Wednesday, August 31, 2016

Today is chock-full of projects! Possible updates later. In the meantime, take a look at these gorgeous photos of metro stations around the world, photographed by someone with the same name as a classmate of mine, but not the same person (this was very confusing for a few minutes, though). Enjoy!

Tuesday, August 30, 2016

Today, I discovered Untapped Cities, and their series on the New York City That Never Was. History, steampunk, futurism, architecture…it’s a perfect mix for me. (Also, they do tours!)

Meanwhile, SETI reports that they may have possibly maybe sort of heard a signal from deep space?

Monday, August 29, 2016

And we gear up for another week…

Have you heard of Basil Bunting? I had not until this morning. Now I’m intrigued.

New York is planning a shape-shifting building. Seriously!

Hidden clues in video games? It’s a real thing, and there’s a subreddit dedicated to solving the mysteries.

Friday, August 26, 2016

Happy Friday!

From Cassandra: Say why to drugs! 

Also from Cassandra: What’s up with eastern Kentucky? (Oh, the stories some of us have...)

Also also from Cassandra: Dress pant sweatpants. For the 21st century!

From Zazoo: A cat fosters an abandoned baby squirrel monkey. Aww!

From Julie: Sir Nils Olav, ambassador penguin, is now Brigadier Sir Nils Olav to you and me. (Aww!)

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

Thursday, August 25, 2016

Hooray for National Parks! (Keep them going, don’t let them be privatized.)

Far above the parks, the Hubble Telescope watches the stars. And now you can follow along with it, live!

A Nova Scotia library is moving into a church, and it’s going to be gorgeous! (Also, Margaret Atwood is helping with the fundraising.)

Wednesday, August 24, 2016

In more “2016 is the weirdest year ever” news, John Travolta is now an honorary deputy sheriff in my city. Erm.

The Thinker’s Garden is back with a tale of Italian organized crime, circa 1800. 

Did you know that ghost ships lie under San Francisco? Not just a few, but dozens!

The Library of Congress has thousands of gorgeous photochrome prints, like this image of Mont St. Michel. It’s a lovely way to spend some time.

Tuesday, August 23, 2016

A short one today.

Look, typewriters are still alive and well in India! 

Damn Interesting lives up to its name with this report of a 1931 submarine expedition which embarked with the goal of sailing under the polar caps. It went...well, just read and see.

Monday, August 22, 2016

It’s Monday once more, and here’s some election activity we can enjoy: voting for General Mills monster cereal mascots! (Count Chocula is currently in the lead. I’m pulling for Booberry.)

Dorothy Parker was born on this date. Here’s some interesting information explaining why her ashes are in Baltimore instead of New York City. 

Ancient Egypt had a multitude of tattoo artists, it seems. Check out what archaeologists have discovered!

Friday, August 19, 2016

Happy Friday!

From Julie: Librarians have their own Olympics! 

From Keli via Twitter: A ghost town in Italy is the perfect place for the Hide and Seek Championships (last link is in Italian).

From Twitter: A new American Girl doll hails from Detroit and celebrates Motown.

From Holly: A side-by-side comparison of 2016’s Batman v. Superman and 1966’s….well, just watch it and see. I especially like the Lex Luthor shots.

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

Thursday, August 18, 2016

Throwback Thursday: Remember when you could call a number and get the exact time? You still can! 

There’s a theory that Nathaniel Hawthorne and Herman Melville were more than friends. This is new to me, but plausible, based on this argument.

Comics Empower is an amazing website that works to bring comics to the blind. Here’s their intro page; if you’re sighted, you can then check this page. 

And finally, in law librarianship: Forget about parachutes, what color is your CFR? (They change colors each year. It’s true!) Law librarians have created a coloring book/workbook explaining U.S. law. (Bonus points for using the Ohio Revised Code as an example!)

Wednesday, August 17, 2016

Hieronymus Bosch died five hundred years ago, and there are exhibits and books celebrating him and his weird, weird art. Hooray!

For urban and rural explorers alike, here’s a list of abandoned places to investigate. Some are legal, some aren’t, so consider yourself warned.

Propology shows you a plethora of tantalizing props.

Tuesday, August 16, 2016

Oooo, more windfarms! It’s starting to look like the future!

Speaking of the future, don’t you want to know more about the Great Gzhurka’s spaceship? Bradley W. Schenck will tell us, eventually, I hope.

For those looking to the past, here are some lovely illustrations of shopping back in the 1920s. I like that you could purchase outfits for flying.

