Tuesday, June 30, 2015

Cool Shit 6/30

Celebrity athletic sporting events are my kryptonite. I get mad when it's not taken seriously, or when they award bases for comedic sake. Here's hoping Dirk runs a tight ship with his celebrity baseball game.

Federer is probably the greatest tennis player ever. I have a soft spot for Laver because he won two grandslams seven years apart (among other achievements) but in the modern era what Federer has been able to do is amazing. His longetivity alone puts him above most. And now, as his career is (seemingly) winding down, it's interesting to take a look back and see what he's accomplished.

A little late but RIP Chris Squire, the longtime bassist for Yes.

Diving for sea urchins. A lucrative business if you live near a place that has sea urchins aplenty...



Going into this, I wondered why it would have been cut. After watching it, I get it:



It's never good when the term "World War III" is bandied about as a potential.

A review for the new Terminator movie that seems, uh...well I don't even know.

Monday, June 29, 2015

Cool Shit 6/29

Water-tasting competition. I fell like I could be a judge comparing waters.

Would you be interested in a documentary about Taxi Driver?

A deep dive into Blazing Saddles, and why it resonates.

Pizza and the New York subway. They go hand in hand.

An asteroid of significant size would be cataclysmic to our species. And yet our plan in case we ever found one (or for finding one) is inept. We're playing a dangerous space lottery that, while the odds might be stacked in our favor, are not insignificant. Oh well.

Want to get yourself immersed into the cyberpunk genre? Here's a great place to start.

Thursday, June 18, 2015

Cool Shit 6/18

A cool island off the Isle of Wight where you can play Laser Tag. Among other things. No Man's Land.

Finally! The US is going to have to answer to Russia about how they faked the moon landing.

David Simon is working on a 70s porn series.

Apparently the internet isn't invincible, and someone could take it down if they set their mind to it. And probably had a lot of money...



Another mixed review of the new season of True Detective.

Driving Route 50, the Loneliest Road in America.

Deutschland 83, a new series on Sundance about the Cold War, entirely in German. Sounds right up my alley.

Tuesday, June 16, 2015

Cool Shit 6/16

So Game of Thrones is over for this year. What can you watch now? Try these alternatives.

Beck has a new single out and it's certainly more funky than his previous album:



Full trailer for the Ferrell/Wiig Lifetime movie: A Deadly Adoption. Wow.



Speaking with the guys who made HBO's The Jinx: The Robert Durst story.

Oh you people who are dismayed about the recent Game of Thrones ending, despair not! There are clues out there to suggest all is not what it seems. (And honestly, if the end stays the end (trying to remain spoiler free here) then it's just shoddy storytelling with the whole series, creating plot points just to deceive the viewer and not to advance or remain true to the story. And that would be a shame.)

Monday, June 15, 2015

Cool Shit 6/15

You wish you were as cool as Michael Winslow doing Led Zeppelin's Whole Lotta' Love:



There are a lot of things going on in this article about a rogue star traveling through our solar system, one being that it happened 70,000 years ago. It's amazing how the universe makes past events so significant to our present circumstances.

Speaking of a lot of things going on, there really is a lot we don't know about the world we live in.

Enhance your music listening experience with these programs.

Reviews for True Detective Season 2 are coming and the results are...mixed.

For serious Gin & Tonic drinkers.

Tent City. Not sure why there needed to be an eviction of people not bothering people and simply trying to get on with life the only way they knew possible at that moment.

Friday, June 12, 2015

Cool Shit 6/12

A list of some of the longest movies ever made.

Who better to tell you how to rob a bank than a bank robber.

We're not that far away from a crackdown on the additives used for junk food. Mark my words.

Apparently this is real: Will Ferrell and Kristen Wiig have made a Lifetime movie...



Catching up with the creator of True Detective.

In honor of Jurassic World opening tonight, let's take a look back at the works of Michael Crichton.

Haven't seen this documentary yet, but the concept of scientific spin doctors - people who can make things sound better or worse from you using evidence, is intriguing.


Thursday, June 11, 2015

Cool Shit 6/11

New James Bond trailer/teaser whatever they call it for Spectre...



Crystal Pepsi is rumored to be making a comeback and I don't understand the world anymore.

The scientific reason Sriracha sauce tastes so good, in cute, animated video form:



If you're old enough to remember Columbia House, you'll enjoy this interview with some of the people who worked there.

White dots on the dwarf planet Ceres...we keep getting closer to them but still have no idea what they are.

While I love Jurassic Park (the original that kicked of the dinosaur craze), I can admit its faults...it's schmaltzy in parts (the kids act too adorable/cartoonish too often), and it carries the Spielberg sheen throughout. But there is no way I believe Cameron would have made it better. So I can only imagine this article was written to create a fictitious uproar on the internet.

Vegetables. They're good for you so you should eat them. Here are some ways to possibly make them enjoyable.

Wednesday, June 10, 2015

Cool Shit 6/10

Best "museum" in the United States?



I'm not saying our bizarre fascination with stuffing different things into the crust of a pizza will be our society's downfall, but I have think it at least puts us down that specific path.

Get to know YOUR Seal Team 6.

I guess we will have to continue to make Jurassic Park movies in a desperate attempt to stave on science's crazy drive to recreate dinosaurs.

Whether you have Amazon Prime or are thinking about getting it, this will give you an idea of what you'll enjoy, or what you're missing.

Sounds like this army doctor knows how to party!

Tuesday, June 9, 2015

Cool Shit 6/9

So you know: what it's like to be struck by lightning.

The idea of creating a pizza box that can also be as a movie projector is cool, though I'm not sure the practicality/reality will translate into that many more people ordering Pizza Hut. Honestly, I didn't even know Pizza Hut delivered.

