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The Good Dogs (and People) of the LA Wildfires [youtube Short approx 2:56] With quiet apologies to the good people now discussing the properties of good posting in Metatalk, I offer this single link because someone may appreciate a good cry right now. [more inside]
posted by Glinn at 4:12 PM - 0 comments

We Don't Need More Cynics. We Need More Builders.

"Here’s a more charitable reading of cynicism: it’s not an intellectual position. It’s an emotional defense mechanism. If you expect the worst, you’ll never be disappointed. If you assume everything is corrupt, you can’t be betrayed. But this protection comes at a terrible price. The cynic builds emotional armor that also functions as a prison, keeping out not just pain but also possibility, connection, and growth."

posted by otherchaz at 2:43 PM - 18 comments

Giant neon-pink slugs back with a vengeance after bushfires. Citizen slug sleuths are helping scientists keep track of unique creatures that have made a remarkable comeback at Mount Kaputar in New South Wales (Australia).
posted by chariot pulled by cassowaries at 1:17 PM - 3 comments

Mike Rinder, spokesman for and then critic of Scientology, dead at 69.
posted by chavenet at 12:03 PM - 9 comments

Homeowner captures sound and video of meteorite strike on camera, and scientists believe it's a first.
posted by jacquilynne at 10:27 AM - 26 comments

"Day One" is a short scifi story by K. Duncan, published December 2024 in Trollbreath Magazine. The author notes "It's more or less a manifesto. It's about what could happen, and what has to." and "A 2023 that might have happened, in braver, more just world". He was still a shill for corporations and developers, for charter schools, still worthless on prison and poverty, but it was like an electric shock and a game-end Gatorade soak to hear him say “I am ordering the immediate disarmament of the Philadelphia Police Department.”
posted by brainwane at 10:02 AM - 3 comments

The Visible Zorker – Play Zork in one pane and follow the original ZIL source code and state of the virtual machine in adjacent panes as you play. (Or just read Andrew Plotkin's article about making this visualization.)
posted by Wolfdog at 9:24 AM - 4 comments

CNN Business: Starbucks ends its 'open-door' policies. A new Coffeehouse Code of Conduct was announced and allegedly posted on their doors yesterday, reversing the 2018 decision to let anybody hang out there. [more inside]
posted by Rash at 8:22 AM - 66 comments

Black Tape For A Blue Girl: Live at the Middle East, Boston, July 21 1998 (SLYT, except here's a Bandcamp link)
posted by box at 7:55 AM - 2 comments

American users are turning to RedNote, the Chinese equivalent of Instagram/Pinterest, ahead of a looming TikTok ban, which legislators are now urging Biden to extend the Jan 19 deadline for. TikTok has called rumors that it is considering a sale to Elon Musk, "pure fiction", and its parent company ByteDance has said that it would shut down rather than sell to an American buyer. [more inside]
posted by toastyk at 6:56 AM - 76 comments

You like Canadian prog-rock? You like pinball? Have I got something for you.
posted by Lemkin at 5:52 AM - 38 comments

When Caillois reads “the writing of stones,” when he pores over the whorls and swirls in an agate, he ponders the revelation of cosmic time they grant him. “They provide moreover, taken on the spot and at a certain instant of its development, an irreversible cut made into the fabric of the universe. Like fossil imprints, this mark, this trace, is not only an effigy, but the thing itself stabilized by a miracle, which attests to itself and to the hidden laws of our shared formation where the whole of nature was borne along.” [cabinet] [more inside]
posted by HearHere at 3:52 AM - 4 comments

The Wrongest Bird in Movie History is an episode of the Slate podcast Decoder Ring [transcript]. In it guest producer Forrest Wickman goes in search of the answer to a question that has bedeviled birders for a quarter-century: Why is the bird identified as a ‘Pygmy Nuthatch’ in the Charlie Angels movie neither look nor sound like a Pygmy Nuthatch? And boy, does Wickman get answers.
posted by Kattullus at 1:59 AM - 21 comments

Acquiescing to the way the world works is one of the temptations of being a journalist, and in Italy, for nearly a generation, the way the world worked had been Fascist. If it was now to be democratic instead, then so much the better. Journalism also taught Buzzati—when he wasn’t dealing with naval battles—the value of precise, concrete writing. from A Man Out of Time [Harper's; ungated]. [more inside]
posted by chavenet at 12:38 AM - 2 comments

