Tuesday, September 30, 2014

Today is going to be crazy busy, so today’s post is a bit shorter than usual.

To the past! Behold, Edwardian Fashion Week (bonus: no Kardashians).

Also from the past: The cats of WWI. I’m fascinated with old photographs of animals, so this is right up my alley. So to speak.

To the future! Let’s hope we all have dancing crosswalks in all the cities. I think it would help.

Monday, September 29, 2014

Monday, it is.

Literature: Behold the art of diagramming sentences. (I’m getting this book for my dad for Christmas.)

Photography: Amazing photos document scenes in Hurricane Katrina between then and now, nine years later.

Music: How long do CDs last? Well… 

History: They’ve found more Mayan cities in Mexico!

Friday, September 26, 2014

Happy Friday!

For those into social media, I’m now on ello as jinnet. (I also have invites, if you’d like to try it out.)

From Bunny: Nicknames for men have developed through the years in strange ways. The comments are really interesting, too.

From Cassandra: Let’s all go into the (natural) light! 

Also from Cassandra: an illustrated guide to one person’s history in our universe. Good stuff.

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

Thursday, September 25, 2014

It’s Banned Books Week! This image is taken, I think, from the Richard Oakes Multicultural Center Library. Apologies if the source is wrong.




Which banned book are you? Apparently I am Tropic of Cancer by Henry Miller (1934). I guess maybe I should read it.

Banned Books Week also has its own website, and its own YouTube channel which features celebrities reading from banned material.

 If you don’t feel like reading a banned book, but would like to help historians, consider helping the Smithsonian with their crowdsourcing transcription project.

Wednesday, September 24, 2014

Today: Rabbit hole links.

From The Legal Geeks blog, I found this Kickstarter for the Boston Metaphysical Society comic, and from there the comic itself, which involves Tesla, Edison, Houdini and more!

From this map showing where Americans use “um” and where they use “uh,” I found out about Midland American English. Apparently the Cincinnati area is unique in its version of this dialect. Who knew?

Tuesday, September 23, 2014

It’s the future! Pele shows off a new lighting system for soccer fields, powered by kinetic energy.

It’s the past! The photos of John Frank Keith show decades of Philadelphians.

Also: I’ve linked to it before, but Another Nickel in the Machine is just so, so great.

And lastly: some uncomfortable truths about the 1964 World’s Fair in New York. The sixties truly were a time of tumultuous change.

Monday, September 22, 2014

It is, once again, an arty Monday. But first, congrats to my mom and everyone else who participated in the People’s Climate March yesterday!

Architecture: What should we do with abandoned airports? 

Music: Why does some music get repurposed as hold music? 

Art, part 1: Consider the color green! I love these articles.

Art, part 2: If you see a car with a NY license plate DRAWONME, that’s exactly what you should do. (The tumblr page isn’t updated, but the car is still alive and well and driving around!)

Friday, September 19, 2014

Happy Friday! And happy Talk Like a Pirate Day. As per tradition, the rest of today’s post will be in pirate dialect.

Avast! Me bucko Jack published a book, and you should read it!

T' Piranhamoose has been spotted in t' wild, crashin' up cars in t' name o' Malki!

You can prepare for t' winter by taggin' penguins at Penguin Watch! 

Take a tour o' Toronto’s Reference Library….by DRONE. Ahoy!

From Cassandra: Helpin' helps! Who could have predicted such a thin'?

Have the spiffiest o'weekends, everyone. See you Monday. Arrr!

Thursday, September 18, 2014

I’m spending all my free time today watching the Scottish referendum news. Back tomorrow with more links!

(If you're interested, but don't have time to follow the news and just want the result, watch this space.)

However, in the meantime, consider future career options like librarianship…or sea captainship. Or BOTH.

Wednesday, September 17, 2014

Today’s links are an exercise in stream of consciousness. Ready?

Someday, when I have an inordinate amount of free time, I am going to learn about cricket. Maybe these videos (narrated by Stephen Fry) will help.

Speaking of the UK, some creative soul has recreated the Fawlty Towers hotel in LEGO.

Speaking of LEGO, several more creative souls have recreated scenes from The Princess Bride in LEGO. 

Speaking of imaginary medieval settings, the imaginary world of LARPing is seeping into the archaeology world. Hee.

And speaking of archaeology, what better way is there for kids to learn about mummification than mummifying a Barbie doll?

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

Making the rounds this week is an amazing collection of photographs which is part of an exhibition in England called the Black Chronicles; the photos are fantastic, and it’s wonderful to see an aspect of Victorian England which was often ignored.

Continuing back in time, the Edwardian Promenade excerpts some school entrance exams from the 1880s. I think I would have passed the Geography section and nothing else.

