Happy Almost-Solstice!

According to the U.S. Naval Observatory's seasons page, Winter Solstice this year is at 22 minutes past midnight on December 22, in Universal Time--which puts it at 7:22 p.m. on December 21 here on the east coast of the USA. Have a good one, folks! May this be a wonderful Winter and/or Summer for us all!

While in the process of re-finding the seasons page, I discovered the nifty solar position calculator. I don't know if any of you have a practical use for it (I sure don't), but it's still a fun thing to play with.

And in this holiday season, nalidoll provides a valuable public service: The 2nd Annual BitchAway Cafe Holiday Edition. "This is a safe place to BitchAway about what is bothering you. Rant, rave, throw a fit... whatever. Let loose with what's eating at you. No worries about it cluttering up your journal, just come on in and leave it behind here..."

In the news

Via rsschristdot:

BOSTON (AP) -- The "crazy, crazy Jewish fun" of Kosherland looks a lot like the board game Candy Land, except gefilte fishing substitutes for visits to the Ice Cream Sea.

In Catholic-opoly, like Monopoly, the job is to bankrupt your opponents. The difference is it's done "in a nice, fun way."

And role-playing can get pretty realistic with the Biblical Action Figure of Job, which comes complete with boils.

Maybe it's just me, but some of the games described in the article do sound kinda fun.

In other news, "Lawmakers have drawn up a resolution naming Jesus Christ as the honorary king of Poland, but have failed to win support from the country’s powerful Roman Catholic church."

delish_fractal brings us Christmas Science, featuring useful links like the NORAD Santa tracking page and the science of Santa.

Something to do when you're bored at Christmas: Construct complex fractals out of light using a few shiny Christmas tree ornaments. Pretty!

Via rssworldmag: "A Commack School District bus driver says he nearly lost his job because he refused to take off his Santa Claus cap while driving his route... Mott said he was told that a parent of a child complained to the district about Mott's headgear, saying that the child doesn't believe in Santa Claus and was bothered by the hat."

Via almost everybody: The title of the next Harry Potter book has been revealed! It is ( behind the cut, for those who don't want to know. )

And ten zillion fans are already complaining about the title and wondering what impact it will have on the epic Snape slashfic they're in the midst of writing.

From bbc_scitech: "A Japanese man has survived for 24 days in cold weather and without food and water by falling into a state of "hibernation", his doctor has said." Another version of the story here.

Woman with two wombs gives birth to triplets. Or, depending on how you look at it, twins and a singleton all at the same time. This is what I'm wondering: What are that woman's menstrual periods like?

Also from the BBC: "Robots could one day demand the same citizen's rights as humans, according to a study by the British government." I wonder what MegaHAL thinks of that idea?

From endicottstudio, we get Yuletide Goblins of Iceland. So cute!