Morning Coffee (3/31/14)

I've got lots of videos for you today . . .

Look! It's my mom being smart about vaccines!

Josh Charles went on Keith Olbermann's show and basically reenacted Sports Night and I have a lot of feelings.

How I Met Your Mother ends tonight. Here are Neil Patrick Harris and Jason Segel doing a duet from Les Miserables.

Speaking of Les Miserables, Hugh Jackman Performs "Wolverine: The Musical."

I am here for Mark Ruffalo and Keira Knightley and Hailee Steinfeld and Catherine Keener and Adam Levine's beard, dear Lord.

This competing to marry fake Prince Harry reality show is ridiculous because anyone who'd care enough to do that should know the palace would never okay this, among about 5000 other issues.

Speaking of reality shows, E!'s new programming slate is quite the commentary on . . . something.

An important political voice: Kermit the Frog adds croak to 'no' campaign over Scottish independence

Morning Coffee (3/28/14)

I usually reserve Friday for fun or at least pleasant links, but there are a few things I cannot let pass without comment. First: Television Without Pity is closing. Wow. End of an era.

And yesterday's other big entertainment media story: Entertainment Weekly wants you to write for it for free. Don't do it.

Okay, on to the fun stuff. I like the new Black Keys song.

Today's Woot shirt is adorable.

I'm not sure I have any strong feelings about the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles trailer, but perhaps you'd like to see it? Here it is.

Headline of the week: Why 18th Century Biologists Made Copulating Frogs Wear Tiny Pants

Here's the cover and an excerpt from Cassie Clare and Holly Black's forthcoming book The Iron Trial.

I hadn't realized quite the extent to which Ryan Tedder writes all the songs.

Ben & Jerry's Heath bar flavors are now toffee bar, as they move to fair trade ingredients. Good for them.

The Secret Life of Kermit the Frog

Game of Bones: Corgi Edition

Which Actress Would Play You in the Movie Version of Your Life?

Morning Coffee (3/27/14)

Dahlia Lithwick is always worth a read: Is the Contraception Mandate Doomed?

Related: When Did We Decide It Was OK to Let Our Bosses Choose Our Health Insurance?

Wow: Northwestern football players are unionizing.

If you can make it the whole way through this article about "the first tech pinup magazine" without hitting anything/anyone, you deserve a cookie. My commentary on the entire thing can be summarized as "NOPE."

Author Barry Lyga says important things about creator/fan interaction (especially when said fans are teens) in Remember That They're Kids and follow-up Male Guilt, Hugs, and More.

And my friend Heather Vee says other important things about fandom in Thoughts on PaleyFest, Etiquette & Fan Experience.

Are You Cynical Enough to Hate Upworthy? (Yes. Maybe. It's complicated.)

The hardest quiz ever: Can You Control Your Inner Pedant?

Morning Coffee (3/26/14)

Huh. The Times is launching a new range of digital packages.

This is probably the second most terrible public proposal story I can think of. (Hint: All public proposals are terrible.)

Fascinating: Donetsk’s Welsh Dream

Apparently Boston is having a doughnut moment. Who wants to go get fancy doughnuts with me?

This book club piece is mostly kind of dumb - people are in book clubs and the Times is on it - except for the revelation that there is now apparently such a career as Professional Book Group Facilitator. $300 a session. How do I get in on that?

The company my cousin works for is now doing same-day home alcohol delivery. We really are living in the future, aren't we?

Amazing: Does He Like You? A Quiz By Samuel Richardson’s Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded

Which Medieval Theologian Are You? (Everyone I've heard from so far has gotten Hildegard of Bingen. Let me know if you get someone else!)

Morning Coffee (3/25/14)

Okay, this story is amazing: 'Flat Stanley' home after decade in soldier's wallet

Ooh, Damian Lewis is playing Machiavelli for BBC Radio 4.

Huh: Slate to Introduce a Membership Plan

Is There Hope for the Survivors of the Drug Wars?

Ruth Bader Ginsburg Is Irreplaceable

This interview with Anne Helen Peterson about leaving academia for BuzzFeed is fascinating.

A Censored History of Ladies in YA Fiction

Awesome: Sorting 19th Century British Novelists Into Hogwarts

Morning Coffee (3/24/14)

Check out today's Dorothy Height Google doodle.

Mapping Crimea

Even the Army Times wants a better timeslot for Enlisted.

5 Reasons Flying a Fighter Jet Is Way Crazier Than 'Top Gun'

Public marriage proposals are the worst, and this is only one of many reasons why.

In light of the upcoming Jem movie, here's an interview with Jem's original singing voice.

A Forgotten Scandal in Baltimore’s High Society

Which Dewey Decimal category are you?

Morning Coffee (3/21/14)

Happy Friday!

Awesome: The Phantom of the Opera is getting its first black lead. (Hey, and it's Liv's senator boyfriend from Scandal.)

Oh my gosh, they're making a Jem and the Holograms movie.

Margery Kempe is now online! (I mean, her writing. Margery Kempe herself is dead.)

Apparently we're still trying to figure out the real Sherlock Holmes, for some reason.

40 Inspiring Workspaces of the Famously Creative

As usual, Polly gives good, important advice.

Tumblr recommendation of the week: Heds Will Roll

Hee: True Detective meets Hardy Boys

Morning Coffee (3/20/14)

So I guess it's theoretically spring. This Winter Wasn’t the Coldest, But It Was One of the Most Miserable.

Whoa: The Observer is no longer pink.

Veronica Mars fans, here's a fascinating interview with the movie's costume designer.

Six Reasons You Need To Watch 'Enlisted'

This is fascinating and talks about Sleepy Hollow a lot: A Linguist Explains What Old-School British Accents Sounded Like

Adorable: During breaks on the Trophy Wife set, Marcia Gay Harden reads Harry Potter books to Albert Tsai. And does the voices.

Think that "bulletproof" screen protector is really bulletproof? Nope. (They actually shot at it!)

Which TV/Movie High School Would You Attend?

Morning Coffee (3/19/14)

L'Wren Scott Was Remembered As a ‘Girlfriend’

Important for people interested in publishing: Judge Rules for HarperCollins in Open Road E-Book Dispute

They're finally making The Incredibles 2!

Veronica Mars: One of TV's Realest Depictions of Wealth Inequality

Wow: A Brooklyn Woman's Colorful Quilt, Illustrating Her Experience of the Civil War

How I Met Your Mother's fake scotch doesn't really bother me, but this piece is still fun.

Extremely important journalism: Tyler Hoechlin Is The Hottie Dork You’ve Been Waiting For

Andrew Garfield Will Be Emma Stone’s L.L. Bean Boyfriend

Morning Coffee (3/18/14)

Whoa: Space Ripples Reveal Big Bang’s Smoking Gun

Okay, sure, There's No Drama Quite Like the Drama of a Gchat Outage, but some of us do actually use it for work, so it really is disruptive when it goes out.

‘Veronica Mars’ takes on police misconduct, income inequality

This piece about who actually talks to each other in Shakespeare is fascinating.

Here's some info about the newest gadget I will be trying to convince myself not to buy. (Ugh, I really just want something that will stream HBO Go.)

Honestly, I didn't realize there was a mystery about the Blarney Stone, but apparently it's been solved.

Tax-Free Liquor Lures Buyers, Stirring Crossborder Tensions

Nifty: The Many Origins of the English Language