Mammoth Links

The top ten games to watch for after E3 2017. Lists like this remind me that I need to take a break from Overwatch for a while. Of course then Overwatch starts a new event and I'm all like "I NEED THAT NEW WINSTON DANCING EMOTE" and I'm back to where I started.

The Mammoth Pirates. This is a really interesting photo essay on dudes that hunt for Woolly Mammoth tusks every summer in Siberia. It looks like horrible work, and it pretty much destroying the natural environment but I'll be dammed if I don't think it's cool that there are guys literally harvesting 10,000 year old bones out of the frozen ground. I had no idea that was even possible.

The Untold Story Of WCW’s Glacier, And The Battle To Find Personal Happiness In Professional Wrestling. Warning, this is a very long article. Double Warning, it's also very very good so find a couple minutes in your day to check it out. Glacier was a sort of Mortal Kombat knock off wrestler who worked for WCW back in the late 90s, but the story isn't 100% about him. It's hard to describe but it's sort of a slice of Americana if Americana had to fight off skeleton warriors.

It’s so hot in Phoenix, planes are physically unable to fly. Turns out hot air provides less lift than cooler air and some smaller planes can't get enough lift to safely take off. Science is kinda heartless that way, it doesn't care if you have to get to Flagstaff by 2:30. It's hot, so you're staying put.

As a follow up, I once spent a couple weeks in Phoenix when it was in the high 110s, it might even have reached 120 that summer. It was incredible. You can barely catch your breath its so hot out. No one was outside doing anything, people were barely driving around. It was like a ghost town. Like a fool I tried to go for a bike ride one day, I got 2 blocks from the house and was like NOPE.

No Man's Links

First 727 Restoration. Long story short the first 727, built over 50 years ago flew from Everett to Seattle after a lengthy restoration processes. The 727 was really the plane that cemented Boeing place as one of the worlds top airplane manufacturers. It's a neat part of aviation history and these are some cool pictures of the restoration process. Well worth a couple minutes checking out.

Breaking Down Each State’s Most Searched PornHub Term. A. That's a lot of Lesbians B. Step-Mom? Step-Sister? You people are sick. C. No Asian?

edit: Never mind, good work Hawaii.

Erin Andrews: ESPN Forced Me To Go On TV And Talk About My Stalker. ESPN kinds sucks don't they? I'll admit when the Erin Andrews nude video story first broke I didn't really think about how awful the whole thing was. I'm kinda terrible about remembering that some celebrities are actual human beings. Reading this story really made me feel bad for Andrews, what a terrible thing to happen to a person AND to make it worse your employer doesn't really believe you? That's messed up.

5 Ways We Got The Trump Campaign Wrong: An Insider Explains. This is an interesting read on what happens behind the scenes on a campaign. As horrifying as it might be to actually imagine a president Trump it sure has been an exciting campaign season. Imagine if the only thing we had to talk about was Hillary vs Bernie... snooze.

No Man's Sky Just Got Even Cooler, Now That We've Seen Its Aliens. No Man's Sky has an actual release date! Sometime in June! I don't know exactly when, I already closed the tab. I'm perilously close to actually pre-ordering this.

Bryan Singer Developing R-Rated Red Sonja Series For Television. Oh man I am down for this. I'm not 100% sure what this says about me but I'm a sucker for strong female leads, pretty much across all forms of entertainment. If done well this could be a really fun show to watch. I'm thinking Game of Thrones but with less talking and more stabbing... probably the same amount of cleavage.

Star Wars RC Star Destroyer - Will It Fly?

Some RC nerds out there with just the right amount of time on their hands and a youtube channel built a 15 foot remote control Star Destroyer out of foam core and lightsaber crystals. It's impressive but will it actually fly?

Yes, it will fly. It will fly hilariously poorly.

Delta's New Safety Video is as Cool as Keyboard Cat

This new safety video from Delta is pretty insane. It had to cost them hundreds of dollars to get all your favorite internet meme's in one video. Overly attached girlfriend, double rainbow guy, keyboard cat, mentos and diet coke, will it blend guy, it's all there. It's like a time capsule of the internet circa 2010.

