(via Fark)
Tuesday, August 18, 2026
Sweetest What the Fluff Surprise Yet
Zephyr is a four-year-old golden retriever witnessing the "What the Fluff Challenge." We don't know what Zephyr was expecting, but we were expecting the young man holding the blanket up to disappear. Instead, he changed into Kevin, Zephyr's favorite person, who has been gone for nine months doing Army training at Ft. Bragg. Zephyr was pretty happy with the result! (via Digg)
Monday, August 17, 2026
Rapper's Delight
"Rapper's Delight," as performed by the Swedish Chef. The only fault I could find with this is that is it too short. (via Metafilter)
Why Cats Love Cardboard Boxes
We all know that a cat will ignore the luxurious bed you just bought him and instead go for the box it came in. Sure, it's funny, but it also causes cat lovers to bring home boxes just for the cat. Why do they love boxes so much? Because it's cozy and a great place to hide. But the reasons go much deeper.
Cats don't see the world the way humans do. They have instincts that go back thousands of years, to the days their ancestors had to deal with a harsh world. They don't know how much you spent on that new cat bed, but they know what they like, and they like boxes for their own instinctual reasons. Once you see the world through their eyes, it makes plenty of sense. (via Laughing Squid)
Buc-ee's
Comedian Tim Hawkins wrote a little song about Buc-ee's, the unique travel stop that I once called the most inconvenient convenience store ever. Buc-ee's is know for clean restrooms, expensive food, and a hundred gas pumps all lined up outside. The stores are about the size of an airport, and sell everything from barbecue sandwiches to "Bible verses on shot glasses."
The subject of the song is excited to see a billboard for Buc-ee's and sings the praises of its over-the-top offerings. As a takedown of redneck taste and consumerism, it's pretty funny, but you can also hear the advertisement value, because these are exactly the things that American travelers want to see and spend money on, for some reason.
Miss Cellania's Links
Unresolved: The Langville, Montana, Mystery & the Legend of a Disappearing Town. (via Strange Company)
Atlas Obscura's Guide to the World’s Strangest Christmas Traditions.
A Surprising Real Estate Detail Worth Sharing.
Explaining systemic racism with a board game. Way oversimplified, but effective.
Meet Alessandro Moreschi, the Last Surviving Castrato in the Sistine Chapel Choir. (via Nag on the Lake)
Researchers Return to a Forgotten Forest Experiment 30 Years Later—With “Astounding” Results. (via Damn Interesting)
Grandma's binder. (via Everlasting Blort)
Flock is Trying to Find Out How Much of the Surveillance State You’ll Tolerate.
The Dover Boys ReAnimated Collaboration
The Dover Boys at Pimento University is a classic Merrie Melodies cartoon from 1942. You can see the original here. We now have a remake of sorts, a collaboration of more than 90 animators who got together to put their personal spin on the Chuck Jones story. The credits are in a spreadsheet used for the project. While the cartoon is still funny as ever, the extra fun is in finding the modern easter eggs many of the reanimators slipped in. (via Metafilter)
Sunday, August 16, 2026
Whenever I Call You "Friend"
"Whenever I Call You "Friend"" was Kenny Loggins' first major hit in 1978. He wrote it with Melissa Manchester and recorded it as a duet with Stevie Nicks. This official video is a live version, and bassist George Hawkins sings the second part.
Maggie, the Super-Fertile Cat
Maggie found a place to safely give birth inside just in time to deliver her babies. So many babies! I had an experience like this with a dog once, and I kept asking if she was done, but she wasn't. Anyway, this video is old enough so that we can assume that Maggie has found a forever home.
The Blueprint for All Cinematic Robots
Seventy years ago, we got something new and different: a science fiction movie about space travel that took itself seriously. The 1956 movie Forbidden Planet had a Hollywood budget, talented actors, and a design team ready to delve into the future. One of the things they designed was Robby the Robot.
This robot was born at the intersection of several trends of the time. Americans were suspicious of technology as a whole, but they loved appliances that made their work easier. Scientists at Yale were beginning to conceive of artificial intelligence. Real robots were on design tables. And Isaac Asimov worked out the rules making robots safe for human interaction. Robby was impressive, useful, safe, and had his own personality. He made people like the idea of robots, and his influence on later cinematic robots lasted decades. However, the 21st century idea of artificial intelligence may need to take a lesson or two from Asimov.
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