An irregular hodgepodge of links gathered together … Omnium Gatherum for October 25, 2020

Okay, I’ve finished my Halloween decorating! At library HQ, I’ve installed a medieval moat, Gothic tower, British club, French bistro, Roman bath, and Turkish seraglio. The library cats now meow in 7 languages depending on which room they are in.

Here’s a variety of notable things I’ve recently found that you may also be interested in checking out:

• Today! Dark Archives: A Conversation with Megan Rosenbloom & Lindsey Fitzharris by International Museum of Surgical Science. “Dark Archives is a fascinating, terrifying look at the rarest books―bound in human skin―and the stories of their creation.” “There are books out there, some shelved unwittingly next to ordinary texts, that are bound in human skin. Would you know one if you held it in your hand?” This online event is today, Sun, October 25, 2020, 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM CDT. “On October 25th, 2020, at 2pm CST, the International Museum of Surgical Science is hosting a free, virtual author reading with Megan Rosenbloom in conversation with medical historian, author, and TV host Lindsey Fitzharris. These two friends will discuss medical history, explore the English alleged human skin books, and reveal their adventures that were cut out of Dark Archives. This event will take place on zoom. Please RSVP to receive the link.” About Dark Archives: A Librarian’s Investigation Into the Science and History of Books Bound in Human Skin [Bookshop, Amazon, Publisher] by Megan Rosenbloom and The Butchering Art: Joseph Lister’s Quest to Transform the Grisly World of Victorian Medicine [Bookshop, Amazon, Publisher] by Lindsey Fitzharris.
• Author Matt Wingett presents: The Mysteries of Portsmouth, October 28, 2020 at 7:00 pm (presumably UK time), a free online talk via Supernatural Cities, an interdisciplinary network of humanities and social science scholars of urban environments and the supernatural based at the University of Portsmouth, about Mysteries of Portsmouth [Bookshop, Amazon, Publisher] by Matt Wingett—”Join author Matt Wingett as he uncovers strange, bizarre and uncanny Portsmouth stories that have appeared in history, newspapers, myths and legends – and asks: ‘Can these tales really be true – or were some deliberately made up?'”
• “Maynard James Keenan [of Tool] on recovering from COVID-19, new Puscifer music and anti-maskers.”—”He also shared his thoughts on Arcosanti, the experimental Arizona desert town that’s set to host a livestreamed Puscifer performance at 3 p.m., Oct. 30, the same day the album’s released.” Also “Maynard James Keenan’s Puscifer announces Arcosanti concert. Here’s what you need to know.” Tickets and merch available at Pusciferlive.com. Livestream of Puscifer’s Existential Reckoning [Amazon] debuts at 3 PM Pacific, Oct 30, and is available for 72 hours after the stream.
• As an aside to the above, Arcosanti, of course, is the experimental proto-arcology designed by Paolo Soleri, and which was once featured on the “Future Life” episode of In Search Of … with Leonard Nimoy. Also, check out Arcology: The City in the Image of Man [Amazon, Publisher] by Paolo Soleri—”Arcology is Paolo Soleri’s concept of cities which embodies the fusion of architecture with ecology. In his book, Arcology: The City in the Image of Man (1969), Soleri proposes a highly integrated and compact three-dimensional urban form that is the opposite of urban sprawl with its inherently wasteful consumption of land, energy resources and time, and tendency to isolate people from each other and the community. Miniaturization creates the Urban Effect, the complex interaction between diverse entities and individuals, which mark healthy systems both in the natural world and in every successful and culturally significant city in history.” But, counterpoint, everything is awful: “‘His inner circle knew about the abuse’: Daniela Soleri on her architect father Paolo. Fifty years ago, his utopian desert city attracted acolytes from around the world. Can his legacy survive allegations of sexual abuse?”
• A bundle of books: Night Shade Weird—”Dark Fantasy Fiction Ebooks From Night Shade Books. All of Clark Ashton Smith and William Hope Hodgson Plus Two Books of Cthulhu.”
• “Review: The Year of the Death of Ricardo Reis“—”The Year of the Death of Ricardo Reis is João Botelho’s most recent film and is a cinematic adaptation of José Saramago’s book of the same name. It’s a fictional story of the untold fate of one of Fernando Pessoa’s heteronyms: Ricardo Reis. After an early-October national release in Portugal, courtesy of NOS Audiovisuais, it is now screening at the São Paulo International Film Festival (22 October-4 November).”
