Overnight Open Thread (12-7-2013) – Dead Man's Switch Edition

Clearly something has gone awry at the USS AoSHQ if this thread is appearing.

But welcome to your temporary back-up stunt CatSaturday night ONT anyway.

And don't you have something else better to be doing than hanging out here?

No? Okay then come on in.

You Can Do Anything: Must Every Kids' Movie Reinforce the Cult of Self-Esteem?

It's probably no coincidence that the supremacy of the magic-feather syndrome in children's movies overlaps with the so-called "cult of self-esteem." The restless protagonists of these films never have to wake up to the reality that crop-dusters simply can't fly faster than sleek racing aircraft. Instead, it's the naysaying authority figures who need to be enlightened about the importance of never giving up on your dreams, no matter how irrational, improbable, or disruptive to the larger community. As Jean Twenge, the controversial cultural critic of America's supposed narcissism epidemic, argues in her bestselling book Generation Me, younger generations "simply take it for granted that we should all feel good about ourselves, we are all special, and we all deserve to follow our dreams."

...In addition to disparaging routine labor, these films discount the hard work that enables individuals to reach the top of their professions. Turbo and Dusty don't need to hone their craft for years in minor-league circuits like their racing peers presumably did. It's enough for them simply to show up with no experience at the world's most competitive races, dig deep within themselves, and out-believe their opponents. They are, in many ways, the perfect role models for a generation weaned on instant gratification.

...Contemporary animated films would never emulate the tough life lessons of A Boy Named Charlie Brown, but they'd do well to reintroduce the twin notions of failure and humility. In a movie like Planes, it should be good enough for a modest crop-duster just to qualify for the Wings Around the Globe race.

Turkeys Away: An Oral History of the Famous WKRP Episode

A very entertaining account of how it came to be. A lot of WKRP was based on WQXI in Atlanta.

The 30,000 Year Old Cave of Mystery

There's a cave in France where no humans have been in 26,000 years. The walls are full of fantastic, perfectly-preserved paintings of animals, ending in a chamber full of monsters 1312-feet underground, where CO2 and radon gas concentrations provoke hallucinations.

It's called the the Chauvet-Pont-d'Arc Cave, a really weird and mysterious place. The walls contain hundreds of animals-like the typical Paleolithic horses and bisons-but some of them are not supposed to be there, like lions, panthers, rhinos and hyenas.

A few are not even supposed to exist, like weird butterflyish animals or chimerical figures half bison half woman. These may be linked to the hallucinations. The trip is such that some archeologists think that it had a ritual nature, with people transcending into a new state as they descended into the final room.

In fact, the paintings themselves are of such sophistication-some even have three-dimensional relief-that is hard to believe they were made back then. However, radiocarbon dating shows that these paintings are indeed prehistoric: A group was made around 27,000-26,000 years ago and the other at 32,000-30,000 years ago.

5 Amazing Ways Old War Relics Are Saving the World

11 Celebrated Artists Who Didn't Quit Their Day Jobs

How to Navigate by the Stars

Disco Will Never Die!!!

The Yahoo AoSHQ group. Bla bla bla.

Tonight's post brought to you by looking for a few good men:

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posted by Maetenloch at 10:46 PM

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