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"Dry Light" by Xavier Chassaing
posted by clavdivs at 2:21 PM PST - 7 comments

Cormac McCarthy doesn’t do interviews ... But in his early career, before the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award, before his books were adapted into films and his name became known even by those who never read his books, he revealed something of himself and his craft ... Between 1968 and 1980, he gave at least 10 interviews to small local papers in Lexington, Kentucky and east Tennessee, a region where he lived and had friends. He described his literary influences, his approach to writing, his reading habits and even the house he and his then-wife rebuilt by hand out of an old dairy barn. from Early Cormac McCarthy Interviews Rediscovered [NYT; archive]
posted by chavenet at 1:20 PM PST - 8 comments

As sexual minorities in China face suppression at home, Utah County is allowing them to officially marry and celebrate their love — all for around $100. The state of Utah in the United States has no citizenship requirements for marriage licenses, and Utah County is the only place there that allows international couples to register their marriages online. Since the county rolled out virtual weddings during the Covid-19 pandemic, it became a wedding haven for same-sex couples who are not able to officially marry in their own countries.
posted by toastyk at 12:30 PM PST - 24 comments

Community will be returning on Peacock, following up its much-loved (if low-rated) run by completing the cycle: six seasons and now, a movie, as was prophesied. Joel McHale, Danny Pudi, Alison Brie, Gillian Jacobs, Jim Rash, and Ken Jeong are all set to return, with Dan Harmon (Rick & Morty) back to write.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 12:10 PM PST - 47 comments

The elkhorn coral is one of the most endangered corals in the Caribbean and the Florida Keys. In Florida alone, the population is reduced by over 95 percent. A coral breeding project using elkhorn coral gametes collected in Florida and Curaçao hopes to give this species a new lease on life.
posted by Etrigan at 12:04 PM PST - 7 comments

Get a jump on the Spooky Season with My House Walkthrough (CW: brief implied human remains), a very creepy short video walkthrough of a house that doesn't quite fit together right and doesn't seem to be inhabited. More info inside! [more inside]
posted by Pope Guilty at 7:55 AM PST - 11 comments

There was a time where there was nothing like the feeling of walking into your local Tower Records or Sam Goody and heading straight for the new releases section [... ] Here are 150 albums that were more than worth it at the time, and that shaped the way music would sound in the decades to come. The always contentious Pitchfork team has put together their definitive list of the 150 best albums of the 90s [more inside]
posted by revmitcz at 12:30 AM PST - 163 comments

"...many people, even professional psychologists, believe there is a right way and a wrong way to grieve, that there is an orderly and predictable pattern that everyone will go through, and if you don't progress correctly, you are failing at grief. You must move through these stages completely, or you will never heal."

This is a lie. [more inside]
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 7:45 PM PST - 66 comments

Open-Source ‘Consent-O-Matic’ Tool Lets Anyone Automatically Stop Websites From Tracking Them [Vice] [more inside]
posted by chavenet at 1:14 PM PST - 27 comments

After a lackluster and botched launch, stronger competition pushing past them, and a lack of both industry support and public interest, Alphabet is finally pulling the plug on Stadia, their streaming gaming platform with a sunset date of January 18, 2023. [more inside]
posted by NoxAeternum at 1:05 PM PST - 68 comments

Copper Textiles A selection of tapestries woven with unusual materials featuring copper
posted by Bottlecap at 10:49 AM PST - 15 comments

The Forgotten Lessons of the Recovered Memory Movement. "Unfortunately, many of the mistaken assumptions about memory and trauma remain part of popular culture. Among clinical psychologists, the belief that the unconscious mind can block out memories of trauma is commonplace. Memory researchers and scientists, for the most part, remain highly skeptical. In 2019 a group of seven memory scientists, including Dr. Loftus, concluded that therapists were still using techniques that had the potential for creating false memories and that the practice continued to pose a substantial risk, “potentially leading to false accusations and associated miscarriages of justice,” they wrote. While the so-called memory wars rage on over the issue of repression, clinicians and their professional organizations have largely “feigned forgetfulness” of the recovered memory movement’s excesses, as the author and psychology professor Richard Noll once wrote."
posted by storybored at 10:36 AM PST - 22 comments

From the Prepared: "For his Master’s thesis project, Thomas Thwaites set out to produce a quotidian object from scratch: a toaster. He deconstructed the cheapest toaster he could find (£3.94) and spent nine months trying to recreate it." [more inside]
posted by cnidaria at 9:49 AM PST - 32 comments

Deep state phobia: Narrative convergence in coronavirus conspiracism on Instagram. [more inside]
posted by signal at 6:32 AM PST - 48 comments

Pakistan's Biblical Floods and the Case for Climate Reparations . By author Mohammed Hanif, writing in the New Yorker. [Archive.org].
posted by tavegyl at 3:25 AM PST - 13 comments

..from TMZ: Coolio, born Artis Leon Ivey Jr., was found dead in a friend's house by his crew. No cause of death has been revealed, but TMZ is noting that there weren't any drugs on scene. [more inside]
posted by kfholy at 8:20 PM PST - 58 comments

It all started with a tweet. Last Friday, Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden saw that the one and only Lizzo was coming to D.C. for a concert. The pop megastar is a classically trained flautist. The Library has the world’s largest flute collection. Taking to Twitter, the Librarian played matchmaker, tagging Lizzo in a tweet about the world-class flutes. "Like your song," she tweeted, "they are 'Good as hell.'" Lizzo agreed.
posted by Etrigan at 12:26 PM PST - 50 comments

Hilaree Nelson, a groundbreaking mountaineer and skier, has died from an avalanche driven fall on Mount Manaslu. She was the first woman to summit two 8000m or higher peaks in a 24 hour period (Everest and the nearby Lhotse), and - along with her partner Jim Morrison - completed the first ski descent of the 27,940-foot Lhotse, the fourth-highest mountain in the world, down the insane Lhotse Couloir (video - decent starts around 17:45 in the video) She was National Geographic's Adventurer of the Year in 2018 and they have published a remembrance. [more inside]
posted by inflatablekiwi at 10:37 AM PST - 17 comments

"Hotties! You know how much mental wellness means to me, so I created a hub with resources that can help when you might need a hand. Head to BadBitchesHaveBadDaysToo.com now and check it out. Love y’all so much.” --Megan Thee Stallion. The web site compiles four categories of resources: free therapy organizations, mental health hotlines, resource directories and LGBTQIA+ community resources. Each category features a menu of useful links to external mental health websites, many of which are focused on serving BIPOC and those in the LGBTQIA+ community.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 9:15 AM PST - 12 comments

Beginning in 1941, Alden Dow carved an entire town, Lake Jackson, Texas, out of a coastal swamp as a grand design experiment in modern, low-cost communal living—for the workers at Dow Chemical’s new magnesium and styrene plants in Freeport and Velasco, built quicky during wartime mobilization with Dow’s purchase of 1,000 acres of resource-rich land in 1940. I say “Dow carved,” but this phrasing belies the complex assemblage of agencies and historical determinants, policies and technics, that were the material conditions of possibility for Lake Jackson. from Development Film, 194X: Alden B. Dow, Lake Jackson, and the Infrastructure of the Petrochemical Good Life by Justus Nieland [more inside]
posted by chavenet at 7:27 AM PST - 8 comments

A promise made. A promise broken. "Absolutely disgusting and pretty much indefensible." Finally, resolution. [more inside]
posted by clawsoon at 5:55 AM PST - 26 comments

Michael Sheen's speech to the Wales football team. MeFi favourite Michael Sheen met up with the Welsh football team at a training camp prior to this year's World Cup in Qatar. In exchange for a shirt and some handshakes, he gave them a few words of encouragement. [more inside]
posted by Hartster at 5:36 AM PST - 15 comments

The 100 Best Songs of 1982. From Rob Sheffield at Rolling Stone. [more inside]
posted by the primroses were over at 5:28 AM PST - 116 comments

"The Tripitaka Koreana - carved on 81258 woodblocks in the 13th century - is the most successful large data transfer over time yet achieved by humankind. 52 million characters of information, transmitted over nearly 8 centuries with zero data loss - an unequalled achievement." (threadreader; previously: 1, 2; also btw 5 things the Western book as we know it depends on[1,2] and How the Trapper Keeper Shaped a Generation of Writers - or Pee-Chees if you please! ;)
posted by kliuless at 1:01 AM PST - 25 comments

Quazel lets you practice languages by conversing with a machine learning system.
posted by kaibutsu at 8:17 PM PST - 15 comments

Tim Rogers explores the nature of nostalgia, Kansas, the 8-hour intro of the original Dragon Quest 7, Japan's relationship with summer break and the idealization of its rural countryside, the nostalgia of others, tank controls and more in Action Button's (6-hour long) review of Boku no Natsuyasumi: a summer vacation adventure video game.
posted by simmering octagon at 2:40 PM PST - 20 comments

Contrepreneurs: The Mikkelsen Twins - from Dan Olson, the man who (sort of... not really) singlehandedly crashed the NFT market comes a wild ride into the world of passive income scams. [more inside]
posted by Laura Palmer's Cold Dead Kiss at 1:21 PM PST - 29 comments

A beautiful blue flaw in a gem-quality diamond from Botswana is actually a tiny fragment of Earth’s deep interior—and it suggests our planet’s mantle contains oceans’ worth of water.
posted by Etrigan at 11:43 AM PST - 14 comments

A weak polar vortex is likely. To summarize everything, there are two main things to take away from this development. First, strong high-pressure systems will impact the Polar Vortex more directly. Pressing upwards and sending energy waves, we are seeing a reduction in the power of the Polar Vortex. [more inside]
posted by Nancy Lebovitz at 9:32 AM PST - 43 comments

Feral Atlas shows the landscapes created by Invasion, Empire, Capital and Acceleration. The project defines “feral” ecologies as ecologies that have been encouraged by human-built infrastructures, but which have developed and spread beyond human control.
Note: Use the ☰ menu at the bottom of each landscape to navigate, click "Reading Room" for essays and videos. Moderate level of academic/art world writing. [more inside]
posted by spamandkimchi at 9:06 AM PST - 7 comments

Should applicants be paid for job interviews?
posted by jacquilynne at 9:02 AM PST - 91 comments

Hurricane Ian is a major hurricane and current forecasts place it as intensifying and slowing in its northern movement with a near direct hit in Tampa Bay. [more inside]
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 5:56 AM PST - 165 comments