After a decade of inactivity, the epic strange-setting fantasy comic A Stray to Botaram has resumed updating; the author has vowed to see the journey to the end. This was preceded by a project to remaster old pages and turn text posts into pages, so whether this is new or old to you, I suggest starting from the beginning, at what only initially looks like a newspaper comic strip from an alternate reality, here.
posted by BiggerJ at 11:36 PM - 6 comments

"In an alternate version of today’s world where dueling is still acceptable, Philip, a man of tradition, must perform the role of “Second” on the day of his only son’s duel." [more inside]
posted by maxwelton at 10:06 PM - 4 comments

"We've eaten 11,501 snacks spanning 87 categories from 2056 companies in 96 countries. That's 164 major brands and 163 flavors." (previously) (more previously) (even more previously)
posted by Lemkin at 5:07 PM - 15 comments

Richard Raffan is a long-time wood turner with a large number of videos on youtube. They might be too inside-baseball to be of general interest, but if you like watching things made by a master craftsman and artist, you may enjoy them. This is Richard’s youtube home page . [more inside]
posted by Gilgamesh's Chauffeur at 3:21 PM - 8 comments

"I think the majority of people don’t enjoy the majority of time they spend making music.” If it's been more than 24 hours since you last flew into a rage about tech-bros who want to “disrupt” art without understanding the first thing about art, have I got an interview for you! [more inside]
posted by signal at 2:55 PM - 29 comments

Eagle-eyed teen helps capture rogue frog on Tassie lavender farm (Tasmania, Australia). A 13-year-old girl found and helped capture an invasive Peron's tree frog after a tourist's photo posted online alerted authorities of the biosecurity threat. Tasmania is an island, so it does not have the same frog species and frog diseases which are found on mainland Australia. [more inside]
posted by chariot pulled by cassowaries at 2:34 PM - 5 comments

"Six People to Revise You" by J.R. Dawson, a short and moving science fiction story published January 2025 in Uncanny Magazine (available in text and audio), begins:

A parent or guardian
Someone who has known you since childhood
A mentor or teacher
An employer or coworker
A spouse, partner, or close intimate friend
Someone who does not consider themself a loved one

posted by brainwane at 10:46 AM - 25 comments

There Is No Safe Word. How the best-selling fantasy author Neil Gaiman hid the darkest parts of himself for decades. [Non-paywalled link.
Content warning: contains graphic descriptions of child abuse and sexual assault and emotional/sexual abuse.]
posted by fight or flight at 9:19 AM - 234 comments

FANFARE THIS WEEK... New movies: everyone's Criterion Closet buddy Pamela Anderson stuns in The Last Showgirl; "Holocaust tours, with lunch" in A Real Pain; a Hungarian-born architect immigrates to the US in bladder-busting 215 minute epic The Brutalist; running, quips in hit sequel Sonic the Hedgehog 3; a biopic of UK pop star Robbie Williams with a CGI chimp in the title role in Better Man; Sean Wang's critically acclaimed coming-of-age dramedy Dìdi; and dead-eyed Philomena Cunk asks the worst possible questions in Cunk on Life. And, in TV: Star Wars spinoff Skeleton Crew; post-apocalypse drama/mystery Silo; the serial-killer-in-his-youth prequel series Dexter: Original Sin; Netflix's buzzy new western American Primeval; post-COVID ER dramaThe Pitt; and the highly anticipated Abbott Elementary/It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia crossover. [more inside]
posted by DirtyOldTown at 8:25 AM - 53 comments

[Content Warning: a lot of blood, brief glimpses of body horror, there is an image of a character in one film starting to be enveloped in flames.]

Indiewire's chief film critic, David Ehrlich presented his annual, and expertly edited, montage of his 25 Best Films of 2024 (Vimeo). [more inside]
posted by Atreides at 8:13 AM - 12 comments

Did you even consider every possible lived experience before recklessly posting your chili recipe on social media?
posted by box at 7:45 AM - 103 comments

(slCBC) The Canadian government announced on Oct. 24, 2024 that it is scaling back on immigration targets for the next three years, immediately cutting 2025’s target by 21 per cent, and more for the years after. The number of temporary residents, including international students and foreign workers, will also be considerably reduced.
posted by Kitteh at 6:40 AM - 19 comments

