Month: April 2020

1. The most legendary episode of oddball late-nighter The Chris Gethard Show is free to view on YouTube and it is a WILD ride. Feat. Paul Scheer and Jason Mantzoukas, who are tasked with guessing what is in a dumpster. If you know, don’t spoil it! https://youtu.be/Nwi_kE0gy94

2. Museum curators dug through their cupboards for the creepiest things they could find. The Grauniad has an overview, or check #CreepiestObject on Twitter https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2020/apr/20/museums-hold-twitter-showdown-to-find-worlds-creepiest-object

3. Is the lockdown doing too much damage to the economy? It’s unpleasant to put a price on human life, but you have to answer this somehow. This fascinating piece talks about using acceptable risk instead. (Via Trond) http://timharford.com/2020/04/how-do-we-value-a-statistical-life/

4. A close reading of a British children’s book to explore all the WWII-era material culture in the illustrations. Lovely. (Via @knhannah) https://twitter.com/GabeMoshenska/status/1252241207377494018?s=20

5. The Michael Jordan documentary series on Netflix is amazing (I am just the right age for it too) but also FIBA, sensing a moment, has dropped an hourlong doc on the history of the Basketball World Cup https://youtu.be/I0hJ4QC5Fpc

6. There’s a lot of lockdown podcasts out there, but this one is special: Ken Jeong and Joel McHale talking Community, coronavirus, & moar! (Also on youtube!) https://linktr.ee/kenjeong

7. And if you’ve been binging Community, don’t forget the mini-episodes! The three eps that take place inside 90-second study breaks are absolutely masterful and very funny. Find ‘em all here: https://community-sitcom.fandom.com/wiki/Community_webisodes

8. Neil, Liam and Elroy Finn are playing together in lockdown. Here’s Better Be Home Soon. Sweet on the ear. https://youtu.be/0FS9vBf6i5g

9. If you miss gone-too-soon cruelly-taken more-than-just-a-sports-website Deadspin, you should definitely check out https://unnamedtemporarysportsblog.com featuring some very familiar writers. It’s funny.

10. Dylan Horrocks has been interviewing NZ cartoonists by video call, starting with Toby Morris, whose coronavirus guidance cartoons have gone global: https://youtu.be/vTlFHdtsK40 (Sarah Laing is next, so watch that too)

11. Learn wildly more than you ever needed to know about the origins of 420. https://www.theringer.com/2017/4/20/16039178/battle-over-420-san-rafael-waldos-bebes-4b755faa94a1

12. And finally, if you, like me, found Leah McFall’s columns were always a delicious treat, then you, like me, will be delighted to learn about her new saga imagining Harry & Meghan on lockdown in, er, Karori. https://karoriconfidential.com

1. Lovely friendo David Cormack has spent the last few years as a columnist for the Herald, representing “the entire left side of politics”. He, with many others, was shed by the paper as it tries to cope with events. Now Cormack has jumped on Patreon, and you can get his funny & smart reckons for spare change: https://www.patreon.com/davidcormack

2. MAD magazine’s film parodies were essential culture for decades, and Mort Drucker’s instantly recognisable art was a huge part of their success. The WaPo gave him a great obit: https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/mort-drucker-artist-who-drew-humor-from-life-in-mad-magazine-dies-at-91/2020/04/09/e1a1dda0-7a6a-11ea-a130-df573469f094_story.html

3. The Comics Journal goes deep into Drucker’s art style, using his Invasion of the Body Snatchers parody as a starting point. I loved this. He was a huge part of my childhood. (Before home video, you’d relive films by reading the MAD parodies…) http://www.tcj.com/carnival-knowledge-on-mort-drucker/

4. Curt Smith of Tears for Fears plays Mad World with his daughter Diva. Gave me chills.
https://youtu.be/NEpfvTdR5-U

5. The last paragraphs of this Ray Bradbury interview are getting shared around for good reason – they are majestic. But the whole thing, an interview from the late 70s and the early 10s, is excellent. https://www.theparisreview.org/interviews/6012/the-art-of-fiction-no-203-ray-bradbury

6. Which is a good excuse to link to Rachel Bloom’s extremely horny and not works-safe song about lusting after Ray Bradbury. This 2010 clip was instrumental in getting Crazy Ex-Girlfriend made. Bradbury, then 90, liked it. https://youtu.be/ZG38VcjE770

