Friday, July 24, 2020

Hello and happy Friday! 

The Spooky Librarians are going to be on staycation for the next two weeks. Updates may happen, but may not, depending on when we get up in the morning. We may go to the World’s Longest Yard Sale, depending on weather and COVID numbers, but other than that, we don’t have much planned. 2020 is so strange. 

Anyway! On to links from others! 

From Cassandra: A new group, ReImagine Appalachia, is working to bring jobs and sustainability to the region. There’s much more on the organization here. Looks fantastic. 

From Satori: The “battles” among museums on Twitter have been providing much-needed culture and humor each week! The most recent competition, for “best bum,” is especially good. 

The Swedish island of Gotland is using medieval knights to encourage social distancing. I already wanted to visit Gotland; this is an added incentive!

 Have a safe and spiffy weekend/week, everyone. See you in August!


Thursday, July 23, 2020

I’ve been waiting to post a link to Baseball Theater for MONTHS now. It’s new and looks like it’s going to be an amazing resource for baseball fans, especially during this weird abbreviated season.

If you’re going to protests, be aware that tech companies may be following you via your phone, and then using your demographic information. 

Drive-in movies are having a renaissance in this pandemic-stricken world! You can search for drive-ins near you, or just soak up the nostalgia.


Wednesday, July 22, 2020

For those of you who love maps and technology (like me), you may also love these real-time transit maps on circuit boards! (Found via The Map Room, which always has very cool map-related info.) 

For those of you who love space (like Cassandra), you may also love this simulation of sunsets as seen from other planets and moons. Phys.org has a bit more information on how this came together. 

And for those of you who love David LaChappelle (like Zazoo and Satori), he’s back with a new installation in London! (Also, he has become a farmer in Hawaii. Like you do.)

Tuesday, July 21, 2020

Greetings! 

There’s a website now dedicated to COVID innovations. The mother of necessity strikes again!  One fun new idea is LUSH’s mini-soap which dissolves in thirty seconds of handwashing. Good idea for kids! 

A yoga studio in Toronto doesn’t have to worry about such things – they were already socially distant, thanks to these tiny geodesic domes they use for hot yoga! (This is probably the only way I would do hot yoga. I could pretend it’s some utopian future.) 

Meanwhile, in Barcelona, the Gran Teatre del Liceu has reopened with a concert livestreamed to humans and with a theater filled with plants as an audience. I’m betting the plants enjoyed it a great deal.


Monday, July 20, 2020

Happy Monday! I've been spending part of my morning playing with Boil The Frog, a site that does a sort of "six degrees" connecting to musical artists. It's great for finding similar music to explore (although it doesn't have many of the more obscure artists, be warned.) Many thanks to Bunny for sending it!

Friday, July 17, 2020

Hi there. It's been a long week and I have no links left at the end of it all! So I'm taking today off. Back next week with more content. Have a safe and spiffy weekend, everyone.

Thursday, July 16, 2020

Here’s something to distract a bit from current events: learn hieroglyphs! Google has a new project that teaches about hieroglyphs, shows you a way to send messages, and even offers a crowdsourcing project to help AI recognize damaged hieroglyphs for archaeologists and historians. Neat!


Wednesday, July 15, 2020

Hello! It’s a busy day behind the scenes, so here’s something short and goofy. In Rapid City, South Dakota, there are statues of every U.S. president in the downtown area. It’s like the Presidential Grove in my city, but a bit more…monumental. Enjoy!


Tuesday, July 14, 2020

Hi and happy Bastille Day. 

Followup from yesterday: My family has heard about the Berkshire UFOs, but has no additional information. (Also, there was a plaque to mark the alien arrival! But now it’s gone. Oops.) 

So many people have died this year, but Grant Imahara’s sudden death seems especially unexpected and unfair. 

Janelle Shane has some interesting facts about whales, many of which are completely false as she’s asked AI for the interesting facts. (There’s a good Darth Vader dialogue at the end, though.) 

As the pandemic seems to be zooming along quite happily through the summer heat, I think this is my socializing plan for the foreseeable future.

Monday, July 13, 2020

Hello and happy Monday. 

Window Swap is a lovely idea – you get to see a window view from someone else, anywhere in the world. Keep clicking to see more! You get city skylines, trees, the occasional cat or dog, and sometimes a waterfall or mountain range.

Usually, around this time of year, I’m out east visiting family. This year we’re not there, due to the pandemic, and nearly everything there is closed as well. It’s made for an interesting summer. However, the same region is also featured in a new Unsolved Mysteries episode, about UFO sightings in 1969. I had no idea! (I’m asking my family about it now.)


Friday, July 10, 2020

Happy Friday, all! 

From Cassandra: Look up this month and you may see a comet in the sky. (Right now, outside my window, it is sunny and raining at the same time, along with thunder, so anything is possible.)

 Local fossil hunters, take note: Dry Dredgers are amateur geologists exploring the region’s history (and rocks!). 

If you miss the weirdness of late night public access television, try EXP TV. It may bring back old memories, or serve as inspiration to create some new ones! 

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


Thursday, July 09, 2020

Hello! Here’s a public service announcement: Please do not microwave your library books. (2020 is SO WEIRD.)

 However, if you want to try this redesigned gin vending machine, I’m all for it.

People have always been interested in “weird news,” such as the above. Sir Hans Sloane lived in a few hundred years ago and collected strange news items along with his scientific research! (The British Library’s “Untold Lives” blog is the source of this gem, and highly recommended.)


Wednesday, July 08, 2020

I linked to Atlas Minor a few weeks ago, and I’m linking it again, because it’s oddly reassuring to see someone else in the same headspace. 

In the middle of summer, it may be refreshing (in a weird sort of way) to experience Antarctic expeditions and see how they dealt with the elements

In the middle of summer, however, you can sponsor a beehive at Green-Wood Cemetery. I love that the honey is called “The Sweet Hereafter.” 

And for something completely different: IKEA instructions for creating various horror characters, with bonus Han Solo in carbonite.


Tuesday, July 07, 2020

Hello! We’re back (although, to be honest, we didn’t really go anywhere). 

If you think 2020 has been a slog, imagine what Petrarch went through, living through 25 years of plague. Let’s hope we’re not going down that path. 

Thomas Becket’s shrine has been painstakingly recreated digitally. Now you can see what it looked like in the 1400s! 

Imagine that you’re helping a friend move into a new place, and suddenly your foot goes through the floorboards…and you end up falling into a well from the 1800s. (PSA: many old houses are not up to code!)

 In (only slightly) more recent news, Lee Miller is finally getting her due.