Close Air Support

The Air Force has been putting out these promotional videos showing off some of their swag. In this video Members of the 25th Fighter Squadron demonstrate what Close Air Support is all about, from the seat of an A-10C. It's not the kind of thing I usually post here but the A-10 as the Cobra Rattler was one of my favorite GI Joe toys so the judges will allow it.

Super Link Bros.

How Nintendo Convinced The World To Buy A Weird Mario Game. This article is a load of horseshit... more or less. Nintendo didn't have to convince anyone to buy a "weird Mario game". Super Mario Bros 2 could have been a port of ET from the 2600 and it would have sold like crazy. People WANTED Super Mario Bros 2 BAD, it didn't matter that the gameplay was vastly different from the first one. Super Mario Bros doesn't look anything like Mario Bros, much less that other game staring Mario, Donkey Kong. The idea that Super Mario Bros 2 would be different from the first one wasn't that weird.

What is weird and incredibly interesting, is how Super Mario Bros 2 for the US is WAY different that Super Mario Bros 2 in Japan. It literally is a different game called Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic. Nintendo of America felt like the Japanese version of Super Mario Bros 2 was too difficult and similar to the first one, so they ported over this Doki Doki Panic game and just changed the characters to match the budding Mario Universe. That's why all of the sudden Princess Peach can fly and Toad is a strongman.

What It’s like to Fly the $23,000 Singapore Airlines Suites Class. This made a lot of hay on Facebook so pardon me if you've already read this but this article on what it's like to fly on Singapore Airlines Suites Class is really interesting. Growing up I flew pretty much exclusively in First Class. My parents weren't rich or anything, my mom worked for United Airlines so a first class ticket cost like $25. I flew a lot on my own going from grandparents to my aunt and uncles and back to the other grandparents. Back in the 80s and 90s a single stand by has a great chance of getting a first class seat.

I never flew in a cabin with a bed but I remember once on a trip to Hawaii I got to sit in the upstairs lounge area on a 747. The seats faced each other, it was crazy!

DC Is Sorry About Their Dumb, Sexist Shirts. I've mentioned this before but buying superhero themed stuff for girls is AWFUL. Target had two Superhero themed onesies, the one for boys said "Future Man of Steel" and the one for girls said "I Only Date Heroes". Talk about sexist garbage.

2014′s Most & Least Fair State Tax Systems. Go Washington, we're number 1! We're number 1! This doesn't surprise me one bit. I know Washington is a very liberal state but it's also home to a boatload of tech millionaires. Rich liberals LOVE talking about income equality and social services but it's always on the back of someone else. Usually some other millionaire or corporation that they think is more evil than they are.

Recently the State Supreme Court found Washington State in contempt of court by refusing to properly fund education (something mandated in the state constitution). State Government's response is to throw up their hands and say "nothing we can do" and no one is willing to stick their neck out for tax reform. If I ever move to Oregon you can bet Washington States feckless political leadership will be one of the biggest reasons why.

Also it's worth pointing out that this report got no coverage in either the local paper or TV. Seattle/Washington only likes talking about themselves if it's positive. Come in 7th on Buzzfeed's list of best travel spots and you are going to hear about it ad nauseam. Heaven forbid anyone point out that all the Microsoft millionaires are screwing everyone else.

3 Famous Characters Whose Creators Got Epically Screwed. Jeez, today is just soapbox day for me isn't it? Earlier this week Marvel comics settled a long standing lawsuit with the family of Jack Kirby. In case that name doesn't mean anything to you, Jack Kirby (along with Stan Lee) helped created about 80% of the characters you recognize from the Marvel Universe. Based on some very interesting copyright law, his family was suing that eventually ownership of those characters should revert back to Jack Kirby (and his estate). I won't go into it here but the case was about to be heard by the Supreme Court so obviously there was something to it.

