Vote!

Just a friendly reminder to early vote this weekend, or regular vote on Tuesday (November 4th)! This, like every, election is important, and your voice deserves to be heard. Try as people might to silence it. Yes, those are all individual articles discussing different issues - there are that many different kinds of attempts to suppress voters this election - not to mention future elections. If they're that scared of you voting, that means your vote is that much more important.

Vote!

Let's Learn About Income Inequality with Amy Poehler and Billy on the Street!

Love this super weird animated short by Adam McKay starring Amy Poehler, Billy Eichner, and a bunch of other celebs, all about income inequality and one messed-up lollipop.



Adorable, informative, and horrifying! Just like I like my cartoons!

[via HuffPo]

Contribute to "Things You Didn't Know about Tiny Tim"

My packet writing teacher wants to write and direct a short film called, Things You Didn't Know about Tiny Tim. It sounds like a fun project, and if you're interested in helping you, you can contribute to her Indie GoGo page here. You can do it, Tamara!

#NewRedskinsLogo

Love this video by Hari Kondabolu re: Redskins.



Makes a pretty strong point! You can see some of the new logos here.

Garfunkel and Oates: You're Such a Loser (and that's good!)

Garfunkel and Oates had their first season finale over at IFC last week. They really went out with a bang - at least if you consider a tribute to failure and why that's ok a bang, which I do, which is why I said it.



See? Being a loser means you tried, and that's a great thing. Even when you fail a lot. A solid and adorably-animated reminder for all of us losers out there.

People's Climate March: A Resounding Success!

My brother and I went to the People's Climate March in New York last Sunday. It was incredible. 400,000 people? After walking through it - I believe it. It was truly amazing to see all kinds of people from all walks of life (not just aging hippies and naive college students!) come together and support a cause we can all support. This is the defining issue of our time, and it's about time we started acting like it!

"Harry Potter" Helps Teen Readers Empathize

In case you needed another reason re-read Harry Potter or gift them to your little cousins or nieces and nephews, a new study suggests reading the HP books increases your ability to empathize with different people, particularly "out groups" vs "in groups".  From the Scientific American article on the study:

For decades it's been known that an effective means of improving negative attitudes and prejudices between differing groups of people is through intergroup contact – particularly through contact between “in-groups,” or a social group to which someone identifies, and “out-groups,” or a group they don’t identify with or perceive as threatening. Even reading short stories about friendship between in- and out-group characters is enough to improve attitudes toward stigmatized groups in children. A new study published in the Journal of Applied Social Psychology found that reading the Harry Potter books in particular has similar effects, likely in part because Potter is continually in contact with stigmatized groups. The “muggles” get no respect in the wizarding world as they lack any magical ability. The “half-bloods,” or “mud-bloods” – wizards and witches descended from only one magical parent – don’t fare much better, while the Lord Voldemort character believes that power should only be held by “pure-blood” wizards. He’s Hitler in a cloak.

Intuitively, this feels right, but it's good to know it's backed by science and not just the innate yearnings of my heart.

The Film Before the Film: Opening Titles

If you've taken any film classes, consider this a brief and fun refresher, but if you're new to thinking about film instead of just absorbing it, this is quick documentary that gives you a brief glimpse into the artistry and history behind films' opening titles:



The documentary was made as a research project by students Nora Thoes and Damian Pérez at the BTK University of Applied Sciences in Berlin

I've always been a big fan of opening titles in film and TV. They're a great way to introduce the audience to the tone of the movie, as well as introduce a different kind of visual style, like animation or stop-motion or CGI or paper-craft, into the film that you probably wouldn't have the opportunity to do elsewhere.

Do you think you'll consider opening titles more often in films now?

[via /Film]

Surprise: Homeless People Are People

In this heartbreaking video called "Cardboard Stories" from the group Rethinking Homelessness, homeless people in Orlando share an interesting, hopeful, sad, and sometimes surprising fact about themselves:

You can read more about Rethinking Homelessness' goals and history at their website.

[via Neatorama]

Ask a Grown Man: Stephen Colbert

Stephen Colbert did a "Ask a Grown" segment for Rookie Magazine. In it, he gives advice on talking to your dad about sex, how to let boys know you don't like misogynistic jokes, and how to tell if someone likes you (and therefore, in turn, how to let someone know you like them). Check it out:



For reals - we could all stand to be a little less selfish and bring a little more cookies.

