Link About It: This Week’s Picks
From glow worms to babies pooping and an other-worldly photograph of the ISS, our weekly look at the web
1. Pampers’ Latest Ad Captures Babies’ Poop-Faces
There’s almost nothing more endearing than a cute baby video, and nothing gets people laughing more than a poop joke. London-based ad agency Saatchi & Saatchi brilliantly combined the two for a glorious Pampers ad that captures five babies just as they commence a number two. Shot in slow motion and set to the triumphant “Thus Spake Zarathustra” by Richard Strauss, the hilarious short video is one and a half minutes of pure joy, curiosity and relief for the five youngsters.
2. A New Zealand Cave Transformed by Glowing Worms
The images from Joseph Michael’s latest series “Luminosity” could easily be mistaken for a far-off alien planet or a poisonous landscape from prehistoric Earth. But they’re actually from modern-day New Zealand, deep within its 30-million-year-old limestone caves. Using creative LED lighting and extra-long exposures, the Auckland-based photographer captured bioluminescent worms as they transform the caverns’ ceilings into magical, star-filled night skies. Michael hopes to eventually turn the series into a full multimedia exhibition but, for now, head to The Verge to experience the awe-inspiring glow.
3. 3×1 + Token Surfboards’ Denim-Inlaid Surfboards
To celebrate its latest store opening in Southampton, high-end denim company 3×1 has linked up with Brooklyn-based Token Surfboards for a three-piece collection of denim-inlaid surfboards. Token has taken 3×1’s premium fabrics and glassed them into their hand-shaped boards, adding indigo color-blocking while also providing reinforcement in critical areas. The line-up includes two longboards and a shorter egg-shape—perfect for easy riding or mounting on a wall as art. They’re currently available for purchase on 3×1’s website starting at $2,250.
4. The Benefits of Bad Dreams
True nightmares can feel frighteningly real and, according to researchers, that’s a good thing. A new theory suggests that bad dreams work as a type of emotional release, turning pent-up anxieties into a past memory and making you feel as if you’ve already lived through whatever’s been bothering you. And since humans deal with bad memories better than ongoing fears, we’re able to put it behind us, instead of constantly worrying about what could happen. There’s also no better feeling than waking up from a post-apocalyptic world crawling with spiders only to be greeted by the comfort of your bed.
5. Snarkitecture Fills a Museum With an Ocean of Plastic Balls
Brooklyn-based design studio Snarkitecture has taken over Washington DC’s National Building Museum to transform its ground floor into an ocean of nearly one million translucent plastic balls. The massive ball-pit is part of its latest interactive exhibition “The BEACH,” which mixes the playful vibes of an ocean shoreline with the stark, all-white installations Snarkitecture is known for. Visitors can swim around in the sea of spheres, lounge on beach chairs and even order food at the snack bar. The BEACH is also being live-streamed for those who can’t make it to DC by 7 September.
6. The Story Behind Danny’s Elfman’s Iconic Scores
American composer, actor and musician Danny Elfman is the man behind many of film and television’s most memorable musical sequences. If you’ve ever watched a Tim Burton movie or even an episode of The Simpsons, you’ve most likely heard his iconic arrangements. In celebration of the Lincoln Center Festival’s concert series “Danny Elfman’s Music From the Films of Tim Burton,” (on now) Vulture sat down with the legendary composer to discuss the inspiration behind his scores and how a two-hour car ride produced one of the most iconic theme songs in television history.
7. How to Record an Album at the Apple Store
Prince Harvey is a true Apple Genius. The Brooklyn-based rapper was desperate to record an album, but after a series of equipment failures and an eviction left him stranded, he resorted to the only reliable recording space he knew: the Apple store in SoHo. Harvey spent every weekday for the next four months rapping and composing beats on the same display computer, while simultaneously dodging security and daily computer memory wipes to complete his album “PHATASS” (an acronym for Prince Harvey At The Apple Store: SoHo). Listen to his improvised production on The Daily Beast.
8. A Stunning Image of The ISS Crossing the Moon
The International Space Station (ISS) orbits Earth so quickly—17,400 miles-per-hour to be exact—that it only takes one third of a second to streak across the moon. Fortunately, that fraction of a second was enough time for amateur photographer Dylan O’Donnell to capture an up-close image of the ISS—backlit by the massive, glowing moon—all the way from Earth. O’Donnell was able to do so by strapping a Canon DSLR to a 2300 mm telescope, and the result is a stunning image of the lonely satellite, captured just before it disappeared back into the darkness of space.
Link About It is our filtered look at the web, shared daily in Link and on Twitter, and rounded up every Saturday morning.