  About the book The Year of the Death of Ricardo Reis [Bookshop, Bookshop (em Português), Amazon, Publisher] by José Saramago—”The year: 1936. Europe dances while Spain edges toward civil war and on invidious home-grown dictator establishes himself in Portugal. The city: Lisbon – gray, colorless, chimerical.” Watch “The Year of the Death of Ricardo Reis” trailer.

• “Unquiet spirits: the lost female ghost-story writers returning to haunt us. We know the heyday of the ghost story mostly as the province of men like MR James and Charles Dickens. But archivists are finding that some of the finest exponents were women.” Also tweet—”Coming Oct – OUR LADY OF HATE by Catherine Lord, a *new* Victorian author that no-one before me has researched. Her stories have not been reprinted since 1901. Will be £20 for a limited edition hardback – 100 copies only. If interested, please DM. Artwork by Lucy Pass.” About Women’s Weird 2: More Strange Stories by Women, 1891-1937 [Bookshop, Amazon, Publisher] edited by Dr Melissa Edmundson, due in a few days; and Our Lady of Hate [no links to book or publisher that I can currently find] by Catherine Lord, edited by Johnny Mains, can be pre-ordered by emailing [email protected] directly.
• “The Spirit Writing of Lucille Clifton.”—”It all began one night in 1976, when the poet Lucille Clifton was lightheartedly using a Ouija board with two of her daughters.” About Lucille Clifton’s 1980’s Two-Headed Woman [Amazon (University of Massachusetts Press), also Amazon]
• From 2019: The Community Rule: A Critical Edition with Translation [Bookshop, Amazon, Publisher] by Sarianna Metso—”The discovery and translation of the Dead Sea Scrolls transformed our understanding of the life and history of ancient Jewish communities when both rabbinic Judaism and early Christianity were emerging. As part of this rich discovery, the Community Rule serves to illuminate the religious beliefs and practices as well as the organizational rules of the group behind the Dead Sea Scrolls. However, there is no single, unified text of the Community Rule; rather, multiple manuscripts of the Community Rule show considerable variation and highlight the work of ancient Jewish scribes and their intentional literary development of the text. In this volume, Sarianna Metso brings together the surviving evidence in a new edition that presents a critically established Hebrew text with an introduction and an English translation.”
• “My Psychedelic Love Story. Morris’s My Psychedelic Love Story continues the tradition of exploring Truth’s different facets.”—”Joanna Harcourt-Smith is Morris’s subject, a psychedelic activist, socialite, and writer from Paris who counts Keith Richards, Diane von Furstenberg, and Andy Warhol as close acquaintances. She also happened to be the partner of Timothy Leary, renowned Harvard psychologist, philosopher, proponent of psychedelic drugs, self-proclaimed reincarnation of occultist Aleister Crowley, and alleged visionary prophet labeled the High Priest of LSD (‘the man responsible for America’s LSD crisis’). While on the run with Joanna, Leary was apprehended by the federal Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs. When asked by Morris early on if she’s a CIA plant, Joanna replies wryly, ‘I still wonder to this day.'” Also “‘My Psychedelic Love Story’ Review: Errol Morris’ Touching LSD Romance Adds New Dimension to Timothy Leary. Morris’ sensitive, bittersweet portrait of Leary ex-partner Joanna Harcourt-Smith ranks as his most satisfying movie in years.” About Tripping the Bardo with Timothy Leary: My Psychedelic Love Story [Bookshop, Amazon] self-published by Joanna Harcourt-Smith—”Tripping the Bardo with Timothy Leary is a scathingly honest and breathless autobiographical memoir by Joanna Harcourt-Smith, the British Jet-Set “hippie heiress” scapegoat for Timothy Leary, the Harvard psychologist ‘Pied Piper’ of the Sixties generation. Between 1972 and 1977, Joanna was his lover and voice to the outside world while he was in prison for three-and-a-half of those years. Tripping the Bardo is a missing piece of the Sixties puzzle. Joanna Harcourt-Smith knows. As an eyewitness, she was right at the heart of it. From the Rolling Stones and Andy Warhol to the relentless FBI harassment of the political Left, Tripping the Bardo moves at the fast pace of sex, drugs, and rock’n’roll that the Sixties were known for. The author’s voice is that of a spoiled and damaged socialite but with an unrelenting sense of humor and ability to bring to life an outrageous set of characters – aristocrats and drug dealers, rockers and poets, crime lords and double agents. As Hermann Hesse said: I’m beginning to hear the teachings of my blood pulsing within me. My story isn’t pleasant, it’s not sweet and harmonious like invented stories; it tastes of folly and bewilderment, of madness and dream, like the life of all people who no longer want to lie to themselves.”
