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No, the guy on the right
Anotónio Guterres, new Secretary-General for the UN, seems like a rad dude. This video is short and fairly light on info, but the general sense seems to be that Portugal's former PM is a forward-thinking, sympathetic guy. Important now more than ever.
I know this is novelty news at it finest, but I actually cried laughing at this, and if that doesn't make you feel good, then I don't know what to say to you.
Video here.
The sure do
I find this silly-looking (though no more than most sports) and highly dangerous-seeming (probably a lot more than other sports) sport oddly comforting, in that there are pockets of the world where such oddball rituals still take place. It feels like the potential for discovery is still there, even in 2017.
Title is a bit sniffy, and this is quite an old post (I *think*), but a pertinent reminder that our world is choc-full of wonder and delights. Some of these pics are incredible. Let's make 2017 better.
This piece is an amazing summation of EXACTLY why I started this bloglet. There are some very good things happening. Dip in and out when you're feeling blue.
Re-enactment
Come on. Look at that headline.
Look, I'll be honest; I missed a few of these due to it being Christmas and all, and I haven't even told anyone I'm doing this and literally NO ONE WILL CARE.
In the interests of catching up, we're jumping to the end of 2016. Deal with it. Garbage year anyway. OR WAS IT???
Fuck Honda, fuck Microsoft and all the other huge corporations for whom this is smaller than a tiny drop in the pond, but at least it exists, and people are doing nice things with VR. Don't feel the need to like the companies any more, but this is nice.
Wheeeee indeed
Sometimes all a retired aerospace engineer can do is build a rollercoaster for his grandkids LIKE A FUCKING CHAMP.
Best. Christmas. Ever.
"In one of the largest organised marches in the history of the world, tens of millions of Shia Muslims made an incredibly heartening statement, by risking their lives to travel through war-stricken areas to openly defy ISIS."
Only reported in The Independent here in the UK. Deserves more.
As you might imagine, she's having to deal with mountainous piles of shit that most of us could barely dream of, but her very existence is, I would say, good news.
I can't believe it either
Most Christmas adverts - despite people getting bafflingly excited for them in the UK - are fucking balls: barely concealed guilt trips or pointless saccharine explosions that mean nothing and just want you to buy tat.
This one is no different in its intent, but at least it has the decency to be good; I'm unlikely to ever use the service they're advertising, but it's a beautiful little short film - gentle, tender and funny, with slight edges in all the right places. Bravo, Poland. It's a shame this old guy will probably be denied at the border once we leave the EU for being some kind of benefits fraud here to take all the fruit picking jobs.
So fucking cool. A device that breaks the feedback loop of Parkinson's to allow a graphic designer to draw again. Bravo.
19 separate studies show that when you give poor people money, they DO NOT spend it on cigarettes and alcohol. In fact they buy LESS. Remember this next time someone tries to spin you that myth.
It true
A short run down of some of the cool tech breakthroughs in 2016.
Not much to say here. Short but sweet.
This is a super cool little invention that does what it says on the tin...and it made of paper.
"Today, the US Army Corps of Engineers announced that it will not be granting the easement to cross Lake Oahe for the proposed Dakota Access Pipeline."
Promoting hate is about the furthest thing from the aim of this blog, but when hate is directed at hate there's a kind of beautiful schadenfreude to be had. I would say this counts as a guilty pleasure.
God this guy
This is delicious. Some excellent teenage students in Sydney have synthesised 3.7 grams of pyrimethamine (with help from Sydney Uni) for a mere $20. Shkreli would have charged $110,000.
They also called the project "Breaking Good", which is a very solid pun.