Watches, Stories & Gear: Fluid Simulations, Asteroid Samples, and What Obama’s Reading

“Watches, Stories, and Gear” is a roundup of our favorite content, watch or otherwise, from around the internet. Here, we support other creators, explore interesting content that inspires us, and put a spotlight on causes we believe in. Oh, and any gear we happen to be digging on this week. We love gear.

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This installment of “Watches, Stories, and Gear” is brought to you by the Windup Watch Shop, which now offers home goods.

Examining The Great American Novelist

Frederick Wiseman is not a household name, but among serious cinephiles, he’s revered as perhaps the greatest living American filmmaker. The 90 year old documentarian’s great subject is institutions and the people who populate them, and through a career that has spanned nearly half a century, his immersive, long-form style of filmmaking has covered the inner workings of ballet companies, libraries, hospitals, the criminal justice system, and a whole lot more. He spends years inhabiting these places, quietly observing, letting the real life drama unfold naturally with a fly-on-the-wall approach. His film’s aren’t flashy, but they’re deeply perceptive. His latest film’s subject is municipal government, not typically thought of as thrilling cinema, but “City Hall” is getting rave reviews, and generating a renewed interest in Wiseman’s work. This lengthy feature story in the New York Times Magazine is a great primer for those new to Wiseman, and a must read for anyone interested in his work, and documentary filmmaking in general.

Here’s What Obama is Reading and Watching

In what has become an end-of-year tradition, Barack Obama has shared a handful of his favorite books, TV shows, and movies of the year (we all know he likes music too, but at the time of this writing, that list hasn’t been released yet). These posts to his Twitter and Instagram accounts are incredibly popular and receive widespread media attention every year, and they even have a recognizable format, with typefaces and color schemes that are held over from year to year. As writers, editors, and listmakers ourselves, we can’t help but be fascinated by a former president’s favorite pieces of pop culture. It’s a fascinating little window into the life of one of the most well known human beings on the planet, who at the end of the day, is just a guy who really liked Devs. (We did, too.) This quick CNN story links out to Obama’s book list, but we have a feeling you know how to find him on social media, if you’re inclined to compare your own favorites to that of the 44th president.

Get Your ‘Woah Dude’ on with Webgl Fluid Simulation

If 2020 has you about to snap we’ve got just the tool for you in this webgl fluid simulation tool. It’s silly, but you might just find yourself playing with it for longer than you’d care to admit. Yes, it also works in mobile browsers. Give the news a break and enjoy the beautiful colors and interactivity of this one right here.

Japan’s JAXA Shows Off Asteroid Samples Gathered by Hyabusa2

The Japanese space probe Hyabusa2 dropped its treasure box of contents gathered from asteroid Ryugu on December 6th, and we’re finally offering a look inside. The capsule landed in Australian outback, where JAXA (Japan’s space agency) scientists where able to quickly set up facilities to confirm the contents were indeed present and accounted for. In addition to surface materials gathered, gases were also confirmed to have been captured. Early indications point to this being the largest asteroid sample ever returned to earth, and they remain free from terrestrial contamination, meaning they could provide valuable insights to how the earth, and perhaps even life, formed. More from Engadget here.

eBay Finds: ‘60s Zenith

This week we have a nice, simple 1960’s Zenith hand wind for your bidding pleasure. The clean steel case the perfect dress watch size at 35.5mm and looks to be in good shape, with a screw down caseback. The original dial has applied Arabic numeral markers, and has a very pleasant, even patina. And there is something about the classic Zenith logo with the Star symbol that has great vintage cache. The manual wind Zenith caliber 2542 movement is super clean and seller states it is running and keeping time. The crown is unsigned and is likely a replacement, which is the only drawback on this otherwise stellar vintage gem.

View auction here.