The Girdle of Melian

uess what! Tolkien Reading Day is coming up! "Tolkien Reading Day is held on the 25th of March each year. It has been organised by the Tolkien Society since 2003 to encourage fans to celebrate and promote the life and works of J.R.R. Tolkien by reading favourite passages. We particularly encourage schools, museums and libraries to host their own Tolkien Reading Day events. Why 25 March? The 25th of March is the date of the downfall of the Lord of the Rings (Sauron) and the fall of Barad-dûr. It’s as simple as that! As the 25th is obviously a fixed date, we suggest that local events could be held on the weekend prior or after to then if that’s more convenient. Tolkien Reading Day began following an enquiry from Sean Kirst, a columnist of the The Post-Standard (a paper local to Syracuse, New York), in January 2002: My grandparents were fishing folk from Buckie in the north of Scotland, carriers of the old stories and legends, and the trilogy has filled a certain...

atural History Museum visit! Officially, it's the Cantonal Museum of Zoology , now part of the Museum of Natural Sciences. Such a fascinating place! We spent an entire afternoon there, and would definitely go back!   Warning, in the photos below, there are some different organs and other things preserved in jars. Pelican! There was an entire floor devoted to a taxidermy collection that was at least a century old! Happy shark! This entire visit came about because of this happy shark tumblr post ! Pufferfish! Octopus! Lepidoptera Cryptozoology! Bernard Heuvelmans -- and a link to Tintin! Gulls! Animals that have gone extinct Tatzelwurm! Quetzal A taxidermy display from the 1952 Trilobite! Amethyst! Pounamu Gold! Beautiful flower fossil Meteorite! Meteorite! I featured this meteorite in a story! Iguanadon! Beautiful things Snails! Poppies! Alfred Russel Wallace ! The Swiss connection with Metis in Canada! Keys! Chillon Castle model Napoleon's death mask. I was not expecting to s...