Hark, it is Banned Books Week! Librarians, unite and defeat the forces of stupidity and narrow-mindedness! Take heart from those superheroes who have done battle in courtrooms (and are now part of a nifty library exhibition)! Join forces with the Evil Librarian Supervillain (hey, even supervillains are anti-censorship; check out the post on the banned books)! Battle the corruption even if it comes from within, for not even libraries are havens of effective leadership! (I know, it's shocking. Take a deep breath.)
If you're still up for battle after taking on the book banners, try taking on the endless march of technological progress as it makes older systems obsolete and their materials irretrievable. This is a major concern among archivists. I think programmers and technicians who speak old technology languages will be in big demand sooner rather than later.
Today I am actually pointing you toward places I've been! In person! Well, most of them, anyway. I haven't been to Los Angeles, where ShriekFest is getting underway, but October is almost here and I'm gearing up for the spooky posts.
It's also time for corn mazes and apple picking, and last week we were at the Cold Hollow Cider Mill way up in Vermont. Their cider donuts are freaking amazing.
The Brooklyn Botanical Garden is another place I've visited, and this weekend they're having the 2010 Chile Pepper Fiesta! I am intrigued by the mention of the "ghost pepper."
And lastly, back to the spooky and the ethereal. Check out these Crucifairies.
Administrative note: The Steampunk Librarian (aka Tuesday's postings) has moved to Typepad for the time being. I'm not sure yet if this is a permanent move, but that's where it is for now!
I had not heard of Strowlers until now. (I thought perhaps they were all-terrain strollers.) They are most definitely here and out in public, and are even throwing the first StrowlerCon later this fall in Boston!
And finally, if you're in the area, be sure to check out Cirque Acirca's mural as it's being created this week in Grand Rapids. It's part of the 2010 ArtPrize competition, so you can also vote and support steampunk-loving artists and entertainers!
From Tim: Watching someone use a computer. As Tim said, any public librarian can relate to this. (Librarians in other institutions may as well -- I know I do!)
Administrative note: Right after disappearing for a few days, we're going to disappear for a few more days. Irritating, isn't it? But we have a week off, and while I may update throughout the week, it'll probably be sparse. (Also, Vox is shutting down at the end of the month, so I have to move the Steampunk Librarian to new digs. Fun!) Regular posting should resume on Monday the 27th!
I am warning everyone about National Punctuation Day a week in advance, so everyone can properly prepare his or her verbiage.
A post at the New York Public Library's weblog brought back some great memories of a series I read when I was a kid. (I remember reading the one mentioning the Sputnik launch in particular.)
Hi there! I am easing back into the swing of things kind of slowly here. Fortunately, for those of you raring to go and explore, there's a lot of festivities this weekend.
For the nomads: I don't know if the U.S. has any Cineroleums yet, but it's definitely something that needs to happen, especially in cities like Detroit and Cleveland. The UK version is already sold out for weeks, it seems!
Hi there. Folderol will be taking tomorrow off and possibly Monday as well, as I am going under the knife tomorrow morning and can't be held responsible for what I post while on anesthesia and/or painkillers. (If you like medical terminology, this is the best description I could find of what's happening tomorrow; it's part 459786 of my exciting adventures in dentistry.) So today is a mishmash of links from others and a few library-related things, too!
From Zazoo: RIP, Glenn Shadix, also known as Otho in Beetlejuice and the minister in Heathers.
It's time once again to feature a book for those interested in steampunk! No giveaway contest this time, unfortunately. I wish there was, because this book is terrific! Many thanks to Pyr for giving me the chance to read an advance copy.
Beyond the gears and the goggles, most people interested in steampunk (or neoVictorianism, or any of a dozen similar labels) will say that what fascinates them about the Victorian era is the sense of unbridled possibility. Explorers, inventors, writers and architects alike were dreaming of new places, new machines, and new ways of living. All this was taking place amidst cities full of poor and middle-class workers who had no hope of upgrading their stations in life. It's the conflict between dirt and aether, exploration and exploitation, that makes the world of the Victorians intriguing.
In the middle of this place and time -- London, 1861, to be exact -- Mark Hodder places explorer Richard Burton and poet Algernon Swinburne as the protagonists of a wonderful tale. It begins as one would expect a normal story involving Burton to begin, with him planning to debate John Speke at the Royal Geographical Society...but then there is violence and chaos, and Burton takes the atmospheric railway home and receives a message by greyhound which...
Wait, what?
In The Strange Affair of Spring-Heeled Jack, Hodder has combined what never happened with what did take place, to wonderful effect. Isambard Kingdom Brunel's atmospheric railway has sprung to life, as have political groups of Eugenicists, Libertines, Rakes and Engineers. Lord Palmerston (still alive? Yes!) asks Burton to help his country in investigating peculiar occurrences involving a creature they call Spring-Heeled Jack. Burton's detective work leads him into a twisted web of methodical plans and overreaching accidents going back to the assassination attempt on Queen Victoria in 1840. Along the way, readers encounter Oscar Wilde, Florence Nightingale, Charles Darwin, Paul Gustave Dore, and many more characters -- some known to us through history, some lost to us, and some reimagined in ways never dreamed of before now.
In Burton & Swinburne in The Strange Affair of Spring-Heeled Jack, Mark Hodder has created a world which manages to be fantastical and yet entirely believable. Burton and Swinburne make an excellent (if somewhat unpredictable) team, and the story is nonstop action. Anyone who knows their Victorian history will have a superb time finding the inside jokes and references to the characters, and even those who think Richard Burton is the actor who married Elizabeth Taylor can jump into this book and go along for the ride without needing any background information. The Fortean explorers in the reading audience can also come along and discover an entirely new (and, possibly, even plausible?) explanation for the phenomenon that came to be called Spring Heeled Jack. I hear that this is the beginning of a series; I certainly hope so, because it's a great read and I recommend it without hesitation.
Librarians and mythology, as presented by Shelf Check, is right on target. Sometimes I think Sisyphus should be an honorary patron saint or bodhisattva or something.
Happy September! I've been reading about the Carrington Event, which took place on this dayback in 1859, and wondering what would happen if something similar happened in modern times. Would computers catch on fire like the telegraph machines did?
Anyway, on to more cheerful stuff. This is a holiday weekend here in the US, which means an embarrassment of festivals and conventions. It's time for DragonCon and Burning Man and many, many fireworks displays, including our local insanity on the river. Go out and be festive this weekend, wherever you are!
