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From 6:30 to 8 p.m. today, Meeting of Minds, the library’s discussion group, tells jokes.

There’s been a boatload of trying topics to navigate this year, so tonight, the posse will kick back and share some of their favorite jokes and anecdotes.

Which reminds me of a one-liner Bruce Campbell (my joke sensei) told me: What do you call a place where mediocre goods are made? A satisfactory.

Ba-da-boom!

Seriously, well, sorta, if you’ve got a good joke you would like to share, send me an email (john.clarkbooks@gmail.com) before 6 p.m., and I’ll make sure you get the Zoom invitation.

At 8 p.m. Thursday, join librarian Brad Allard in a game of Trivia Murder Party, a twisted battle of wits from the creators of You Don’t Know Jack.

In this game, battle for your life against a crazed, trivia-obsessed host. Answering these difficult questions correctly will get you points, but getting them wrong will force you to the Killing Floor, where you will play a mini-game for your survival. Even if you lose at the Killing Floor, your ghost can still win the overall game.

How fair is that? You can be a ghost and still win!

Up to eight people can play at a time, and others can be part of the audience.

You do not need to own the game. You will just need to have a device for using Zoom and a mobile device to answer questions. This program will take approximately one hour. The winner of each round will receive a gift card to the Daily Grind.

To register to play, go to the Clark County Public Library Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/clarkbooks, and click on the Events link. Scroll down the Event list to Trivia Murder Party. Click on the link, open the program description and then click on the link to the signup page. Fill out the signup form and click submit.

All you fans of Jeff Gurnee’s trivia tourneys should love this game. Sign up today.

Last week, I speculated a bee in my back yard was able to recognize me. I know that sounds daft, but it is actually true.

Here’s an excerpt from just one of many stories online about bee cognition:

“Common honey bees can be trained to recognize individual people, according to a paper published by Dr. Adrian Dyer in the Journal of Experimental Biology.

The training consisted of showing the bees a series of black-and-white pictures of human faces. The bees got tasty or sour rewards, depending on their performance. The face series is exactly the same one used by psychologists to test human memory.

It seems bees with brains 1/20,000th the size of humans are capable of many human cognitive skills.

The Science section of the New York Times for Tuesday, July 21, also contained a fascinating article entitled, “There are wasps in the yard. Better get to know them.”

Wasps, as it turns out, are not just malign critters. I have a trio of friendly wasps in my back yard who love to drink from the water that spills from my watering cans.

Try the library DVD “Bees: Tales from the Hive” (call No. DVD Documentary 595.79 Bees).

Using specially developed camera lenses, PBS Nova brings you the most intimate and spectacular portrayal of a working bee colony ever filmed.

We can learn a lot from bees about working for the benefit of our society.

Have a wonderful week and be a good do-bee.

Wear your mask. Keep your distance. Wash your hands.

 

John Maruskin is director of adult services at the Clark County Public Library. He can be reached at john.clarkbooks@gmail.com.