Know Fun

“Games lubricate the body and mind” -Ben Franklin

In response to some recent conversations about feature functionalities that are “just for fun” or “toys, not really for serious work” I would like to say:  Thhhhhhpt!  [This is the sound that is made by squeezing your tongue between both lips and blowing, while simultaneously solving complex problems (for “serious” firms doing “important” work) using toys, for free.]

There is such a thing as Serious Fun.  Here are a few models for S.F. that are worth knowing about:

 

Vi Hart:

Holding down her own subsection of the Kahn Academy, Ms. Hart will convey in fruit leather and crayons what all sorts of fancy pants expensive doctorates fail to teach every year.  I defy you to make a balloon polyhedron without getting smarter.

 

The Daily Show:

With over 2 million viewers and a genius for getting to the logical heart of current absurdities, John Stewart and his droogs’ “fake news” might be more influential than Woodward and Bernstein.

 

Arvind Gupta:

An unstoppable force for good on the planet, teaching self sufficiency, engineering and science with trash. Check out his TED Talk.

 

Frank Zappa:

Serious musicality, kazoo orchestras, a Czech cultural ambassadorship, songs about dog pee and rampant consumerism, Senate subcommittee meetings. Smell the simultaneous humor and despair over Civil Rights in the 1970 with “Uncle Remus” (“We look pretty sharp in these clothes (yes, we do)Unless we get sprayed with a hose”).

 

Howtoons: 

Please go here and learn.  Buy the books, make stuff with your kids and colleagues.  Saul has an awesome TED Talk.  Remember to wear eye protection.

 

Bread & Puppet Theater:

Commie Pinko Cheap Art with In-Your-Face-Politics made of cardboard and sticks.  Badass Berthold Brechtian goodness that’s fun for the whole family. 

 

Got others?  Send links to the folks who are putting the fun in your f(x).