A lot of people are were happy that Jack Kirby was finally getting some sort of recognition/settlement from Marvel but while it's great for Kirby there's a TON of other writers and artists that aren't getting squat. Did you enjoy Rocket Racoon and Guardians of the Galaxy this summer? Thank Bill Mantlo the creator of Rocket. In fact thank Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning too as most of that movie was lifted from their run on the book. You like the X-Men? Well Stan Lee and Jack Kirby created them, but almost every movie or TV show based on them has pulled heavily from Chris Claremont's run on the title. Deadpool? Rob Liefeld. Thor? Walter Simonson. Superman? John Byrne. Batman? Frank Miller. The Avengers? Kurt Busiek, Roger Stern, Steve Englehart, Roy Thomas all of these guys and more had a hand in providing 50 years worth of stories for Joss Whedon to pull inspiration from.

Again, I'm happy for Jack Kirby's family but I'm not going to jump for joy knowing just how many others have been left with nothing.

You know what day it is? Links.

Why Is The 'Retired' F-117 Nighthawk Still Flying? As a boy that grew up obsessed with military weapons and vehicles, the F-117 has a special spot in my memory-heart. It was the first really cool future weapon that I can remember. It didn't hurt that for the first few years of it's known existence it was still shrouded in mystery. No one really knew that much about the plane and what it was capable of they just new it was invisible and looked like it belonged to the rebel alliance. I love the idea that there's still a group of them flying around when there shouldn't be. Let's call them Rogue Squadron just for fun.

How a Boy, His Horse and a Swamp Basically Screwed up a Generation. Somehow The Neverending Story has come up a bunch in conversation and on-line lately. Outside of Bambi's mom I can't think a kids movie with a worse first 15 minutes. The horse literally died because it lost all hope. That ish is messed up.

It’s Not In the Game: Eight Features the NFL Made EA Sports Remove from “Madden”. I'll be honest I haven't played a Madden game since the PS2 when EA screwed the NFL2K series out of the NFL license (2005 maybe?). I had no idea they took away the ambulance. The ambulance was the BEST! Oh man I remember hours spent playing this on the snes just dying for the ambulance to show up. The only thing better was a in season snow game.

Essentially the 90s were boring and we were easily entertained.

31 Of The Most Exotic Pools On Earth. Some day I want to be rich enough to have a pool right next to or in another body of water. It's the most ridiculous expense I can think of. "Yeah that water 2 feet over there is ok, but this water right here has jets and an ipod hook up"

Delta's 80's In-Flight Safety Video

This 1980s themed in Flight Safety Video from Delta airlines is better than any commercial I saw yesterday during the Super Bowl. Ok, maybe it's not as good as the one with the horse and the puppy. Did you see how the puppy looked when he was driving away? Or how the horse started chasing after him?

..excuse me for a sec, suddenly it's gotten really dusty in here.

How would a T-Rex Fly a Jet?

Like a boss, that's how.

Earth's Weirdest Links

The World's most Bizarre Aircraft Graveyards. Maybe it's because I watched Can't Buy Me Love too much as a kid but I LOVE aircraft graveyards. At least I love the idea of them. I've never actually been to one or anything. I don't know why, I've spent tons of time in Arizona. Grandma and Grandpa couldn't have skipped one antique store?

The Last Sports Stars of Video Games' Cartridge Era. Boy this hits way too close to home. I never had a NES growing up so when I did finally save up cash for a SNES I played it nonstop for like 3 years. I put so much time into NBA Live 95 and NHL 95 if I close my eyes I can hear the soundtracks and see the rosters. The idea that most of those guys are retired makes me a tad wistful.

5 Scary Myths You Probably Believe about the Economy. Maybe you believe these myths about the economy, but I didn't. I spent like 3 years in community college so I'm what you would call an educated voter. Seriously though, this is pretty good article for a comedy website. They gloss over a few facts and details but the overall theme of the article is there. Don't even get me started with gas prices.

Earth's Weirdest Landscapes. I've said it before but damn nature, you scary. That pink lake in Australia is horrifying.

Christmas Wish List: Airplane Kindergarten

Every day in December I plan on posting one thing from my official DevilDinosaur Christmas Wish List (patent pending). Why? Because I can.

A lot of my friends with kids are starting to look at Kindergartens, since most of them make more money than I do, I'm sure all their kids will be going to super fancy private kindergartens with special high sensory learning annexes and MacBook Airs for everyone. Well this kindergarten in an airplane would really show them up. Your kid might be on the fast track to Harvard but my kid can land on an aircraft carrier at a 4th grade level already.