7. Adam Schlesinger, taken much too young by COVID, was best known for cheeseball (& horny) chart-topper Stacy’s Mom, but he was also the secret songwriting weapon behind Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. Rolling Stone gives the whole picture. https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/adam-schlesinger-life-death-obituary-981333/amp/

8. This has been shared all over the place because sax man is just that iconic: The True Story of The Lost Boys’ Sax Man https://www.gizmodo.com.au/2020/04/the-true-story-of-the-lost-boys-sax-man/

9. In the last few years there has been a surge in Pākehā learning te reo Māori, signalling a deep transformation in how New Zealanders see the language. But this interest brings with it many new concerns, writes Dr Rawiri Taonui: https://www.waateanews.com/waateanews/x_news/MjQxMzY/Opinion/Dr-Rawiri-Taonui-%7C-Pakeha-Re-colonisation-of-Te-Reo-Maori

10. Another notable death this week was mathematician John Horton. This Guardian longread about him (dating from a few years back) is absolutely fascinating. (Via Trond) https://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/jul/23/john-horton-conway-the-most-charismatic-mathematician-in-the-world

11. Lea Thompson sharing this stay-home message makes it 1.21 gigawatts more compelling https://twitter.com/LeaKThompson/status/1248399737927024641

12. This did the rounds just pre-pandemic, but if you missed it, this episode of podcast Reply All about a man who tries to reconstruct a song he remembers from his youth – a song no-one else can recall – is surely one of the best podcast episodes of all time. (Via Kirsty @eliterate) https://gimletmedia.com/shows/reply-all/o2h8bx

13. Bloopers from old Hollywood are, it turns out, tremendous fun https://twitter.com/lumi_1984/status/1249451641457324032?s=20

14. And finally, the opening credits to Twin Peaks, but made entirely out of paper https://youtu.be/lTkDlfuhlVA

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1. Despite what you’ve read in Cosmpolitan, the g-spot isn’t real, says… Cosmopolitan. (This yarn is a bit funny and very thoughtful.) https://www.cosmopolitan.com/interactive/a32037401/g-spot-not-real/

2. Steve Braunias reviews iconic now-wave journo Mad Chapman’s book about Jacinda Ardern. You’ll walk away knowing more about Ardern, and Chapman, and Braunias, and be entertained to boot. https://www.newsroom.co.nz/2020/04/09/1121751/book-of-the-week-madeleine-chapman-on-jacinda-ardern

3. Auckland’s Academy Cinema now has a streaming offer. Parasite! Portrait of a Lady on Fire! More! This is the STUFF, enzed https://ondemand.academycinemas.co.nz

4. Freebie: D&D is dropping a bunch of free stuff this week, including the entirety of the D&D Starter Set. Nice one, Wizards! https://dnd.wizards.com/remote/freematerial

5. Vox has a “games beyond Dungeons & Dragons” piece up that is really great. For The Queen is just the start of it. https://www.vox.com/culture/2020/4/3/21191762/tabletop-rpgs-guide-how-to-role-playing-games-dnd-dungeons-and-dragons-online

6. This NYT article on tiny living robots made from frog cells and programmed to self-destruct is kind of mind-blowing https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/03/science/xenobots-robots-frogs-xenopus.html

7. Freebie: Big Finish is releasing a free Doctor Who audio adventure every Monday, and the first one (available now) features the amazing John Hurt returning to the role of the Doctor: https://www.radiotimes.com/news/radio/2020-04-06/doctor-who-big-finish-free/

8. At the Spinoff, Sam Brooks provides a very convincing guide to the Studio Ghibli movies now on Netflix, and when to introduce them to your kids https://thespinoff.co.nz/tv/05-04-2020/the-films-of-studio-ghibli-and-when-to-show-them-to-your-kids/

9. Dalek relaxation tape: https://youtu.be/e59guruVL4o

10. A directory of (mostly food/drink-related) NZ businesses delivering during lockdown https://delivereat.co.nz

11. The stupendous meta-sitcom Community is now on Netflix, and the Independent has an oral history of its wildly unlikely behind-the-scenes sagas: https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/features/community-netflix-six-seasons-cast-interviews-dan-harmon-joel-mchale-alison-brie-a9437721.html

12. Elaine Paige challenged musical improvisers Showstoppers to create a quarantine-themed song in the style of West Side Story in just 24 hours. See how they did: https://youtu.be/F-Iv93Aem_M

13. And finally, via Andrew M: Libertarian Wins Debate With Imaginary Girlfriend https://thehardtimes.net/culture/libertarian-wins-debate-imaginary-girlfriend/