PJH Studios

Category: Pop Culture

Popular culture, culture that seems to spread beyond more than three people

  • Gulf of Whatever

    gulf of whatever from mapquest map generator

    Back in those innocent days before everyone used Google maps to get somewhere, we would print out all the pages from MapQuest. It was revolutionary, not needing to chart your own path from a foldable map you could never refold or barely read. Maybe this was where we lost our way down the path of ease and convenience. Alas Google (Waze) and Apple now lead us to our destinations.

    But MapQuest still exists, and let the world know in a simple and defiant act of satire–Name Your Own Gulf. Go ahead, give it a name you prefer, since that’s how things are these days.

  • Ross Chastain wall ride

    Nascar season started last weekend so let’s rewatch one of last year’s memorable moments–Ross Chastain using the wall to slingshot his car across the finish line. Unsurprisingly, Nascar banned the maneuver.

  • Competitive authoritarianism

    Competitive authoritarianism will transform political life in the United States. As Trump’s early flurry of dubiously constitutional executive orders made clear, the cost of public opposition will rise considerably: Democratic Party donors may be targeted by the IRS; businesses that fund civil rights groups may face heightened tax and legal scrutiny or find their ventures stymied by regulators. Critical media outlets will likely confront costly defamation suits or other legal actions as well as retaliatory policies against their parent companies. Americans will still be able to oppose the government, but opposition will be harder and riskier, leading many elites and citizens to decide that the fight is not worth it. A failure to resist, however, could pave the way for authoritarian entrenchment—with grave and enduring consequences for global democracy.

    In Foreign Affairs, The Path to American Authoritarianism

  • SNL lonely Island medley

    So many contributing to the Lonely Island medley for the SNL 50th anniversary concert. Spot them all! Gaga does Dick in a Box with Samberg. Chris Parnell, T-Pain, Bad Bunny. Eddie Vedder as a pirate.

  • Michael Shannon and REM

    Actor Michael Shannon will tour again, performing REM songs.

    On February 14, Shannon will begin his second tour inside of a year devoted to R.E.M. It will take him to more than a dozen cities in the US. Interest in the shows has been so high, with some tickets for a stop in Athens, Georgia, on the secondary market going for north of $600, that dates have been added in England as well.

    And most of the songs they are performing come from the early years of REM’s catalog.

  • Worldle

    Geography nerds can play their own Wordle like clone–Worldle. You’re given a stencil of a country or territory and you guess. Clues include how close you are and in what direction you need to go. Bonus rounds test surrounding counties, the flag, seal, capital, language, unique destination.

    Worldle screenshot

  • How Kendrick Lamar’s halftime show came together

    How Kendrick Lamar’s halftime show came together.

    For Lamar’s video game-themed show that meant more than 50 carts of staging and equipment—each weighing between 1,500 and 3,500 pounds—to be rolled out in the center of the stadium. To protect the field, the carts rode on specially designed wheels (“turf tires” is their nontechnical name), so the playing surface remains ready for the game’s second half.

  • Tom Brady’s Superbowl watch

    If you watched Superbowl 59 yesterday, you most likely saw Tom Brady’s wrist shine brighter than the sun.Turns out it’s a $740,000 piece with 338 yellow sapphires, 338 diamonds, and an 18k yellow gold case.

  • My 2024 best of list

    Originally posted to Instagram

    Now that we are in the final days of the year, here are 🎵a few of my favorite things 🎶

    (TV, movies, music are all from this year. The book list are my favorites that I read this year, but may have come out earlier)

    TV

    • Shrinking
    • Penguin
    • Arcane
    • Shogun
    • Slow Horses
    • Abbott Elementary
    • Geek Girl
    • Las Azules
    • Interior Chinatown
    • Fallout

    Books

    • Adam Higginbotham – Midnight in Chernobyl
    • Kathryn Schultz – Lost & Found
    • Scott Carson – Lost Man’s Lane
    • Matt Dinniman – Dungeon Crawler Carl series
    • Tananarive Due – The Reformatory
    • Travis Baldtree – Legends & Lattes
    • Adrian Tchaikovsky – Children of Time
    • Rick Remender – The Sacrificers vol 1
    • Matthew Desmond – Evicted
    • Patrick Horvath – Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees

    Movies

    • Mads
    • The Last Stop in Yuma County
    • Wild Robot
    • My Old Ass
    • Caddo Lake
    • Rebel Ridge
    • Inside Out 2
    • Hundreds of Beavers
    • Late Night with the Devil
    • Self Reliance

    Music

    • Etran De L’Air – 100% Saharan Guitar
    • Haley Heynderickx – Seed of a Seed
    • Glass Animals – I Love You So F Much
    • Cassandra Jenkins, My Light, My Destroyer
    • Runnners – Starsdust
    • Rosali – Bite Down
    • Zach Bryan – The Great American Bar Scene
    • Kelly Lee Owens – Dreamstate
    • Ghost Funk Orchestra – A Trip to the Moon
    • Dehd – Poetry
    • Pearl Jam – Dark Matter
    • Phosphorescent – ‘Revelator’
    • Itasca – Imitation of War

  • Dyatlov Pass incident

    In 1959, nine experienced Russian skiers died under mysterious circumstances, referred to as the Dyatlov Pass incident. Bodies found in different locations with varying amounts of clothing and an array of injuries. The facts made for ripe speculation: stumbling on a secret government project, a sadistic murderer, American spies, and the supernatural.

    In 2021, Douglas Preston covered the history of the investigations, and modern science may have solved it. The likeliest culprit? An Avalanche.