(via Cracked)
Monday, September 14, 2026
The Pilgrims' Miserable Voyage on the Mayflower
Long distance travel these days can be pretty onerous, with intrusive security checks, unruly passengers, and boring layovers. But that's nothing compared to the way things were 400 years ago. When the Pilgrims boarded the Mayflower in England in 1620 headed for Virginia, they knew it would be a difficult trip. But it was even harder than they imagined.
First, the Mayflower was dangerously overcrowded, since the journey was planned for two ships. Also, the Mayflower was a cargo ship, not designed for passengers plus their livestock and all their worldly goods. It was not designed for intercontinental travel, either. The food was bad and illness followed. After 66 days at sea, the Mayflower landed- in the wrong place. It was good to be on dry land, but you know things got even worse from there for the Pilgrims.
Miss Cellania's Links
The Detroit Werewolf. Tales of werewolves in Michigan go back a long way. (via Strange Company)
Zach Anner has a bit of insight about prayer.
Why Does Canada’s Capital City of Ottawa Have a Street Named After President Donald Trump? https://brilliantmaps.com/trump-ottawa/ (via Nag on the Lake)
The Polar Bear Once Kept at the Tower of London.
Minnesotastan found that life imitates fiction in an eerie way. Who says it can't happen here?
We’re living through an explainer epidemic. Tiny mics, endless hot takes and the algorithm-fueled rise of the ‘thoughtfluencer.’ (via Fark)
Physicist does the math on Star Trek’s “Picard maneuver.” (via Damn Interesting)
How Did the Nation Get Its Name? Other Suggestions Included the United Colonies, Columbia and the United States of Alleghania. (via Strange Company)
Edgar Allan Poe: as Creepy as Ever
Readers have been enjoying the short stories and poetry of Edgar Allan Poe for almost 200 years. What makes his literature so relatable over time? Scott Peeples dives into that question in this TED-Ed lesson. (via Boing Boing)
The Interview
Greatest strength
— AlternativeTo (@alternativeto.net) September 10, 2026 at 6:28 AM
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Sunday, September 13, 2026
Those Giant Balls on Power Lines
When I first saw a power line with a giant red ball in the middle, I thought it might be a prank. But then I saw more of them, and asked my father what they were for. He, being like Calvin's dad, made something up on the spot. "That's in case the wire falls, so they can find them." Not all the wires had them, so I took that answer to mean he didn't know. I was used to Dad's shenanigans by then.
So today we get the real answer. The YouTube account Simple Things - Surprising Histories had a minute-long intro, so I was afraid we'd have to watch the whole thing to get the answer, but the narrator gets right to the point after that. These are called aerial marker balls. Then he tells the story of how those balls came about in the first place. They aren't as old as I had thought. (via Laughing Squid)
The Ten Commandments of Cracker Barrel
I believe Matt Mitchell has been to Cracker Barrel a few times. If there's a Cracker Barrel near you, you already know most of these rules, but he expands on them for your entertainment.
My church congregation never goes to Cracker Barrel on Sunday because of the crowd. But if we get together for a birthday lunch on a weekday, fine. Yes, I always get breakfast. Everyone knows that their gift shop is way overpriced because they cater to wealthy retired women on vacation who will buy anything for their grandchildren. But because I know this, I shop there for Christmas gifts that my circle won't see at Walmart. They have weird things that will appeal to a giftee's idiosyncrasies -and pralines. The golf tee game is still there, but you always have to grab some tees from an empty table because yours is missing a few. I didn't know about the stars on the server's aprons, possibly because no employee stays a year at my local restaurant, but that was the only thing that was new to me.
Trevor’s Favorite Toy
Trevor Noah spills the beans to his audience during a commercial break about his favorite childhood toy. It's way funnier than you'd think.
The Key is Stuck
If you live on the internet, it stands to reasons that you eat at your computer. Surely, there's some way you can nosh a few inches away from you desk and still reach the keyboard when you really need to! I know you use the mouse a lot more than the keyboard. But if you can't manage that, you should shake the crumbs out a little more often. This comic is from Julian at Pretends to be Drawing. (via Geeks Are Sexy)
Saturday, September 12, 2026
The Black Castle
The 1952 gothic horror film The Black Castle features Boris Karloff and Lon Chaney, Jr. The story is not all that supernatural, but is full of evil people in a murderous plot set against the background of the horrors of colonial Africa. It earned great reviews for a B-movie, and in some ways is more chilling than atomic monsters and aliens. (Thanks, WTM!)
Socialism
Harry Truman had a hard time as the 33rd president of the US. He tried to enact a lot of reforms, but was opposed by a Republican congress for most of them. He had to use an executive order to desegregate the military. Truman had an easier way internationally, as he oversaw the Marshall Plan to rebuild Europe after World War II and initiated the Berlin Airlift. He was instrumental in the founding of NATO. But he will always be known as the president who deployed the first and only two nuclear bombs as weapons. Sure, it ended World War II, but it also ushered in the nuclear age and a 40-year Cold War. Oh yeah, and there was the Korean War. This quote is from 1952.
In 2026, when anyone brings up socialism, I have to tell them it's a meaningless word now (like "woke"), since everyone has their own definition and you can't change their minds. Yeah, I'm surrounded by conservatives.
Rebuilding the World Trade Center
Somewhere, probably packed away with my college work, is a picture of me atop the original 1 World Trade Center in 1979. It was once the tallest building in the world, for about a year until the Sears Tower was completed. I returned to that site in 2006, when there was still plenty of rubble, five years after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. St. Paul's Chapel across the street was still displaying the tributes and memorials sent in from all over the world. Returning in 2008, most of the rubble was gone, and the site was a very large hole.
But since then, the World Trade Center is being reborn. The original seven buildings have been replaced by four skyscrapers (to eventually become six) plus a memorial fountain, a museum, a church, a performing arts center, and a transportation terminal. The new One World Trade Center skyscraper opened in 2013, but construction on the rest of the complex is ongoing. In this time lapse video, you'll see the progress through 2026.
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