Happy Friday!




Many thanks to Julie, who sent in some terrific links this week:



-- An Egyptian statue is moving. By itself. Oooweeeooo! (Also, the shelf might be unstable.)



-- Let them eat cake in the shape of an express train!



-- The British Film Institute prepares for “The Dark Heart of Film,” a tribute to gothic and horror celluloid which looks amazing. (Note to Bunny: This is why you have to get a passport.)



What has the Snowden scandal done for international relations? Bill Lucey investigates.



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

This morning, we talked about Blekko (is it capitalized?) and this afternoon I found an article about the search engine’s recent innovations. And no NSA involvement as of yet!




Kids still like libraries, evidently. Good to hear.



Yale is preparing for the arrival of a stellar collection of historic British law materials.



And for the geeks among us, here’s a guide to the alignment of the Supreme Court.

This has been quite the week, hasn’t it? Texas filibustering, Australia prime ministers, Nelson Mandela, U.S. Supreme Court rulings, celebrities being…celebrities…




Happily, the pride celebrations this weekend are going to be EPIC. Hooray!

More giveaways over at the Steampunk Librarian! I think this is the longest title ever.

Finally, some support for those of us who like the dark: Dim lighting sparks creativity.




Mental Floss lists some words which only survive today through their use in idioms.



Was your dad in a band? Join the fun!

Happy Summer Solstice! Get ready for the Supermoon coming your way this weekend. (Thanks to Cassandra for the link.)



From Zazoo: “Finally! The biggest gay conversion therapist organization is shutting down.” Huzzah!



From Julie: Remember that William Blake poem about two sunflowers and a yellow room? No? Well, good, because it’s not a William Blake poem at all! A school librarian has the proof.



Also from Julie: Elizabethan theatre was a hive of scum and villainy, with exploited and kidnapped child actors. No exploitation of child actors happens these days, thank goodness. Er. Um.



And also from Julie: dance performances which incorporate books!



From the Sparkle Queen: a librarian turns catalog cards into art. See, librarians are saving the world, one tiny bit at a time.



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

I’ve been immersing myself ion genealogy research lately, and using the National Archives, so it’s great to see they’re commemorating the 150th anniversary of U.S. Colored Troops with a wealth of digitized information.




In slightly more recent history, summer means it’s time for roller coaster riding, and the Library of Congress links to newspaper articles celebrating the great coasters throughout the years .



In news that will delight my husband, the Encyclopaedia Britannica website has begun posting “classic videos” from the Britannica archives.



If you can’t make it to any library conferences this year, fear not – SLA has 60 websites in 60 minutes worth a look!

Demonstrators in Brazil are calling their movement the “Salad Uprising” because many of them bring vinegar in order to neutralize tear gas. There’s a Tumblr dedicated to pictures and stories of the demonstrations.




Meanwhile, the summer solstice is almost here, and there are events practically everywhere. In England, there’s Stonehenge, of course; over here in America, New York has quite a few things planned.


Also going on in New York this weekend: the Craft Renegade Fair in Brooklyn!

It's time for summer giveaway season over at the Steampunk Librarian! We start with copies of Vintage Tomorrows. Go and enter the contest!

It’s Monday, and the streets are alive with the art of Steven Ball (well, in England, anyway).




Are video games art? The evidence increasingly points to yes.



Save the tungsten lights!

Happy Friday!




Arlo Guthrie and the Muppets? Yes, it’s true! I missed this amazing collaboration somehow.



Did you know that Jane Wiedlin can marry people? Sister Reverend Go-Go is ready and willing!



From Julie: Red phone boxes become mini-libraries!



Also from Julie: Behold, the first book of fashion. Also, some good souls are trying to preserve a tavern which may have hosted Shakespeare, among others.



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

I envy those going to the Sonar Festival in Barcelona this week. Kraftwerk! Pet Shop Boys! Also Skrillex and about a zillion others.




If you can’t make it to Barcelona, you could swing by the Oregon Divisional Chainsaw Sculpting Championships (really!). Or see dulcimers in Ohio. Or party with pirates in Florida!

Was there a real-life inspiration for Lewis Carroll’s Mad Hatter? The Times Literary Supplement is on the case.




In 1893, the Imperial Institute was amazing, glorious…and sort of empty. Take a tour!



In August, Steamworld Dig debuts, and you can see a sneak preview of the game now.



Steampunk has met Star Wars before, many times over, but this is the first time I’ve seen a steampunk AT-AT liquor cabinet. Maybe the Sith aren't so bad after all.

Today is action day!




Experience today’s Google doodle, dedicated to Maurice Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are!



Listen to the voice of Virginia Woolf!



Ponder the durability of Sylvia Plath’s work!



Marvel at architecture designed for the harsh climate of Antarctica!

Friday mini-post! Thanks to Julie for sending in this link about art historians using face-recognition software to identify people in paintings. It's nice to see a good use of Orwellian technology!

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

Hey, look, a bookless library!




Want to know where the books are? They’re on planes, because Qantas is offering them to travelers. (Good idea!)



For kids, however, Smart PJs will call up bedtime stories at the touch of a…scanner, I think.



How one pronounces the words in these stories depends mainly on where you live. (Speaking as someone who grew up in Ohio as the child of someone from New England and someone from Chicago, my pronunciations are all over these maps. I just realized I pronounce "caramel" two different ways, depending on the context.)



Benjamin Franklin thought all this would be much easier if we’d only have adopted his phonetic alphabet. I’m tempted to use it as code, if nothing else.

International Steampunk Day is June 14th. Make your celebration plans now! There are all sorts of events this month.




Also, steampunk now has its own category on TVTropes. We’re officially part of the mainstream!



However, the original Victorians were probably smarter. Out of necessity, I would think.



Watchmaking is intricate, gear-filled, steampunk-friendly, and still thriving.



Retech uses old materials to make new things.



And for those of you into history and baseball, Shoeless Joe Jackson is now on Twitter.

Cassette tapes are making a comeback! I knew there was a reason I was holding onto all those old mixtapes!




Via the Guardian: The International Museum of Women is holding a special exhibit featuring art by Muslim women.



I had not seen the work of Eric Ravilious before this week, and it’s gorgeous.



Folderol is part of an experiment! We’re honored to be a part of Michael Dekel’s journey into Dadaist, surrealist writing.