If you're looking to kill some time, you could do worse than perusing the top 50 articles at McSweeney's.

Where have all the hitchhikers gone?

New Spielberg movie, Bridge of Spies. Looks decent...



An early review of Apple Music - the new streaming service they announced yesterday.

I've never had a frappucino nor know what goes into one. But apparently Starbucks is introducing 6 new flavors of them to be voted on for a winner to be offered at their stores. Here's what they taste like.

New trailer for The Martian. I read the book and it will be a much better movie (the book read like a screenplay).




Monday, June 8, 2015

Cool Shit 6/8

Oh boy. Trailer for Everest, which is based on the book Into Thin Air. Even with the "Hollywoodzation" it looks harrowing...



Bizarre promotional items from popular movies.

If you're into murder mysteries, this list of movies is for you.

Tracking your fitness with that Fitbit you got for Memorial Day? How many steps should you really be getting?

A person tries some self-experimentations with mixed results.

New trailer for season 2 of True Detective. I think the biggest shift we, as an audience are going to have to deal with is the that the first season seemed so claustrophobic, following the story of two detectives. Already in season 2 the expanse seems wider, and therefore different. Not bad, just different. Of course that won't stop the collective maw of the internet to compare and proclaim season 2 to be inferior (see example of Season 2 of the Wire when it first came out. Had Twitter been around we wouldn't have gotten a season 3):





Friday, June 5, 2015

Cool Shit 6/5

The third season of Hannibal started last night. I really hope you're watching it. It's the best show on network television right now. Operatic, thematic and all together such a different vibe than the rest of television. Yesterday, I lamented about not wasting my time on creative types that take a risk (suggesting I wouldn't be able to watch Sense8), but I ask you all to take some time to visit with Hannibal. It's definitely worth the time. (How it's made it to season 3 is also simply astounding since shows like this usually get cancelled after 4 episodes.

Teaser for Sharknado III. I guess if we keep watching them, they'll keep making them?



This is some cool Jaws 40th Anniversary art.

Take this audio test to see if you can tell which track has the highest audio quality.

Long ago, Werner Herzog made the decision to walk from Munich to Paris to see a dying French cinema legend. Because of course he did. This is the article finally republished.

Gear you probably need to stay alive should you find yourself out in the wild.

Looking for a summer jam that isn't teenie or going to be on your local pop music station? Here you go!

And if you're not going to click on that link, just immediately jam out to this one from it. It's simply the best one:



A great "art exhibit" if you will - take the lovely/gross 80s Garbage Pail kids, and put the "Where are they now" lens on them. Icky and brilliant.

This seems kind of cool. A blood test that will reveal the viruses you've been exposed to throughout your life.


Thursday, June 4, 2015

Cool Shit 6/4

Everyone and their mother has a podcast these days - so why not at least get the right equipment and make yours stand out form a quality standpoint?

For deep-analysis-on-film fans, this video takes a look at Christopher Nolan's Interstellar, and tries to ferret out the meaning and symbolism within it.



So the reason that Susan was killed off was because... she was a pain to work with? I can imagine this being the case with the cast of Seinfeld, but I'm not sure we, the audience needed to hear about it.

A real life Tony Stark... well minus all the Avengers stuff. Maybe. I don't really know.

The first real review for Sense8, and it's as bad as you probably thought. Which stinks, because the article also delves into the idea that television is ripe for reinventing, and in a way Sense8 pushes the boundaries. I'd love to have loved it and supported an original idea, but there's too much good television out there that it's hard to waste time on something like this.

Another creative visionary (Neal Stephenson) that probably needs an editor, or at least someone to focus him a little more. Here's a look (much more positive) at his book Seveneves.

Educate yourself on port wine.

Information we can all use: how to choose the fastest checkout line in the store.

Wednesday, June 3, 2015

Cool Shit 6/3

Seems like this video of top 10 laser gun battles has some loose criteria, and then they barely stay within that criteria. Oh well. Maybe I'm just mad that they didn't call out the battle from Ice Pirates.



So Indiana Jones probably isn't the prototypical archaeologist, but there are some similarities with these guys.

There will be more Arrested Development. While the last season was pretty inconsistent, this is still good news.

Is anyone really excited about the Wachowski's Netflix series Sense8? If you are, here's a deep dive into it.

A look at submarine terms, for the next time you watch Das Boot (the director's cut of course).


Tuesday, June 2, 2015

Cool Shit 6/2

Not sure how many out there are real Faith No More fans, but if you are, this treasure trove of rarities from their career is going to be right up your alley.

With a recent, 95% failure rate of detecting weapons or bombs, I'm really not sure why the TSA even exists anymore.

The movie San Andreas, about a monster earthquake on the west coast of the United States came out last weekend. And if you can believe it, some of the science in it isn't so accurate.

The best guest sit-ins with the Grateful Dead, in honor of their shows coming up this summer.

Will Apple's new streaming music service be announced next week?

So this is happening, in December... A Very Murray Christmas:



What is it? I have no idea, but Sophia Coppola is also involved.

Roger Moore speaking about James Bond.

Monday, June 1, 2015

Cool Shit 6/1

So when you die, weird things happen to your body.

Just in case - how to break out of zip ties:

http://www.womenshealthmag.com/health/what-happens-when-you-die?adbpr=25087685&adbid=604735322316931072&adbpl=tw&cid=social_20150530_46677146

Oh hamburger. You are so delicious. But how did you get that way?

With these last few days of Spring still upon us, enjoy a reading of Walt Whitman's poetry read by James Earl Jones:



It's the 40th anniversary of Jaws, and the movie still resonates throughout our culture. 

Want to stay anonymous online? Take a look at these helpful tips.