Tag: Whimsy

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Cosmic Science

Wonder and whimsy on the Web

Ever since Cosmic Log was founded, back in 2002, we’ve passed along links to tales that caught our eye elsewhere on the Web. With Twitter’s rise, there’s typically less need for that kind of aggregation — but just in case you’re not following me religiously at @b0yle, I’ll occasionally pass along a selection of the Web’s wonder and whimsy, like this one:

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GeekWire

Space Force’s new seal sparks Star Trek snark

Starfleet Command and Space Force seals
The seal for Star Trek’s fictional Starfleet Command has some design elements in common with the seal for the U.S. Space Force. (CBS / Space Force Images via Twitter)

We don’t know whether Mr. Spock would have cocked an eyebrow over the Starfleet-like U.S. Space Force seal that was revealed by President Donald Trump today, but we’ve found out what Star Trek’s Mr. Sulu would do.

Get the news brief on GeekWire.

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GeekWire

Reality-TV dating game offers moon trip as prize

Yusaku Maezawa
Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa tweeted a casting call for a woman to go on a round-the-moon trip with him, for a streaming-video documentary. (Yusaku Maezawa via Twitter)

What do you get when you cross “The Bachelor” with “Survivor,” and then throw in a round-the-moon trip? You might get the reality-TV project that Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa has signed on for.

Get the news brief on GeekWire.

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GeekWire

Revisit the wacky world of corporate musicals

"Bathtubs Over Broadway" cast
The cast of “Bathtubs Over Broadway” does their big production number. (Cactus Flower Films / Focus Features)

No fan of Broadway musicals should miss classics like “I Never Enjoyed My Operation More,” “My Insurance Man” and “My Bathroom Is a Private Kind of Place.”

What’s that? Never heard of ’em? For decades, those songs were heard only by employees at morale-boosting events, plus a precious few record collectors enchanted by what are known as industrial musicals.

Now one of those record collectors, TV comedy writer Steve Young, has had his quest turned into a hilarious and sweet documentary titled “Bathtubs Over Broadway.” The movie has already been picking up awards on the film-festival circuit, and it’s opening this weekend in Seattle for a regular run at the Varsity Theater.

Ironically, the innovations that have allowed Young to flesh out the little-known saga of industrial musicals — including the rise of the modern tech industry, the internet and online video — also contributed to the decline of industrial musicals.

Get the full story on GeekWire.

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GeekWire

Artist uses spaceship to launch double entendre

Work magazine spread
A photo spread from the latest issue of Work magazine had a little fun with Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin rocket venture. (Work / CIPD / Blue Origin Photo via @christhebarker on Twitter)

It’s hard to top the risque rocket scene in “Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me,” but Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket has also spawned its share of comparisons to the male anatomy.

The latest double entendre paying tribute to Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos’ space venture appears in Work magazine, a controlled-circulation quarterly published by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development in Britain.

Graphic designer Chris Barker, who was also behind the viral “Lonely Hearts” roundup of 2016’s celebrity deaths, deemed it a point of pride that he was able to get his visual joke into print. “Pleased my headline/image combo got through,” he tweeted.

The layout shows Blue Origin’s New Shepard on one page, in all its phallic glory, opposite a bold headline reading, “What Exactly Is Jeff Bezos Trying to Prove?”

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GeekWire

Elon Musk and Malala tweet cute over parody

Starman and Malala
Human rights campaigner Malala Yousafzai and SpaceX’s Starman Roadster are paired in a parody posting. (Clickhole Illustration)

Billionaire Elon Musk hasn’t exactly had a smooth week in press relations, but today brought a string of feel-good tweets over a fake-news story on the ClickHole website.

The headline? “More Bad Press for Elon: The Car Elon Musk Launched Into Orbit Has Fallen Back Down to Earth and Crushed Malala Yousafzai.”

Get the full story on GeekWire.

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GeekWire

Elon Musk turns Tesla’s woes into April Fools’ joke

Elon Musk "bankwupt"
Tesla CEO Elon Musk tweeted out a picture of himself seemingly “passed out against a Tesla Model 3, surrounded by ‘Teslaquilla’ bottles, the tracks of dried tears still visible on his cheeks.” (Elon Musk via Twitter)

Between Model S recalls and Model 3 production snags, Tesla has been having a hard time lately — but not as hard as CEO Elon Musk made them out to be today in a hilarious series of April Fools’ tweets.

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GeekWire

Elon Musk sells 20,000 flamethrowers: What now?

Elon Musk with flamethrower
A gleeful Elon Musk shows off his flamethrower in an Instagram video. (Elon Musk via Instagram)

Even if billionaire Elon Musk ever decides to pack it in as CEO of SpaceX and Tesla, he can point to his success as a pitchman for flamethrowers.

Tonight he declared that his planned inventory of 20,000 fire-spitting guns was sold out, just four days after the sale opened on the Boring Company’s website.

At $500 a pop, that means he’s grossed $10 million for the company, whose main purpose is to lower the cost of excavation and open the way for high-speed transit tunnels.

But wait … there’s more: Musk said every buyer would get a free fire extinguisher, which was going for $30 extra when the sale began.

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GeekWire

No joke: Elon Musk sells $500 flamethrowers

Flamethrowers
The Boring Company’s $500 flamethrower gets a demonstration. (Elon Musk via Instagram)

We thought Elon Musk, the billionaire CEO of SpaceX and Tesla, was kidding when he promised that his tunneling venture, the Boring Company, would follow up on its sale of 50,000 logo caps by selling flamethrowers.

We still thought he was kidding when it turned out there was a stealthy, password-protected page on the Boring Company website, offering flamethrowers for $600.

But Elon Musk is not kidding, folks — and the flamethrower is a steal at $500.

Get the full story on GeekWire.

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GeekWire

Spoof touts Quentin Tarantino’s R-rated ‘Star Trek’

What would an R-rated “Star Trek” movie directed by Quentin Tarantino look like?

We may find out someday soon: The director of “Kill Bill,” “Pulp Fiction,” “Inglorious Basterds” and other violence-laced neo-noir films is reportedly working with “Revenant” screenwriter Mark L. Smith and producer J.J. Abrams on a harder-edged version of the Starship Enterprise’s saga.

Nerdist has already put together a must-see video trailer for a Tarantino-tinged Trek, titled “Quentin Tarantino’s Star Trek: Voyage to Vengeance.”

Get the full story on GeekWire.