Smiling Cucumber

@smilingcucumber

An onion can make people cry but there has never been a vegetable invented to make them laugh. ― Will Rogers

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Smiling Cucumber@smilingcucumber· Jul 5

😍 In the wee hours of July 4th, 2026, above a wide expanse of town lights on the eastern plains of Colorado, a splotch of magenta aurora and stars light up the sky to the left while lightning illuminates a glob of white cloud from within on the right! 📸Roger Hill spaceweather.com (July 5, 2026)

Smiling Cucumber@smilingcucumber· Jul 2

Aargh! Condolences. I've taste tested their iconic mice (magical) so I hope you and your beloved enjoy these fine Burdick ravens.

Smiling Cucumber@smilingcucumber· Jul 1

Truly an altruistic donation by Erling and his father:

BBC article - Haaland donates £100,000 Viking book to home town

25 March 2026

"Not content with inspiring Norwegians through his success as a footballer, Erling Haaland wants to do so through history - by teaching them about the Vikings.

The Manchester City striker, who is his country's all-time top scorer with 55 goals in 48 games, has donated a rare 16th-Century book of Viking sagas to the part of Norway where he grew up.

Haaland was born in Leeds - as his father Alf-Inge was playing for Leeds United at the time - but grew up in the town of Bryne.

The 25-year-old and his father purchased the book for 1.3 million Norwegian crowns (£100,000) in December - a record for a book sale in Norway.

It is the 1594 printed edition of a work by the 13th-century historian Snorri Sturluson, and tells medieval stories of Viking kings, queens, farmers and warriors.

Haaland has given the only surviving copy to the library in Bryne so it can be displayed and made accessible to the public.

Bryne is in western Norway, around 30km south of Stavanger, and is part of the municipality of Time, within the district of Jæren.

"I want the book always to lie open so that people can read about those who came from where I come from, from Bryne and Jæren," Haaland said to Norwegian media.

"I've been lucky enough to live out my dream through football, and I know not everyone gets that chance.

"Books give so many more people the chance to dream big, see new possibilities and find their own path."

Haaland is the top scorer in the Premier League this season with 22 goals in 29 appearances.
'
Last year he finished as the top scorer with 16 goals in the European qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup. Norway have qualified for their first finals since 1998."

Smiling Cucumber@smilingcucumber· Jun 28

Loved this modern yet whimsical public drinking fountain at a bus stop in Winchester, England.

A public water fountain with bubblers at the heights of both pets and children, and a dispenser to fill bottles. A sidewalk and a park in the background.

Smiling Cucumber@smilingcucumber· Jun 24

Deflecting pool is right! 😆 The costly Kennedy Center scaffolding build and tarp and now Reflecting Pool fencing and tarps are totally unneccesary - save for one Ego. "Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain!" is the best advice. (Paired by me.)

Top image is from the movie The Wizard of Oz as "the wizard" pulls on a curtain in a failed attempt to cover his faked display of power.
Bottom image is from June 13, 2026, as four workmen wearing safety harnesses at the top of the scaffolding rig the last tarps covering much of the facade of the Kennedy Center - and the abominable name to be removed is visible to the public for the last time.

Smiling Cucumber@smilingcucumber· Jun 20

Yes, the cover is most beguiling, and I SO loved the book. Does anyone remember The Brownies At Home? I liked it but have only vague memories of it. Written by Canadian Palmer Cox in 1893, this first edition cover is sweet.

Image of the first edition book cover with two dozen colorful impish figures dressed in a variety of amusing costumes, wearing hats or crowns and interacting comically with each other in a line.

Smiling Cucumber@smilingcucumber· Jun 20

Amirite? ☺️

Hillary Clinton's bemused expression reminiscent of Diane Keaton's while seated onstage at the opening of the Obama Presidential Center on Thursday, wearing her navy wide-brimmed hat low over dark sunglasses, a light blue and gold scarf at her neck, and bulky navy trenchcoat.

