A police escort and an old-school web toy.

1st September 2025

Heads up! This newsletter is more than a year old. Links may be out of date or lead to unexpected places, or the context may have changed. Please handle with care.

Hello!

This week has been, I think, the most difficult week of filming I've ever had in my life -- in terms of logistics, required energy, everything. I hope it's going to pay off! Fortunately, I've also had a bit of time to find some good stuff on the internet, but if you see something out there, do send it in: I could always use the help.

First, this week's Lateral! Iszi Lawrence is joined by Dani Siller and Bill Sunderland from Escape This Podcast, as they take on questions about amenable albums, crafty containers and prudent practices.

And here, as promised only two paragraphs ago, is some good stuff I've found on YouTube this week:

There are some creators who hyper-optimise every frame for grabbing attention: Calamity Kim is not one of those. She's a British truck driver, and this is a half-hour video of how she gets an oversize, heavy load along small British roads with a police escort. Don't expect professional editing here, and headphone users, do watch out for your volume levels: but this is just a fascinating day-in-the-life vlog from someone who has a job most people won't even think about.
The Mistake Waltz is a brilliant piece of choreography that showcases the physical strength and talent required by ballet dancers while also including enough jokes to keep an "average" viewer interested. Even if you think you're not interested in ballet or dance, I'd recommend at least having a look at this, because the skill on display is staggering. (Thanks to Lily for suggesting this!) Here's an odd statement: I've only ever interacted with ballet through its own self-parody. A friend once took me to see Les Ballets Trockadero, and while I only got half the jokes, I certainly wasn't bored.
Why do fictional religions feel so fake? Despite the great, short title, this isn't one of those junk videos where someone unqualified rambles over stock footage or unrelated clips of movies. The simple title that leads into a much more thorough and interesting discussion than you might think.

What about away from the world of video?

The Comic Caption Swapper feels like old-school internet: simple surreal automated jokes, well executed. It may have been taken down for copyright infringement by the time this newsletter goes out.
Miles from the ocean, there’s incredible diving beneath the streets of Budapest.
A story I missed at the time: a woman missing since 1962 has been found alive and well. This contains far fewer details than you might think, and I think that's probably a good thing.

And finally: every American college bar. (It's a YouTube short, but as always, I'm deliberately linking to it with an old-school "/watch" link. Don't worry, those of you not using the YouTube app won't get exposed to short-form vertical unexpectedly.)

All the best,

— Tom

« Previous

Index