Do By Friday

Future Clowns of America

LINKS * The Nutty Professor (1963) [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Nutty_Professor_(1963_film)] Jerry Lewis as Professor Kelp / Buddy Love * Hank Azaria on Professor Frink [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=paWsDhzeaN8] Based him on Jerry Lewis in The Nutty Professor * Tropic Thunder [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tropic_Thunder] Simple Jack; "you went full [redacted]" * Be Kind Rewind [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNiolZNLiJplmCCzqk9-czQ] Video essays on women in film history * Stewart Lee [https://www.stewartlee.co.uk/] British comedian; Paul Nuttall of UKIP * Stewart Lee's Comedy Vehicle [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stewart_Lee%27s_Comedy_Vehicle] BBC Two series (2009-2016) * Tailscale [https://tailscale.com/] Mesh VPN; part of the Iron Troika * Amphetamine [https://apps.apple.com/us/app/amphetamine/id937984704] macOS app to prevent sleep * AutoMounter [https://apps.apple.com/us/app/automounter/id1160435653?mt=12] Keeps network shares mounted * Synology [https://www.synology.com/] NAS; Merlin's home server setup * TP-Link Archer AX55 [https://www.tp-link.com/us/home-networking/wifi-router/archer-ax55/] The router * NextDNS [https://nextdns.io/] DNS with ad blocking; Iron Troika member * Cloudflare [https://www.cloudflare.com/] Third member of the Iron Troika * DynDNS [https://account.dyn.com/] Dynamic DNS; the old way * Let's Encrypt [https://letsencrypt.org/] Free SSL certificates * Passkeys [https://fidoalliance.org/passkeys/] Passwordless authentication * Hide My Email [https://support.apple.com/guide/icloud/set-up-hide-my-email-mm9d9012c9e8/icloud] Apple's email aliasing * Linda Stone [https://lindastone.net/] Coined "email apnea" and "continuous partial attention" * "Are You Breathing? Do You Have Email Apnea?" [https://lindastone.net/2014/11/24/are-you-breathing-do-you-have-email-apnea/] Linda Stone's original article * Claude Code as elevator music [https://interconnected.org/home/2025/09/12/claude] Matt Webb on the contemplative rhythm of working with Claude Code * J. Edgar Hoover [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._Edgar_Hoover#Sexuality] FBI director; Clyde Tolson * Cary Grant & Randolph Scott [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cary_Grant#Relationships] Lived together; "Riding the Trails Alone" * The Carter Family [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carter_Family] First family of country music * Cowboy Carter [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cowboy_Carter] Beyoncé's country album * Country Music (Ken Burns) [https://www.pbs.org/kenburns/country-music] 2019 documentary series * Trypophobia [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trypophobia] Lotus seed pods; a clown situation * Pansy Division [https://pansydivision.com/] Queercore band; pun on Panzer Division * Reformation Iconoclasm [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beeldenstorm] Defacing religious art

