Another week of online stuff collected together. I tried to dial back the Covid focus a bit this week, because the news has been alternating between “depressing” and “enraging,” and I’m trying to get out of those modes. It’s also been a slightly rocky week, health-wise, for the extended Chateau Steelypips family— nothing pandemic-related, just kind of a disruptive bummer. About which more later, maybe.
Me on Substack:
— Notes Toward an Imaginary Class on Cartoon Physics: A thread about “cartoon physics” tropes led me to think about ways to use them to introduce real physics, because that’s a thing I do.
—Pandemic Statistics for Dummies: The one Covid-related post of the week, about the two pretty minimal stats things that are useful to know when reading stories about the pandemic.
— Re-Reading Dune: I’ve reached an age where I can say “I last read that 40 years ago” and not be talking about a board book.
—On Baseball: Some personal reflections about watching baseball as a kid, in grad school, and now with The Pip, who’s gotten really into the game.
Me Elsewhere:
— Book Review: A Brief History of Earth: Over at Forbes, a review of a book that packs a grand sweep of geology into a small format, without talking down to the reader.
Links Dump:
—The Simone Biles Culture War Traveled Faster Than The News: Charlie Warzel on the sports story of the week. I basically agree with this, though I’d shade it a little differently. I’m not sure the problem is Twitter algorithms, so much as the need for a maximalist take on every thing that happens, even though most of them are not, in fact, momentous.
—Everything Gawker Existed to Satirize Has Been Destroyed: Freddie de Boer has a lot of issues, but he’s also genuinely talented as an over-the-top polemicist, and this is an entertaining example.
—To Slightly Reduce How Much the Internet Sucks, Use Positive Reinforcement: He also does earnest pretty well, and this is a really good explanation of the tension writers face in the modern click-driven ecosystem.
—The Photo: Spotted on the Street: Timothy Burke with some nice reflection on the awkwardness of photographing people in public. This is something I think about a fair bit when I do my photo hikes, particularly when I go out in a built-up environment. I’d like to get better at taking photos of people, but it’s super awkward with anyone but my kids.
Pseudo-Random Photo of the Week:
Speaking of photo hikes, this is a shot from last week’s trip across the border to Monument Mountain park in MA. A pretty steep climb, but some great views.
Pseudo-Random Song of the Week:
Shuffle play served this up multiple times this week, and it slaps (as I say when I want to make my kids theatrically cringe at me using young-person slang).
So, yeah, that’s some stuff. Here are the traditional buttons to click if you’re so moved:
And if you feel moved to remark on any of this, the comments will be open.