Friday, September 28, 2012

Happy Friday!




Cassandra informs me that this documentary based on a Margaret Atwood book is the best documentary ever. I am intrigued!



Also from Cassandra: Awe really does stop time, and a look at the upcoming Supreme Court cases.



From Bunny: Gangnam Style is good! But internet power stations are bad.



Also from Bunny: a gorgeous Op-Art style home, and a unicorn horn for cats. (Good luck getting a cat to agree to wear it.)



And finally, the Steampunk Librarian got mentioned on a post praising libraries and librarians! Woot!



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

Thursday, September 27, 2012

Today, I give you several links in one -- behold, the Britannica blog. Have fun! More soon.

Wednesday, September 26, 2012

This weekend we’ll be at PandoraCon, showing trailers and running a wacky “name that sci-fi tune” contest if time allows! Stop by and say hi.




If you are not in our corner of the world, consider the Irish Woolfest in Australia (including the “running of the sheep!”) or the Africa Concours d’Elegance in Kenya, which looks to be filled with gorgeous machinery.



Are we creating new and better maps…or are the maps mapping us? DUN DUN DUNNN…

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

We have winners! Sir Reginald is still wrestling with the video uploading, but the drawings took place and I’ll be emailing the winners this week to get their addresses so I can send the books out before the weekend. More giveaways are imminent!




Was the first mobile phone put into action way back in 1922? A new find from British Pathe suggests it might be true!



Who would lead the League of Extraordinary Gentlepersons in 1996? Agent Scully, of course. This is a great concept, with lots of hidden treasures in the art.



Speaking of that sort of thing, there are rumors swirling about a possible television series featuring Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn…operating…a…steampunk detective agency. Hm.



For more tangible historical items, check out Yesteryear’s Tools – there’s all sorts of information on labels, company history, and brands!

Monday, September 24, 2012

Did you know there was a real Tom Sawyer? It’s true! The Smithsonian has the full story.




The first color film has been (re)discovered, and it was made in 1902. Wow.



In other color news, an artist decided that the pigeons of St. Mark’s Square could use some brightening up. (Brief slideshow here!) Reactions are, predictably, mixed.



Film Linc brings us a list of the best fifty movies which were never made, for various reasons.



And finally, what does a dramaturge do, exactly? Even dramaturges don’t always agree.

Friday, September 21, 2012

Happy Friday! Thanks to everyone for reading and sending in links!




From Julie: The IgNobels honor ponytail physics.



Also from Julie: a one-man library in Manila!



From Cassandra: A lovely history of Ray Bradbury’s life and work.



From Zazoo: Patrick Stewart has beamed down to Park Slope! And he's fighting with Time Warner, just like the rest of us ordinary Earth citizens.



From Bunny: Disney’s new Fantasyland is set to open in December.



From Poison Eve: Support the Kickstarter for the Lost Blacklips horror film! As Eve says, “for the price of a fancy coffee, you get a digital download of the horror film forever and ever!”



Have a spiffy weekend, everyone! We’ll be posting videos of the book giveaway drawings over the weekend, most likely.

Thursday, September 20, 2012

Tonight! The IgNobel Awards! Webcast! Live! Woot!




For newshounds: check out all the stuff just added by the Internet Archive.



For librarians: check out the tattoos. I think I like the tarot card the best. (Thanks, Bunny!)



For history buffs: Two Nerdy History Girls!

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Arrrr, it's Talk Like a Pirate Day! Thanks t' their handy translator, here be t' links for today.




This weekend brin's t' Great Gorilla Run in London! Run smartly!



In Scotland, it’s time for t' World Stone Skimmin' Championships.



In Japan, it’s t' Tokyo Game Show!



In Sofia, Bulgaria, t' biennial puppet show be goin' on.



And finally, in Germany, they’re honorin' t' Grimm fairy tales o' legend with a spooky 600 km trail through t' woods. Look out for witches and evil queens and stepmothers and apples and talkin' animals and…

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Japanese dystopian steampunk? That’s what Jay Kristoff is serving up in his latest book.


Speaking of books, you can pick up the newest by David Malki! You can even enter a contest to win more books and have your very own Roll-a-Sketch in them.


And speaking of contests...the results of the Vampire Empire drawing will be up soon, and I’ll be emailing the winners! This week, we have another giveaway, and it’s a total smorgasbord as we clean up older copies (in most cases, they’re the final publication version of books we gave away earlier in advance reader copy format). Go here for the contest, and good luck!

Monday, September 17, 2012

Better late than never, as we go around the world:




-- the Islamic Art Wing of the Louvre is set to open this weekend and looks beautiful.



-- In Nashville, Dave Stewart talks about his music and the potential for a stage show featuring Eurythmics music.



