Thursday, February 28, 2013

Good news, everyone! The Library of Congress has come up with a National Recording Preservation Plan.




Also good news: Duke University has come up with a great program that digitizes books in the public domain.



I am behind on technology and have not experimented with Vine yet, but fortunately, many other librarians have.



There’s a movie theatre in Queens which is perfectly preserved in its extraordinary intricacy. This is a must-see.



How did I not know about RapGenius until now? This is great. You click on lyrics and get a pop-up explanation.

Wednesday, February 27, 2013

It’s time for BockFest here in Cincinnati, which means beer and goats and a parade, usually in lousy weather. We’re kind of strange that way.




For more summery happenings, Florida is celebrating all things strawberry. Check out the website to see a strawberry with a beret and mustache.



For more wintry happenings, on the other hand, Alaska is beginning the Iditarod race this weekend.



And for spooky happenings, Madame Talbot has a Tumblr, which is lovely!

Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Greetings! We’re sending out books, drawing names for books, and getting our books in order, generally speaking. (We’re also dodging rain and snow and ice – nice weather here.) While we get organized, check out the amazing Automata Blog.

Monday, February 25, 2013

This Monday, we talk about print.




Why write in cursive? It’s a question that’s asked more and more these days.



Calligraphy is also disappearing, especially in places like Mali.



A pen that creates sculptures, thanks to 3-D printing technology? It’s on the way.



In Nepal, volunteers are recreating ancient murals, painstakingly.



I would never have guessed the U.S. Government Printing Office has its own Pinterest page…but it does!

Friday, February 22, 2013

Happy Friday! It’s all icy here today. Not as bad as this 1918 morning, but still messy.




Today’s Google Doodle honors Edward Gorey and is wonderful.



From Holly: Beautiful vintage shoes!



From Julie: In England, they are still digging up all sorts of stuff. A prehistoric burial site has been unearthed in Dartmoor, and a 400-year-old manuscript has been rediscovered and published . (It was in a church safe all that time. There’s a testimonial for a safe company.)



From Cassandra: “Black Feminist Thought in the Matrix of Domination.” How can you resist a title like that?



From Nicole: The Diane Rehm Show discusses the 50th anniversary of The Feminine Mystique.



Have a spiffy weekend, everyone! See you Monday.

Thursday, February 21, 2013

Do you want to be part of the Google Glass experiment? It helps if you’re near New York City and can spend some money…




Even medieval scribes had trouble with cats walking across their work. Ha.



Speaking of domesticated animals, did you know the AKC has its own library? It’s true!



Bill Lucey has put up a detailed entry full of information about the Pope, the Vatican, and the conclaves.



The British Library has digitized Leonardo da Vinci’s notebooks and you can read them whenever and wherever you like. It’s the future!




Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Propnomicon always features amazing, gorgeous, spooky stuff, and they’re beginning an in-depth look at a lovely vampire hunting kit. (Yes, it’s lovely. Go look.)




Also via Propnomicon: a detailed map of Arkham and surrounding towns!



This weekend, the small community of Langley, Washington becomes the site of a mystery weekend.



And while that's going on, TedFest is taking place in another part of the world!

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Monday, February 18, 2013

Happy Monday. Let us take a walk through history, and then end on an unexpected note.




A 1595 portrait of Queen Elizabeth I is a rarity in that it shows her as an aged woman. (I object to the article describing it as “misery,” though. Geez. The woman was in her sixties and had lived an incredibly stressful life.)



Oscar Wilde gets all the attention these days, but his wife Constance was an extraordinary woman in her own right. By looking for more information, I found that Oscar Wilde’s only grandson is alive and well – I had no idea.



Today is Toni Morrison’s 82nd birthday!



And now for something completely different: competitive snow carving. It’s the season for this sort of art!

Friday, February 15, 2013

Happy Friday!




From Cassandra: some of Neil Gaiman’s favorite shows; the issue of how kids handle pressure; and the inception of a “Rosetta Stone” system for protolanguages.



New show from the people who brought you the Bat Segundo Show: Follow Your Ears!



If you like crowdsourcing and transcribing, check out the efforts going on at Zooniverse! The Snapshot Serengeti project is finished, but there are lots more discoveries to make.



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

Thursday, February 14, 2013

Today’s Google Doodle celebrates both Valentine’s Day and the birthday of the inventor of the Ferris Wheel. Nice!




It’s also the day of One Billion Rising – check out the Guardian’s live coverage for more detail.



Set aside 15 minutes or so and experience Biblionaut – it’s mesmerizing. If you like what you see, the Keyhole Factory has more information.

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Busy day (busy week, actually). More soon, possibly, but for now, enjoy the Mardi Gras wind-down, ponder the Pope happenings, and enjoy the unexpected snow if you're in my neck of the woods.

Friday, February 08, 2013

Happy Friday, and good luck to everyone in the northeast with the upcoming blizzard!




From Cassandra: We’re only nine meals away from anarchy, people.



Also from Cassandra: Men are no longer from Mars, women are no longer from Venus, hooray.



From Julie: Behold, the Library of the Banned!



Also from Julie: A new theatre is to be built on the site of an older one where Shakespeare worked; a plaque honoring a suffragette is to be unveiled at a racecourse; and Richard III’s face is reconstructed based on the bones recently discovered.



If you could capture just one second from each day, what would it be? Check out one man’s year through one second of video per day. Fascinating stuff.



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

Thursday, February 07, 2013

There’s going to be a World’s Fair in Milan in 2015!




The annual “most literate cities” list has been released, and Cincinnati is #12. Look at us, we are small but literate.



For Black History Month, the U.S. Census website has some facts and figures.



If you like urban exploration, check out this list of 20 abandoned mansions. Oooh, ahhhh.



Daguerreotypes are fragile, but the way they decay can be oddly beautiful. More interesting photo sets are listed at the bottom of the page (such as men playing tennis naked in the 1880s…for science! Rowr!).

Wednesday, February 06, 2013

The weekend festivals are almost completely dominated by Carnival and Mardi Gras celebrations:

-- New Orleans!

-- Rio!

---Venice! (Check out the main page -- apparently Batman is there!)



However, the Retromobile show is also going on in Paris this weekend.


And if you’re near Dubai, check out the Pet Show!

Tuesday, February 05, 2013

We’re giving away two copies of A Red Sun Also Rises by Mark Hodder! Enter now!

Monday, February 04, 2013

Big news for history geeks, as the bones found in Leicestershire are confirmed beyond a reasonable doubt to be those of Richard III.




Big news for sci-fi fans: Doctor Who gets some official stamps.



Mariko Mori makes art defined by the cosmos – the whole gallery is fascinating.



The English National Ballet is rebranding, with the help of Vivienne Westwood. Ooo. Can you imagine the amazing costumes?



Imagine a surrealist film made by guerilla methods at Disney. It’s a real thing, although we may never get to see Escape from Tomorrow in a public setting!

Saturday, February 02, 2013

Friday, February 01, 2013

Happy Friday and Happy February!




From Zazoo: Buried pirate treasure in NYC goes to help victims of Sandy.



From Julie: A first edition set of the Lord of the Rings trilogy sells for £24,000. Wow.



From Cassandra: Childhood, it turns out, is what made homo sapiens what we are today.



Also from Cassandra: The history of intoxication; the possibility of progress; and the 50th anniversary of The Feminine Mystique.



Have a spiffy weekend, everyone! I recommend watching the Puppy Bowl if possible. See you next week.