May 3, 2018

“Life is too short not to improv with goats.”

Is the new hot trend in theater...goats? The musical Once On This Island has two goats starring in it, and now there's goat improv. The latter was inspired by goat yoga. [more inside]
posted by jenfullmoon at 10:48 PM PST - 16 comments

(slow heavy metal music playing)

Pictures made weirder by an evocative caption (although sometimes the picture is already weird enough). You can watch and listen. Of course there's a Facebook page.
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 8:07 PM PST - 6 comments

“Nintendo has been chasing this sort of strategy for a long time,”

2018 Will Be the Year of the Switch Port [US|Gamer] “In 2018, this stream of ports will become a deluge. Demand is huge for Switch ports, and Nintendo is sitting on a host of Wii U games that can easily make the transition to portable. Seemingly every major series that isn't a graphical powerhouse is being rumored for the Switch. The appeal for both fans and publishers is obvious. Fans get a portable version that they can break out whenever they want. Publishers get another burst of sales at fairly minimal cost. A gratuitous double dip on another console would be a welcome sight on the Nintendo Switch. Who wouldn't want a portable version of, say, the Mass Effect trilogy? Or the Arkham games? Or maybe Wind Waker HD? Publishers are recognizing the inherent appeal of Switch ports; and with the install base firmly established, are scrambling to pump out as many ports as possible.” [more inside]
posted by Fizz at 7:20 PM PST - 53 comments

Look! Onscreen! It's two O's! It's two b's! No! it's Nerd Boy! In ASCII!

The Adventures of Nerd Boy was a 635-episode webcomic drawn completely in ASCII which ran from 2001-2006 (with the last two strips drawn in 2007 and 2016). EOF
posted by not_on_display at 4:49 PM PST - 6 comments

Hot Springs NC: WWI German Internment Camp

They built themselves a village. Of course, they weren't military; they were sailors and passengers who'd been trapped in the U.S. by the outbreak of war. About 2200 were hustled off to bucolic western NC, to a small town of about 650 people. And there they settled in.
posted by MovableBookLady at 4:36 PM PST - 13 comments

Hedge Fund Managers with Psychopathic Tendencies make Worse Investors

It's a common trope that psychopaths have traits that also predict success on Wall Street and that they are perfectly suited for high finance. Or are they? Paper, press release, article, another article. [more inside]
posted by clawsoon at 4:25 PM PST - 10 comments

"I don't want any boring old heraldry. I want something new, fresh."

Historian Sara Öberg Strådal looks at some bizarre coats of arms on her Twitter [Threadreader]. All are found in Conrad von Grünenberg's Wappenbuch, which can be read in full online.
posted by Kattullus at 3:02 PM PST - 12 comments

personne particulièrement extraordinaire

Spies, Dossiers, and the Insane Lengths Restaurants Go to Track and Influence Food Critics
The voice on the phone seemed a little too chipper. Tom Sietsema wondered if he’d been made. Or was he being paranoid? Maybe Le Diplomate’s reservationist was always this enthusiastic about hosting a party of eight at the buzzy French restaurant. Either way, as usual, the Washington Post’s lead restaurant critic made his reservation under an alias.
[more inside]
posted by the man of twists and turns at 11:50 AM PST - 69 comments

Worst day at work

"If I had stopped concentrating for a second, I would have become time itself." The time when I got my days wrong and ended up alone in a room with my boss and the President of Ireland while I was on ketamine. [Twitter thread]
posted by litleozy at 9:24 AM PST - 104 comments

the shape of wafer

“Should anyone spend five days trying to make three homemade Kit Kats? Seems dubious.” Join Bon Appetit editor Claire Saffitz in the test kitchen of my dreams as she attempts to make gourmet Kit Kats from scratch. [more inside]
posted by roger ackroyd at 9:14 AM PST - 54 comments

You gotta know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em

A little more than a year ago, New Yorker writer Maria Konnikova announced that she was diving into the world of professional poker as a new player, all for the purpose of writing a book about her experiences. Yesterday, PokerNews reported that the actual writing of the book is on hold because Konnikova, under the guidance of pro Erik Seidel, got too good at poker.
posted by Chrysostom at 9:10 AM PST - 32 comments

You Need A House To Live

Social Housing In The United States” (PDF) is a report by the People’s Policy Project on the argument for increased social housing in the United States. With half the rental population facing crisis and few people foreclosed on during the Great Recession looking to buy again, the time has come to look to another way: The Case For Public Housing, And a lot of it (Mother Jones) It’s time to build mixed income public housing (Shelter Force). (Previously, Housing In America)
posted by The Whelk at 8:42 AM PST - 32 comments

The Longest Straight-Line Ocean Voyage Is Pretty Damn Long

Do you want to take a 20,000 mile ocean voyage but don't want to steer, like, ever? Good news! You can start in Pakistan, head southwest (aim for just a little off the coast of Africa), and end up on the Kamchatka Peninsula. It's only 19,939.6 miles, but what's 60.4 miles among friends?
posted by Etrigan at 7:25 AM PST - 45 comments

The most successful entrepreneurs are actually middle-aged, not young

Pretty interesting new research looking at American entrepreneurs that was surprising for the researchers: Age and High-Growth Entrepreneurship: Pierre Azoulay, Benjamin Jones, J. Daniel Kim, Javier Miranda [pdf] [more inside]
posted by gen at 7:00 AM PST - 25 comments

If you could put down your phone and pay attention, that'd be great

There’s this assumption in our culture that with all the TV shows, and books, and websites, we’re all reading more and listening more, but I doubt that. Its become increasingly acceptable not to be listening (e.g. staring at your laptop or phone in meetings) and not be reading (skimming how many emails, or blog posts, in an hour). And I bet any culture, a team, a family, a country, where there is more real listening and real reading, people are happier and more successful at achieving things that matter. Why the world is a mess: a theory.
posted by Juso No Thankyou at 6:25 AM PST - 31 comments

Baby's first bill

The costs of delivering a baby in the US can be eye-watering, but did you know that babies are billed, too? Hospitals are routinely charging babies for nursery stays and baby care, separately from mom and dad's insurance.
posted by stillmoving at 6:09 AM PST - 50 comments

Nothing to lose but their personal data siphons

Why Silicon Valley can’t fix itself, by Ben Tarnoff and Moira Weigel, Guardian. [more inside]
posted by runcifex at 5:43 AM PST - 1 comments

a glowing orb that concealed the pains, joys, and dreams of immigrants

How Ferrero Rocher became a status symbol for immigrant families
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 3:47 AM PST - 26 comments

Viktor Orbán Versus the Enlightenment

"A few weeks ago, in a small town in Hungary, two Catholic nuns were stopped on the street and berated by people yelling, “Migrants! Migrants!” After pushing the old ladies a bit, they called the police, believing they had seen Muslim women in a burqa and hijab. The police saved the nuns from the Christian crowd." [SL to Jacobin by Miklós Tamás-Gáspár] [more inside]
posted by kmt at 1:39 AM PST - 45 comments

« Previous day | Next day »