(via Bored Panda)
Saturday, May 23, 2026
Children's Dream Jobs Over a Century
What do kids say when you ask them what they want to be when they grow up? When I saw the premise of this video, I immediately thought "Astronaut! President!" This reflects the historical era I grew up in, and I well remember being set straight that girls cannot be either. But this graphic video covers 1920 through 2026. It begins with "cowboy" being the most popular answer, and reflects what children are exposed to over time. Watch how fast "pilot" ascends to the top early on. World War II promotes "soldier." "Astronaut" debuts in 1958 and quickly becomes the go-to profession, although "spy" is pretty popular during the Cold War. "Pro Athlete" takes the top as the Apollo program ends. "Programmer" debuts in 1985. "Dinosaur Expert" hits the list in 1992, a year before Jurassic Park, but the same year that PBS's miniseries The Dinosaurs! aired. "YouTuber" joined in 2007, only two years after the platform launched, and became the real aspiration for children.
Pay attention to what's simmering under the top. "Nurse" and "teacher" were consistently on the list until the 1970s, because little girls assumed those were the only professions open to them. I'm surprised "movie star" stayed so low. Be aware that the very question assumes that an adult will be defined by their job, which is a very American thing. (via Born in Space)
Moving Walkway
I don't know, it's very possible that I could have been all of these people at one time or another. I do know that I went out of my way to teach my children not to block sidewalks, doorways, and escalators. I've noticed that few people learned that lesson. This chart is from Matt Shirley. Click to the right for the punch line.
Friday, May 22, 2026
Snow Leopard Cubs
Miska is a snow leopard living at the Melbourne Zoo. In January, she gave birth to a litter of four cubs, two males and two females. When she decided the cubs were old enough to go outside, zoo videographers were there to record the cuteness. The fluffy cubs tried running, jumping, and playing with the big world as best as their little legs could, while Miska kept an eye on them. This was also the right time for the cubs to get their first veterinary check, in which they were weighed, vaccinated, and thoroughly examined. They seem really healthy, if a bit confused. If you want to see them being born, you'll find that video at Laughing Squid.
Colbert's Musical Sign Off
Last night was the final broadcast of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. He ended it by living out a fantasy of performing with Paul McCartney at the Ed Sullivan Theater, where McCartney was introduced to the US more than 60 years ago, and where The Late Show was based. Other musicians included Elvis Costello, Louis Cato, Jon Batiste, and The Great Big Joy Machine.
The show began with an intro by other legends of late night TV, followed by Colbert's last monologue, a science ficton sequence, and you can see other clips from the show at YouTube. Will we see Colbert elsewhere? No doubt, and probably sooner than you think. But he's busy writing a script for a new Lord of the Rings movie, so we may have to be patient.
Miss Cellania's Links
This cat likes to take a bath, without getting wet.
Likely Kicked by a Kangaroo, This Dingo Healed a Millennium Ago Thanks to Help From an Aboriginal Community That Continued to Honor It for 500 Years.
Stop calling it ‘a break from norms.’ Call it Trump corruption. (via Fark)
The Infinite Policeman — Preliminary Movement. When the word "police" can be a noun, an adjective, and a verb, it's no wonder they usually call themselves "internal affairs." (via Metafilter)
John Rogan: The Tallest Man Nobody Talks About. He grew to 8' 9", but refused to join a sideshow.
The Shadow Docket comes out of the shadows! The latest from Tom the Dancing Bug.
Scooby-Doo Is Getting an Anime, and It Looks Like the Right Kind of Ridiculous.
Coming in August- an adorable Little People children's play set recreating the movie Alien. (via Geeks Are Sexy)
School's Out
Alice Cooper performs his classic tune of the season on The Muppet Show in 1978, with choreography by the Monster Muppet Players.
Aug(de)mented Reality 2
Storyboard artist Marty Cooper makes delightful Sharpie and White-Out doodles that add a little something extra to real-life scenes. He gave us a video of them in May. Now we have even more, with volume two of his Aug(De)Mented Reality. Enjoy! (via Tastefully Offensive)
America First
Make that 85 years ago. This was from 1941.Drawn by Dr Seuss over 50 years ago.
— TJ resists! Bluestormcoming! (@tjjohnson.bsky.social) May 15, 2026 at 9:38 PM
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Thursday, May 21, 2026
Everyday Objects That Used To Be Everywhere But Completely Vanished
This is the new nostalgia, as a millennial learns to tell younger people what the not-so-good ole days were like. You can almost hear Chill Dude Explains yelling at kids to get off his lawn as he explains the ancient horror of dealing with a dial-up modem.
How Rabies Works
Rabies is an awful virus that doesn't work the way most viruses do. Once the symptoms start, it's fatal, and it's a particularly unpleasant death. You lose the ability to swallow, which is why the phrases "foaming at the mouth" and "hydrophobia" are associated with rabies. That's because the virus spreads through saliva, and successful viruses cause symptoms that enable them to spread to new hosts. The good news is that you can be vaccinated for rabies after exposure, and MinuteEarth will explain why that's so.
You might think, well, why don't we just vaccinate everyone against rabies? Dr. Dolittle had to be vaccinated. It cost her $900. That's cheap compared to the cost of treatment after exposure. But for some reason, we can get our dogs and cats vaccinated for $30 or so. And that's turned out to be the best way to keep rabies under control in the modern world.
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