The pound fell to record lows this week, prompted by a tax-break filled Tory budget. Some mortgage lenders have temporarily withdrawn their products from the market in anticipation of rising interest rates and one economic commentator said investors view the Conservative Party as a 'doomsday cult'.
posted by roolya_boolya at 10:28 PM PST - 147 comments

...as an opt-in setting, with community flagging and human review. Here's the staff post about it. [more inside]
posted by subdee at 5:37 PM PST - 53 comments

After dealing with a number of personal and social issues throughout the pandemic, Innuendo Studio has another part to the Alt-Right Playbook, in which the way in which white supremacy is handled between white moderates and conservatives is broken down, and how the marginalized become the tokens in a game between those two groups. [more inside]
posted by NoxAeternum at 2:19 PM PST - 7 comments

jazz - a 1-minute twitter video
posted by aniola at 12:30 PM PST - 16 comments

As predicted in 2020 by futurology site Hard Drive, Brian David Gilbert spends 30 minutes explaining the basics of U.S. Health Insurance.
posted by simmering octagon at 11:27 AM PST - 41 comments

The Guardian excerpts "Madly, Deeply: The Alan Rickman Diaries." Alan Rickman kept a diary and shared his thoughts on Harry Potter, Love Actually, 9/11, 7/7, and much more. Yes, it's all as dry, withering, and human as you'd expect. Glorious! [more inside]
posted by zooropa at 11:19 AM PST - 33 comments

For more than two decades, Kurt Steiner has dedicated his life to skipping rocks. His record of 88 skips may never be touched. But spend a little time with him, and you’ll realize it’s not really about records. Stone skipping is so much more than that. Skipping has brought Steiner respite from a life of depression and other forms of mental illness. It has also, in part, left him broke, divorced, and, since the death of his greatest rival, adrift from his stone-skipping peers. Now, in middle age, with a growing list of aches and pains, he must contemplate the reality that, in his most truthful moments, he throws rocks not simply because he wants to, but because he has no choice. [more inside]
posted by AlSweigart at 8:51 AM PST - 30 comments

The 100 Greatest TV Shows of All Time

Giving no restrictions on era or genre, we ended up with an eclectic list where the wholesome children’s television institution Sesame Street finished one spot ahead of foulmouthed Western Deadwood, while Eisenhower-era juggernaut I Love Lucy wound up sandwiched in between two shows, Lost and Arrested Development, that debuted during George W. Bush’s first term.

Rolling Stone updates their 2016 list of All Time Best TV Shows.
posted by Frayed Knot at 7:11 AM PST - 160 comments

Someday aliens are going to land their saucers in a field somewhere in New Jersey and everything is going to go just fine right up until we try to explain our calendar to them: a Twitter thread that casts our calendar in a whole new light.
posted by tommasz at 5:48 AM PST - 109 comments

Hello, gadders-about; welcome to Monday, where this poster will be living rent-free in your thread. [more inside]
posted by taz at 3:34 AM PST - 89 comments

'No one in physics dares say so, but the race to invent new particles is pointless' by astrophysicist Sabine Hossenfelder, writing in the Guardian.
posted by tavegyl at 2:33 AM PST - 57 comments

Eliud Kipchoge's bottle man, Claus-Henning Schulke, had a good day. (SLYT) [more inside]
posted by Literaryhero at 8:04 PM PST - 14 comments

A timeline of the tech sector through football shirts. "Believe it or not, Samsung Mobile was a small player in the world of handsets when their deal began with Chelsea in 2005."
posted by spamandkimchi at 7:33 PM PST - 5 comments

In 1947, Vinoo Mankad ran out Bill Brown at the bowler's end of the crease, giving his name to the unusual (and controversial) dismissal. Most recently, Deepti Sharma, at Lord's, ran out Charlie Dean to win the match for India. So, is it within the rules of cricket? Or is it unsporting?
posted by Fiasco da Gama at 5:14 PM PST - 32 comments

People kept talking about a “vibe shift,” but what had shifted was that all people seemed to talk about were vibes... the vibe was ambient grift, with an undercurrent of paranoia.
posted by blue shadows at 4:52 PM PST - 67 comments

The death of Mahsa Amini [Wikipedia article] after being held in custody by the Iranian morality police has led to a wave of protests in Iran that have spread around the country. The Iranian government has cracked down hard, with at least dozens dead [archive], and taken steps to limit internet access in Iran. The morality police, or Gasht-e-Ershad, and the laws they enforce have been the target of the protesters' ire, though the government as a whole is feeling under threat. Meanwhile, protests continue, documented in videos that circulate online.
posted by Kattullus at 1:46 PM PST - 48 comments

NASA published its new strategic objectives. And a lot more is going on. Just past the fall equinox, we catch up with humanity's exploration of space. [more inside]
posted by doctornemo at 1:36 PM PST - 14 comments

Kobach lays out plan to remove abortion rights in Kansas after failed amendment. (Archive.ph) The change, Kobach said, would clear a path for the state to “slowly and quietly” place anti-abortion judges on the state’s high court with the ultimate goal of overturning the Kansas Supreme Court’s 2019 Hodes decision that found the state constitution includes the right to an abortion. Kobach blamed the August defeat partly on the wording of the Republican-crafted Value Them Both amendment, saying it confused voters and allowed the Vote No campaign to “muddy the waters.”
posted by geoff. at 7:47 AM PST - 42 comments

Bitter chocolate tastes bad, therefore it must be good for you,” he said. “It’s like a religion.” [more inside]
posted by RobinofFrocksley at 6:38 AM PST - 32 comments

From Nurse Ratched to Kai Winn, Louise Fletcher always kept a smile on her face while she destroyed your world in ways you hadn't imagined possible. Rest in peace, great actor.
posted by Winnie the Proust at 8:10 PM PST - 50 comments

Claire Hummel described and illustrated fake video games such as "Pro Poker Amateur" and "It's Probably Fine".
posted by brainwane at 4:06 PM PST - 14 comments

Streamed live yesterday as part of NIN Appreciation Day, join Trent and Atticus and nearly the entire other cast of Nine Inch Nails for Nine Inch Nails Live Q&A from the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame [1h10m]
posted by hippybear at 3:11 PM PST - 6 comments

MeFi's Own Andy Baio is tracking a mystery over on waxy.org: A mysterious voice is haunting American Airlines’ in-flight announcements and nobody knows how
posted by cortex at 10:16 AM PST - 60 comments

Meet the Women Reinvigorating Spanish Indie Rock. [more inside]
posted by signal at 9:36 AM PST - 4 comments

This miracle plant was eaten into extinction 2,000 years ago—or was it? is an article in the National Geographic by Taras Grescoe [previously] about the potential rediscovery of the favorite herb of the Romans, silphion, [prev & iously] in Turkey by Prof. Mahmut Miski. Grescoe put a bit more info in a Twitter thread, and if you have access, you can read Miski’s scholarly article here.
posted by Kattullus at 9:24 AM PST - 29 comments

Stephen Lindholm's Smurf Research Center lists a treasury of Smurfy miscellanea. It has all the episodes of the show with plot synopses, speculates about the existence of gay Smurfs (with only one adult female, how could there not be?), and also records systematically whatever the hell it is that Gargamel wanted them for. The title of the post comes from their "magnum opus," The Exegesis of the Smurfs. [more inside]
posted by JHarris at 9:22 AM PST - 17 comments

After 1500 or so edits, Star Trek: The Motion Picture is a film that finally feels properly paced, looks stunning, and, after long last, no longer keeps the viewer at arm’s length.
posted by Pater Aletheias at 6:19 AM PST - 65 comments

It started with a tweet highlighting an episode from On the Air, a series of short animations from BBC Northern Ireland of talk radio from The Gerry Anderson Show dating back to the 2000s. The hypno-hen soon went viral, and now the late broadcaster's family have set up a website in his honour. [more inside]
posted by rory at 6:07 AM PST - 3 comments

The first time I saw these swaths of burnt-pumpkin, dead forest, I felt a pain in my chest, though I will admit that I still hadn’t accepted or allowed myself to reveal this to others, consider it legitimate, or let myself feel it, so it became a stunted obscure pain. A pain I considered immature, juvenile, weak. This is the first time I can remember my own eco-grief. An elastic tight feeling inside my chest. I will always equate the orange colour of dead pine needles with the colour of death.
posted by latkes at 12:03 AM PST - 7 comments

We were here to “Make friends, not art!” Well, that sounds fun. But what if your friends’ art sucks? Documenta was always a pacesetter — and this year’s edition certainly put its finger on a larger shift, seen too in our museums, our art schools and our magazines, away from aesthetic ambition and intellectual seriousness and toward the easier comforts of togetherness, advocacy and fun. If your friends’ art sucks, that’s actually no big deal — because being together matters more than doing something well. And if the German press say your friends’ art sucks, that’s OK, too — reassuring, actually, as evidence that this rotten colonizers’ world has no place for us. [more inside]
posted by Toddles at 8:30 PM PST - 6 comments

Björk (wiki) has a podcast: "In the conversations on this podcast me and my friends try to capture which moods, timbres, and tempos were vibrating during each of my ten albums...I hope you enjoy it." -from the trailer to Sonic Symbolism. [more inside]
posted by msbrauer at 2:43 PM PST - 14 comments

Women in Comics [via mefi projects] [more inside]
posted by aniola at 12:58 PM PST - 9 comments

Vultures get a bad reputation for their carrion-scavenging ways, but their dietary habits prevent the release of greenhouse gases
posted by Etrigan at 12:05 PM PST - 34 comments

San Francisco’s Famous Sourdough Was Once Really Gross
posted by meowzilla at 12:03 PM PST - 29 comments

Why does Adam Sandler's 'Click' make men cry? Despite being widely recognized as a bad movie, Adam Sandler's Click apparently makes a lot of men cry. Even men who acknowledge the movie's many failings still admit to weeping at the end. Some go so far as to mention crying at the end of Click on their dating profiles. [more inside]
posted by asnider at 11:14 AM PST - 72 comments

Russia has been on the receiving end of the Ukrainian counter offensive for about four weeks now, and things have not been going well for them. During the retreat from the Kharkiv area, the 1st Guards Tank Army, the most prestigious major unit of the Russian Army, was for all intents and purposes routed. Russia's major reinforcement unit, the 3rd Army Corps, was moved into theater and practically melted away. In reaction to these events, the Duma has pushed through a new conscription law, and the Kremlin has announced a partial mobilization. How many people will be called in is unclear, as one clause of the order is secret. Russian industry has also been urged to ramp up production. [more inside]
posted by Harald74 at 9:43 AM PST - 837 comments

