Friday, hooray!

It’s that time of year where we tend to look back and sum up. CrimeReads lists the best historical crime novels of the year, and Bill Lucey tracks the most read online news stories of 2018. 

It’s also that time of year when you hear certain songs. I’ve been playing Whamageddon and haven’t heard it yet! I haven’t heard Fairytale of New York, either, but that will probably get fixed quite soon.

What 19th century character trope are you? Find out with this random generator! I am pleased to report that I am a Dashing Bohemian with Ulterior Motives. Well, obviously.

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

Hello hello and Happy St. Lucia Day. We’re back and we have links!

How many of you have photos of mid-century mid-aged women at Christmas, like these? (We have a bunch; the Chicago side of the family resembles these photos a great deal!)

Medieval London was a hive of scum and villainy, and now you can see exact details of the 142 murders committed between 1300 and 1340. It didn’t take much to start a fatal argument, apparently. 

The Wellcome Collection takes us around the world with ten objects related to death. 

And in prettier news, the architecture for 2020’s Dubai Expo looks like it will be amazing, with an interactive Poem Pavilion among the designs.

Hello! We’re going to be off tomorrow and a few days next week for some end-of-year maintenance and preparation. So consider this a Friday of sorts! (Our LEGO advent calendar videos will be posted each day, though. There’s even a handy playlist now.)

From Nicole: What should you read this month, based on your astrological sign? All of these look pretty good, to be honest.

If you’ve found the Brexit omnishambles confusing, you’re not alone. Fortunately, John Bull is here to guide us through Adventures in Brexit. Well. Sort of. It’s much more entertaining than anything else I’ve found. (Scroll down to "latest.")

On a related note, BoingBoing points to a text adventure game (if you can call it that) in which you are in charge of the British Occult Defence Agency, and must make budget cuts. Is protection from pixies more important than the holiday party? Only you can decide!

My dad’s favorite Christmas show was The Box of Delights. (Doctor Who alert: Patrick Troughton plays a starring role!) Now there’s a stage version, which looks just as magical.

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

It’s Krampus season! I like the idea of St. Nicholas and Krampus as the original good cop/bad cop team.

Weird Christmas posts items on Twitter about…well, weird Christmas ephemera, and they also have a podcast! 

Speaking of audio presentation, apparently the BBC is presenting The Case of Charles Dexter Ward.

Why are Victorian mansions the de facto haunted house in media? JSTOR Daily has the answer! (The article in the sidebar, about burying people in the foundation of buildings, is creepier, in case you’re interested.)

I understand a day of mourning for a former president, but what madness is this?!? 

John Scalzi is running his annual Whatever Holiday Gift Guide this week. Read it to get some gift ideas, or promote your own work to others! 

AI Weirdness has another great post on song beginnings. I am partial to “I don’t know the baby” and “I can dance if you want my life.”

Until this week, I had not heard of Lily Dale, New York. Now I can’t wait to visit this home of Spiritualism! If you’re psychically inclined, you can even become a registered medium.

Hello and happy Monday!

One of our alter egos got its hands on the 2018 Star Wars LEGO Advent Calendar, and is doing a day by day recap of the treasures within its cardboard walls. Here’s December 1st – subscribe for more mayhem as the month goes on!

A repeat for the season: Dangerous Minds does a deep dive on winter pagan celebrations. 

From Cassandra: An amazing portrait book of wild animals. 

Also from Cassandra: We are all just cogs in the machine, man. 

From Julie: Trepanation! It used to be good for what ailed you. Possibly.

Hello! Here’s something for the past, the present, and the future.

Past: Unicorns were real! But they were not beautiful delicate things, and climate change killed them.

Present: Ohio has 88 counties, the same number as keys on a piano, so you know what someone had to do. Thanks to Andy Woodruff, you can play a route, play a song, play anything on Ohio as a piano. (Possibly unnecessary warning: this site makes noise once you click on the map.)

Future: Next year, the Bauhaus art movement will celebrate its 100th birthday (anniversary? birthday? centennial? how does one properly note such things?) but the website is already up and looks gorgeous.

Folderol will probably not update tomorrow due to work commitments, so have a safe and spiffy weekend, and we’ll be back next week!