Sunday Links

The Fantastic and Troubled History of the Video Phone Imagine the possibilities! The potential of the video phone seemed limitless. We could have a teacher on the video screen interacting with students from far away!

Japanese rain. 

Too Hot, Too Crowded, Needs More Vending Machines If you visit these one-star-rated National Parks go with low expectations.Via

Treasures continue to be unearthed this summer in Pompeii 

The British Heat Wave  has made this summer one of the best in living memory for “parch marks”—ghostly, pale outlines of vanished castles, settlements, and burial sites that materialize on the land when it dries out and grass and crops die off.

The Oldest Building in Every US State 

Firefighters capture footage of a 50-foot-tall firenado I hope this is the closest I ever get to one of these. Via

Feisty, frigid and frumpy: 25 words we only use to describe women

The Street Names of Paris

Hazel the donkey loves music! 

Lovely panos of Niagara Falls, Canada-USA Thanks Bruce!

Liisa Hietanen Crochet Art Check out the amazing likenesses Finnish artist Liisa Hietanen creates in her crocheted portraits.

Pineapple Bacon Coleslaw A jazzed up end of summer side dish.

5 European cities where you can retire on less than $35,000 a year I wouldn't mind living in any of these.

Here's What 7 Miles Of Car-Free NYC Streets Looks Like

A Tour of the Grandest Buildings in Literature  Five novels that provide a link between architecture and storytelling.

Images From the Lombok Island Earthquake

From Lenin leggings to Laika t-shirts to hammer and sickle bottle openers, Soviet Visuals is your one stop shopping spot for all things USSR. Via

Treating a Heart Attack in a Centaur Via

Land Of The Strays Lya Battle gives a second chance to over 1,000 stray dogs at her sanctuary in Costa Rica.

Monty Python Ministry of Silly Walks Watch 

This is what being in love looks like – in pictures