January 11, 2017

What Lies Beneath

People Just Realized What Owls Look Like Without Feathers And OMG (SLBuzzfeed). Includes other disturbing uncovered creatures. (h/t Miss Cellania)
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 10:10 PM PST - 50 comments

NSFW: Sex-Toy Shops for Religious Couples

NSFW: so very NSFW. In recent years, a religious sex-toy industry has developed for devout Christian, Jewish, and Muslim folks (who, in this case, can't buy sex toys but massage oil and lube). Note: For the love of all that is holy, do not confuse the religious sex-toy industry with the religious-sex-toy industry, which sells blasphemous items like a baby Jesus butt plug, a Buddha dildo, and a dildo called Damien.
posted by Bella Donna at 9:58 PM PST - 33 comments

Lickety Split!

How a 13-year-old Canadian girl ran the world’s fastest marathon. Imagine a record-setting distance runner. This marathoner you envisage should be a history maker. The fastest in the world, by a long margin. Concentrate. Got a picture in mind?
posted by Literaryhero at 9:20 PM PST - 19 comments

They're Simple Dogs, Brent.

Not all dogs are good at everything. Some flunked out of bomb sniffing class. But good news - these goofy TSA rejects can be your new best friend. For free, if you can get to Texas. Available breeds are German Shorthaired Pointers, Labrador Retrievers, German Shepherds and Belgian Malinois. Here are the Canine Adoption Program requirements. [all videos subtitled, no narration] [more inside]
posted by AFABulous at 5:28 PM PST - 60 comments

“Pikachu, you're a three-two!”

This Fan has Reimagined the Original 151 Pokémon as Hearthstone Cards [PC Gamer] “Thanks to a Redditor named Corpit, the original 151 Pokémon have been reimagined as Hearthstone cards. [Full Imgur Album]"I tried to capture the character of each species while trying to make them unique as cards too," Corpit said.”
posted by Fizz at 3:36 PM PST - 4 comments

Where people are really, really willing to kill for conservation

New Zealand is planning to eradicate all invasive pests by 2050. After the announcement in 2016 of a plan to eradicate rats, stoats, possums and other invasive predators from New Zealand, Nature News looks at how it might be accomplished.
posted by 1head2arms2legs at 2:20 PM PST - 60 comments

Garlic is as Good as Ten Mothers

An article about food documentaries wherein lies the treasure of the full length Les Blank classic. [more inside]
posted by mumimor at 1:13 PM PST - 28 comments

you say tomato, I say 52-million year old fossilized tomatillo

The first discovery of fossilized fruits from the Solanaceae (nightshade) family, representing a new species of lantern fruit, has been made by paleobotanists researching Eocene plant diversity in Gondwanan Patagonia. The specimens, since dubbed Physalis infinemundi, were extraordinarily well-preserved in the surrounding 52.2-million year old rock, dating the existence of the Physalis genus back 40 million years earlier than scientists had previously believed. [more inside]
posted by amnesia and magnets at 12:38 PM PST - 10 comments

Pepsi Blue Meth

AMC has just released a commercial for Los Pollos Hermanos that may signal the return of a character from Breaking Bad and a new teaser for season three of Better Call Saul gives a Spring 2017 return date. Better Call Saul on Fanfare. Bonus: 10-hour loop of the Better Call Saul theme. [via Uproxx]
posted by Room 641-A at 10:17 AM PST - 59 comments

"the U.S. government rounded up the people of Innsmouth..."

Ruthanna Emrys's debut novel Winter Tide is in the world of her novella The Litany of Earth (previously), a story about about secrets, furtive faith, government mistakes, and the silenced Other from a well-known narrative -- specifically, H.P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu mythos. Winter Tide will come out April 4th, but Chapter 1 and Chapter 2 are available to read now. [more inside]
posted by brainwane at 8:51 AM PST - 44 comments

Occasus Imperii Romani

The Fall of Rome is a podcast on the later Roman Empire, focusing especially on the various invasions that contributed to its collapse and how different regions of the empire experienced the disruptions of Late Antiquity. The most recent episode, "Attila And The Empire Of The Huns", has a particularly interesting discussion of how the Huns were able to project power over a vast swath of territory as a sophisticated multi-lingual, multi-ethnic empire, far from the mindless savages they are often portrayed as.
posted by Copronymus at 8:39 AM PST - 31 comments

'I have to do this'

Why some Catholic women are defying church doctrine and becoming priests. Canada's only female Catholic bishop has ordained the country's newest female Catholic priest. Previously, previouslier.
posted by heatherlogan at 8:00 AM PST - 44 comments

The Musical that (almost) Fell to Earth

"This is David Bowie. I hope I’m not calling at an inconvenient time..." When Pulitzer Prize–winning novelist Michael Cunningham got a call from someone claiming to be David Bowie, he thought it was a friend pulling a prank. He didn’t know he was about to be launched into a yearlong collaboration on a musical involving space aliens, mariachi bands, and an imaginary trove of unreleased songs by Bob Dylan. Here, for the first time, is the story of their unfinished show—and what it’s like to work alongside a bona fide pop genius.
posted by I_Love_Bananas at 4:40 AM PST - 24 comments

THE CRIMES OF SEAL TEAM 6

Officially known as the Naval Special Warfare Development Group, SEAL Team 6 is today the most celebrated of the U.S. military’s special mission units. But hidden behind the heroic narratives is a darker, more troubling story of “revenge ops,” unjustified killings, mutilations, and other atrocities — a pattern of criminal violence that emerged soon after the Afghan war began and was tolerated and covered up by the command’s leadership.
posted by Blasdelb at 3:29 AM PST - 75 comments

Ye Olde Philologie

... in a very real sense, the history of “Classical Mandaic” begins in 1875, even if it had to wait another 90 years for scholars to come up with a name for it.
C.G. Häberl writes about Columbusing Classical Mandaic
posted by Joe in Australia at 1:41 AM PST - 8 comments

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