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The signal (and apparently extemporary - almost certainly not) Vatican meeting between Zelensky and Trump is producing a wide range of analysis seeking what was going or or alluded to. Women's Wear Daily / WWD delves into Zelensky's wardrobe and it reads like a retelling of William Gibson's Pattern Recognition / PR [coffeeandflapjacks blog a book review blog].History has definitely returned [.pdf @ C21...

A group of Indonesian and French (among others) researchers has, for the first time filmed a living Indonesian coelacanth in the wild, at a depth of 145 m. In addition to the various PR buzz, they've also published a scientific paper on the sighting.Often called a "living fossil"* (a term I, as an evolutionary biologist, don't especially like, but it's used all the time)...

For more than a decade, O'Brien kept a meticulous log of mixed metaphors and malaprops uttered in Ford meetings, from companywide gatherings to side conversations. It documents 2,229 linguistic breaches, including the exact quote, context, name of the perpetrator and color commentary. from The Ford Executive Who Kept Score of Colleagues' Verbal Flubs [WSJ; ungated]

Wes Anderson has had many creative partners. But have any stimulated the juices of anticipation more than his most recent? Richard Ayoade will feature in The Phoenician Scheme (also Hanks, Del Toro, Ahmed, Johansson, Cumberbatch etc.). This is the trailer.A bit more on what it's about.

Under the fold, a small press roundup for Canadian presses Above/Ground Press, Figure 1 Publishing, and Inhabit Media. (Small press previouslies.)In honour of Canada's federal election on Monday (discussion here), I put together a big post of over 60 Canadian small presses. But it was so long I felt like most of it would end up getting glossed over. So instead here's three (and...

Pat Finnerty is boycotting Chevrolet over the crappy interpolations in its commercials and the lack of Bob Seger. It seems to be going okay, so far.

The Identification of Non-binary Gender in Prehistoric Burials in Central Europe A new paper from Cambridge University Press on evidence of non-binary people in prehistoric Europe.There is some reason to believe that much evidence of the existence of non-binary people was intentionally erased [reddit] by Western colonizing nations over the last few centuries. The work of re-claiming this history, and restoring these cultural realities...

Do you like writing instruments? Do you like being able to stab people if necessary? Have I got something for you.instructional video

A new reality show featuring the talented and emotional judge from The Great Pottery Throw Down (highly recommend), Keith Brymer Jones, and his partner Marj Hogarth, actor and self-taught textile designer, as they renovate a new home and studio: Our Welsh Chapel DreamFrom Channel 4's website: Keith Brymer Jones and his partner Marj throw themselves into the restoration of a derelict Welsh chapel, as...

Natural caves, just like artificial mining shafts, occur in rocks that are made up of minerals. In these environments, the phenomenon of luminescence can be observed on a much larger scale... My photos, taken under ultraviolet light, reveal a side of familiar places that likely no one has seen before. Gray walls shine like starry skies or glow in rainbow colors.

Repetition at a mass scale. Ghibli. Ghibli. Ghibli. Repetition close enough in concept space. Ghibli. Ghibli. Doesn't have to be a perfect copy to trigger the effect. Ghebli. Ghebli. Ghebli. Ghibli. Ghebli. Ghibli. And so art—all of it, I mean, the entire human artistic endeavor—becomes a thing satiated, stripped of meaning, pure syntax. from Welcome to the semantic apocalypse by Erik Hoel

'I'd like to go up in space as a very old lady and just be pushed out'. Guardian Australia, part of the 10 Chaotic Questions series. Warning for mention of rabbit death. Previously on the book burning she mentions.

Henry Wadsworth's Hiawatha, with the Kalevala's trochees (viz. trochaic tetrameter), instantly inspired jokesters to lampoon its rhythmic style. One short passage, more than others, gained especial notoriety. Generations worked together to compose a mitten manual. Underneath the cut I've gathered two recordings of this passage, emphasizing the good humor of Longfellow's repetition.Hiawatha, 1850's: He had mittens, Minjekahwun, Magic mittens made of deer-skin; When upon...

Two teens plead guilty to trafficking $1 million worth of giant ants in Kenya. The haul of Giant African harvester ants could have been worth more than $1 million, and has drawn attention to wildlife trafficking of smaller animals.

A century before publishers started marketing novels as "essential sad girl literature" and newspapers ran headlines about the "cult of the literary sad woman", Mary MacLane confessed all, at the age of nineteen, and became the enfant terrible of American letters, seemingly overnight. "This is not a diary. It is a Portrayal. It is my inner life shown in its nakedness. I am trying...

In case the news cycle has anyone wondering when the side of the angels will win - George Santos has been sentenced to over seven years in prison.Three years ago (previously), George Santos was elected to Congress, but rumors started circulating that most of his background was made up out of whole cloth. There was also evidence he had involved himself with a Ponzi...

The Fable of Complexity A video in which a .... medieval?... office worker gets overloaded, asks for help, gets help, and then things get worse and worse and more and more complicated.While I was out yesterday, my work team was told to watch this video, which I gather has been passed down from a higher-up and has been passed around. A recap: Abby the...

milwaukee judge hannah dugan is accused of helping a man evade immigration agents dugan is charged with "concealing an individual to prevent his discovery and arrest" and obstructing or impeding a proceeding. she's accused of escorting the man, eduardo flores-ruiz, and his lawyer out of the courtroom through the jury door on april 18 as a way to help avert his arrest, according to...

Lena Moses-Schmitt and Martha Park (LitHub, 04/25/2025), "Art and Craft: An Illustrated Conversation": "How does it feel to move between writing and art, for you? Do they overlap?" Lena Moses-Schmitt's website links to more of her work, e.g. "The Matrilineal Pleasures of 'A Life of One's Own'," "Drawing Cars," "Indoor Feeling," "Skating Costumes I Have Known," and "Blue Mountain." Martha Park's website links to...

Maybe you'd meet somebody out, remotely checking the answering machine plugged into your landline for messages. Maybe you'd go home to make dinner and catch the news on TV or NPR. Then, if you were into computers, you might turn on the one you had at home and dial in to the baby internet via modem and read funny things or post on message...

For Charlotte Proudman, only one opinion matters: that of the women and children she defends in the family courts. It is 15 years since Proudman qualified as a barrister, but she still feels a sense of alienation when she walks into the formal dining halls. "It's largely a sea of male, pale, stale figures sitting there, all in their suits. They all look identical,...

After 529 days on the loose in Australia's Kangaroo Island, Valerie has been found! Previously on the blue: Well sometimes I go out by myself.

How JD Vance Became a Flashpoint in An Election in Durham, Ontario (TheLocal - support independent Canadian media!)

The common belief about cats, ferals in particular, is that tomcats are not fond of kittens (being obstacles in the way of mating again) and that raising them is the mother's burden. But, as is often the case, Shelly Roche's TinyKittens is both educational and full of surprises.TinyKittens is an ongoing Trap-Neuter-Release project in Fort Langley, British Columbia (Previously, Also Previously, Previouslyer, Previouslyest), celebrating...