Friday, April 27, 2012

Happy Friday, everyone!

From Julie: The hidden secrets of dirty medieval books! No, literally dirty. And fascinating!

From Cassandra: Appalachia, even today, is a world apart.

From Bunny: TV for dogs?  

Also from Bunny: Sadako from The Ring throws out the first pitch at a baseball game in Tokyo. This is all kinds of awesome. American baseball should follow suit!

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

Thursday, April 26, 2012

Happy Preservation Week! Go and appreciate something historic.




Speaking of historic, the Library of Congress has unveiled a new digital exhibit of Frances Benjamin Johnson’s photo collection of gardens and historic homes. The photographs are even hand-colored. Nice gardening inspiration!



The LoC also looks back at the roller skating craze of the early 1900s. I especially like the pearls-clutching article about the fatalities.



If you’re going to the London Olympics this summer, be warned that you’re not supposed to tweet photos of the events, apparently. (Um, good luck with that, Olympic police.)



Wired has a list of books every geek should read to his/her children, along with a supplementary list sent in by (presumably geeky) readers. (Both lists are available as one PDF here.)

Wednesday, April 25, 2012


We are inching into 2012's wacky festival season!



First off, however, our local shebang that is the Steampunk Symposium got some good local press. It’s fantastic to watch a scene grow up around a city from scratch.



If you can’t make it to the symposium this weekend, there are other options:



-- The Doo Dah Parade traipses through the Pasadena streets!



-- The great Gathering of Nations Powwow convenes in New Mexico.



-- In the United Kingdom, they’re dressing up fancy and running through mud. Like you do.



-- In Austin, they’re celebrating Eeyore’s birthday with honey sandwiches and much more!



Tuesday, April 24, 2012

I jumped the gun last week; the Steampunk Symposium comes to life THIS weekend in Cincinnati! (You’d think I would know, living here and all, but it’s been hectic lately.)




From the makers of Skyrim comes Dishonored, a rather steampunky looking game. Color me intrigued.



For Alex: Teletweet allows tweeting via the use of Morse code!



Does anyone know what happened to the Steampunk Anarchist? There’s some wonderful material on the website, but it hasn’t been updated for a year or so.

Monday, April 23, 2012

Hi there. Today is an especially busy Monday, but I bring you a gem: Pop Culture Maths! Funny and fantastic. More soon!

Friday, April 20, 2012

Happy Friday! On to the links sent in by others (with many thanks).




From Brendan: is this steam engine made entirely from glass “anti-steampunk,” he asks? Perhaps, but it is AWESOME, which takes precedence over categorizing!



From Julie: a cathedral made out of cardboard will serve as a temporary replacement in Christchurch; descendants of Tolkien and Dickens are writing children's books together; the British Library has purchased the St. Cuthbert Gospel; and a book originally created for Queen Mary’s dollhouse is going to be published for us full-sized humans!



From my mom: It’s the 50th anniversary of the Port Huron Statement, and it’s interesting to see what has(n’t) changed since then.



Also from my mom: the Vatican has lost its mind. (Well, that was my interpretation.) The Leadership Conference of Women Religious has been ordered to reform and conform to traditional values. That should work out well for everyone.



From Cassandra: The Place of Anarchism in Socialist Evolution; it’s interesting to see what has(n’t) changed since then, too.



Also from Cassandra: some thoughts and tips on reentering the workforce!



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

Thursday, April 19, 2012

The Pulitzer Prize winners have been announced!




The AP Stylebook has finally, grudgingly, conceded the battle on “hopefully.” (I like how diagramming is called a “dark art” in the article. Hee.)



How fast is your native language? Interesting stuff for linguistics enthusiasts.



The UK has cut libraries, but UK citizens are stubbornly keeping libraries going. Huzzah!



The 1912 blueprints for Brooklyn’s Ebbets Field have been discovered – in a basement! – and are now part of a new exhibit.

