The Friday Link for 2/27/26

We start with a simple question this week! 

Is it better to take a harmless, fun video and add a scary, mean person soundtrack... 

Is it better to take a scary, mean person video and add a harmless, fun soundtrack... 

I do enjoy those two classic videos.

Next up is Doctor Who. For anyone new here, I LOVE Doctor Who and miss the series. I really like Ncuti Gatwa's Fifteenth Doctor, and was bummed when he regenerated.  But I do understand the mistake they made with the series.  The series is always best when it sneaks into the horror genre. Tom Baker's 4th Doctor episodes scared me to death as a kid (I never missed an episode), and multiple great episodes from the 10th Doctor David Tennant, 11th Doctor Matt Smith, and 12th Doctor Peter Capaldi had a real horror story vibe.  It's also the reason the X-Files worked so well.

But the last few years became way too kid-friendly. When they are putting characters and actions to get giggles from 8-10 year olds, you lose the viewers (and I will argue the 8-10 year olds, too).  

Doctor Who is an adult show, and if you treat it as such, every kid will want to watch it too! Case in point, this all-time classic scene with David Tennant, Matt Smith, and the War Doctor John Hurt. This shows you how good the show can be.

Since I am on Doctor Who, let's go to a video from WhoCulture and their list of the individual episodes that are the definitive episodes for each version.  I don't agree with all of these, but the episodes they quote are all top five for each Doctor.  I think they nail it for the First, Seventh, Eighth, Twelfth, Thirteenth and Fourteenth.  Heaven Sent, from Capaldi, is such a great episode. 

That's it for this week! 

Please stay safe and make sure all of your vaccinations are up to date! 

The Friday Link for 2/20/26

Let's start with the Olympics this week.

There is no better match-up in sports today than the USA vs. Canada in women's hockey. They are clearly the two best teams on the planet, and they do not disappoint.

Yesterday, the USA got the Gold medal.  The pass down ice in overtime and the stick work on the overtime goal by Keller were all-time classic hockey moments.

Canada, do not hang your head. Your team is AMAZING, and I could see you easily having won yesterday, too. That's what makes this current rivalry the best in all sports.  If these teams played 1000 times, it'd probably be 500-500. 

One more from the Olympics, and I like to feature a secondary sport, and why not the Bobsled gold for Elana Meyers Taylor!  I never realized what an advantage Germany has in the sledding sports, with the majority of Olympic-level tracks in Germany, so for the US to win this is sweet. And although Meyers Taylor had won silvers and bronzes, this was her first gold!

Next up is a salute to my home state, Minnesota, with Geography by Geoff.  He goes through 15 reasons why Minnesota's geography is so cool! 

And finally tonight, another protest song, and this might be the best one yet.  U2 put out American Obituary, and it does not pull punches.  Even U2 doesn't like what the Republicans are doing! 

Have a great weekend.  

Make sure you stay up to date on all of your vaccinations! 

The power of the people is so much greater than the people in power. 

The Friday Link for 2/13/26

Howdy all! I hope everyone has a nice Valentine's Day tomorrow, if you choose to celebrate!

We are going to visit 4 of my favorite content creators on YouTube.  These are four people who will dive into a certain topic and make you smarter before you know it, with one doing it while making you laugh.

First up is one of the best voices I've ever heard, Simon Whistler, and his Sideprojects channel. It's been a few years since I featured him, so he is overdue! 

He starts us off with an interesting video about some of the ancient mysteries which we still have not figured out, but finally made some headway on in the last decade. 

The three in this video I really enjoyed learning about were the Easter Island heads, the mystery of ancient Roman concrete, and the discovery that there indeed used to be an outlet of the Nile River, which went by the ancient pyramids of Giza, explaining how they were built.  

Next up is Joe Scott, a guy I've featured a few times.  He has the story of a really bizarre find in Russia, a massive shaft which may or may not have been the entrance to some sort of headquarters of an ancient society.  They again, it might be a hoax, or at least nothing so grandiose. 

Dan McClellan is also a great channel.  He is a scholar of Biblical knowledge, and he spends a lot of time correcting (mainly evangelicals) of their intentional or unintentional mistakes about the Bible and its history. This week, he explores the question of what happened to the 12 apostles in regard to their martyrdom stories. 

Finally, tonight, I did promise you a funny one, and the best for that is ZeFrank and his True Facts Education channel.  This time, it's True Facts about Beetles! 

That's it for this Friday.  Have a nice weekend.

ICE sucks.

Make sure you stay up to date on your vaccinations.

The Friday Link for 2/6/26

Howdy all.

I am looking forward to the Olympics for a few reasons.  One of the main ones is that I can take a break from fighting fascism and remember how great this country can be when we don't have a disgrace as President.

I've posted this before, but let's start this week with one of the greatest Olympic moments of the last 40 years.  Here is Jessie Diggins from Minnesota (who herself has called out the violence against her state) from 2018 with the first-ever medal for the USA in cross-country skiing, a photo finish where she came from behind! 

Quick side note, THIS is the call from the live coverage of the race.  For some reason, the NBC Olympic version has a much more toned-down announcer for the formal night broadcast. THIS is one of the few times the excited tone actually is called for.

For more Olympics fun, here is a pretty spot-on promo for the Olympics from Saturday Night Live. 

Finally tonight, Mystery Science Theater 3000 paid a visit to Winter Sports, perfect for your Olympics Pre-game activities! 

ICE is out there in Minnesota, and they are violating human rights with no signs of slowing down. Be vigilant.  Be safe. And never back down from tyranny! 

And make sure you stay up to date on your vaccinations. 

Have a nice weekend.