• Lucia: A Roman Slave’s Tale [Amazon] by Steven A McKay—”What makes life worth living for a slave of Rome? The promise of vengeance, no matter how long it takes!”
• “The Work-Pleasure-Surveillance Machine Threatens All of Us. What happens when our homes become our employers’ offices?” About Justin E H Smith’s forthcoming The Internet Is Not What You Think It Is, for which I have no direct links, but will be from Princeton University Press, due some time in 2021.
• “Who was Max Jacob? A poet, friend of Picasso and, a new biography shows, a man who defied easy labels. Rosanna Warren’s enlightening book is rich with anecdote and cameos by early 20th-century intellectuals.” About Max Jacob: A Life in Art and Letters [Bookshop, Amazon, Publisher] by Rosanna Warren—”A comprehensive and moving biography of Max Jacob, a brilliant cubist poet who lived at the margins of fame.” “Though less of a household name than his contemporaries in early twentieth century Paris, Jewish homosexual poet Max Jacob was Pablo Picasso’s initiator into French culture, Guillaume Apollinaire’s guide out of the haze of symbolism, and Jean Cocteau’s loyal friend. As Picasso reinvented painting, Jacob helped to reinvent poetry with compressed, hard-edged prose poems and synapse-skipping verse lyrics, the product of a complex amalgamation of Jewish, Breton, Parisian, and Roman Catholic influences. In Max Jacob, the poet’s life plays out against the vivid backdrop of bohemian Paris from the turn of the twentieth century through the divisions of World War II. Acclaimed poet Rosanna Warren transports us to Picasso’s ramshackle studio in Montmartre, where Cubism was born; introduces the artists gathered at a seedy bar on the left bank, where Max would often hold court; and offers a front-row seat to the artistic squabbles that shaped the Modernist movement. Jacob’s complex understanding of faith, art, and sexuality animates this sweeping work. In 1909, he saw a vision of Christ in his shabby room in Montmartre, and in 1915 he converted formally from Judaism to Catholicism–with Picasso as his godfather. In his later years, Jacob split his time between Paris and the monastery of Benoît-sur-Loire. In February 1944, he was arrested by the Gestapo and sent to Drancy, where he would die a few days later. More than thirty years in the making, this landmark biography offers a compelling, tragic portrait of Jacob as a man and as an artist alongside a rich study of his groundbreaking poetry–in Warren’s own stunning translations. Max Jacob is a nuanced, deeply researched, and essential contribution to Modernist scholarship.”
• “Know Your Enemy: On the Road to Reaganland, with Rick Perlstein and Leon Neyfakh. A discussion about “Fiasco: The Battle for Boston,” the weird and wild 1970s, and Ronald Reagan’s path to victory.” About Reaganland: America’s Right Turn 1976-1980 [Bookshop, Amazon, Publisher] by Rick Perlstein—”From the bestselling author of Nixonland and The Invisible Bridge comes the dramatic conclusion of how conservatism took control of American political power.”
• The Dead Are Arising: The Life of Malcolm X [Bookshop, Amazon, Publisher] by Les Payne and Tamara Payne—”An epic biography of Malcolm X finally emerges, drawing on hundreds of hours of the author’s interviews, rewriting much of the known narrative.”
• More about William Souder’s Mad at the World: A Life of John Steinbeck [Bookshop, Amazon, Publisher]: “What John Steinbeck Got Right — And Wrong — About America 50 Years Ago. A talk with the Nobel Prize winner’s biographer about the writer’s 1960 drive across the country.”
• Songs and Lyrics by Tom Lehrer, put into the public domain by the musician, on a website that will be available until December 31, 2024, after which the site will be shut down.
