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| Friday, April 28, 2006 |
Today: links from others. Thanks, everyone!
From the Graveworm: June 6 (aka 06/06/06) will be the National Day of Slayer. Now you've been warned and can prepare accordingly.
Also from the Graveworm: the amazingly cool world of 24th Century Interior Design! (Bunny will immediately want to redesign the house now. Thanks a lot, G-worm.)
From Danny: They Rule, an interactive site which shows you how all the big companies and their directors are interconnected. This is actually really useful for business research purposes, too!
Also from Danny: a spooky ooky site advertising the Zombie Survival Guide. Any connection between this link and the last one is purely coincidental.
And lastly, also from Danny: the judge for the Da Vinci Code trial in England put his own coded message into the verdict, which led to a flurry of cryptographic mania. Awesome.
Have a spiffy weekend, everyone! See you Monday.
Jinnet @
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| Thursday, April 27, 2006 |
Today: libraries around the world, plus a few bonuses!
The British Library has decided to concentrate on resources from China and India. Since those two countries will probably be the next superpowers, that's a good strategic move.
In Italy, a designer has created the 'bibliochaise,' which can store dozens of books. Other parts of the site are just as cool, like the "pop" option for their bookshelves which are meant to display illustrated bookcovers properly.
Imagine a library constructed from discarded airline jet fuselages. It could happen in Guadalajara!
Meanwhile, back home in the land of the free, the National Archives is expressing shock and outrage over its recent re-classifying of declassified documents. Riight.
From another planet entirely, yet still in your own backyard: how much do I love the Secret Library Workers Union?
For the poetically minded: write a haiku about a cryptozoological or slightly obscure animal, and win a book! Even the Beastie Boys are participating.
Finally, a handy reference guide to those of us who have to drive places: GasBuddy shows you the cheapest and most expensive gas stations in town. Cincinnatians, stay away from Clifton; right now gas is $2.99 there!
Tomorrow: lots of cool links from others!
Jinnet @
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| Wednesday, April 26, 2006 |
It was twenty years ago that Chernobyl became known worldwide. Recent photos are still heartbreaking. The wildlife is taking over, however, and is actually thriving.
On a more cheerful (?) note, it's also Pretzel Day. Feel free to send some to Washington!
An Ecuadorean shaman is in Germany to perform spirit-banishing rituals before the World Cup. Sadly, he has no hooligan-banishing rituals in his repetoire.
Time Magazine profiled the spooky Opus Dei, and de-spookified it a bit. Members really do wear that ring of spikes around their legs, though. Eeep.
Remember the Kryptos sculpture by CIA headquarters which was confounding the code-breakers? Well, er, the sculptor may have made a slight mistake. Oops.
Lastly, for people who are not all that interested in spooky or strange things and just want to get outside and walk around: Shakespeare's Way is a brand new trek of 146 miles which takes you past various important places in the playwright's life. You could even recite all the sonnets as you walk.
Jinnet @
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| Tuesday, April 25, 2006 |
We've been busy putting together a new episode of Meet Cleaver Theatre which is information-heavy, so I've been compiling all sorts of trivia. One bit is about Laika, the first dog in space, and it turns out there were many other (luckier) cute canine cosmonauts. (Some of you will also remember Bunny's minor freakout on our flight to the Internet Librarian conference, where he was convinced that the airline attendant's name was Laika and it was a bad omen.)
More animal fun: did you know that there was almost a Paleozoic Park in Central Park? (And wouldn't it have been cool?)
In quirky consumer goods news, there are some truly awesome cufflink options out there these days. (The "thermometer" section is especially interesting.) And for those of us who remember 5 1/4" floppy disks, Acorn Studios sells notebooks with the disks as covers. There are also circuitboard mousepads, and more!
Jinnet @
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| Monday, April 24, 2006 |
Today's discussion points: art, music, and writing.
Art: Google got in trouble for showcasing Miro's work in their logo last week. Apparently they got in the same predicament when honoring Dali. Man, it's hard to deal with copyright these days.
More art: Did you know Dale Chihuly has an eyepatch? As a result, he has no depth perception any more, so others do the glassblowing. And he's dealing with bipolar disorder. I had no idea.
Classical music: Was it Bach's wife, rather than Bach himself, who wrote some of his best works?
Modern music: Do Southerners make better pop singers?
Writing: For any girl who's ever been twelve, your take on what happened then is requested. The "When I Was Twelve" project asks for your stories. (I don't know if there's an equivalent project for boys in the works.) I think I've repressed most of my memories as a 12-year-old, myself.
Jinnet @
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| Friday, April 21, 2006 |
Today: links from others. Thanks, everyone!
From Zazoo:
From Danny: inspired by the Ministry video linked on Tuesday, here's a whole slew of fun Legomation! From Neil Gaiman's journal: Unphotographable, a very cool idea. And finally, a question for Cincinnati folk. I thought I knew my downtown characters pretty well, but I don't remember ever seeing this guy. Anyone else?
