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.

If you are seeing this newsletter for the first time, you can subscribe here.

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.

    If you are seeing this newsletter for the first time, you can subscribe here.

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

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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.

If you are seeing this newsletter for the first time, you can subscribe here.

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Hello All,

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

1. Näusicaa of the Valley of the Wind : How is Studio Ghibli always ahead of its time. To have created this in 1984. Current times making it more relevant than ever.
2. The Farewell . So many idiosyncrasies so close to home. Beautiful movie.
3. Revisited Iron Maiden thanks to this scene from S10 Ep11 of The Walking Dead. Perfect time to revisit TWD incase you had stopped watching after season 7. The song When The Wild Wind Blows is a tribute to the 1985 movie ( of the same name ). An elderly couple preparing for the inevitable nuclear attack. Find it, watch it.
4. Heston Blumenthal ‘s Chicken Roast is probably not a feasible idea. But, thanks to the said roast we have this goldmine of YouTube comments . P.S : There is a part 2 to this! Good God!
5. If only Calculus was taught like this in school.
6. Once this Coronavirus vanishes I really hope to visit Turkey and eat all of this! Trevor James you evil man!
7. Never had I ever dreamt that someday I would spend hours watching marbles race.
8. Also, thanks to Bong Eats , this week I made my first ever Roti. Now, all my orphaned side dishes will find a home :)

9. Songs from this week :

• Drug You by Half Moon Run

• True Faith by New Order

• Super Trouper by ABBA

10. Larry David being right as always . “You’re hurting old people like me. Well, not me... I’ll never see you.”

Thank you for reading.

If you are seeing this newsletter for the first time, you can subscribe here .