EPISODE 215: LINKED IN

POP CULTURE SPIRIT WOW

When I started this newsletter, I added a new bookmark folder to my internet browser. And anytime I read something I think you all might like, I add it to the folder and wait for the right moment to post it. The “Links” section at the end of each post comes from the things I’ve accumulated there.

For some reason (aka because I have serious issues) I spent last Saturday morning cleaning up all of my browser folders (which are many; again, issues: I am very truly the internet’s version of a hoarder). And in doing so I discovered that a wealth of cool links has built up, so much in fact that I could stop looking for stuff for the next six months and still have plenty.

But instead of doing that, I thought today I’d offer them all in one post. Consider it my belated Easter basket for you. I swear, it has way fewer calories and no hard boiled eggs, but lots of colors.

Things a Four Year Old Might Say but Adults are Currently Struggling to Answer: Why are white-skinned Europeans who move to a new country often called “expats”, but everyone else are called immigrants?

Also, does Australia really exist (a real question that some adults are actually asking)? Why are my grandparents so much more into Facebook than me? And why does every movie trailer seem to use the same sound effects?

(Answer: Because when I write “Inception” even now seven years later you just thought of the amazing horn riffs in that trailer.)

Things We Nerds Are Saying and Doing and Also Arguing About Because That’s Fun For Us: Is the current iteration of Stephen Colbert past his use-by-date? (Or, my theory, from a parallel universe?)

Could there be a secret significance to Rey’s blue lightsaber? (Beyond what we already know.)

An admission of guilt that makes me ashamed: I never even considered that the color of a Jedi's light saber might have significance.

*rends garment, cuts off own hand,

commits to spending ten years in Irish island paradise solitude*

And – hold on now, this is a real ride coming up – Could it be that Jamie Lannister is actually a Targaryen and going to ride the third dragon?

Of course we know that’s nonsense, it’s Tyrion that’s the secret Targaryen. But still, the Jamie argument...it’s pretty convincing.

(Question: Is there such a thing as a bad Game of Thrones or Star Wars theory/think piece?

Correct Answer:

What It’s Come To: McDonalds has issued new uniforms and they appear to be preparing their employees for a coming YA apocalypse (McDonald’s, we’re not loving it); the “founder of Starbucks” wonders why in God’s name everyone wants to drink unicorns.

My answer: Because it looks like it tastes like Disneyland.

Voldemort’s answer:

(Voldemort has long enjoyed an occasional piping spot of unicorn.)

I’m a little freaked out about what people are watching on Netflix; meanwhile, one writer argues that Pixar’s adorable robot Wall-E, who seems to have a much greater appreciation for Earth than we do, and in the end saves humanity from itself, is in fact the Devil. Because 2017.

But Still, The World Remains Awesome: A Nørwegian news site is using reading comprehension tests to control who can comment; Korea’s version of “Doctor Strange” is way better than ours (and so is India’s version of the Apple airbud ad); libraries in the United States have decided to offer Lego play stations for adults; and, how Japanese zoos prepare for the obvious certainty of occasional escaped zebras.

And There’s Beauty to Be Found All Around Us: Like in more recent stories of and tributes to Carrie Fisher; or virtual visits to the Sistine Chapel, which you can take right now (and are way better than the real thing, as the Sistine Chapel is mostly mobs of people taking selfies of themselves in front of a terrifying painting of the Last Judgment while guards shout at them to stop); or pictures of people jumping; or this story of a little girl at a recent comic convention who reenacted the end of Rogue One in just the sweetest way.

Lastly, For Those Who Like that Sort of Thing, That is the Sort of Thing They Like: Mystery Science Theater parodies Stranger Things; but what if “Shake It Off” was a punk song and the Foo Fighters sang Queen?; how Yoda was actually a huge risk for the Star Wars franchise.

And finally The Shining, but with more chickens.

And you thought the film was scary before.
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Saw this great quote at the end of a comic this week:

Friends help you write the fiction you want to be...by looking in your heart and seeing the truth inside. Lonely in a crowded room with the music pulsing, or above the clouds with the jet stream at your back—when the sun comes up and the sirens fade, you pick each other up...and make each other new. You start again.

And you don’t know where you’re heading. But together....you know you’ll get there fast. (Doom Patrol #6, Gerald Way)

Hang in there. We can make each other into the fiction that's waiting to get out from inside of us.