Monday, February 29, 2016

Happy Leap Day!

If you’ve ever wished you could walk right into a Van Gogh painting, here’s a dream come true: look at this AirBnB room, designed by the Art Institute of Chicago. It’s truly amazing.

What’s it like to live in a Tolstoyan commune? There aren’t many left, but here’s one in England. 

Georgiana Teseleanu creates gorgeous designs with geometric shapes. It’s definitely worth a look.

Friday, February 26, 2016

Happy Friday!

From Julie: A man has officially changed his name to Bacon Double Cheeseburger. There's also a Penelope Pitstop out there. People are weird.

From Cassandra: Do we live in a multiverse? Here’s one proposed way of finding out. 

Also from Cassandra: Twenty years ago, Tom Wolfe made some predictions about neuroscience. Was he correct? 

For our video Folderol, we’re celebrating Leap Year! Come for the reference to Frankenstein. Stay for the nostalgia about the Y2K bug. Have a spiffy weekend, everyone! See you next week.


Thursday, February 25, 2016

News from the Library of Congress: The Rosa Parks Papers are now online! 

In Syria these days, libraries are hard to find. Some people have taken it upon themselves to create one. 

Jessamyn ponders what happened to the relationship between librarians and Google.

Bill Lucey is here to help if you have any questions about Cuba! 

And, at the end of the day, aren’t we all interested in library bars? Or is that just me? (Dear NoMad Hotel: if you ever need a librarian, let me know.)

Wednesday, February 24, 2016

Happy rainy Wednesday…

In “whatever happened to…” news: Gary Valentine, former member of Blondie, is now going by his real name of Gary Lachman and has dedicated his life to exploring the world of esoteric philosophy. Here’s a long, detailed interview about his work. Who knew?

During the Egyptology craze, Victorians held “mummy unwrapping” parties. As an archivist/historian, this causes me almost physical pain. As a spooky librarian, I wonder if there were any resultant hauntings. Or diseases.

Archaeoacoustics! Fascinating stuff about the history and experience of sounds in places. In a more modern context, here’s some information about the current sound(maps) of London.

Tuesday, February 23, 2016

And we’re back!

If you’ve been racking your brain for a good name for a dog, this list from the 1600s might help. Maybe.

Imagine yourself in the New York, Paris, or Boston of a hundred years ago, thanks to these short films from the time. 

Have you seen a 1970 time capsule just lying around? There’s a $50,000 reward for it. Mysterious, eh?

CSI Dixie is a huge, dense website, full of stories and reports about the deaths of Southerners in the 19th century. It’s fascinating.

Monday, February 22, 2016

Happy Monday! We are currently experiencing sinus issues. Check back tomorrow, when we will (hopefully) be back to full broadcasting strength,

Friday, February 19, 2016

Happy Friday! As Spooky Librarians, we are very invested in haunted libraries. So we made a video about a few of them!

Also:

From Julie: New discoveries! First, JRR Tolkien poems; next, a wheel from the Bronze Age. The search is never over!

From 538: Catholics, more progressive than one might think. 

From a co-worker: I didn’t know about the Metropolitan Diary column in the New York Times. How did I miss this? It’s great.

And here’s our video on spooky libraries. Have a spiffy weekend, everyone! See you next week.



Thursday, February 18, 2016

Greetings! It is ocular migraine morning here, so this will be a little short. It’s also National Drink Wine Day. I am seriously considering opting out of the workday.

Anyway! DUNSONnDRAGGAN combines IKEA with Dungeons & Dragons, to hilarious effect. I can attest to the damage capabilities of an EXPEDIT insert drawer. You gotta watch out for them. They’re sneaky.

Another Twitter account to follow: Typewriter Revolution, run by a professor with an affinity for typewriters. Beautiful stuff.

What do crossword puzzles say about our use of language over the years? To the Times!

Wednesday, February 17, 2016

The time between the winter solstice and the spring equinox brings out many a pagan celebration (as well as many non-pagan ones). Here are some great photos of costumes from around the world. 

Also, here’s an article about modern-day wassails and apple trees. Sounds fun!

Cities and Memory aims to create a global sound map, with Dada influences. I am all about this.

And finally, the Medievalists have some name suggestions for girls. Some are fairly normal by current standards, others…not so much. (Scholastica!)

Tuesday, February 16, 2016

Happy Steampunk/Victorian Tuesday!

I was delighted to find that the Bartitsu Society mentioned one of my favorite (forgotten) shows, Q.E. D., in a recent entry. The attraction to the Victorian era started early for me.

Also via the Bartitsu Society: The Barton-Wright/Alfred Hutton Alliance for Historically Accurate Hoplology and Antagonistics, or, as it is more commonly known, BWAHAHAHA, is the Victorian arm of the Lonin martial arts organization.

If you’d like to bring up your children to appreciate Victoriana, you could get a good start by using M is For Monocle as an alphabet book!

Julia Margaret Cameron was criticized for her photographs, but now she has the last laugh as there are two exhibitions of her work going on right now. (I think they’re mystical and gorgeous, personally.)

Monday, February 15, 2016

Happy Presidents Day!

Which states have the fastest and slowest talkers? This article answers that and more. Apparently the area where I live is slow-talking, but impatient and profane. Sounds about right. (Except for the slow talking part. I’m wondering if their survey included Cleveland. Speedy talkers up there!)

