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2010-03-16T22:59:00.001-04:00

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2010-03-16T22:52:00.002-04:00

Outdated links on the left gone! New links on the left added!

Next up: the FTP migration. The URL will probably change and the RSS feed may change and the earth may be torn asunder. Stay tuned.

2010-03-12T12:48:00.000-05:00

It is Friday! And what's more, it is the last day before the Spooky Librarians take some time off to clean up the place (both online and in the outside world) and get ready for spring. Postings next week will be erratic, and the layout may change around a bit, but the schedule will go back to normal March 22.

On to the links from others!

From Holly: Squirrels with coconut helmets! We are so tempted to try something similar at our place. Also from Holly, more squirrel goodness in the form of a roller coaster-loving critter.

Zazoo reports that the Club Creatures are going to see Stuffed and Unstrung this weekend, in which Henson puppeteers are let loose to say and do all sorts of outrageous things. I am envious, and think anyone near New York should check it out.

From Cassandra: Why can't we all live off the grid, and become experts on our favorite bugs, and visit ethically friendly places? Well? Why not?

From Matt Staggs: the most awkward PSAs by our childhood friends. I had no idea She-Ra was concerned about this sort of thing.

And finally, we leave you with a happy video by Noah and the Whale. Have a spiffy weekend, everyone!

2010-03-11T14:44:00.000-05:00

Did you know the entire archives of Popular Science are now online? Get ready to lose a few hours of your time!

Jennie Law talks about the mysteries of cataloging...particularly in the world of law firms, where cataloging doesn't really matter to attorneys and outdated lawbooks absolutely need to be discarded rather than preserved. Along those lines, however, those outdated lawbooks can make some pretty spiffy bookbags! (More information is available at the crafty librarian's website.)

I think I've posted something about the smell of old books before, but it's worth mentioning again.

What does the future hold for British libraries? (My flip answer: who knows?)

A new weblog has arrived, exploring the world of libraries and transliteracy. Go have a look!

Links from others tomorrow, and they are good ones, so check back.

2010-03-10T13:18:00.000-05:00

Editorial note: I've added Google Friend Connect to the bottom of the left column. The slow yet inexorable Googlefication of my online presence continues...

Amateur cartographers, listen up: Londonist wants your hand-drawn maps of the city! They can be as detailed or as rudimentary as you like.

More UK news: the Crufts Dog Show is huge and happening right now. Also going on this weekend: the Calle Ocho celebration in Miami's Little Havana district, the annual Ostrich Festival in Arizona, and about a thousand St. Patrick's Day parades in cities all over the world.

If China has its way, we might be able to travel from London to Beijing in two days via highspeed rail. Yes! This would be fantastic!

And for those who come for the spooky on Wednesdays and not the travel: here's a list of unconventional ways to live on after your death. I am intrigued by the pencil concept.

2010-03-09T12:39:00.000-05:00

Look, a whole list of steampunk recommendations from Library Journal! This is the perfect Steampunk Librarian link!

Vancouver has been in the news a lot for the Olympics, and some lovely things have turned up, such as this collection of vintage ads and this post on the steam clock (powered via the steam tunnels!) in Gastown.

Atlas Obscura, the source of that last link, is celebrating Obscura Day on March 20. Join the festivities! (There is no Ohio group yet; we need to fix that.)

Some gorgeous behind-the-scenes photos show Fritz Lang at work on his films, including Metropolis. The set design is amazing.

Would you like to go to Crawler Town? It's a traveling eco-punk community! With origins in steampunk! Sadly, it only exists in LEGO format. For now, anyway.

The esteemed Steampunk Scholar discusses the various tribes that could (theoretically) make up the steampunk community. The full article is available in PDF. I believe I fall into the "Browncoat Timelord" category myself, which means I am a generalist, but friendly!

2010-03-08T13:10:00.000-05:00

Happy International Womens Day!

There was a nice tribute to John Hughes by the Brat Pack last night at the Oscars, for you fellow Generation Xers.

Robert T. McCall, NASA artist extraordinaire, has died. His space art lives on, however.

By sheer coincidence, today features two weblogs about drawing monsters. Monsters In Real Places shows you just what it promises, while I Draw Monsters depicts the work of "creating worlds and the curious beings that inhabit them."

The International Center of Photography has a current exhibit on surrealism in photography, which looks fascinating and beautiful. Also fascinating and beautiful: the serpent originally painted around Queen Elizabeth I's wrist in a portrait. It was replaced with flowers, but as the painting has aged, the serpent is coming through. Sounds like the beginning of a great story, doesn't it?

