Hello! This is Everything Is Amazing, a newsletter about science, attention, wonder and - oh, absolutely loads of things. Have a look here if you don’t believe me.
And today, it’s mainly about me yelling OH WOW, THEY ACTUALLY DID IT.
Last Sunday I stayed up all night, giving my mirror neurons an enormously joyful workout by watching things like this:
(The way that Ariana DeBose chokes up as she reads his name out? Ghagghh make these feelings stop, I’m British, THIS IS NOT HOW WE DO.)
In so many ways, this film made history. Like, this way…
…and also this (thoroughly bizarre) way:
So, I just hung out on Twitter most of Sunday night and Monday morning, jubilantly retweeting things and drinking up all that rejoicing, and I regret nothing. (In fact, the memory of it kept me going for the rest of the week, which was an exhausting whirlwind of non-work-related shenanigans - which is why I’m late with this newsletter. Apologies.)
You know I’m a fan of EEAAO because of this partly-paywalled newsletter - so, to celebrate this historic win in the widest way possible, I’ve now removed the rest of that paywall so absolutely everyone can read it, in the hope it makes you curious enough to go see this anarchic, heartfelt splatter of cinematic sorcery:
(And - paid subscribers: I’m making it up to you by doubling up, starting with a piece next week that attempts to answer the question Hey, What’s The Most Horrifying Way To Fall Off An Underwater Mountain?)
Secondly: over 50 (!) of you took me up on my offer to go through the old version of my non-fiction storytelling course, the one I ran between 2014-2018 when I was mainly a travel writer and copywriter:
It’s the one I’m reworking to make it less about blogging and more about newslettering, since newsletters (and enthusiasmletters) are more or less the new blogs - and I’ll be relaunching it later this year. Yet the old version was just sitting there, stopping me closing my Mailchimp account for good.
So last week I offered it up to any existing or new paid subscribers wanting to give it a punt before I shut those doors and delete the whole thing - and I’m glad to say it’s already causing some friendly havoc:
But since I’m running late with everything like the blithering idiot I am, I didn’t follow up to give anyone a final chance to sign up.
So let’s do that today.
LAST CHANCE/FIRE SALE: BLITHERING IDIOT EDITION
If you’re an existing paid subscriber (at any tier) to Everything Is Amazing, or if you become one before the end of this weekend, reply to this email and let me know you want to go through the old version of the course, and which email address you’d like to use for it - and I’ll get you added to the lesson queue.
After that, you’ll get the whole thing for free, in an series of emails delivered in an accelerated form, across the following two-and-a-bit weeks.
Okay. Job done. That’s the last you’ll hear of it until the new version’s ready.
Thirdly, here’s a sentence nobody should ever need to write: please don’t eat plutonium.
This is the gentleman that did it - and not only did he survive the experience, he went on to live a full, rich life.
(No doubt this has everything to do with how quickly he & his colleagues reacted to the accident, and nothing to do with how good plutonium is for living tissue, because it profoundly and emphatically isn’t.)
But if despite every possible rational argument you’re wondering if this might make a hilarious new challenge that will blow your TikTok through the roof, please note that the entire world’s supply of 244Pu only comes to around 20 grams. Around a fifth of an apple, by weight.
Absolutely not worth it, mate. Stick to pickles in a blanket.
And lastly, I’ve shared it before and I’m sharing it again: this table.
It’s the work of master carver David Robinson, shared by his son Callum on Twitter. Here’s another view:
Just….how. Howwww.
And on that mindblown note, I’m off. See you next time!
- M
That carved table is...(speechless awe)
NOW I HAVE AN INSATIABLE DESIRE TO TASTE PLUTONIUM AND IT'S YOUR FAULT!!!
Okay, I don't really. Just looking for a reason to type in all caps. But I'm really glad that fellow lived to be 87.
And that table? That truly is amazing....