• “A Surreal New Bookstore Has Just Opened in China. Up top, there are mirrored ceilings—while gleaming black tile floors reflect the bookcases for a serious M.C. Escher effect.”
• Tweet—”We need your help. This is the post we hoped to never write, but today marks a huge turning point in The Strand’s history. Our revenue has dropped nearly 70% compared to last year, and the loans and cash reserves that have kept us afloat these past months are depleted.” Also tweet thread—”Non-New Yorkers losing their minds over the Strand news: you should know that the owner, Nancy Bass Wyden [wife of Oregon US Senator Ron Wyden], owns the building, has bought Amazon stock, and hates the store’s union.” Also tweet—”Former employee here! The Strand’s owner laid off union employees after receiving millions in PPP loans, spent hundreds of thousands on Amazon stock, and refuses to pay her workers a living wage. Let them suffer. Better indie NYC bookstores to support: a thread.” Also tweet—”The Strand does not need your help. They’re union busting, they sprayed unhoused people sleeping outside at night with frigid water in freezing temperatures, they have TONS of Amazon stock, they own their building but didn’t want it to have historic status…” Also tweet—”??? Stock money ???”
• “Open Ses­ame! Re­search­ers dis­covered the second ‘key’ used by the SARS-CoV-2 virus to enter into hu­man cells. To efficiently infect human cells, SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, is able to use a receptor called Neuropilin-1, which is very abundant in many human tissues including the respiratory tract, blood vessels and neurons. The breakthrough discovery was made by a German-Finnish team of researchers led by neuroscientists Mika Simons, Technical University of Munich, Germany and virologist Giuseppe Balistreri, Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Helsinki, Finland.”
• “News in Brie! Scientists discover cheese is so smelly because it helps microbes ‘talk’ to the bacteria that makes it ripe.”
• Something big is being announced on Monday! “NASA to Announce New Science Results About Moon.”—”NASA will announce an exciting new discovery about the Moon from the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) at a media teleconference at 12 p.m. EDT Monday, Oct. 26. Audio of the teleconference will stream live on the agency’s website.”
• More on this: “NASA’s OSIRIS-REx was so good at grabbing asteroid rocks that they’re overflowing. When you take too big of a bite.”
• “Lost and Found: UH Geologists ‘Resurrect’ Missing Tectonic Plate. Long-Debated Plate Located in Northern Canada Using 3D Mapping Technology.”
• “Einstein’s theory of relativity, critical for GPS, seen in distant stars.”—”While scientists have found incontrovertible evidence of gravitational redshifts in our solar system, it has been challenging to observe them in more distant objects across space. The new Chandra results provide convincing evidence for gravitational redshift effects at play in a new cosmic setting.”
• “1st ‘Murder Hornet’ Nest In U.S. Is Found In Washington State.”
• “L.A.’s coast was once a DDT dumping ground. No one could see it — until now.”
• “Gig Workers’ Only Chance to Pee Is Apparently an App. Gig workers have nowhere to pee and it’s only gotten worse during COVID-19. Instead of a societal solution, there is the Whizz app.” Also tweet—”‘Data is the new land’ hit me like a hockey puck to the solar plexus.”
• Hospitalization data flawed in Missouri, perhaps elsewhere—”With the number of coronavirus patients requiring hospitalization rising at alarming levels, Missouri and perhaps a handful of other states are unable to post accurate data on COVID-19 dashboards because of a flaw in the federal reporting system.” Also Tweet thread—”Donald Trump, his key backer Peter Thiel, and Dr. Deborah Birx, the White House Covid coordinator are directly linked to nationwide under-reporting of Covid-19 cases and deaths. We learned this morning the data was flawed.”
• The Price for Not Wearing Masks: Perhaps 130,000 Lives. The pandemic death toll could be lowered by next spring if more Americans wear masks, a new analysis finds.”—”‘Increasing mask use is one of the best strategies that we have right now to delay the imposition of social distancing mandates and all the economic effects of that, and save lives,’ said one expert.”
• PDF: “130,000 – 210,000 Avoidable COVID-19 Deaths – and Counting – in the U.S.” by National Center for Disaster Preparedness, Earth Institue, Columbia University. Also tweet—”White House chief of staff Mark Meadows said Sunday that the US is “not going to control” the coronavirus pandemic, as cases surge across the country and nearly 225,000 Americans have died from the virus.” Also tweet—”Don’t vote for people who actively want millions of you and your loved ones dead.”
