Hello All,

The Office and its stories, Bart Simpson and How to fly in Space from this week’s interestingness.

1. This happened One Day in July. All Tennis and Cricket fans , this will liven up your day.

2. I always thought if one had to go to the moon or any planet, one just needed to aim the spacecraft at it and fly. Obviously, that’s not how physics works. This is how it actually works: Orbital mechanics in 60 seconds

3. . Bart Simpson reviews Bart Simpson's voice

4. The maker of the great Ship of Theseus (watch the trailer and the movie ) Anand Gandhi has something interesting to say.

5. Podcast: The stories of the stupid yet earnestly daring decisions behind the making of The Office and why it is the enduring timeless comedy that it is. Check out an Oral History of The Office , hosted by the very endearing Kevin Malone.

6. Austin Kleon has something to say On solitude and Something to Look Forward to.

7. 100 greatest movie lines like you have never seen before.

8. A handpicked 4-hour marathon playlist of the timeless Pink Floyd. Many not-so-popular gems in here.

9. Music: The best cover of Golden Brown ( The song that plays when Mickey from Snatch punches Gorgeous George) that I have heard. The singer, Jasmine Elise’s Soundcloud profile has many such soothing covers.

10. Books: Gold mine of a collection of favorite quotes from books.

11. Movies :

    1. Ponyo: Has to undoubtedly be the cutest Ghibli movie.

    2. Our Little Sister: A movie that celebrates simple people trying to find happiness in life.

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That’s All Folks. See you around next time.

Hello All,

The Lord of the Rings, Ennio Morricone and quick world history from this week’s interestingness.

1. One Zoom to Rule Them All. All the Lord of The Rings fans out there do not miss this one. The entire cast of The Lord of The Rings is back enacting the scenes from the movies.

2. For anyone interested in quick history lessons, explore World history through family tree charts.

3. We are miserable without people, it is almost like having them around by the wonderfully witty Manu Joseph

4. This is why sports is so important. Check this compilation of beautiful sportsmanship

5. Music :

   • 1000 musicians playing Bitter Sweet Symphony - The Verve / Rockin'1000 in unison.

   • Jolene Cover by this incredibly talented family The Petersens. Look out for Mumma Peterson rocking the bass in the background

   • This glorious mashup by Pomplamoose : Pumped Up Kicks /Radiohead

   • Just another Father-Daughter duo singing together Yes, I have Ghosts by the Legend David Gilmour and Romany Gilmour!

6. Ever wondered Why Giants are always slow in movies?

7. Music has not been as memorable as it used to be. Let’s understand why music died post 80s or maybe late 90s.

8. Costumed drummer goes crazy with the drums at a children’s music concert.

9. The Simpsons is the gold standard for pop cultural references and prediction. In other words, there is a Simpsons meme for any life situation. How about having access to all of that in one place.

10. RIP Ennio Morricone. The man who made the most heroic tunes ever!

11. Schitt’s Creek has been a revelation to me. Mostly for poking fun at Gen-Z so mercifully. The star of the show is Moira Rose and her outrageous vocabulary. Here’s a compilation of Moira and her words

12. Movies/ TV shows :

    • The Plague Dogs : An animated adaptation of Richard Adams' novel, about a pair of dogs who escape from a research laboratory and try to survive in the wild with the help of a cunning fox

    • Napolean Dynamite . Remember the meme “ I guess you can say, things are getting pretty serious “ it is from this movie.

    • Arrested Development.

    • It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.

    • Simpsons from 1989 onwards.

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    That’s All Folks. See you around next time.

Hello All,

The prediction of Youtube, AI bots who can cry and bygone era of charm from this week’s interestingness.

1. Jamie Oliver’s most delicious Chicken and Mushroom Soup.

2. David Lynch talks about where ideas come from.

3. Predicting YouTube in 1980, describing a spacewalk in 1952, describing pocket computers in detail in 1950 and other Asimov things. Also, such dignified old world charm ( more on that in the movies section below ). When did talk shows shift from this to knowing mundane details of some insignificant actor’s diet plans?

4. Westworld S2 Ep 8 Kiksuya is probably the best episode of any TV series I have watched in a while. The depth of story/ plot, cinematography, music, and acting is superlative in this episode. Also, the whole episode is in a Native American language called Lakota :

   Excerpt from a review I read about the episode:-

   "With the best stories, sometimes there is very little to say by way of analysis. There might be nothing to decode, nor hints to speculate about. One full of loss, purpose, kindness, and yearning freedom. And so culminates another beautiful episode — my favorite of the series so far — about the weapon of memory, the refusal to stay in our lanes, and the peaceful gathering to bring people into a better world."

   Ramin Djawadi’s brilliant cover of Nirvana’s Heart-Shaped Box perfectly peaks at the definitive moment in the episode when the AI bot sheds a tear ( no spoilers )

5. Picture-based reference guides for anything and everything. It is difficult to explain this without a picture :)

6. . TV :

   • History 101 on Netflix: 20-25 mins of information-packed episodes on various topics.

   • Space Force It is such a joy to watch Steve Carell and Malkovich in the same frame trying to put boots on the Moon.

7. Music : Ludovico Einaudi plays 12 Songs From Home. How does this man barely even touch the piano and create such music?

