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  • The FDA has officially authorized Pfizer's coronavirus vaccine for emergency use in children 5 to 11.
  • Here's a bizarre story about a 97-year-old billionaire/amateur architect who donated $200 million to the University of California on the condition that they build a mostly-windowless dorm that he designed.
  • Nightmare headline of the day: "I Joined a Cult Believing I’d Be Closer to God. Then, I Was Castrated."
  • If you don't have a yard sign declaring your beliefs, do you even believe in anything?
  • Vulture has a great piece about a fake Mountain View gravesite which serves as "the final resting place of hundreds of fictional characters."
  • Mayoral candidate Curtis Sliwa is recovering after getting struck by a cab while campaigning today.
  • Gawker counted down their favorite Halloween candy, and even if I disagree with their number one pick, I respect the illustrations.
  • Mozzarella sticks are "having a moment" according to the NY Times, but according to me, Ben Yakas, they have never NOT had a moment.
  • It's the most wonderful day of the week: get started on New Music Friday with I Don't Live Here Anymore, the spectacular new album from The War On Drugs; then check out Lily Konigsberg's fantastic debut Lily We Need To Talk Now, one of the hookiest indie records I've heard all year; Sam Evian's Time To Melt is another favorite indie album of mine; the always-delightful Megan Thee Stallion put out Something For Thee Hotties, a collection of odds and sods tracks; and lastly, R.E.M. has reissued their mid-period classic New Adventures In Hi-Fi along with a bunch of b-sides and live tracks.
  • And finally, there's something spooky in the leaves...