Sit & Spin

Hey submit works! submit whatever you want I'm still working on the theme :-) If you have a hard time talking about stuff, I could even do my best to turn rough outlines into little articles. This is for the information sharing :> <3 I can also post anything formatted exactly how you submitted it. everything is okay, this is an autistic resource so I'm sure no one will be anything but delighted.

[wispini]

Lace Making!!

submitted by @biteybatsupremacy Lace making!! There are so many different types of lace, but as of yet I’ve only been able to try bobbin lace and tatting.

Bobbin Lace

Bobbin lace can be used for many different types of things, some examples being doilies, edging, and a lot more!!

The bobbins for bobbin lace are not at all like the bobbins for a sewing machine. Instead, they are normally round wooden rods with grooves cut into them.

There are lots of different types of bobbins, some being square, some expanding then tapering at the end, and some having rings of beads on the ends to weigh them down.

Bobbin lace is made by sticking pins into foam cushions, draping bobbing over them, then using the bobbins to make different stitches and the pins to hold them in place.

There are different typed of foam pillows, some of the more popular ones being a cookie pillow (just a round dome), one where it has interchangeable foam blocks so your work always stays in the middle, and a roller pillow (a foam roller set into a base).

The roller pillows are normally used for longer projects, such as edging.

Tatting

Tatting has historically been used for thing such as aprons and other everyday wear, but you can also make things like doilies, edging of course, and even things like daisies!

In the past, most people who tatted did so so that they could have something to do to make them look… craftier? better? I’m not sure how too put it. Either way, it was mostly just for show, but I find it really fun!

There are two types of tatting, needle and shuttle. 

For shuttle tatting, you have a small shuttle with string wound on it, then you take a loop of thread in your other hand and make stitches on it, then tightening to make a ring.

For needle tatting, you thread a length of thread through the needle, hold it in a loop with your hand, make those same stitches for shuttle tatting on the needle, then slide it off and tighten to make a ring.

I prefer needle tatting because the motions are easier for me to do.

Another technique in tatting is making picots, which are essentially small loops used either for decoration or to connect the rings. 

Picots are made by leaving space between your stitches.  

Needle Lace

Needle lace is where you make a border out of a thicker thread, and then use your thread and a needle too make a sort of net within the borders.

You can use different knots and patterns to make it look different.

Battenberg Lace

Battenberg lace is a type of lace where first you sew down the “lace tape”, sort of like a ribbon, and then you use that as a starting point for your lace, similar to needle lace.

Battenberg lace is named after the Battenberg family.

[wispini]

Axolotls!!

Submitted by @biteybatsupremacy (whose blog heading is extremely appropriate)

Axolotls are a type of amphibian, related to the tiger salamander, and a salamander themselves! What’s special about them is that they never undergo metamorphosis, leaving them in the water.

They come in a lot of different colors, the most common being greyish green, I think, but the most popularly represented being a cream/white for the body, and a light pink for the external gills, which look sort of like branches of vines sticking out of their heads.

They were named after Xolotl, the Aztec god of death. They were also eaten in Aztec culture.

Their only natural habitat is Lake Xotchimilco in Mexico, but they’re also kept as pets all over, and are really commonly used in scientific research because they have amazing regeneration capabilities. They can regenerate pretty much any part of themselves, from the spine to the brain.

They’re also considered critically endangered, seeing as the population in the wild has been rapidly declining from 1998, from 6,000 per square km to 100 per square km in 2008. A recent survey found no remaining wild axolotls, however two were spotted in the wild.

Cities nearby have been trying to help by creating small axolotl shelters in the rivers and the lake, to protect them from stuff like invasive predators, which have been a problem.

I have a whole PowerPoint on how to care for them, and another on them in general, but here’s the basics.

Axolotls are very easygoing pets.

Feed them stuff like worms and shrimp.

Never use nets to catch them.

They need to stay in the water.

They need decently big tanks and water filters.

They cost around twenty dollars.

[wispini]

This is really short but here are some facts about megalovania!

submitted by @omegasmileyface

It isn’t originally from Undertale, Toby Fox wrote it for the Earthbound Halloween Hack

After that, it was in Mother: Cognant Dissonance as well as Homestuck ([S] Wake.)

