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The Big Lebowski Cremation Urn. You'll probably have to make it yourself. Here's how. [more inside]
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 10:20 PM PST - 24 comments

Ms. Pac-Man’s Revenge by Soleil Ho [Eater]

“Why has food, which is arguably an essential part of our day-to-day lives, been so marginal in so many games? It could be due to ingrained assumptions about their intended audiences: If these products were meant to appeal to men, why waste effort on rendering food when one could focus on more masculine motifs, like monsters and spacecraft? And yet, one of the earliest examples of game developers’ thinking outside of the box and bringing food to the forefront is one of the earliest games: Pac-Man.”

In an essay for the anthology “Women on Food,” restaurant critic Soleil Ho wonders if gender has something to do with the lack of food in video games
posted by Fizz at 6:52 PM PST - 49 comments

"The Gothtober Countdown Calendar™ is an annual curated time-release autumnal symposium showcasing 31 works by 31 different contributors. Behind each numbered day waits a new Halloween treat for you!" It's like an Advent calendar except it's spoopy and has videos rather than chocolate. Is thirty one videos not enough? Dig into the archive for sixteen past years of Gothtober! [more inside]
posted by ardgedee at 6:10 PM PST - 6 comments

Dorothy Ashby was an African-American jazz harpist who revolutionized the harp as a respected instrument of improvisational jazz, by proving that the harp was just as adept at bebop and hard bop as the saxophone or piano. Less well-known than fellow jazz harpist Alice Coltrane, Ashby's first album, The Jazz Harpist, was released in 1957 - more than a decade before Ms. Coltrane's own album debut. Yet Ashby remains "one of the most unjustly under-loved jazz greats of the 1950s." [NPR] This post is a brief overview and introduction to her musical contributions. [more inside]
posted by nightrecordings at 4:27 PM PST - 11 comments

Be careful where you put your camera, or they might get nabbed. raccoon steals camera and throws it into water; squirrel steals camera and takes it into the treetops; a different squirrel takes a camera into the trees, but the lens is facing its fuzzy tummy; bald eagle steals camera, and we get to see the world fly by through talons; lioness takes camera, with a narrator; crab slowly approaches camera, and takes it off; young otters steal ottercam; sea lion steals camera, and plays with it a bit; octopus takes a camera on an ocean adventure. [more inside]
posted by filthy light thief at 2:21 PM PST - 21 comments

You’ll never walk alone Oh, it won’t come to that, surely?” This is a phrase I’ve heard many times in the last three years. It’s uttered by friendly, cultured, open-minded people in my town – the sort of people who woke up on the morning of 24 June 2016 blinking in disbelief at finding their values outvoted. Since that day, they’ve reassured themselves that the fracture in our society can be reversed, as if a pane of glass can be talked out of the crack in it, as if a burst balloon can be made to see that staying intact is the best thing all round. (SLGuardian) [more inside]
posted by mumimor at 10:49 AM PST - 29 comments

2 Proud Boys Sentenced To 4 Years In Prison Over Gang Assault In New York (HuffPost) YouTube removed one of the most prominent video news outlets for white nationalists, Red Ice, from its platform. (SPLC) “ News of Jarrett Smith’s arrest rattled the far-right ecosphere on the encrypted messaging app Telegram. Smith, an American soldier, was known in those circles as Anti-Kosmik 2182. One day before his arrest, he’d unwittingly shared his bomb-making expertise with an FBI agent on the app undercover.” How Telegram Became White Nationalists' Go-To Messaging Platform (Vice) I watched Fox News every day for 44 months – here's what I learned (Guardian) 8chan Is Trying To Come Back As ‘8kun.’ Its Founder Is Trying To Stop It. (HuffPost) Meanwhile the current owner of 8chan is posting ...handwritten notes online (Twitter)
posted by The Whelk at 10:48 AM PST - 16 comments

The history of pockets isn’t just sexist, it’s political
posted by Mrs Potato at 10:34 AM PST - 26 comments

Like the universe, IKEA feels infinite. IKEA is a place of transition, a journey, a source of light and comfort, but also strife. (H/T to Dan Hon on Twitter)
posted by boo_radley at 10:25 AM PST - 11 comments

The Codevilla Tapes: The historian of American statecraft and spycraft and conservative political philosopher Angelo Codevilla talks about the ruling elite, Jonathan Pollard, and the rise of the techno-surveillance state—and the consequent demise of the American Empire

Angelo Codevilla is interviewed by David Samuels for Tablet Magazine. Sections include: The Ruling Elite, The Rise of the Surveillance State, Are Assange and Snowden heroes or villains?, When Jeff Bezos Has Dinner With the CIA, Henry Kissinger Meets the Demon Emperor, The Progressive High Church Mass, The Cruxification of Jonathan Pollard, and Secrecy and the Rule of Law.
posted by save alive nothing that breatheth at 9:46 AM PST - 7 comments

Russian scientists tracking migrating eagles ran out of money after some of the birds flew to Iran and Pakistan and their SMS transmitters drew huge data roaming charges. [SLBBC]
posted by KTamas at 7:33 AM PST - 10 comments

Seattle radio-show-turned-podcast Too Beautiful to Live recently celebrated reaching its 3000th episode with a nationwide tour, ending up in Brooklyn where they talk to special guest John Hodgman (audio). They discuss Hodgman's new book Medallian Status, about his journey to the dizzying heights of an airline rewards program, his appearance on an episode of the Flight of the Conchords television series, and something even more dreadful than modern air travel.
posted by LURK at 6:43 AM PST - 5 comments

The composer Anna Meredith MBE has released Fibs, the second album of music written for her touring band, a follow-up to 2016's Varmints. [more inside]
posted by Grangousier at 5:10 AM PST - 8 comments