Friday, April 29, 2011

Happy Friday/British holiday/Save the Frogs Day/almost Beltane, everyone!

From Julie: Dorian Gray, uncensored! (When Julie first sent this to me I read it as "the uncensored picture of Dorian Gray" and started trying to visualize an uncensored portrait and, well...)

Also via Julie: click for musical immersion. Get ready!

Bunny sends in a story about an all-terrain version of his token animal, and also a gallery of amazing abandoned buildings in the former Yugoslavia.

From Cassandra: are humpback whales using astronomy to migrate? Maybe!

Have a spiffy weekend, everyone! See you next week.

Thursday, April 28, 2011

Delicious has been saved by the founders of YouTube! This should be interesting.

Librarians, listen up: have you told your origin story? I haven't yet, but I plan to, and I think everyone should participate.

Is it our moral imperative to create a universal library? After reading about the average user's research skills, and reading about how many newspaper archives are being ignored (or even destroyed), I'm thinking that perhaps it is.

For the historians: yet another big statue find in Egypt! It's amazing how much is under the sand.

Tomorrow: links from others! Feel free to send some my way!

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

True story: one day Bunny and I went into a house on our street which had been abandoned; people were taking furniture and other items out and told us to look around. The one item we took from the house was a videotape showing the Pasadena Doo Dah Parade from sometime in the 1990s. If you haven't heard of the parade yet, get to California this weekend and see it for yourself -- it's great!

Other festivities going on this weekend include the annual Blessing of the Bikes at St. John the Divine in New York City, a May Day Faerie Festival in Pennsylvania, and the observance of Beltane atop a hill in Edinburgh.

Oh, and there's something else going on in England this weekend, too, but it shouldn't be any big deal. Right?

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

When you think of plush animals, do you think "steampunk"? No? Well, neither did I, until I saw Etsy's latest challenge to its artists, and now I think a plush dirigible is probably one of the best things ever made.

When you think of tinkerers, you may think of steampunk. And that would be a good thing, because David Malki (of Wondermark fame) is posting the Tinkerers' Handbook this week!

How about fantastical creatures in the form of taxidermy? No? Well, Enrique Gomez de Molina creates them, and they're pretty amazing.

Retro gambling machines? It's only a matter of time until they appear on the scene. (Psst, Vegas, here's a concept for you.)

And finally, something truly having to do with steam: the King Edward II locomotive is up and running!

Monday, April 25, 2011

Even though I am somewhat more interested than the average American in the royal wedding, I scored miserably low on the BBC quiz. I got 1000 points, which puts me at "learned stablehand" status. Well then.

I like working in coffee shops; Bunny needs silence. The Atlantic discusses why he is so weird people work better in specific environments.

Sr. X likes working in outside environments, apparently. Great stuff here.

Brooklynphono is bringing vinyl back! Woot!

And finally, something I linked to long ago but just now rediscovered: Better Myths, a weblog which explains folklore and mythology with a lot of profanity and not much punctuation, to hilarious effect. Right now it's all Arthurian legends and Paradise Lost.

Friday, April 22, 2011

Okay then, we seem to be recovering from whatever malfunction hit our webhosts. Hopefully all will be well by next week. In the meantime, here's an abbreviated "links from others" post -- happy Friday!

Zazoo sends in a story about a feisty cat who swam across the New York Harbor (!) and also a CNN story on the world's biggest Pac-Man game, which lets users upload their own designs.

Thanks to the geek zodiac, we have established that our group of friends consists, for the most part, of wizards, robots, and adventure seekers. (Apparently I am a robot. You'd think I'd have bionic implants by now, at the very least.)

For those of us who love baseball but also like to mock: Where's Weems lists 25 unfortunate baseball profile graphics. Some of these guys should really suggest a retake.

Have a spiffy weekend/Earth Day/Easter, everyone! See you next week.

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

RIP, Sarah Jane. You were a wonderful role model for many a girl growing up in the '70s and '80s. (Tom Baker has posted a tribute to Lis Sladen, too -- thanks to Bunny for sending the link.)

[rest of this post deleted, because something has gone horribly wrong with malware. Updates soon.]

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

For the steampunk/neovictorians, some links. Also, get your contest skills ready, as we start book giveaways next week.

For art and literature enthusiasts: the Yellow Book and other gems of the 1890s are being digitized!

For inventors and maker types: can you identify hundred-year-old gadgetry? If so, the National Institute of Standards and Technology could use your help! The full collection is here.

For photographers and modern artists: the work of Jamie Baldridge is gorgeous. (Also possibly not safe for work, as sometimes there are people with not many clothes.)

For the philanthropists: consider sponsoring the Infernal Device artwork project, won't you?
Hi there. This post features what would be Monday's links; Tuesday's are on the way as well, and soon we will be back in the moment, so to speak.

