A beginner’s guide to snake removal. || Just a little bit of give. || Bees want your tears. || Cobalt tarantula. || Lucille Ball demonstrates the Sonovox, 1939. || Backfire is a game. || Thug life. || Some very Guardian thinking. || Ping, pong and spin. || Step aside, puny humans. (h/t, Dicentra) || Opal uncovered. || When it’s too much effort to fold paper and throw. || “To prove their mousy worth, they’ll overthrow the Earth.” || Evaporating horse sweat. || Isle of Wight attraction of note. || Using wood. || Why cats don’t rule the Earth. || Always respect the media. || You don’t often see them. || Meanwhile, in sporting news. || Not cake. || And finally, via Damian, I’m not entirely sure what the protocol here is.

Yes, a chance to assemble your own pile of links and oddities in the comments. I’ll set the ball rolling with some interrupted smuggling; a faint hint of subtext; some unforeseen consequences; some little critters; and this, which is one of these.

Oh, and how to impress the neighbours.

Today’s word is multitasking. A story unfolds. || Shocking scenes of Canadian road rage. || Redundant words. || CIA-issue rectal tool kit. For when you need to discreetly stash those tiny saws and drills. || Calligraphy with drill. || Crash heard, culprit detected. || Tone-deafness test. || Pop stars and their younger selves. || Ceaseless vigilance. || Don’t try this at home. || A drink and a show, in one. || Why women are often nesh. || This is one of these. || A Scandal in Bohemia. Starring Jeremy Brett. || When butterflies attack. || Making chains. || Maximum wife points. || You want one and you know it. || Local woman rendered in yarn. || Swell jelly. || Festive scenes. | Feel-good footage. || Or nearest offer.

8am scenes. Embrace the morning. (h/t, Damian) || Big-haired Victorians. || She does this better than you do. || Ditto. || I do like the cubes. || It’s all kicking off at Essex County Council. || Snow clearance of note. || Chicago club scene, 1931. || Landing in Greenland, a pilot’s view. (h/t, Holborn) || The evolution of the alphabet. || Stability issues. || Islam versus the menace of haram emoticons. (h/t, Dicentra) || Meanwhile, at Tate Modern. || Witchcraft undone. || When your towels are too orderly. || Optically deceptive spinning top of note. || The Sequence 2 is a game. || Today’s words are glittered dog scrotum. || Folding guitar of note. (h/t, Things) || Defiant fluff. || And finally, you first. No, really. I insist.

At last, shoe drawers. || He draws cities. || How do you draw an X? Anything but #8 is just wrong. || Real–time travel. || “You don’t imagine Romans in socks.” || The Royal Portuguese Cabinet of Reading, Rio de Janeiro. || At all times, dignity. || An animated collage of Google Earth images. (Photosensitive types beware.) || Golden boulder of note. || Sacred substance. || He does this better than you do. || A snug fit. || A work of evil genius. || Knitted village. || These are some of those. || Thrust. || She can’t hear men. || “The Crippens’ marriage was not a happy one.” || Petals and stems. || He chose poorly. (h/t, Holborn) || Pregnant with no vagina. || And finally, instructively, “How to make thin hamster.”