Nag on the Lake

Sunday, June 07, 2026

Shrey Parikh, an eighth grader from Rancho Cucamonga, California, speaks faster than I can think. He won the 2026 Scripps National Spelling Bee by correctly spelling a record-setting 32 words in 90 seconds during a rare lightning-round spell-off.

Via Memo of The Air

Music For Sunday Morning

Cécile McLorin Salvant - With Every Breath I Take

Sunday Links

The LEGO Architecture Sagrada Familia is officially the largest LEGO building set ever made. Finished, it stands 62 cm tall. Inside, a stained glass effect replicates the way light moves through the real basilica.

Animal, vegetable, lamb, the story of the fabled vegetable Lamb of Tartary. (Via Feuilleton)

Headlines I attribute my skill at this game to being old enough to have lived through most of the headlines described. via Web Curios

The 100 Greatest Bird Names of All Time. Snoring Rail, Morepork, Bare-Faced-Go-Away-Bird? Via Kottke

This post of pups in glowing slippers is guaranteed to make your day a little brighter.

Mumbai’s Disappearing Dabbawallas: A tradition that was once synonymous with the pace of the city now risks being left behind by it. Via Tacky Raccoons

This paraglider had to think quickly when hit by a sightseeing plane. Via Memo Of The Air

I shopped at Costco yesterday and this article captures my bulk-buying experience to a T : “It is a place with no outside source of light, randomized reward experiences (part of what’s termed “variable reward frequency,” a central tenet of gambling psychology), and an internal sense of economics that makes it startlingly easy to lose track of money.”

A penguin elevator Via everlasting blort

Foodguessr is a game of food and geography styled after Geoguessr where the player identifies a food by location.

Searchable Attenborough Sir David Attenborough just turned 100. In recognition of his brilliant career and life, here’s everything he’s ever worked on, in one place. via Web Curios

A particularly dangerous whale disentanglement.

“Beneath the layers of thatch, a feud is simmering among England’s tiny fraternity of so-called master thatchers.” (NYT gift article)

Raw Pigments: Inside London's most colourful shop.

A Roundabout Dog, or rondellhund, is a homemade dog sculpture placed in roundabouts in Sweden. Via Neatorama

Newly updated aerial maps expose Israel’s systematic destruction of cities, agriculture, and cemeteries across Southern Gaza, illustrating the horrific devastation that has been wrought on the Palestinian people. (Via TYWKIWDBI)

A Clown Car of a Tote Bag

I think I could get comfortable in this house by SHED Architecture & Design. I love the layout and accessibility. Link

Weird but cool old-timey vehicles.

Lost Music Venues is an exhibition at the V&A South Kensington that features around 50 ‘lost’ performance spaces in the UK from the 1980s to 2010s. I’d like to see it.

The 50 best restaurants in North America have been announced. Canada continued to overperform on the list, occupying 14 spots, including five of the top 10. Yay! NYT gift link

There is nothing beautiful about this Beauty Kit For Little Girls Via everlasting blort

The Puffin & Petrel Patrol, has rescued thousands of vulnerable Atlantic Puffin and Leach’s Storm-Petrel chicks and released them back to sea. A friend of mine does this! 2026 Patrol season will open mid-July

Friday, June 05, 2026

The Memories Of Others

Last week I shared the trailer for a film about Japanese photographer Akihiko Okamura’s work in Ireland during the Troubles. Here is the short documentary, directed by Pauline Vermare and Marc Lesser.