Jinnet @
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| Thursday, April 20, 2006 |
Here's something you don't see every day: the cabin of William S. Burroughs is up for sale on eBay. If you win, you may see all sorts of wild things. Re-enacting the story of William Tell with your loved one is not recommended, however.
How cool are librarians? They're this cool. Hooray for the radical militant librarians!
Despite all the problems with the current administration, the government does provide some cool stuff...like coloring books available for the downloading. I had no idea there were so many.
The future is coming! PBS on computers! Book excerpts on phones! Librarians going hyper-violent on cell phone users! (Well, that last one hasn't happened yet. But I do love the calm academic discussion on how best to shoot the perpetrators.) But for those who love the past, the Theban Mapping Project is a truly amazing interactive work for anyone who ever wanted to be an Egyptologist.
Tomorrow: links from others!
Jinnet @
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| Wednesday, April 19, 2006 |
Don't forget that it's Earth Day on Saturday, and you can participate in all sorts of earth-friendly activities. For example, you can get your bike blessed at St. John the Divine! (I'd love to see this.)
The "DaVinci Code Quest on Google" started on Monday and goes up to the day of the film's premiere. If you're not completely sick of the book and film already, the puzzles and setup are admittedly pretty cool. (It's quite the shill for Google, too. Those guys know how to take advantage of trends.)
RIP, little Dracula park; the planned amusements in Romania have bit the dust. But hey, a few countries over, they're digging for a pyramid supposedly under a hill in Bosnia!
Jinnet @
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| Tuesday, April 18, 2006 |
Now you can turn your life into a piece of Mondrian art, via MyMondrian! My first attempt ended up awfully brown and dull, so I changed a few things and got the above image. It's still not very colorful, but hey.
Yesterday we had knitted sweaters for trees. Today, we have knitted sweaters for penguins, courtesy of several Mormons. And the penguins are wearing them!
Goofy computer games: shoot up some roadsigns, or launch a cute little critter across ice floes. (That last one is HARD.)
For more domesticated fun, you can turn your fridge into an ongoing Lite-Brite display. Neato!
Jinnet @
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| Monday, April 17, 2006 |
Today, it's all about fun stuff. (Well, unless you don't think Kurt Cobain's poetry interests are fun. They're not, exactly, but they do lead to some neato poets. Silver linings and all that.)
However, tree sweaters are awfully fun. And so is a Ministry video filmed entirely with Legos! And so is a musical animation done entirely with public domain icons!
And Rooster Iglehart's art, while possibly dark to some, is entirely awesome to me. And we're all about spooky awesome fun here.
Jinnet @
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| Friday, April 14, 2006 |
This week, Folderol turned six years old. Yes. Six years. Amazing. Many, many thanks to everyone out there who has read, commented, sent in links, pointed out when things are askew, spread the word, and supported the weblog over the years!
To celebrate, I'm going to see She Wants Revenge tonight. (Well, it was a fortunate coincidence that they're in town this week.) Stop by and say hi!
News from Zazoo: Kings Island, now known as Paramount's Kings Island, is going to be known as something else soon because it's up for sale. I can't tell you how many days I spent at Kings Island, both visiting and working. Hopefully it'll survive the transition.
Found on ookee.com: a diagram showing who really runs the show in America (Cthulhu is at the top), and an actual gadget to discourage cats from walking across your keyboard. Hee!
Speaking of cats, if you're at a loss what to do this Easter weekend, you could go see the Moscow Cats Theatre, featuring real live acrobatic cats. I have no idea how they convince the cats to perform.
Have a spiffy weekend, everyone! See you Monday.
Jinnet @
: comments: 1
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| Thursday, April 13, 2006 |
Man, life has been hectic lately.
First, and most important, is the collusion between the National Archives and the government to "reclassify" declassified documents without telling anyone. So much for impartiality.
Secondly, and also importantly, but in a much more positive way: Reading Rainbow may be resurrected!
Chuck Klosterman wrote an excellent article on the whole Barry Bonds/steroids/home run record issue. It's worth a read, even if you're not all that into baseball.
In an effort to break with English tradition, Irish judges are no longer going to be called "your lordship" or "your honor," but just plain "judge." I'm not sure if they still wear wigs. Even the English are reconsidering that aspect, apparently. (Incidentally, while trying to figure out if Irish judges wear wigs, I found a great 'judges of the world' website, with photos!)
Tomorrow: links from others!
Jinnet @
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| Wednesday, April 12, 2006 |
Breaking news from the Graveworm: actual Templar graves have been discovered!
Was H.P. Lovecraft influenced by Aleister Crowley in referencing the Necronomicon? Could it be a real book? Probably not, but it's fun to speculate.
When you die, where does your online presence go? MyDeathSpace is like the obits for the younger set, in a weird sort of way.
In less morbid happenings, the age-old problem of disorientation when coming out of a subway station has a solution: compass graffiti! Someone's already taken the idea and run with it, it seems.
