As per recent tradition, I'm posting Friday Links on Thanksgiving in case you need a distraction from whatever holiday disaster might be happening around you.
I also traditionally take Friday off after Thanksgiving, and I'll be doing that again this year. See you all on Monday.
Leading off, a long and fascinating read: A Man of Parts and Learning Fara Dabhoiwala on the portrait of Francis Williams.
If you'd prefer an audio deep dive, here you go: The Most Iconic Electronic Music Sample of Every Year (1990-2023).
Maybe the nerdiest LOTR thing I've ever seen: Satellite Photos of Middle Earth.
Okay, this is the ultimate long read. The Digital Antiquarian, which is legendary, has a sister site called The Analog Antiquarian, and it has an 18-chapter post about Magellan. Here's chapter one, and you can find the rest of it from there: Chapter 1: East to Asia, West to Asia.
From Wally, and wtf is up with these custom popcorn buckets and why in the world do people want them? AMC Reveals Its Lord of the Rings: War of the Rohirrim 27-Inch Popcorn Bucket. I prefer turkey, but lasagna isn't bad, either: How Thanksgiving Lasagna Became an American Staple. With links for more information on most of the films: 31 Titles Are Eligible for the Animated Feature Film Academy Award This Year.
From C. Lee, and it's an interesting look at food spending: Mapped: How Much Americans Spend on Groceries in Each State. I don't have either problem they mention, fortunately, because I have a huge sweet tooth: Britain’s postwar sugar craze confirms harms of sweet diets in early life. An excellent read: To invent the wheel, did people first have to invent the spindle? A bizarre and fascinating bit of history: Scientists Put Cats in Microgravity to See What Would Happen. Weasel alert! Children’s slippers stolen in night at Japanese preschool, police identify weasel who did it. This is unfortunate: Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake is losing players midway for an unfortunate reason – its target audience has grown old and farsighted. It looks fantastic: Retro beige PC case goes from April Fools' joke to retail — SilverStone's sleeper PC with modern internals ships in Q1 2025.