2010-03-05T11:01:00.000-05:00

It is Friday! You know what that means: links sent in by others! Many thanks, everyone.

From Julie: the eBay auction for a Derbyshire nuclear bunker ends on Sunday, so act fast!

Also from Julie: the recent earthquake in Chile may have shortened our day by a few microseconds. Would this screw up time travelers? Or spaceships going at warp speed?

From Cassandra: you can take part in a light pollution study which entails looking up at the stars; a dictionary of Old English is in progress, and shows the "violent but charming" nature of the language; and a photograph gallery of India's Holi festival of colors.

From Susan's Facebook: look, book wallpaper! I think some coffeehouse should use this.

As found on Coilhouse, Tokyo's cat cafes are right up my alley. I would like someone to start this in the U.S., please, preferably somewhere close to me!

We end the week with videos. Swiped from Dawnowar: a hilarious parody ad of furniture stores. Swiped from Glenn at Maniacal Hooting, a video by OK Go which may be the best Rube Goldberg device setup of all time. This is one amazing piece of filmmaking!

Have a spiffy weekend, everyone. See you Monday!

2010-03-04T13:27:00.001-05:00

Okay, I know I was not paying too much attention to a lot of stuff last month, but how did I miss the penny redesign announcement? A permanent redesign! Of the penny! Where is my mind?

The University of Michigan is, at long last, getting rid of its card catalogs. I do miss the old catalogs, especially when the computers go all wonky.

Other stuff I miss: video arcades! But fear not, there's a movement afoot to preserve the old games, at least. Also preserved: Chicago television broadcasting of yesteryear, thanks to the efforts of museum.tv.

Hooray, Shelf Check is back! You can add your own patron-based acronyms to the list in the latest strip. I think law librarians could make up several appropriate names.

Tomorrow: links from others, hooray!

2010-03-03T13:47:00.000-05:00

This weekend brings you Art on Ice (in Switzerland) and Frozen Dead Guy Days (in America)! Spring really is coming some day. Really.

Next weekend brings the illumination of Hadrian's Wall, which looks amazing and commemorates 1600 years since the end of Roman Britain. I can't wait to see photos.

Back in the United States, the Smalls Street Sounds project wants you to contribute to an aural history of your city. Upload the sounds of your town!

MapEnvelope puts a GoogleMaps location as a return address. Good idea for invitations!

2010-03-02T14:12:00.000-05:00

The Smart Set, a website I love, takes a look at steampunk!

It may be somewhat dreary outside, but that makes for good steampunkish weather, apparently, as there's a lot going on this month. The Metropolitan Museum of Art's exhibit on Victorian photocollage is now open, for example. Next weekend brings the 2010 Annual Mutter Ball in Philadelphia ("19th-century inspired garb encouraged!") and the Antique Science & Retro-Tech Swap in Irving, Texas ("World Championship Slide Rule Competition at 2 pm!"). All of these are highly recommended.

And for the futurists: new innovations in hearing aids may mean wearing them on the back teeth, not the ear. (The possibilities for augmented reality are also mentioned. Oooo.)

2010-03-01T12:41:00.000-05:00

The Olympics may be over, but the images remain, especially in the Flickr pool.

Also in Flickr fun: Goofy signs!

The National Archvies now has a Flickr account, but they are not allowing any photographs in the rotunda any longer. This is why we can't have nice things, people.

A new book on Emily Dickinson suggests that perhaps she was not the quiet recluse that her posthumous reputation has suggested. Interesting stuff.

On Friday, the Smithsonian opens an exhibit featuring art made in Japanese internment camps between 1942 and 1944. Powerful and beautiful.

And lastly, here is something completely different: solar panels which look like regular roofing tiles. Woo, it's the future!

2010-02-26T12:30:00.000-05:00

Lots of links from others this Friday. Thanks, everyone!

From Julie: The shortlist for the Diagram Prize has been announced! Yay! I think my vote would go to Crocheting Adventures with Hyperbolic Planes.

Also from Julie: an Austrian monastery is looking for weekend recruits, bald chickens in England are getting knitted clothes, and here in America, we've got an awful lot of old planes. That boneyard looks incredibly tempting.

From Zazoo, a look back at Bingoski!, which has sadly stopped running at the Ukranian restaurant. New and different venues are on the way, though.