• Plague Poems – The Thirty-First Week—”Now here we stand / amidst the reddening leaves / staring at trend lines / as we experience / our fall.”
• “Dystopian Plagues, Pandemic Fears, and Fascist Politics in the Age of Trump.”—”Reality now resembles a dystopian world that could only be imagined as a harrowing work of fiction or biting political commentary. The works of George Orwell, Ray Bradbury and Sinclair Lewis now appear as an understatement in a world marked by horrifying political horizons — a world in which authoritarian and medical pandemics merge. In this age of uncertainty, time and space have collapsed into a void of relentless apprehension and the possibility of an authoritarian abyss. The terrors of everyday life point to a world that has descended into darkness.”
• “How The Epoch Times Created a Giant Influence Machine. Since 2016, the Falun Gong-backed newspaper has used aggressive Facebook tactics and right-wing misinformation to create an anti-China, pro-Trump media empire.”
• “If Trump loses the election, QAnon will also lose support — and eventually disintegrate. When cult adherents get confused, then ashamed, then realize they’ve been scammed, they get angry and exit. People are not permanently programmed.”
• “Patreon is banning QAnon conspiracy theorists, joining a growing group of tech companies taking action against the movement.”
• Tweet—”I forced a bot to read over 1,000 hours of QAnon theories and then asked it to write QAnon theories of its own. Here they are.”
• “To Learn the Truth, Read My Wikipedia Entry on Sichuan Peppers. Amid a pandemic and QAnon conspiracies, this librarian is focused on facts.”
• This is, as I write, still being denied, but, ffs, it wouldn’t surprise me: tweet—”Dutch security researcher succeeded in logging into the Twitter account of the American President Donald Trump [who] had an extremely weak and easy to guess password [“maga2020!”] and had, according to the researcher, not applied two-step verification.” Also “Dutch Ethical Hacker Logs into Trump’s Twitter Account. Last week a Dutch security researcher succeeded in logging into the Twitter account of the American President Donald Trump. Trump, an active Twitterer with 87 million followers, had an extremely weak and easy to guess password and had according to the researcher, not applied two-step verification.” Also “Trump’s Twitter hacked after Dutch researcher claims he guessed password – report. Victor Gevers claimed he had access to president’s account, De Volkskrant reported, but Twitter said ‘we’ve seen no evidence’” Also “Twitter and White House deny claims that researcher hacked Trump’s account. Researcher claims Trump’s password was ‘maga2020!’” So, you know, get yourself a password manager, and consider using 2FA on important accounts where possible.
• Tweet—”Empty plates left outside the local Tory HQ and Con Club after Southend West MP voted against feeding children most at risk of going hungry.”
• “The mute button was a godsend. It also amplified the candidates’ differences. Having to muzzle the president to salvage a debate is nothing to brag about. But at least it worked.”
• Tweet—”How the raw 60 Minutes tape posted by Trump begins: Stahl: ‘You ready for tough questions?’ Trump: ‘Just be fair.’ Stahl: ‘Last time you were like bring it on.’ Trump: ‘No, I’m not looking for that.’ Stahl: ‘…But you’re OK with some tough questions?’ Trump: ‘No, I’m not.'” Also “Trump administration violates agreement and releases ’60 Minutes” interview ahead of Sunday broadcast.” Also Tweet—”Trump can’t follow debate rules. Trump can’t follow the agreement he made with 60 Minutes. Trump can’t speak under oath without perjuring himself. Trump can’t follow the Constitution.”
• Tweet—”Nearly 700 economists, including seven Nobel winners, are warning against the reelection of President Trump, citing what they describe as a ‘sustained assault’ on democracy, a bumbled response to the pandemic and the spread of “dangerous misinformation.'” About “‘Selfish and reckless.’ More than 700 economists strongly oppose Trump’s reelection.”
• “Artist Richard Kraft is documenting every single Trump transgression from 2017 to 2021.“—”Last Sunday, the English artist Richard Kraft gave Donald Trump nearly 50 penalty cards following one of his weekend rallies. While I watched the debate yesterday and sipped enough beer to make the president’s Abraham Lincoln section almost kind of funny, I was thinking of my conversation with Kraft earlier this week. Did he have to make a run for more cards? Did he have enough paint?”
