Fashionably-dressed women are shown smoking cigars and ignoring children, drinking, gambling using stock tickers and generally hanging out like barflies. https://www.messynessychic.com/2014/12/09/the-posters-that-warned-against-the-horrors-of-a-world-with-womens-rights/

A pretty special gift unwrapping will soon take place – a piercing tool built by ESA will open a Moon soil container from Apollo 17 that has gone untouched for nearly 50 years. https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Human_and_Robotic_Exploration/Opening_a_50-year-old_Christmas_present_from_the_Moon

Is it time for your gift-wrapping frenzy? https://www.buzzfeed.com/alannaokun/24-cute-and-incredibly-useful-gift-wrap-diys

The directors, Lilly and Lana Wachowski, foresaw contemporary tensions online: between the internet’s tendency towards freedom and conformity, anarchy and authoritarianism. More remarkably, through the sheer force of the movie’s prescience and popularity, they shaped those tensions. https://www.newstatesman.com/culture/film/2021/12/how-the-matrix-made-us

Did I make a convincing bike thief? Dear reader, I did not. https://cyclingtips.com/2021/11/how-i-became-the-internets-most-notorious-bike-thief/

The politics of the festive menu https://www.economist.com/1843/2020/12/18/oysters-in-france-kfc-in-japan-do-they-know-its-christmas

A holiday guide of beautifully ridiculous items from the Met, the National Mustard Museum, and more. https://www.newyorker.com/culture/on-and-off-the-avenue/exit-this-year-through-the-museum-store-gift-shop

In 1948 Hallmark released the Gallery Artists line of Christmas cards, featuring works by artists throughout history including El Greco, Van Gogh, Grandma Moses, and Salvador Dali.
https://www.vintag.es/2021/12/dali-christmas-cards-hallmark.html

"Vangelis’ work was deployed selectively and carefully, always serving to heighten the mood." https://thevinylfactory.com/features/blade-runner-soundtrack/

My Amazon review of _Murder in Belgravia_: 4 stars

A diverting historical mystery. Nice easy escape when you want a simple story. Suitable for a beach read or when your brain is tired.

https://amzn.to/3GSISFg

In the 1970s, Kodak reformulated photographic film to better represent dark brown colors due to complaints from chocolate companies and wooden furniture manufacturers. It wasn’t until 1995 that they introduced a calibration card showing non-white faces. https://cjc-online.ca/index.php/journal/article/view/2196/2055

Protect yourself from wavelengths you think might be harmful… by wearing a necklace that does produce radiation that is harmful over time. https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-59703523

I don't remember enough of the book to know what I think of this as a movie. It's been at least 30 years since I read the novel.

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/denis-villeneuve-rendezvous-with-rama-movie-1235062337/

You can take lessons straight from James Taylor, the singer-songwriter himself. https://www.openculture.com/2013/02/james_taylor_teaches_you_to_play_carolina_in_my_mind_fire_and_rain_other_classics_on_the_guitar.html

The largest-ever study of psilocybin, the psychoactive compound in magic mushrooms, has revealed the psychedelic drug is a highly effective alternative for treatment-resistant depression. https://www.statnews.com/2021/11/09/largest-psilocybin-trial-finds-psychedelic-effective-treating-serious-depression/

Learn about the baking powder battles that began in the 18th century https://www.sciencehistory.org/distillations/baking-up-a-storm

Baileys Irish Cream was invented in 45 minutes in 1973 by two ad creatives in Soho.
Hugh looked at me with an almost earnest stare. “What would happen if we mixed Irish whiskey and cream?” he said. “That might be interesting.”
https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/in-1973-i-invented-a-girly-drink-called-baileys-1.3240945

It wasn’t until after his death in 2014 that they put two and two together and discovered that his condition had been caused by mold and fungi lurking inside his bagpipes. https://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/wind-instrument-players-warned-over-hygiene-after-man-killed-bagpipes/