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

This week’s events are…sort of stereotypical, actually, but all real.




Canada celebrates maple syrup!



California welcomes the Robo Games!



Iceland goes all out for their First Day of Summer, which is tomorrow. (Yes, really.)



England also goes all out for Shakespeare’s birthday and the kickoff of the World Shakespeare Festival.



Here in town, it’s time for the annual Action Auction! This is always fun. And, via Charon, here’s an idea: you can buy cheap paintings (there will probably be a few at the auction) and add monsters to them!

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Today’s post is brief, but the links are dense and worth perusing!




First of all, the Steampunk Empire Symposium is this weekend, right here in my home town, and there’s lots to do. There are tickets for the whole weekend and also one-day passes for Saturday, so anyone and everyone can come and see the fun!



Congratulations to the winners of the Steampunk Chronicle’s Readers Choice Awards!



And look, the past might become the future, with trans-oceanic tubes moving up to serious consideration for travel. Can you imagine?

Monday, April 16, 2012

Everything this Monday is about the visual arts, in one way or another.




The Stein family were ardent art collectors (who knew?) in the early part of the 20th century.



In the early part of the 21st century, data visualization is predicted to be the next visual art. (Not sure how this works with the collector aspect.)



Fireworks art! Cai Guo-Qiang creates it.



Via Bunny: the lovely and touching Bug Memorials from the Carmichael Collective.



Via Dante’s Wardrobe: how to make dragonesque things! This looks like oodles of fun.

Friday, April 13, 2012

Happy Friday the 13th! This week also marks the 12th anniversary of Folderol, which is ridiculous and crazy and wonderful. Thanks to everyone who has read, commented, and supported this little weblog and its goofy author over the last dozen years!




How much longer are you going to live? According to this lifespan predictor, sent by Cassandra, we are both going to be feisty old women. (I’m not even halfway through my lifespan, according to this!)



On the other end of the lifespan, courtesy of Holly, are two artists who are sisters and make art which reminds me of A. A. Milne’s stories.



From Julie: Over one million ancient texts are going to be digitized by libraries!



From Bunny: the fan-created Han Solo Adventures (in progress), the plans for a life-sized Starship Enterprise in Vegas (sadly abandoned), and what may be the most amazing video I’ve seen in a long time. All one shot, no special effects, just this dancer who can do amazing things. Have a spiffy weekend, everyone!

Thursday, April 12, 2012

Happy National Library Week! Yesterday was National Bookmobile Day, which is always fun.




Over in the UK, however, bookmobiles are not faring well, and the populace is suffering as a result.



Unshelved has a new item in the store – Library Notebooks. I think these would be useful for many occasions.



The Activist Archivists are my new favorite organization. Power to the people, and make sure to keep the history.



Speaking of history, new efforts are underway to preserve Pompeii.



And finally, for the spooky (and in preparation for tomorrow’s Friday the 13th), consult the Demonicpedia for all your questions about the inhabitants of the hoary netherworld.

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Hi there. Today is stupidly busy, but I give you a link worth hours of fun! From Bunny: Map of the Dead, a Zombie Survival Map. Put in an address and see how you would fare, and what supplies (or dangers) are nearby. I put in our home address and, well, we're pretty much doomed as far as I can tell. (Fortunately, Bunny has trained for years in zombie apocalypse survival, so I think he has a backup plan.)

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Congratulations to the VanderMeers – The Steampunk Bible has been nominated for a Hugo Award!




Rollicking Tales is looking for stories of all kinds – steampunk, western, fantastic adventures, and the like.



Need a quick vintage look to a modern photograph? Pixlr-o-Matic is free and wonderful! (Non-vintage effects are also included.)



If, on the other hand, you are looking for a vintage method of broadcasting your thoughts via social media, might I suggest the Twittertape?



And finally, the Tanenbaums present the Reading Glove, which looks steampunky and vintage but is actually as modern as it gets, “reading” objects via RFID technology.

