Good morning and happy(?) Monday…

Literature: Was John Steinbeck a spy for the CIA? Signs point to yes! 

Art: The Metropolitan Museum of Art has an analytical chemist on staff, showing that art and science can coexist successfully.

Random: Behold, a YouTube channel dedicated to squirrel obstacle courses. This is the perfect antidote to Monday.

We’ve made it to Friday!

From Bunny: Have you heard about the TV head guy? He has a TV for a head and is putting TVs on porches. It’s true!

From Satori: A kid found a mammoth tooth while on vacation in Amish country. My Amish country source reports that an entire woolly mammoth skeleton was once discovered there, and suggests Woolly Mammoths as a new mascot name for the local teams.

Also from Satori: Murals and basketball courts don’t mix, evidently. 

From Zazoo: Two male penguins are hatching an egg together! 

From Cassandra: Have you ever stopped to think about how subversive The Wizard of Oz really is?

From local news: There’s a new roller coaster coming to town, and it looks rather impressive. 

And finally: Serena Williams vs. drones. Who would win? (Hint: it’s not the drones.)

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

A great article in the LA Times spotlights their outpost of the Free Black Women’s Library, which started in New York and pops up in various places around the nation.

UNESCO has added several new World Heritage properties, including Frank Lloyd Wright’s work!

The true website we need in these challenging times: The Pigeon Movie Database. Does what it says on the tin. Fantastic.

I had no idea there was a site dedicated to Fortean Ireland. See, you can learn something every day! 

Closer to home, an “unknown bipedal creature” was seen last week near Spooky Librarians HQ, evidently.

Speaking of monsters and whatnot, check out Ray Harryhausen’s restored monsters! They’ll be at an exhibit in Scotland next year.

Will we ever get to Mars? Maybe, but not to stay, according to this analysis. So much for Cowboy Bebop coming true. Bah.

Hello! Today I’m pointing you to the Nonument Symposium, which took place in June and was dedicated to “the hidden, abandoned, and forgotten monuments of the 20th century.” The good people of We Make Money, Not Art went to the symposium and have two mega-posts about it, full of fascinating photos and links. Check it out if you can.

Hello and happy Monday!

Literature #1: Was John Keats a graverobber? Some believe he was, and have laid out their arguments.

Literature #2: Behold the literary tattoos of the New York Public Library staff! Check out the comments for additional contributions.

Music #1: Every Noise At Once is a digital music map that plays samples of each genre – over 3,300 of them. Check out the links at the very bottom of the page, too, for more amazing data sets like Every Place At Once. 

Music #2, sort of: Iron Maidens Laundry, at your service!

Happy Friday, everyone. Thanks again to everyone who sent in links!

From Cassandra: Marcus Aurelius on life and death. 

Also from Cassandra: Poetry in today’s America is just as vibrant and important as it’s ever been.

Also also from Cassandra: Lisa Taddeo’s Three Women explores modern desire. 

From Julie: The Milky Way is warped and twisted. Just like us!

Also from Julie: Below the streets of Paris lies an old Knights Templar stronghold. 

From Holly: Das Auto, meet Depeche Mode. 

From Zazoo: The Dark Crystal trailer is out! 

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