Can I offer you a fully operable web implementation of the Roland TR-909 drum machine in this trying time?
posted by cortex at 9:29 AM PST - 10 comments

With Brazil's Presidential election first round on October 2nd. The Department for Making Brazil '64 Again has authorised a tourism ad which is surprisingly honest and informative!
UOL who first printed the story of Jair Bolsonaro’s murky family finances claiming the Brazilian president and close relatives used cash to pay for more than 50 properties worth millions of dollars have just had a judicial order to remove the stories.
posted by adamvasco at 9:25 AM PST - 5 comments

Trombones. Hot dogs. Baboons. Collectible cards. Lore. Trombone Champ has it all. [PC Gamer] [more inside]
posted by chavenet at 7:26 AM PST - 39 comments

Dame Hilary Mantel, author of (among others) the Wolf Hall trilogy about Thomas Cromwell, has died of a stroke at age 70. Among previous appearances on Metafilter: discussing historical fiction, describing life in the court of Henry VIII, and recounting her own history with endometriosis. [more inside]
posted by ALeaflikeStructure at 5:22 AM PST - 66 comments

Content warning: emotional abuse. The parentified child who supports the parent often incurs a cost to her own psychic stability and development. The phenomenon has little to do with parental love, and much more to do with the personal and structural circumstances that stop parents from attending to the immense anxiety and burden that a child may be experiencing on their behalf. The parent is often unable to see that their child is taking responsibility for maintaining the peace in the family, for protecting one parent from the other, for being their friend and therapist, for mediating between the parents and the outside world, for parenting the siblings, and sometimes for the medical, social and economic stability of the household. A long read from Nivida Chandra, a psychologist and research scholar specializing in the emotional abuse of children in India. [more inside]
posted by Bella Donna at 3:58 AM PST - 24 comments

Systems such as OpenAI's DALL·E 2 have shown impressive progress recently in generating images from text-based descriptions. Composer David Bruce looks at how these trends are starting to impact the world of music composition. [more inside]
posted by rongorongo at 1:28 AM PST - 17 comments

Have I Got 30 Years For You [57m] is a retrospective of BBC series Have I Got News For You, covering its run beginning in 1990 and running even until the present day. For Much More News, here is a YouTube playlist that has "best of" compilations from each series (minus a couple), running 30m-1h+ each. Up to 62 series now, and I assume still counting!
posted by hippybear at 12:19 PM PST - 27 comments

I didn’t want a so-called natural-looking limb, so getting it right involved a lot of design research. Googling “Sailor Moon glitter holographic Infinity Gauntlet” led me nowhere, but further searches revealed a concept called uncanny valley... (archive.ph link)
posted by Etrigan at 11:47 AM PST - 29 comments

Born in San Juan, Puerto Rico and an alumnus of NYC's Art + Disability Residency, interdisciplinary artist Kevin Quiles Bonilla considers his work to be rooted in the experience of living in/leaving a colonial environment. An interview with Bomb Magazine on Quiles Bonilla's solo show "A tropic squall blew in, while you dried in the sand." Recent work on the structures of colonialism, the childhood memory of acknowledging queerness, and the blue tarp as embodied trauma. [more inside]
posted by spamandkimchi at 9:43 AM PST - 3 comments

The South Asian Polycrisis. Economist Adam Tooze writes in his substack newsletter about the multiple crises affecting South Asia, particularly Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.
posted by tavegyl at 9:15 AM PST - 10 comments

Every tenth of a degree that we can avoid warming the planet is important: Climate tipping points. (research paper)
posted by simmering octagon at 7:49 AM PST - 43 comments

On the internet, then, we find an increasing polarization between objects represented as pure exchange-value and pure use-value. ASMR, TikTok, and floating houses do something of the latter—by showing us only the imagistic form of these objects, and withholding their more mind-numbing and tangible pleasures, the online photo reacquaints us with a material world outside capitalist production. Paradoxically, the disembodied image, which usually puts us at automatic remove, awakens the body’s possible responses to the object. It takes us beyond the abstract plane of price; it reacquaints us with matter. from The Apocalyptic Sublime by Zoë Hu
posted by chavenet at 7:17 AM PST - 8 comments

Betsy Youngquist creates fantastic mosaics and sculptures using beads and other materials.
posted by jacquilynne at 6:53 AM PST - 6 comments

USGS Water Blog [via mefi projects, which has lots more]
posted by aniola at 11:05 PM PST - 10 comments

Is it really a crime if it’s your own money? In Lebanon, the lira has lost 90% of its value even as the price of everything soars with global inflation. As a result, banks have frozen their customers assets, only allowing them to withdraw a small amount each month in US dollars or local currency. Fed up, ordinary citizens are holding up banks in order to withdraw money to support their families or pay for loved ones’ medical care. [more inside]
posted by toastyk at 10:12 PM PST - 22 comments

Demi Adejuyigbe is conspicuously not doing anything extraordinary today, for once. He said last year was going to be the final iteration, and this year we all have to do our own silly dances if we want silly dances. Previously, previously, previously, previously, and previously
posted by jackbishop at 3:34 PM PST - 27 comments

That time Ministry trolled their record company and it paid off.
posted by a non mouse, a cow herd at 2:30 PM PST - 65 comments

I had no intention to deal with this word, but a few days ago, one of our correspondents asked me whether the information on the etymology of condom one finds on the Internet can be trusted. The answer is "on the whole, yes." A few websites provide debunked hypotheses, but most are reliable, especially if they cite the relevant bibliography. I may have a richer database on condom than some authors, because it contains references to such old English and German medical journals as Human Fertility, but I have not unearthed any information unknown to my predecessors. I am writing this blog post only out of deference to our reader.
posted by Etrigan at 11:38 AM PST - 22 comments

What was it like working at Atari between 1983 and 1992? I dunno, but if you want to know what sort of emails employees sent each other you should browse atariemailarchive.org
posted by Going To Maine at 10:36 AM PST - 19 comments

Any ex-lovers of residents of Spirit Falls must file, in writing, their intent to enter city limits ninety days before an intended visit. The paperwork must include a notarized affidavit of intent to not participate in, instigate, or be the recipient of romantic gestures. "We Are a Picturesque Small Town and We Refuse to Be the Setting for Your Romantic Comedy" by Rachel Mans McKenny, a short humorous piece in McSweeney's.
posted by brainwane at 9:24 AM PST - 54 comments

Donald Trump, 3 children sued for business fraud by NY AG (WaPo gift article) [more inside]
posted by box at 9:01 AM PST - 207 comments

New Hellraiser movie trailer has come to tear your soul apart. The titular of Pinhead will be played by Jamie Clayton, and is Clive Barker approved.
posted by Kitteh at 7:17 AM PST - 59 comments

In fewer than 50 days, the midterm elections will be held in the US. According to a new analysis by Democracy Docket, there has been a steep jump in voting and election lawsuits filed by Republican-affiliated groups in 2022 compared to 2021. In 2021, GOP-affiliated groups and individuals filed 7 lawsuits, or 13% of the total voting cases tracked in 2021. As of September 16, 2022, GOP-affiliated groups have filed 41 lawsuits, or nearly 54% of all voting cases tracked in 2022. These cases are intended to shorten or end early voting periods, end or limit mail-in ballots, attack the use of drop boxes, or add voter ID requirements that make it challenging for the elderly, the poor, the unhoused, those without cars, the disabled, and other folks to vote. Happily, several organizations are working to protect voters. [more inside]
posted by Bella Donna at 5:35 AM PST - 15 comments

The Industrial Visions of Precisionist Artists by Bill Morris [more inside]
posted by chavenet at 4:31 AM PST - 7 comments

A global analysis of real wages, human height, and mortality since the long 16th century. twitter summary [more inside]
posted by latkes at 10:38 PM PST - 53 comments

"I was on my way to interview an artist whose work I admire, a woman who upholds long-held cultural traditions, while using her art to heal, to connect and to communicate the philosophical and religious principles of a purposefully simple life. That life, she says, is all about raising a family, honoring God and preserving the dead — all the while making a living as an artist. How did she share herself without exploiting herself? Could she? Can any of us?"--Don't Ignore Signs: The Art of Missionary Mary Proctor (by Katherine Webb-Hehn; The Bitter Southerner) [more inside]
posted by MonkeyToes at 7:55 PM PST - 5 comments

Cindy Gallop discusses her website Make Love Not Porn and her aversion to marriage and relationships Cindy Gallop, age 60, discusses her sex life, her aversion to relationships and marriage pressure, and her website, Make Love Not Porn (NSFW-ish)
posted by bearette at 5:11 PM PST - 6 comments

“Northern Boy”, by The Northern Boys. Liverpudlian Norman Pain and his mates Patrick and Kevin are having feelings. (SLYT, NSFW)
posted by Ivan Fyodorovich at 5:04 PM PST - 17 comments

Revolution Will Not Be Televised - La Revolución No Se Televisará - La Revolución No Será Televisada - La Revolución NO Va A Ser Televisada.
posted by signal at 1:59 PM PST - 10 comments

The US Space Force has an anthem, "Semper Supra" [slYT]. [more inside]
posted by Halloween Jack at 12:42 PM PST - 65 comments

Thousands of expensive Yeti coolers are washing up on shore after a cargo ship spilled 109 containers of them near Washington’s Olympic Peninsula last year. One greedy collector has reportedly nabbed 20 of them. Why this Alaska man needs the kind of cooler space that could keep 1,140 beers cold eludes us, but it sounds like a great time.
posted by spamandkimchi at 12:21 PM PST - 60 comments

The Phantom of the Opera has set a final performance date of February 18, 2023, one month after the production celebrates its 35th anniversary.
posted by Etrigan at 10:54 AM PST - 73 comments

Cooked with Love is a recipe book collated by 30 unaccompanied minor asylum seekers, with help from social workers, carers, and city officials in Leeds, UK. Featuring recipes from Afghanistan, Iran, Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea and Chad, the book is downloadable for free from the first link. [more inside]
posted by EndsOfInvention at 3:26 AM PST - 10 comments

