A drive through rural China

This is truly a "longwatch" (one and a half hours), so I just browsed it.  I continue to be impressed by the investment China is making in its infrastructure. 

"It is a transportation corridor created to promote rural economic development... This section of the route officially opened in the second half of 2024. The most famous section of the route is the “72 Curves of Tongqiangou Valley ”, the highway looks like a giant dragon circling between the lofty mountains. Road started to turn in bends and switchbacks, the altitude climbs rapidly, and the rolling hills in the distance will continue to unfold in front of your eyes.

Related: Driving in Shangri-La (another hour-long video)

Extremely detailed study of a painting

I hadn't even finished watching before deciding it was blogworthy, especially when I learned why angel wings resemble watermelon slices.

Magic trick props

Chinese guy explains how every magic trick works
by u/Adorable-Cattle-5128 in interestingasfuck

Boston Fourth of July aerial celebration, 2026

My old friends back in the Boston area have told me that this year's show combining drones and fireworks was truly spectacular.

Secretariat at the Belmont Stakes in 1973 - his "tremendous machine" performance

 

Everyone who watched the Belmont 40 years ago will never forget Secretariat's race that day.  He had already won the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness; this was his bid for the Triple Crown, and he was so good that few owners wanted to enter their horses against him in the Belmont - that's why there were so few racing that day.   The track didn't even take "show" bets, and it's an interesting (?unique) anomaly that Secretariat was so favored by bettors that he would have paid more to show ($2.40) than he did to win ($2.20).  

Over 5,000 winning tickets were never redeemed because the holders valued them more as souvenirs than for their cash value.

And to this day his speed for 1.5 miles has never been equaled.  Even if you have no interest in thoroughbred racing per se, you owe it to yourself to watch this 3-minute clip to see one of the iconic moments in the history of sport.

Reposted from 2013.

Addendum:  A tip of the blogging hat to reader demenace07, who offered this link with more information about the economics of uncashed winning tickets for a more recent race:

Some enterprising horse bettors are selling their tickets on eBay, where such tickets are selling for $20 to $30. Other sellers bought up many of the cheapest Belmont Stakes gambling tickets. One seller is selling a lot of 500 such tickets. Another is selling 150 tickets in a lot.

Tickets for the Triple Crown wins of Secretariat (1973) and Seattle Slew (1977) sold for big money on the collectors market.

Rovell said that the tickets are simply worth more to collectors than the cash-in price. He said, “Whether you want to keep it for your memory or resell it, it’s worth ten times more than if you cash it in. So people are making good bets.”

Reposted again in 2026 because I found it while looking for other stuff.  I don't follow or even enjoy watching horse racing, although I did see some dressage events during my years in Kentucky, but this race is so iconic that it's worth preserving here in the blog.

"Age is no barrier"

At a time of national and international turmoil, there is a certain comfort that comes from watching senior citizens enjoying bodysurfing.  (A "grommet" is surfing lexicon for a "newbie")

Via Nag on the Lake, where there's always something interesting.  

Public service announcement

Viewers at Neatorama are advised by Miss Cellania that this brief video is a public service announcement, so I was alert to the possibility, but didn't figure out the message until the 3:40 mark.  I'm reposting it not so much for the message as for the artwork, which I find very appealing - especially the styling of the willow tree by the pond.

A Brief History of Kinetic Sculpture Racing

Found by reader smittypap, who posted the link in a comment at my previous post about art cars.

Another example of people having fun.  No war posts today.

Argentinian public service announcement

The ending is not what you expect.  It's better...

Reposted from 2015 to counterbalance some of the dreadful news nowadays.

"I am somebody!"

An iconic 1963 speech by Jesse Jackson.  A decade later PBS invited him to do a reprise of that call-and-response to introduce the letter "I" on Sesame Street.

"...what they are being told is that they are people. They are not learning to be people. They are not playing at what it will be like to grow up and become people. They are people already, with the same entitlement to dignity as any towering grown-up....  Here, he does not speak with the fire of a protest leader or a politician. He’s like a hip teacher or youth group leader. He engages and encourages the kids in the tones of a classroom. 