8. . I have always wanted to read more and have gloriously failed at it. Sometime last year onwards that has changed a tiny bit. My current daily reading comprises of Cosmos, Lord of The Rings: The Two Towers and 20 years of Dilbert ( Scott Adams’s comments after every strip makes this version truly a collector’s edition )

9. Movies :

   • Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf watch this for vicious old world charm

   • Castle In the Sky

   • My Neighbours The Yamadas (From the Director of Grave of the Fireflies, Only Yesterday and Princess Kaguya). I am utterly in love with this not at all Ghibli-like animation style

10. YouTube algorithm springs up such gems at times. Say hello to the human-computer ( watch from around the 15th minute onwards if you like to skip to the magic bit ). Once again why is everyone so polite and dignified in this video/ TV program? When and why did we lose that?

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That’s All Folks. See you around next time.

Hello All,

Bats, Bugs Bunny, and Baking powder from this week’s interestingness.

1. Have you wondered why viruses often come from bats? Spoiler Alert: They are not the bad guys.

2. Photography :

   • Check Sasikumar Ramachandran for some fascinating street photography, infinitely clever juxtapositions, and how he learns to see from paintings.

   • Swapan Parekh’s superlative body of work from the 80s onwards How does someone weave documentary into fashion so seamlessly.

3. Now, I finally know the difference between Baking soda and baking powder.

4. Are there any Nilkamal chair haters here? Presenting the legendary Monobloc.

5. Movie /TV :

   • Only Yesterday ( 1991 / Studio Ghibli )

     A lesser-known masterpiece from the legendary Studio Ghibli ( which I am invariably talking about every week ). Here’s a small excerpt from a review of Only Yesterday I read on IMDB
     ”It's often the little things, that seem of no importance to adults, that mold a child, shape its personality. The "small killings" so to speak. Events no one notices and no one readily remembers, but no one really forgets either. And when you remember them, they hurt in a way that you find unreasonable.”

     This captures the essence of the movie so well. A must watch.

   • The sounds of Curb Your Enthusiasm. My favorite is Piccolo Dingo at 8:34

6. Re-live the Magic of The Office. The ever so loveable John Krasinksi assembles the Office Avengers in this episode of Some Good News. Skip to 7-ish and 14-ish minute for the goodness.

7. Look at ISS casually transiting the moon. More such Glorious photographs of the Universe from Andrew McArthy’s backyard.

8. Music :

   • Parcels live

   • The Struts: Jumpin Jack Flash

   • Joe Hisaishi: One Summer’s Day

9. The Immersive realism of Ghibli and why someone running in Ghibli films looks and feels more relatable than what anyone else has ever created.

10. How Bug’s Bunny brought Mel Blanc ( the man of 1000 voices ) back from the dead. If Sound is your cup of tea, 20k hertz is a must-listen podcast.

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    That’s All Folks. See you around next time.

---

Hello All,

Here are a few things that I thought were worth sharing this week:

1. For all the Studio Ghibli fans out there, who love the kind, gentle demeanor and tribute to nature. The Philosophy of Miyazaki. Almost all of Studio Ghibli movies are on Netflix India now.

2. Though I have to admit, as much as I wanted to love Frank Herbert’s classic, Dune, I couldn’t. But, I stumbled upon these fine series of videos Ted-Ed makes on “Why you should read”. Beautifully animated illustrations that capture the emotions of a book visually. Maybe Dennis Villeneuve will make me re-evaluate Dune when his movie releases later this year ( hopefully ).
   

3. Just in case you are ever trapped in quicksand. Just one of those things one finds when they spend too much time on Reddit. But, hey, why not?
   

4. Just 4 women driving in reverse at top speed or at least the equivalent of that while paying a tribute to Vivaldi and Mozart. These women have a history of violins.
   

   The Tracks in the video :

   Vivaldi 'Four seasons' - Presto from summer

   Mozart - The Piano Sonata No 16 in C major

5. If you do not like Electronic music then you must check this out. An interesting approach to discovering new music.

6. The video begins with a disclaimer that it is distressing content, it should have said “Uplifting Content” instead. Check out how Anna Coleman Ladd, a talented sculptor gave badly wounded World War I soldiers a second chance by giving them a new face.

7. To me, Meera’s writing is like Miyazaki meeting Mira Nair. If you like tender articulation of good old Indian middle-class nostalgia of a simpler world. Then, spare some time and go read this beautiful story by Meera Ganapathi. I read the story to the sounds of my “discover weekly” playlist on Spotify and it seemed to fit the words seamlessly.

8. TV: After Life by Ricky Gervais: How does one find the sweet spot between obnoxious dark humor and sensitivity? Ricky Gervais in his masterpiece does that in all departments ( Writing, Directing, and Acting ). Do not miss this one.

9. Music:

   • Every 1’s a Winner by Hot Chocolate. I discovered this while watching the delightfully written Frances Ha by Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach. In fact, just watch anything with those two in it. Nerdwriter analyses the dialogue writing skills of Noah Baumbach.

   • Lay me down by Crosby & Nash: I have been a huge fan of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young for a long while. Their harmonious singing is on another level for me. This song is a fine example of that. I hope you have good speakers/headphones. Turn the volume up and listen.

   • Pink Floyd: Pulse Restored and Re-Edited. : Nothing more needs to be said about the power of Pink Floyd. They were way ahead of their time back in 1995 when this concert aired. Now, in 2020, they still put everyone else to shame.

   • Crowd sings Bohemian Rhapsody while waiting for Greenday to arrive. This has to be the clearest recording of the crowd at a concert ever.

10. Movies: The Handmaiden ( Korean ) Directed by Chan-wook Park. Imagine a Hitchcock meets Oldboy! Dark humour, sexual desire, social commentary, and revenge are all woven together by absolutely stunning production and visuals.

Thank you for reading.

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