• “Meet the Dominatrix Forcing Trump Supporters to Vote Biden. Empress Delfina is talking her submissive fans into seeing the error of their ways for the low price of $1.99 a minute.”
• Tweet—”The merger of fundamentalist apocalypse eschatology and conservative totalitarianism fetish has been complete for a while, now they‘re just comfortable enough to talk about in mixed company.”
• Watch Alex Wagner: A Subsection Of American Electorate ‘Has Given Up On The Institutions & Rule Of Law’
• Sending Trump to Hell
• A few from Hyperallergic: “Can You Apologize to an Entire Indigenous Nation?” Also “Where Did the Deepfakes Go?” Also “How Early US Propaganda Grew Out of a Society of Illustrators.” Also “In Rome, a Street Named Propaganda.”
• More on “deaccessioning” from Hyperallergic: “Everson Museum Stands By Deaccession of Pollock Painting Amid Legal Challenges” and “Responding to Backlash, Baltimore Museum Board Chair Defends Deaccessioning.”
• “How to Reopen the American Mind. In the midst of an existential crisis for higher education, is it even reasonable to expect the humanities to survive?”
• “What I learned at man camp, where men get in touch with their emotions. In early March, I headed to the California desert to explore my emotions and learn ‘healthy masculinity’ with a group of men.”
• “Black Lives Matter: New hidden slave trade sites in Wales revealed. Two sites linked to Wales’ hidden slave trade have been revealed by a high-tech history project.”
• Tweet—”I’m standing with survivors of institutional abuse. Are you listening to the roar, the outrage, the hurt & compassion? Will you #RepealTheSeal ?” Also Repeal the Seal, Open the Archive—”For the first time the Irish people can see for themselves the callousness with which the Irish State has treated Women and Children & survivors who came through Mother and Baby Homes, Baby Homes, industrial schools who are denied access to their own testimony, files and records – this needs to stop.”
• Watch “Pope Endorses Same-Sex Civil Unions.” Also “The intrigue behind Pope Francis’ ‘bombshell’ comments on same-sex civil unions.” Also “Catholic leaders condemn Pope Francis’ endorsement of same-sex unions.” Also “Pope Francis’ support for civil unions is a call to justice — and nothing new“—”The pontiff hasn’t changed church teaching on marriage in indicating support for same-sex civil unions. Rather, he is reminding Catholics they should be concerned about justice for all.” Also “Pope endorses same-sex civil unions in new documentary.” Tweet—”A group of faithful gather in St. Peter’s square to ask #PopeFrancis for clarity on same-sex civil unions.”
• This Canadian Island Has Been the Site of a 200-Year-Old Treasure Hunt. The mysterious treasure hunt—for everything from the Ark of the Covenant to Shakespeare’s manuscripts—continues to baffle audiences around the world. But what if it’s all a cover-up?”
• From 2019: My search for the real Moominland. Dan Richards visits the landscape that inspired Finland’s most famous export, ‘The Moomins’, and traces the footsteps of the books’ author Tove Jansson.”
• “Here’s What 2020 Looked Like to the Sci-Fi Writers of 1974. In the early 1970s, eight science-fiction writers tried to imagine what the far-flung year of 2020 would look like. They ended up being both wrong and right.”
• “The Study of Economics Could Learn a Lot From Science Fiction. From Leaf Currencies to Gift Economies: A Reading List.”
• “RoboCop and its remake show how much our visions of the future have changed. The 1987 original and 2014 versions differ in telling ways.”
• “AOC’s record-breaking Twitch stream is the future of politics. Young, tech-savvy, meme-literate, and accessible.”
• “Shut up, I’m manifesting! The latest internet wellness craze is thinking your way to a better life. Whether it works or not isn’t really the point.”
• “On Retiring ‘UPG’.”—”I know that there are shady people out there peddling personal fantasies as historical truth. So call out the lies when you see them. I know that there are people out there whose ‘innovations’ equate to nothing more than laziness. Call out laziness when you see it. I know that there is a need to evaluate worth and separate signal from noise, I just don’t think UPG is a helpful term for this.”