It's creepy Easter Bunny season. Relive the trauma of your youth via Sketchy Bunnies!

An auction took place last week, but fortunately the artwork of Skeletor Saves! is still online for viewing. (Full index is here. Not all images are safe for work, probably.)

The highbrow-vs-lowbrow culture issue comes up occasionally when discussing libraries, but wait until the museums sink their teeth in the problem.

Is your favorite skyscraper in the Guardian's top ten list? I love the Chrysler Building, so I was happy.

And finally, if you kick in some money toward the funding of a film about artist Kenny Scharf (headed by his daughter Malia), you'll get some fun extras along with gratitude!

Monday, April 18, 2011

If it's spring, that must mean I'm fighting off a sinus infection. Possible updates later today, but for now I'm going back to bed. See you soon!

Friday, April 15, 2011

Happy Friday, everyone!

From Zazoo: An interview with our friend Jojo. See the documentary if you can!

From Bunny: If we had a kid, he/she would most likely do something just like this. And we'd be very proud.

From Cassandra: neuroscience and consciousness. Also, increasingly creepy Mexico news.

Baseball fun: Did you know that Teddy Roosevelt never wins the President races at Washington Nationals baseball games? This is a travesty! Let Teddy Win chronicles the madness. (JFK made an appearance at a recent race!)

And finally, for the gamer in your life: Donkey Kong Jenga. Looks tricky!

Have a spiffy weekend, everyone. See you next week.

Thursday, April 14, 2011

It's a mini-Links from Others Day, because it's National Library Week and people are sending me links! Many thanks to Zazoo for sending in the CNN story naming librarians as the masters of the universe.

Danny, meanwhile, sent in "how to own lots of books in a small apartment," hee.

Law library fun: the ABA Journal is hosting a Peeps gallery again. Topics range from Charlie Sheen to Justice Scalia's recent fender-bender.

Also, the Washington & Lee University law library has a Bozo the Clown punching bag for its students. Or, at least, it DID.

The New York Times still has its historic "on this day" feature available for free!

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Spring is finally showing up around here, and the festival events are getting friskier! We have RoboGames (formerly known as RobOlympics) in California, a Beach & Biker Fest in Texas (I especially like the wizard at the top of the page) and various loud airborne items in Louisville.

The festivals are a bit more rarefied in England this weekend, as the Cambridge Wordfest takes place. (Dawn French is one of the guests this year, though, so it might not be THAT rarefied.)

Here's a surprise: young women locked away from the world in convents (and punished for attending festivals) tended to act out. Heavens!

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

The Civil War began 150 years ago today. Librarian Bill Lucey has a great list of sites and occasions marking the event.

Many thanks to Julie for sending in this story about Enrique Gaspar, whose time traveling story was published seven years before the one by H.G. Wells. Let's have some steampunk tales featuring Gaspar!

Speaking of steampunk tales, Steampunkalooza continues over at the Age of Steam, with many great writers contributing their thoughts. (Many of the books discussed over there will be available for giveaway soon over here. Sir Reginald is cooking something up for the readers.)

Jess Nevins is writing about steampunk for io9, and you should be reading.

Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame is being labeled as "Chinese steampunk." The trailer, while not looking particularly steampunky to me, does look like a whole lot of fun, and I hope to see the entire film!

What would the Victorians think of the modern craze for steampunk? They'd probably try to pull all sorts of grand hoaxes, like Tim Maly's idea for a mysterious buried device.

And finally, one for the gamers: Steamfortress Victory may provide a pleasant diversion!

Monday, April 11, 2011

Have you voted for your favorite video game art yet? The Smithsonian Art Museum's exhibit doesn't go up until 2012, so there's still time!

A new biography of Edith Piaf delves into her stranger-than-fiction life.

Happy news -- lost works by Dr. Seuss have been rediscovered!

"The Record Books: music as literature" reimagines albums as book covers. I especially like "Purple Rain."

Continuing on with pop music, the History Teachers' YouTube channel is totally awesome, particularly if you are both a history geek and an '80s music lover. Naturally, I think it's genius.

Friday, April 08, 2011

Believe it or not, Folderol has maintained its tiny spot on the World Wide Web for 11 years this week. Eleven years! I can't believe it. Many thanks to everyone who has read, emailed, commented, or spread the word about my goofy daily blatherings. My life is much better for it; I hope it's been able to provide a bit of fun for others as well.

Happy dancing Friday time! Here's a flashmob of Irish dancing in an Australian train station, and here's a love letter to Toronto performed in peppy dance format.

As seen on John Scalzi's Whatever, there's a limited edition Tim Burton/Danny Elfman box set in production that looks beautifully spooky, if awfully spendy. Fortunately there's a website so we can just look at it and listen to bits.

