Snyder, Koons, Pi, Finale, Snowboard
The Snyder Cut And The Power Of Fandoms
The Royal Ocean Film Society | YouTube | 24th March 2021
This year, Zack Snyder fans pressured Warner Bros. into releasing the "Director's Cut" of Justice League. Is this anything new? After Conan Doyle killed off Holmes in 1893, a similar fan outrage grew so deafening that he reluctantly resurrected the detective. "If anything, WB releasing the Snyder Cut is just par for the course; what's different is that the volume has now been dialed up to eleven" (13m 14s)
I Hate Jeff Koons (And You Should Too)
Downhill Media | YouTube | 19th March 2021
Droll takedown of one of the world's most controversial artists. Koons describes one of his works—a blue sphere on a mailbox—as being "about obsolescence; mortality; everything turns to dust; it brings us into contact with our own mortality." But somehow "his works never seem to speak on their own; he speaks for them." And what's worse, many are arguably plagiarized (23m 22s)
The Discovery That Transformed Pi
Veritasium | YouTube | 16th March 2021
How Isaac Newton "speed-ran" Pi. Before he came along, mathematicians were computing its digits by laboriously dividing many-sided polygons, yielding pathetic double-digit results. Newton thought to "break" the Binomial Theorem by plugging in a negative number, which led him to an exponentially more efficient method of calculating Pi. A mathematical epiphany (18m 39s)
Forms Of Finality
Casey McCormick | Vimeo | 5th October 2017
Wistful collage of the finales of various shows, plucked from all across TV history. When juxtaposed, certain patterns emerge: "aerial shots pull us out of the story world," "group hugs embody fan attachment," and "empty rooms make space for nostalgia." (Needless to say, massive spoiler warning for many famous TV shows) (6m 23s)
Fun Video Of The Week
Zippy 70s-inspired short about the search for a mysterious Japanese island
Browser Video Of The Week: Agnes Callard On Privacy
Browser Conversation with Agnes Callard, Professor of Philosophy at the University of Chicago. The desire for privacy is "a desire not to justify oneself," and to avoid judgement "even if I deserve judgement because what I'm doing sucks." But "Socrates was a guy who walked up to people and said justify yourself. I'm going to make your soul healthy. That's how I think people ought to live" (3m 15s)
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