Backpack Full of Stones

LINKS * TLC - "Waterfalls" [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waterfalls_(TLC_song)] Alex was four. * No Such Thing as a Fish [https://www.nosuchthingasafish.com/] QI researchers' podcast; Merlin's been listening for years * No Such Thing As Debreadtion — No Such Thing As A Fish — Overcast [https://overcast.fm/+LJPAysoUs] The episode Merlin mentioned * Ken Burns' Jazz [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jazz_(miniseries)] Episode 9 "The Adventure." * TLC - "Unpretty" [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2gy1Evb1Kg] Merlin's favorite TLC song. * Dead Drop [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_drop] Spycraft term for passing info without meeting * Ken Burns' Baseball [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baseball_(TV_series)] Source of the Lincoln "tiredest" quote * A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Knight_of_the_Seven_Kingdoms_(TV_series)] New Game of Thrones spinoff * Why Are Icelandic Horses Not Called Ponies? (Iceland Mag) [https://icelandmag.is/article/why-are-icelandic-horses-not-called-ponies-all-you-need-know-about-icelandic-horse] Pony-sized but Iceland said it's a horse * Ship of Theseus (Khan Academy video) [https://www.khanacademy.org/partner-content/wi-phi/wiphi-metaphysics-epistemology/wiphi-metaphysics/v/ship-of-theseus] The philosophical paradox behind "Thesean Horse" * Saint John Coltrane Church (KQED) [https://www.kqed.org/news/12070415/inside-the-san-francisco-church-where-john-coltrane-is-a-saint] Yes, there's literally a church for this album * John Coltrane - A Love Supreme (1965) [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMCHDC2Lurk&list=PLMZ-Il3Xj6UHN214o-sj__7tn0h2wkw0m] The album that inspired the church * "Is he quare?" [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHR5Ly3TrwM] Comedy repetition reference * Harry Enfield [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Enfield] British comedian; "Is he queer?" sketch * Paul Whitehouse [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Whitehouse] The other half of the old men in the club * I Spy books (Walter Wick Studio) [http://www.walterwick.com/books/i-spy] Merlin's analogy for how Claude Code sees things * "40, 45 Years" - Stewart Lee [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9IJnmbneLc] The callback king * Claude Code (Anthropic) [https://www.anthropic.com/claude-code] The AI tool Merlin won't shut up about * Rik Mayall: Lord of Misrule [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3RXXWBLy2Y] 2014 BBC tribute documentary; narrated by Simon Callow * The Young Ones (IMDb) [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083505/] What you most likely know Rik Mayall from * The Young Ones - "Bambi" / University Challenge (YouTube) [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3HvchF49AM] Fry, Laurie, Thompson vs. the lads * Nell (1994) [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nell_(film)] Merlin's first memory of Liam Neeson as a lead * Nell (1994) Trailer [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMdq4zNOGF8] "Can't abide a canna peas," is a line Merlin feels like he remembers Jodie Foster's Nell saying * Scotiabank Saddledome: Building Design [https://www.scotiabanksaddledome.com/building-design/] Say it soft, and it's almost like praying. * Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Fishing [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mortimer_%26_Whitehouse:_Gone_Fishing] Bob and Paul's fishing show * Game of Thrones - "Fire and Blood" (Fandom) [https://gameofthrones.fandom.com/wiki/Fire_and_Blood] Season 1 finale; Daenerys and the dragon eggs * Lucy Liu on the "Dragon Lady" Stereotype (NextShark) [https://nextshark.com/lucy-liu-interview-dragon-lady-stereotypes] "I could have been wearing a tuxedo and a blond wig" * The Slop Hash [https://theslophash.com] Merlin's project to get you excited about making something cool. * "I never said she stole my money" has 7 different meanings [https://www.reddit.com/r/Damnthatsinteresting/comments/sh2y00/i_never_said_she_stole_my_money_has_7_different/] Stress a different word, get a different sentence. * The Butterfield Diet Plan (YouTube) [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1NjTWvl8x-U] "The results have been increbidle" * The Night Left Eye Burned Down Andre Rison's Mansion (Investigation Discovery) [https://www.investigationdiscovery.com/crimefeed/celebrity/the-night-lisa-left-eye-lopes-burned-down-her-boyfriends-mansion] It started with sneakers in a fiberglass bathtub * Memento Mori [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memento_mori] "Remember you will die" * Anterograde Amnesia [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anterograde_amnesia] The condition from Memento — can't form new memories * One Hundred Years of Solitude [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Hundred_Years_of_Solitude] García Márquez's masterpiece * Kieran's very good post [https://mastodon.social/@kjhealy/115936018587051570] "Many years later, as he faced the firing squad, Colonel Aureliano Buendía was to remember that distant afternoon when his father was discovered and taken by ICE." * Hammer [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hammer] A tool so durable it works across time * Cottaging: History of the Term (Idiom Origins) [https://idiomorigins.org/origin/cottaging] How they got John Gielgud, Wilfrid Brambell, and poor Brian Epstein. * Brian Epstein (Beatles Bible) [https://www.beatlesbible.com/people/brian-epstein/] Beatles manager; arrested 1957, blackmailed for years, died a month before decriminalization * Clarke's Three Laws [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clarke%27s_three_laws] "Sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic" * Ducking Stool [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ducking_stool] Chair on a stick for dunking witches and scolds * Roget's Thesaurus (Project Gutenberg) [https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/22] Category 1: Existence * 12 Facts About Taking of Pelham 123 (Mental Floss) [https://www.mentalfloss.com/posts/taking-of-pelham-one-two-three-facts] They fictionalized the dead man's switch to foil copycats * The 36-Hour Day (Johns Hopkins Press) [https://www.press.jhu.edu/books/title/12151/36-hour-day] Read it before someone you love has dementia ---------------------------------------- > Some folks I love and admire do come off sounding a little like the same people who loudly hated Little Richard and disco music. > > Honestly, sometimes it's legit difficult to notice when we've gotten more emotionally invested than we'd realized in seeming right. > > And that shit is a LOT to decide to carry forever. 🐘 [https://mastodon.social/@hotdogsladies/115941968073309400]

