Julia Child andThe French Chef... was one ofGood Eats’three main pillars,the trio of influences Brown points to as the inspiration and foundation for his show: Alongside Child—whose “anyone can cook” method is the basis of the instructional cooking show at we know it—were Mr. Wizard (the educational aspect), and Monty Python (bringing the entertainment value).
"Sleepwalk With Me" is streaming on Netflix. If you're not familiar with Mike Birbiglia, go watch that right now. Then come back and read this interview. ("My Girlfriend's Boyfriend" is on there too, and it's supposed to be good but I haven't seen it yet.)
The list of Paul Thomas Anderson movies you love is probably pretty long. When you’ve directed movies likeThe Master, There Will Be Blood, Magnolia,andBoogie Nights, you’ve earned yourself a fair amount of (deserved) attention. There is, of course, always a beginning, andCigarettes & Coffeeis just that. Shot on a borrowed camera in 1993, the 24-minute short debuted at Sundance and lead to Anderson’s feature directorial debut withHard Eight. The short focuses on five characters in a coffee shop outside of Vegas and was written with actor Philip Baker Hall in mind. You can watch Magnoliaor anotherfilm about family dysfunction later; for now keep it short and sweet (definitely, just short) withCigarettes & Coffee.[viaBlackBook]
Neville Longbottom has quite a following in the Harry Potter fandom, and for good reason—he is humble and noble, brave and kind, he’s a wonderful friend and a fierce supporter. Neville is what most Gryffindors would be like in the real world, a person capable of heroic feats under dire circumstances, but not inclined to them every waking moment. Neville understands that it’s not about being loud and brash every day, it’s about picking your battles and knowing what’s dear and worth fighting for.
What if at school you had to take an “art class” in which you were only taught how to paint a fence? What if you were never shown the paintings of Leonardo da Vinci and Picasso? Would that make you appreciate art? Would you want to learn more about it? I doubt it. You would probably say something like this: “Learning art at school was a waste of my time. If I ever need to have my fence painted, I’ll just hire people to do this for me.” Of course, this sounds ridiculous, but this is how math is taught, and so in the eyes of most of us it becomes the equivalent of watching paint dry. While the paintings of the great masters are readily available, the math of the great masters is locked away?
The problem is: while the world at large is always talking about planets, atoms, and DNA, chances are no one has ever talked to you about the fascinating ideas of modern math, such as symmetry groups, novel numerical systems in which 2 and 2 isn’t always 4, and beautiful geometric shapes like Riemann surfaces. It’s like they keep showing you a little cat and telling you that this is what a tiger looks like. But actually the tiger is an entirely different animal. I’ll show it to you in all of its splendor, and you’ll be able to appreciate its “fearful symmetry,” as William Blake eloquently said.
Bob Dylan’s “Like a Rolling Stone” is, without hyperbole, one of the best rock songs ever recorded. And this music video is, again without hyperbole, one of the most impressive I’ve seen.
The video has 16 channels—with plans for more, Mashable reports. You can toggle between them as the song progresses, and on each one, you’ll find people mouthing the words to the Dylan classic. There’s Steve Levy onSportsCenter singing along. There’s Marc Maron berating some poor podcast guest with Dylan’s lyrics. Drew Carey lip syncs on the set of The Price Is Right. And so on.
16. READ THIS The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Runner, a short story by Alan Sillitoe, tells the tale of a rebellious youth in a reformatory who runs in solitude and makes a stand against a system he doesn't believe in. You'll have new appreciation for the power of solo runs.
He’d blown the first debate. Now he was on the verge of blowing the second and risking his reelection. In an excerpt from their new book, Double Down, Mark Halperin and John Heilemann describe the moment when a president was talked away from the edge.
I ran in the Bison 50 Relay race from Topeka to Lawrence, Kansas last weekend. It was 50 miles and surprisingly not the worst thing I've ever done. Next week I'll run a half-marathon in Florida and then, well, I don't know what I'll do. Probably get re-fat on alcohol and seasonal treats for the next two months because, honestly, Thanksgiving? And then Christmas? Christmas cookies? I'm not going to eat all the Christmas cookies? Sure, let's go with that. Aim for the stars.
Last Friday in Norway, 1.3 million people watched strangers knit on television. For four hours they tuned in as people talked about knitting, and then they stuck around for eight and a half extra hours of actual knitting.