On a larger scale, Desktop Earth acts both as wallpaper and general here-and-now locator, in real time, no less.
Random exciting discovery of the day (not including Templars): Thomas Dolby has a weblog! This is awesome! And he looks awesome these days, too!
Jinnet @
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| Tuesday, April 11, 2006 |
You know, I had such high hopes for Coca-Cola Blak. But I got some over the weekend, and we tried it last night, and dear god, it's terrible. It tastes a little like strong cold tea mixed with flat ginger ale, only worse. Consider this a public service announcement.
Now toaster helmets, on the other hand, seem like a nice, rational concept...
If you liked the periodic table table from the other week, you will probably also like this assortment of periodic table displays and installations, which use all sorts of materials. Who knew science could be so artistic?
If you're into a less pricey sort of science, you could make your own Peeps. Happy Easter!
First there were yuppies; now, evidently, there are Grups. I think I may be a Grup, actually. What really scares me is that I don't think this is an entirely bad thing to be. Eeeep! I'm being labeled, and I don't mind!
Using technology for your book-buying needs: Pricenoia analyzes which Amazon site gives you the best deal. Put in a book (or CD, DVD, etc.) and see how you can save a few bucks!
Jinnet @
: comments: 4
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| Monday, April 10, 2006 |
Puppets are good. Huge puppets, like these from Andrew Kim, are awesome!
The 2006 edition of "who reads what" is out, and like every other year, it's really interesting. (Ruth Bader Ginsburg is reading Sandra Day O'Connor's book. Hee.)
Also, it turns out that British men nominate very different books than women when listing their most inspiring and/or life-changing reads. Once again, my picks are more like the men's. I'm not really sure what this says about me. Maybe I need to read some Jane Austen and see how I feel.
For the kids: Ramona Quimby says that this Wednesday is Drop Everything And Read (DEAR) Day, in honor of Beverly Cleary's birthday. So get ready.
And finally, to end on a surreal note, Stuckey and Murray's "Unicorn in C Minor" is hilarious, although not work-safe. You've been warned.
Jinnet @
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| Friday, April 07, 2006 |
Today: links from others! Thanks, everyone!
From international correspondent Danny: Remembering just how cool KLF were. Three a.m. eternal!
From local correspondent Zazoo: Cirque de Soleil is coming to Cincinnati, the Scripps school of journalism at Ohio University just got $15 million (Satori's response: "What are they going to do, gold-plate the building?"), and Billboard is going to start charting the top 40 ringtones. Maybe we could start a KLF ringtone comeback.
From music correspondent Satori: awesome mashups from Rebel DJs. The Gwen Stefani/Front 242 mashup is especially good.
From radical correspodent Glenna: If you miss Brunching Shuttlecocks as much as I do, you'll be thrilled to discover Table of Malcontents. Lore lives!
Thanks again, everyone. Have a spiffy weekend, and I'll see you Monday.
Jinnet @
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| Thursday, April 06, 2006 |
Well, so much for updating yesterday. The combination of new work duties, covering for another librarian who's on vacation, and fighting off the creeping crud that tried to infect everyone at Cinema Wasteland resulted in a distinct lack of time to do anything else productive!
Anyway. A leftover Wednesday link: Mothman is getting his(its?) own museum in Point Pleasant, West Virginia. I think we need to make an expedition out there sometime.
And on to Thursday links, where we are celebrating National Library Week. Go hug a librarian!
Suffering from information overload? Me too. But fear not, there's a cure.
The always-great Library Underground has created its own Flickr pool. Radical subversive snarky librarians, unite! And take pictures while you're at it!
I forgot to mention Daylight Savings time up there in the list, but that's been difficult, too. And now I see that next year we're going to start it in March? Agh! (Found via LII; go support them!)
In the UK, they're concerned that people aren't visiting libraries enough. So they've started the Love Libraries initiative. Hey, whatever works.
Tomorrow: links from others!
Jinnet @
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| Wednesday, April 05, 2006 |
Agh! We're running very late here today. Check back later this afternoon, and if all goes well, there will be links!
Jinnet @
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| Tuesday, April 04, 2006 |
Well, that was quite the wild and wacky weekend. Pictures of the Cinema Wasteland experience are up at Flickr; you can click the little morphing badge thingy on the left of this page as well.
How '80s were you? If you were anything like me, you were very, very '80s. Now you can share the fun, the nostalgia, and even show what you look like now. I'm very tempted.
In the '80s, college radio rocked. Then in the '90s, everything sort of went to hell. Now, thanks to podcasting, college radio is making a comeback! Hooray!
Did you know that squirrels make such high-pitched noises that we can't hear them? I think they use this to organize group actions, like shaking trees just as you walk under them.
The spooky librarians have been fascinated with Floria Sigismondi for years now. She's just done another video for Sigur Ros that's gorgeous and disturbing, like most of her work. You can see several videos and photographs on her site.
Jinnet @
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