Links

Archaeology:

Underwater Archeology: Diving 800 Feet in Ancient Cathedral - http://weburbanist.com/2010/02/19/underwater-archeology-diving-800-feet-below-an-ancient-cathedral/ via nwhyte

Architecture:

Do British towns look too similar? - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-30697263 On the 60th anniversary of Ian Nairn's essay 'Outrage'.

Films:

Why Every Movie Looks Sort of Orange and Blue - http://priceonomics.com/why-every-movie-looks-sort-of-orange-and-blue/ via @TwistedSifter on twitter

History:

Freedom Ride: Turning point in Australia's race relations - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-australia-31450529 Mostly I found this bit >>The 1965 students were inspired by the US Freedom Rides a few years earlier, but the decision to act followed criticism of a student protest in Sydney against the treatment of black Americans.

"The reaction from a lot of people was 'Well, why don't you do something about your own problem?'" Mr Spigelman says of the Sydney protest.<< interesting.

Cambridgeshire church plague graffiti reveals 'heartbreaking' find - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cambridgeshire-31459761

Language:

Letter frequency in different languages - http://www.reddit.com/r/dataisbeautiful/comments/2w0hul/letter_frequency_in_different_languages_oc/

Miscellaneous:

Oscars 2015: Secrets of the limo drivers - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-31541086

Kelly: A fish out of water at the Bassmaster Classic - cold, wet and hoping to survive - http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/more-sports/kelly-a-fish-out-of-water-at-the-bassmaster-classic---cold-wet-and-hoping-to-survive/article23138622/ Trust me, even if you have less than zero interest in sports fishing, this is worth reading.

4 Maps Crucial to Understanding Europe's Population Shift - http://www.citylab.com/work/2015/02/4-maps-crucial-to-understanding-europes-population-shift/385293/?utm_content=buffer8e440&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer >>Despite economic growth in Central and Eastern Europe, the continent is still migrating to the Northwest.<< Again via nwhyte

EastEnders: Lucy Beale's killer - the likely suspects - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-31525003 Actually a really clever article about crime statistics, hidden in stuff about Eastenders. I promise you don't need to know anything about Eastenders to enjoy it.

How random is random on your music player? - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-31302312

THE GREAT SIM HEIST - HOW SPIES STOLE THE KEYS TO THE ENCRYPTION CASTLE - https://firstlook.org/theintercept/2015/02/19/great-sim-heist/ Under misc. only because I don't have a 'holy hell the military-industrial complex are spying on us again (or continuously)'.

Screaming from the only studio with a bidet - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-31554798 Or the trials of being a foreign correspondent in the 1940s.

Why homeless Britons are turning to the Sikh community for food - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-magazine-monitor-31557192

50 Shades of Pornhub - (NSFW Link) http://www.pornhub.com/insights/50-shades-bdsm-searches/ - a look at the changes in Pornhub searches after 50 Shades of Gray came out.

New species of wasp named after Bruins' Rask - http://www.thescore.com/news/706747

Sports:

Boxing:

Mayweather v Pacquiao: Boxing's last bona fide super-fight? - http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/boxing/31133135 There will also be a much longer post about this article eventually.

Football:

How Europe Roots for the Champions League - http://www.wsj.com/articles/how-europe-roots-for-the-champions-league-1424721670 Quite interesting, and Juve come up far, far, far higher than expected.

The amazing story of Zlatan Ibrahimovic's 50 new tattoos, and what they mean - https://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/blogs/world-of-sport/zlatan-ibrahimovic-covers-himself-in-tattoos-to-support-805-million-hunger-sufferers-174251727.html In which Zlatan Ibrahimovic is an awesome human being, yet again.

Scott Laird's grandma gives him £1 for Preston v Man Utd goal - http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/31505256 Apparently Scott Laird's grandma has been doing this since he was a child and still does it. All hail Grandmas.

Technology:

Some interesting thoughts on the future of car technology - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-30998361 I've changed the name because the terrible BBC title editor struck again.

Also re: that end of year meme

I completely forgot about Happy by Pharrell Williams

I think it's because it came out in late December 2013, and just fell into the between the years gap, as I fear Uptown Funk will this year.

In which I am an obnoxious rugby league fan

So last weekend was the World Club Challenge in the rugby. The WCC is a glorified friendly that counts for nothing.

This year, they've expanded the thing so that more than just the winners of the NRL and the Super League get to play.

First up was Warrington vs St. George Illawara, which Warrington narrowly lost 6 - 12, at least partly because St. George didn't have someone sent off that really should have been sent off. Mostly amusement was caused by Ian Millward shouting Illawara every time someone just called them St. George because Mr. Millward played for Illawara before the merger.

Then Wigan narrowly lose to the Brisbane Broncos. I was of course cheering against Wigan, while my Nan was cheering against the Broncos, because she wanted the British team to win but no-one in our household will ever cheer for Wigan. Mostly Wigan get a lesson in cheating from the Broncos (it was so nice to see them on the receiving end of the things they do to everyone else, particularly John Bateman who likes picking on scrum-halves half his size suddenly finding a scrum-half that was his size and getting the smack he truly, truly deserves) and it was an absolute mudbath.

Finally was the actual World Club Challenge match, pitching Russell Crowe's (and the Burgess boys) South Sydney Rabbitohs against the ever-wonderful and awesome St Helens Saints. Cue blow out victory for the Bunnies, 39-0. Also cue Wigan fans going 'see, Wigan should have been champions, they're a far better team and would have won if someone hadn't been sent off'. Which may have lead to me doing the 'nah, nah, nah, nah, nah' song on twitter. Because you know what, all of that might be true, but you know what, Saints are still champions.

I believe a rousing chorus of 'We Are The Champions' is most definitely called for.