Nearly completely forgotten in this age is an early Rankin/Bass cartoon that aired on NBC in 1970, The Tomfoolery Show (WIKIPEDIA), which animated nonsense works from Edward Lear, Ogden Nash, and Lewis Carroll, as well as containing original silliness. Seventeen were made, but most seem to be lost. Four episodes are preserved on Youtube by video rarities collector Anthony Gonzalez: one, two, three, four. Here's a playlist I made with all four. Some highlights are inside. WARNING: contains puns, limericks, and things that don't fit into traditional systems of logic. [more inside]
posted by JHarris at 2:18 AM PST - 20 comments

Musical artist Camille's recent works include MANDALALÀS, a series of experimental dance videos shot from above accompanied by new compositions.
posted by eotvos at 12:11 AM PST - 6 comments

Politico: Biden's "60 Minutes" remarks surprised his own health advisers, and came as the administration seeks more Covid response funding. [more inside]
posted by NotLost at 8:16 PM PST - 373 comments

The Tiny but Mighty exhibit was in Knoxville, TN in conjunction with Convergence this summer. This was the biennial un-juried small format show for members of American Tapestry Alliance. One hundred thirty eight small tapestries hung at the Emporium Gallery from July 1-29th . The emphasis this year was in “new approaches to design, materials and/or techniques in creating a small tapestry.”
posted by Bottlecap at 5:06 PM PST - 7 comments

A Dubious Truck, a Whistleblower Army, and Inept Spies: Inside the Very Weird Nikola Saga [Bloomberg; ungated] [more inside]
posted by chavenet at 3:59 PM PST - 16 comments

For a provocative comic, losing the job of a lifetime was the beginning of a second act. [The New Yorker]

A different sort of person in Gillis’s situation might have argued against censoriousness, casting himself as a defender of “freedom of artistic expression.” That is precisely what Dave Chappelle did, in his most recent Netflix special, which was less a standup routine than a lecture in which he addressed his many critics. But Gillis pointedly declined to plead his own case. “I don’t want to be a victim—I want to be a comedian,” he told Joe Rogan, the comic and podcast host, last year. “So I don’t want to come on and do stuff where I’m, like, ‘Yeah, it was unfair how I was treated.’ It’s like, no, I get it—I understand why I was treated that way. I said wild shit. I’m going to keep saying wild shit.”

posted by riruro at 11:23 AM PST - 60 comments

“This isn’t Facebook,” users complain. But others are finding it a valuable place to talk about much more than work.
posted by folklore724 at 11:16 AM PST - 41 comments

Aleksandr Sorokin Smashes 24-Hour World Record With 198.6 Mile/319.6 Kilometer Run
posted by Etrigan at 10:33 AM PST - 29 comments

[CW: violence against animals] War photographer Don McCullin: ‘Wherever I go, there seems to be violence and death” — interview with Stuart Jeffries, The Guardian, 19 Sep 2022. From Vietnam to Biafra, he captured war and suffering with shocking power. The great photographer talks about his tough childhood, the film Angelina Jolie is making about him – and the shots that still haunt his sleep. WP bio, website, images.
posted by cenoxo at 6:59 AM PST - 7 comments

If this thread were a whale, its name would be?: a) Fail, b) Willy, c) Moby, d) Dick [more inside]
posted by taz at 3:10 AM PST - 105 comments

The Rotary Un-Smartphone Justine Haupt, at Open Sky Technology, has released the rotary dial un-smartphone kit. It's a voice only cell phone with a rotary dial, a real physical bell, and an on/off switch that actually disconnects the battery. It's available in the classic handset colors of white, beige, sea-foam green, atomic hotline red or black. If you had described a hand held wireless portable phone to someone in the 1960s, this is what they might have imagined. Here's a video of it in action. [more inside]
posted by Metacircular at 2:51 AM PST - 65 comments

Judge hits 58th AND 59th HRs, just two shy of Maris ... Aaron Judge home run pace tracker ... HR Digest: Aaron Judge [more inside]
posted by chavenet at 3:05 PM PST - 54 comments

"Amílcar Lopes da Costa Cabral was born September 12, 1924 in Bafatá, Guinea-Bissau, one of Portugal’s African colonies. On January 20, 1973–48 years ago today–Cabral was murdered by fascist Portuguese assassins just months before the national liberation movement in which he played a central role won the independence of Guinea-Bissau."
posted by kmt at 12:32 PM PST - 10 comments

Since nobody else has yet.... it's that time of the year to break out your paper airplanes and watch the Ig Nobel 2022 Ceremony. (cut to the video: The 32nd First Annual Ig Nobel Prize Ceremony - YouTube). [more inside]
posted by zengargoyle at 12:25 PM PST - 14 comments

Could ‘Ferris Bueller’s Day Off’ really be done in one day? We found out. (SLWaPo)
posted by Melismata at 10:33 AM PST - 47 comments

Earlier this year, the City of Petaluma hired Healthy Democracy to put together a citizen panel via lottery to advise on uses of the Petaluma Fairgrounds (the lease expires December 31, 2023). The process chose a panel reflective of the diversity of the City, from a group of volunteers. Fascinating look at a more inclusive process for local decision making.
posted by agatha_magatha at 9:22 AM PST - 8 comments

Inside the $100 Billion Mission to Modernize America’s Aging Nuclear Missiles. "Walking into Moffett’s capsule at Alpha-01 is like walking into the past. Banks of turquoise electronics racks, industrial cables, and analog controls have been down here since the U.S. military installed the equipment decades ago. Look closely at the machines and you’ll find names of manufacturers like Radio Corp. of America, defunct since 1987, and Hughes Aircraft Co., defunct since 1997. Some systems have been updated over the years, but these advances are unrecognizable to anyone who lived through the personal-computer revolution, let alone the internet age. The entire ICBM fleet runs on less computational power than what’s now found inside the smartphone in your pocket. When something breaks, the Air Force maintenance crews pull parts from warehouse shelves, pay a contractor to make them to specifications, or even occasionally scavenge them from military museums."
posted by storybored at 7:28 PM PST - 62 comments

In a ruling that has left the legal commentariat in confusion and befuddlement, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled in favor of Texas in the lawsuit by NetChoice and other online service providers over the state's new social media law. [more inside]
posted by NoxAeternum at 3:56 PM PST - 102 comments

Do you think machines are neat? Ever regretted not getting that mechanical engineering degree? Enjoy playing with legos? Can you appreciate things that will teach you stuff without having much other use? Here's something that might tickle your fancy.
posted by nushustu at 2:35 PM PST - 25 comments

Hot on the heels, only a 11 years after the creation of the retro encabulator (a follow up to the wildly successful turbo encabulator), comes the hyper encabulator for all your cyber security needs. (Featuring Mike Kraft again, explaining the benefits of the new model.) [more inside]
posted by Hactar at 11:31 AM PST - 33 comments

(TINA.ORG) BlackOxygen Organics, MLM company, died when its products were banned by FDA and HealthCanada in 2021 for containing elevated amount of arsenic and lead. However, in 2022, the same products are apparently being brought back by a different MLM company under a different name... [more inside]
posted by kschang at 11:22 AM PST - 16 comments

“Autism is a Spectrum” Doesn’t Mean What You Think
posted by aniola at 10:49 AM PST - 36 comments

Ethereum just completed The Merge — here’s how much energy it’s saving [The Verge] [more inside]
posted by chavenet at 7:28 AM PST - 81 comments

"It was a reminder that this organic sound enveloping the venue was a live recreation of beautifully balanced parts which would have been meticulously layered in the studio." Agnes Obel. Familiar
posted by clavdivs at 9:10 PM PST - 3 comments

Watch a TikTok LIVE Performance of Rosalía's entire third album MOTOMAMI, or read about the album, including some cultural appropriation concerns, in a comprehensive pitchfork review with an 8.4 score. Bonus: Lo Vas A Olvidar with Billie Eilish.
posted by signal at 8:47 PM PST - 3 comments

Scientists try to teach robot to laugh at the right time [more inside]
posted by clawsoon at 6:31 PM PST - 32 comments

The Coke Studio sessions "Welcome to the sweetest corner of the internet in the Indian subcontinent - the YouTube comment section of Coke Studio Pakistan. Coke Studio - Pakistan's longest-running music show, produced by beverage giant Coca-Cola - features studio-recorded performances by some of the country's most famous artists. The music ranges from quirky pop and soul-stirring qawwali to rap - all of which draw heavily from folk traditions and classical poetry." Some recent favourites from the Season 14 show. Pasoori, Go, Tu Jhoom
posted by dhruva at 5:52 PM PST - 13 comments

A collection of classic animated Raid insecticide commercials from years past.
posted by JHarris at 3:19 PM PST - 18 comments

How to Feed NYC's Largest Middle School A NYTimes video with Priya Krishna interviewing Ruth Quizhpe, the head cook at New York's largest middle school. [more inside]
posted by mumimor at 3:05 PM PST - 8 comments

Reverse Dieting: Hype Versus Evidence. (TRIGGER WARNING FOR DISORDERED EATING) Reverse Dieting is a much-hyped method of ending a weight-loss effort by incrementally increasing food intake over time, rather than returning to a maintenance level of caloric intake immediately, with the theory being that this will reverse physiologic adaptations reducing metabolism that occur during dieting. This massive article by Dr. Eric Trexler, pro bodybuilder, researcher, and fitness coach, analyzes the claims and research surrounding reverse dieting and metabolic adaptation (Do metabolic rates get “damaged”? No. ), using research from both more modern research and the famous Minnesota Starvation Experiment. [more inside]
posted by bq at 9:57 AM PST - 13 comments

Wikipedia Speedruns is a browser-based game where the goal is to navigate between two articles as efficiently as possible. Start with the tutorial, then try your hand at one of several game modes, including "Prompt of the Day", "Marathon Mode", and "Party Mode". The project's Python source code is available for those who want to contribute.
posted by tonycpsu at 7:23 AM PST - 25 comments

The Cloud Appreciation Society has created the Memory Cloud Atlas with artist Justin Wiggan, which for one day is open for anyone to share their sky. You can submit a picture or explore pictures from all over the globe. They also offer a Cloud Appreciation Pack with cloud-related lesson plans, resources and activities for schools or homeschooling.
posted by joannemerriam at 7:20 AM PST - 13 comments

At long last, we might have an HIV vaccine HIV mutates rapidly, which has made the development of a vaccine an enormous challenge for decades. Finally, we might have one.
posted by robbyrobs at 5:01 AM PST - 33 comments

Frederick Seidel reads 'Frederick Seidel'. (previously fabulous) [more inside]
posted by clavdivs at 8:13 PM PST - 3 comments