Before, it was capitalized as “MeGaLoVania”, but in UT it is capitalized as “MEGALOVANIA”

The name is a combination of “megalomania” (an obsession with gaining power) and “Transylvania”, since it’s inspired a song called Megalomania

Aside from the soundfonts and number of repetitions of phrases, the main difference between versions is the opening chord progression… In Undertale it goes down four times, but in the other versions it stays for the first two, then goes down

[wispini]

neopets

submitted by @maladots

you’re not allowed to mention alcohol on neopets now but you used to be able to buy Neowine

there’s a game called word pyramid where you can buy vowels just like on wheel of fortune!

the British origins of the site cause spellings such as colour and defence to be set in stone even after the site moved

there’s a neopet that was created basically just so they could have a neopet for each letter

you used to be able to link a mobile device to neopets to go to a tropical world called Lutari Island where you could get the exclusive Lutari (an otter Neopet)

they had to make neopets standardized in poses between different colours (conversion) so since the conversion, unconverted pets in the original poses have been sought after

there’s a fanfiction/fancomic/ask the creators section called the Neopian Times, and sometimes it gets really meta

they once “released” 50 new neopets for april 1

there’s a PS2 video game called the Darkest Faerie that is just the greatest, it went alone with a puzzle plot about an ancient greek-ish city that was hidden for 2000 years or something, good times

there was even a trading card game made by the creators of magic and an official magazine by beckett

[wispini]

just some fragments

Submitted by bloopbloopanon (they were anonymous but had a handle still)

the deep sea!! is so cool!!

1. theres some kinds of coral that have silicon skeletons that when they wear away theres a glass skeleton left

2. theres this kind of shrimp! they live inside of the glass skeletons and they are also clear and the webbing of the skeleton is tightly knit so the baby shrimp can fit through but not adults. so when the shrimp are still really tiny they find a mate and a skeleton and together they go into their new home and they eat nothing but microorganisms and algae and stuff of it and then they just never leave. if they did leave they would die anyways. they find their spouse and then go to their pretty little cage and then they have babies once they grow up and those babies find mates and then go into their own cages… thats just so wild! in some asain cultures that kind of coral skeleton is a gift of eternal love because like… they just hang out together… and die

3. there are lakes at the bottom of the ocean!! they literally look like lakes. like the unrealistic lakes that are prolly somewhere in spongebob. its because its suuuuper salty! the saltwater is heavier than the less salty saltwater so it sinks to the bottom and its so concentrated that it’s visible and you can even see the ripples. but its so salty that if something goes into it then it dies because its so concentrated they dehydrate surrounded by miles of water! (except for some very tiny things, but people dont really know because its hard to tell whats in there) so there is dead stuff in undersea lakes that is preserved by the salt for like ever. the only  reason why there arent more corpses anywhere else is because of the great decomposing system. without critters its just like… salty graveyard. until some of them wash up onto the “shore”, which is why there are eels and stuff that live around these lakes! and eat the stuff that tried to go eat the other corpses. but if they get too close to it trying to eat something… in a matter of a minute or so they die too. 

4. there are bubbles that travel miles and miles! very very deep where stuff decomposes (usually stuff eats it but there are still some vats that are created full of matter) it creates methane that builds up underneath the silt. so all of the sudden randomly theres a hugeass bubble that breaks through the sand! but its very very very deep there, like HELLA fucking deep, but the bubble is a bubble so like bubbles do they rise… which is like SO far and bubbles move FAST man but even at that it takes a considerable amount of time for them to reach the top!! 

5. google search sea slug you will never be dissapointed

[wispini]

Power Chords!

by @otto-von-stirlitz

For a few months, I’ve been really into playing ukulele, but only today I learned what power chords are. They’re not even chords at all, bc it’s only the 1st and the 5th sound (of a scale) that create the perfect 5th together. Unlike regular chords, which usually have the 3rd that determines if its a major or minor chord. So “power chords” leave it ambiguous. They are often used in rock and metal music, but as i learned trying to play her songs, Mitski (my fav singer-songwriter rn) also uses them quite often!

