There they go again. Google is appropriately saluting Dizzy Gillespie with another predictably cool doodle.

“It’s taken me all my life to learn what not to play.”
— Dizzy Gillespie (1917-1993)

Author Christopher Vogler discusses the 12 steps of The Hero’s Journey, a classic story structure model based on Joseph Campbell’s seminal work, The Hero with a Thousand Faces. The makers of this informative video have nicely applied these ideas to The Matrix:

I’m a relative newcomer to the “knowledge” that the secret to cooking a perfect steak requires that you flip it only once, halfway through cooking. The theory is one of physics: reintroducing cooked beef to heat makes it tough.

But is the theory true? Does the technique actually create a noticeable improvement in the way your meat comes out? According to J. Kenji Lopez-Alt’s list of Top 6 Food Myths, it isn’t. From the list:

3. When Grilling, It’s Best to Flip Just Once

No! Flipping your meat multiple times produces meat that’s noticeably more evenly cooked (there’s about 40% less overcooked meat in a burger flipped every 15 seconds vs. one flipped once), browns just as well (just don’t expect distinct hash marks), and to top it all off, ends up cooking in about 2/3rds of the time. Faster and better? You betcha!

Moral of the story: if you see your buddy doing that multiple flip thing, don’t get on their case. They’re doing good.

Myth or not, I have no intention of changing my steak grilling technique. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. 😀

A spreadsheet plot written out by J.K. Rowling. Her approach to spreadsheet plotting is to divide the columns by chapter number, story timeline, chapter title, main plots, and subplots.

(via famulan)

Happy Days star Tom Bosley, a.k.a. “Mr. C”, has died at 83. While best known for his portrayal of Mr. Cunningham, he’ll also be just as remembered for the Glad trash bag commercials.

It’s only been a couple days since the passing of fellow classic television parent Barbara Billingsley. Since we all know this stuff happens in threes, somebody please keep an extra eye on Dick Van Patten, Shirley Jones, and Florence Henderson.

From the NY Times blog, a cool entry (the fifth in a series) that explores the skills needed to draw objects proportionally. The trick is to see the fundamental issues of the object as a whole rather than concentrating on its individual parts separately.

In the first stage of the drawing I establish the direction of the stems and leaves and the centers of the petals as they bend away from their core. Two things strike me as I make these lines — one, that the curves of the stems and leaves have a rhythmic relationship with one another and two, that the petals form an almost symmetrical “fountain” as they burst from their center.

In choosing to start my drawing in this way I have decided on a priority — that establishing the basic growing direction of each of the elements gives me a more coherent foundation on which to build my drawing than starting with any particular detail. This is an enormously important insight in drawing — if you start each observation of a subject by deciding what is most important to its character, you will know where to begin your drawing and how to proceed.

(via M)

Meet Baxter, a 19.5-year-old certified therapy dog. He specializes in providing smiles and comfort to people on their deathbeds.