Six Things, Volume 95

Film | Anachronyms | Kevin | OK Go | Fans | Flags

Thing 1 – Film

David Lynch died.

There are many people far better qualified than me to write about his influence on cinema and the gaping hole he leaves behind. So here instead are two of his other offerings.

Firstly, a film in which he talks us through cooking quinoa. Don’t let that put you off – this is David Lynch, after all. The mixture of weird banality and the sense that something very surprising and utterly mad is about to happen.

“I’m going to go over now and fill this pan at the SINK – with some fresh. Water.”

And secondly, for those with less time on their hands, the definitive ice bucket challenge.

Further, here are a couple of quotes that seem to me wise.

“Right here people might bring up Vincent van Gogh as an example of a painter who did great work in spite of – or because of – his suffering. I like to think that van Gogh would have been even more prolific and even greater if he wasn’t so restricted by the things tormenting him. I don’t think it was pain that made him so great – I think his painting brought him whatever happiness he had.”

“If I ran my set with fear, I would get 1 percent, not 100 percent, of what I get. And there would be no fun in going down the road together. And it should be fun. In work and in life, we're all supposed to get along. We're supposed to have so much fun, like puppy dogs with our tails wagging. It's supposed to be great living; it's supposed to be fantastic.”

And finally, if you’re new to Lynch and wonder what kind of films he made, here’s a note he sent to his parents in 1977 (from the ever excellent Letters of Note).

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Thing 2 – Anachronyms

I enjoyed this list of anachronyms – words used “in an anachronistic way, by referring to something in a way that is appropriate only for a former or later time” – collected by Heddwen Newton. Examples include bookmark, dial, dashboard… you get the idea.

She’s updated it to include skeuomorphs – “derivative objects that retain ornamental design cues from structures that were necessary in the original” – and other similar concepts. All in all, an excellent and fascinating thing.

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Thing 3 – Kevin

“Getting the Bedlington Terrier out of your Skoda Fabia – wait… wait… wait… wait… wait… wait… wait WAIT WAIT”

Kevin Boniface is an artist, writer and postman. His observations of the everyday and the beautiful give me great pleasure.

Here are his highlights of 2024. Thanks to Caught By The River for featuring this as part of their very fine Shadows and Reflections series.

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Thing 4 – OK Go

OK Go do good videos. Their latest is no exception. I think my head exploded.

If you want to know how they did it, here’s the ‘behind the scenes’ video.

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Thing 5 – Fans

“Many thanks for your valuable suggestion.”

I don’t know about you, but I’m inundated – absolutely buried, I tell you – by fan mail. If you’re the same, you’re probably wondering how best to deal with it. You might find Evelyn Waugh’s guidelines helpful (as told to Nancy Mitford). Thanks to Maria Konnikova for this.

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Thing 6 – Flags

A very happy few minutes can be spent on Flag Stories, a collection of, well, stories about… umm… flags.

For example, this visualisation of the most dominant national flag layouts.

Or this history of selected countries, told through the changes in their flag design.