The presenters of the Saga Thing podcast present an entertaining recitation of a recently-discovered tale, “The Saga of Gudmund the Grunch“!

A fun way to spend 18 minutes of your Yule!

[Image description: A furry green cartoon character waering an eyepatch and a grey hat in the style of Odin, and the words “The Saga of Gudmund theGrunch”.]

NASA has created a page on their site dedicated to astral sounds, taking the images capture by the Hubble Telescope, the Chandra X-Ray Observatory, and others, and turning them into sound.

“Through data sonification, the same digital data that gets translated into images is transformed into sound.
Elements of the image, like brightness and position, are assigned pitches and volumes. Each translation below begins on the left side of the image and moves to the right. No sound can travel in space, but sonifications provide a new way of experiencing and conceptualizing data. Sonifications allow the audience, including blind and visually impaired communities, to “listen” to astronomical images and explore their data.”

What a clever and wonderful way to expand these amazing images into a new medium that increases their accessibility!

[Image description: A photo of the Twin Galaxies AM 2026-424 star system, a collection of blue stars in an elongated circle, with a few very bright white stars scattered among them.]

Anyone who has spent more than a few minutes on my blog knows that I am very much in the Shop Local / Shop Small / For The Sake Of All That Is Good In The World Do NOT Buy At Amazon camp.

This essay by Stephen D. Mayer, co-owner of Books Inc. with his wife Patty, is a wonderful expression of the importance of shopping locally:
“We believe in supporting local companies and appreciate the value they add to communities. Before you push that button on your computer and buy a book online at Amazon, remember the Lorax’s words somewhat paraphrased, “unless you support your local business, the business will be gone forever.”
Please buy local.”

It’s a short read, and quite worth your time.

[Image description: A black-and-white outline drawing of an open book, with the words “Why Shopping Local Matters, An Essay by Stephen D. Mayer” written on the pages in blue font.]

If you are looking for new ideas to mark the Winter Solstice, this article by Elmira Jafari about Shab-e-Yalda (also called “Shab-e-Chelleh”) has some inspiration!

The festival was adopted by the Persians from the Babylonians, and is celebrated in modern times in Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan as well.

In addition to keeping a fire lit all night (if you have a safe way to do so!), the holiday is marked with feasting on red foods (pomegranates and watermelon are favored), and wearing red, orange, and yellow clothing—the colors of fire and the sun. It is believed that, by eating summer fruits in winter, you can stay healthy through the cold months.

Parties last late into the night, and feature music and poetry reading.

Poetry and pomegranates—sounds like a wonderful evening to me!

[Image description:A piece of pomegranate rind with seeds and piece of the outside rind are on a red tablecloth, next to a yellow bowl filled with pomegranate seeds. The caption reads “Pomegranate” photo by flickr user Meesh Rheault/creative commons”.]