Excuses: Easter, holiday, essays, deadlines, colds…
But never mind the excuses, there is fun for Friday! [Except that I managed to forget to press ‘publish’ on this, having written most of it a week last Tuesday, so here it is a week late!!]

It may only have been a four day week , but I’m sure fun would be much appreciated!

Firstly, transport related fun:
A French architect has made it his mission to make all transit maps look the same – the idea being that if they use the same design, they’re easier to follow if you’re not a local. Nice idea, but it does destroy the beauty of London’s map:

Abandoned stations are always fun, even when they’re not in London. Take these examples from Barcelona – complete with the story of how the photos came to be taken; what the history of the stations is; and what has happened in their abandoned platforms and tunnels ever since. Hunting out abandoned stations can be an extreme pursuit and not necessarily legal…

Next, another of those nerdy projects involving the mapping of data. Gosh I love pretty data mapping! This time, it’s a visualisation of the most popular rush hour destinations (and the relationships with the journey’s origin) via Oyster card data:

It’s another project from UCL, and the researcher’s blog allows you to switch from annotated to non-annotated versions of the map. (Plus, a detailed explanation of how they did it for those that are interested!)

Secondly, animal and food related fun:
Who doesn’t want to see a tiny hamster eating a tiny burrito? [Warning: you will have severe burrito cravings having watched this, especially if you haven’t eaten lunch yet.]

(A tiny hamster eating pizza video has recently appeared, but I think the burrito one is superior.)

Thirdly, amusing children:
It’s always interesting to observe children’s reactions to things – especially to things of the past (or perhaps that’s just because I’m a history geek?). A recent joyful discovery has been the “Kids react to…” series on YouTube. The premise is simple: a group of kids (ranging in age from pre-schoolers to teenagers) are given an object or shown a video and their reactions are filmed. I discovered it via “Kids react to a Walkman” – in turns hilarious and terrifying as children try to work out not just how it works but what on earth it does in the first place.

Similarly, “Kids react to a rotary phone” was jointly painful and funny. There’s a whole wealth of these videos, including specific “Teens react…” and “Elders react…” series. A lot of time-wasting opportunities there!

Hopefully a more regular blogging service will resume next week as, after tomorrow, I will have completed ALL of the work needed for my Vicar School degree! Freedom!!