June 18th
Today is Father's day! I talked about Mother's Day earlier last month and Father's Day is the day's counterpart for Dads. There's less to explain with the origin for this one because it sprung up after Mother's Day as a natural counterpart. As for gender neutral parents, there's the fourth Sunday in July.
I got my dad a nice mug. I'm also contemplating because I’m kinda at the age where whether I'm ever going to be a dad myself someday or not is on the table. I don't think I want kids before 30 at this point in my life, and it will probably come down to the wishes of my partner, and at this point that's Cal. We have talked about it casually and if we are still both alive, together, and stable enough in five years we might adopt or something if we can. So yeah don't expect any "Weird Stuff That Happens to Babies" anytime soon.
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June 19th
Today is June 19th so I'm going to talk about Don't Hug Me I'm Scared. Don't Hug Me I'm Scared started as a single YouTube short, but then it became a web series, got a TV series, and now the tv show has a BAFTA. The whole series, first short to now, is an excellent foray into adult puppetry.
The first short definitely had a particular air to it when it came out because nobody knew what to expect from it. It was just sent around as a weird video. There were puppets and singing and organs and everyone went wild. People dissected the themes and messages six ways to Sunday. And it feels like it grows with every new iteration. I like how they fleshed out the main three puppets in the new TV series in particular. They were mostly just generic victim puppets in the original shorts, but the show gives the main trio a hilarious and tragic dynamic. I'm excited to see what comes next with this contemporary classic horror series.
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June 20th
Today is Horseshoe Crab Day and can I just say these guys are freaking amazing. Horseshoe crabs have naturally vibrant blue blood, and this technicolor crab blood has a very important medical use. The crabs' blue blood clots extremely easily in the presence of toxic bacteria, and likewise the crab blood has become standard in testing the seriality of medical equipment.
Because of the scarcity of wild horseshoe crabs, medical suppliers have to take special care during horseshoe crab blood drives. Basically what they do is once a year, they round a number of them up, take some blood, and send them back into the wild. There are always accidents however, so scientists are currently working on artificial alternatives that can do the same job as the horseshoe crab blood. But for now, one of the most important substances in medicine is literally bright blue crab blood.
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June 21st
Today is the anniversary of the classic stop motion film, Chicken Run, first hitting theaters in 2000. The plot of the film is that a group of industrial egg producing anthropomorphic chickens break out of their farm home after the farmer's tyrannical wife decides she wants to switch from egg to meat production. Aiding this escape is a charismatic rooster that tells the hens he can teach them how to fly, but he has his own motivations with his flying lessons.
This film is actually getting a sequel this year, "Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget", coming out 23 years after the original. I can't give much of the plot away without spoiling the original, so I recommend you look it up if you've already seen the first one. At this point the film is scheduled to appear on streaming services this year, but I know how stop motion is so just keep an eye open for it if you are looking forward to it.
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June 22nd
Today I can't really find a topic I like so I'm going to tell you about an odd video game that is boring but I like that it exists. "My DoItAll" is a Nintendo DS game that was poorly reviewed, but I feel like it deserves a little more credit. The big thing is that this isn't a game. It has a few minigames but it's actually an application hub software.
My DoItAll is essentially software to turn your DS into a PDA. It has the following applications: avatar maker, calendar, notepad, calculator, world map, periodic table, sound maker, rhythm machine, voice changer, dice, spinner, local polling, cute clown jump scares, ninety eight, and crazy eights. This is all password protected complete with security backup questions. If you know where to find DS games I recommend this if you like fidgeting with DS applications.
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June 23rd
Today is a grab bag day, so I'm going to let Cal take over from here.
Hello world, it's Calexta.
Today I have an odd piece of lost media to talk about that feels tangentially relevant to the website. Let me start with the classic lost media disclaimer, do not contact any people or companies tied to this search, thank you.
While I've had to wrangle a paranormal bootleg Thomas the Tank Engine VHS to keep it from killing my boyfriend, I think I found the second scariest thing related to Thomas the train and it's not a creepypasta, it's worse. There was an odd short produced in the mid 2010's that is now only publicly known from screenshots, demo clips and descriptions, that was a different flavor of creepy.
Thomas & Friends Institute of Innovation is a showcase of Classic Thomas the Tank Engine characters reviving "modern makeovers" from a zany scientific facility. Thomas (not my Thomas, the train puppet) is given wings. They turned the fat controller buff, leaving him a generic Unreal Engine looking strong man character. Even poor sweet Percy, my favorite character, is given plastic surgery and it's a complete nightmare.
This bizarre short was created by Studio Hansa on commission from HIT Entertainment, and it was supposed to be a literal experiment in making the series edgier; it also ended by saying that the brand was fine as it was and they actually weren't changing anything, to the point where the series will be around longer than any of us if the world ends with the cockroaches. The short wasn't really intended for a public audience, and was mostly sent by HIT to advertisers and potential merchandise partners to show off how hip they were by not being hip or something. It's just stupid and creepy and people really want to see how bad it really is.
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June 24th
Today is Intentional Fairy Day. I was always fascinated by fairies, from a young age. Past the common idea of fairies as people the size of dolls, although those are a very common type of fairy, the idea of powerful lifeforms that are only there if you look hard enough and if you really want to see it.
Older beliefs around the fay portray them as powerful spirits, in control of nature, often chaotic undead tricksters. If you meet a fairy, your life is about to become much better or worse. I feel like of all people I'd be a hypocrite to say such a thing just couldn't be, even if it "doesn't make any sense on paper". Personally, I'm too used to the impossible at this point.
Nice collection of articles as always, bud! ...Hope your dad liked his mug
I never thought I’d hear “horseshoe crab blood drives” as a sentence, that evokes a kinda funny image for me 😂 I must say I’ve always liked to imagine fairies a bit smaller than even regular doll sizes, something similar to the fairies you see in Labyrinth. Or the alleged ‘Rossendale Fairies’, where they would be as tiny as bugs, easily blending in with their surroundings. Something else I enjoyed about the fairies in Labyrinth is the fact they’re treated like pests, to the shock of Sarah. It was a creative way to put a spin on something people often view as delicate, kind, and whimsical. They still look as such, but they’re vicious ankle-biters.
I think you‘d make a great dad (^◡^ ) and I looooove researching fairies! I‘d say you’re almost at the mercy of a fairy if you meet one. will they be benevolent? try to trap you in a fairy ring? invite you to dance and then trap you in a fairy ring?
a lot of really good articles today guys! i have to admit, i never knew about the thomas lost media and wish i hadnt looked at it! whoof! also, my favorite little tidbit about fairies (i used to love the little ones as a kid) is the girls back in the victorian era who fooled a WHOLE lotta people into thinking their cute little cutouts were real. and they never even intended to!