Friday, December 10, 2004
From Paul: the trailer for the new Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is out, as well as some photos. Oooh, ahhh.
From both Holly and the Graveworm: Canada gives us another reason to think about emigrating.
From the Graveworm: forget Santa; it's all about Satan's Grotto in Edinburgh and other regions in Great Britain (ministers are particularly unhappy about the one in York for some reason).
Via Kathryn: the annual ReinDog Parade happens tomorrow in town! Hopefully we will be able to make it. Say hi if you see us! And have a good weekend, regardless!
Thursday, December 09, 2004
So, the Librarian movie was on TNT last weekend. I didn't watch it, but a lot of librarians did (reviews ranged from "okay" to "horrible" to "hilarious"). One of the highlights, however, was that our fearless protagonist announced that he knew how to set up an RSS feed. Go librarians!
(For more portrayals of librarians in the limelight, check out Hollywood Librarian.)
The president of Johns Hopkins University wants to know if you've hugged your librarian today. Well? Have you?
The NEH has announced a project to digitize over 30 million pages of newspapers. Yes, I said million. Wow.
If you're a public librarian, you like the world of blogging, and you're going to be at ALA this winter, well then, have we got a job for you!
And lastly, if you find yourself having to come up with interesting research tidbits about the holiday (don't laugh, this actually happens a lot), the ICSC has a big list of resources. Have at it.
Tomorrow: links from others!
Wednesday, December 08, 2004
The Knights Templar would like an apology from the church for the way they were treated 700 years ago. In more current happenings, ministers want an apology for Madame Tussaud's celebrity nativity scene. (Be sure to check out the photo gallery. My favorite is Kylie Minogue as the angel of the Lord.)
This weekend you can catch the festival of the whirling dervishes in Turkey. If you're nowhere near Turkey, you can rest easy in the fact that we have equally odd things going on in the U.S. Take the "duel by bleeding," for example...
Tuesday, December 07, 2004
Perhaps the Doctor could use a phone with a sunflower seed embedded in its case, and then grow the sunflower after discarding the phone. Actually, that sounds more like something Oscar Wilde would do.
Alternatively, the Doctor could join up with this special forces unit. It looks like they could use the help. (Click on each glass for a story. The clear water is actually my favorite.)
Yesterday I forgot to link to John Scalzi's Ten Worst Christmas Specials Ever, and in the meantime National Lampoon bought it from him! You can still read it on their site, fortunately. I really wish the first one listed was true. Well, that and the Muppet one. The idea of Muppets dressed like mujahideen cracks me up.
And finally, if you are not reading Jack Beltane's Unknown North, you should be!
Monday, December 06, 2004
And now, for the arty side of books. The Adobe Book Shop in San Francisco currently features the method of organization by color. Remember that book you wanted? That was green? Yeah, it's over there! Perhaps the bookstore could hook up with another Bay Area artist who is transforming books into works of art and furniture. Or, if you're on the east coast, you could check out the Bibliophile's Bedroom instead.
The spooky staircase in Jane Eyre may not be fiction after all, as it turns out. Neat.
One of the best books of the year, says the Guardian, is about mutants. See if you're not curious about it by the time you finish the article.
And if you're not interested in reading about books, how about gleefully sacrificing some sacred cows and trashing the top names in music and film? No one is exempt, not even the Beatles! However, they refrain from trashing Doctor Who, which may be a wise move. Geeks can get angry and mobilize very quickly. As a nod to them, I give you an in-depth look at Delia Derbyshire, who created the spooky sound of the good doctor's theme.
