The start of a new project, and the last KenTacoHut.
9th June 2025
| « Previous | Index | Next » |
Heads up! This newsletter is more than four months old. Links may be out of date or lead to unexpected places, or the context may have changed. Please handle with care.
Hello!
Right, as promised, the start of a new project. It's a long way from being real: this is just step one in what's going to be a lot of steps. But: I'm ready to get back on the road again. Specifically, in England! There'll be a public video explaining more about the project later this week, but in short: I'm putting a call out for interesting places and people, and I figured I should ask newsletter readers first.
Right, as promised, the start of a new project. It's a long way from being real: this is just step one in what's going to be a lot of steps. But: I'm ready to get back on the road again. Specifically, in England! There'll be a public video explaining more about the project later this week, but in short: I'm putting a call out for interesting places and people, and I figured I should ask newsletter readers first.
The idea doesn't have to fit my old format: it could be something strange and unknown, or
a weird tourist attraction, or a challenge like from my Plus series, or a company or science lab that does something amazing, or an event that I should show to the world. Maybe you run it or own it, or you know someone who's part of it, or you just know about it. As long as it's in England, you can tell me about it here! Also: I'm looking for interesting people. Some of the best things I did on the Plus channel were with people I didn't know. Sheep herding. Caving. Tightrope walking. Can you suggest interesting people I should meet in England?
I am cycling between excitement and dread, because this'll be the first thing I've Properly Filmed in a while, but: it's time to go out on the road again.
Anyway! On to this week's Lateral, as Rowan Ellis, Dan Peake and Alec Watson face questions about cloud cover, sporting sons and deity displays.
Here's the good stuff I've found on YouTube this week!
- Incredible commitment to the bit from Sam Reid of the Studio Revue, who tries to track down the last KenTacoHut on Earth: a combination KFC, Taco Bell, and Pizza Hut. This, much like its subject, is three things rolled into one: a research deep-dive, a travel video, and a slightly-nauseating food review. It is, perhaps, the most American video I've linked to in a long while. Bonus points for properly licensing all the music tracks, too.
- A wonderful update
from Dianna, of Physics Girl, who -- after two years -- is up and about again!
- Continuing the TV-history theme from recent newsletters: an in-depth interview and tour with the lead costume designer on Saturday Night Live. I'm hardly into fashion history or styling (as is apparent from how I look on camera) but still found this fascinating. I've also linked to the making-of series before, but if you haven't seen it, the Control Room behind-the-scenes is also worth a watch.
And away from the world of video:
- "A businessman shipped in a population of about a dozen emus from Western Australia
30 years ago to live on his private island. ... What he didn't realise was that emus are proficient swimmers, and soon his imported pets had made a break for the mainland."
- Proof that Patrick Stewart exists in the Star Trek universe (plus an interview with a Trek obsessive who discovered that in-joke, who was hired as a consultant for a recent series!)
- The surreal landscapes of industrial waste in Russia.
And finally, on TikTok: "I love when the harmony makes no sense at all until you put it all together." (Alternate link.)
All the best,
— Tom
| « Previous | Index | Next » |