The Monday Briefing: This party will be the bees' knees

PICK OF THE WEEK: It's time to get down to bees-ness at the Pollinator Party, a gathering to pay homage to all things bee-related — including honey ice cream. Experts will be on hand to explain the crucial role that bees play in the production of fruits, vegetables and flowers. There also will be kids games, food and music. The fest takes place from 5 to 8 p.m. Thursday at Lyndale Park Gardens (think: Lake Harriet Rose Garden). Admission is free. Bee there or bee square. (tinyurl.com/jfv2lde)

Cheat sheet: An announcement that the Japanese company Funai Electric is going to quit making VCRs at the end of the month was a huge surprise. The surprise, of course, is that anyone is still making VCRs. It turns out that several other things we thought were long gone also remain in production.

• Instant cameras — although the expectations connected to "instant" have changed, and now waiting 60 seconds for the picture to develop seems quaint.

• Boomboxes with cassette tape players (someone's still making cassette tapes?) — why slip a smartphone in your pocket when you can lug around an entire sound system?

• Dial-up modems — if you think the Pokemon Go server is slow now, try playing at 56K.

Day by day: Friday is national Geek Day. OK, technically it's national System Administrator Appreciation Day — those are the folks in IT — but it means the same thing. So go out and hug a geek.

LIFE HACK: If the drink holders in your car get gunked up, line them with cupcake wrappers. Cleaning becomes a matter of scooping up the wrapper and throwing it away.