Petrona Martínez, the queen of bullerengue, won a Latin Grammy last year at the age of 82. The 2021 album Ancestras + a review with songs! On the musical legacy of slavery: "The Colombian city of Cartagena was a principal port for trading enslaved people, and many escaped to form Palenque communities of cimarrones across the Caribbean coast." On her first trip (at age 59) and performance in Bogotá: "Her fellow Colombians didn’t know anything about this ancestral music that had been preserved through generations of Black women despite —or perhaps because of— the isolation and invisibility. It wasn’t until she was in her 50s, after working as a domestic worker and a sand collector and becoming a mother of seven, that Petrona was able to record her own music."
posted by spamandkimchi at 1:28 PM PST - 6 comments

Effective today, September 15, 2022, IKEA has raised the price of its regular hot dogs in Sweden from 5 SEK to 7 SEK. Ikea bryter korvlöftet (IKEA breaks hog dog promise) reads the headline of the article in Sweden's Aftonbladet tabloid, which notes that since 1995 you could eat a hot dog at IKEA for five crowns. That is, until today. This was big news in Sweden. Less newsworthy in Sweden but still of note: IKEA has lowered the cost of its vegan hot dog to 5 SEK from 10 SEK, while US vegan hot dogs have been cheaper than regular dogs for some time. [more inside]
posted by Bella Donna at 11:20 AM PST - 65 comments

“I never really knew what was going on inside. That was a realm reserved for the luthier. From time to time, while repairing an instrument, we would take a rare look inside, which was always an electrifying experience.” [more inside]
posted by Too-Ticky at 11:00 AM PST - 19 comments

The sordid story of Hunter Biden's laptop (SL: NYMag) A deep dive from New York Magazine on the whole messy affair. Serious questions are raised about bias in the "mainstream" press, as well as potential financial improprieties of the First Family. Please note that I am ONLY posting this because it comes from a fairly liberal publication, and is written in a tone sympathetic to the trials of the Biden family.
posted by Optamystic at 9:11 AM PST - 84 comments

The US International Classic "Senior B" competition makes figure-skating history. Axels are the most difficult figure-skating jump because alone among jumps, they take off from a forward position, meaning an extra half-revolution before landing. [more inside]
posted by humbug at 7:47 AM PST - 10 comments

A triumph of Britishness.
posted by beagle at 7:44 AM PST - 127 comments

'The Divider: Trump in the White House, 2017-2021' Peter Baker and Susan Glasser's book (review, review) doesn't drop until Tuesday. But a lot of media outlets have advance copies. [more inside]
posted by box at 5:09 AM PST - 61 comments

My hope is that it’s a dark comedy in many ways. The people at YouTube and Google are idealistic about the internet. YouTube was the underdog taking on Hollywood and all the conventions of Hollywood. Then within a few short years, there was this whiplash, where it becomes like Big Tobacco. YouTube is accused of radicalization, traumatizing children, propaganda, all the worst aspects associated with the company. I thought that quick turn was just a fascinating story to unpack and tell. from Everyone knows what YouTube is — few know how it really works, a conversation with Mark Bergen, author of Like, Comment, Subscribe: Inside YouTube's Chaotic Rise to World Domination
posted by chavenet at 4:56 AM PST - 51 comments

Kaboom, with 10 years experience of being a very good boy, goes fast as heck and wins the 24" class at the 2022 WKC Masters Agility Championship. (SLYT)
posted by Harald74 at 12:47 AM PST - 32 comments

Do you love word puzzles like the New York Times Spelling Bee? Are you constantly frustrated by author Sam Ezersky's idiosyncratic lexicon, which often leaves out highly common words? There's [more inside]
posted by heyitsgogi at 6:36 PM PST - 49 comments

Baltimore prosecutors move to vacate Adnan Syed's conviction in the 1999 murder case brought to national fame in 'Serial' podcast [more inside]
posted by peeedro at 6:25 PM PST - 58 comments

The Follower: Using open cameras and AI to find how an Instagram photo is taken.
posted by signal at 2:31 PM PST - 25 comments

Billionaire No More: Patagonia Founder Gives Away the Company The founder of Patagonia, Inc., has given every share of the company to a trust & non-profit, which will use the clothing company's profits to protect the Earth. [more inside]
posted by wenestvedt at 1:47 PM PST - 53 comments

"He's only targeting political enemies." LA County Sheriff Alex Villanueva, scandal-plagued chief of a department run by gangs, has been in a Trumpy, ongoing battle with everyone he identifies as political enemies: a local oversight committee, Black people, the County Board of Supervisors, anyone to his left. Today his deputies searched the homes of an elected County official and a member of the Sheriff's Civilian Oversight Commission. [more inside]
posted by kensington314 at 12:38 PM PST - 19 comments

To save endangered eels, researchers have been working for decades to figure out where they reproduce.
posted by Etrigan at 12:23 PM PST - 15 comments

Scallops have 200 tiny eyes, so the lights [on the modified crab pot] proved irresistible to the shellfish. "Currently, most commercial scallop harvesting is carried out using dredges, a fishing method which can cause extensive harm to sensitive marine habitats and species. This discovery paves the way for the creation of a new low-impact inshore fishery" (source). Tweet and direct link to the video of that EUREKA moment (complete with profanity). First found via NPR.
posted by spamandkimchi at 8:32 AM PST - 13 comments

« Buy storage », they advise, « back up », save, save, save. All Is Not Vanity. An essay by Noga Arikha.
posted by Mchelly at 7:49 AM PST - 23 comments

The classic, groundbreaking, influential book "Our Bodies, Ourselves" has a new website with "updated, curated, and inclusive information about the health and sexuality of women and gender-expansive people .... features the best of the 'old' Our Bodies Ourselves as well as extensive new health content." Topics include "Sexual Anatomy and Common Medical Problems", "Trans Healthcare", and "Heart Health". In keeping with the book's inclusion of first-hand storytelling, the new site includes interview videos and transcripts. [more inside]
posted by brainwane at 6:26 AM PST - 15 comments

FULL AUTO Knife Throwing Machine! [via]
posted by chavenet at 3:41 AM PST - 58 comments

Cape Breton comics artist Kate Beaton, best known for Hark! a Vagrant has a new book relaesed today, Ducks, based on her time working in the Alberta tar sands industry. Reviews are good, from NY Times (gift link), the Narwhal, The Guardian, Wired, Quill and Quire. There is an eight page PDF excerpt here and a lengthy video from today of Beaton launching/discussing her new book. An early glimpse from 2014 of Ducks, on Metafilter with good discussion. Mefi-affiliate Amazon link.
posted by Rumple at 7:30 PM PST - 30 comments

Today marks the start of the second of three trials to determine the liability of bigoted conspiracy monger and snake oil salesman Alex Jones over his defamation of the families of people killed in the Sandy Hook massacre. This trial is taking place in Connecticut, not far from the site of the mass murder, and is expected to go for four weeks. [more inside]
posted by NoxAeternum at 5:21 PM PST - 47 comments

To read a beautiful article by Leslie Jamison in The New Yorker about the history and impact of the Choose Your Own Adventure books (Wikipedia), complete with choices for how to navigate the article, follow this link.

To comment about the article, or the books in general, click [more inside]
posted by Westringia F. at 2:48 PM PST - 35 comments

Goodbye, Uncle Jack. We'll miss you.
posted by flabdablet at 12:56 PM PST - 33 comments

you are a halfling just trying to exist. meanwhile, the dark lord rampages across the world. you do not care about this. you are trying to farm potatoes ...
POTATO: a one-page RPG that you can play for yourself in a few minutes with just a piece of scrap paper and a six-sided die or a dice-rolling app. From Oliver Darkshire, who has written other one-page RPGs with the same mechanic, such as Trapped in Your House Due to Hans Christian Andersen and Gay for the Pirate King. All the game pages are free to read on Patreon. [more inside]
posted by Countess Elena at 7:37 AM PST - 60 comments

Marsha Hunt, Hollywood actress (1935 to two upcoming documentaries), blacklist survivor, activist (documentary free on freevee) for such causes as refugees, gay rights, world hunger, has died at age 104.
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 7:19 AM PST - 15 comments

We Spoke With the Last Person Standing in the Floppy Disk Business
posted by Etrigan at 6:44 AM PST - 112 comments

Le réalisateur Jean-Luc Godard est mort [Le Monde] [more inside]
posted by chavenet at 2:40 AM PST - 70 comments

One of Long COVID’s Worst Symptoms Is Also Its Most Misunderstood “The stigma that long-haulers experience also motivates them to present as normal in social situations or doctor appointments, which compounds the mistaken sense that they’re less impaired than they claim—and can be debilitatingly draining. “They’ll do what is asked of them when you’re testing them, and your results will say they were normal,” David Putrino, who leads a long-COVID rehabilitation clinic at Mount Sinai, told me. “It’s only if you check in on them two days later that you’ll see you’ve wrecked them for a week.”” [more inside]
posted by Bottlecap at 7:17 PM PST - 90 comments

Disability justice organizer Alice Wong's memoir Year of the Tiger: An Activist's Life was published this month to critical acclaim. Interview (podcast + transcript).
Wong also had a hellish summer that she detailed in My ICU Summer: A Photo Essay:
"At this point I had to confront my greatest fears: twin invasive procedures, a tracheostomy and a feeding tube. My neurologist and pulmonologist suggested them prior to my medical crises. Both emphasized the benefits and risks of the procedures and how they would prolong and increase the quality of my life. Intellectually I knew these interventions were logical and inevitable. This was the next iteration of my cyborg existence." [more inside]
posted by spamandkimchi at 3:39 PM PST - 7 comments

A German film of _All Quiet on the Western Front_ The trailer for a new movie adaptation of Erich Maria Remarque's 1929 novel All Quiet On The Western Front appeared. [more inside]
posted by doctornemo at 2:41 PM PST - 31 comments

"Starbucks Taps [cryptocurrency network] for [NFT] Rewards Program" [more inside]
posted by box at 1:27 PM PST - 44 comments

Within the United States of America, regionally beloved goodies are also a thing. It's easy to see how history has played a part in that. In corn-laden Midwestern states like Nebraska, sweets involve popcorn. In whiskey-filled Kentucky, you'll find bourbon in the candies. Sampling these recipes easily illuminates a part of a state's food culture — hopefully, a delicious one. For your next road trip, don't forget to leave room for dessert. Here are the absolute best desserts in every US state.
posted by sciatrix at 1:26 PM PST - 114 comments

