Mark E. Griffin

@marvelousmarks

Writer for hire of science, music, food, culture, and kids. Podcaster of those things, too. Storyteller at 5 Lakes Energy. Previous: McSweeney's, Cap Times, Wisconsin Life, UW–Madison MarvelousMarks.com

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Mark E. Griffin@marvelousmarks· Jun 6

When someone in your town subreddit posts the exact thought you are having in that exact moment (There is a tornado alert and everyone’s a little jumpy over here since the baseball sized hail a month ago)

A Reddit post complaining about a local channel doing a split screen because there’s a tornado warning

Mark E. Griffin@marvelousmarks· Jun 5

Celtics only www.82-0.com/share?id=CDI...

Mark E. Griffin@marvelousmarks· Jun 4

You have to do it with Celtics Shaq though

Mark E. Griffin@marvelousmarks· Apr 20

Also some of the quotes here really hit me in the #Xennial. On Nirvana:

Highlighted: “They didn’t present to me as something that was going to be any bigger than filling a 1000-seat venue, any bigger than the entirety of the career of Mudhoney,” he added, referring to another Seattle grunge band."

In fact, Jacobs said, he thought Nirvana would not be as successful as Mudhoney.

“Mudhoney’s first EP is the gold standard for grunge,” Jacobs said.

Mark E. Griffin@marvelousmarks· Apr 10

Today, the first episode of Taste the Music, an interview show about how musicians, writers, and artists of all kinds choose to create, and sometimes why they choose not to: TasteTheMusic.org #Podcast

A drawing of a guitar player with thought bubbles around them displaying other tools of art.

Mark E. Griffin@marvelousmarks· Feb 24

The late 60s/early 70s era of jazz/funk/soul is endlessly fascinating because of all the bifurcations and marriages that occurred. @jeremyerwin.bsky.social captures it well talkin about Zawinul in @aquariumdrunkard.com aquariumdrunkard.com/2026/02/24/j...

Quotes: "The resulting album feels like an alternate timeline in which In a Silent Way never mutates into Bitches Brew, and instead the finely calibrated ambience of third stream modernism reigns supreme."

Mark E. Griffin@marvelousmarks· Jan 16

Desire for the U.S. to maintain its supremacy in the sciences is still very high despite (gestures everywhere). This coincides with *most* science funding being restored in the next budget. 🧪 #scicomm www.pewresearch.org/science/2026...

Majority of Americans say it is very important for the U.S. to be a world leader in scientific achievements." A chart showing % who say that, thinking about all the important goals for the U.S., it is __ important for the U.S. to be a world leader in scientific achievements. 9% of U.S. adults think 'no too/not at all', 34% 'somewhat' and 57% think 'very'

Mark E. Griffin@marvelousmarks· Jan 7

The answer is, and always will be, the ending to Quantum Leap. Gut wrenching and perfect (and it made up for an otherwise iffy 5th season

Mark E. Griffin@marvelousmarks· Dec 16

Sai King, with the beautiful words. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/16/o...

Stephen King: "What I’m saying is that in Rob’s hands, it all rang true. The funny parts were really funny (including the barf-o-rama) and the dramatic parts hit me where I lived, or where I did live back in the days when John F. Kennedy was president and gas was a quarter a gallon."

Mark E. Griffin@marvelousmarks· Nov 19

If it turns out that offensive rebounds are as valuable (or moreso?) than 3s, than it's going to bring balance to the force. And the beauty is, it was bound (ugh, no pun I swear) to happen. Someone was going to innovate!

Mark E. Griffin@marvelousmarks· Nov 18

Mark E. Griffin@marvelousmarks· Nov 7

Good afternoon, #Sciwri25!

Mark E. Griffin@marvelousmarks· Nov 7

Gotta eat your pre #Sciwri25 eggs

A plate of three sunny side up eggs and 1.5 slices of Madison Sourdough bread.

Mark E. Griffin@marvelousmarks· Oct 25

Perfect line Karalis

“The Celtics are the anti-Thunder to start this season. Where OKC has played 116 minutes of basketball over two double-overtime games, the Celtics have basically played more like 72.”

Mark E. Griffin@marvelousmarks· Oct 24

Nice piece on player reactions to the #NBA betting scandal from @noadalzell.bsky.social. Illuminating quote from Jaylen Brown, who I know is talking direct $$$, but he knows ad revenue from gambling sites is part of the reason the cap (& his salary) keeps going up www.celticsblog.com/articles/123...