Smiling Cucumber@smilingcucumber· Jun 19

Feel any urge to sing? ✨ Venus and Vincent van Gogh featured in today's Astronomy Picture of the Day: apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropi...

APOD "Explanation: ...a modern recreation of the famous painting Starry Night by Vincent van Gogh. Both the image and the painting depict a tall tree on the left, a crescent moon on the upper right, the planet Venus just to the right of the tree, a foreground horizon rising from left to right, and clouds above the horizon. Differences include that the photograph was taken in mid-April earlier this year in Cascavel, Brazil, while the painting was composed in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, France, in 1889. The original Starry Night is considered by many to be one of the three most famous paintings in the world today and a statement about the wonders of the night sky. Today is (roughly) the anniversary of the morning that van Gogh saw the sky that he later painted in his version of Starry Night."

Smiling Cucumber@smilingcucumber· Jun 18

Do NOT miss Michelle Obama's remarkable speech today. Mad good.💙💙💙

Michelle Obama speaking today at the opening of the Obama Presidential Center. To her right are her husband, daughters, the Bidens, Clintons and Bushes.

Smiling Cucumber@smilingcucumber· Jun 13

According to The New York Times there was little to hear as letters were removed:

Screenshot from the New York Times article at 4 a.m. ET today: "But a gap in the tarps allowed a New York Times photographer to observe a worker pulling the letter “A” from the wall. There was no sound of power tools; the letter appeared to come off by hand."

Smiling Cucumber@smilingcucumber· Jun 13

The THE DON cover-up.

Smiling Cucumber@smilingcucumber· Jun 13

A last view of the abomination.

Tarps cover most of the scaffolding at the facade of the Kennedy Center, but his last name and "and" are still visible as crew unfold one of the last few tarps.

Smiling Cucumber@smilingcucumber· Jun 12

Now *this* is entertainment! 👍 Livestream of the facade of the Kennedy Center as over a dozen workers build scaffolding. It's music to the ears. www.youtube.com/live/aAhm880...

Screenshot of the facade of the Kennedy Center as over a dozen workers build scaffolding.

Smiling Cucumber@smilingcucumber· Jun 5

Yesterday, before it rained. Sweet lilac "flowerworks". A happy weekend to you.

Robust lilac flowers with pinky-blue petals nestled into dark green leaves.

Smiling Cucumber@smilingcucumber· May 16

Glorious aurora photographed from the International Space Station while passing over a point south and east of Australia: apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap26051... ✨✨✨

Explanation: Like salsa verde on your favorite burrito, a green aurora slathers up the sky in this 2017 June 25 snapshot from the International Space Station. About 400 kilometers (250 miles) above Earth, the orbiting station is itself within the upper realm of the auroral displays. Aurorae have the signature colors of excited molecules and atoms at the low densities found at extreme altitudes. Emission from atomic oxygen dominates this view. The tantalizing glow is green at lower altitudes, but rarer reddish bands extend above the space station's horizon. The orbital scene was captured while passing over a point south and east of Australia, with stars above the horizon at the right belonging to the constellation Canis Major, Orion's big dog. Sirius, alpha star of Canis Major, is the brightest star near the Earth's limb.

Smiling Cucumber@smilingcucumber· May 5

William Balfour-Ker, “From the Depths” (1906) Behind the scenes of the🧵 finery at the gala.

Drawing: William Balfour-Ker, “From the Depths” (1906) "The image depicts a party with the top figures from a “decadent life of luxury” gathering in a “large ballroom.” The celebration is disrupted when a fist busts through the floor, revealing the exploited who have been providing the foundation of support on which the well-to-do have long been celebrating. A very thought provoking piece from the Gilded Age."

Smiling Cucumber@smilingcucumber· Apr 7

The Space of my dreams as a child. 💖 images.nasa.gov/details/art0...

