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do whatever sounds cool to you shall be the whole of the law — thelonius

For those who like esoteric imagery, fearfulsymmetry posted the excellent "Magic for artists" three-part series. Note thread comments from robocop is bleeding (see also & more) and egypturnash (see also, & more & more)

Steampunk Pirates cards by Nat Iwata at wopc.co.uk

misteraitch reveals a full house in his post on the World of Playing Cards, "a living encyclopaedia of the history and visual art of playing cards"

riviere_tick_tack_1881 by Art Gallery ErgsArt

What are some songs that tell a story?

What's the oldest painted portrait of a dog?

What did a floral anchor symbolize, in a book by L.M.Montgomery?

What are scientific results or inventions that were famously demonstrated?

When is this wallpaper from?

How can I stop farting so much?

art by Bahman Farzad

How about some nice videos for pleasant watching?
-Candy-pulling around the world from Lexica
-Time-lapse of clouds in the Grand Canyon from clawsoon
-Time-lapse of a sculptor at work from not_the_water
-Shipwright builds a wooden boat from scratch from cubby
-Steam-engine hobbyist gently critiques an engine from cortex
-Soccer match: two pro football players vs. thirty 8-year-olds from Stark
-Karate in a Victorian dress from loquacious
-Thirsty farm animals, from the bucket's-eye view from ShooBoo
-Collection of art tutorial channels from Wolfdog

courage dear heart by distelfliege (cc by)

We've borrowed the quidnunc kid's kind message of love and sharing to all of us to wrap up some touching, interesting, inspiring, educational, fun and/or funny posts to take our minds off certain recent events:

Dear hearts, I should write to you all and each only to say: you are dear, precious, lovely and great hearts. But my words are all worthless, and your honest hearts are greater than my useless words. Persist, I beg you; if we cry together maybe fate will let us halve our tears. But better that you have relief, if the Earth did not make hearts for only weeping.

Two women pose with their skeleton friend by simpleinsomnia (cc by)

Have you felt it? It's been creeping up on us for some time now: Memento Mori October, a month worth of spooky posts by filthy light thief and Johnny Wallflower.

infini's Girl in the Wind by Midori Takaki

I'm feeling the need for some beauty and some MeFite sharing, so let's see (and/or read about) your favorite object of beauty in your living space

In Metatalk, Eyebrows McGee invites us up to share our etchings!

Uneasy Dreams by Celeste (cc by-nc)

Theodolite asks a fascinating question: who are some famous artists, writers, historical figures, etc. whose reputations were revived by a single person?

Nam June Paik - Megatron Matrix by Ryan Somma (cc by)

How did that bizarre avant garde show get broadcast, anyway? Mefi's own Dean 358 worked with pioneering video artist Nam June Paik, and explains how Paik's personal charm and enthusiasm got the art made and on the air. "...getting access to video equipment in the 1980s was a really big deal. Video edit suites took up lots of space and cost millions of dollars to build and operate. Getting access to a satellite...well, absolutely unthinkable."

1960 Summer Paralympics by brizzle born and bred (cc by-nd)

There has been some good stuff around lately. Hope you didn't miss the inspiring ass-kicking Paralympic athletes...

...or the "spiritual black metal blues" of Zeal and Ardor...

...or this jewelbox of an animated video from the Israeli band Jane Bordeaux....

...or this essay about literature and magic realism in contemporary China...

...or the wide-ranging playlist of music from all over Africa from the 1930s to 1960s...

...or the influential landscapes by once-neglected but newly-renowned African-American painters from Florida.

WC [toilet facilities] by State Records NSW

History pals!

Enjoy some newly-animated historical city photos, plus barnacles on the history of Australian public bathrooms "in case you're the sort of person that wants to see 115-year old survey sketches of toilets and urinal blocks".

Or listen to the meticulously recreated ambient sounds of 1700s Paris.

How about Marie Duval, 19th century woman cartoonist called 'one of the forgotten wonders of nineteenth-century art .. the bizarre dreamlike distortions of her comic world look like some steampunk 21st-century version of Victorian London."

Or the re-discovered ancient Chinese texts that rewrite the early history of Taoism and Confucianism.

Speaking of, what are some examples of historical events that are commonly misunderstood?

Did you catch teponaztli transcribing some diary pages from 1799-1804 New York City? "The most I've seen her write about anything was how much she hates games, which I love for its being an angry rant from 200+ years ago."

Or enjoy the brief video on the baseball fan Wild Bill Hagy, which is a time capsule of 1979 Baltimore.

Harking back to 1979, share some sense-memories in what was it like when everybody smoked?

Or looking further back - what was sugar like in 1631?

Finally, what are the best history nerds on Youtube?

Dog Intelligence by alicejamieson (cc by-nc-nd)

Learning a thing or two, recently in Ask:

How can I improve my vocabulary?

What are some self-help, therapy-ish books that have really helped you?

Where do I learn how to give an injection?

I need to improve my skills at making mobile apps (and websites) usable and beautiful.

What puzzles, games or new activities can I do to keep improving my critical thinking, analytical, and logical abilities?

In 140 characters or less, tell me one tip/trick/event that helped you understand how to use and/or like Twitter.

And in Mefi blue, Start Your Art Journey Today: a series of drawing lessons for free for all beginners and anyone looking to refresh their artistic skills

Radio tower by Łukasz Strachanowski (cc by-nc)

"William Carrà is a somewhat mysterious affiliate of Nicolas Jaar’s Other People record label who makes DJ mixes of eclectic sounds suited for late night."

Midnight Radio, A beautiful standalone comics story.

NYC - Metropolitan Museum of Art - George Washington by wallyg (cc by-nc-nd)

George Washington's hairstyle mystery -- how did he keep his white hair powder off his shoulders? Mefite nickyskye has the answer.

Almost Time by MikeSpeaks (cc by)

Need to talk about the new Star Wars? Fanfare's got you covered, including Mefi's own adrianhon checking in from a panel discussion with the cast.

If you've been brushing up on the original films to prepare, you might enjoy the Fanfare rewatches of all the previous Star Wars movies.

For more, check out the posts tagged 'StarWars' including fun odds and ends like Star Wars, the pencil game and real fencers doing light saber battle.

Star Wars art? Scenes made of Lego, and some paintings in classical Japanese style

Nerdy analytic overthinking? The economics of the Death Star and the legal case of Han vs. Greedo. Ask those hard questions like are the Jedi overrated? and of course is Jar Jar the big boss?