“We don’t benefit from any of the profits or anything like that, but we’ve got to deal with a lot of the extra negativity and scrutiny behind all the gambling stuff. And then on top of that, it creates more integrity issues, etc. So I’m not sure what the answer is going forward, but definitely something that we got to spend more time having conversations about.” the first sentence is highlighted by the skeeter.

Mark E. Griffin@marvelousmarks· Oct 4

Shut it down

Mark E. Griffin@marvelousmarks· Oct 4

Feels a little bit like cheating bc we’re not even into Stevie’s golden era but

A cover of the album signed sealed delivered

Mark E. Griffin@marvelousmarks· Sep 23

ok yup that explains it

J.B. Pritzker and Mary Kathryn "MK" Pritzker posing as Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia, respectively.

Mark E. Griffin@marvelousmarks· Sep 10

This is going to be a massive boon to education, the state’s economy, and general wellbeing. Wonder how many other states copy it www.kunm.org/local-news/2...

A childcare provider cares for three young children in a daycare center.

Mark E. Griffin@marvelousmarks· Sep 9

Also FINALLY a book about writing that doesn’t excoriate me for not clacking the keys on my Olympia from 8 AM - 2 PM every single day

Let me also admit: When I hear or read another writer advise a writing schedule, I roll my eyes. Sometimes, in the interest of playing well with others, I have to roll them in my mind only.
It strikes me as a privileged suggestion-and, yes, one that ignores women's realities in particular-to assume that one has the time, space, and multiple supports available to make a daily writing practice realistic.

Mark E. Griffin@marvelousmarks· Sep 9

#DearWriter by @maggiesmithpoet.bsky.social is a warm blanket infused with a rallying cry for writers like me. Can’t wait to get deep into it

Book cover: “Dear Writer: Pep Talks & Practical Advice for the Creative Life, by Maggie Smith” the book is lime green with yellow words and squiggles for the “i”

Mark E. Griffin@marvelousmarks· Sep 4

In the odd case that other things have taken priority, for @mcsweeneys.net, I imagine the consequences of classroom Chromebook defenestration: www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/i-a...

quote: I will also be accountable if she periodically peers out the window as the screen softly dims over the course of several hours, flickering a Morse code of despair as its AI bot, Gemini, softly whimpers to the gym teacher slumped in the adjacent car alone, crying his free period away. If he, too, breaks down, sobbing “What has become of me?” into a bag of ranch-flavored Bugles during his only free period, I will reimburse Mr. Smidley for all mental-health services.

Mark E. Griffin@marvelousmarks· Sep 4

Mark E. Griffin@marvelousmarks· Aug 18

Saw a butterfly I’ve never seen before, and it was really happy to have a phone stuck in its face. Then I see there is an article about it! www.nytimes.com/2025/08/16/s...

A bright blue butterfly with a green head and four wings sits on a log.

Mark E. Griffin@marvelousmarks· Aug 13

Things are rough in Beantown

Mark E. Griffin@marvelousmarks· Jul 30

TIL that there is a two and a half hour director's cut of the 1989 movie The Wizard, starring Jenny Lewis and Fred Savage.

Text: In an interview with Retro Gamer, director Holland admitted that he had some issues with the final script: "I argued with the studio that we were shooting way too much footage – more than we could ever possibly use [...] I lost the argument and was told flat out by Universal to shoot the entire script".[10] According to Holland, the original cut of the film was over 2.5 hours long and that nearly an hour of footage needed to be deleted in order to make the film a suitable length for family viewing. The deleted material was finally released in 2020 on the collector's edition Blu-ray of the film. Most of the deleted footage comes from the original cut of the opening act which explores Corey's home life in more detail, including deliberately antagonizing his older brother, his mother's emotional issues surrounding Jimmy and her divide from her former family. Nick's alcoholism is also...

Mark E. Griffin@marvelousmarks· Jul 30

Mark E. Griffin@marvelousmarks· Jul 21

Dammit McSweeney’s!

Allman Brothers Band: You do not own a bong, but can quickly make one from a piece of fruit or an abandoned toilet.

Mark E. Griffin@marvelousmarks· Jun 12

Mark E. Griffin@marvelousmarks· May 29

This is such a great line that kind of encompasses healthy eating in America. You're not battling yourself, you're battling an entire industry constantly trying to feed you bad stuff.