Welcome to Corgi-Class Starship, the newsletter that's rearranging its desk and is surprised by how disruptive the process is
You'll Like This
Update(s) on thing(s) I made or somehow helped to bring about.
Instant Band Night Returns In May
I've had to come to the conclusion lately that there's just too much on my plate to continue managing Instant Band Night, but the good news for you the reader is that a new team of bright and capable people (led by an Instant Band Night volunteer who should be familiar to anyone who's been to one the last few years) is already working on putting the May installment together! Watch this space for more concrete news as it gets closer!!
Surprising and Unique Ceramics For YOU
I'm cooking up some new weird little guys for the shop already, but did you know there are now enough purchases for the reviews down at the bottom to constitute some lovely little reads? It's nice beyond description to know that these things I'm making have found homes with the right people. Go have a look; eagle-eyed viewers may notice a new bunny has snuck in there.
Idea Factory Giveaway
I think it's probably safe to say the podcast is on hiatus after four+ years of inactivity, but I'm putting a link to its evergreen Apple Podcasts presence here, which includes a back catalog over 150 episodes long chock-full of excellent ridiculousness, including an experimental tabletop RPG and a couple of Star Trek fantasy drafts that could almost be their own show if I had the time to make yet another podcast
Medium Ramble
Skippable if you're in a hurry.
Friends, if you haven't already gone to see Project Hail Mary at a theatre near you, I submit that you should perhaps prioritize making time. They kinda fuckin' nailed it. That's all I'm going to say; if you read the book and you don't leave satisfied, I will be surprised.
Complete topic switch, but that's what this section is for: some years into my prediabetic sojourn, I think I've lost sight of what real soda tastes like. The good people at the various soda companies have really been working hard to make zero sugar versions of a lot of varieties available, which I appreciate! However: now that we're a few months out of holiday season, I want to send a message to the corporate masters of the Canada Dry brand, who make the cranberry version when Xmastime comes around. I want them to know that it's only April, which means they have several months to plan for the release of a zero sugar version of the cranberry for Xmas 2026. Do we need to start a letter-writing campaign? Should I join TikTok and try to spur some kind of viral moment in pursuit of this most noble goal??
#dadthoughts
Also skippable if you're in a hurry or don't care. No judgment.
Through the grace of the gods of scheduling, Felix's preschool and Quentin's elementary school have the same week off for Spring Break 2026. That's this week. Felix is already determined to do as big brother does, in that he's witnessed Quentin enjoying the knockoff Takis that Trader Joe's makes (which quite honestly are probably the superior product; Takis are good, but maybe too flavor-blasted, whereas the ones from Trading Joseph are at maybe 70% of Takis intensity and can be eaten in greater amounts) and has decided he wants to like spicy things, too. Honestly, thus far he's managing pretty well, so maybe we'll be able to convince him to try other things soon, or maybe this will be a project we'll have to try to vector through Quentin?? Further updates as events warrant.
Fascination Corner
I read a lot of newsletters; here are some links that caught my eye.
The Artemis mission is (at least at the time of this writing) the last bastion of wholesome content on the internet. (Kotaku)
Assuming directionality to the course of history — that justice tropism we all assume, for instance — has probably done us all a disservice, but progress is possible nevertheless. (Democracy Americana)
Because truly nobody could or should have stopped them, The Scientists have figured out a way to make one tobacco plant produce five different psychedelic compounds including psilocybin and DMT. (Science Alert) (Paper)
Uhhhhh .... huh. We might be overestimating the amount of microplastics flying around: the lab gloves used by The Scientists shed particles that are indistinguishable from them. (The Conversation)
The Scientists were able to reverse deafness in a small but effective gene therapy trial. (Karolinska Inst via Science Daily)
A genius and/or insane person has created truly fascinating visualizations of the plotlines and footnotes in Infinite Jest. Yes I'm aware DFW was a sex bastard, but this is more about the invention of a fantastic way to look at a complex narrative. (Infinite Digest)
Tracing the evolutionary origins of squid and cuttlefish has been hard because they don't fossilize well, but genomic analysis may have cracked the mystery! (OIST via Science Daily) (Paper)
“All of Humanity’s Problems Stem From Marc Andreessen’s Inability to Sit Quietly in a Room Alone” (kottke.org)
The Machine can easily pass medical licensing exams, but robot doctors aren't coming anytime soon: The Machine doesn't do very well diagnosing real people, mostly because it has to talk to real people, and it turns out real people aren't great at talking to doctors. (The Conversation)
Japan wants to cram The Machine into robots ASAP, though, because it sounds like they straight up just don't have enough people to do all the jobs that're gonna need doing. (TechCrunch)
Unsurprising but still worth a read: a writer for the Guardian wore those Meta smart glasses for a month and they made her feel increasingly bad. (Guardian)
"AI’s fluency in other languages hides a Western worldview that can mislead users − a scholar of Indonesian society explains" (The Conversation)
That whole mycelial network thing may not be true to the extent we thought it was, but The Scientists are doing little experiments that seem to show mushrooms are exchanging some information. (PhysOrg)
A Fictional Thing
Something made-up that somehow suggested itself to me and which I could not escape.
A band and their album
Photo by Marina Nazina on Unsplash
(I remembered a formula for making fake album covers that involves searching for a random appropriately licensed photo and then applying your best Graphic Design Skills to the result; let me know what you think this band/album sounds like, because your answers are always incredible)
New Music Roundup
Last week's band/album was:
Photo by Alex Roosso on Unsplash
No reader interpretations came in for this one, which I think is the second album from a singer-songwriter who has a smooth mellow voice most of the time, but on a few songs deploys a shockingly powerful belt that'll really nail you to your seat.
I still could use some more submissions to build out a notional Reader Submission Month for band/album/artwork combos! Feel free to send something in; just tell me how you want to be credited!
Thanks
If you've read this far, I thank you. Feel free to forward this to someone you like, or inflict upon someone you don't. If you received this as a forward and would like to subscribe yourself, you can do it at this page right here (which also has the archive)!
