Friday, January 29, 2016

Happy happy Friday!

From Zazoo: “These are smart changes [to the current Muppet show], but it may be too late...”

From the good people who bring you Retronaut: The latest project, Paper Time Machine, looks absolutely incredible.

From us: Forgotten Kids Shows! From Los Angeles to the bayous of Louisiana, we take a look at weird broadcasts.

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

Thursday, January 28, 2016

Are you already burned out on the 2016 elections? It’s only just begun! The Political Ad Archive is keeping track of the ads for this election; you can watch, evaluate, and criticize at leisure.

New studies have shown that the fairytales we know and love (and/or fear) developed much earlier than previously believed. 

The Victorians were all about death relics. A TLS article examines why. (Bonus Bronte memorabilia in the piece, too!)

 I was looking at the Library of Congress’s weblog to see if they talked about the blizzard, but got distracted by this really interesting post on an early Arabic math and astronomy manuscript. Have a look.

Tomorrow: Links from others, plus a new Folderol video!

Wednesday, January 27, 2016

Another quick one today (sorry, we'll get back to normal soon) - check out Iceland's plan to build a pagan temple, the first in a thousand years!

Tuesday, January 26, 2016

Well. It seems to be one of those days. Let's all look at photos from the recent blizzard, and reconnoiter here tomorrow, yes?

Monday, January 25, 2016

Some Mondays are more difficult than others…

It’s Burns Night! Here are some ways to celebrate. 

The Paris Review is doing a series on prison lit, and it’s fascinating.

What does a place’s statues say about its inhabitants? What happens when those statues are defaced or destroyed? 

And, finally, medieval cats with rockets on their backs. Yes, really!

Friday, January 22, 2016

Happy Friday!

From Zazoo: The oddities of genetic testing, and a look at the NYC nightlife in the late ‘80s. 

From Cassandra: Carl Sagan vs. The X-Files. 

From us: Board Games of the Past! There are blow darts. And robots. Have a look.



Have a spiffy (and safe if you’re snowbound) weekend! See you next week.

Thursday, January 21, 2016

Good morning! As the eastern part of the U.S. prepares for a blizzard (it might sideswipe us on its way, but I’m not holding my breath), consider what it was like to live through winter in medieval times. Horrid, apparently.

Duke University got a grant to digitize folk music recordings from the 1920s and ‘30s. You know these are going to be amazing.

Shakespeare Documented is now live! For Shakespearians, historians, and Anglophiles of all ages.

I somehow missed that there’s a huge story brewing about fixed professional tennis matches. Yikes.

My local library’s writer in residence writes about one of my favorite people and poets, Susan Glassmeyer. Go and read, and go see her read her work in person if you get a chance!

Wednesday, January 20, 2016

Happy Penguin Awareness Day! I thought I was pretty aware of penguins until I took this Telegraph quiz and got the following result: “Your penguin awareness level: Room for improvement.” Well then.

I am slightly more aware of spooky things, like this amazing model town of H.P. Lovecraft’s Arkham. We play a fair amount of Arkham Horror, and it’d be amazing to put the characters into this model.

Have you heard of Steam Crow? Do you yearn to become a Monster Scout? Go forth and learn!

And finally, Darkest Dungeon is now out, in its fully incarnated form. If you like RPG video games with atmosphere, check it out - it's super challenging but great fun.

Tuesday, January 19, 2016

Today is going to be hectic, apparently, so Folderol is a bit abbreviated.

You’ve seen the High Line in New York City, but have you heard of the Low Line? It's coming soon, under the Lower East Side!

How does one become punk? Fear not, this 1977 guide is here to show you! (Hint: chains.)

Haunted house attractions in Japan are evidently pretty terrifying.

Friday, January 15, 2016

It’s Friday! That means it’s time for links from others and a new video from us.

From Julie: They’re calling it Britain’s Pompeii – a major archaeological find of houses from the Bronze Age. So cool.

From Zazoo, a plethora of links: Photos from Sesame Street’s new season (including a look at the neighborhood); an eight-year-old boy who’s a natural makeup artist; and that very weird story about the very weird mountain lion found in Idaho.

And finally, for the video, we bring you Cat Museums Around the World!



Have a spiffy weekend, everyone. We’ll be off on Monday, but we’ll see you on Tuesday!

Thursday, January 14, 2016

OK, 2016, we are not off to a good start. First Bowie, now Alan Rickman. Knock it off.

Peter Garritano photographed an internet data center in New York City. Lots of cables.

However, there didn’t seem to be any anti-squirrel devices in place. The CyberSquirrel movement is strong, and has stickers, too!

What’s it like to (not) drive a driverless car? Take a look. 

Far away from cars and cables, in the hidden pockets of the Everglades, a hundred-year-old murder mystery is still being investigated.

Wednesday, January 13, 2016

Tuesday, January 12, 2016

We’re still in a bit of a holding pattern (jury duty may be over, but we’re not sure yet), so in the meantime, please take some time to look at these incredible color photos of Paris from a hundred years ago. We can thank Frenchman Albert Kahn for this; he sent photographers around the world to capture images of cultures, places, and so much more. He called it The Archives of the Planet, and the images are now in a museum of their own that I’d love to visit one day.

Monday, January 11, 2016

The stars look very different today. Thank you, David Bowie, for everything.




Friday, January 08, 2016

Happy Friday! Still on jury duty, but loyal readers are helping out, and we also have a new YouTube list!

From Julie: The Book Is Not Dead, part eleventy!

From Cassandra: DNA testing and how it can help fill in gaps in your family tree! 

And here's our second episode on YouTube, about the interesting final resting places of  some authors.



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

Friday, January 01, 2016

Happy New Year, everyone!

Behold, here's episode 1 of who knows how many. Let us know what you think!