(IDK if it’s too short, I could go fully into the music theory bc its super interesting but i dont have time today. i’ll sure drop in with more music-related trivia in the future)

[wispini]

Song cycle

Submitted by @annedekker99

I had no idea what musical theatre related topic I should talk about, but people on youtube are confused about this sometimes.

There is a seperate genre of musical theatre called song cycles. This includes shows like “songs for a new world” by Jason Robert Brown, “Edges” by Pasek and Paul and “35mm” by Ryan Scott Oliver. These are shows that exist of a bunch of songs that each tell their own little story instead of them all connecting into one story like most musicals. Sometimes these songs have a theme in “35mm” for instance are all the songs based on photographs and “edges” is about moments where the characters life changes, but that’s all there is to connect the stories.

[wispini]

Can I infodump about hyperfixations? I'm not autistic but I have OCD, possibly ADHD and a lot of hyperfixations that I know a heck of a lot about.

Yes absolutely!! I often unintentionally lump hyperfixations in with special interests, but yes of course both :-)

[wispini]

Thank you for all the wonderful information I'm so hapy :>

[wispini]

Fusions of Rap and Rock/Metal

Submitted by @friezan-is-tired

I’ve actually been working on a theory for a bit about the trends that rap rock/metal follows as the genre progresses, so I’m going to go through the history of the genre.

In 1968, before the dawn of rap, Eric Burdon and The Animals released the song “Year of the Guru”, a rock song featuring rap-style vocals.

Skipping ahead, the 1980’s saw multiple acts fusing rap with rock. Artists like Run-D.M.C., Lone Rager, Beastie Boys, and even KISS released songs that bridged the gap. However, the true breakthrough was 1986’s Walk This Way by Run-D.M.C. and Aerosmith, which was a remake of the latter’s song of the same name. The song starts with Aerosmith’s instrumentation, but features Run-D.M.C. rapping the verses, with the singer of Aerosmith joining on the choruses. This opened the door to collaboration and shameless fusion of the two styles.

The 1990’s saw the rise of rap metal, with bands like Rage Against The Machine and Limp Bizkit ushering in a new age. Then, in 1998, KoRn released their album Follow The Leader. Regarded as the first true nu metal album, Follow The Leader changed the world of rap rock permanently.

In the 2000’s, nu metal (which I adore) was a huge sensation, with bands like KoRn, Linkin Park, and Disturbed at the front of it all. Go listen to Hybrid Theory. Towards the end of the 00’s, nu metal had fallen off in popularity, though remained a strong force in the underground. Around 2007-2008, a new genre was born: crunkcore. Born from the recent wave of pop punk that combined traditional sounds with electronic elements, crunkcore was a fusion of rap/crunk and punk music (rapcore also had a brief stint around this time.) Crunkcore quickly fell off in popularity as well, with less remaining success than nu metal has had.

And now, to the 2010’s. Around 2014, there was a brief nu metal revival, with albums like Linkin Park’s The Hunting Party, as well as bands like Suicide Silence and Emmure using nu metal elements in their music. Finally, in 2017, a new genre broke the surface: nu metalcore. Nu metalcore has been around since 2002, with the release of Demon Hunter’s self-titled album. However, only recently has it become popular with bands like Motionless In White, Of Mice And Men, and King 810.

Finally, here is my playlist of the history of rap rock/metal. Thanks for reading!

[wispini]

A Bunch of Random Stuff About the Beatles

Submitted by @sirenthestone

In no particular order

Ringo Starr is the oldest, followed by John Lennon, then Paul McCartney, and George Harrison was the youngest

Ringo played drums, John was rhythm guitar, Paul was the bassist, and George was lead guitar.

The drummer before Ringo was named Pete Best

Ringo's real name is Richard Starkey

Ringo played for Rory and the Hurricanes before joining the Beatles. He wore a pink suit for that, which is amazing.

People got pretty mad when Pete Best was replaced. George got a black eye over it.

Apparently people called Ringo the "Baby Beatle," cuz he was newest in the band and the shortest.

Ringo was a sickly kid who spent a lot of time in the hospital.

