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Wine Enthusiast "asked bartenders of both boozeless and traditional venues to share their favorite non-alcoholic bottles and help avoid the many clunkers." The past year, a growing number of non-alcoholic bottlings were introduced to sip during Dry January, or any time a short detox is needed. Some mimic traditional spirits or pre-mixed cocktails, while others have flavors that are harder to pin down. But all provide a faux-spirit base toward zero-alcohol options that are more than just fancy juice boxes. "You're trying to create an elevated, complex drink," explains Chris Marshall, founder/CEO of Sans Bar, a venue in Austin that serves only zero-proof cocktails. "To do that, you need a base to build your drink around." [more inside]
posted by Umami Dearest at 9:55 PM PST - 34 comments

Pashmina, the softest cashmere in the world, is grown in one of its most extreme locations. This photo essay documents life for Cashmere farmers at 4000 metres and -40 (celsius or fahrenheit, it's the same!).
posted by smoke at 6:49 PM PST - 9 comments

Dan Brooks on the culture of Types, the difference between being things and doing them, and the freedom to become something other than what you are now. [more inside]
posted by sallybrown at 5:00 PM PST - 40 comments

THIS is YOUR Department. Jump right in with your contribution. What have you seen, in the past month, which was stupid, unlifelike, ridiculous or merely incongruous? Do not generalize; confine your remarks to specific instances of absurdities in pictures you have seen. Your observation will be listed among the indictments of carelessness on the part of the actor, author or director.

As we know, nitpicking movie mistakes is not a new hobby and Photoplay Magazine had an entire feature that published the snarky letters of sharp-eyed moviegoers. Let’s take a look at February of 1920. Here Are the Tropes, Cliches and Sloppy Mistakes that Annoyed Moviegoers 100 Years Ago
posted by Ten Cold Hot Dogs at 1:17 PM PST - 14 comments

Thumbsam1 stacks coins (YouTube videos) into a delicate tower, a complicated, patterned tower, a bridge, and more towers. [via Mltshp]
posted by filthy light thief at 11:45 AM PST - 5 comments

The VW Beetle in computer & video games: this gallery shows the famous VW Beetle in different games on different computers and video games.
posted by Fizz at 11:29 AM PST - 17 comments

Trump administration proposal to deport thousands of Hmong and Lao Americans back to Laos could be detrimental to families in Minnesota. It's only the latest attack on immigrants and their children: Cambodian Americans have already been deported back to Cambodia. The Deported Americans. When de facto Americans are deported.
posted by toastyk at 9:57 AM PST - 28 comments

Surprisingly good downloadable music clips in a wide range of genres, all licensed under Creative Commons.
posted by blue shadows at 9:41 AM PST - 5 comments

Jonathan Pruitt was a rising star in behavioral ecology, lured from UCSB to McMaster University by the Canada 150 program, with fascinating research about personality and social behavior in spiders. Then one of his co-authors got an email with a question about a dataset of his that she had used in a publication, forcing her to ask serious questions of her own about all of the data he had provided her and leading to retraction of their publications together. [more inside]
posted by hydropsyche at 8:24 AM PST - 37 comments

After decades of decline, the U.S. national fusion lab seeks a rebirth - "A visionary new leader aims to expand and diversify the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory—and get back to building fusion reactors." [more inside]
posted by kliuless at 1:11 AM PST - 26 comments

Foresty Forest is an outdoor enthusiast who worked at a factory to fund long distance bicycle tours. In 2018 he started living out of a 2009 Chevy Uplander minivan due to punishing Toronto apartment rents. [more inside]
posted by zymil at 1:07 AM PST - 11 comments