Cool Shit 6/19

Flying somewhere but hate the hassle of the airport and the cramped seating of the plane? Take an empty leg flight on a private jet.

Confessions of a beer geek. And I'm talking a true, desperate beer geek.

John Hodgman is prepared for the apocalypse. Or at least prepared for offering funny descriptions for a few of GQ's recommended products.

Trailer for Anchorman 2:



While this story from Questlove about rollerskating with Prince sounds completely incredible, it also is exactly like I'd describe it if someone asked me to guess what it was like to rollerskate with Prince.

Cool Shit 5/14

Ordering a beer these days can be an adventure, especially if you don't know the terminology. Fortunately, that doesn't have to be the case anymore.

As a writer, I'm excited for Damon Lindelof's success, since it's not too often writers get a lot of credit. And I enjoyed Lost up until the point I realized it wasn't going to have a coherent ending. And then I saw Prometheus and well...let's just say sometimes Lindelof is better decent; sometimes he's shitastic. I mean seriously, does Prometheus make an ounce of sense for anyone? Don't get me started.

I'm listening to the new Daft Punk album right now. And if you have iTunes, you can too.

Apparently the Costa Rican jungles do strange things to couples. Well, at least this couple.

Famous authors visualize their stories.

Ok, it's only a matter of time before we're all killed off by some super virus. As in, there are 3 strains of some crazy flu out there RIGHT NOW plotting our destruction. Take a look here and see if you've been potentially exposed. Happy Tuesday!

While I am not a math geek by any means, the idea of complex math equations/theories fascinates me. It's like unlocking a mystery (to get to more mysteries, but still). This article, about a man who may have solved the ABC Conjecture (in itself a crazy theory that I have no hope of understanding), a puzzle that has been troubling mathematicians for awhile now, is awesome in the sense that his solution wasn't even understood by mathematicians. And he of course simply posted them on the Internet and walked away. Basically he said, as many kids on the playground do, "I'm sorry you're not smart enough to understand me."

Cool Shit 2/13

Whoa. Dan Harmon, the creator of Community, is a complete whack job. And that is completely awesome.

Wired asked some fairly famous fans of the Star Wars movies what makes a good Star Wars movie. Here are their answers. Also, if you enjoyed that, you might enjoy this complete breakdown of the battle on Hoth, and how stupid the rebel forces were.

I'm not sure I can get behind Chicken & Waffles or Cheesy Garlic bread flavors, but sign me up for Sriacha flavored potato chips!

Trailer for the movie Computer Chess - a faux documentary (I think) about people in the 70s developing the first artificial intelligence to beat a chess grandmaster. I think. Actually, just read this if you're interested.



Dirty pool or capitalism at its apex? The war between big brewery and micro craft beers in the shopping sphere.

And finally, a look at a cover of a song - but you're going to have to work with me a little bit here. So please, don't skip to the second one - (re)acquaint yourself with the original song first. It gives much needed context...

David Bowie's song Sound and Vision, from the album Low is a nice little song, with a rather difficult arrangement. You can take a listen here:



But that of course would never stop Beck from attempting to perform it live...with a full orchestra and choir. Take a listen to that right here (and I know it's over 9 minutes long, but try to stay to the end - it's worth it):



(Mildly related: I now am on a quest to get that awesome jacket Beck is wearing)

Cool Shit 1/28

A list of the top 30 beer can designs.

There are such beautiful, deadly extremes when firefighters battle a fire in sub zero temperatures.

Porn has changed so much in the last 20 years. So very much.

There is going to be a lot of talk about JJ Abrams and Star Wars in the next few years. Here are 14 things we might be able to expect about the pairing.

Sundance 2013 comes to a close, so here's a good roundup of what is worth seeing from it, and what isn't.

Catapult Fridge...Not What You Think

When I first read "catapult fridge," I got giddy, and envisioned a group of college kids building and then executing an awesome weapon of destruction launching a fridge 400 yards through the air.

This is not that.

It's still impressive. Kinda. I do enjoy the end slide, suggesting people might want to contact him "for more information." More information about what?

Successful Launch with Catch 2 from Ross Wehner on Vimeo.

An Ode to the High Life

You hipsters can have your PBR; you yuppies can have your craft brews. When it comes to beer for me, there isn't much better than a cold High Life.

It is the champagne of beers, after all.

Slightly related...Errol Morris is a genius (he directed these commercials)...

Links of Interest 12/1

Talking food and celebrating the CIA. Not that CIA.

When it comes to politics, there have always been fundamentalists, and crazy people, and stories like this. It’s just now, with the Internet, not only can more people hear about it, more people with like minded values can get together. Good or bad?

Trying to survive without supermarkets in the modern age. Obviously tough, but apparently doable.

Are these you favorite movie performances from the past decade?

LFTR PLLR, the band that Star Trek 3’ed The Hold Steady is reissuing it’s previously difficult to find catalog.

Office pranks!

World’s strongest beer has recently been brewed. I just linked for the beer’s name. Also for the brewers’ response when one of their other higher alcohol beer’s was allaegedly banned in Tokyo.

Tacos exploding in slow motion. There’s really nothing else to say.

Party crashers. In honor of that stupid couple that did it to the president. Can’t we just charge them for trespassing and not give them the media attention they did this for in the first place?

The real story of cracking the Enigma code. No, it did not involve Kate Winslet.

The Good...the Bad...the Beautiful #11

THE GOOD:



Wow. What better way to sell malt liquor than to invoke a minstrel show? I have no idea what's going on here, but I do love Schlitz. And is having a bull smash through plate glass considered animal cruelty? I'm guessing it wasn't in the 70s, when I assume this was conceived, produced, picketed and pulled off the air.

See the bad and beautiful on the flip side...


THE BAD:



No idea what happened here, I just wanted to point out the idiot drivers still speeding along after a hole opens up and spurts geysers of water in their path. It was good to see that lone figure run to safety though.

THE BEAUTIFUL:



This ad campaign is getting slaughtered, and I'm sorry, but I think it's brilliant. Sure, Seinfeld is a little overexposed, and probably a little stale, but I think he's playing into that. And Gates is having fun with it, which is exactly what he needs to do. Will it destroy Apple? No, but there's no snark to it, something that the Apple campaign has been accused of. If they keep it up, and don't mess around with the original vision, I bet it works. But if it gets watered down, forget it.