Wednesday, October 30, 2019

Greetings! The Spooky Librarians are taking tomorrow off for our favorite holiday. We may be back on Friday, but just in case, here are some links from others.

From Cassandra: The top 100 horror movies of all time! Do you agree?

Also from Cassandra: A new horror anthology is out for the viewing! 

From Springwise: Seven ideas for a more sustainable Halloween, including turning your pumpkin into beer.

Via Merriam-Webster: How knowledgeable are you about regional monsters? I got 10 out of 13, which seems about right.

Happy Halloween/Samhain to all! See you either Friday or next week, depending on how celebratory we get.

Monday, October 28, 2019

Hello and happy Monday!

Language: What do colors represent in different languages? (Also, did you know that “grue” is a combined word for blue and green?)

Architecture, sort of: Manzhouli is a city on the border between Russia and China, and is both nations and neither, in a strange way.

Design: The British Museum has an exhibit on “emergency cash” bank notes from Germany after WWI. Some are downright beautiful.

Friday, October 25, 2019

Happy Friday!

Today, Tedium celebrates spooky pop culture, including horror hosts and Halloween songs! 

From Julie: The oldest treasures from twelve libraries. Did you know the Library of Congress has cuneiform tablets?

From Cassandra: A recent presentation at Ernst & Young is, uh, completely out of sync with modern life. 

A Buzzfeed quiz based on Disney villains promises to evaluate how evil you are! I was only 30% evil. Apparently, however, I am married to someone who’s 100% evil. Yipes.

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

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Guess what? This internet here is super fragile and could collapse at any moment! Isn’t that reassuring?

Um. Well, don’t worry. Scientists have taught rats how to drive. Wait, that’s not reassuring either.

At least we now have Moby Dick in emoji format. Wait, that’s terrifying.

(Sorry, everyone. Maybe tomorrow’s links from others will bring better news!)

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Halloween is creeping ever closer!

Metafilter has a mega-post on spooky stories from the 18th century. 

Rare Halloween Videos does just what it says – weird cartoons, movies, and specials from over the years.

Behold, the world’s largest Ouija board! Unsurprisingly, it’s in Salem, Massachusetts.

If you like bats, the Smithsonian has some travel suggestions for you.

A current exhibition at KEEP Contemporary in Santa Fe features Tarot cards, including Lee Moyer’s deck of sci-fi writers!

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

News from the past, present, and future today.

Past: In Egypt, they’re opening up 3,000-year-old sarcophagi that most likely hold the mummies of priests. 

Past meets present: Another incarnation of Nancy Drew arrives! (I had all the “yellow” series, I think.)

Present: The U.S. Army is working with Tom DeLonge of Blink-182 on UFO weapons research. Yes, really.

Present meets future: Want to be the face of a robot? You can be!

Monday, October 21, 2019

Friday, October 18, 2019

Happy Friday!

Via NYC Urban Legends: Beware of wolves after dark, lest you end up honored by the Ed Koch Wolf Foundation Memorial. (This is all around great.) 

From Cassandra: What does it mean to be “resilient,” anyway? 

Via Tedium: Do we need a registry for historic internet sites? 

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

Thursday, October 17, 2019

Rest in peace, Representative Cummings. 

The search for answers about Amelia Earhart goes on. The latest attempt is using DNA testing. 

The Internet Archive is here to save the day with 2500 MS-DOS games available! 

The Wildlife Photographer of the Year award features a marmot! MC Marmot is quite pleased, but hopes this was all a dramatic show put on for the humans by a savvy fox-marmot combo, and that the marmot was not harmed. (Many thanks to Satori, and to others who sent us this story.)

Wednesday, October 16, 2019

I was looking for spooky links, and I found a goldmine. Behold, the Countdown to Halloween! Dozens of websites are taking part this year. Have at it!

Tuesday, October 15, 2019

Hello! This looks like it’s going to be a very busy week, and therefore Folderol may be even more of a grab bag than usual. Consider yourself warned!

John Scalzi is known not only for his sci-fi books, but also his bizarre burrito creations. Fortunately, Hothead Burritos has created a nutritional guide for these sorts of culinary escapades! 

If you’re still casting about for some Halloween costume ideas, the neural net is here to help. Cleopatra on vacation! Ghost in a packet of potato chips! Vampire in a hot tub! ROBO-ACCIDENT! 

For the futurists: check out the Carbon Ruins Project and its ongoing exhibition.

Monday, October 14, 2019

Happy Monday!