• “Top 10 haunted places in Ireland where ghosts reside. Seeking a paranormal experience? These are the ten most haunted places to see a ghost in Ireland.”—”7. Renvyle House Hotel, Co. Galway – for a W. B. Yeats-approved haunted house”
• “23 Most Powerful Secret Societies“—”13. Ordo Templi Orientis” Bwahahahahaha. As if. And, also, gods, not even. What a stupid fucking list of bollocks.
• “Love among the ruins as couple wed at Boleskine. Hard hats as wedding accessories added to the unique feeling of a couple’s big day amid the ruins of a historic Highland landmark.” Also “A tale of ‘I do’ from the ashes in famous Loch Ness mansion.”
• Watch Wallace & Gromit: The Big Fix Up, trailer for an interactive adventure, coming December 2020. “For the first time ever, Wallace and Gromit will invite fans directly into their adventures via The Big Fix Up: a first of its kind, story-driven experience that you can take part in at home via your smartphone! Launching in December 2020, find out more about The Big Fix Up.” Also there’s this crowdfunding effort: “Wallace & Gromit: A Close Shave Collector’s Model. Celebrate the 25th anniversary of A Close Shave with an exclusive & limited edition model.”—”Our team here at Vine Lab have spent 12 months rigorously researching and developing this idea. As huge fans of Wallace & Gromit, we’re honoured and excited to have Aardman’s official stamp on this beautifully and authentically crafted reproduction model, which you’ll be able to enjoy for many years to come… ”
• “‘Bride’: Scarlett Johansson to Star in New Movie For A24 and AppleTV+“—”As for Bride, the story ‘follows a woman created to be an ideal wife — the singular obsession of a brilliant entrepreneur. When she rejects her creator, she’s forced to flee her confined existence, confronting a world that sees her as a monster. It is on the run that she finds her true identity, her surprising power, and the strength to remake herself as her own creation.'”
• “‘Addams Family’ Live-Action TV Series From Tim Burton Heats Up TV Marketplace.”—”While not confirmed, sources say the new live-action series would be set in present times and be from the perspective of Wednesday Addams and what the world would look like to her in 2020.” Huh. Let’s remember and celebrate Melissa Hunter’s Adult Wednesday Addams which was a series taken down (“UPDATE on Adult Wednesday A*****). But it appears one can at least watch them on her website again, even if not restored to her channel. Hire Melissa Hunter for this new project, in some form for something, at least a cameo, ffs, you cowards! (Although, it does look like she’s doing okay, with involvement in both Santa Clarita Diet on Netflix, and the forthcoming She-Hulk on Disney+)
• “The new adaptation of The Witches is almost too much fun. HBO Max’s new movie evokes a very un-Dahlian mood.”
• From the Enclosure of Culture in Walled Gardens dept: “Charlie Brown fans upset over ‘Peanuts’ holiday specials moving exclusively to Apple TV+. Though Apple will provide limited free access, many are disappointed the animated classics won’t be broadcast on television for the first time since the ’60s.”
• It’s a massacre! It’s a blood-sugar bath! “Coke is canceling 200 drink brands.”
• The Zodiac Die from Steve Jackson Games—”This big 12-sided die has all the signs of the zodiac. But it’s not just attractive – it’s useful! It comes with a 16-page book by Steve Jackson, showing how to use the Zodiac Die to create personalities for your roleplaying characters. A neat item for collectors, too!”
• From the I Am A Meat Popsicle dept: “Russian scientists make meat-flavoured ice cream. Is it for cats, asks Internet. A group of Russian scientists have come up with a meat-flavoured ice cream. The internet is disgusted.” Watch, but. heads-up, it’s RT: “Specialists create MEAT ice cream in Minsk lab.”
• I mean, they were already wearing masks. Also, good on them for wearing masks in public! “Raccoon bandits break into Redwood City bank, don’t make off with any cash.”
• Just in time for Halloween, and, also, this is the future liberals want: Escaped cloned female mutant crayfish take over Belgian cemetery. Marbled crayfish can reproduce asexually and all their children are genetically identical females.”
• Watch “A Dress Historian Explains the History of the Witch Hat“—”Where does the iconic black pointed witch’s hat come from? What is the history of the witch hat? Did it come from Medieval European sumptuary laws? British Alewives? Quakers? Let’s sit down and unpack the *very* interesting history of the flat-brimmed, conical, black witch hat.”
• Watch Daemonia Nymphe’s “The Fallacious Glance.”

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