This is important: We exist in time. Whenever someone is born, it opens a window into time, a glimpse of the universe that stretches from the moment your eyes first blink open until they finally shut. This is about to be your window.
(WaPo column by Alexandra Petri, gift link)
posted by kyleg at 6:25 AM - 8 comments

"The Heavenly Music Corporation". "Swastika Girls". [more inside]
posted by Lemkin at 5:54 AM - 19 comments

What sort of noises do you make? Do you make music like Alice Coltrane? Are you a cross-linguistic onomatopoiea fan? Or are optical sound effects more your thing? Ever enter a yodeling contest, like they have at the Iowa State Fair? Or is the groan more your thing, as with groaning boards, groaning ghosts, or plain groaners? Perhaps your noises are more fundamental? There's more to life than noise, though. How are you doing? What's happening this week in your life?
posted by cupcakeninja at 5:09 AM - 87 comments

The secretive annual migration of Christmas Island's blue crabs. You've heard of the Christmas Island red crab migration. But what about the blue one? Christmas Island's blue crab migration is low key, even for locals. The blue crab species Discoplax celeste is only found on Christmas Island. It is one of more than 20 species of land crab on the island. The blue crab migration to the coast happens around January or February each year.
posted by chariot pulled by cassowaries at 1:41 AM - 4 comments

Blaming nature or the climate for disasters deflects responsibility. It is largely human influence that produces vulnerability. Pointing the finger at natural causes creates a politically convenient crisis narrative that is used to justify reactive disaster laws and policies. For example, it is easier for city governments to blame nature instead of addressing human-caused social and physical vulnerability. A deflection of responsibility also leads to a continuation of an unequitable status quo where the most vulnerable people in society are worst affected repeatedly in every disaster. A discourse that attributes disasters to nature paves a subtle exit path for those responsible for creating vulnerability. from Stop blaming the climate for disasters [Nature; pdf]
posted by chavenet at 1:08 AM - 10 comments

Star Trek: Section 31 is about the most dangerous idea in Trek canon. Mary Sue founder Susana Polo writes, "either Section 31 is a betrayal of everything the Federation stands for, or the Federation isn’t utopian.".
posted by a faded photo of their beloved at 9:37 PM - 60 comments

Infinite View, Shuffle View, and Catalogue View are three ways to explore the Public Domain Image Archive recently announced by The Public Domain Review. Coverage at Open Culture and Hyperallergic. More details about the project. Bluesky account to follow for updates. Also at The Public Domain Review this week: "The public airing of grievances continues in the next and final issue of 391 ... Picabia describes Surrealism as 'Dada disguised as an advertising balloon for the house of Breton & Co.', and Breton as 'an actor who wants all the leading roles in the theatre of illusionists'"--Daisy Sainsbury on "Perpetual Movement: Francis Picabia's 391 Review (1917–1924)." Bluesky account for The Public Domain Review.
posted by Wobbuffet at 9:01 PM - 6 comments

So, you want to demonstrate the speedrunning of one of the greatest arcade racing experiences ever, but there's a small problem with the music licensing. The answer - speedrun Crazy Taxi with a live band doing the backing. (SLYT)
posted by NoxAeternum at 5:39 PM - 27 comments

At a time when many American movies pump up every fugitive emotion into a clanging assault on the audience, Soderbergh’s Solaris is quiet and introspective. There are some shocks and surprises, but this is not Alien. It is a workshop for a discussion of human identity. It considers not only how we relate to others, but how we relate to our ideas of others. - Roger Ebert [more inside]
posted by Lemkin at 4:35 PM - 28 comments

Peter Thiel wrote an op-ed for the Financial Times: A time for truth and reconciliation; Gizmodo and The Daily Beast respond. Even the Daily Mail is baffled.
posted by chavenet at 2:06 PM - 73 comments

As many as two billion people suffer from chronic pain, can science finally bring us relief? [NYT / Archive]
posted by ellieBOA at 10:54 AM - 51 comments

youtube user tontarotaro's "community" page is a wall of short, cute Pokémon animations.
posted by Wolfdog at 9:26 AM - 5 comments

In Coinage and the Tyranny of Fantasy ‘Gold’, historical blogger Bret Devereaux takes a dive into historical coinage and accounting to explain why, when you get down to it, Dungeons & Dragons and most other historical/fantasy RPG settings are out of their goddam minds if they think people were lugging gold coins around on a daily basis.
posted by cortex at 8:41 AM - 67 comments

