Eric at the Barking Up the Wrong Tree blog featured an excerpt from a book on time management by Cal Newport entitled Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World. So who is Cal Newport and why should anyone listen to his methods of time management? Eric explains:
"Cal Newport knows something about getting stuff done. In the decade after he graduated college he published 4 books, earned a PhD from MIT, published a ton of academic papers and was hired as a professor at Georgetown University.
Cal leaves the office every day before 6PM and rarely works weekends. He’s also married with 2 children.
How does he do it? Cal prioritizes what he calls “deep work.” And in his new book,, he explains why this is key and how you can incorporate it into your own life.
This book deserves the kind of praise I offer very rarely: It’s important.
So let’s hear what Cal has to say on how to manage your time, how you can be less busy and complete the kind of work that will get you raises and promotions…"
This wonderful footage features two red panda cubs, one male and one female, who were born and reside at the Prospect Park Zoo in Brooklyn, New York. A subspecies known as Stayan's Red Panda, the pair is native to the Eastern region of the Himalayas.
Births of this adorable species, enabled by a breeding program, are greatly welcomed due to being listed as endangered by the International Union of Conservation of Nature. Their endangered status is due to habitat loss caused by deforestation. Tragically, the population of the species has declined by 50 percent over the last 18 years. Via Zooborns
Sploid took the images of Toronto-based illustrator Scott Park and turned them into this fun animated video of every mode of transport in the original Star Wars trilogy sized to scale. Set to the Cantina Band music, this look at vehicles from Tauntaun to TIE Fighter is an entertaining diversion. Via Laughing Squid
This baby pygmy goat imitating his human's hopping is beyond cute. Baby goats are naturally bouncy, but this woman is just giving this little guy a nudge in the right direction. Looks like he has a hopping good future ahead. Via Daily Dot
John Stamos: for some girls of the 80s and 90s, he was the Tiger Beat poster boy that wouldn't quit. Stamos has been the stuff of fantasy for many a female, a fact that he is still acutely aware of, judging by his Instagram account.
Lately, the 52-year-old actor has taken to posting some vintage shots of himself that show what he looked like in his early years. These shots, mixed in with selfies and posed snaps from more recent and current times, see Stamos giving his fans what they want most: basic beefcake.
When Sir Silas was found as an abandoned kitten on a Florida road, he was near death, matted and starving. Luckily for him, a Florida family adopted and cared for him until he was the picture of health. The transformation in his looks is astounding. Now a fluffy ball of beautiful white fur, he's enjoying a bit of internet fame for his model good looks. Being loved sure looks good on you, Sir Silas!
This huge frog that a lady saved from a swimming pool thanked her by giving her a courtesy meow. But then, like a cat petted one more time than he was comfortable with, he let out a kitty screech. Was this frog raised by a family of cats? Did he swallow a kitten? Should he be fed some Fancy Feast or Meow Mix? What gives? Via Laughing Squid
Jaewoon U is a photographer from South Korea whose landscape shots of his country reflected in the calm surfaces of bodies of water have garnered increasing online attention. These artistic photographs of colorful foliage are so serene and pleasing to the eye that staring at one for any length of time has effects similar to meditation. The South Korean tourist industry should enlist the photographer to help their promotional endeavors.
Magazine and leading culinary website Epicurious compiled an article on their picks for their 50 best holiday cookie recipes from their large archive. So whether you'd like to get an early start on cookie baking or cookie eating, the linked article sets you up with a list that's handily divided into categories: The Classics, The Decorating Favorites, For Chocolate Lovers, The Kid Friendly Set, and The Spiced Ones.
Close Encounters of the Third Kind | Image: Columbia Pictures Corporation
Film enthusiasts usually have definite opinions on Steven Spielberg's works; some not so favorable. Spielberg has often been criticized as being too emotionally manipulative or overly sentimental. Others have been critical of his portrayal of, in their view, an unrealistic idea of American families. Some address Spielberg's critics as resentful of his huge commercial appeal, and in many cases they may be right. However you feel about Steven Spielberg's contribution to American film, there's no denying its significance and influence.
In the linked list below, mental_floss presents 30 facts about popular Steven Spielberg movies. Some examples:
4. CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND WAS INITIALLY A VERY DIFFERENT FILM.
Spielberg’s initial story outline involved UFOs and shady government dealings following the Watergate scandal, which became a script entitled “Watch the Skies.” The idea involved a police or military officer working on Project Blue Book, the Air Force’s official study into UFOs in the 1950s and 1960s, who would become the whistleblower on the government cover-up of aliens. There were numerous rewrites—Taxi Driver scribe Paul Schrader even took a crack at it, penning a political UFO thriller titled “Kingdom Come” that Spielberg and the movie studio rejected—before the story we know today emerged.
