Tuesday, July 31, 2012

In honor of the London Olympics, the Steampunk Tribune takes a look at some older, more dignified(?) events.




Over the pond in New York, the AFA is holding an exhibition on “Steampunkinetics” which looks fantastic and worth a visit! The Huffington Post has some more details and photographs.



If you like to look at fascinating old photographs, this 1892 album of Russian army men is one to see.



And as we end July, here’s a sneak preview of some of the books we’ll be giving away in August!



Cuttlefish by Dave Freer



Expedition to the Mountains of the Moon by Mark Hodder



Planesrunner and Be My Enemy (Books 1 and 2 in the Everness series) by Ian McDonald



Vampire Empire, Book 3: The Kingmakers by Clay and Susan Griffith
(Sir Reginald is especially excited about this one!)

Monday, July 30, 2012

Happy Monday, everyone!




Four stories by Katherine Mansfield have been rediscovered. They actually had to stop the presses when this happened. Heh.



Welcome to the Underground New York Public Library, where you can see what your fellow commuters are reading!



Paris, of all cities, welcomes graffiti with open arms. If cities had arms. You know what I mean.



Forget the Da Vinci Code – the story of the Aleppo Codex is far more mysterious (and bloody).



Will children inherit their parents’ e-books? How does that work, exactly?

Friday, July 27, 2012

Happy Friday! On to the links from others!




From Bunny: Retro ‘60s library posters! There are some real gems in there.



Also from Bunny: A composite sketch of Bram Stoker’s Count Dracula, as he looks at the beginning of the novel. (For more composite sketches of literary characters, check out the artist’s Tumblr page.)



From Cassandra: “Impossible” stars exist, right in our own galaxy!



Also from Cassandra: Beware, the gorillas are getting smarter by the day, and they’re not happy with us.



I am delighted to discover that Rock, Paper, Cynic shares my dream of an underground book lair (with slides, even!).



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

Thursday, July 26, 2012

Oy, it's Thursday, and that means it's bonkers. (Also, I hear that Mercury is in retrograde. I'm all for blaming crazy days on faraway planets!)

However: Rare Book School sounds like all sorts of fun, and they get to have cool gizmos, too!

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

It is increasingly uncool to like the Olympics these days, with the marketing and the policing and whatnot, but I still love the ideals and the opening ceremonies. Good luck, everyone!




Then again, the Mud Olympics sound awfully fun, too. If you’re in Germany, I recommend checking it out this weekend.



If you’re closer to Italy, there’s a Unicorn Festival that sounds like a fantasy extravaganza (site is in Italian with no other languages visibly available, sadly, but you’ll get the idea from the images).



Meanwhile, in Denmark, it’s never too early to start planning for the holidays; the World Santa Claus Congress gets underway.



In the United States, it’s a million degrees (give or take a few thousand), and we are coping by holding championship cardboard boat races in Arkansas, champion lumberjacking contests in Wisconsin, and, um, mosquito festivals in Texas.



This just in from Zazoo: the Muppets have taken over a NYC travel website, and the results are fantastic. They’re all there with recommendations, even Statler and Waldorf!

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

It’s Amelia Earhart’s birthday. Sadly, the latest expedition to find her remains hasn’t discovered anything.




If you’re interested in being a beta tester for Steampunk Holmes: Legacy of the Nautilus, here’s your chance!



Bruce Boxleitner, of Bablyon 5 (and, even earlier, Bring ‘Em Back Alive!) fame, is heading a new steampunky series called Lantern City. I’m definitely intrigued.



Steampunk commodities are everywhere! An example is the Reclamation works in Indianapolis. Now there’s a “Steampunk Connections” website which helps interested makers and artists find each another. Excellent idea.



And finally, some gorgeous art; a sample of the five-year run of Pan, from 1895-1899.

Monday, July 23, 2012

Brandalism and subvertising! That’s what graffiti artists are doing these days, and it’s great. Here’s a gallery of recent work. I think my favorite is the depiction of stock market charts using bolts of lightning.




However, London is not amused, especially with the Olympics about to start, and the police are (rather ham-fistedly) trying to accost former artists and prohibit them from going near the Games. Sure, that should work.



Speaking of nonsensical concepts, here’s a transit map for Alice’s Wonderland. Destinations not guaranteed, of course.



Jacob’s Pillow turns eighty this summer, and it’s had an interesting history.



Can a dictionary tell you more about a place than historians? Yes! Here’s why.

Friday, July 20, 2012

Wow, awful news from Colorado about the shootings at the Batman premiere. Best of luck to those affected.




Friday’s links from others include several from last week – many thanks to all who sent them!



From Cassandra: the hidden libraries of Cuba.



From Bunny: books written in disappearing ink, a street artist turns Chicago’s sidewalks into a life-sized Monopoly game, creepy spiders (who look like ladybugs) and creepy plants (which look like, well, plants, but are carnivorous!).



Also from Bunny: a Darth Vader hot air balloon and a calculator which informs you how many LEGOs would be needed to build your home. We would need millions!



And finally, from Satori: “The Young Professionals released a full album a week or two ago. Their second single is a cover of Lana Del Rey's "Video Games. And it’s good." And the video involves complicated pinball machine art!



Have a spiffy and safe weekend, everyone.

Thursday, July 19, 2012

Guy Laramee’s new book sculptures are jaw-droppingly amazing. (His previous work is fantastic, too!)




We all know that a tree grows in Brooklyn, but apparently authors and bookmakers are growing there as well these days.



If you like the Fake AP Stylebook, you will love the OEFictionary! (Brought to you by Dante of Surviving the World, which you should also be reading.)



The Museum of Endangered Sounds is dedicated to preserving the aural history of our culture. Beep! Boop!


