Here's a fun happy thing. I've known the Dark Side of the Net since ye olde days when I was reading alt.gothic by candlelight on a dial-up modem, so I am awfully thrilled to be cited as one of 13 seriously cool steampunk sites in a recent entry there! Thanks, Carrie!
How can you resist performers who go by the moniker of Absinthe Minded Professors? What if I added that there's a violin and dark storytelling involved?
And lastly...I've been featuring many links related to treasure hunts lately. Planet Slade has a wonderful recounting of the treasure hunt mania that took over much of England in the early 1900s.
The galley of the Metronomicon, on the other hand, reimagines subway travel as something rather spooky.
The Smithsonian American Art Museum begins an online gaming experience in a few weeks. Even if you're not in the DC area, you can participate in Pheon. I'm intrigued.
And lastly, Better Book Titles are just what they say they are. (Language gets a little strong in several of them, but hey, sometimes books need to be described in strong language.)
* Blogger tells me that "reimagine" is not a word, but Merriam-Webster says it is. So there.
The Grimm Brothers Brewhouse is open in Loveland, Colorado, and features brews based on fairy tales. It's brand new, so go support it if you're anywhere near there.
The (Armchair) Treasure Club focuses on hidden stashes like Clock Without a Face or Masquerade. It looks like it's mostly UK-based, but that doesn't mean you can't participate!
Hammacher Schlemmer, although always on the side of the overpriced, gets the terminology right with their "Victorian Futurist's Monorail" set. Great fun for both steampunks and those who dislike the steampunk label!
Finally, something just for fun that I ran across earlier in the week: The Baseball Project, devoted to songs about baseball history by musicians like Steve Wynn and Peter Buck. Excellent stuff!
The good people of Unshelved are having the last ever Pimp My Bookcart contest (well, the last one overseen by them), so go and enter and have a look around!
Tweets Of Old is a great idea for those of us into history and journalism - random snippets from old papers. I sent the one about saucy squirrels to lots of people; all of them responded with a bemused silence. Ha.
This Wednesday brings another assortment of escapism-related links, most of which landed in the UK area for some reason. Great Britain must be the place to go in August.
In Manchester, the First Backwards Running Championship takes place this weekend! Fun facts are included on the website. I hope they provide bandages and ice, too.
In London, meanwhile, they're mad for ping-pong. There are a hundred tables around the city, and this is the final week for you to start a pickup game with random strangers!
In Wales, however, they're on the hunt for witches. Seriously. Um, wow?
The Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, DC has an exhibit on the way the ocean was seen back in seafaring days of yore; possibly a good excursion on a really hot, dry day. (Even if you're not in the DC area, there's lots of stuff to look at via the online exhibit.)
And finally, in Berlin this weekend, they're sticking it to the man. Woo! (Link possibly not quite safe for work, depending on the workplace and their views on sticking it to the man.)
As you can see by the weekend post, we had our giveaway for Johannes Cabal The Detective! Congrats to The Faustian Man, -F- and K. Kidder on winning copies (and psst, K. Kidder, send me your mailing address -- I've heard from the other two already). Many thanks to everyone who participated and spread the word, and we will hopefully have another giveaway for you next month!
DragonCon is only two weeks away. I won't be there, but I am envious of all who will be, and of the alternate history/steampunky track the organizers have planned. Take lots of photos, everyone!
The BBC is running (or has run? It's hard to tell) a series on Victorian pharmacies. Looks intriguing. Over here on this side of the pond, the always-manic Adult Swim people have crafted a frenetic "Victorian BMX" online game for those of you who love steampunk and, um, dirt biking. I'm sure some of you are out there.
Sometimes I find links and save them up for posts, usually with annotations so I can remember why I saved them. This post by the Steampunk Scholar has the description "teaching steampunk lit - fantastic." That sums it up, I think.
For the rest of Monday's links, we look at the past, present and future.
Past: The International Dunhuang Project seeks to centralize the amazing materials of the Silk Road - manuscripts, drawings, paintings, etc - in one digital location. It's amazing.
