PBS NewsHour and FiveThirtyEight examine the end of the Supreme Court term

I am in too serious a mood because of the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade and other decisions about guns, the establishment clause, and West Virgina vs. EPA to posting about entertainment today. Besides, I posted entries about entertainment and pop culture for Canada Day and World UFO Day and will likely post something light tomorrow for July 4th. I'll make up for it.

I begin today's examination with PBS NewsHour's Supreme Court hands down climate change, immigration rulings on final day of historic term.

The U.S. Supreme Court has wrapped up a term that rewrote the law books on abortion, guns, climate change and asylum policy. That, in turn, set the stage for more history, when Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson became the first Black woman on the court. She was sworn in Thursday by Justice Stephen Breyer, who retired. The National Law Journal's Marcia Coyle joins John Yang to discuss.

This has certainly been an eventful term, thanks to the three justices that The Former Guy appointed, which moved the court even more to the right. The damage from his maladministration continues, a year and a half after he left office. At least the Biden Administration can claim victories over immigration and Ketanji Brown Jackson.

I'm continuing with PBS NewsHour's EPA Administrator Michael Regan discusses Supreme Court ruling on climate change.

Many environmental advocates acknowledged Thursday that the Supreme Court's decision in the Environmental Protection Agency’s case is a significant blow in the government's efforts to limit greenhouse gases in the short term. West Virginia won the case after a legal battle over the clean power plan. EPA Administrator Michael Regan joins Judy Woodruff to discuss.

This is indeed bad news for fighting climate change and could be a precedent that constrains regulations by many branches of government. The good news is that hasn't happened yet and greenhouse gas emissions from power plants are decreasing because of market forces, which EPA Administrator Michael Regan mentioned in his interview. May we continue to be so lucky.

Follow over the jump for three of FiveThirtyEight's videos explaining the Supreme Court's decisions about abortion, the establishment clause, and guns.

Courtney Coulston reacts to Phantom Regiment's Spartacus for a drum corps Ides of March

Beware the Ides of March! For this year's celebration, I'm recycling the concept behind A Drum Corps Ides of March for an election year as I foretold in 'Pines of Rome' for a drum corps Ides of March when I wrote "If [Courtney Coulston's DCI videos] are still up next year, I know which video I want to use in 2022." They're still up, so watch New Zealand Girl Reacts to 2008 PHANTOM REGIMENT - SPARTACUS!!!

Welcome back to another Drum Corps video!!! This one was such an interesting one for me. Stay tuned to hear all my thoughts!!

When Phantom Regiment first performed a Spartacus show in 1981 and again in 1982, a lot of people, including me, thought this show was ahead of its time. I had no idea it was 27 years ahead of its time until this show won in 2008.

I conclude with this meme from the show.


Remember, we are all Spartacus!

WatchMojo rewound YouTube again, Google's Year in Search, and top memes for New Year's Eve

Happy New Year's Eve! I told my readers what to expect in yesterday's Vox, TODAY, and ABC News look back at 2021.

Stay tuned for one last retrospective, a combination of Google's Year in Search and YouTube didn't rewind 2020, so WatchMojo did it for them to send off 2021. It's New Year's Eve and I want to throw a party, at least on this blog.

I'm starting the party with WatchMojo's YouTube Rewind 2021.

YouTube is STILL not doing a Rewind! In October, Youtube announced that not only would they not be making a YouTube Rewind for 2021, but that they will stop making YouTube Rewinds entirely. So we decided to make one for them...again! 2021 was stacked with epic videos, trailers, trends, and announcements, including Sora Comes to “Super Smash Bros. Ultimate”, Logan Paul vs. Floyd Mayweather, ”Resident Evil Village” Release, and more! What was your favorite video of 2021? Let us know in the comments!

I'll miss YouTube's official rewinds; they were a lot of fun. I'm glad WatchMojo, producers of "high-quality, well-researched clickbait," picked up the slack so I could continue my year-end tradition.

WatchMojo continued with Top 10 YouTube Channels of 2021.

