Friday, December 28, 2012

It's the last Friday of 2012! Thanks to everyone for reading!




Bunny sent in a link to Robots on Tour (which looks completely amazing) and the good news that the NecronomiCon has been fully funded. A Lovecraft convention in Providence! At long last!



Speaking of robots, Disney is working on a robot which can juggle and play catch. The future is coming!



Have a spiffy and safe weekend and New Year’s, everyone. See you next year!

Thursday, December 27, 2012

Happy holidays! Between the Christmas time off and the weather (we actually had significant snow yesterday, huzzah) links are scarce. However, consider the plight of mild-mannered Clark Kent, who recently resigned his post at the Daily Planet to become...a blogger. Law and the Multiverse examines his new occupation!

Friday, December 21, 2012

Happy Friday/Solstice/End of Days, everyone!




From Julie: at the National Museum of London, early (maybe the earliest?) recordings of a family Christmas have been unearthed.



Also from Julie: the piano from Casablanca has been sold!



From Cassandra: remembering a 1927 school massacre, and investigating how the ancients treated their disabled.



From Bunny: Let’s go find a new planet! Also, portraits of doppelgangers.



Have a spiffy weekend and holiday, everyone! We’ll be back on Boxing Day.

Thursday, December 20, 2012

The Google Doodle today is celebrating 200 years of the Brothers Grimm scaring children worldwide. Woot!




For girls and parents of girls: GirlStart celebrates deSTEMber with a month packed of awesome scientific stuff.



Did you know Walt Whitman and Bram Stoker were pen pals? It’s true!

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Happy birthday, Mom! See you soon!




If you need a handy countdown to the end of the world according to a Mayan calendar, fear not. Apparently for my town, the end of the world will happen at 6 a.m. Friday, when we will be totally unprepared. Oh, well. (Link via Chuck, who found it at the awesome Time and Date website.)



Since it’s also the winter solstice, there will be non-apocalyptic celebrations – in Vancouver and Brighton, they’ll be gadding about with lanterns to light the darkness. (Brighton’s festival is called “Burning the Clocks,” though, so I suppose it could get apocalyptic.)



The mystery of the package addressed to Indiana Jones has been solved!

Friday, December 14, 2012

Friday, hooray!



The University of Chicago has received a wonderfully mysterious package addressed to Henry (Indiana) Jones. Did you send it?



From Julie: the internet is changing English, a story by Hans Christian Andersen has been discovered “at the bottom of a box”(!), and a Roman gold earring has strange symbols on it. Call Dr. Jones!



From Bunny: Amsterdam is proposing “punitive villages” for perpetual ne’er-do-wells. Er?



From Chuck via Cassandra: a suspected burglar steals a police car while still in handcuffs. He better not go anywhere near Amsterdam.



From Cassandra: the five creepiest towns in America (I’ve only been to one! Must fix that!) and an animated short from 1936 emphasizing ingenuity during the holiday season.



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

Thursday, December 13, 2012

More “best of 2012” book lists! Pretty much all of them, actually.




Laura Massey has an opinion on designer bookshelves. Wow, some of the bookshelves pictured are really out there.



Jodi Harvey-Brown makes amazing sculptures from books…featuring characters from the actual books. Awesome.



Jessamyn of librarian.net is now a justice of the peace! She has a website explaining what she does.

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Happy 12-12-12! Let’s hope it’s a lucky day. There’s also a concert tonight you might have heard about.




If you’re on the other side of the world, consider the Dubai Midnight Marathon.



Over the weekend, the skies will light up over Louisiana with the Festival of the Bonfires.



In very local news, the best nativity scene near our place is now up, with friendly live animals and everything! I love how the people in the scene were based on people in town.

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

First off, an apology: the book giveaway is really, truly happening this week, and I’m very sorry for all the delays. We’re getting more and more new books in to review and give away, and in 2013 I will get back on the steampunked librarian track and stick to deadlines! Sir Reginald apologizes as well, although he points out that it’s really all my fault, as I’m the only one who can pick up and mail out the books. Stupid puppet.




Lisa Snellings always does incredible work, and a clockwork poppet is among the many great creations offered unto you this holiday season!



Behold, Art Nouveau versions of 1980s heroines. They’re beautiful and full of inside information. Labyrinth is included!



Applied Imagination creates botanical architectural works, including the current train exhibit that’s going on at the Krohn Conservatory in Cincinnati, with faithful recreations of historical buildings in the area. It’s really incredible, and I can’t recommend their work enough.

Monday, December 10, 2012

Variously described as Wikipedia, TVTropes, and “a total time suck” for literature lovers, Small Demons looks pretty neat so far.




In Brussels, an abstract tree sculpture has appeared for the holidays! Public opinion is mixed.



Now you can have a Mark Rothko painting (or at least a print) and eat it too, thanks to Rice-Ko!



Remember cassette tapes? I still have a boxful of them. Maybe I can get them to play together as an orchestra like this.



Videogames in the Museum of Modern Art? Yes!

Friday, December 07, 2012

Friday! Time for links from others! Thanks, everyone. Regular posting shall resume next week, now that all the loose ends are tied up, hopefully.




From Julie: A living advent calendar. Eeep!



From Cassandra: Authentic family portraits. Also from Cassandra: Psychiatry and the issue of transgendered folk.



From Sara: The shared experience of absurdity. Yay!



From Bunny: “Here is a link to reviews of all 6 Star Wars films reviewed by someone who grew up never seeing any of them. Kinda interesting to see the take of a total outsider.”



Also from Bunny: NEVER FORGET – the perfect t-shirt for the librarian in your life.



From my mom: We love the works of Emil Robinson, and not just because we’ve known him and his family forever. Check it out!



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

Thursday, December 06, 2012

Vacation days are over, technical issues have been resolved, health is restored, and – knock wood – we are good to finish out the year!




What were the best books to read in 2012? Wonder no more.



What were the most popular baby names in 2012? Again, wonder no more!

Monday, December 03, 2012