September 27, 2020
"this is no typical resting place for loved ones"
Barre Vermont has some of the loveliest granite around. The stone, which comes from some equally lovely quarries, was worked by Italian immigrants many of whom were Socialist entrepreneurs. Their legacy is visible in work by new artists in Barre's Art Stroll and especially in Barre's Hope Cemetery where many of them created their own headstones. A recent addition is the 1918 Spanish Flu Memorial (archived link), erected by local restaurant owners whose roadside eatery, the Wayside, just reopened after closing for its second pandemic in its 102 year history.
Imagine putting Fall Guys in a blender with John Carpenter’s The Thing
In Among Us (Windows/iOS/Android), you’re part of a crew working together to complete tasks across a station, but 1-3 players are impostors looking to sabotage the team’s efforts, ideally killing everyone in the process (yes, like Mafia). To survive, the crew needs to figure out who the impostors are. Despite launching in 2018, the game took two years before exploding in popularity, largely thanks to a Twitch stream that went viral. Among Us has inspired plenty of fan art, and is so successful (1.5 million concurrent players!) the devs have cancelled the sequel to focus on the original game.
"Parts Unknown: Bajor" -- with fake ads
"The Hasperat has his eyes watering." fresne's fanfic short story "Parts Unknown: Bajor" takes Anthony Bourdain on a tour of Deep Space Nine and the planet Bajor. Includes commercial breaks: "Some of the inspiration for the sponsor breaks come from some conversations I’ve been having with friends about what a Star Trek show that wasn’t about Starfleet would be like." (Bourdain fanfic previously.) [more inside]
surely this
Long-Concealed Records Show Trump’s Chronic Losses and Years of Tax Avoidance [NY Times]. Donald J. Trump paid $750 in federal income taxes the year he won the presidency. In his first year in the White House, he paid another $750. [more inside]
Inside Ebay's Cockroach Cult
[NYTimes] [SFGate non-paywalled]
Baugh was convinced that there was a sinister relationship between the Steiners and Fidomaster — that they were actively conspiring to damage eBay. (He even indulged a theory that Fidomaster was the Steiners’ secret alter ego.) Eight days after Wenig’s “take her down” message, a member of the security team flew across the country and drove to the Steiners’ home, a steeply roofed charmer on a quiet street. On their fence, prosecutors say, he scrawled the word “FIDOMASTER.”
Spot the Troll
The Clemson University Media Forensics Hub presents: Spot the Troll: A quiz and analysis of social media trolls originating from Russia. Train your filter. [more inside]
🐭🥇
Landmine detection rat Magawa receives the PDSA Gold Medal for his life-saving work in Cambodia as a HeroRat. Magawa is the first non-dog to receive this award. [more inside]
“Welcome to the Church of England... cake or death?”
In which a photograph for ordinations deep in the heart of Somerset at Wells Cathedral, which is explained, sparks off a Twitter thread of some derivation and (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) analogy and metaphor. Just out of view, and the post title.
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