Friday, December 29, 2017

Happy Friday! And farewell to 2017. Ernie of Tedium looks back at the year. 

Is toasting really connected to toast? Apparently so! 

Another Star Wars quiz – which character from the Last Jedi are you? - told me I was Vice Admiral Holdo. I think I’m okay with that.

Have a safe and spiffy weekend and New Year’s, everyone. See you in 2018!

Friday, December 22, 2017

Happy Friday!

Even the CDC is in the holiday spirit, imagining the needs at the North Pole. 

A quiz for the nerds among us: Who said it, Kylo Ren or JD from Heathers? (I got 17/20. I might be a nerd.)

And in somewhat related linkage, here’s a montage of ‘80s movies dancing to take us out to the weekend and holiday. Have a safe and spiffy time, everyone! Posting may be erratic next week, but we’ll be back in the new year.


 

Thursday, December 21, 2017

Happy Solstice! It is apparently an inauspicious day for doing pretty much anything, so we should all just go back to bed, I think.

From Zazoo: Sesame Workshop got a grant for $100 million to produce shows for Syrian refugee children! 

Also from Zazoo: Songs you should not like. At ALL. (We had a discussion about a few of these, but we are mostly in agreement that these are terrible songs.)

People may mock Dan Brown’s writing, but thanks to him, occult manuscripts are going to be digitized and online for free!

Wednesday, December 20, 2017

It’s the Solstice, or nearly the Solstice, depending on where you are, exactly, and you can watch it live from Newgrange! 

From Julie: A follow-up to yesterday’s UFO post, about mysterious alloys recovered by the US government. (Dear aliens: Please hurry up whatever process you’re following. We’re doing a terrible job of taking care of this planet.)

The death of Rasputin has become a legend in and of itself. Forensic scientists try to determine what exactly killed him.

Tuesday, December 19, 2017

I took the “Which Star Wars Villain Are You?” quiz and got Kylo Ren. Bah.

NORAD’s Santa Tracker website is in full holiday swing, along with an advent calendar’s worth of games. 

When I was a kid, I was terrified of UFOs. (I blame this on Project UFO, which I watched at an impressionable age.) Now, however, I’m all for the aliens showing up, especially if they have extremely fast spaceships.

Monday, December 18, 2017

Happy Monday! We are back and have seen the latest star war. Here’s some information about John Williams and his soundtrack, from a few years ago when The Force Awakens was about to come out. 

A civic-minded guerrilla artist decided to fix a highway sign, and it actually worked! 

This very long article about China’s internet celebrities – and the way they alter their appearances, digitally and physically – is absolutely bizarre to me. The future is here, and it’s completely weird. 

Your moment of zen: Watch the Penguin Nest Cam! One chick has hatched already, the other’s about to, hopefully.

Thursday, December 14, 2017

Happy Thursday! It’s like Friday for us, as we’re taking tomorrow off for some last minute holiday excursions and also for Star Wars, hooray.

Bill Lucey takes a look at the most read stories of 2017. (Remember when we couldn’t wait for 2016 to be over? Yes, well…)

Ernie at Tedium delves into the history of U.S. area codes. 

Via Tara at Research Buzz: The National Fairground and Circus Archive has digitized its materials and they’re online! 

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

Wednesday, December 13, 2017

It’s hard to top the headline of “There’s a Severed Arm Touring Canada and It’s Metal as Hell.” (I will add that it’s the arm of a saint!)

The Osher Map Library has an amazing exhibit right now about maps and art, called Go Where the Map Takes You: The Intersection of Cartography and Creativity. 

I love the idea of safes weighed down by secrets. From the same BLDGBLOG, here’s a lovely look at repurposing old warehouses and water towers.

Tuesday, December 12, 2017

Today’s rabbit hole: The fascinating world of Austin Osman Spare. 

Have you seen all the top time travel films? Will you have seen them in the future past?

Dangerous Minds takes a look at weird vintage photographs.

Monday, December 11, 2017

Happy Monday! Let’s take a quick sprint through history.

Why does the Colosseum hold so many unique botanical specimens? Theories abound, and so does the greenery. 

Michelangelo has come to the Met, and it’s been quite the undertaking. 

The American mall used to be an institution. What is it today? 

From Digg: the British Ecological Society’s best photos of 2017.

Friday, December 08, 2017

We return to our normally scheduled Friday Links from Others. Thanks, everyone!

From Julie: Behold, 100-year-old chocolates to be auctioned. Ew. (They should send them to Steve1989. He’d eat them.)

From Zazoo: Tis the season for cats to crash outdoor nativity scenes! 

From Satori: Did you know they painted marble statues in the olden days? Here are some concepts of what they looked like. 

From Cassandra: Sesame Street parodies Stranger Things (“Sharing Things”) and it’s pretty great. 

From Twitter, I think: What’s the deal with KFC and Japan and Christmas? Well, it’s a convoluted story. (I want to adopt the “Kentucky is Christmas! slogan, though.)

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

Thursday, December 07, 2017

This is turning out to be a very long day already, so here, have some fun with making avatars. Here’s mine!(This is a very idealized version of what I look like, but I had limited resources.)



Wednesday, December 06, 2017

Happy St. Nicholas Day! Julie just sent this article with the note “See, he is real!” We can but hope. 

Did you know there’s a real mansion in the jungles of Malaysia named Carcosa? After the spooky fictional Carcosa? It’s true!

National Geographic takes a look at the worst places on the planet to visit, geologically speaking. (Lots of lava, for the most part.)

Tuesday, December 05, 2017

It’s Tuesday and I’m confused by this GIF, which apparently most people can “hear.” Really? Do you hear anything? Let me know!

Retropolis has a fantastic business card construction kit so you can get organized in the new year. 

Atlas Obscura shows photos smuggled from the Soviet Union, showing all the walks of life during the 1970s.

Monday, December 04, 2017

Good morning!

Photography: Some wonderful person is photographing New York’s weird street posters. I love these.

Literature: The AV Club has a series called Wiki Wormhole, and by reading their installment on Alexandre Dumas, I found that there’s a real-life chateau of Monte Cristo one can visit!

Friday, December 01, 2017



World AIDS Day  (National AIDS Trust)

World AIDS Day (World Health Organization)

World AIDS Day (United Nations)

Something I wrote on this day in 2001. There is still no cure. But we're getting closer and closer.