-- Gwilym Gold has put out an album which changes every time you listen to it. We’re living in the future!



-- The life of Ezra Pound in Italy, before/during/after the war.

Friday, September 14, 2012

Happy Friday! On to the links from others…




Bunny sends in a “back to school” list which includes my favorite books as a kid. Who knew?



Also from Bunny: a collection of old-time Australian criminal mug shots. We’ve featured this before, but this website gathers information about the person and the reasons for imprisonment. I’m fascinated by the first woman on the list, who was charged with multiple counts of bigamy!



From Cassandra: a gallery of amazing images from our solar system.



Also from Cassandra: Thoughts on sustainability, and thoughts on love.



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

Thursday, September 13, 2012

Once upon a time, the man now known as Pope Benedict wanted to be the librarian for the Vatican. I don’t really know what to think about that.




Fifty years ago, the Seattle World’s Fair entranced thousands of visitors, and it’s still an example for cities today.



Twenty-five years ago, Chicago teachers went on strike, and I remember this because my aunt was one of them. Bill Lucey looks at the history of teacher strikes in America.



Meanwhile, in another dimension completely, all the presidents of the United States take each other on in a knife fight. Who would win? Bunny sent this to me and we think that Andrew Jackson and Theodore Roosevelt would make the final four at the very least, with Eisenhower and Lincoln possibly in the mix. We have not put much thought into what Nixon would do, however.

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Pssst! Hey, you! Wanna sponsor a skull? It’s for a good cause, honest!




If you prefer theoretical skulls, the Agatha Christie Festival is going on all this week.



If, on the other hand, you prefer stilts, check out the Golden Stilt contest (click on the British flag for an English translation).



Here in Ohio, the Old West Festival is booming. (No, Ohio was not part of the Old West. Work with us here.)



Did you know the Mars Curiosity rover is leaving coded messages in its tracks? It’s true!

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

This week is going to be a lost cause, I think.




Happily, Julie is here to rescue today’s post with an article about why we should appreciate Tesla! This was prompted by the current (haha) efforts to build a museum honoring Tesla in New York. Huzzah!

(Also, David Bowie played Tesla in a recent film, which just increases the coolness factor.)

More book giveaway info will follow soon, and the deadline for the Vampire Empire book giveaway is this Friday.

Monday, September 10, 2012

Hello! A short post today. The big literary news is that a new photograph of Emily Dickinson may have been discovered.

In theatre news, Papermoon Puppet Theatre is bringing Indonesia's history, good and bad, out into the open.

Friday, September 07, 2012

Happy Friday!




From Julie: a story about the odd and elusive Pyrenean desman, a sort of mouse/platypus/vole hybrid creature.



From Cassandra: a look at the rich (they have more money), the beautiful (they’re more likely to conform), and the introverted (they read facial expressions better than extroverts). Introverts for the win!



From Bunny: Do you know the real names of professional wrestlers? It’s a tricky quiz. Bunny is an expert on '80s and '90s wrestling, and he got 75%.



From Sara: Swedish Meal Time! If you like the Vegan Black Metal Chef, chances are you will like this as well.



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

Thursday, September 06, 2012

My alma mater is on Pinterest, and posting wonderful old photos of college life. This is a really neat idea.




A different Ohio university has digitized old newsreel and films showing early aviation and the National Air Races.



The New York Public Library examines how pigeons got to the city (with a bonus mention of Tesla!), and the Library of Congress has a bonanza of great stuff available.

  Tomorrow: Friday! And that means links sent in by readers!

Wednesday, September 05, 2012

It is Wednesday, and that means that we point out interesting festivals and whatnots. This week the world is celebrating:




-- Watermelons! (Wisconsin)



-- Banjos! (Lowell, Massachusetts – Sparkle Queen, take note!)



-- Hot air balloons! (Nevada)



-- Soybeans! (Tennessee)


and

-- Boats done up like dragons! (Cambridge, UK)



Corn mazes cannot be far behind, once autumn hurries up and arrives in this part of the country.

Tuesday, September 04, 2012

Happy Tuesday! As you can see, we’ve begun the giveaway madness; there will be many more in the near future.




Today’s links are not necessarily steampunk, but are historic. For the most part.



Remember the gag boxes of the 1920s? No? Well, fear not, because Collectors Weekly will show you what you’ve been missing!



A few of the “artifacts from literature we wish were real” in this Flavorwire article are gorgeous mechanisms, like the alethiometer and nearly everything in Willie Wonka’s factory.



Is icycling real? Well, it was for a short film, at least. Seems fraught with peril, though.



Lastly, consider the Nutmeg Wars. It’s sort of a ghastly story.

Monday, September 03, 2012