What We Learned This Week
Welcome to "What We Learned This Week," a regular feature where we share all the most interesting nuggets of information we picked up in the past week.
The World Of "My Little Pony" And The Toy Industry At Large Is Extremely Cynical
Fun fact: all those cartoons you love and fondly look back on —those young Saturdays spent with a bowl of cereal and boundless joy — are all just elaborate toy marketing campaigns. Fortunately, there are people like Laruen Faust, the creator of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, keeping the suits at bay and preserving one of the last true art forms.
Selling Your Underwear Is Shockingly Lucrative
Granted, in this lovely "sharing economy" of ours there isn't much that you can't sell. But if you think you can sell pairs of underpants that you totally just wore for like two hours because who goes to the grocery store not wearing underwear — forget it. There are used underpants connoisseurs, and they have particular, horrifying tastes.
Great players come and go, but how many positions can you say have gotten better, as whole, over time? They might be getting lit up on the odd kick-off but kickers these days are, in sports parlance, straight crushing it. Our kickers are getting better too, but those are just words on a website.
There Is An Airbnb But For Pee And Poop
For those that live in New York, there is a specific terror in running errands on a Sunday and suppressing the urge to pee. Airpnp tries to remedy that by letting people rent out their bathrooms for a small fee. It's weird enough using the bathroom at a friend's house, imagine what it's like when you need to drop a load off in a complete stranger's apartment. I clench up just thinking about it.
This Is Not Your Beautiful Apartment, It's A Video Game
Were it not for the oddly-smooth camera work, there's little separating this apartment walk-through from real life. Go ahead, watch. You can totally see yourself living there. It's good to know that in the future, we'll be able to log onto Xbox Live, join our broker's party, and then get swindled without even leaving your couch.
That Fast Archery Video Is Hogwash, According To One Man
Given the popularity of That Video With The Guy Shooting The Arrows Really Fast, Jim MacQuarrie decided to examine it using facts and logic. Granted, some might be petty concerns, like: Anderson jumps around like a total dork and can barely throw ball. But there are some valid points: archers definitely used quivers, and Anderson definitely can't hit anything from more than 20 feet away.
People Are Still Harassing Anita Sarkeesian
The best way to get to know a person is to spend a week in their Twitter mentions. Here is cultural critic Anita Sarkeesian's. It's a seemingly unending hellscape of vitriol.
You Can Literally Scare The Shit Out Of Sperm Whales
When threatened, sperm whales evacuate their bowels, releasing a giant diversionary poop cloud that masks their escape. With that in mind, it makes Moby Dick a bit more of a sympathetic character — knowing that he craps himself in terror as he tears the Pequod asunder.
The Superbowl Is A Nationwide Bacchanal
On February 1st America will collectively consume 1.25 billion wings, 50 million cases of beer, and 30 million pounds of snacks. Christmas and Thanksgiving might have their sentimental value, but when it comes to sheer wanton consumption this country is famous for, the Super Bowl is, well, the Super Bowl of gluttony.