Recursive Hallucination Loop

LINKS * Ground loop (electricity) - Wikipedia [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ground_loop_(electricity)] * Hallucination or Confabulation? Neuroanatomy as metaphor in Large Language Models - PMC [https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10619792/] * Graze: Custom Feed Builder for Bluesky · Graze [https://www.graze.social/] * Serverless Statusphere: a walk through building serverless ATProto applications on Cloudflare’s Developer Platform [https://blog.cloudflare.com/serverless-atproto/] * AT Protocol [https://atproto.com/] * How to Transfer Your ChatGPT Memory [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0lHK7EwcE9w] * Works for ChatGPT Data - Google Drive [https://drive.google.com/file/d/1tIcsc3CbKDuF572uT8YDnqk5hy9qQLEU/view?pli=1] * Stewart Lee - Wikipedia [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stewart_Lee] * Stewart Lee's Comedy Vehicle - Wikipedia [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stewart_Lee%27s_Comedy_Vehicle] * Stewart Lee vs The Internet - Stewart Lee's Comedy Vehicle - Series 3 Episode 1 Preview - BBC - YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7XpvH-j9BHg] * English Arrested for Being English? Stewart Lee's Humorous Take on British Culture | TikTok [https://www.tiktok.com/@johnjohnn8/video/7083033718457142534] * Stewart Lee S4E6 - Childhood - YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lcDh5p6N4SQ] * Stewart Lee S3E3 - Satire - YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLSBxu7njjI] * Stewart Lee - [1/2] Give It To Me Straight, Like Pear Cider That's Made From 100% Pears - YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5KNGDZhoRyA] * Stewart Lee - [2/2] Give It To Me Straight, Like Pear Cider That's Made From 100% Pears - YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oPsfppxy0kg] * Stewart Lee On The Challenge Of Stand-Up - YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OM_lZF9E9gQ] * Comedian Stewart Lee on why he won't tour Trump's America - YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ceKAdQFrd5E] * Stewart Lee in Conversation with Alan Moore - YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iytGHs4Nga0] * Jerry Springer: The Opera - Wikipedia [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_Springer:_The_Opera] * Taskmaster Origins - Rare Footage of the First Ever Show! (Edinburgh 2010) - YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Ei-z3iUp14]

Shiny Boob Beaver Book

LINKS * I am the mucus man. | Do By Friday [https://dobyfriday.com/episodes/433] * Playboy [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Playboy] * Penthouse [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penthouse_(magazine)] * Oui (magazine) [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oui_(magazine)] * Hustler [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hustler] * Gent [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gent_(magazine)] * Liquid IV [https://www.liquid-iv.com/] * Imodium [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loperamide] * Mr. Microphone By Ronco (Commercial, 1978) - YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqIrzkPDtrk] * "Supply is limited" scene from The Simpsons (TV Episode 1992) - YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WH-r0Tb7tI] * The Simpsons: Sending Our Love Down The Well - YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4HTvVM3U3U] * ROYGBIV - Wikipedia [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ROYGBIV] * Stewart Lee - Wikipedia [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stewart_Lee] * Stewart Lee's Comedy Vehicle - Wikipedia [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stewart_Lee%27s_Comedy_Vehicle] * Stewart Lee's Comedy Vehicle - YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL6495BF07AFB9C96D] * Stewart Lee - Emigrants - video Dailymotion [https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2iom1b] * Lazy Comedy Slags - 28 years old - YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TjwgtG9N8B4] * I'm Alan Partridge - Wikipedia [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I%27m_Alan_Partridge] * Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Fishing - Wikipedia [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mortimer_%26_Whitehouse:_Gone_Fishing] * The future of being trans on the internet | The Verge [https://www.theverge.com/cs/features/777087/trans-internet-privacy-safety-anonymity-ai] * NetNewsWire: Free and Open Source RSS Reader for Mac and iOS [https://netnewswire.com/] * Lumberjanes - Wikipedia [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lumberjanes] * Mallory Ortberg Accidentally Inspired A New Episode Of 'Black Mirror' By Making Fun Of The Show [https://archive.junkee.com/mallory-ortberg-accidentally-inspired-new-episode-black-mirror-making-fun-show/87981] * Next On "Black Mirror" - The Toast [https://web.archive.org/web/20180128114223/http://the-toast.net/2015/01/20/next-black-mirror/] * Brian Regan - Big Yellow One's the Sun - YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fBzv1sjKpCU] * Brian Regan - The Emergency Room - YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2Vg3iSd5ms] * MBMBAM / Adventure Time: Curse A Real Sword - YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yb3kaAd8k3o]

I am the mucus man.

Late Night with David Letterman - "Camping With Barry White" (May, 1983) [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3P3ovFtzS8]