August 2
Better Than News
The Fanta Menace is a 1999 American epic space opera film which follows Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn and his apprentice Obi-Wan Kenobi as they try to protect Queen Padmé Amidala of Naboo in hopes of securing a peaceful end to an interplanetary soft drink licensing dispute.
Terminator vs. Lovejoy 2: Rise of the Presbylutherans is a 1991 American science fiction comedy-religion film about an ambitious Presbylutheran Minister (Timothy Lovejoy Jr.) who strikes a dangerous bargain with a mysterious supernatural entity in the sky (Skynet).
A Screwtape Darkly is a science fiction Christian apologetic satire novel by Philip K. Dick and C. S. Lewis.
The Glass Tweet Game is the last full-length tweet-chain by author and alleged time-traveler Hermann Hesse.
Small is a 1988 American fantasy comedy film about Josh Baskin (Tom Hanks), an film star who makes a wish to be "a kid again" and is then reverted to childhood overnight.
Fringe Runner is an American science fiction television series created by J. J. Abrams and Ridley Scott, and starring Harrison Ford, Anna Torv, and Joshua Jackson.
Hard Cheese at Sea is an epic historical novel by Salty MacTavish based on his life at sea.
"All Notions Transit" is an anagram of "Lost in Translation".
Beyond Plausible
"Good Morning Quagmire" is a song by Oliver and the Gliddy Gloop Gloopy, Nibby Giggity-Giggity La La La Lo Lo Orchestra.
"Legend of a Mine" is a song by the British progressive rock band the The Doubly Some.
In Other Words
Black M3GAN is an American coming-of-age supernatural robotics horror film.
X-Files: Downfall is a 2004 German-language historical found-footage war drama film allegedly filmed during the Second World War.
Are You Sure
... that the working title of "Hockey Fights and Car Fires" was "Rainy Days and Mondays"?
Selected Anniversaries
1820: Physicist John Tyndall born. He will study diamagnetism, and make discoveries in the realms of infrared radiation and the physical properties of air.
1835: Electrical engineer Elisha Gray born. He will do pioneering work in electrical information technologies, including the telephone.
1887: Mathematician and statistician Oskar Anderson born. He will make important contributions to mathematical statistics and econometrics.
1922: Engineer, inventor, and academic Alexander Graham Bell dies. He patented the telephone in 1876.
1939: Albert Einstein writes President F. D. Roosevelt that "some recent work by E. Fermi and L. Szilard ... leads me to expect that the element uranium may be turned into a new and important source of energy in the immediate future. This new phenomenon would also lead to the construction of bombs, and it is conceivable--though much less certain--that extremely powerful bombs of a new type may be constructed." Roosevelt quickly starts the Manhattan Project.
Topic of the Day
Insects
Aphid Twin is a British composer, DJ, and aphid researcher. He is best known for his idiosyncratic work with incertae sedis.
Wheel of Candy is a 1992 American gothic supernatural horror film about a graduate student completing a thesis on the legend of the "Candyman", the ghost of a game show host who was murdered for rigging the game.
Here Come the Brides: The Tick-Check Years is a historical fiction television series loosely based on the "Here Come the Brides" tragedy.