M.J. Rose

Time capsule houses!

We adore them. They get our creative molecules buzzing. For example, take a look at the photo of this virtually undisturbed 1950’s kitchen (below). Doesn’t it give you a little creative tickle, a tiny spark that excites the urge to create stories or films or photos of people living here?

Dreamy…strange…pink….

Here‘s a link to a gallery of these.

Speaking of muse-like inspiration, our friends Sue and Lauren have a very creative and highly regarded blog of daily writing prompts that we know you will enjoy: here.

Is there anybody out there?

From The Science Explorer,

Strange Repeated Radio Signals Coming From Beyond Our Galaxy, Detected by Astronomers for the First Time
By Johannes Van Zijl

“What could be responsible for emitting these bizarre and repeated radio signals?

Astronomers at McGill University have detected short repeating bursts of radio waves from a mysterious source that is located well beyond the edge of our own Milky Way galaxy. Their finding indicates that these bursts of radio waves must have been emitted by a very powerful source that is capable of producing multiple bursts within a minute. Fast radio bursts (FRBs) are nothing new to astronomers, as FRBs have been detected numerous times in the past, but normally they occur as once-off events.

Paul Scholz, a PhD student at McGill University, was filtering through old results during 2015 from previous observations performed at the Arecibo Radio telescope in Puerto Rico, which is currently the world’s largest radio telescope, when he made a surprising discovery…”

For the rest, click here.

As the sun begins to tease us, so does the dream of a long road trip. Sun visors and sun glasses, strange isolated rest stops dotting the endless hot asphalt, and the promise of a destination…

From Hyperallergic,

Ryann Ford, Lajitas, Texas

Documenting the Disappearing Rest Stops of the American West
by Carey Dunn

…“It’s strange the details you transparently absorb/When you think you’ll never see them again/things like curio shops/that i once despised/now i look on as curious beauty,” wrote singer-songwriter Joe Ely in his 1987 ode to the American road trip, Lord of the Highway. The sentiment applies to the kitschy Americana rest stops along Route 66, small structures with parking, picnic tables, and toilets, many of which are being replaced by fast food joints or demolished as states cut budgets.

While on a solo road trip from California to Texas in 2007, Austin-based photographer Ryann Ford became enamored with the quirky designs of these famous rest stops: faux covered-wagons in New Mexico, metal teepees along the Rio Grande. After learning that these rest stops were endangered, she spent years on the road photographing as many of them as possible, creating an archive of mid-century American design. The Last Stop: Vanishing Rest Stops of the American Roadside, forthcoming from PowerHouse Books, compiles hundreds of Ford’s images shot in New Mexico, Texas, California, Arizona, Utah, Nevada, Oklahoma, Missouri, Illinois, Minnesota, Iowa, Kansas, South Dakota, and Louisiana…”

For the rest, click here. These photos are spectacularly eerie and wonderful!