Monday, August 15, 2016

Ancient graffiti from medieval times tells us about the people from yesteryear.

Candles in modern times tell us about the people of today, and what weird scents they like! (This article does not mention Witches Brew. It should!)

Friday, August 12, 2016

Today has been incredibly frustrating. Fortunately, it's Friday.

CyberSquirrel gets some recognition from the media! 

Our local "solar nun" has died.

Have you heard of headis? It's ping pong, played with one's head instead of paddles (and with a bigger ball). It's...different, that's for sure. 

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

Thursday, August 11, 2016

Good news, everyone! This may all be a computer simulation! Elon Musk thinks it might be, anyway.

In this reality, whatever it might be, Hamilton is a big deal. The New Yorker puts a library-related spin on the historical figures. Aaron Burr read a lot, it turns out.

Meanwhile, in London, a new indie bookstore has launched one-hour delivery service.

In Indonesia, a microlibrary has been constructed using ice cream buckets. And it’s actually pretty!

Wednesday, August 10, 2016

Lata 65 is a Portuguese art movement which encourages senior citizens to learn street art, as taught by street artists themselves. I absolutely love their logo!

In today’s “the apocalypse is nigh” news, America’s corpse flowers are all blooming at the same time, for unknown reasons. Well. That’s not creepy at all. Eeep.

Manchester, so much to answer for…like the futuristic architecture which never came to be, thanks to austerity measures.

In happier news, here’s a lovely article about Doorkins Magnificat, the cat of Southwark Cathedral.

Tuesday, August 09, 2016

Today ended being a strange catch-all of links. Enjoy!

Happy National Book Lovers Day! 

Good news: Dorian Cope’s On This Deity has returned. 

Nervous about public speaking? Practice with dogs. I highly endorse this program! It would have helped me, at least.

Kate Beaton won an Eisner award! 

From Dave: Strange phenomena caught on film. Weird natural occurrence, or something for the X-Files?

The wonderful people at How We Get to Next take a look at space cannons. (And so we come full circle to science fiction!)

Monday, August 08, 2016

It’s International Cat Day! We’ve talked about literary cats several times, so here’s a look at a few seafaring felines. 

Book Marks assigns grades to books based on reviews (a la Rotten Tomatoes), so consult the site if you’re looking for something new to read.

Why did Byron’s friends burn his memoirs? Some new books try to figure out the reasons. 

I had never heard of H.T. Tsiang, who had a remarkable life, and I’m glad he’s getting some attention.

And finally, here are some noteworthy elevators from around the world.

Friday, August 05, 2016

Happy Friday! Possibilities for your weekend include:

- walking on this absolutely terrifying glass-bottomed cliffside walkway in China (thanks, Julie!)

- watching the Olympic Games in Rio (good luck, everyone. Also, the mascots are as weird as ever)

- playing NASA’s Mars Rover game (it’s very hard to avoid crashing the thing)

- enjoying PIZZA FROM AN ATM (seriously! Here in my hometown, no less!)

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

Thursday, August 04, 2016

I am increasingly convinced the world ended in 2015 and this is all a hallucination.

Anyway. Sad news, the Shipwreck Librarian is getting out of the business! But the snark will continue, fortunately.

From Tara Calishain’s excellent Research Buzz: The U.S. Electric System Operating Data page shows usage in real time, which is pretty amazing.

Meanwhile, in Toronto…

Wednesday, August 03, 2016

This weekend brings us the Route 127 Yard Sale, also known as the World's Longest Yard Sale, and it goes right through my town! Meander through the sales and have fun (and stay cool).

Back in the day, schoolgirls created amazing maps by hand. I’m tempted to try my hand at something like this.

Tuesday, August 02, 2016

The latest Junktown gathering happened in Prague about a month ago, and the photos are incredible. 

Clothing featuring the art of a city, literally, taken from manhole covers and the like! (Tangent: I went looking for an alternative word for “manhole,” because, I mean, geez, but did not find any suitable replacement. Get on that, linguists.)

Mercenaries are back. Here’s some history and some news on where they are these days.

Monday, August 01, 2016

It’s very sad news that This has ceased publishing; it was a wonderful way to find fascinating articles. We mourn/celebrate by posting a bunch of links found through This. Good luck with future endeavors!

- What it’s like to live in Venezuela these days. 

 - Behind the scenes at Politico. 

 - What does a last name mean, really? 

- What goes into making a suit at the highest level of tailoring?

 - Remember the Gucci murder? (I didn’t, so this was all new to me!)