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“[T]hrough some mistranslation or misapprehension of its Mexican namesake, the French tacos is always plural, even when there’s only one, pronounced with a voiced ‘S.’ … [A] flour tortilla, slathered with condiments, piled with meat (usually halal) and other things (usually French fries), doused in cheese sauce, folded into a rectangular packet, and then toasted on a grill.”
In The New Yorker, Lauren Collins tells a complicated story of “France’s own junk food”: “The Unlikely Rise of the French Tacos”
Still hungry? Try the documentary Tacos Origins: Phénomène; Révolution; Génération
Want to see them in action? See this French YouTuber eat two five pound gigatacos from O’Tacos.
Previously, in 2019
posted by Going To Maine at 10:22 PM PST - 83 comments

Meow meow meow meow. One of the best known songs ever has gotten updated for the Now with Meow ReMix, an LP of 5 songs from feline artists such as Lupa [Meow], Gatocito [Meow], Sweet Teddy Pepperpaw [Meow], Hearts & Paws [Meow], and Endless Hiss [Meow]. [more inside]
posted by hippybear at 5:02 PM PST - 17 comments

"Ships so big they get stuck in the Suez Canal literally define 'chokepoint' but other waterways will play much more serious roles as the rivalry between China and the U.S. heats up." A Twitter thread by David Fickling of Bloomberg on the strategic importance of ocean straits throughout history, including the Trojan War, the British Empire, and China's Belt and Road Initiative. Article by Fickling and Anjani Trivedi. [more inside]
posted by russilwvong at 7:53 AM PST - 38 comments

Abir Haronni, newcomer to the international scene has since 2018 made, quietly, nine great clips (YT playlist). Her latest, Yacht (YT) is an auto-fetishist fantasy. She was signed to Atlantic in '18 and is just getting started in what seems to be a very promising music career, if you count youtube statistics (all slyt).
posted by kfholy at 7:44 AM PST - 2 comments

"One could make a case that some of the very earliest Enlightenment salons were held not in Europe but in Montreal, during the 1690s. It was there that an indigenous statesman called Kandiaronk, acting as liaison between the Wendat (“Huron”) confederation and the regime of Louis XIV, sat down regularly with the French governor-general, the comte de Frontenac et de Palluau, and his deputies—including a certain Baron de Lahontan—to debate issues such as economic morality, law, sexual mores, and revealed religion." [more inside]
posted by clawsoon at 5:42 AM PST - 12 comments

Kiran Sidhu talks to Wilf Davies, a Welsh farmer who’s had the same supper for 10 years and only left Wales to visit a farm in England 30 years ago (The Guardian). “People might think I’m not experiencing new things, but I think the secret to a good life is to enjoy your work. I could never stay indoors and watch TV. I hear London is a place best avoided. I think living in a city would be terrible – people living on top of one another in great tower blocks. I could never do it. Walking around the farm fills me with wonder.”
posted by adrianhon at 5:23 AM PST - 60 comments

"What I can tell you is Amazon is going to spend about $650 million in season one alone," Stuart Nash, New Zealand minister for economic development and tourism, told Morning Report. Amazon's spending will trigger a tax rebate of NZ$160 million ($114 million U.S). This is somewhat controversial in New Zealand as the government could end up on the hook for hundreds of millions of dollars to help subsidize Amazon's elves-and-hobbits drama series. Stuff reported that the country's treasury has labeled the show a "significant fiscal risk" given there is no capped upside to how much Amazon — and therefore the government — might spend. But others point out that the boost in local spending by the production plus the potential tourism surge from Lord of the Rings fans far outweighs the taxpayer-funded kickbacks.
posted by folklore724 at 3:08 AM PST - 92 comments