The newsroom is another endangered species, although it was never quite as glamorous as show biz made it out to be.

Stack Exchange is a forum for questions and answers, and has a category for Library and Information Science. (It also has a sci-fi section which discusses the career ambitions of Darth Vader and why the Doctor runs so much these days, so there’s something for everyone!)

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

While I was gadding about the east coast last week, I told some people about Rabbit Hash, Kentucky and their tradition of electing dogs as mayors. As promised, I provide further info.



Meanwhile, wacky festival season continues. The Wickerman Festival goes on this weekend in Scotland. In England, they’re racing VW Bugs and snails (not against each other, at least as far as I know).

Over on this side of the pond, we’re racing hermit crabs (in Virginia Beach) and celebrating Da Vinci Days (in Oregon) and Hemingway Days (in Florida). No one has any excuse to stay at home! Well, except the weather. That’s a pretty good excuse these days.

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Adding newfangled technology to classical music? Behold, the fantastic typewriter piece!




Imagine glasses that can see into your soul. Well, maybe not the soul, but at least into veins and possibly more!



The best bouquet ever: flowers made from Sherlock Holmes stories and a sonic screwdriver for a stem.



LEGO now features rather steampunky “monster fighters” as a set.



Imagine a column of steam rising from the countryside…to celebrate the Olympics. Well, and why not? It’s going to happen! (Also, in related news although not steampunky, you can track the Olympic torch relay as it happens. Eddie Izzard will take up the torch later today!)



And finally, happy news for readers: we have reached the tipping point in books, so get your typing fingers ready to participate in a steampunk/sci-fi boo giveaway soon! Sir Reginald cannot wait to opine on the books (and the entries).

Monday, July 16, 2012

We start the week off with a look at what might be the world’s largest kinetic art sculpture, located in the Singapore Airport.




What colors have been used most often in movie posters? Here’s the answer!



The Arabian Nights stories make up a work which is still in progress.



Robert Frost’s poetry: simple or terrifying? Or maybe both?



Some weirdo is stealing teeth from the bodies of people, some of them famous like Strauss and Brahms.



And lastly, the Louvre is opening a satellite museum in Lens later this year! Even the opening animation is pretty.

Friday, July 13, 2012

Happy Friday the 13th! We have so many links this Friday that we are actually saving some for later. This is a rare and wonderful occurrence, much like Friday the 13th. Thanks so much to everyone for sending in links and reading!




First off, from my mom: Possibly the best flash mob ever, as Italian musicians surprise people on a Spanish plaza.



From Julie: Tony Blair was briefed on UFOs! Also, a medieval manuscript written in Welsh is saved, and a copy of what is likely the first map to label America is discovered.



From Bunny: Vintage firecracker labels, a collection of animal bridges over superhighways, and, in his own words, “A short missive about some of my favorite vegetation: Unusual Fungi from around the world!”



From Cassandra: We’re headed back to the robber baron era, if you haven’t noticed, and we’re not so upwardly mobile these days either.



From Satori: As a result of Cassandra’s links, be prepared to defend your home from either robber barons or zombies!



And finally, Comic-Con is where all the cool people are at the moment. If you’re there, David Malki! will do fantastic roll-a-sketches for you upon request!

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

Thursday, July 12, 2012

Oh, Thursdays. The statistics never seem to support my theory, but I swear it’s the busiest day of the week.




Looking for reading ideas? Consider the Year of Magical Reading going on at Conceptual Fiction. Chances are you will add a few books to your reading list.



Meanwhile, the Library of Congress is putting together a list of books that shaped America, and they want your input via a survey!



The Librarian in Black has some thoughts about becoming a director, i.e. The Man (The Man in Black?).



And via librarian.net, here are some fantastic tips on Google searching. Every time I think I know all the tricks, I’m surprised at how little I do know.



Tomorrow is a bonanza day of links sent in from others, so stay tuned.

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

We’re back! And while we were off exploring exotic, hidden away gems in the Berkshires, the season for festivals and celebrations swung into high gear.




This weekend brings Bastille Day, and it’s not just a Paris phenomenon any longer.



In Australia, they’re racing camels and ships made from beer cans. (Not against one another, although that could make for an interesting race...)



Every four years, couples travel to Essex for the Dunmow Flitch Trials. If you’re happily married, or can convince a jury of it, you could win a side of bacon!



Meanwhile, in Pamplona, the bulls are running through the streets.



And here in my hometown, the world has come to Cincinnati for the World Choir Games. Parades through the streets and lots of music everywhere!

Tuesday, July 03, 2012

Happy July! Ay-leen lists the steampunkesque happenings for the month.




Last week we linked to Prada’s steampunk fashion line; this week, it’s the news that Banana Republic will feature an Anna Karenina line in the fall.



Behold the MiniSteam! Carlex Design went steampunk with the Mini Countryman and it’s beautiful.



From Julie: One of Queen Victoria’s mourning dresses is going to be sold.



And finally, just for fun: Here’s a live webcam of Abbey Road, so you can watch tourists strike iconic poses on the crosswalk and then scurry off before getting hit with cars, taxis, bicycles, etc.

Monday, July 02, 2012

Having a holiday on a Wednesday makes for a very strange week. SpookyLibrarians HQ will be taking a few days off at the end of the week and probably next Monday as well. But for now, we’re here and posting links!




Some summer reading material suggestions: the story of Champollion and how he cracked the mystery of hieroglyphics, and Volume 3 of T.S. Eliot’s letters.



Queen Victoria’s journals are online, and some of her sketches are there now as well!



Columbia University’s new medical center is going to look…kind of strange.



From Bunny: Like Adele? Like cats and dogs? Check out this version of “Rolling in the Deep.” (Note to Zazoo & Satori: I think the cat here is channeling Squeaky.)