Talk Funnel

(via SketchySantas)

Happy Holidays to all.

I feel like things as they are have about as much awesomeness as they’re capable of having, and you can’t imbue awesomeness into something that actually sucks. And in its way, something that sucks full-bore sucking at me is a kind of honorable experience–it’s an honorable exchange.

Steve Albini — indie music producer interviewed on public radio’s The Sound of Young America.

This came through the mail recently. I’m not quite there yet age-wise, but still found it funny:

Advantages of approaching (or passing) your 50th birthday:

• Kidnappers are not very interested in you.
• In a hostage situation you are likely to be released first.
• No one expects you to run–anywhere.
• People call at 9 pm and ask, did I wake you?
• People no longer view you as a hypochondriac.
• There is nothing left to learn the hard way.
• Things you buy now won’t wear out.
• You can eat dinner at 4 pm.
• You can live without sex but not your glasses.
• You get into heated arguments about pension plans.
• You no longer think of speed limits as a challenge.
• You quit trying to hold your stomach in no matter who walks into the room.
• You sing along with elevator music.
• Your eyes won’t get much worse.
• Your investment in health insurance is finally beginning to pay off.
• Your joints are more accurate meteorologists than the national weather service.
• Your secrets are safe with your friends because they can’t remember them either.
• Your supply of brain cells is finally down to manageable size.
• You can’t remember who sent you this list.

Harold McGee (author of one of my favorite books, the seminal On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen) tackles the 5-second rule (of food pick-up) and whether double-dipping chips is hygienic.

The short answer? Here’s a hint:

Big fan of The Superest. It’s like watching a gunfight… in slow motion… with nerf guns… and bad jokes. So. Worth. It.

Not sure how long they can keep it going but it’s in my RSS reader (I just wish they would include the actual image and the sidenote in the feed).

Here’s a quickie.

The premise: every Friday afternoon two designers go up against each other. They volley Photoshop files back and forth in fifteen minute intervals, each trying to outdo one another and create new visual layers. You can attend live or wait and zip through the finished ten volleys.

The result: Layer Tennis. So worth it.