"The lunar surface fills the frame in sharp detail, as seen during the Artemis II lunar flyby, while a distant Earth sets in the background. This image was captured at 6:41 p.m. EDT, on April 6, 2026, just three minutes before the Orion spacecraft and its crew went behind the Moon and lost contact with Earth for 40 minutes before emerging on the other side.
In this image, the dark portion of Earth is experiencing nighttime, while on its day side, swirling clouds are visible over the Australia and Oceania region. In the foreground, Ohm crater shows terraced edges and a relatively flat floor marked by central peaks — formed when the surface rebounded upward during the impact that created the crater.
Date Created:2026-04-06"

Smiling Cucumber@smilingcucumber· Mar 1

Sand and salt water created artwork yesterday in the style of Keith Haring. 〰️〰️〰️ Captivating patterns of dried rivulets in relief at low tide. Studs under my boots for the snow and ice but this sun says spring is near, so have a good March!

Repeated horizontal raised wormlike squiggles an inch or two wide and of varying lengths cast dark shadows in low afternoon sunshine and cover a six foot long vertical expanse devoid of other features. A color image but appears black and white.

Smiling Cucumber@smilingcucumber· Feb 27

"Floating in the interstellar sea, the [Jellyfish] Nebula is anchored right and left by two bright stars, Mu and Eta Geminorum, at the foot of the celestial twins." apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap26022... Telescopes rock. Imagine all we'd miss without them.

Explanation by NASA: "Normally faint and elusive, the Jellyfish Nebula is caught in this alluring telescopic field of view. Floating in the interstellar sea, the nebula is anchored right and left by two bright stars, Mu and Eta Geminorum, at the foot of the celestial twins. The Jellyfish Nebula itself is right of center, seen as a brighter arcing ridge of emission with dangling tentacles. In fact, this cosmic jellyfish is part of bubble-shaped supernova remnant IC 443, the expanding debris cloud from a massive star that exploded. Light from the explosion first reached planet Earth over 30,000 years ago. Like its cousin in astrophysical waters the Crab Nebula supernova remnant, the Jellyfish Nebula is known to harbor a neutron star, the ultradense remnant of the collapsed stellar core. An emission nebula cataloged as Sharpless 249 fills the field at the upper left. The Jellyfish Nebula is about 5,000 light-years away. At that distance, this image would be about 300 light-years across."

Smiling Cucumber@smilingcucumber· Feb 24

"By any measure, Ukraine is a profoundly different country now than it was four years ago." www.nytimes.com/2026/02/22/o... 🌻 Slava Ukraini

Screengrab of a paragraph from linked article: "Feb. 24 marks the fourth anniversary of the full-scale invasion. Four years is a particularly significant milestone for people who, like me, grew up in the Soviet Union, in the eternal shadow of World War II, because four years was the duration of the fight against the Nazis. The number was seared into our minds. Four years in which the Soviets fought what they called the Great Patriotic War. Four years that created the country we lived in — its superpower status, its claim to world moral superiority. Four years of death, displacement, of tens of millions of people being called upon to sacrifice for their country’s war effort. The slogan of those years was “Everything for victory.”

Smiling Cucumber@smilingcucumber· Feb 23

Gabe paused at the corner of 90 Bedford Street and Grove Street to show the "Friends apartment building" here in Greenwich Village. 🧑‍🤝‍🧑🧑‍🤝‍🧑🧑‍🤝‍🧑

Looking across the snowy intersection with a snowplow coming into view lower right, a bishop’s crook lamppost glowing at the corner of the 6-floor apartment building filmed as the exterior for the sitcom. A thick layer of fresh snow covers all parked cars, trees, window sills, awnings.

Smiling Cucumber@smilingcucumber· Feb 23

Walking Commuter's livestream on YouTube is in snowy Central Park right now. Here he was in Times Square with colorful jumbotrons looming over a snowy Times Square sidewalk by the TKTS steps at 4 a.m. ET.

Times Square with colorful jumbotrons looming over a snowy Times Square sidewalk by the TKTS steps at 4 a.m. ET. today.