7. TOM SELLECK WAS SUPPOSED TO PLAY INDIANA JONES.
Prior to the production's start date in May 1980, George Lucas and Spielberg set up shop in the old Lucasfilm corporate headquarters to begin the casting process. Actors and actresses in consideration for the lead roles of Indiana Jones and his tough but beautiful companion Marion Ravenwood included Jane Seymour, Debra Winger, Mark Harmon, Mary Steenburgen, Michael Biehn, Sam Shepard, Valerie Bertinelli, Bruce Boxleitner, Sean Young, Don Johnson, Dee Wallace (who would later go on to star as the mother in Spielberg’s E.T.), Barbara Hershey, and even David Hasselhoff.
For Indy, Lucas and Spielberg eventually settled on actor Tom Selleck. But when CBS got wind of what the two were up to, the network legally barred Selleck—the lead of the hit showMagnum, P.I.—from appearing in the film.Spielberg then suggested Harrison Ford as a quick replacement, but Lucas was reluctant to cast Ford because he was already Han Solo in hisStar Wars films. But Spielberg’s quick thinking prevailed, and Ford was added to the cast just two weeks before principal photography began. (A similar snafu happened with Danny DeVito, the first choice to play Indy’s jovial companion Sallah, who couldn’t take the part due to his contractual obligation to appear on the popular ABC show Taxi.)
This older clip shows an adorable, six-month old ginger tabby kitten named Jed who's developed a love of a certain kind of treats. He may not be able to voice how delicious they are, but he can show his human in other ways. Ways such as vowing to hang on to the bag until it's pried from his cold, dead paws. Or toothy grip. Or both. Either way, Jed's got a lock on the snacks. That is, until he loses traction on the slick floor during his game of tug o' war. It's all downhill and kitty hunger pangs from there. Via Tastefully Offensive
Uncle Paulie slices garlic for a prison feast in Goodfellas | Image: Warner Bros.
When one thinks of inmates cooking in prison, an image that often comes to mind is the scene in Scorsese's Goodfellas, in which the gang on the inside gathers to cook a large, delicious meal complete with wine, Italian bread and the works.
But obviously, no one eats well in prison besides the "VIP" inmates. What's the experience of most? Esquire makes a list of eight from a detailed feature article in Thrillist, written by former inmate Daniel Genis, who gives us the nitty gritty. With the emphasis on gritty:
1. The most common food inmates eat in prison is instant ramen, which is called "crackhead soup" because it's the cheapest thing you can buy in the commissary at 10 cents a pack. Turns out prison isn't all that different from college.
2. It's not like prison cells come equipped with a stove, though, so in order to cook the ramen, inmates rely on a little trick called "the stinger." To make one, all you need is cold water from the tap, an electrical outlet, nail clippers, a power cord, and "the courage to drop a live wire into a cup of water."
Video Surveillance Camera | Image: Author name unknown / Wikimedia Commons
Yet another gem from Ask Reddit: a security guard tell-all. What sort of oddities show up on surveillance camera footage or is observed by security personnel on the job? As it turns out, oddities of all shapes, sizes and species. Read some examples below, and check out all of the responses at Reddit. Via Uproxx
“While working at a department store at the end of a strip mall, I saw a bobcat run past the doors, heading towards Target. Several seconds later, I saw a mother, father, and two children go running past in the same direction. A few minutes later, the family walked back past the doors, with the father carrying the bobcat. A big, f*ck off bobcat. It was kinda odd.” -OliverFriends
“I saw 3 casino floor waitresses go to a storeroom behind a bar the pulling their tops down and comparing breast sizes and feeling each other for bounciness. Apparently one of them just got implants and they were comparing them to the real thing. This went on for over 5 minutes then they pulled their tops back up and went to work like it was nothing.” -ChewedGummieBears
“Doing a stroll through the parking lot of a factory I was a guard at once. Noticed some commotion in a vehicle, so I shined my flashlight into the window. I busted Manager A with Manager B’s wife. It was slightly awkward.” -Bmc00
I worked at a hotel and we had a group of college kids come ask us if we had security footage of the pool area between 3-5 a.m. They were all excited about it so we pulled it up. At around 3 a.m. you see them sneak in and about 30 minutes later they started a drunken belly flop competition and wanted us to tell them who won. One of them did about five perfect belly flops in a row. I am talking NO FEAR, grade A belly flops. We told him that he won and he raised his hands up in celebration, got a funny look on his face and ran outside to puke.” -General HF
According to Australian Catherine Bremner, when she left home recently, she returned to find her hen James (named by her three sons) making quite the scene in her home. James had strutted inside while she was away, accidentally switched on her Roomba, and went for a ride around her living room. That's either one compulsively clean chicken or one who's completely adventurous. Either way, someone get this chicken a reality show. Via Arbroath
Author, cartoonist and illustrator Gemma Correll is a Brit who admits at her Tumblr site that this is the first Thanksgiving she's ever spent here in the United States. Thus, she gets down to brass tacks — or brass turkeys as it were — and practices that rite of passage in traditional American Thanksgiving grade school crafts: tracing the hand to make a turkey shape. Yet, clever as always, Gemma has come up with some alternative versions. See her additional suggestions above.
Happiest of Thanksgivings to you, Neatorama readers!
