Author: Chad
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It’s a me, Super Mario on N64
Recently my father-in-law unearthed my wife’s old Nintendo 64 console, which was accompanied by the Super Mario cartridge. I was skeptical it would still work after all these years, but we plugged it in and it fired up like a charm. I didn’t have video game consoles at home growing up, so my exposure to…
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Media of the moment
An ongoing series Reality. Riveting recreation of the arrest of whistleblower Reality Winner, played by Sydney Sweeney. This was my first encounter of Sweeney and was thoroughly impressed. Just released on (HBO) Max. Queer Eye season 7. A quality hang as usual. Ted Lasso season 3. Hard to top season 1 but have enjoyed watching…
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Links of the moment
An ongoing series A museum of vintage gas station memorabilia. Fascinating look behind the scenes of celebrity ghostwriting. How the U.S. almost became a nation of hippo ranchers. Shoutout to Hvaldimir, the beluga whale that’s also a Russian spy.
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How ‘Hairspray’ and ‘Once’ made me love musicals
Originally published at Cinema Sugar Josh, you’re in a musical. That’s how musicals work. When you’re too emotional to talk, you sing. When you’re too emotional to sing, you dance.” — Melissa, Schmigadoon I went through a phase as an adolescent when I didn’t get musicals. Not only that: I actively resented them. They’re cheesy…
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Recent Views
More photography here and on my Instagram. Spotted these two lights reflecting off the Whole Foods cafe counter, the rainbow from outside and the fluorescent light from above: Investigating a hail storm from our porch: Tunnel vision at the children’s museum: It’s a shame our neighbors live in a bubble: Baseball diamond? Nah—giant sandbox:
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Burning the midnight typewriter oil
Got these cool artifacts from my dad’s friend, whose late mother kept them with her ancient typewriter for lord knows how long. Perhaps a member of the Typosphere can help with dating them, and explaining the “FR 25” on the oil can?
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Seagulls patrol the shoreline
A poem ⁂ Seagulls patrol the shoreline, murmurating against the gusts and peeking down for fish beneath the surf. We patrol for rocks in the sand and swoop down for skipping stonesthat soon will join the fish.
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Links of the moment
An ongoing series The sound of a dialup modem, visualized. Turning broken plates into art. Drawing the cozy web. CGP Grey hilariously grades all 50 U.S. state flags.
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Au Revoir to Aaron Rodgers
With Aaron Rodgers now officially traded to the Jets, I felt compelled to commemorate the end of his era in Green Bay—something I did for his predecessor. It feels impossible to fully honor Rodgers’ on-the-field legacy given his endless highlights and memorable moments over the last 15 years. But I’m with Mike Spofford at Packers.com,…
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On the passage of bathtime
There’s a quote I discovered floating around Instagram Reels that people use as narration for clips of their little kids: You have little kids for four years. And if you miss it, it’s done. That’s it. So, you gotta know that. Lots of things in life you don’t get to do more than once. That…
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The Church of ‘Bull Durham’
Really enjoyed reading Ron Shelton’s The Church of Baseball: The Making of Bull Durham, which I followed up with a rewatch of Bull Durham. He has such a wry, matter-of-fact style and perspective on his careers, most notably minor-league baseball player and movie writer-director. Some quotes… On being an athlete with intellectual curiosities: Around this…
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Lifeblood of reading
Alan Jacobs gets to the crux of the ongoing Hachette v. Internet Archive lawsuit, which pits publishers against libraries in the quest to determine who has the right to distribute digital books: Whatever forces are arrayed against libraries are also arrayed against readers. But publishing conglomerates don’t care about readers; they only care about customers.…
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Holy book bans
Perhaps unsurprisingly, I’m against book bans of all kinds. They’re the literary version of the Streisand Effect, not to mention small-minded and fascistic. And yet, I also can’t get enough of people petitioning to ban the Bible based on the same criteria used for other books, most recently in Utah for example. It’s both A+…
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On the aesthetic mindset
I enjoyed the recent Armchair Expert conversation with Susan Magsamen and Ivy Ross—the authors of Your Brain on Art: How the Arts Transform Us—about how the arts affect our brains and well being. At one point they talk about having an aesthetic mindset, which isn’t some kind of highfalutin theory but instead just the concept…
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Links of the moment
An ongoing series An awesome “yeah” musical montage. Start using more weird emojis. And non-standard punctuation marks.
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RIP Marcus Theaters policy trailer
You know the part of movie theater previews when they show what’s basically an in-house ad for the host theater chain, along with housekeeping items like silence your phone, no talking, etc.? I’ve learned these are called policy trailers and that many of them are available online. I was curious if I’d be able to…
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Recent Views
More photography here and on my Instagram. My wife and son heart-bombed my car for Valentine’s Day while I was at work: I’ve never tasted or seen Romanesco broccoli but it looks super cool: He’s been using his new training-wheels bike a lot: Some colorful stairs in Woodstock, Illinois: Our friends built a mini sledding…