Smiling Cucumber@smilingcucumber· Feb 23

Walking Commuter is boots-on-the-ground livestreaming on YouTube in Manhattan en route to work via a foggy Times Square now. That snow is super sticky! Windy and just below freezing at 3:30 a.m. ET. ❄️☃️A travel ban is in place so traffic is muted too.

Sidewalk, parked cars, fencing and trees all covered by a few inches of snow in a bright white city scene enhanced by streetlights in light fog with lighted windows in skyscrapers in the background.

Smiling Cucumber@smilingcucumber· Feb 17

My camera image as the C-SPAN livestream at Bryant Park focused on Jesse Jackson's tears which matched my own at that very moment on one of the greatest days of my life. — I cannot begin to imagine what that day meant to the Reverend. 🤎 Rest in Power.

A close-up of Jesse Jackson's visibly emotional face and tears as the celebration of Obama's win on November 4, 2008 rolled through him, surrounded by others waving small U.S. flags in the dark of Bryant Park.

Smiling Cucumber@smilingcucumber· Feb 3

NOAA says that minor G1-class geomagnetic storms are likely on Feb 5-6 when a CME is expected to graze Earth's magnetic field. spaceweather.com (Feb 3, 2026 post) AR 4366: A Solar Flare Factory Image by Eduardo Schaberger Poupeau on February 2, 2026 @ Rafaela, Provincia de Santa Fe, Argentina

Details: "Today at noon, from Argentina (UT −3), I captured this image of the Sun using my H-alpha telescope, at a moment of intense solar activity. The main feature is sunspot AR 4366, a true solar flare factory, which over the past 24 hours has produced 23 M-class flares and 4 X-class flares, including a powerful X8 event recorded yesterday. The photograph shows the full solar disk, allowing the enormous size of AR 4366 to be seen in its global context. At the time of capture, the region was particularly active, while multiple striking prominences are visible around the solar limb and several filaments can be seen across the disk, highlighting the strong magnetic instability currently affecting our star."

Smiling Cucumber@smilingcucumber· Jan 24

An ICE goon in distress ... see that false bravura MELTED from behind all the masks made ineffective by the heat from multitudes of truly loving hearts marching together in -20°F Minneapolis yesterday! ❤️❤️❤️❤️ Thank you, thank you, thank you protesters! 👏👏👏👏

Smiling Cucumber@smilingcucumber· Jan 18

Could be the arial view of a mountain range above clouds, until one notices that tiny strand of straw. 😆 From yesterday's tideline adventure.

A rectangular rock with a jagged craggy surface sticks up from a thick layer of shimmery opaque ice, and a short strand of straw rests on the ice next to the rock.

Smiling Cucumber@smilingcucumber· Jan 15

"Organized Chaos" by Antje Woolum 🤎🖤🪑🪑🔆

An arresting jumble of outdoor cafe tables and chairs seen from above from an angle. The sun shines brightly at a low angle from above the top of the photo, highlighting the thin slats of three rounded wooden tabletops and the many slatted metal chairs grouped around each table. Tables and chairs cast defined shadows onto large square speckled-gray patio slates, and one table not in the image casts a very dark black square shadow which draws the eye like a black hole, near the midde of the top half of the photo. The criss-crossed shadows of lines and circles dance madly, while the neo avant-garde color palette is starkly beautiful and pleasing.

Smiling Cucumber@smilingcucumber· Jan 4

Jamie Walton is such a breath of fresh air from England's North East coast — just listen to him speak. 👨‍🌾 www.youtube.com/shorts/ALMLI...

A screengrab of Jamie in the short video linked within this post. Jamie appears to me to be a live version of the wonderfully knowledgable Dickon Sowerby character in the book "The Secret Garden".

Smiling Cucumber@smilingcucumber· Jan 3

How about we focus on our brilliant full Wolf Moon today? 🌕😍 It was at perigree on January 1st, but today our planet is at perihelion and as close to the Sun as we will be in all of 2026! ☀️😎 apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap26010...