internet explorers club | spoiler alert: it's 2016
All right! It is now 2016, and we’re back. I’ve built up a collection of links that you can make your way through as you enjoy the holiday / weekend. Enjoy!
First off, I am just in love with Gudetama, Sanrio’s new character, who is just an incredibly lazy egg (I can relate). Watch here:
For your reading pleasure:
One of my favorite recent articles is this one by Jess Zimmerman, on what American kids thought Turkish Delight tasted like (and whether or not, like Edmund in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, we would have sold out our families for it).
As type-obsessed as I am, I rarely think of non-roman characters, so I’ve been fascinated by two articles recently, both on the difficulties inherent with creating typefaces for both Arabic and Chinese.
An quick look into when we began to fold pizza—it goes back further than you’d think!
A long look, ostensibly about a new exhibit on Hellenistic bronzes that’s traveling around the country, but in fact delves deep into the history of said bronzes, how difficult it is to determine their provenance, and what it can (and can’t) tell us about Hellenistic society.
I loved Pilot Virulet’s article on binge watching as personal therapy. It’s a really honest piece about how TV can be a retreat when we need to pull back from the world. I love Pilot’s writing in general, but this piece resonated with me pretty deeply.
Speaking of television, my new favorite Twitter is @BatLabels, which posts pictures of everything that has label in the 1960s Batman TV series:
Also, a new Star Wars movie came out, I guess? JUST KIDDING FRIENDS I was lined up at 2PM for a 7:30PM show on opening night! Don't worry: this letter is a SPOILER-FREE ZONE for now.
Check out the people that did every calculation possible about Force use in the 6 Star Wars films, and as we are still technically within the 12 Days of Christmas, please enjoy my new favorite yule log, which is a 10 hour loop of Darth Vader’s funeral pyre.
OF COURSE there is more Hamilton to read about. Leslie Odom, Jr. (Aaron Burr) visits the dueling grounds at Weehawken. Javier Muñoz (standby for Alexander Hamilton) talks about what it’s like to play that role. Alex Lacamoire, the music director, discusses the details of the music. Finally, a delightful interview with Lin-Manuel Miranda, Daveed Diggs (Lafayette / Jefferson), and Jonathan Groff (George III) about what it’s like to be in the show, to see your idols come to watch you perform, and more.
Still in a Hamilton mood? Please head to the V&A’s Design a Wig, which allows you to create your own towering 18th century wig. (n.b. my first draft I absolutely typed Design a Whig, which is an entirely different type of game)
Etcetera: Meet Hevisaurus, the Finnish dinosaur (!) metal band (!) for children. Also meet: the artist behind the Animorphs covers (!) and it’s actually a lovely little peek into that slice of my childhood.