From Bunny, a truly Spooky Librarian link:  "A 'zombie comic' created by an academic librarian to teach basic info literacy to incoming students." (PDF)

Also from Bunny via Travis: new computers are now available in Commodore 64 cases!

From Satori: A cartoon about the new Way Station bar in Brooklyn!

From Julie: music from space, healing a symbolic turtle in Vietnam, monkeys stealing sunglasses in London, and a look back at what people were complaining about in the 14th century. Possibly thieving monkeys, although that's not mentioned in the article.

A big topic of complaint right now in the U.S. is the possibly impending government shutdown. Fortunately, there's a website to tell you whether or not the museums and parks are closed. (Sheesh. Get it together, Washington.)

Have a safe and spiffy weekend, everyone! See you next week.

Thursday, April 07, 2011

Every now and then it's nice to just look at beautiful libraries. The Philosopher's Hall in the library of Strahov Monastery in Prague is now visible in 360-degree panorama vision, thanks to an ambitious photographer!

Back into the technology we jump, with news that Einstein's archives will be digitized (hooray) and that Facebook is serious about this "Questions" development (er...boo? Not sure how I feel about this one yet).

Civilian Wartime is a Twitter account and the brainchild of a brilliant historian. Each post links to blogs, essays, and the like, showing what the everyday people of the Civil War era were saying and thinking.

IHeartNYMuseums is also brilliant, because it gathers all the useful information on the city's museums (especially hours of operation) together in one handy place. Now that I'm going to New York on a fairly regular basis, information like this is becoming important!

Tomorrow: links from others, plus a bunch of fun links that have been accumulating all week. Get ready for wacky musical fun on Friday.

Wednesday, April 06, 2011

We don't care if it's still snowing in the Northern Hemisphere; it's spring, gosh darn it, and we will celebrate accordingly! We have festivals devoted to flowers -- azaleas in North Carolina, daffodils in Washington state -- and to spring in general, like Arizona's Spring Fling. There's also the 95th annual Oyster Bake Festival in San Antonio, Texas, and New York City finishes Tartan Week with a big parade full of bagpipes and kilts and whatnot.

(Meanwhile, on the other side of the globe, people who like to punish themselves will be running the Dead Sea Marathon. Eeek!)

Tuesday, April 05, 2011

My favorite new read is Sunday Magazine, which explores the New York Times of exactly one hundred years ago. New subway plans in one article, a woman's "experiment station" to automate housework in another -- how can one resist?

Steampunk is not dead, says the Boston Phoenix, as it reports on the Steampunk Industrial Revolution convention which took place over the weekend in New Hampshire. (Also, there are photos!)

Author Gail Carriger lists several wonderful sources for researching steampunk or historical writing.

When the World Cup goes to Qatar, there will be a "cloud" in the sky keeping the people in the stadium cool. A mechanized, remote-controlled cloud, that is. How steampunk does that sound?

And finally, not really steampunk at all but still having to do with the nature of time: Irina Werning recreates old photographs in a truly amazing way, using the same people and places and clothing and...it's jaw-dropping, really.

Monday, April 04, 2011

It's Poetry Month! Tattoosday is continuing its Tattooed Poets Project. Are you a poet? Are you tattooed? Let them know!

Artist Annie Wu now has her awesome punk Justice League art for sale as postcards. You need this.

Remember Wordle? Tagul is similar, but lets you choose different shapes and formats.

Plagiarism has always been with us, apparently. Even The Railway Children may be an example.

I was unsure whether I should post this "revival of the typewriters" story today or tomorrow, but decided that the topic is not necessarily steampunk. The lines are blurry, however!

Friday, April 01, 2011

Tor is having fun with April Fool's Day. I'd buy this, wouldn't you?

Also, for more April 1st fun, type "helvetica" into Google today and see what happens.

From the Graveworm: the New York Public Library is going to be the site of something amazing next month, and you can enter a contest to be part of it. (Library and gamer people will not be surprised to discover Jane McGonigal is behind the idea.) I SO wish I could do this!

From Cassandra: Ghost towns, debunking the chupacabras, and (via Chuck) the story of a Wicca TSA agent who got bullied out of her job, from the sounds of it.

From Julie: Reports from inside the Virgin Galactic spaceship! Also, reports from the UK Maker Faire in Newcastle, and the winner of the odd book title prize. I repeat the lead sentence because it's so much fun: "A book advising dentists on how to run their practices Mongolian warlord style wins the Diagram prize for oddest book title of the year."

Speaking of fun, here are gorgeous studio photos of our sword swallowing friends Alex and Charon with their Canadian Hairless cats Brundlefly and Cesare!

Have a spiffy and safe weekend, everyone! See you next week.