Friday, June 26, 2020

Happy Friday, everyone! Hope you’re all well and safe. 

The Spooky Librarians will be off next week, but we’re not actually going anywhere, so there may still be some random updates. Back to regular posting after July 4th

MoMA has a planned fall exhibit on home movies, which is completely my jam. I hope I get to see it, but if not, at least some of it is online. 

Kate Pierson of the B-52s has rental cabins and Airstreams in New York. Now she has Airstreams available in California’s desert, too! 

You may remember Pepper the hedgehog warrior from earlier posts. She has a companion, Tuck, who has joined the challenge! Also, hedgehog bowling has begun. 

An American ambassador to Great Britain is going to start another war between the two countries if someone doesn’t instruct her on the proper way to make a cup of tea. This is…not the way to do it! 

Have a safe and spiffy weekend and week and following weekend, everyone. See you in July!


Thursday, June 25, 2020

Hello! 

One of the bigger issues facing librarians at the moment is if/when/how to long to quarantine books. The latest studies seem to say 72 hours. 

Meanwhile, coins are becoming scarce. No, seriously. 

Also, a Saharan dust storm is on the way across the Atlantic. (Apparently this happens, to a lesser extent, nearly every year? But of course 2020 is extra.)


Wednesday, June 24, 2020

Hello! Some bits and pieces for today, in very short sentences. 

Travel may not be that easy right now, but you can engage in some virtual tourism, at least. 

Thanks to paleomusicology, we may soon be able to hear what the music of Teotihuacan sounded like

MakeZine reports on how the Black Lives Matter street murals were created. 

Grave goods are the items left on tombstones, and they can be all sorts of odd and fascinating things. 

Atlas Minor is a new discovery. Hooray for weblogs!


Tuesday, June 23, 2020

Hi again. Still kinda swamped here. Back soon, honest!

Monday, June 22, 2020

Hello and happy Monday. Running late today; check back tomorrow for some links! Thanks.

Friday, June 19, 2020

Happy Friday, and happy Juneteenth! 

From Zazoo: “There's a petition in Tennessee to replace confederate statues with statues of Dolly Parton. Yes, please!” 

Also from Zazoo: Weird towns in the United States. There’s a lot of weird stuff out there, that’s for sure. 

Random news tidbit: Did you know hummingbirds can see colors we can’t?

My new favorite website is Drive & Listen, which takes you all around the world and lets you listen to the local radio. Right now I’m in Oslo!

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


Thursday, June 18, 2020

If you’re in America, you can track the COVID-19 infection rate by state over at rt.live. Place your bets! 

As libraries reopen, there are lots of changes afoot, especially in public libraries. From this story, I found libraryworkers.net, which is definitely worth a look. 

Meanwhile, a huge Mayan monument has been discovered, thanks to remote sensing technology.


Wednesday, June 17, 2020

So, the Royal Ascot races have begun, but no one can be there in person. No worries, people are putting on silly hats at home for the occasion! 

Meanwhile, in New Zealand, you can watch people try to do the Time Warp in front of a statue of Riff Raff. (Every time I check, no one’s there because it’s the middle of the night, but you may have better timing.) 

Feral House Publishing often has great offerings, and they’re diving into “Tramp Lit,” like A Tramp’s Philosophy and The Lives and Extraordinary Adventures of Fifteen Tramp Writers.


Tuesday, June 16, 2020

Hooray for some good news, courtesy of the Supreme Court, of all places! 

If you’re casting about for something to read, check out HiLoBrow – especially this list of 250 adventure novels. 

For smaller adventures, why not read Bess Truman’s account of wanting to bob her hair?


Monday, June 15, 2020

Hi and happy Monday! Back tomorrow with some links, honest.

Friday, June 12, 2020

Thursday, June 11, 2020

Greetings! I'm having a very hard time getting started today, so there's just one link. Imagine you wrote a book about your life. What would the cover be? Makes you think!

Wednesday, June 10, 2020

Have you heard of Doggerland? It was once a settlement on the land between England and Europe, now far under the sea. But archaeologists are exploring the remnants. 

If you find that a vampire killing kit is suddenly necessary (hey, I can't judge, who knows what else can happen this year), this should cover everything you need. There’s even a handbook and other materials you can print out! 

And finally, Screenshots of Despair is here for your recommended daily allowance of absurdist gallows humor.


Tuesday, June 09, 2020

Someone has finally found Forrest Fenn’s hidden treasure in the Rocky Mountains! Now, the legal wrangling begins... 

Crouch Rare Books have made some of their wonderful maps into digital jigsaw puzzles you can play for free!

 Wondermark ponders how our current actions impact the future. (Also, timecops.) 

I know I always link to the Public Domain Review, but this week’s offering is something really special. It hits all my buttons – history, geography, sound, and an overall feel of hauntology. Check out Julian Chehiran’s essay.


Monday, June 08, 2020

Happy Monday, everyone!

Just one link today, but it's a glorious one: Bizarre food platings from restaurants. They start out relatively normal and get increasingly demented! Back tomorrow with more.

Friday, June 05, 2020

Happy Friday!

 From Zazoo: A new Sesame Street town hall is coming this weekend. 

From Cassandra: Some calm words from a leader? Who’d have thunk it? 

Julie Noelke’s April self explains the pandemic to her January self. Then her April self gets a visit from her June self. Really, 2020 is…something else. 

Castext is offering free access to attorneys working pro bono for protesters, journalists, and more. 

Stay well and safe, everyone. See you next week.


Wednesday, June 03, 2020

Tuesday, June 02, 2020

Hello!

 

Take a trip back with us, won’t you? 

1918: Video chat is predicted with “Telephot,” which looks very steampunk and slightly cumbersome. 

1937: Behold Keedoozle, the first automated grocery store! It looked amazing, but evidently was a bit too ahead of its time. 

1968: The Whole Earth Catalog makes its first appearance! Over fifty years later, we now have the Warp Earth Catalog, a mixtape of sorts for these tumultuous times.

2002: Meet Cleaver Theatre makes its first appearance! And now in 2020…we’re back! Check out the first new episode!


Monday, June 01, 2020

Happy Monday, everyone. Hope you’re all safe and well. 

Christo, artist extraordinaire, has died at the age of 84. 

A pristine mosaic floor from Roman times was unearthed in Verona! It’s incredible. 

How did Renaissance architects create those domed cathedrals? Researchers have a new theory. 

Tedium has a great post on the theme music of Sherlock Holmes over the decades.