(via Bits and Pieces)
Friday, July 03, 2026
Ridiculous School Rules Sparked by One Incident
If a school suddenly imposes a ridiculous rule that no one understands, you can assume that someone caused a problem, and they can't figure out a better way to deal with it. When I was in high school, they cut our lunch break from a half hour to 20 minutes. Then the next year it was cut to 15 minutes. That was serious for a school that didn't have a cafeteria. Both cuts came after someone was busted for drugs, and all of us suffered.
I'm sure that's happened throughout the history of public schools, but in the age of the internet, such incidences can make the local news and then go viral globally. You probably didn't hear about each of these instances, but Chill Dude Explains did the research. Here are ten times that one prankster, or one group of pranksters, left their legacy for the classes that followed them. Sometimes these new rules spread to schools statewide or even nationwide.
Miss Cellania's Links
It's America's Birthday. What Are We Celebrating? (via kottke)
How did it feel to be an American colonist in 1776? Probably itchy, achy and slightly nauseated.
Three Hundred Fifty-Four Fireworks per Second. A mathematician explains what a bad idea Trump's Fourth of July plans are. (via Metafilter)
What is the most American animal? (via Fark)
Super-Fun-Pak Comix, feat. Lester the Jester, The Truth About 1969 and MORE! The latest from Tom the Dancing Bug.
A small remote control vehicle delivers catnip to the neighborhood. It's free, and customers like it. (via Nag on the Lake)
Australian World Cup fans give us the chant of the summer. (via Everlasting Blort)
True Crime at the White House: The Most Ridiculous Burglary Plan in Presidential History. (via Damn Interesting)
Born In The USA
This is an acoustic demo version of "Born in the USA," from Bruce Springsteen. It is more melodic, sadder, and frankly, more memorable than the finished product. I suppose the word is "haunting." (via Boing Boing)
Wisdom
A crossover between Chekhov's Gun, Schrödinger's Cat, Occam's Razor, and Murphy's law. Original post
— Massimo (mirror) (@rainmaker1973-m.bsky.social) June 27, 2026 at 11:47 AM
[image or embed]
Thursday, July 02, 2026
The Real Reason We Separated from Britain
Josh from England contrasts the food and the hygiene of Britain and the US. Yes, British food had a terrible reputation for a long time, but that's changed somewhat now that the most prominent English meal is Chicken Tikka Masala. Or any Indian takeout in general. If it weren't for immigration, they'd still be eating prison food. Meanwhile, Americans are eating authentic dishes from all over the world, with ranch dressing.
50 Artists Sing the Cities of the US
American musicians have always been drawn to traveling the open roads, or at least singing about some wonderful place they've been before. This compilation by Dustin Ballard of There I Ruined It takes us on a musical trip among the cities of the United States, as sung by artists you know and love, from Dolly Parton to Eminem to Frank Sinatra. Of course, this could have been much longer, but we're getting near a holiday weekend, so he didn't want to put too much work into it. The signature slide whistle is there, and the end is not the end, because a special guest comes in to wrap things up.
Fireworks Guns
When John Adams wrote about American celebrating Independence day with bonfires and illuminations, he never dreamt it would be like this. CodyBPyrotechnics shows us the latest innovations in Roman candles. The ones available for consumer use are bigger than ever before. There's also a model of launcher that resemble a Gatling gun. Why would you need a rotating gun for fireworks? I guess because it just seems cool. The real innovation is that you can aim your massive fireworks somewhere other than straight up, which doesn't seem all that safe to me. He compares several of these guns in this video.
The fireworks are pretty, but watching a video is as risky as I want to get with this. Not to mention I dont want to pay for such a single-use gun. These should not be used near people, or forests, or homes, or after holiday drinking. (via Geeks Are Sexy)
Cockatiel Sings
These folks watch a lot of movies -enough so that their cockatiel has learned to sing the theme from Pirates of the Caribbean and the Imperial March from Star Wars.
Wednesday, July 01, 2026
One Million B.C.
No, this is not the Raquel Welch film; that's One Million Years B.C., the remake. The original is One Million B.C. from 1940, starring Victor Mature, Carole Landis, and Lon Chaney Jr. With the alternate title Man and His Mate, it's a Romeo and Juliet story of two prehistoric tribes, one more civilized than the other, who learn each other's ways and eventually join forces to survive the dinosaurs who attack them.
One Million B.C. was nominated for two Academy Awards: Best Musical Score and Best Special Effects. The dinosaurs are real animals, sometimes dressed in costume like a pig in a triceratops suit. One dinosaur is a man in a suit. The movie led to a protest from the SPCA and a ban on animal cruelty in movies. Therefore, many later dinosaur films reused footage from this one to depict dinosaurs. Footage of the rock slide and volcanoes were reused as well. Despite the expense, One Million B.C. was a box office success. This version is colorized. (Thanks, WTM!)
The First Teaser Trailer for Not Alone
Not Alone is described as an "animated science fiction romantic comedy," which is a mouthful but sounds like it could be good. The voices of Timothée Chalamet and Selena Gomez star as Joe and Fran, ground workers on a space mission, hence the "science fiction." They awkwardly like each other, hence the "romantic comedy." The teaser makes it seem like there's some epic event, like the end of the world, that's driving them closer. Could this be an original thought-provoking drama?
But then we suddenly find out where the "comedy" really comes from. The aliens from outer space who find Joe seem like a combination of the Yip Yips, the Minions, and the Three Stooges. The plot seems like a '60s comedy or sitcom, in which an everyman is charged with hiding something magically incredible, like a sentient Volkswagen or a talking cat or a genie. I guess it really is a kids movie. After all, it's from Illumination, who brought us the Despicable Me franchise. Not Alone is scheduled to open in April of 2027.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)