It's Monday, and we are at work, at school, at home mastering our arts and becoming more polished under the scrutinizing light of the world. But what if you were unpolished and still a master? That would be subversive and funny, one reason why Markobi recently won the FISM (International Federation of Magic Societies) 2022 Gold Medal for Card Magic with this performance.
posted by storybored at 11:27 AM PST - 23 comments

Meet the First Black Woman Puppeteer on Sesame Street
posted by Etrigan at 6:33 AM PST - 8 comments

This is your Free Thread for the week, funlovers! Feel free to chat and link freely.
posted by taz at 3:12 AM PST - 122 comments

Spanish novelist Javier Marías dies at home in Madrid aged 70 [Grauniad] [more inside]
posted by chavenet at 2:13 AM PST - 8 comments

President Joe Biden commemorated the 21st anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks at a remembrance event Sunday at the Pentagon, [more inside]
posted by clavdivs at 3:36 PM PST - 96 comments

Recent short-form non-fiction films from FIELD_OF_VISION:
They Won’t Call It Murder (2022, 20 min) For over 20 years, no police were charged with murder for killing residents in Columbus, Ohio. Five women challenge the city's lack of answers and accountability.
We Were There to Be There (2021, 27 min): In 1978, punk bands The Cramps and The Mutants performed a show for patients and staff at the psychiatric facility Napa State Hospital.
The Facility (2021, 26 min): A group of immigrants at an American detention center organize to demand protection from covid-19. [more inside]
posted by spamandkimchi at 11:32 AM PST - 2 comments

So, my YouTube suggestions generally suck, but not entirely. I was given three dance videos over the past while that I quite enjoyed: Justin Timberlake's Cry Me A River [3m30s], choreographed by Andrew Winghart, James Arthur's Recovery [4m26s], choreographed by Tim Milgram, and Sam Smith's Him [3m10s], choreographed by Kyle Hanagami. Unexpected, but welcome. Maybe you'll like them, too! [more inside]
posted by hippybear at 7:45 PM PST - 19 comments

Wirecutter reviews string trimmers for your lawn....and also a scythe. "If your trimming needs include taking down a large grassy area, like an LA hillside or maybe a spot that’s not quite lawn, but also not quite woods, consider bringing a scythe into your life, specifically, the Lee Valley Traditional Austrian Scythe Set. The scythe is an ancient tool, discarded by our modern culture, yet wildly effective at cutting grass. In addition to its cutting abilities, it offers a tranquil mental and physical experience, accompanied only by the whooshing swish of the blade against the grass. In a lot of ways, it’s the anti-string trimmer. " [more inside]
posted by storybored at 7:36 PM PST - 97 comments

I made another weird little comic thing, hopeful and a little bittersweet, about conservation after the apocalypse. A topic near and dear to my heart, Lord knows.

Your favourite and mine Wombat/Kingfisher Ursula Vernon has released a short comic about the post-apocalypse on Twitter, using AI generated art.
posted by MartinWisse at 1:47 PM PST - 21 comments

The FBI kept files on the Monkees—and Mickey Dolenz wants to see them. The band’s last surviving member is suing the FBI, which monitored the group in the 1960s. “We know the mid-to-late 1960s saw the FBI surveil Hollywood anti-war advocates, and the Monkees were in the thick of things,” Dolenz’s attorney, Mark Zaid, tells BBC News. “This lawsuit seeks to expose why the FBI was monitoring the Monkees and its individual members.”
posted by kitten kaboodle at 12:00 PM PST - 70 comments

The Magic Yarn Project - I was really moved by this, and feel the good people of MetaFilter would appreciate these people, and the work they're doing. Here's a short video and this is their Facebook page.
posted by racersix6 at 11:44 AM PST - 6 comments

Peter Straub, 1943 - 2022. A leading American horror writer, Straub was well known for his 1979 novel Ghost Story, which was turned into a 1981 movie. He published 17 novels and numerous short stories. [more inside]
posted by doctornemo at 11:32 AM PST - 38 comments

"During August I challenged 3D artists to create their best work from a simple, barebones template file." These are the top 100 from the 3,600 entries. [more inside]
posted by Gyan at 9:09 AM PST - 14 comments

"The assistant’s once-grating command bubble and syntax is basically Mad Libs for passive aggressive memes, including those aimed at the sort of existential conundrums posed by tech today. 'It looks like you’re writing unsubstantiated nonsense,' a popular one begins. 'Would you like to turn on all-caps?'" Seattle Met discusses the Twisted Life of Clippy. [via]
posted by jessamyn at 9:02 AM PST - 30 comments

The students thought their teacher at Davisville Middle School was a creep. They saw him leering at some girls, singling them out with pet nicknames, encouraging them to dance for him. The teacher said he’d weathered parents’ complaints for nearly 30 years, and there was nothing anyone could do to him. On Jan. 5, 2021, a small group of seventh-grade boys decided to stick up for the girls. They set up a subchannel on Discord, named it after the teacher, and called it the “Pedo Database.” “Post the [teacher’s] pedo moments and quotes here so we can get evidence,” one boy wrote. In April 2022, the teacher was escorted from the school. (Archive)
posted by DirtyOldTown at 8:11 AM PST - 60 comments

Private equity investment in nursing homes has grown to $500 billion in the US. Data shows that when for profit companies take over the homes, deaths rise and care falls. After an investment firm bought St. Joseph’s Home for the Aged, in Richmond, Virginia, the company reduced staff, removed amenities, and set the stage for a deadly outbreak of COVID-19.
posted by blue shadows at 7:08 PM PST - 22 comments

The climate crisis will spiral out of control unless the world applies “emergency brakes” to capitalism and devises a “new way of living”, according to a Japanese academic whose book on Marxism and the environment has become a surprise bestseller. [SL Guardian] The message from Kohei Saito, an associate professor at Tokyo University, is simple: capitalism’s demand for unlimited profits is destroying the planet and only “degrowth” can repair the damage by slowing down social production and sharing wealth.
posted by Ahmad Khani at 4:07 PM PST - 78 comments

A dispute has broken out over which US pop singer can lay claim to the title Queen of Christmas after Mariah Carey attempted to trademark it.
posted by Etrigan at 3:56 PM PST - 49 comments

CNN: Judge throws out Trump’s sprawling lawsuit against Hillary Clinton, ex-FBI officials over Russia probe. "A federal judge has dismissed former President Donald Trump’s lawsuit against Hillary Clinton, the Democratic National Committee, several ex-FBI officials and more than two dozen other people and entities that he claims conspired to undermine his 2016 campaign by trying to vilify him with fabricated information tying him to Russia." Washington Post: Trump presented his Russia hoax theory to a court. It went poorly. Read the decision. [more inside]
posted by kristi at 10:51 AM PST - 44 comments

Sarah Viren, who has previously written in the New York Times about an academic falsely claiming Cherokee ancestry (previously) and false sexual assault allegations against her wife to get an academic job has a new essay in the paper about the fallout after a video of a confrontation in an ASU multicultural space went viral: “The Safe Space That Became a Viral Nightmare”
(This is not an essay that reaches pat conclusions for its actors, but rather an exploration of ripples.)
(All links non-paywalled.) [more inside]
posted by Going To Maine at 10:20 AM PST - 15 comments

Pajiba: "I think J. R. R. Tolkien, enemy of industrialization and pointless waste, would find Musk more unbearable than Elon finds his characters."
BoLS: "No, casting a white actor as Black Panther is not the same as casting a Black actor as a non-canonical Elf created just for a TV series."
FanFare is also discussing The Rings of Power!
posted by spamandkimchi at 9:32 AM PST - 53 comments

He gets why, on the surface, Longevity House may sound like a Handmaid’s Tale spinoff—an exclusive society that grants eternal life to the uber-rich—but he insists that what he’s offering is evidence-based and within Health Canada guidelines. The possibilities, he believes, are endless, from both a health and a business perspective. And, while he can get a little starry-eyed from time to time, he is definitely tapping into something. A recent report from the consulting firm McKinsey and Company projected that biohacking could be a $1.3-trillion industry within the next two decades. from The Death Cheaters by Courtney Shea
posted by chavenet at 8:35 AM PST - 66 comments

Originally broadcast in September of 2011, Making QI is an hour-long look at the beloved show. From its genesis to behind the scenes to favorite moments to lots of interviews and insights, this is a delightful look at a series which continues to continue even today.
posted by hippybear at 7:47 PM PST - 40 comments

The first full trailer for the Interview with the Vampire series has dropped. [more inside]
posted by Kitteh at 3:49 PM PST - 62 comments

Amit Gupta gives readers and writers a peek behind the curtain: How much time does it take to sell a short scifi story, and how much do you make? "10 publications rejected the story before it found a publisher.... Read on for all the gory details including actual emails!"
posted by brainwane at 2:22 PM PST - 19 comments

High-level cuts are unusual for any established magazine, and they are unprecedented for National Geographic, which has enjoyed stable editorial leadership since its founding by the nonprofit National Geographic Society of Washington in 1888. (archive.today version)
posted by Etrigan at 10:48 AM PST - 28 comments

Trailer for William Gibson's Peripheral TV series.
posted by Rash at 10:14 AM PST - 88 comments

The law librarians of Congress:

Congress.gov is a fantastic source of legislative information, and a marvelous source for investigating specific legislation and exploring the legislative history of a bill.
[T]oday we are introducing the beta Congress.gov API which will provide access to accurate and structured congressional data… As with all Congress.gov products, we have worked to provide documentation about the API as well. In this case there is documentation, user guides, a change log that details changes to the API, and opportunities for feedback. To use the API you must first get an API key.

posted by Going To Maine at 9:40 AM PST - 8 comments

Six months after the launch of the movement, the Tyre Extinguishers deflated [Twitter] the tyres of SUVs in nine different countries. Marion Walker, TX spokesperson, said: “Six months in and 9,000 SUVs later, our movement is just beginning. Our strength is that anyone, anywhere can take part using our website. Politely asking for climate action, clean air and safer streets has failed. It’s time for action." [more inside]
posted by threementholsandafuneral at 7:42 AM PST - 274 comments

A new trailer has dropped for "Glass Onion", Rian Johnson's follow-up to "Knives Out". (SLYT)
posted by Ipsifendus at 7:35 AM PST - 67 comments

How Many Errorrs Are in This Essay? by Ed Simon
posted by chavenet at 7:34 AM PST - 11 comments