Monday, April 09, 2012

If it’s Easter Monday, that means it’s time to look at the annual Peeps Dioramas!




Slightly related: make your own Peeps Goldberg machine. (It’s…complicated.)



Quick, when was the Mona Lisa painted? Wrong! The Louvre has redated the painting. It’s hard to keep up with Leonardo, even several centuries after he lived.



A modern treasure hunt is underway for lost paintings, thought to be buried in a German mine.



And finally, have you checked out Delicious lately? The recent incarnation is a bit like Pinterest, but with more depth.

Friday, April 06, 2012

Happy Friday, everyone!




The Sparkle Queen has sent in an absolute gem: My Daguerreotype Boyfriend. Go look! Who knew Modigliani was such a dish back in his day?



From Cassandra: thoughts on Mars, and an essay on William Blake. And Satan. And, um, Hulk Hogan. It all fits together, really.



From Bunny: the original pitch video for The Muppet Show! Also from Bunny, photos of cosplayers in the 1970s. The latter link is not really safe for work, but I know many people aren’t at work today anyway. Fair warning and all, though.



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

Thursday, April 05, 2012

A recent Wall Street Journal article on Susan Sarandon reported that “in the futuristic drama "Robot & Frank," with Frank Langella, she plays an alluring librarian whose job is about to be taken over by automatons.” Sounds…intriguing?




The Dewey Donation System campaign is going on right now! Support some libraries which desperately need help.



NYU lists their top 100 journalists of the past 100 years (in the United States). Debate will ensue.



For my fellow language geeks: what’s your view of diagramming sentences? If spelling is more your thing, try a version of UNC’s journalism spelling test. It apparently goes on endlessly; I answered 140 questions. (I got 131 right and discovered that my spelling is becoming increasingly Britishized. I blame the interwebs.)

Wednesday, April 04, 2012

It’s a week of religious observances – Easter, Passover, even the birthday of the Buddha – but there are some alternatives as well.




For example, you could watch people carry huge amounts of coal over long distances. (This is in England, where they seem to have a thing for carrying/chasing stuff over hills and valleys.) In Boston, it’s time for the Penny Arcade Expo (aka PAX), a convention devoted entirely to gaming! (This is in America, where we like to sit and mash buttons maniacally.)



In Florence, meanwhile, you can witness the Bursting of the Cart (also known as the Explosion of the Cart), in which a cart is annihilated in an elaborate ritual. It’s a little religious in that it’s linked to the Easter celebrations, but hey.


Also, you can run the Dead Sea Marathon this weekend, although it sounds pretty brutal.

And finally, if your religion tends toward the Whovian, Bunny has sent in a video depicting the events of the Eleventh Doctor via RPG.

Tuesday, April 03, 2012

Happy April to all! Ay-leen lists the April steampunk shenanigans, including one in my very own hometown at the end of the month.




If you’re looking for inspiration, consider the Victorian Kitchen Garden! I found this via a Metafilter post which also lists sequels, offshoots, and similar programs. There’s an amazing amount there.



If you’re more mechanically minded, check out the Greatest Grid exhibit at the Museum of the City of New York, or try your hand at creating a Ranque-Hilsch vortex tube. (Bonus for the latter: no one knows how it works!)



And lastly, if you're looking for a steampunky day trip and you're near Chestnut Hill, consider the Waterworks Museum in Chestnut Hill (discovered via Mike the Mad Biologist’s story of his visit). Lots of great photos and history to be found.

Monday, April 02, 2012

Both the L.A. Times and the New York Times have good obituaries on Adrienne Rich, with included poetry.




A lost Tamara de Lempicka painting has been found!



How does one restore audio? The Library of Congress takes a look at the current efforts.



Bookstores can be dangerous to employees! (And if you think bookstores are perilous, let me tell you about libraries…)



The PBS program Off-Book looks at new and different art forms, and is fascinating viewing.