DRDB! 11: 🎵 You Said Go to Bread 🎵
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D A N K M U S makes original music and videos out of Simpsons episodes. I love each and every song.
This is different from Simpsonwave, where original vaporwave tracks are given new videos based on edited Simpsons footage and retro VHS aesthetics. The cultural saturation of the Simpsons is so complete that it’s the foundation of unique genres of remix content. SpongeBob memes might someday be competitive! Or by then the Simpsons will have its own Pride & Prejudice & Zombies-type spinoff series.
Happy Valentine’s Day, friends. I am spending mine with my beloved Internet Content. Text your loved ones a JPG of some flowers.
The Battle Over Teaching Chicago’s Schools About Police Torture and Reparations (Longreads)
There’s so much here, and it’s all important. Chicago City Council Resolution SR2015-256 mandates that public schools teach a history lesson about the systematic torture committed by Chicago police commander Jon Burge and the “Midnight Crew” between 1972 and 1991, along with providing the victims compensation and support. This article follows how one classroom responded to this lesson, how this resolution came to be, and how different schools/communities reacted to the curriculum (spoiler alert: some affluent white parents were not fans). Imagine if every American public school were forced to teach the history of Guantanamo Bay and the War on Terror.If San Francisco is so great, why is everyone I love leaving? (Curbed SF)
“Leaving the Bay Area is the best thing you can do right now, if you have a dream.”There’s now an official Green New Deal. Here’s what’s in it. (Vox)
Please for the love of God vote for people who support this. Otherwise, when we’re in our old age and living in a climate refugee camp somewhere near Canada, I’m going to steal all your food. “By a stunning 30-point margin, millennials support the world as we know it not being destroyed due to the catastrophic effects of climate change.”The Rise of the iPhone Auteur (The Ringer)
Steven Soderbergh is one of the few directors I really pay attention to, and he’s shooting feature films on iPhones now. This talks about why and how, along with the usual press stuff for his new film High Flying Bird. If you’d rather read wonky details about Hollywood business and the shifting sands of film production, his interview with Deadline is surprisingly in-depth.From ‘Paddington 2’ to ‘Roma,’ Film Crit Hulk’s Favorite Movies of Awards Season 2019 (Observer)
You have to find the critics who speak to you, whatever that means. For me, Roger Ebert is the GOAT for approaching movies so openly and empathetically, and for his ability to elegantly dissect both a film’s goals and an audience’s experience. Film Crit Hulk is my favorite living movie-writer for very similar reasons, except he tends to write book-length essays about story function, emotional resonance, and the effects of “subtle” things like cinematography. He also turned me on to the film Short Term 12, which is the only blu-ray disc I own. This year-end list is best and most-interesting one I know, and Paddington 2 really is that good.She Started Selling Abortion Pills Online. Then the Feds Showed Up. (Mother Jones)
“As access to abortion clinics shrinks and the future of reproductive rights seems precarious in the Kavanaugh era, interest in self-induced abortion is growing. For many women, clinics are too far away or too expensive. Others see self-managed abortion as a better choice: cheaper, private, and—despite what anti-abortion advocates claim—generally safe. Several studies, including large systematic reviews, have found that serious complications from medication abortion are uncommon, and researchers have found no unusual outcomes for women who use mail-order pills.”The Web We Have to Save (Matter/Medium)
Hossein Derakhshan, who spent six years in an Iranian prison mostly for writing on a blog, returns to find a different internet landscape: blogs are dead, nothing is linked, and everyone uses a few tightly-controlled social media platforms. One reason I do this whole newsletter is because no one notices or follows links on Facebook or Twitter. Instagram refuses to let you link anything except ads.Stop blaming the hipsters: Here's how gentrification really happens (Brick Underground)
I got caught up one afternoon trying to learn about the cycle of gentrification. This was a good start. The biggest question I still have: do gentrified neighborhoods ever decline? I mean in the way Manhattan was in the 70s and 80s, will that type of Manhattan ever return?Emotional Burnout Is Fueled by Envy (The Outline)
“This is the explicit agenda for both top influencers and the social media companies themselves: to make broadcasting so essential to our lives as to become invisible.”12 Women on Their First Crushes (The Cut)
More than one person said ALF.Do Things Matter? (Popula)
This inspired me to spend a lot of time wondering “does this matter?” about various parts of my life. The answer is usually “no” and it’s really satisfying. Also, the hardest I have laughed all week is at the story about the date with the finance bro. Please enjoy.
XOXO