Monday, November 30, 2015

Happy Cyber Monday! Everything here is running verrrry sloooow, possibly as a result. More links may appear later, depending on the interwebs.

If you're looking for some art, why not consider Artlifting, which specializes in art made by homeless and disabled individuals? There's some seriously gorgeous work here.

In order to properly get in the spirit, some kind soul has uploaded a collection of in-store music from Kmart, circa 1989. Memories!

Abderdeenshire, Scotland will be the home of the first floating wind farm. The future, it inches even closer...

Wednesday, November 25, 2015

It’s the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, so it’s basically a Friday around here. Happy holidays to everyone!

From Holly: German schoolchildren perform Kraftwerk, in robot costumes, and it’s as awesome as you’d expect.

XKCD gives us a game, with coins and hoverboard. I mean, what more can you ask for?

Have a spiffy weekend, and we’ll see you next week. It’ll be another short week, though, because…well, I’ll tell you next week!

Tuesday, November 24, 2015

How is it that I have not found Spitalfields Life before now? Look at these gorgeous 1930s photos of London by night, and visit a pyrotechnics collector, and so, so much more.

Jules Verne mentioned Cincinnati’s observatory in several of his works. Who knew?

Looking at Girl Scout catalogs through the decades is an interesting cultural journey. (I kind of want a sunwatch now.)

Monday, November 23, 2015

Monday arty links, as per usual!

Music: Did you know Enya lives in a castle named Manderley? It’s true!

Film: You can customize your Google apps to reflect your Jedi or Sith leanings.

Photography: The Tampa Bay Times has its own photography weblog. 

History: Card catalogs aren’t dead yet! The Metropolitan Museum of Art still uses them, and they’re invaluable.

 Literature: Aldous Huxley was a fascinating man, beyond his Brave New World.

Friday, November 20, 2015

Happy Friday! Thanksgiving comes a week early here, with a cornucopia of links. Many thanks to everyone!

From Cassandra: How kids learn the concept of fairness, and whether there’s a “death hierarchy” in news today.

From a friend via Facebook: Calvin and Hobbes debuted thirty years ago this week, and there’s a lot of lessons we can still learn from them. 

From Holly: “A chance for grown men to relive their childhood in what comes off really as being rather creepy.” Hee.

From Julie: Watch six million years of evolution in sixty seconds! Also, it turns out that Winnie-the-Pooh was based on a real black bear named Winnie. Also also, someone found a trunk full of undelivered mail, and I’m so envious.

From Twitter: Cards Against Humanity players, rejoice: there’s a new fantasy themed pack, with cards written by real live authors!

From Zazoo: “The Muppets pitch a new show, and it's hiliarious!

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

Thursday, November 19, 2015

Information, both historical and future, is the theme today.

In chronological order (more or less):

Behold the wonderful Nautical Telegraph Code Book And Postal Guide from 1920! This would make for a great code, even today.

How well do you know your World Wars? Take this quiz and find out. (I got 15/20. Names of battles elude me.)

I’d forgotten that the New York Times has a site for their Research and Development Group. I don’t think I ever knew they had a weblog, and this entry on the future of information is fascinating.

The Wayback Machine is getting a search engine, at long last! Not until 2017, however.

Wednesday, November 18, 2015

I never thought to look for old-time hellfire-and-brimstone Christian materials online, but oh boy, is there a bunch out there. Old Time Religion focuses on the printed materials, while Christian Nightmares is all over the place. Have fun, kids!

If you prefer snow globes to Christian tracts, Walter Martin and Paloma Muñoz have made some wonderfully odd (and sometimes creepy) creations. 

If you’d rather go the literary route, there’s a hotel in London with a few Harry Potter-themed rooms, amidst the ones for muggles.

And if you’d just rather not state your beliefs too loudly in public these days, fear not, Nuanced Stickers are here for you!

Tuesday, November 17, 2015

Gizmodo and PaleoFuture are celebrating Secret History Week, apparently. I say “apparently” because there’s not much there yet. Maybe it’s secret and you have to go searching for it.

In other secret history, I discovered there was a Voice of Nuclear Disarmament pirate radio broadcast in Great Britain!

The good people of Bartitsu have found a wonderful book from 1935, and are showing the entry on self-defense. Protect yourself from miscreants trying to jump on the running board of your car! They're sneaky! And agile!

Monday, November 16, 2015

The Bataclan is such a beautiful building. It’s horrible that it’s now the site of tragedy.