2021 has seen a lot of really great YouTube Channels grow and succeed. For this list, we’ll be looking at YouTubers you suggested and voted for on our community poll. You told us who you wanted to see and here are your favorite content creators! Our countdown includes Arcade Crainiacs, Mark Rober, Dead Meat, CrankGamePlays, and more! Did we miss a YouTuber that really impressed you in 2021? Let us know in the comments!

Unlike last year's video, which only mentioned one channel I knew, this year's lists three, First We Feast, PewDiePie, and Good Mythical Morning. In addition, the host of Mr. Beast looks familiar, even though I didn't know his channel name. The channel I most want to watch of all of them is Mark Rober. His videos look both fun and educational.

I close out WatchMojo's YouTube lists for this year with Top 10 Most Liked YouTube Videos of All Time.

To say that people enjoyed these YouTube videos would be a massive understatement. For this list, we’ll be looking at videos with the most likes on the video sharing platform! Our countdown includes Ping Pong Trick Shots 3, Me at the Zoo, How Zach King Gets Away With Doing Graffiti, and more! Do you think these videos deserve the likes? Let us know what you think in the comments!

Dude Perfect, PewDiePie, and Mr. Beast all have videos in this top 10, which also showcases creators outside of the English-speaking world. YouTube is global. So are TikTok and Twitter. ABC News covered some of their most popular videos in 2021’s top memes.

ABC News’ Will Ganss shares the best and funniest internet moments of 2021, from Zoom cat lawyer to Gorilla Glue girl!

Ha ha!


I close with the other end-of-year tradition, Google — Year In Search 2021.

In a year that continued to test many, the world searched “how to heal” more than ever. Whether they’re taking care of mental health, honoring a loved one, or reuniting with family, people are finding ways to come back stronger than before.

Ah, the feels!

That concludes my blogging for 2021. Stay tuned for 2022. Happy New Year!

I kick off spooky season with Broken Peach

I told my readers "Stay tuned as I go all Halloween from now to the end of the month" at the end Vox explains how 4 companies control the beef industry for a late National Food Day, so I'm following through by kicking off spooky season on my blog with Broken Peach singing Tainted Love (Halloween Special). The band worked in "Sweet Dreams" by the Eurythmics as a bridge to make it a medley.

"Tainted Love" is a song composed by Ed Cobb, formerly of American group The Four Preps, which was originally recorded by Gloria Jones in 1964. It attained worldwide fame after being covered and reworked by British synthpop duo Soft Cell in 1981 and has since been covered by numerous groups and artists.

The inmates are running the asylum!

Next, a TV Peachformance of last year's Halloween special, Remains Of The Day.

Song written by @DannyElfmanVEVO for Tim Burton's Corpse Bride film!

Since I usually cap off my major holiday posts with a drink, I'm capping off this entry with Dranks: Corpse Bride.


Drink responsibly and stay tuned for more Halloween posts through the end of the month. Trick or treat!

Science and thrills for Roller Coaster Day and Rum Day

Happy National Roller Coaster Day! As I promised yesterday, I'm celebrating today by combining some science with thrills for an educational entertainment post. Watch PBS Terra ask and answer Are Roller Coasters Good For Your Brain?

Roller coasters have the power to heal. Host Joe Hanson explores the world of coasters, exploring the safety protocols ride engineers consider in designing them and the impact they have on the human body. We learn about how the experience of riding coasters can have positive impacts on our lives.

Actually, it's the physiology of fear, not the physics of fear. There are several videos on that subject that I'm thinking of sharing for future celebrations. That won't stop me from showing this video to my biology students next year as a fun way to examine how the nervous system handles fear. I think they'll enjoy it and learn something, too.

Today is also National Rum Day. While I feature rum drinks for National Piña Colada Day, National Mojito Day, and National Daiquiri Day, there are all kinds of rum drinks other than those three. Since I began today's entry by celebrating an amusement park thrill ride, I'm going to continue with the theme park theme with How To Drink's Need your Disney Fix? Make the Dole Whip at Home! Also rum!