Have a spiffy weekend, everyone! Check back for a special video update (provided the stars align correctly) in which the winners of the book giveaway contest are announced.
I had heard about the book avalanche at Indiana State University, but didn't have a good link to the story until Julie sent me one. Many thanks, Julie! (I looked for a link to the scene from "The Mummy" where this happens, but didn't find it.)
Genealogists know the aggravation of trying to do research in states where county boundaries are always changing. The Newberry Library has the answer: an Atlas of Historical County Boundaries. I just looked up my own county and apparently it once stretched all the way to what is now eastern Michigan!
Tomorrow: links from others! Also the last chance to enter the contest for a copy of JohannesCabal The Detective. Stay tuned.
First I showed you the book cover, then I showed you a map of where the book's action takes place, and now I am providing an excerpt from the book itself! The book is Johannes Cabal The Detective by Jonathan L. Howard, and we have multiple copies to give away. The deadline for entering the contest is this Friday at 5 pm (Eastern Standard/Daylight/whatever Time), and you can enter by posting a comment either on the Steampunk Librarian or on the Steampunk Empire, depending on your views on libraries and empires.
(If all goes well, the drawing will be filmed Friday evening, much like I threatened hinted at the last time we had a giveaway, and perhaps your name will be among those announced by a disgruntled steampunk puppet. How can you resist?)
Those of you who know your '80s music may remember Julian Cope. His wife Dorian has a site of her own called On This Deity, which discusses people throughout history whom the mainstream has forgotten. It's absolutely fascinating stuff.
And finally, since I have been badgering people with this all week, I give you a 1995 cover of Oasis's "Wonderwall." (We think Meet Cleaver Theatre should branch out into music videos.) Have a spiffy weekend, everyone! See you Monday.
Also for law librarians: the Library of Congress has a new weblog for us, called In Custodia Legis.
In other library news, the Human Library (mentioned several times previously here) has a spiffy website and has gone worldwide.
For public/academic librarians: If you have a copy of Revolutionary Voices in your library, don't get rid of it. (Via Emily at Shelf Check.)
PDFEscape is for users who don't have and/or don't want to deal with Acrobat. (The version of Acrobat I use at work likes to implode around 3 pm every day. I have no idea why. I am considering using PDFEscape in the afternoons as a workaround.)
And finally, something for the spooky and the offbeat! Burlesque Paraphenalia reprints one of the DeMoulin Bros. catalogs, which are fantastic and bizarre and should be (inter)national treasures. The site includes a 24-page excerpt you can download. I think I would love a Ferris Wheel Coaster Goat. (I mean, who wouldn't?)
This weekend brings the world's Largest Yard Sale, which now stretches from Michigan to Alabama! If you're anywhere near Route 127, I highly recommend finding your way there sometime this weekend. Not only are there treasures among the junk, there's also entertainment and homemade food and all sorts of surreal fun.
Also starting this weekend, Cincinnati begins the "Play Me, I'm Yours" art exhibit, where decorated pianos are strewn about the city and people are encouraged to play them. (They say that the pianos will be protected from the elements; as this is August in a river valley, that should be interesting to watch.)
Otherworldly travelers, take note (and try not to take offense) at the Periodic Table of Irrational Nonsense, covering all sorts of extrasensory and extraterrestial and extrastrange phenomena.
In hindsight, Cabal may have benefited from this steampunk RFID globe, which was on view at the Maker Faire in Dearborn over the weekend. (I have to get to a Maker Faire one of these days.) In related fair and convention news, a Wild Wild West con is scheduled for next spring in Tuscon!
J.J. Abrams is reported to be steering a cinematic adaptation of Boilerplate. Sounds like an intriguing combination. Over at the Film Cynics, meanwhile, top steampunk films are discussed; this is a different list than the kind I normally see, which makes it especially interesting.
Today's post is much abbreviated because I am on my way to see The National play in Columbus tonight. In the meantime, however, I bring you Jack Beltane's entry on "rock on rock" and encourage you to discuss and/or argue amongst yourselves! Back tomorrow!