Doctors have expressed concern for the health of Britain’s Queen Elizabeth and recommended she remain under medical supervision, Buckingham Palace has said. The queen is comfortable at Balmoral and family members are travelling to be with her. BBC1 has suspended normal programming to focus on coverage of the Queen's health. [more inside]
posted by roolya_boolya at 7:08 AM PST - 805 comments

Building an artificial sun that looks unbelievably realistic... - YouTube Brought to you by Over Engineering.
posted by zengargoyle at 6:19 AM PST - 23 comments

It's easy to feel nostalgic for the year 1980, when you could park you private plane in Manhattan, grab a bite and sing a romantic ballad accompanied by a full orchestra at the automat, and still have time to catch a flight to Mars in order to attend a choreographed dance number performed by indigenous Martian monkeys. Just Imagine (1930), arguably the first feature length science fiction film with sound and certainly the first big budget science fiction musical, brings it all back. (SL 2hr video) [more inside]
posted by eotvos at 6:04 AM PST - 2 comments

The Guardian: "The birthday ‘cake’ given to New Zealand MP Chris Hipkins raised many questions. We attempt to answer them." And in the UK, the baker who makes cakes that look like sausage rolls.
posted by paduasoy at 4:13 AM PST - 15 comments

Its that time of the year again (3 days and change days left)..... For the 5th year, vote for your favourite penguin at the National Aquarium of New Zealand. Will Mo win again or will newbie Marina be the favourite? [more inside]
posted by Lesium at 3:23 AM PST - 10 comments

It may now be seen as a dystopian nightmare the far-flung folly of an autocrat desperate for global approval, but the idea of building a self-contained linear city has preoccupied the imaginations of architects and planners for generations. The Line might bill itself as a “never-before-seen approach to urbanisation”, but the principles behind it have been proposed many times over – though never successfully realised. Since the previous post is now closed, this is a single link post with an article providing context to The Line -- the project in Saudi Arabia for a linear city
posted by mumimor at 2:31 AM PST - 28 comments

Michelle Cyca, an Indigenous writer, writes about a new(ish) hire at Emily Carr University as part of a restricted search for Indigenous faculty, and what happened when people started asking questions about her background.
posted by jeather at 2:43 PM PST - 39 comments

‘They’re Really Close To My Body’: A Hagiography of Nine Inch Nails and their resident mystic Robin Finck [more inside]
posted by foxfirefey at 1:21 PM PST - 14 comments

Published October 31, 2001, Paul Ford's "Cleaning My Room" starts, "I find it hard to clean. Certainly the basics are simple." (Content note for mice and rats, and fatphobia, and 9/11.) Ford's memoir moves through self-esteem, love, household order, guilt, shame, and making it "to this trivial point, to this small and stupid place that seemed entirely out of reach". [more inside]
posted by brainwane at 12:05 PM PST - 10 comments

Why are U.S. workers so bad at taking time off? U.S. companies are stingy with vacation time when compared with other countries. But U.S. workers can’t seem to leave work at work anyway.
posted by folklore724 at 12:01 PM PST - 93 comments

"If you've seen a nutritionist in private practice, you may already suspect that Fonnesbeck is not the only dietitian to have practiced with an active eating disorder. You sit across from a probably slender, probably white woman who extols the energy and clarity you’ll have when you follow the meal plan she recommends. She tells you not to worry if it seems like not that much food. “Detoxing” from gluten, dairy, sugar, and processed food will curb your cravings for them, and you can always fill up on Scandinavian fiber crackers with the consistency of pressed mulch." CW: discussion of disordered eating
posted by Lycaste at 11:20 AM PST - 24 comments

The Sinquefield Cup is a marquee invitational chess tournament featuring the world's top players. The tournament is sponsored by the Saint Louis Chess Club and named after its patron Rex Sinquefield. It is part of a series of global events known as the Grand Chess Tour. The GCT is a circuit of invitational tournaments for the worlds top players that aspires to create a kind of PGA tour for chess. Controversy erupted on Monday when retiring World Champion Magnus Carlsen announced via a somewhat cryptic tweet that he had withdrawn from the event. The tweet was interpreted by many to be an accusation that rising American junior player GM Hans Niemann had cheated in beating Magnus the previous day. [more inside]
posted by interogative mood at 10:48 AM PST - 31 comments

The pioneering and perennially busy producer discusses the secret to longevity (no joke: It’s laughter) and the creative throughline to several decades of sitcoms: "The foolishness of the human condition has amused me since I was 9."
posted by Etrigan at 10:12 AM PST - 6 comments

Learning how to make pizza at a NY slice shop (with varying levels of chaos) [SLYT]
posted by Stark at 10:00 AM PST - 5 comments

I Went Viral in the Bad Way. Charlie Wurzel talks about AI-created art, the ethical implications he hadn't thought about, and what it's like to become Twitter's Main Character of the Day (read: yelled at by everyone) because of that.
posted by pelvicsorcery at 9:16 AM PST - 60 comments

A slightly belated congratulations to MeFi's own Languagehat, AKA Stephen Dodson, on the twentieth anniversary (July 31) of his blog Languagehat.com. Languagehat explores linguistics, with excursions into literature (especially Russian literature), grammar, etymology, languages and more. I venture to guess that exceedingly few blogs launched in 2002 are still active, and perhaps none active to the degree that Languagehat has been, with posts on a daily basis virtually all of those twenty years. [more inside]
posted by beagle at 8:23 AM PST - 43 comments

Meet the new boss!
posted by JoeBlubaugh at 8:15 AM PST - 52 comments

Deep Learning and Human Disposability
posted by signal at 6:20 AM PST - 11 comments

All 75 Stephen King Books, Ranked
posted by box at 5:26 AM PST - 80 comments

The analysis and importance of Wang Huning. The New Yorker profiles Wang Huning (王沪宁), an influential Chinese political thinker, member of the Chinese Communist Party Politburo's Standing Committee, and author of a 1991 book about America. [more inside]
posted by doctornemo at 1:39 PM PST - 16 comments

I came across these two different articles on noise recently. One talks about the negative impacts of industrial and road noise on animals, and the other talks about gentrification vs the joys of human noise. [more inside]
posted by aniola at 10:12 AM PST - 54 comments

A director vs. star feud, desperate lip locks and errant spit made for one of the most buzzy promo tours in recent memory
posted by Etrigan at 10:05 AM PST - 88 comments

Towards a theory of the creator "It is too late to push back against the term “creator.” Most culture industry people I know never say it out loud, much less discuss the ways it displaces many of the things we love. But for better or worse, the creator names an important figure in our society... This is no doubt in part because creators have essentially replaced authors, artists, and directors, along with dancers, cellists, and whoever else. These titles are fossils left behind by the tectonic shifts of 21st century mediatization..."
posted by gwint at 7:46 AM PST - 18 comments

The foolish thought is that Europe is dual: the West of Rome and the East of Constantinople/Moscow. West is a colony of the USA, East a colony of China. As long as West does not recognise East and vice versa, as long as the two halves of the symbol do not unite, Europe — Europa — will remain that young woman abducted by the lust of an ancient and patriarchal god. from Open Letter to Europe by Chus Pato, translated by Erín Moure. [more inside]
posted by chavenet at 5:04 AM PST - 8 comments

Gretchen Yanover plays electric cello with a looping pedal to create layered musical compositions. "Heart and Sky", "Turnaround", an interview. An NPR story, "How Seattle shapes electric cellist Gretchen Yanover". [more inside]
posted by ShooBoo at 4:36 PM PST - 11 comments

As tracking, recording, and ranking become common across all industries and incomes, so do complaints that it is demoralizing, dehumanizing - and inaccurate. The Rise of the Worker Productivity Score. [NYT] [more inside]
posted by blue shadows at 1:36 PM PST - 62 comments

A few weeks ago, Khalid Qasim got some news he'd been waiting 20 years for. He had been cleared for release from the prison at Guantanamo Bay. Qasim has been in Guantanamo nearly half his life, aged 23 to 43. Like almost all the men sent there, he has never been charged with a crime. His release order does not mean freedom, yet. It is merely the starting gun on a long process of resettlement that, going by previous resettlements, could take years. Where he will be sent, neither he nor his lawyers know. While he waits, Qasim will paint. [more inside]
posted by cynical pinnacle at 12:18 PM PST - 14 comments

Chile Says ‘No’ to Left-Leaning Constitution After 3 Years of Debate [New York Times] The proposed changes had looked to remake one of the most conservative countries in Latin America into one of the world’s most left-leaning societies, but Chileans decided that went too far.

Chile’s rejection of populism is an example for the world [Financial Times]
posted by riruro at 11:40 AM PST - 32 comments

New York Times Magazine: A Genius Cartoonist Believes Child’s Play Is Anything But Frivolous [more inside]
posted by MrJM at 11:14 AM PST - 24 comments

Carlos Fenollosa has given up on self hosting email after 20 years. You might recognize Fenollosa from his handy list of Unix tricks. His argues that even emails from SDF don't work, noting that he's "positive that the beards of their admins are grayer than (his) and they will have tried to tweak every nook and cranny available." Of course the SDF (previously) is older than the actual web and so old it refers to ARPANET emails. [more inside]
posted by zenon at 10:26 AM PST - 49 comments

The 2022 Hugo Awards ceremony happened last night! The ceremony, hosted by Charlie Jane Anders and Annalee Newitz, can be viewed on Youtube. You can also check out the full list of winners and the full voting statistics. [more inside]
posted by j.r at 9:17 AM PST - 41 comments

At the River I Stand is an award-winning documentary about the Memphis sanitation strike. Full transcript of the film. Conditions for black sanitation workers had worsened in 1968, under Mayor Loeb's administration, who refused to take dilapidated trucks out of service or pay overtime for late-night shifts. On 1 February 1968, two garbage collectors, Echol Cole and Robert Walker, were crushed to death by a malfunctioning truck. [more inside]
posted by spamandkimchi at 8:46 AM PST - 4 comments

What do this thread and this game have in common? a) they're both teeming with odd characters; b) good beat, easy to dance to; c) both simple, single, and free to mingle. [more inside]
posted by taz at 2:49 AM PST - 66 comments

Jessica Winter discusses the rise and fall of "balanced literacy." "It’s startling to realize that panels of experts had to argue the case that teaching children to read involves careful attention to the relationships between sounds and letters, or enhancing their vocabulary and knowledge of various subjects. It’s stranger still that, in many school systems and for many years, this was the losing argument." [more inside]
posted by vunder at 4:49 PM PST - 76 comments