From Cassandra: how does one define genius? Also, cannibal stars are eating planets, rape at juvenile detention centers is frighteningly rampant and usually ignored, a Greenwich Village fortune teller gets caught trying to scam someone out of a fortune, female magicians are a vanishing breed, and Eternal-Earthbound Pets offers to take care of your animals after the Rapture. I am really tempted to offer my services to this place, as there is no Ohio chapter yet.

And finally, found on Dawnowar's site: met.al/, the Metal URL shortener! (Also, Dawn turns 42 this weekend, which means she will know the answer to life, the universe and everything by Monday, so be sure to ask her. Or wish her a happy birthday, Or both!)

Have a spiffy weekend, everyone! See you Monday.

2010-02-25T14:23:00.000-05:00

The National Archives is now on Flickr, hooray!

More historical image fun is over at Life - there's a gallery of famous addicts in literature (I don't think I'd ever seen a photo of Baudelaire before) and there's a great gallery of dogs working during WWII (including one wearing a gas mask).

Fun with book arranging, courtesy of the same woman who brought you the SkyMall Kitty song from Monday's post. I am tempted to try this with our books, because I think there could be a lot of macabre expressions on our shelves...

Bad library news: Boston's Public Library may be closing branches.

Bad lawyer news: people in the legal profession are terrible drivers.

However, we finish with something fun: the Webomator weblog discusses e-books and e-readers, with fantastic illustrations.

Links from others are coming up tomorrow!

2010-02-24T13:14:00.001-05:00

One of the many fun uses of Google Earth and Google Maps: comparing photos from then to now. Here are shots of various New York City landmarks in 1924 and 2008, including parts of Central Park (then a reservoir) and Prospect Park's Grand Army Plaza (which looks pretty much the same today!).

This weekend brings you the tenth anniversary of Whisky Live in London, the fourth Father Ted gathering in Ireland (called, logically, TedFest 4), and the belated but no less awesome Magic Hat Mardi Gras parade in Burlington, Vermont, boasting over 40 floats.

I don't know if anyone is watching Caprica these days, but if you are, Religion Dispatches is doing a nice recap of each episode from a spiritual angle.

2010-02-23T13:57:00.001-05:00

If you're near Nashville, the producers of steampunky film Nickel Children are looking for cast and crew members!

I think Jules Verne would have loved this "aero submarine." I might accept this over a jetpack. Maybe.

I am pretty sure most people will not accept the idea of Queen Victoria as a demon-hunter, however, but it sounds like a rollickingly fun time to me!

Fans of Wild Wild West may appreciate this amazing apartment in Manhattan. Sadly, it's going away, as the tenant is moving out in March. Perhaps he'll have the stoop sale of a lifetime?

And finally, the adventures of Monsieur Sandalette are starting to appear in English, which is very nice for the non-Francophone fans. French speakers can read an extra two episodes!

2010-02-22T12:23:00.000-05:00

Today's shirt from Woot! is very nice for readers, librarians, and people of that ilk.

I was watching the Olympics over the weekend and discussing figure skating with Bunny. He compared it to ballet (in terms of how interesting he found it), and behold, here is an article in which dancers talk about their opinions of figure skating. A different article addresses my major complaint, which is that the music tends toward the godawful boring. (In comparison, check this out. That's a Dead or Alive remix! That's freakin' awesome!)

How have Crayola colors changed since their inception in 1903? I'm glad you asked. (I am intrigued by the colors that disappeared over time.)

And finally, for people familiar with the SkyMall catalog and/or animals: SkyMall Kitty, the best song about a catalog ever. So far, anyway.

2010-02-19T11:19:00.000-05:00

Happy Friday, everyone. Many thanks to everyone who sent in links for today's post!

From Josie: Meet the Impossibirds!

From Julie: A pelican, perhaps enraged by the cuteness of the impossibirds, goes berzerk on a weather presenter. Ha!

Also from Julie: more UFO reports are released to the public, including some truly odd sketches, and archaeologists have determined the true site of the Battle of Bosworth Field. (For those of you not up on English history, this is the battle where Richard III was killed and the Wars of the Roses came to an end, essentially.)

From Cassandra: the "steamy" memoirs of Casanova have been given to France's National Library. (Casanova was a librarian, you know, among other things.) Also from Cassandra: the Pembroke Center in Providence, Rhode Island debuts the Feminist Theory Papers, and a Philadelphia school district is in big trouble over using the webcams in school-issued laptops to spy on students at home. George Orwell, you were right.