I'm a giant Disney's Parks fan, today I'm talking about my favorite attraction, the Enchanted Tiki Room, and making a Dole Whip.

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I'm kind of a giant Walt Disney World Fan and I love me some Dole Whip. The Dole Whip, if you're not familiar, is a soft serve ice cream confection, usually pineapple flavored, that is served just outside of Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room. It has a rabid fanbase just desperate to get more of that magic dole whip awesomeness all year long- and now you can! I've got a perfect dole whip recipe you can mix up at home all on your own. I add rum to mine, but that's totally not necessary. In fact, the rum changes the consistency to more of a shake and less of an ice cream. It turns out, this is pretty darn simple to make. The Enchanted Tiki Room is probably my favorite attraction, so I talk about it quite a bit here, and also Walt Disney's history with the attraction and a bit about its strange history in the park too.

Dole Whip
16 oz. -or- 450 g. Frozen Pineapple
2.6 oz. -or- 77 ml. coconut milk
3 tbs -or- 36 g. sugar
pinch of salt
1 tsp -or- 5 ml. lemon juice
1 tsp. -or- 5 ml. lime juice
2 oz. -or- 60 ml. rum (OPTIONAL)
Garnish with pineapple
and an umbrella!

That was much more Disney than rum, but it was fun, too, even if it wasn't as educational as the PBS Terra video about roller coasters. I'm not showing this to my students!

Once again, happy National Roller Coaster Day and Rum Day!

Father's Day, American Eagle Day, and National Seashell Day on the Summer Solstice — history and science of four holidays

Happy Father's Day, Summer Solstice, American Eagle Day, and National Seashell Day! Since today is a crowded day for holidays, I am diving right in with The history of Father’s Day from Good Morning America.

As we celebrate a day for dads, we take a look back at the history of the holiday.

I couldn't resist drawing from the same well I did for Drink a martini to Juneteenth becoming a national holiday to pull up a history lesson.

Speaking of lessons, AccuWeather gives a science lesson when it asks It's summer, but we're farther away from the sun? The science behind the summer solstice.

It may not make sense, but the Earth is actually at its farther point away from the sun, when the Northern Hemisphere experiences summer. So why isn't the summer the colder time of the year? Let's find out from AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Krissy Pydynowski.

This is a counterintuitive fact, like today isn't the longest day of the year — that happens either June 30 or December 31, when leap seconds are added, although that won't happen this year — or that the latest sunrises and earliest sunsets don't happen on the Winter Solstice. It does stress the importance of axial tilt for determining the seasons, something I teach my students. For what it's worth, my readers in the Southern Hemisphere don't have that problem; the Earth is closest to the Sun when it's their summer.

Now for the two wildlife days I celebrate today, beginning with American Eagle Day - from WBIR Knoxville - June 20, 2018.

American Eagle Foundation (AEF) Director of Operations Laura Sterbens, along with Spencer Williams, Curator of Birds, talk about American Eagle Day and the work done by the AEF in an interview on WBIR Channel 10, Knoxville. Appearing with Laura and Spencer is Bald Eagle Challenger.

What a magnificent bird! I'm glad the Bald Eagle came back from being endangered.

I close with another science lesson for National Seashell Day, How Seashells Are Made from PBS Digital's Reactions.

If you know that seashells are made of basically the same stuff as chalk, you might have wondered why chalk is crumbly but seashells are super tough. This week on Reactions, we explain: The secret’s in the biochemistry.

I might show this video to my students this summer and fall. Welcome to blogging as professional development!

I have more holidays to celebrate, World Giraffe Day tomorrow, World Rainforest Day on Tuesday, and maybe National Detroit-Style Pizza Day on Wednesday followed by World UFO Day on Thursday. Doom can wait.

PIX11 on movie and TV presidents for Presidents Day 2021

Happy Presidents Day! For today's celebration, I'm returning to the theme of last year's The best movie and TV presidents, real and fictional, for Presidents Day weekend with Watchu Talkin’ About: Presidents from TV and film, which PIX11 News just uploaded this morning.