This just in: the color green sparks creativity. See also: Nature.

Where do the very rich go for their book collections? Heywood Hill in London, according to the New York Times.

Friday, February 12, 2016

Happy Friday, and Happy Darwin Day! 

From Julie: Placing Literature. People, check this out. It is SO cool.

Also from Julie: Was Dracula inspired by the Rev. Sabine Baring-Gould? Based on some hints, the answer is: Maybe! 

From NASA: fantastic travel posters. I saw a few earlier this week, but there are several more!

And for our video component, this week we look at the children of presidents who opted to do their own thing. Have a spiffy weekend, everyone! See you next week.



Thursday, February 11, 2016

Following yesterday’s link about mummies, here’s something about modern technology solving mummy-related mysteries. 

Forget bookmobiles; people are taking literature to the streets! Hooray! This article introduced me to Coffee House Press, which has all sorts of great stuff happening. 

Meanwhile, at the New York Public Library, there’s a startling amount of erotica hidden away. 

Amazon’s data centers are secretive and mysterious and hidden away, like mummies or erotica, only not as interesting. (Probably much more powerful and intrusive, though.)

Wednesday, February 10, 2016

Today’s links ended up being mostly about death. This wasn’t intentional!

Death Positive is a subreddit concerned with “the history of death, how different cultures handle death, working in death and death-related industries, and your own (ever-changing) relationship to mortality.”

Somewhat related: The University of Chicago has an interactive mummification website! 

Drug overdose deaths in the United States are skyrocketing, and here are the maps to show where they’re happening.

On a brighter note, behold Lucha Underground. Aztec folklore meets wrestling! How can you resist?

Tuesday, February 09, 2016

Happy Mardi Gras, everyone! 

February brings us Steampunk Hands Around the World, a truly terrific month-long series. I can’t recommend this enough. Go and investigate!

 Meanwhile, the Library of Congress takes a moment to study moustaches. 

How are you at predicting the future? Are you a superforecaster? Fascinating (yet practical) stuff.

Monday, February 08, 2016

Happy Monday!

We had so many links from others last week that we’ve got more for today. Thanks, everyone!

From Cassandra: Is Nature right for you? 

 From Zazoo: “Michael Jackson hated Prince? Jermaine wrote a diss song about Michael? By the way, you can hear on the song on youtube...Word to the Badd!”

 Also from Zazoo: Artist Daniel Lismore is our new favorite, and we love the name of his current exhibit: "Be Yourself, Everyone Else is Taken."

What was it like to be a member of Kraftwerk? Former member Wolfgang Flür explains.

And lastly, we have news! The Friday video version of Folderol now has its own Facebook page. It is brand new and slightly unformed at the moment, but feel free to like and follow it, and we’ll post news about the videos there!

Friday, February 05, 2016

Happy Friday! Many thanks for reading and for sending links!

From Julie: Does this ancient Greek sculpture show someone using a laptop? Or is it a wax tablet? Hmm….

Also from Julie: Build your own tiny dinosaur skeletons! 

 From Cassandra: The story of Baron Roman Fedorovich von Ungern-Sternberg is fascinating – and prescient.

From Zazoo: “This is spectacular. An abandoned underground salt mine in Transylvania has been turned into an amusement park, and the pics look like the Death Star...”

From the interwebs: TrumpDonald.org. Must be seen to be understood.

And finally, it’s Super Bowl weekend, and here’s a video from us that’s on point! Many thanks to Scot for writing this look into forgotten football teams. Have a spiffy weekend, everyone!


Thursday, February 04, 2016

Did you know the University of Michigan has a Computer & Video Game Archive? And that they also have a weblog called Eaten By a Grue? I didn’t until today!

The Library of Congress is helping to digitize 32 years of PBS NewsHour

With Black History Month going on, here’s an amazing list of LBTQ black women to peruse. 

With the Super Bowl approaching, Bill Lucey has pertinent facts and figures for the curious. We will have something for you tomorrow as well!

Wednesday, February 03, 2016

I’ve been very into birds over the last few years, for several reasons, and I love that scientists are studying occurrences like crow funerals. The corvid researcher in the interview has her own weblog, too. 

Meanwhile, an Israeli vulture has been accused of spying. It's okay, fortunately.

 I love this “map of every city” because it is completely true.

I’m always interested in what Alan Moore is doing, and it turns out that his recent project, Cinema Purgatorio, is having a (wildly successful) Kickstarter.

Tuesday, February 02, 2016

Happy Groundhog Day! Phil did not see his shadow, but that doesn’t mean much, statistically speaking. 

The propmaker for Hateful Eight talks about designing 1870s objects. 

Out of This Century examines the life and times of the Chevalier de Saint-Georges, fencer and all-around extraordinary individual.

I vaguely remember previous discussion of a submarine-themed pub in Romania. Now there are a bunch of photos to show how amazing it looks!

Monday, February 01, 2016

Happy Monday! Today, we are featuring the weird.

First off: There’s a conspiracy theory – or, as it seems, a true story – about Michael Jackson and Sonic 3.

Meanwhile, the inspiration for Ursula in Disney’s The Little Mermaid was Divine. I knew it!

In Ghana, people craft gorgeous fantasy coffins. 

The Mysteries of Vernacular is a great little series that explores our use of language.