Q: Is there any experience on Earth that even compares slightly to having been on the moon?
A: My first words of my impression of being on the surface of the moon was 'magnificent desolation'. The magnificence of human beings, humanity, Planet Earth, maturing the technologies, imagination and courage to expand our capabilities beyond the next ocean, to dream about being on the moon, and then taking advantage of increases in technology and carrying out that dream ... But it is also desolate ... Colder than anyone could experience on Earth when the sun is up — but when the sun is up for 14 days, it gets very hot. No sign of life. That is desolate. More desolate than any place on Earth.
Leaf blower v big blow
Last Word: Yesterday as the gales howled around Auckland Jane emailed to say: "I just drove past a council worker in Cox's Bay using a leaf blower, in this wind ... Definition of futility."
Crowdfunder joke not funny
A Columbus, Ohio man asked for just $10 on crowdfunding website Kickstarter to make potato salad. Donations have now exceeded $44,000, pledged by more than 4,200 people with 25 days to run. John Herrman from the Awl.com explains why the joke is no longer funny: "If it was ever whimsical it isn't anymore - there is too much money, too much potential, tied up with this salad ... With every new dollar it feels more urgent to a viewer that he attach his name and his dollars to the thing, which is now obscured entirely by noise — a fee for ensuring that you're in on the joke ... [it's only] after Kickstarter takes its 5 per cent, after Amazon banks its cut, when all at once the internet feels an opposite, equally irresistible urge to pretend that none of this ever happened, that we realise what the joke really was, and at whose expense it was told."
What are the odds?
The National Council for Problem Gambling in Singapore put out this anti-gambling ad for the World Cup — about a kid who tells his mates that his dad put all his money on Germany. Sad face. Since Germany's astounding win, the message backfired and it has become a viral hit in Singapore.
Media: A memorable correction from the Waiuku Post.
Picture this: New York Times illustrator Christoph Niemann combining everyday objects into his watercolor scenes.
In case you missed it: A different perspective as a drone flies through fireworks display.
Video: Jono & Ben parody bank ad with NSFW language is nicely done.
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Got a Sideswipe? Send your pictures, links and anecdotes to Ana at ana.samways@nzherald.co.nz.