Great News! Donating a Kidney Does NOT Affect Lifespan!

I'm pretty sure we already knew this, but another study has confirmed that donating a kidney - even in older patients - does not increase risk of death or heart disease.

Let's all go celebrate by donating a kidney*!

*Unless you already have donated a kidney or have a donated kidney inside of you.

Satanists, Pretty Cool People

Satanists are at it again. First, it was erecting a giant statue of Baphomet in the Oklahoma capitol. Now, they're turning the Hobby Lobby ruling on its head, saying that they should be exempt from the restrictive, anti-choice "informed consent" laws all around the country on the basis that their religion is based in scientific fact, and therefore they cannot abide by laws that are based on fear, junk, and political bias. In their words:

 In response to what The Satanic Temple have dubbed a “pernicious encroachment” of “informed consent” laws regarding abortion, the organization is asserting a religious exemption from the burden of state­mandated “informational” abortion materials for those who share their deeply held beliefs. According to their website, “The Satanic Temple believes that the body is inviolable ­­ subject to one’s own will alone.” Further, “we strive to make all decisions regarding personal health based on the best scientific understanding of the world, regardless of the religious or political beliefs of others.” (Full Statement)

It's a simple, powerful argument, and one the Satanists agree that any woman should make when presented with these informed consent requirements. Unlike Hobby Lobby, Satanists are starting to make a lot of sense. Who knew?

[via Jezebel]

Why Don't Girls Like Science? Spoiler Alert: They Do!

I'm no fan of commercials most of the time, but this is one where you can totally ignore the product and just absorb the message:



What we say and how we treat women matters in both the obvious and not-so-obvious ways. We're losing out as a world by not having more women involved in science and engineering. It's time we changed that.

[via ThinkProgress]

Shonda Rhimes, "My Dreams Can Suck It"

Shonda Rhimes gave a killer graduation speech at Dartmouth this year. Below is the video (the speech starts at 1:41:20 unless you just randomly want to watch all of Dartmouth graduation), and here is the speech in full text mode.



The Toni Morrison part is my favorite. If not achieving my dreams means achieving something even better and more "me" than my dreams (and involves meeting Shonda Rhimes or Toni Morrison), I will be very satisfied.

"Cosmos" Doesn't Appreciate Your Climate Denying BS

I love how Cosmos closed its final few episodes. For most of the series, I got about halfway through an episode and then fell into a nice, excellently-CGI'd sleep, but I stayed up for the last few episodes of the series once I heard they were about global warming. They were. And they didn't pull any punches. They reminded us of the importance of trusting in science and discovery, and how important it is to make the hard choices that better our future. Act Four at WaPo has a nice write-up on it you can read here.

Organ Donation: Remember to Sign Up!

HuffPo published a story last month about just how important it is to check that "organ donor" box on your driver's license. It's definitely worth the read. One organ donor can save many lives. Like the article says, it's a no-brainer.

'End the Awkward' PSA Campaign

Scope, an advocacy group in the UK for people with disabilities, has released a new PSA campaign called, "End the Awkward" aiming to help able-bodied people interact normally with people who are disabled. They blend humor and helpful advice. I've pasted one of their ads below, but you can see a lot more and read more about the organization at their website.



Funny and true!

[via HuffPo]

LeVar Burton's "Reading Rainbow" Kickstarter!

I'm totally onboard with LeVar Burton's new Kickstarter campaign to bring Reading Rainbow to classrooms around the world for free! Here's his promo video and the link to the campaign!



Pretty great, right? They've already reached their minimum, but I'm sure they'll put any extra funds to good use!

[via /Film]

NO MORE: TV celebs partner up to help fight rape culture

This is a great idea! You can read the full story about the campaign here.

Love Amy Poehler's face here. I hear ya, Amy!

Fantastic Super Bowl Ad

Although it won't be playing during the Super Bowl itself, this ad from the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) is super relevant to "the big game"



I figured out about halfway through the ad why they were only using one word at a time. It's a really smart, moving way to prove how destructive and reductive a term like "redskin" can be, in general usage and especially for the name of a football team.

I'm not sure even Budweiser's "horse and dog are friends" ad can beat that.

[ThinkProgress]