In honor of President’s Day, PIX11 News’ Ojinika Obiekwe is joined by founder of the new entertainment app PopViewers Chris Witherspoon to celebrate some fictional presidents on the big and small screen.

Two of the fictional presidents on the list at 4:30 are former winners of Best Television President, Kiefer Sutherland as Tom Kirkman on "Designated Survivor" for 2019 and Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Selina Meyer on "Veep" for 2020. Louis-Dreyfus as Meyer is not eligible for this year's Golden Coffee Cups for Television, but Sutherland as Kirkman is. I started working on the shortlists for this year's awards yesterday, so watch for the post announcing them later this week. Stay tuned, everyone!

'SNL' covers impeachment and celebrates Valentines Day

Happy Valentines Day! I will celebrate over the jump with the relevant clips from last night's Saturday Night Live after I share what the show had to say about Trump's impeachment verdict. I begin with the Second Impeachment Trial Cold Open.

Fox News host Tucker Carlson (Alex Moffat) interviews senators Lindsey Graham (Kate McKinnon), Ted Cruz (Aidy Bryant) and Mitch McConnell (Beck Bennett) on former President Donald Trump’s second impeachment trial.

Thank you, cast and crew of SNL, for imagining what the reaction would be on Fox News so the rest of us wouldn't have to, or, worse yet, actually watch it.

Weekend Update: Trump Acquitted in Second Impeachment covered yesterday's news as well.

Weekend Update anchors Colin Jost and Michael Che tackle the week's biggest news, like House impeachment managers showing Capitol riots footage during former President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial.

Michael Che was right when he said "just because there is video evidence doesn't mean you are going to get a conviction." Sigh.

That's it for impeachment, which is a little easier to swallow the day after with laughter. Follow over the jump for SNL's skits celebrating Valentines Day.

Marching music for the Nebraska Primary

Yesterday, I told my readers to "stay tuned for marching music for the Nebraska Democratic Primary" today. Here's the introduction to the primary's Wikipedia entry.

The 2020 Nebraska Democratic primary will take place on Tuesday, May 12, 2020, as part of the Democratic Party presidential primaries for the 2020 presidential election. The Nebraska primary is a semi-closed primary. The state awards 29 delegates to the 2020 Democratic National Convention, of which 25 are pledged delegates allocated on the basis of the results of the primary.

As I first wrote in Marching music for the Wyoming Democratic Caucuses, "Other than selecting delegates, this election has little meaning. Just the same, enjoy the music while waiting for the results."

Nebraska is known for one drum and bugle corps, the Union Pacific Railmen from Omaha. The corps' alumni association has videos of most of their best performances, including what is the corps's high point, the 1989 Railmen Drum and Bugle Corps at DCI Quarterfinals, where they placed 25th.


The corps went into a prolonged hiatus after the 1995 season, but they'e competing again in SoundSport. Watch The Railmen - 2019 Sound Sport for their latest championship performance.


I wish the unit luck next year, as no corps is competing this year because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Sigh.

Follow over the jump for the University of Nebraska Cornhusker Marching Band and the Millard West High School Marching Band at the 2010 Rose Parade.

KPBS on the zombie apocalypse

I concluded Dancing German witches for Halloween by telling my readers "Stay tuned for Entertainment Sunday.  Since "The Walking Dead" is on and it's Halloween weekend, expect zombies."  That turned out to be an easy promise to make, as I had just seen REI's Zombie Preparedness Class from KPBS pop up on my YouTube feed.

In the case of a zombie apocalypse you’ll need to know more than just aim for the head. KPBS arts reporter Beth Accomando says that’s where REI's Zombie Preparedness Class comes in.

This wasn't the first time KPBS explored the idea of using the zombie apocalypse to explore contemporary anxieties, an angle I've been pursuing since I posted Discovery News on World War Z three years ago.  Follow over the jump for three more videos from San Diego's PBS affiliate on the topic of zombies.