The message of Jackson’s litany is the beginning of education, and the beginning of democracy. It says that you have worth as a person, simply because you are a person. It says that you have a voice. And it says that your voice is most powerful when it joins with other voices.

Jesse Jackson (1941-2026) was a memorable force for those of us coming of age in the 1960s.

"A good pool player is a sign of a misspent youth"

My father used to quote that phrase when we played 8-ball.

I don't know the origin of the aphorism (?Twain, ?W.C. Fields), but I did find this while searching:

"I spent half my money on booze, women, and gambling. The other half i wasted." 

--W C Fields

(Reposted from 2014) 

Timelapse of the development of Chicago

I have lots of concerns re AI, but I have to grudgingly admit that it can generate some absolutely awesome images and videos.  More re the concerns later, but first this embed of Chicago from 1870 to the present.  History Revived has lots of these.  I'll definitely do the Mexico City one later.  

Magic tricks are fun to watch

Why facts don't change some people's minds

Via Laughing Squid

Troglodyte's home

This is a relatively long video.  A speeded-up compressed version is here.

The evolution of Boston Dynamics robots

YouTube link.

Awesome.

Related:

Big Dog (2009)

The Sand Flea (2012)

Atlas (2016)

Spot Mini (2016)

Reposted from 2017 to add this new video (via Nag on the Lake):

Reposted from 2021 to add the latest - a robot with gymnastic skills.

Via Neatorama, where there is some explanatory text.

Stop doomscrolling for a couple minutes...

... and listen to this woman telling you about her ducks.  Via Neatorama.

Offered without comment...

Excerpt from a transcript of the July 23 As It Happens podcast from the CBC:

[Acey Rowe, host]: You may have seen the cellphone video -- a Black man in Jacksonville, Florida is punched in the face, pulled from his car and beaten by police during a traffic stop. This follows an exchange where he repeatedly asks the officers why he's been pulled over and asks to speak to a supervisor, as they demand he leave the car. His name is William McNeil Jr. and today the 22-year-old college student spoke about what happened to him -- as his lawyers demand accountability. Jacksonville Sheriff T.K. Waters, however, urged people not to rush to judgement. He says the cellphone video, quote, "does not comprehensively capture the circumstances." Unquote. Mr. McNeil was with his parents and their lawyer, Ben Crump, when he spoke to reporters today. Here's what they had to say, beginning with his mother Latoya Solomon.

SOUNDCLIP

LATOYA SOLOMON: The day I seen that video, I couldn't finish it past the window breaking. It wasn't until maybe a few months ago I finally finished the whole video. But I'm thankful to God for protecting him, because I know what the outcome could have been. But I believe in faith in God is protected my only son.

ALTON SOLOMON: Morning. I'm Alton Solomon, the father, stepfather. But I can't call him my stepson, because this is my son. I've been through what he's been through. To see that video made me go back to the moment when I was 22. It hurt. It made me upset. But I've seen what my son did that I had to do, and he sat right, and he did right. To see that, [deep breathing] it's a hurting feeling to be a father that loved God first. And to see all my kids not being able to wake up in the morning, get my phone call saying your child is gone. That's a hurting feeling, but I thank God. Because God got him.

BEN CRUMP: William's just gonna make a few remarks. And keep this family in prayer, because as his mother and father both said, they knew he could have been the next hashtag. It could have a different result had he not kept his demeanour.

WILLIAM MCNEIL JR.: First of all, I want to thank God for bringing everybody here together. And thank y'all for supporting me. That day, I just really wanted to know, you know, why I was getting pulled over, and why I needed to step out of the car when I knew I didn't do nothing wrong. I was really just scared. Yeah, that's it.

A fascinating video about Roman aqueducts

Lots and lots of information I didn't know, most of it quite interesting.  Sadly, the speaker employs an execrable narrative style of pauses and emphasis that has to be tolerated to extract the info.

Reposted from 2022 to add a much higher quality video which uses animation to explain some of the engineering challenges facing the Roman architects.

The engineering of roman aqueducts explained.
byu/cosmic_voyager01 inDamnthatsinteresting

Mother-of-the-Year candidate

Reposted for Mother's Day, 2025.