Brian Williams Raps, Game of Thrones Maps, and More

Welcome to “Thanks, Internet” — a weekly feature in which we share the five best things we saw online over the past week.

Jimmy Fallon front-loaded our week with chortles by posting yet another Brian Williams rap video. The good times rolled with insane Easter bunny photos, an interactive Game of Thrones map, a transporting song from Toronto, and a story about a mysterious spectacle in the sky.

1. Brian Williams sippin on “Gin and Juice”

Yes, Fallon has played this hand a few times now. But this one’s my favorite so far. Why? Four words: six in the morning. The genius behind these videos deserves a big raise.

2. Game of Thronesgets mapped

There’s binge-watching, there’s nerding out, and then there’s dedicating your entire life to your favorite television show. The cat behind quartermaster.info is definitely in the latter camp with his highly-detailed interactive map of George R. R. Martin’s world. Every last nook and cranny of Westeros (and beyond) has been included. It goes far beyond simple cartography: this map tells a story.

In addition to simply zooming in and out on your favorite citadels, you can trace the paths of specific characters throughout the story and offers background information on all the Game of Throneshouses. And unlike the rest of the internet, the map is considerate of spoilers, allowing you to choose what you’re ready to see, based on how much of the series you’ve watched or read. Kudos, serMountainGoat.

3. Toronto’s Tearjerker

On paper, “You Can” by Tearjerker doesn’t sound like much: one bar looping for five minutes. But I’m glad I pressed play when Pitchfork shared the song on Wednesday, because it is some kind of strange alchemy.

To me, this is the triumphant song written for a loser. It plays at the end of the movie when the protagonist has lost everything, gets off that plane or bus, and arrives in some unknown place, ready for a fresh start. It probably helps that the song ends with squeaking street car brakes and anonymous crowd chatter. The Toronto band transports you — we’ll find out where to next when their EP drops in May.

4. The Empire Lights Back

In November of 2012, something strange started happening in the New York City sky. Since then, I have been waiting for someone to explain the city’s most conspicuous light show — the one atop the Empire State Building. “The Empire Lights Back” profiles the man behind the magic.

Be it postcards, movies, commercials, or any other Big Apple advertisement, the Empire State Building is New York City. A 1,250-foot, 103-story tower of magnificence in the middle of Midtown, stacked with 1,200 LED light fixtures, each capable of producing 256 colors and infinite possibilities. And Marc Brickman has this immaculate canvas of light at his disposal. It’s his job to keep it lit, and us in awe.

If you live in or have visited New York since late 2012, you’ve seen these light shows after the Super Bowl (see above), on Christmas, and when the clock strikes midnight on New Year’s Eve. John Surico‘s profile of Brickman reveals some fascinating details of how he pulls of the shows; Brickman feeds video into the LED programming, yet can’t really test his work on the building before showtime. At the same time, we meet the artist who gets to work the “ultimate venue” — maybe the only one in the country that’s visible in three states. “You can see it for miles and miles, like The Who song,” Brickman says.

5. That bunny

(Photo by Alex Wong/Getty)

Last week, we learned that the Secret Service threatened to shoot Mr. Met in the head if he got too close to President Clinton during a Mets game in 1997. This week, we were inundated with photos of President Obama and a giant bunny. Beyond that face, the situation was made all the more creepy by the fact that we never see fully disguised people hanging out so conspicuously with POTUS. Mr. Met was wronged. This bunny is the real threat.

Thanks to Tessa Stuart.