 * * *

I’m always amazed that we’re still finding lost works from artists and writers. An unpublished Charlotte Bronte work has been found!

English is a crazy language. This isn’t news, but Aeon goes into some more detail.

Friday, November 13, 2015

Happy Friday the 13th! It’s the third one this year.

From Julie: Scientists have discovered “hot spots” within Egyptian pyramids. Cue the conspiracy theorists!

From Cassandra: In the “incredibly brave doctors” department, a neurosurgeon had electrodes implanted in his brain to test a theory. 

From Charon via Twitter: Extreme bagpiping! Penguin story included!

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

Thursday, November 12, 2015

Hello! I forgot that yesterday was yet another dental adventure for the other half of the Spooky Librarians, so I was busy elsewhere. (We’re almost done, hooray.)

Meanwhile, the Witch of November is visiting our area. If you now have “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” playing in your head, you can thank me.

The Washington Post takes a look at the language the U.S. Census has used for different races over the decades. 

Richard Scarry also changed with the years; he altered his books as time went on to reflect the modern world.

Tuesday, November 10, 2015

This morning, I learned about Illig’s phantom time hypothesis, which posits that most of the Middle Ages didn’t exist. Wow. Down the rabbit hole I go!

I also learned that Jacob Riis, photographer and muckraker extraordinaire (and also subject of a current exhibition at the Museum of the City of New York) had a somewhat odd love story with his first wife. You never hear anything about Elisabeth Riis; I’d love to know her story.

A time capsule from the 1950s includes some movie footage from administrators at a mental hospital, talking about their ideas for future advances. Frustratingly, the film is damaged, so a lot has been lost. Argh!

And finally, if you haven’t checked out MRX Designs, you should – from Lovecraft photocreations to phonograph reproductions, there’s a wealth of information and ideas there.

Monday, November 09, 2015

Happy birthday to Hedy Lamarr! 

Good news for modern-day American time travelers: If you go to Tudor-era England, your names will fit right in, apparently. Here’s the list of most popular names for boys and for girls. 

What to do with the shopping malls of yesteryear? Well, there are some pretty amazing ideas out there.

Friday, November 06, 2015

And it’s Friday again! Many thanks to everyone who sent in links.

From a co-worker: Examining the myths and truths of being left-handed. I learned I should ask for a raise.

From Julie: “Europe's Oldest Tree is Undergoing a Sex Change.” (It’s true!)

From Bunny: There’s a Japanese trailer for the new Star Wars movie, and it’s different than the English version, and it’s awesome.

From Holly: Go dancing! It’s good for you! 

From Cassandra: The University of People is helping undocumented students, hooray.

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

Thursday, November 05, 2015

Happy Fifth of November. (For once, the comments are really interesting!)

The World Series is over, but the battle of the librarians is worth a read if you missed it originally. (This sort of thing is more difficult if one works in a law library. Not impossible, mind you, but difficult.)

Speaking of law libraries, tomorrow is apparently “Love a Lawyer Day.” You’ve been warned.

James Bond runs into all sorts of occupational hazards. The CDC is on the case.

A survey of 1,000 Europeans indicates most of us suffer from some form of “digital amnesia,” which isn’t too surprising. Information overload can be real!

Wednesday, November 04, 2015

Halloween may be over, but the spookiness never stops over here!

When eBay takes down your auction and threatens you with a lifetime ban because your prop heart looks too authentic, that’s when you know you’re a successful prop artist. (Here’s hoping he’s able to sell it to someone who appreciates it!)

Near Edinburgh, nearly two hundred years ago, someone made miniature coffins for miniature figures, and then hid them in a cave. Why? The investigation continues…

 Books from the library of John Dee are going on exhibit next year! 

The Library of Congress has suggestions for a “spooky road trip” itinerary.

Tuesday, November 03, 2015

Oooo, the BBC is giving His Dark Materials another chance at making it to the screen. (I hope it does; I loved the books.)

The rest of today’s links deal, in some way, with being hidden.

Have you heard of Stanhopes? I hadn’t before now, but they were apparently a way of hiding Victorian-era erotica.

Here’s a collection of vintage photographs of men dressed like women and women dressed like men. As the poster says, it’s not clear if these are instances of cross-dressing or something more (like Lili Elbe, who’s included), but they’re fascinating.

There’s a much bigger message in this wonderful booktwo post, but what I took away was a white-hot curiosity about the “upside down and backwards town” mentioned in connection with WWII radar operators. Off to research!