The first time they went to record while they had Ringo, the producer had brought in a session drummer and refused to switch.

The producer's name was George Martin

The Beatles' first manager was named Brian Epstein.

Brian died of drug overdose while intoxicated.

It was Brian's idea for them to wear suits while playing. Before, they wore leather.

Paul was the one who least minded the costume change.

Several movies were made with/about the Beatles.

In order, they are: A Hard Day's Night, Help!, Magical Mystery Tour, Yellow Submarine, and Let it be.

Yellow Submarine is animated; the rest are live action.

The Beatles movies are all fairly surreal, though Yellow Submarine is able to take it a little farther due to being animated

It took five days of work to get the song Maxwell's Silver Hammer perfect to Paul's standards

Whenever he noticed the rest if the band was feeling down or thinking they weren't doing well, John would say, "Where are we going fellas?" And everyone would reply, "To the top, Johnny! To the top!" John'd reply, "Where's that fellas?" And the rest would say, "To the toppermost of the poppermost!"

John and Paul were the main songwriters, especially early on, but both George and Ringo wrote some good ones as well.

George wrote Taxman and Here Comes the Sun, among others.

George also helped Ringo write Octopus's Garden

During the recording of the White Album, everyone was pretty frustrated. John and George were annoyed by Paul's perfectionism, while Paul and George were tired of John always bringing Yoko around. Ringo didnt really fight with the others during that time.

Yoko Ono is actually a really good artist. People tend to overlook that and blame her for the Beatles breaking up.

After the split, the four of them had solo careers that produced wildly different music.

John Lennon was shot on December 8, 1980

George Harrison died of lung cancer

Ringo and Paul are still alive and making music, and it's still very different from what they'd made as the Beatles.

[wispini]

Can I just....dump about sharks and rays here? They're so good imo...

Yes please do

Submitted by @ramen-noodle-cat

Have you ever seen a shark egg? Many of them are little poaches that get called mermaid purses!! Imo they look like weird little Capri Suns. Portable shark pouches.

Some sharks tho, they lay eggs that are a corkscrew shape so they can be wedged between rocks and be safe while they incubate!

Great whites are typically loners, but when big groups get together to mate or feed, scientists have seen them use body language to communicate! They have a specific posture that they use to acknowledge each other and their personal space as a way of keeping the peace.

And thresher sharks! If you've never seen one...please. do yourself a favor and Google them. They look so anxious. Their tails are huge and they use them like a whip to stun fish and make them easier to catch.

Whale sharks are the biggest fish alive today, but they eat some of the smallest critters! They're also surprisingly fast!

And man

[wispini]

can we infodump about music and bands? i know way too much about panic at the disco, but idk if this is the place to infodump that (people in my class have made the mistake of getting me started on it recently)

YES absolutely seriously literally anything lmao. <3 I know that y'all probably think that your spin is too goofy or obscure and not what I'm looking for but all the things people have asked about being okay I've immediately gotten really excited about, this one included :> Obscure and not widely known knowledge is ALWAYS cool. Of course, I am the kind of person who answers "documentary" when asked what her favorite movie genre is. ;P

[wispini]

If a special interest is a show, can we still info dump about it? Maybe if we tag spoilers?

You can! but good caution hmmmm, I will think of something, maybe a pair of tags for every movie eg. Cloverfield and Cloverfield No-Spoilers. But yes absolutely you can infodump about shows!

[wispini]

Do we need to wait to submit until it's all set up, or can we go ahead and start now?

You can submit away right now, the amount of content doesn’t make setting up any harder. actually it might make it easier/more obvious :P

[wispini]

Can we infodump if it's less like an article and more like a tidbit?

Yeah absolutely ! :>

[wispini]

ooh i love the idea of this!! can we infodump if our special interest is an imagined world too? (either way ill still be back for a lecture on either paganism or neuroscience ^x^)

Yeah absolutely! it’ll be searchable by tags relating to the world in question, the author/contributor, what topics it’s related to. I’ll also have tags like Geology, but also Tangential Geology depending on how heavily a given topic is featured and everything in Geology would also show up in Tangential Geologyso you can search by how restrictively on that topic it has to be :>