Link Thread

[Nate the Great]

Tom and Jerry: Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory

Cue the TVTropes link for Flat What.

When I saw the trailer on YouTube I was gobsmacked.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, don't remake things unless you can improve them or put a new spin (not just adding comic relief characters in the background) on it. Being lazy and expecting to make a profit from it is wrong and should never be encouraged in any artistic field.

Do I feel that any insertion of pop culture figures into preexisting stories is wrong? Of course not! It just has to be done properly. The first step is actually having the pop culture figures play roles in the story, as opposed to just fooling around next to the story.

[Nate the Great]

Today's new YouTube channel is Lofty Pursuits. They're a toy store/soda fountain/candy store in Florida that uses traditional methods and antique equipment. Their videos show how the candy is made and gives a little history lesson to boot. In addition the narrator is a scifi fan, he can talk intelligently about his fandoms as he works.

Last Towel Day I linked to their Babel Fish candy video, but there's so much more.

Candy Canes
Tardis Candy
Christmas Ribbon Candy
Root Beer Mug Candy
Rose Lollipops
Pokeball Candy

[Nate the Great]

So I decided to start a marathon of Is It A Good Idea To Microwave This, only to discover that this month is the tenth anniversary of the show. If you have never seen the show, give it a try. However, I'd recommend starting in the middle somewhere and going back to the start later, as there were a few growing pains that had to be sorted out.

[NAHTMMM]

http://www.prooffreader.com/2014/05/...f-english.html

Someone plotted the distributions of letter positions in English words.

[Nate the Great]

Like everyone else I hate spam emails. But what if someone decided to strike back by playing games with the spammers to waste their time?

Enter James Veitch and his series Scamalot. Each episode is four minutes or less. You'd be surprised what happens and how long it takes some people to realize that their chains are being yanked.

[Nate the Great]

I've already shilled Matthias Wandel's LEGO Technic domino row building machine, but this time he's made an improved wooden version.

[Nate the Great]

Five different versions of the DuckTales Moon Theme synched with each other.

Not my favorite version of the song, but definitely a different experience.

[Nate the Great]

So DisneyXD posted the pilot episode of the new DuckTales on their YouTube channel...

Don't worry, it's good. Unlike some other misguided revivals of recent memory *cough, cough Teen Titans Go, Powerpuff Girls 2016, Xiaolin Chronicles, cough cough* this one is being run by people who actually care about quality.

It does rush through things a little too fast. They accomplish in two episodes what I think could've easily been extended to five if they wanted to include more substantial character and plot development.

I must admit to wishing that the posted family tree was just a little more involved. Of course the full Don Rosa-made family tree wouldn't have fit, but a few more names would've been nice.

My only real nit is that Donald didn't know that Flintheart Glomgold was an enemy of Scrooge's. Didn't Donald tag along on a bunch of adventures in the past? Even if he'd never met the guy personally, wouldn't Scrooge have mentioned his name before now?

[Flying Gremlin]

I hate it when YouTube still recognizes international borders.

[Nate the Great]

More random Star Trek Pinterest links:

Someone dressed the Mona Lisa in a TOS miniskirt uniform.

Paintings of the TOS cast in Napoleonic uniforms.

The Peanuts cast as the TNG cast.

Charlie Brown as Picard, Linus as Wesley, Franklin as Geordi, Peppermint Patty as Tasha, Pigpen as Worf, Lucy as Deanna, Little Red-Haired Girl (or Heather if you insist) as Beverly, Snoopy as Data, Woodstock as Spot, and Schroeder as Riker.

[Nate the Great]

30 Student Hacks You'd Wish You'd Known Sooner

It's amazing what you can do with binder clips and plastic bottles (among many other things you have around your house).

[Nate the Great]

The Daily Dot's list of nine Klingon episodes to watch before Discovery

TOS: Errand of Mercy, The Undiscovered Country
TNG: Heart of Glory, Sins of the Father, The Emissary, Reunion
DS9: The Way of the Warrior, The Sword of Kahless, Once More Unto the Breach
VOY: Barge of the Dead

My reaction? Ditch Heart of Glory, Sword of Kahless, and Barge of the Dead and substitute Redemption and Birthright. How about you guys?

[Flying Gremlin]

ENT: "Affliction" and "Divergence" is something that I would want to show, along with "Judgment". Probably the latter more than the other two, as it talks about how the warrior ethos has take over Klingon society and shows how the Klingons view outsiders from their perspective.

"Heart of Glory" should be included, as it was actually a more in-depth intro to anything Klingon psychologically. Everything afterwards just refines this knowledge. Agreed on the other two, though "Barge of the Dead" can be valuable due to the fact that it is Gre'thor and the Klingon value of afterlife they discuss at length...

[Nate the Great]

The list of essential Klingon episodes made me ask a similar question about Romulan episodes.

A discussion on Quorra yields Balance of Terror, the Defector, In the Pale Moonlight, The Enterprise Incident, Unification, Face of the Enemy, Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges, and The Enemy

I disagree with In The Pale Moonlight, it's not really a "Romulan episode", just an episode that has Romulans in it.

A reddit thread yields:

TOS: Balance of Terror, The Enterprise Incident
TNG: The Defector, Unification
DS9: In The Pale Moonlight, Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges (again, the Romulan culture was completely incidental in these two episodes, DS9 really didn't use the Romulans as anything other than plot devices)
VOY: Message in a Bottle (it could've been any antagonistic TNG race, the Romulans were plot devices again)

As a side not-quite-PNQ: Can you think of another way the Romulans could've been used besides as generic antagonists or "evil Vulcans"?

[Nate the Great]

This month is the 20th Anniversary of Goldeneye 64

Ugh. Even though I still have a copy of this game, it makes me feel old to stumble upon this factoid.

Did You Know Gaming covers a bit of background

Some fans create a sketch based on the premise that Goldeneye has been updated with lifelike graphics.

Speedruns courtesy of Speed Demos Archive

[NAHTMMM]

http://www.the-record-collector.com/Picture_Discs.htm
http://www.colourlovers.com/craft/bl...-vinyl-records

"Picture discs" are vinyl records that feature images on the area where the music is recorded. Wikipedia mentions:

One picture disc was even billed as a genuine "live album." Made as a demonstration for Stevie Wonder's Journey through the Secret Life of Plants, it featured a layer of blotting paper between the clear vinyl layers that contained alfalfa seeds. A tag of the blotting paper protruded below the record, and resting the disc on a glass of water with the paper in the water allowed the seeds to germinate and grow inside the record. When the prototype was taken through customs in Canada it was seized by the Department of Agriculture, making it not only the only real live album but the only record ever banned by the Department of Agriculture (alfalfa being a prohibited import).

Which is uncited, or I would have put this in the Amazing Things thread.

[Nate the Great]

A Venn diagram to tell the difference between dweebs, geeks, dorks, and nerds.

No further comment...

[Nate the Great]

Another excellent Star Trek Deviantartist: Spiritus

A very good balance of photorealism and accenting the unique features of each actor.

[Nate the Great]

This month one of the items in Ashens' mystery box lot was a set of old Yu-gi-oh cards. In the "Nostalgia Box", no less.

Original Yu-gi-oh counts as "nostalgia" now. This makes me sad.

[Nate the Great]

I've plugged for David Erick Ramos before, but this time he's done a cover in a style that's a little different:

The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks Overworld (i.e. Full Steam Ahead) on ocarina, train whistle, piano, and sax in almost a nightclub jazzy style.