I just discovered My Modern Met, which has amazing posts like this one on Hong Kong’s “vertical graveyards.” 

For the more musically inclined, there’s Synth Evolution, which goes into intricate detail on the machines behind the music.

Friday, October 11, 2019

Happy Friday!

In my corner of the world, all the local news is about BLINK, a weekend-long art installation. It started with a parade last night and keeps going, with music and art galore, even on the bridges. 

From Zazoo: Arcadia Earth, a sort of Meow Wolf that’s environmentally themed and in NYC until January!

From Julie: Wine therapy in the Middle Ages. It’s just as useful today, I expect.

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

Thursday, October 10, 2019

Today is a bit of a grab bag. Here we go!

- The glaciers of Mont Blanc 100 years ago and today, in comparison photos. I love these sorts of interactive photos.

- Bill Lucey talks about baseball in Ireland. I’m all for it, personally.

- The world’s largest steam locomotive has been restored and is on the rails right now, making a short tour of America!

- Artificial intelligence is all the rage right now in the legal world. Here’s a look at what it actually means. 

- Behold, the signature film of every major city, more or less. Agree/disagree?

Wednesday, October 09, 2019

Today is busy, so let's have a look at what Pitchfork believes to be the best 200 songs of the 2010s (so far, anyway). I went down the list and I know about 15 of them. I will now go get my cane and start yelling at kids to get off my lawn...or maybe go listen to some modern music, depending on my mood. Yikes.

Tuesday, October 08, 2019

Guess what helps humans get over the uncanny valley issue with robots? Googly eyes! 

A new exhibition at the Met explores the world of Emperor Maximilian I. There’s an interactive website as well. 

You’d think Egypt would have given up all its secrets by now, but no – a temple of Ptolemy IV has just been found. 

And for something completely different, follow the adventures of Chunk the Groundhog!

Monday, October 07, 2019

Happy Monday!

If book fairs were like this one, as imagined by Grant Snider, I’d go to more of them for sure. (Shirley Jackson Fun House! What could possibly go wrong?)

What’s the best architecture of the 21st century so far? I’ve been to exactly one on the list, so I have to get on that, I suppose.

Philadelphia is hosting a fantastic art installation that shows a 17th century “ghost ship” in the harbor. Here's how it looks live!

I took this Buzzfeed quiz, aimed at calculating my age and height from my “fall aesthetic” (?) and it told me I was 34 years old and 5’7”. I took it again and picked my second choices and it said I was 18 and 5’5”. Well, one of those four figures is right at least.

Friday, October 04, 2019

Happy Friday!

Also, happy Inktober! Go and take a look at all the incredible art being created this month.

Lana Del Rey has a new album out, and she has a good interview at the LA Times about music and life in general. 

From Cassandra: Not many people today know who Emma Tenayuca is, but that should change, because she was pretty amazing.

And finally, from the completely random files: Listen to Wikipedia in real time! From the site’s About section: “Bells indicate additions and string plucks indicate subtractions.” If you have trouble, click “enable sound” and then refresh the page; that worked for me.

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

Thursday, October 03, 2019

Did you know that a surprising amount of books published between 1923 and 1964 are in the public domain? A blog at NYPL explains why, and also goes into detail on how they’re figuring out what’s available. (All the NYPL blogs are great, by the way.)

In somewhat related news, here’s what to think about when furnishing a library. 

Have you ever wanted to see the parliamentary buildings of every nation? Now you can, thanks to this handy review thread on Twitter!

Wednesday, October 02, 2019

March Mammal Madness is still many months away, but fear not: Fat Bear Week starts today. Get your bets in quickly!

It’s also the beginning of Final Girl’s annual SHOCKtober, and this year brings “31 Days of Suspiria, 31 Days of Reviews,” so check her out each day.

Hercule Poirot as the murderer in his investigations? It could (often) happen! 

How many U.S. cities can you name? Start typing and watch the country get populated with the places you know. (I think “cities” can also mean towns, incidentally. I put down some tiny places which got counted, plus a few which didn’t.)

Tuesday, October 01, 2019

Did you know that 007 was John Dee’s secret agent number? Well, sort of. This information is part of an essay about Ian Fleming and Aleister Crowley and a bunch of other occult types. 

Michael Fogelman creates plotter art, and much more! 

Motorized scooters are nothing new, as this 1959 film demonstrates. (This one was collapsible and could be ridden into the office, theoretically. It also might impale the user accidentally.)

James Ewing creates items which look like they could quite easily transport you to another time and/or place…or transport someone/something else here. His website is lovely, check it out.