Foo Fighters ft. Shane Hawkins Perform "My Hero"
posted by Your Childhood Pet Rock at 4:08 PM PST - 13 comments

Less known than Alfred Dreyfus, the story of Barros Basto also deals with desire to maintain Jewish faith and the sacrifices one must pay for it - another sad example of 19th century European antisemitism. He also took some pictures of the Portuguese soldiers fighting in WWI [text in Portuguese]
posted by chavenet at 1:42 PM PST - 2 comments

An Advanced Guide to Writing Prompts for MidJourney
posted by storybored at 12:21 PM PST - 28 comments

Barack Obama wins Emmy for narrating Netflix national parks series. The former president won an Emmy Award on Saturday to go with his two Grammys. Obama won the best narrator Emmy for his work on the Netflix documentary series, "Our Great National Parks."
posted by NoThisIsPatrick at 11:33 AM PST - 29 comments

Tech billionaires are buying up luxurious bunkers and hiring military security to survive a societal collapse they helped create, but like everything they do, it has unintended consequences.
posted by Ahmad Khani at 11:28 AM PST - 134 comments

A Silicon Valley startup offers voice-altering tech to call center workers around the world: ‘Yes, this is wrong … but a lot of things exist in the world’ Hi, good morning. I’m calling in from Bangalore, India.” I’m talking on speakerphone to a man with an obvious Indian accent. He pauses. “Now I have enabled the accent translation,” he says. It’s the same person, but he sounds completely different: loud and slightly nasal, impossible to distinguish from the accents of my friends in Brooklyn.
posted by folklore724 at 9:47 AM PST - 38 comments

After the FBI search of Mar-a-Lago on August 8th (previously), the DOJ released the search warrant and property receipt on August 12th, and a redacted search warrant affidavit on August 26th. On August 26th, the Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines sent a letter to the House Intelligence and House Oversight committee chairs, saying the intelligence community and the DOJ are conducting a damage assessment of the recovered documents. An August 29th court filing by the DOJ said that a review of seized materials had already been completed. On August 30th, the DOJ filed a 36-page rebuttal to Trump's August 22nd motion requesting a special master, along with a detailed timeline of events leading up to the search. On September 1st, Judge Aileen Cannon said she would release her decision regarding appointing a special master "in due course", and ordered the DOJ to release the detailed property list, which the DOJ did on September 2nd. [more inside]
posted by orange swan at 9:39 AM PST - 273 comments

What happens when two Hollywood actors who know nothing about soccer football buy a middling pro team in Wales? GQ’s Tom Lamont spent a season following football's newest fans to find out.
posted by ellieBOA at 6:18 AM PST - 16 comments

I am 81 years old, my partner 92. On my 70th birthday, I woke from a dream in which I had rounded a corner and seen the end. This disturbing dream moved me to begin photographing the two of us, chronicling our time together, growing old. [more inside]
posted by latkes at 3:12 AM PST - 19 comments

AIT, the Agency for Instructional Television (WIKIPEDIA), was one of a number of organizations who made programs that PBS stations would air midday, for teachers to record for later use. One of these was the inexplicable Wordsmith, that explored the roots of words. Host Bob Smith, standing on a gameshow-like set with his 70s attire and mustache, takes foam balls with syllables on them out of a machine, opens them up to show inside is printed their meaning, then puts them back into the machine, which makes a sci-fi noise. Then Sesame Street-like short clips demonstrate its meaning. While it moves slow, it's still kind of interesting! A number of episodes survive, as well as some other programs from AIT, in the Indiana University Moving Image Archive. [more inside]
posted by JHarris at 11:48 PM PST - 14 comments

How a Record Cash Haul Vanished for Senate Republicans Party leaders, including Senator Mitch McConnell, are fretting aloud that Republicans could squander their shot at retaking the Senate in 2022, with money one factor as some first-time candidates have struggled to gain traction. The N.R.S.C. was intended to be a party bulwark yet found itself recently canceling some TV ad reservations in key states. The story of how the Senate G.O.P. committee went from breaking financial records to breaking television reservations, told through interviews with more than two dozen Republican officials, actually begins with the rising revenues Mr. Scott bragged about last year. Unpaywalled [more inside]
posted by Toddles at 6:50 PM PST - 52 comments

The College Football Playoff will expand to 12 teams after the Board of Managers approved expansion by an unanimous vote on Friday, the group that oversees the postseason system announced. [more inside]
posted by Etrigan at 1:22 PM PST - 14 comments

Peter Eckersley (1979-2022) "Security engineer, digital rights activist, AI safety and policy researcher. Beloved in these communities."
posted by diodotos at 12:59 PM PST - 41 comments

Twitter user, horror fan, and writer Donnie Goodman photoshops Leatherface into a black and white photo every day until he forgets. The first 100 are compiled here, and then you can see the rest here.
posted by goatdog at 7:48 AM PST - 9 comments

May her memory be a blessing.
posted by Barbara Spitzer at 6:11 PM PST - 130 comments

A List of Things Less Gay Than Beyoncé’s Renaissance.
4. The Drag Race All Stars 7 Finale
7. Rainbow Streets and Crosswalks
9. The City of San Francisco as It Exists Today
[more inside]
posted by spamandkimchi at 6:10 PM PST - 9 comments

A Manifesto For Sex Positive Social Media

Destigmatise sex!

Value the labour of sexual content creators!

Build safer spaces!

Cultivate consent!

Be accountable!

Dismantle structural oppressions!

[more inside]
posted by Pirate-Bartender-Zombie-Monkey at 3:43 PM PST - 16 comments

The US National Park Service has a few high quality recorded soundscapes from Rocky Mountain National Park. Put on your headphones, close your eyes, and take a little trip to the country. [more inside]
posted by seanmpuckett at 1:15 PM PST - 8 comments

The filmmaker celebrates his birthday this week at Telluride with many new projects and even more ideas about cinema, civilization, and his long-term legacy, which he shared with IndieWire.
posted by Etrigan at 11:42 AM PST - 24 comments

Bret has entered the Beef Zone with Noah Smith. Bret Devereaux—a thousand previouslies—waded into the debate lately sweeping Twitter about the nature and value of history. [more inside]
posted by TheProfessor at 10:25 AM PST - 31 comments

As we enter Labor Day Weekend and US state fair season starts to wind down, let us consider the most important showing of any state fair: the food offerings. Via Mashed.com, 2022's best state fair foods. Of course, the Mashed list doesn't extend to fairs from every US state, so Taste of Home kindly ranked of the best state fair foods from every state. For those looking for a local state fair to attend, Reader's Digest offers a list of the best state or county fairs to be found in every state.
posted by sciatrix at 9:10 AM PST - 23 comments

You might want to listen to ABC, the surprising bilingual collaboration between Polyphia (of boomer bends fame) and Sophia Black. Slightly NSFW lyrics. [more inside]
posted by signal at 8:11 AM PST - 5 comments

Remember 2018 in the UK? A more innocent time. Russian tourists skulked around Salisbury, Pinkfong (??) made it to the official Top 40 (!!) with something unforgettable, and Boris Johnson was just offering his charming opinions on religious attire instead of being prime minister. Late in the year, desperate for something cool and hip to say, then-PM Theresa May announced a festival. It was mocked, for some reason. And then nobody heard anything about it... until it was already almost over. Stuart McGurk investigates how the UK Government's £120m "Festival Of Brexit" went rogue! [more inside]
posted by Ten Cold Hot Dogs at 6:17 AM PST - 15 comments

An improper noun is a phrase that has been recruited – or perhaps appropriated – from colloquial language by some technical people to designate a concept or thing important to them, but which is not only inscrutable to outsiders, it's nigh-invisible, in that it's easily mistaken for an ordinary descriptive phrase.
posted by automatronic at 2:42 AM PST - 112 comments

The extremely high rate of tourist snorkeling deaths in Hawaii may not actually be caused by breathing in water as widely assumed, but by the lungs failing to deliver oxygen to the rest of the body (called ROPE - Rapid Onset Pulmonary Edema) leading to loss of consciousness. A combination of factors are suspected, including high breathing resistance in snorkeling masks, existing heart conditions, and recent long air travel, the three year Snorkel Safety Study concludes. In a separate study, the best indicator that the newly popular (but sometimes banned) full-face snorkeling mask was harder to breathe through was its ability to be traced to a source manufacturer (YouTube webinar).
posted by meowzilla at 12:01 AM PST - 57 comments

Through a series of opaque transactions, secretive billionaire Barre Seid has given $1.6 billion to a non-profit run by Leonard Leo, the conservative Federalist Society co-chair who helped engineer the rightwing takeover of the courts. [ProPublica] [more inside]
posted by blue shadows at 6:56 PM PST - 30 comments

Twitter's Own #NAFOFellas are getting attention: "The North Atlantic Fella Organisation (spellings vary) is a tongue-in-cheek label adopted by a virtual army that champions Ukraine’s cause and harangues its foes on social media. Its members don the avatar of a cartoon shiba inu dog—a breed borrowed from an older meme of 2013. They post caustic, typically humorous, memes mocking Russia’s military performance and the outlandish claims of its officials and propagandists" (Economist; Wayback version). [more inside]
posted by MonkeyToes at 3:55 PM PST - 25 comments

To truly understand how the internet changed over time, it's crucial to pay attention to the culture that runs through it. Memes are symbols that provide a window into what is culturally significant during a given timeframe, acting as key indicators for how social media ecosystems work. By looking at the number of memes recorded for each platform by Know Your Meme annually, we can follow the rise and fall of different social media platforms and gauge their relative influence over digital culture at different moments in their history. Through memes, we can help to tell the story of the social internet and how it became what we see today. from Where Do Memes Come From? The Top Platforms From 2010-2022 [Know Your Meme]
posted by chavenet at 3:54 PM PST - 24 comments

What was state of the art in 1912 has mostly fallen by the wayside. Cars have replaced horses. Washing machines have replaced washboards. Air travel, refrigeration and container shipping have transformed the way we live — and that’s before we even get to the internet. So why, oh why, on God’s green Earth are we still measuring chile pepper heat on the Scoville scale? (archive.ph)
posted by Etrigan at 11:07 AM PST - 51 comments

Since 2017 each September the @mincup account on Twitter has run an annual mineral cup knockout contest. Each day people who are way too heavily invested vote between two minerals to eventually crown that year's mineral champion. [more inside]
posted by thatwhichfalls at 9:45 AM PST - 6 comments