundown on what it's like to move out of their parents' home. You'll only want to share this with your kids if they've already moved out, because it's pretty discouraging. When Baby Boomers moved out on their own, it was for the purpose of sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll, which kids these days don't do so much of. Also, we could find a place to live where the rent was only a week's income or less, if you weren't picky. Now the rental units are owned by corporations or Boomers, and they demand exorbitant security deposits because they fear young tenants will act like they did at that age. (via Tastefully Offensive)
SNAP Rules
Did you know that low-income Americans are forbidden from purchasing hot food items like rotisserie chicken at their local deli with SNAP benefits? It’s true. There are all sorts of arbitrary rules like this for public assistance programs.
— Senator Chris Larson (@senchrislarson.bsky.social) June 25, 2026 at 8:50 AM
I can see how this happened. The government doesn't want to pay for restaurant meals, but in defining the terms, they run into the edge cases. Delis and grocery stores offer ready-made takeout meals like a restaurant. But here in the real world, rotisserie chicken from a grocery is often less expensive than buying a raw chicken. It's a great option for single working mothers. But it's an even greater option for people who don't have a kitchen. If you are living on the street, or in a motel shelter, or an SRO, a rotisserie chicken can be the difference between eating chips and eating protein.And yet, when rich people want free money in the form of business grants or tax exemptions, there are often very little strings attached - if any. It’s time to stop policing people’s food choices and start regulating the big businesses that fail to pay living wages instead.
— Senator Chris Larson (@senchrislarson.bsky.social) June 25, 2026 at 8:50 AM
Friday, June 26, 2026
Celebrate
Three Dog Night performing on the show Soundstage in 1975. The song itself, from their second album, was released in 1970.
Every Person With a Bird Feeder
Your first bird feeder seems like a nice gift, but it can lead to some serious lifestyle changes. Suddenly, you are obsessed with the birds that actually come visit. You're taking pictures of them, studying their favorite foods, and that leads to a serious obsession. There's nothing wrong with bird watching, and I'm sure the birds appreciate the food. But you may start to seem a little odd to the neighbors and any friends that visit.
Comedian Matt Lyons noticed this in his own neighborhood. He knows about as much about birds as you or I do- notice that the bird feeder in this video is empty, and no serious backyard birder would let that happen except to give it a good cleaning. You can also tell by the names of the birds, like the eastern bilirobin and the benihana boobies. He's glad to share knowledge with you, because it's all about that symbiotomy in the phylum, whatever that means. (via Laughing Squid)
The Genie's Outtakes and Bloopers from Aladdin
The usual way to make classic cartoons is to record the voices first, and then draw the animation to match. When Robin Williams recorded lines for the Genie in the 1992 film Aladdin, the crew knew that letting him loose with the script would produce magic. Williams recorded hours and hours of sound, playing around with each joke, adding his own ad libs, and doing them all over and over with different recognizable character voices. It had to be a real trip to witness.
Of course, they didn't use all those hours of voice recordings, but they were too funny to discard, so they added artwork to them anyway. In this video, two directors and the supervising animator from Aladdin remember Williams and bring us the Genie treasures we didn't get to see in the movie.
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