The Crystal Palace is long gone, but the Library Time Machine takes us back to its opening days.

Meanwhile, back in the present, Phil Abernethy is creating exquisite timekeepers.

Monday, September 15, 2014

Do you visualize the characters in a book as you read? What do they look like? 

I haven’t seen the Extinction Symbol out in the wild yet, but now I’ll be looking for it. 

David Waldorf’s photographs are fascinating, and wildly varied, and include David Lynch.

Friday, September 12, 2014

Happy Friday!

It’s not too early to start thinking spooky. I’m just saying.

Bunny and I watched this summary of arcades in movies. Unsurprisingly, he knew almost all the movies.

From Julie: Secrets of Stonehenge revealed – for real this time! Stonehenge did not act alone, it seems.

From Cassandra: Guns don’t shatter toilets….well, actually, they do sometimes. Oops.

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

Thursday, September 11, 2014

I have been digging into family history lately, and found a whole branch which lived in the heart of Manhattan during the early nineteenth century, then moved to Brooklyn a few decades later. So I’m studying New York City history a lot, and found this article about a “secret” subway entrance under Times Square to be all sorts of fascinating.

The American Ballet Theatre is donating its archives to the Library of Congress. Huzzah!

A new Pew Report indicates that, when it comes to libraries and the internet, the kids really are all right. 

The Knight News Challenge asks about inspiration for the future of libraries. Any ideas?

Good news: The FBI is digitizing its files! Bad news: The FBI is then destroying the printed files. Eeep.

Wednesday, September 10, 2014

If you’re in London this fall, check out the Kew Gardens and their exhibit on “intoxication season.” Looks brilliant.

What happens when you enter the witness protection program? Well…it’s complicated. 

If you’re from a country which looks like another country…it can also get complicated.

Cities don’t usually suffer from these sorts of problems. Let’s go to the interactive map for details on how cities have attracted people over the years!

Tuesday, September 09, 2014

Behold Lock-Man, a wannabe Transformer! Lock-Man, neither lock nor man! Knockoff toys are awesomely weird.

Also awesomely weird, but in a more practical way, is the Apocalyspork. Even in the end times, you’ll need to eat.

How fast is your state’s internet? (Internet: one thing, one speed! Just like Lock-Man!)

The Internet Archive has made millions of public domain images available via Flickr’s Commons. It’s a great time for artists!

Monday, September 08, 2014

Monday again?

History: The World Remembers is an incredible website dedicated to World War I.

Music: The Bulletproof Stockings are a female Hasidic band in Brooklyn, and they only play for women due to religious restrictions. They sound really interesting.

Literature: The five worst book covers ever! Also, some insight into Hemingway’s edits for The Sun Also Rises. 

Art: You can hang the Internet on your wall now (well, soon), thanks to Electric Objects.

Friday, September 05, 2014

Happy Friday!

 A leftover fun link from yesterday: The curriculum for Rupert Giles, MLS. My favorite is a tie between “Archiving Despite Demonic Interference” and “Integrated Library Systems And Standard Runes.”

Kate Beaton is drawing tiny historical figures. My favorite, I think, is wee Walt Whitman, but all of them are pretty great.

From Cassandra: an NPR Report on the amazing photos produced from 1935 to 1945, and the repository for the digitized photos at Yale. 

Also from Cassandra: Remember Schoolhouse Rock? Well, take a look at Public School House Rock’s interpretation of Interjections! 

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

Thursday, September 04, 2014

As Google Alerts and Blog Search disappear into the distance (much like Google Reader), people are looking for replacements. Anyone tried TalkWalker or News360 yet?

Even Supreme Court justices accept some facts without question…no matter how odd they might be. To the fact-checkers! Here’s a list of what to do. (Hint: Librarians are very good fact checkers.)

Dodging the Memory Hole is a conference scheduled for November, dedicated to figuring out solutions for disappearing archives in the transfer from print to digital information.

Wednesday, September 03, 2014

Following up on yesterday’s Hubble art, here are scarves with designs taken from open-source images from the Hubble. Pretty!

 Alan Moore talks about Lovecraft, which is always interesting. There's a new project in the works!

I found the Diamond Geezer weblog via a post on strange London bus stop names (The Squirrels? I am so there!), and am now reading all about London. Great stuff.

Tuesday, September 02, 2014

Back to the grind! Here are some random links while we get organized.

The Hubble Telescope has now switched its major to modern art. I like it.

We now have an Instagram account (spookylibrarians)! Here are some comparisons between Britain as seen via Instagram and Britain as seen in real life (slightly NSFW).

Behold, a field guide to getting lost, and some thoughts about what that entails. I love the etymology of the word.

For less literal interpretations of getting lost, consider the wonder/horror that is gin.