Finkel's Fast Five - Issue #23

July 6th, 2018

"Go go gadget phone!"is what you'll be saying once you buy the mobile phone airbag that this kid invented:
Was that an Inspector Gadget reference? Yes, yes it was... And once you see what this smart phone fall-protector looks like you'll understand why. Here's the super cool video demonstration.

Summer is officially Wiffle Ball season and I was fascinated by this deep dive in The Atlantic about the science behind the ball:
Not only does the feature have a terrific title, The Contentious Physics of Wiffle Ball, but author/engineer Jenn Stroud Rossman, does a terrific job of explaining how the ball works, why it works and the various nuances to its simple brilliance. It's a great quick read.

Bonus: Here's a shot of me last week in San Diego with perfect Wiffle pitching form about to strike out my dad (full disclosure: he lined a shot to left field).

How about an honest-to-goodness, excellent lesson in humility from a one-minute 1980s interview with Mr. T?:
I pity the interviewer who tries to mock Mr. T's beat-up sneakers. No, really, I do. At first you think the interview ain't so bad (get it, Rocky fans), but then she tries to mock Mr. T and rather than predict pain for the rest of the interview, he teaches a life lesson.

Summer Challenge - 10 sets of 10 Burpees per day, 10 days straight:
I realize that the very idea of doing 1,000 burpees makes your quads start to quiver. I get it. Burpees are brutal. But you know what? They work your entire body. You don't need any equipment. You don't need a lot of space. So why not? I'm going to start each day with this beginning today for 10 days. Who's with me? You, in Florida? You, in LA? You, in NYC? You, in Texas? Let's do it. E-mail me if you're in and we'll get through it together. Here's a short video on how to do a burpee properly from my man Funk Roberts so you don't get hurt.

A tremendously written sentence that involves adventure and Benedict Arnold before he was a traitor:
"Hastily built, the 22-foot flat-bottomed boats leaked worse than an old man's bladder and were prone to capsizing in novice hands (and nearly all the men were novices)." - Outside Magazine, Up the Creek (and over the dams, and across the ponds and down this other river, and, ok, maybe a few miles in a U-Haul)... By W. Hodding Carter, about the men who attempted to recreate Benedict Arnold's 300-mile journey to take Quebec City from the British during the Revolutionary War.

Have a great weekend and try not to leak worse than an old man's bladder!

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- Jon