"In Hong Kong, skilled armies of scaffolders can erect enough bamboo to engulf a building in a day — even hours — using techniques that are thousands of years old, and have been passed down through generations."
posted by moonmilk at 7:55 AM - 22 comments

"A battery that needs feeding instead of charging? This is exactly what researchers have achieved with their 3D-printed, biodegradable fungal battery. The living battery could supply power to sensors for agriculture or research in remote regions. Once the work is done, it digests itself from the inside." [more inside]
posted by cupcakeninja at 6:22 AM - 10 comments

A bright, penniless girl of eighteen who found herself admired by a rich older man had good reason to be excited. The role laid down by her society were suddenly reversed: having been always powerless, she now began to be in command. In Nelly's case the man she might command was also brilliant and famous, a charming and entertaining companion, and in a position to transform her life, which in any case held few counter-attractions.
posted by Lemkin at 5:18 AM - 13 comments

"If you have taken on a complex subject and try to engage with it too soon, the writing will be off, with a hard, raw tang. That applies to matter that hasn’t yet been fully digested, and includes subjects, like your childhood if it’s recent or your social scene if you’re in the middle of it, that might need years or decades of marinating; much depends on individual temperament." Author, chronicler, critic and essayist Lucy Sante is writing about writing [substack]. [more inside]
posted by Joeruckus at 4:07 AM - 3 comments

We need to talk about the doomers and the attention economy they’ve built. Not because they’re entirely wrong — from climate change to political extremism, a lot of their concerns are valid — but because they’ve created something extraordinary: a perpetual motion machine powered by anxiety. Let’s call it the Doomscroll Industrial Complex (DIC). It operates on a simple principle: bad news is good business. But unlike traditional doom-peddlers who simply predicted the end times and waited to be proven right or wrong, today’s digital prophets have discovered a much more sustainable model. from How Anxiety Became a Business Model [Joan Westenberg] [more inside]
posted by chavenet at 2:58 AM - 40 comments

Migraine molecules may drive endometriosis pain. Existing drugs might help. Pain-sensing neurons exchange signals with immune cells that drive endometriosis, sparking the pain associated with the condition, new research suggests.
posted by chariot pulled by cassowaries at 12:35 AM - 5 comments

Sam Moore of the legendary soul duo Sam & Dave passed away aged 89. Obituaries in Rolling Stone, Pitchfork, NME, New York Times, Washington Post. His partner in the duo, Dave Prater passed away in 1988. [more inside]
posted by phigmov at 12:21 AM - 21 comments

Behind the Old Guard: Sentinels [more inside]
posted by Lemkin at 5:32 PM - 6 comments

The pineapple is a tropical plant indigenous to South America. After being brought to Europe, techniques were developed to grow it in colder climates including the use of fermenting horse dung to keep the plants appropriately toasty. Pineapple contains protein-degrading enzymes and so is good at tenderizing meat and ruining Jell-O desserts. It's also fairly acidic, which makes its juice useful for kicking off a sourdough starter. There's a lot to be said about their taste, but are pineapples really delicious?
posted by a feather in amber at 3:44 PM - 32 comments

It’s one of those things everyone’s heard of, but few truly understand. It sits quietly in the corner of the bathroom (or as an attachment to the toilet itself), radiating mystery and a slight sense of intimidation. Ask someone about it, and you’ll usually get a shrug or a vague explanation that trails off into awkward silence. Why? Because nobody really wants to get into the nitty-gritty of how, why, or when you’re supposed to use one. For centuries, the truth about the bidet has been elusive, tucked away behind a veil of cultural quirks, taboos, and plain old disinterest. from Let’s Talk About the Bidet, the Bathroom’s Best-Kept Secret [MessyNessy]
posted by chavenet at 3:17 PM - 98 comments

John Sheppard's Media Vita is a monumental work of choral music written in the 1500s. It has been recognized as such only relatively recently with the 1989 recording by the Tallis Scholars led by Peter Phillips. The music and its composer are shrouded in mystery. Only five of the six vocal parts survive and the original manuscript has been lost. Sheppard died in 1557, likely in a flu pandemic. A history, background and musical analysis. Says Phillips: "“It’s seductive, it draws you in, and you just can’t leave it alone; you have to go with it.”" [more inside]
posted by storybored at 2:58 PM - 7 comments