From Bunny: A local man takes matters into his own hands by bulldozing his foreclosed home. And he might do the same to his business!

Have a spiffy weekend, everyone. See you Monday.

2010-02-18T13:29:00.000-05:00

News! About libraries! And news librarians! And more!

In the uncertain newsroom of today, a lot of errors are getting made (and published); this is just one story among many, many others.

Another reason news librarians are useful: they might help you track down potential Cold War spies! This is a neat story; my favorite part is how a date was pinned down using the paper's sunrise and sunset times.

There is the Biblioburro in Colombia, mentioned here before, and there is also a camel library service in Kenya. I think there could be a lot of variations on this concept.

Librarians can inspire people...even via their obituaries?

My library school alma mater is talking about eliminating their school media (i.e. school librarian) program. Weird. I always thought that was the most popular specialization there.

And finally, a post in Apartment Therapy suggests you make bookshelves out of your ceiling rafters. (Keep in mind that this post originated in Los Angeles and may not be taking leaky ceilings or weight limits into consideration...)

2010-02-17T14:36:00.000-05:00

If you can dig out from under the snow, there's a lot going on this week. There are Carnivals in practically every city, and there are also Chinese New Year celebrations, and it's also the beginning of kite season, and some Roman-X mechanized chariot racing could start up any day, you never know.

And, for something completely different, here's an article on the rise of green funerals (thanks, Cassandra!). We have been dealing with this sort of thing over the past week or so, and I am all about doing as little damage to the environment with as little trauma to the family as possible.

2010-02-16T13:55:00.000-05:00

And I think we are finally back, even with yet another snowstorm. Wow, February has been quite the month.

Have you been following the amazing documentation of the Hawkins Strongbox? If not, you should!

Valentine's Day may have come and gone, but you can still look at the 19th century version of Missed Connections via the fantastic Advertising for Love weblog.

Found via the Steampunk Fashion community: the Emlen Physick Estate Tours in New Jersey feature a focused tour on the life and times of Victorian women. Go, and report back!

Over on the Steampunk Empire, I try to post upcoming events that steam people might find interesting, like the Nova Albion Steampunk Exhibition. Join and post the events in your area!

2010-02-15T11:13:00.002-05:00

Back tomorrow; for now, please follow John Scalzi's initiative and appreciate Grover today.

2010-02-11T14:19:00.000-05:00

Thanks to everyone. I will be gone tomorrow to be with family, but should be back Monday, winter weather permitting! So today we go with some links from others.

From Cassandra: Obituaries are another tradition in transition as newspapers change. (This is timely, as we just discovered the exorbitant cost of running this small obituary for my aunt in the Chicago Tribune.)

Also from the Tribune, incidentally: there was a small earthquake in the Chicago area this week. The world, it has gone mad!

From Cassandra, part 2: On the Issues discusses Wonder Woman.

From Julie: To celebrate International Sword Swallowers Day, a new record is set -- 18 swords at once. Ow! I don't know how people like Charon and Alex do it.

John Scalzi has the same thoughts about Google Buzz as I do at the moment. I am willing to give it a try, though! Feel free to add (follow?) me if you like.

Thanks again to all -- have a safe and spiffy weekend, everyone. See you Monday, or maybe Tuesday.

2010-02-09T23:55:00.000-05:00

Donna Dietrick

1935-2010

Possibly the quirkiest, most eccentric, best aunt ever. I owe a lot to her.

2010-02-09T15:50:00.000-05:00

It's lovely weather for a Snow Lady, isn't it? Get inspired and create your own!

This week's proof that steampunk is now everywhere, for good or ill, comes from an aisle at Michaels craft store. More proof (although, hopefully, with more staying power) comes from Stanford's use of pneumatic tubes as a delivery system. This last link comes to us via io9, which also recommends the recent reissue of K.W. Jeter's Infernal Devices as a way to explore the "original" concepts of steampunk.

Via Warren Ellis: Molly Crabapple's design for the "steampunk spectacular" issue of Weird Tales!

Are you a tinkerer and a maker? If so, the Antiquitarian Guild of Inventors & Engineers may be a perfect fit for you.

And finally, way back in the turbulent early '70s, a children's book explored what living in 2010 would be like. Now that the future is the present, a weblog is going through the book page by page. It's wonderful and a little depressing and a little exhilarating, all at the same time, and a lovely find for anyone interested in futurism and anyone who was a child in the '70s and '80s.