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Dr. McNinja, the comedy/action webcomic created, written and mostly drawn by Christopher Hastings, has come to the end of its 12½ year saga (previously here, soon after it started). In his adventures he has defeated an Evil Fast Food Clown, Dracula, and a dimension-hopping King from the Radical Lands, with his allies including his McNinja family, the clone of Ben Franklin, a gorilla, a velociraptor and a 12-year-old boy with an awesome mustache. Hastings is now busy writing dead-tree comics, including the Adventure Time series, The Unbelievable Gwenpool and other Marvel projects. And he doesn't hire night janitors either.
posted by oneswellfoop at 10:38 PM PST - 15 comments

"A bird lands outside my window. I invite him in to learn about algebra. He declines and flies away. I hope a cat eats him. #Classwatch2017" A moment in the sad, lonely school day of Adam Heath Avitable (‏@avitable).
posted by filthy light thief at 9:54 PM PST - 8 comments

"The Kingdom of speech" is a literary Sharknado of error and self-satisfaction, with borderline racism and anti-Semitism mixed in. In which E.J. Spode reviews Tom Wolfe's latest book, with special guest appearances by George Lyell and Ali G. (via)
posted by AElfwine Evenstar at 9:47 PM PST - 32 comments

It's like a fish penthouse where your fish can get above your pond waterline. Some others. The Romaurie effect.
posted by adept256 at 7:44 PM PST - 39 comments

Dr. Zandria Robinson writes in memory of her father. The article, a finalist for the National Magazine award, is part of her memoir-in-progress. Listen to Dr. Robinson read part of the work here.
posted by Cuke at 7:00 PM PST - 3 comments

"There have been some amazing military innovations over the years: freeze-dried food for MREs, jet aircraft, rail guns, and the soul-sucking website, Army Knowledge Online. But none of these compare to the simplest, most wonderful invention known to mankind: the poncho liner, affectionately known by all those who have felt its life-giving warmth as the 'woobie.'" [more inside]
posted by MonkeyToes at 6:28 PM PST - 38 comments

"Ferrer was the son of top 1950s singer Rosemary Clooney and actor Jose Ferrer, and first cousin to George Clooney."
posted by guiseroom at 3:24 PM PST - 100 comments

The headscarf has been banned, made mandatory, hailed as a symbol of religious virtue, accepted as a means of controlling female sexuality, and politicized by governments and colonizers across the world. Manipulated and misinterpreted, it is seen as both a sign of liberation and imprisonment, of progress and regression. It’s a source of friction both outside and inside the communities that wear it.
posted by insectosaurus at 1:44 PM PST - 21 comments

"New Impossibly Intricate Embroideries by Chloe Giordano" Colossal: "We continue to be enthralled by the work of Chloe Giordano [...] who produces everything from tiny coin-sized depictions of woodland creatures to entire book covers typography and all. The Oxford-based illustrator is entirely self-taught, learning her craft “through a lot of trying things out and messing them up.” Each piece is deeply connected to her pencil drawings, as she works out many of the details on paper before turning to thread. Giordano frequently fields questions on her Tumblr and you can follow more of her progress on Instagram." [more inside]
posted by Celsius1414 at 11:19 AM PST - 35 comments

Nigerian synth-funk pioneer William Onyeabor died January 16, 2017.
Onyeabor previously on MF.
posted by OmieWise at 11:09 AM PST - 26 comments

"In North Lawndale, Chicago, a public basketball court is changing the way people relate to local police. Built just last October, it’s a half court built right next to the West 10th district police station, and it’s designed to get cops to shoot hoops with young men and women they might otherwise never meet."
posted by storybored at 10:25 AM PST - 21 comments

Conor Knighton is a correspondent for CBS Sunday Morning. During the course of 2016, he visited all 59 U.S. national parks in celebration of the 100th anniversary of the National Park Service. At every park, he stopped and recorded himself singing “America The Beautiful,” and made this compilation video in which you can get a glimpse of them. (Instagram) [h/t Miss Cellania]
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 10:15 AM PST - 6 comments

I Am A Child – Children in Art History, more than 3,100 artists and more than 30,000 paintings. A sampling of various artists' works from horrific depictions of children in war to gently sublime storybook illustrations. [more inside]
posted by nickyskye at 9:55 AM PST - 3 comments

How to Build a Hard Tech Startup | CEO Jason Rosenthal deep-dives into the trials and tribulations surrounding the development of Lytro Cinema technology. [more inside]
posted by I_Love_Bananas at 9:30 AM PST - 23 comments

The percentage of 15- and 16-year-olds who had been drunk in the previous month plummeted from 42 per cent in 1998 to 5 per cent in 2016. The percentage who have ever used cannabis is down from 17 per cent to 7 per cent. Those smoking cigarettes every day fell from 23 per cent to just 3 per cent. This is how Iceland did it and why the Icelandic strategy for preventing/reducing teen substance use may or may not work elsewhere.
posted by elgilito at 8:56 AM PST - 54 comments

The audiobook for George Saunders’s debut novel, Lincoln in the Bardo, will be narrated by Nick Offerman, Julianne Moore, Miranda July, Ben Stiller, Don Cheadle, Keegan Michael Key, David Sedaris, Susan Sarandon, Carrie Brownstein, a dozen other A-listers, top audiobook narrators, the author’s close friends and family, volunteers from Random House, and the author himself to form a 166 voice American chorale.

Penguin Random House Audio is applying for a Guinness World Record. Listen to a clip here. [more inside]
posted by little onion at 8:11 AM PST - 13 comments

Yolocaust re-contextualizes selfies taken at the Holocaust Memorial in Berlin. (Trigger warning: use of historical death camp photography.)
posted by mightygodking at 7:48 AM PST - 64 comments

The Alt-Right’s Meltdown Is Just Like Any Other Message Board Drama (single link Buzzfeed, by Katie Notopoulos)
posted by Elementary Penguin at 6:43 AM PST - 100 comments

When picturing a francesinha, imagine a croque monsieur — the delicious baked or grilled French ham and cheese sandwich — that got extremely angry, hulked out into a muscle-bound edible behemoth and was then doused by the attendant cook with a zesty beer-and-tomato sauce to prevent any further, monsterlike growth. [more inside]
posted by chavenet at 3:34 AM PST - 38 comments

Tom Hanks guest hosts on NPR's Wait Wait Don't Tell Me, with panelists Luke Burbank, Paula Poundstone, and Faith Salie, and Simone Biles playing Not My Job. AV Club was there, and apparently it was an interesting night. Chicago Tribune was also there.
posted by hippybear at 3:04 AM PST - 46 comments