An As Seen on TV Weekly Link Round-Up

Have you ever thought about all those commercials (or as the British call 'em, "adverts") we see on television? I mean other than as a source of irritation. When I can, I make use of the fast forward button on the remote. If I can't, I concentrate on my knitting while all those businesses are trying to compel me to buy something I don't need.

But a few years back when one of our nieces was visiting from the UK, we were watching television, and it dawned on me that those commercials were probably telling Karen more about our country than I realized, so I began paying attention. Sure enough, if Karen believed the majority of those adverts, she'd come away with the idea that most Americans believe all their problems can be solved with blindingly white teeth and some sort of pill. That's a rather sobering thought.

Commercials have changed a bit during the intervening years. Yes, pharmaceutical companies are still telling us about their smorgasbord of miracle drugs (but don't pay attention to those "ambulance chaser" ads a year from now that say we're entitled to substantial compensation if we took those same drugs and almost died). So... we still seem focused on drugs, but we're not so intent on those perfect white teeth. Something else has moved up the charts to vie with pill popping. Now I wouldn't be surprised if Karen came for a visit, watched our adverts and thought all American women have leaky bladders. She might even look at me funny if I sneeze. Sheesh.

Another disturbing trend that I'm seeing more and more is commercials showing children throwing all sorts of things (usually their toys) in the toilet and flushing them away. Am I the only person who thinks that's weird? It never even occurred to me to put any toy of mine in the toilet because I knew nasty stuff went in there, and I didn't want to put my toys where the nasty stuff went. No matter how I try to figure that out, I just can't, so....

On that note, I'm heading out to the corral. These links I've been saving are a lot more fun than commercials any day. Head 'em up! Mooooooooove 'em out!

►Books, Movies & Other Interesting Tidbits◄

• This giant, breathtaking Game of Thrones tapestry weaves through the entire series. 
• How the silent book club gave Maggie Downs back her reading life. 
• What ancient languages sounded like. (How do they know?) 
• A new survey shows that Canadians still prefer print over digital.
• Bookstores are booming, and so is bookselling as a second career. 
• Lessons from a Victorian-Era cat dictionary.
• Sue Grafton from A to Z.
• Thanks to Trump, dystopian novels are popular again.
• Will the ruling in the ReDigi case open the door to a used eBook market?

►Channeling My Inner Indiana Jones◄

• Part of Henry VIII's birthplace has been discovered.
• A civilian team has found the wreck of the USS Indianapolis, sunk in 1945 with the loss of over 880 of its crew. I first heard about the Indianapolis when I went to see the film Jaws.
• A metal detectorist has found a rare sixth-century pendant. 
• A high-tech scan has revealed the secrets of an ancient painting.

►Channeling My Inner Elly Mae Clampett◄

• The big unsexy problem with tiger selfies. 
• Watch what happens when a lion startles a hippo. (And it had to be a young lion.)
• An elusive butterfly has been spotted in Scotland for the first time in 133 years.
• How insect poop could solve all our problems.
• Eleven eye-opening photos of birds just living their lives. 
• What humpback whales can teach us about compassion. 
• How Margaret Atwood and Graeme Gibson built a bird sanctuary. 
• Brighten your day with some sweet baby bird photos.

►The Happy Wanderer◄

• You can own Mark Twain's Connecticut farmhouse.
• There's an ongoing appeal to save Milton's Paradise Lost cottage.
• Retracing Willa Cather's steps in the south of France. 
• Visit the real-life Winterfell Castle for a Game of Thrones festival. 
• There's a campaign afoot to save South London's "stretcher fences." Find out why!

►Fascinating Folk◄

• Why George Guidall is the undisputed king of audiobooks.
• Novelist Hanya Yanagihara on living with 12,000 books.
• Fannie Farmer was the original Rachael Ray.

►I ♥ Lists & Quizzes◄

• Choose the correct word for each definition.
• Eight words and phrases we should use again. 
• The top ten twists in fiction list had me ordering a couple of the titles very, very quickly! 
• An existential reading list for your end times' crisis. 
• How well do you know literary friendships?
• Top ten books about tyrants.

That's all for this week! Don't forget to stop by next Friday when I'll be sharing a freshly selected batch of links for your surfing pleasure.

Have a great weekend, and read something fabulous!