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In Osaka, there's a place called Hukulou Coffee, with owls and cats and haunted hats, and a couple of young friends named Marimo and Fuku.
posted by eye of newt at 10:21 PM PST - 14 comments

The world’s oldest known message in a bottle has been found on a beach in Western Australia, containing a roll of paper printed in German and dated to 12 June 1886. This bottle was part of an official drift bottle experiment conducted by what was then known as the Deutsche Seewarte, or German Naval Observatory. From 1864 until 1933, thousands of bottles were tossed from German ships to improve maps of ocean currents, of which more than 660 have been re-collected by what is now Bundesamt für Seeschifffahrt und Hydrographie (Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency of Germany). [more inside]
posted by filthy light thief at 9:47 PM PST - 17 comments

Peter Paul & Mary made it to #12 on the Billboard Pop charts with their 1969 release Peter Paul And Mommy They also won the 1970 Grammy Award for Best Album For Children. [Full album ~35m, apologies for no playlist or full album link] Toy Side: The Marvelous Toy; Day Is Done; Leatherwing Bat; I Have A Song To Since, O!; All Through The Night, It's Raining [more inside]
posted by hippybear at 9:00 PM PST - 15 comments

The Broccoli Tree: A Parable
Some thoughts on what can be lost, and what can't be, when we share what we love [more inside]
posted by yuwtze at 7:46 PM PST - 9 comments

but wood wive hen manna hood wive hun,
musta dub mcwhaff an’ *bloop* muff aonouds

nahnahnah, dahdahdah,
nahnahnah, dahdahdah,
dladadadadadadadah
posted by auntie-matter at 6:46 PM PST - 37 comments

Eliota Fuimaono-Sapolu: Sad days at Auckland Grammar (Interview w/ Dale Husband, E-Tangata)

I remember this general knowledge question in primary school: “Who discovered New Zealand?” And I wrote: “Māori discovered New Zealand.” And that was wrong. I was told the correct answer was Abel Tasman. Even though there were Māori people already here in New Zealand, it was very important for us to learn that a white person was “first”.

[more inside]
posted by Start with Dessert at 6:10 PM PST - 3 comments

Mary Poppins Returns [Official Teaser Trailer] ““Mary Poppins Returns” stars: Emily Blunt as the practically-perfect nanny with unique magical skills who can turn any task into an unforgettable, fantastic adventure; Lin-Manuel Miranda as her friend Jack, an optimistic street lamplighter who helps bring light—and life—to the streets of London; Ben Whishaw as Michael Banks; Emily Mortimer as Jane Banks; and Julie Walters as the Banks’ housekeeper Ellen; with Colin Firth as Fidelity Fiduciary Bank’s William Weatherall Wilkins; and Meryl Streep as Mary’s eccentric cousin, Topsy. The film also introduces three new Banks’ children played by Pixie Davies, Nathanael Saleh and newcomer Joel Dawson. Angela Lansbury appears as the Balloon Lady, a treasured character from the PL Travers books and Dick Van Dyke is Mr. Dawes Jr., the retired chairman of the bank now run by Firth’s character.”
posted by Fizz at 5:42 PM PST - 82 comments

Jane Yolen's 365th book is being published today. Also her 366th. And there are at least nine more due out this year. (via The Big Idea series by MeFi's own jscalzi) [more inside]
posted by kristi at 5:22 PM PST - 14 comments

And what it tells us about marriage and death in the West.
posted by MovableBookLady at 5:21 PM PST - 15 comments

Women will make choices that benefits all first “Women, on average, were more concerned with fairness: that members of society should not go without what they needed, and that they had a role to play in ensuring that fairness.”
posted by Yellow at 4:18 PM PST - 16 comments

The Topiary Cat
posted by BuddhaInABucket at 1:14 PM PST - 17 comments

Up for a little music theory? Then let the delightful Aimee Nolte explain why "Remember Me" is a worthy winner (SLYT) of the Oscar for best original song.
posted by domdib at 12:58 PM PST - 13 comments

Deadspin writer Patrick Hruby lays out the case that the way we think about paying college athletes is in of itself fraudulent, and that we should start by rejecting the framing of the NCAA and instead look at players as being like anyone else. (SLDeadspin) [more inside]
posted by NoxAeternum at 11:54 AM PST - 62 comments

The Long, Knotty, World-Spanning Story of String (SL Hakai Magazine, also available in audio format on the page).
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 11:33 AM PST - 10 comments

Researchers say there is link between media coverage and rise in mass shootings Studies conducted by data scientists within the FBI, various universities, and the American Psychological Association (Western New Mexico University) show strong correlation between media coverage of mass killers and the rise in mass shootings. [more inside]
posted by fantasticness at 8:27 AM PST - 153 comments

“It Was About the Insurance Fix” - How the nine day West Virginia teachers strike shows the need for Medicare for All.
posted by Artw at 7:44 AM PST - 38 comments

The National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) "supports research into our world’s frozen realms: the snow, ice, glaciers, frozen ground, and climate interactions that make up Earth’s cryosphere." The site has a wealth of information on the effects of climate change on these regions. The links in this post are focused on the north polar regions, including daily image and chart updates on Arctic sea ice coverage, interactive historic data visualizations, the Greenland ice sheet, and monthly blog summaries. [more inside]
posted by carter at 7:43 AM PST - 3 comments

"Let’s call it the “male glance,” the narrative corollary to the male gaze. We all have it, and it’s ruining our ability to see good art." Lili Loofbourow in the Virginia Quarterly Review. [more inside]
posted by Ziggy500 at 5:02 AM PST - 97 comments

The mystery of Zach, New Zealand’s all-too-miraculous medical AI. "With so many people seemingly impressed by this brand new AI, I’d been thinking about the way Zach communicated (over email), the way it learned, and those response times. Also all the technical talk like 'custom silicon'. I'd also heard from people who said that Zach occasionally had bad spelling. Keeping in mind everything I had learnt about Albi and David Whale, I began wondering: What if there is no AI? What if – keeping in mind Occam's razor – everyone was just talking to... a boring old human?"
posted by Paragon at 2:07 AM PST - 118 comments

A globe which lets you see how the continents have shifted during the last 600 million years [via Simon Kuestenmacher].
posted by Kattullus at 1:40 AM PST - 22 comments