Before I share the cool things from last month, I must apologize for getting this out a couple days after July has gone and past. For most of July, I was prepping myself for a complete life reset, which basically means I both moved and started a brand new job. I’ve been at the new flat for a couple days now, and I absolutely love it. The new job I start on Monday, but I am super stoked to start. I’ll tell you more about that next month (maybe).
In the meantime, Toys ‘R Us’s bankruptcy and liquidation hit me as a surprise a couple months back. After reading this article on RetailDive, I understand why it had to go. Cutting back on maintenance and employee benefits? IT issues with their e-commerce site? Not giving Babies ‘R Us, the money maker, proper floorspace and resources? All this led to its downfall. Read the story at Inside The 20 Year Decline of Toys ‘R Us.
On a related note, after bookselling giant Barnes and Noble fired a bunch of employees in February, I predict they will meet the same fate unfortunate end as Toys ‘R Us.
Anthropomorphized animals are par for the course when it comes to children’s literature. From An American Tail to Despereaux to the entire Redwall series, some people may notice that mice play a prominent role in children’s literature. Their popularity caught the curiosity of Charlotte Ahlin, who speculates that mice have a lot in common with children’s psychology. Read her musings at Bustle.
Speaking of animals, Smithsonian Magazine covered a story about glow in the dark cats. You read that correctly: cats that glow in the dark. How does it happen? With the use of jellyfish genes? Why would you want a glow in the dark cat? Apart from it being super cool, it is actually part of feline AIDS research. Read the full thing here.
THIS MONTH IN SPACE revives a news item from about fifteen years ago, when a section of space debris orbited Earth at a dangerous trajectory several times before being chased away by the Moon. Scientists later discovered the debris was a piece of the Saturn V rocket from the Apollo 12 mission. The graphic below shows the orbit of the discarded Saturn V debris. You can read all about this piece of space debris on Wikipedia.
Sailor Moon is one of the biggest franchises to come out of Japan. The original graphic novel was written by Naoko Takeuchi in 1991, with Toei Animation premiering the anime TV show in 1992. In 1993, there was talk to bring Sailor Moon to the United States, part of which involved making an Americanized version of the same story. While the American version never made it off the ground, it apparently birthed a 17-minute pilot that has since been lost to the ether. That didn’t stop journalist Cecilia D’Anastasio from hunting down the pilot. In her words:
“After speaking with the dead show’s creator, animator, biggest fans, and haters, I think I have finally uncovered the full history of anime’s white whale. It involves a quarter-million-dollar unsuccessful investment, a drugged-up cat, no shortage of corporate intrigue, a Storage Wars-style drama, several eBay bidding wars, and, finally, a dusted-over DigiBeta reel in a retired millionaire’s Florida garage—which brought its own surprises.”
Settle into a comfy chair and read the full story on Kotaku.
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Now that you’re back from that epic adventure, I’d be remiss if I didn’t also share the contents of that DigiBeta tape. Below is the video for Team Angel, America’s second attempt at a Sailor Moon-type children’s show.
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