Today, we’re looking at old photos.

First up are these fantastic colorized photos of a costume ball in Romanov Russia in 1903! (The Vintage News has some good articles on its main site, too, such as this story about a Siberian archaeological discovery of a skeleton with an ornamental belt buckle which looks like an iPhone.)

Over at the Public Domain Review, you can see photos of roadside America as it once was. (To be honest, some of that is still around, based on our recent trip through the highways and byways of the nation.) You can see more at Flickr or at the Library of Congress, which has made them most of them copyright free!

 And if you haven’t visited for a while, Shorpy is always worth a look.

Happy Monday. Didn’t we just do this?

Why don’t more museums appreciate street art? Incidentally, if you’re into street art, check out Satori’s extensive Flickr album. 

Scientists theorize that Bach had extremely large hands, which gave him an advantage in playing. Fun factoid: Edna St. Vincent Millay wanted to be a concert pianist, but she was told that her hands were too small (she couldn’t reach a full octave), so she turned to poetry instead.

 We’re losing musicians at a rapid rate these days. Farewell to Ric Ocasek; here’s one of my faves.


 

Happy Friday…Friday the 13th, that is! And not only that, it’s a full moon! And not only THAT, but it’s a micro-moon! (This is apparently a thing?)

From Julie: Archaeologists have discovered Neanderthal footprints! 

From Cassandra: Student debt is changing American families. This is terrifying.

Also from Cassandra: Consider walk and talk therapy. I think they might be on to something here.

Via Twitter, I think: There’s a new craze sweeping Europe – giant hide and seek games in IKEA stores! Sadly, IKEA is not really on board with this concept.

And finally, two videos for you:

From Zazoo: An Iggy Pop (or Iggy Pop-pet) performance that goes very badly for one of the performers. 

From Bunny, in commemoration of the recent death of Daniel Johnston: an amazing short film featuring him having a conversation with his younger self. Bonus: Lana Del Rey was an executive producer, and covers “Some Things Last a Long Time,” which is brilliant.

Have a safe and spiffy weekend, everyone. See you next week.

Today is the 29th IgNobel ceremony! You can watch it from the comfort of your home (or wherever you may be), or you can get there in time for the lectures this weekend.

Facebook follows you around, even when you’re not on Facebook. But fear not, now you can delete your history…well…sort of…ok, not really. Yikes.

Tomorrow: Lots of links from others on Friday the 13th! Stay tuned.

Hello! Here’s a question: If you work outside the house, how long is your commute? Apparently the average commute has stayed the same throughout history, even though the transportation methods have changed radically. This is a really cool article with maps to illustrate the historic commutes.

And speaking of distance and maps, behold the Terrible Maps account! It’s pretty great.

Update, just for fun: Waffle House has its own poet laureate!

Hello! All is well here, just busy and pressed for time. Updates either later today or tomorrow, depending on how everything shakes out.

Happy Friday!

From Zazoo: Meet Bones, a would-be cat burglar who happens to be a cat.

From Bunny: Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness is here to help with local questions!

Via Twitter: Check out street artist Peeta and the amazing optical illusion murals they create.

Are you ready for Halloween season? We are! The Blackout Experience looks extremely cool and slightly terrifying.

Have a safe and spiffy weekend, everyone! See you next week.