Monthly Archives: May 2011
Only in dark the light, cont’d: We all shine on
I’ve mentioned the work of photographer Phil Hart, who captures breathtaking images of bioluminescent phenomena. Deep-sea explorer and bioluminescence expert Edith Widder delves even more into the mystery of living lights in the deep: An earlier and more extensive presentation … Continue reading
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The city and its songs
A great window into the infinite musical universes people inhabit in the infinite city: I’ve written before about the demise of the boombox and how people now listen to their music in privacy and isolation; I suppose the need to … Continue reading
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Violin, cello, Halvorsen, bliss
Violinist Robert Gupta and cellist Joshua Roman play some good music. Really, really, really, really good music. Hard to imagine Johan Halvorsen’s “Passacaglia” in better hands. (via TED)
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“It feels good when you sing a song”
Reason number five million and seven why old-school Sesame Street rocked: Because it gave us gloriously jubilant musical gems like this. Even better, it appears to be one live take. No autotuning, no lip-synching to a track, no multiple takes … Continue reading
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Why libraries matter, cont’d
Charles Simic, in a heartbreaking article on the closing of many American libraries: I still can’t get over the generosity of the taxpayers of Oak Park. It’s not that I started out life being interested in everything; it was spending … Continue reading
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Happy Towel Day!
Douglas Adams (with fan video assist) explains: Be a frood today. Know where your towel is!
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Expanding the circle of “we”
Anthony Marx is set to become the president of the New York Public Library. And I like the way he thinks: In his 2003 inaugural address [as president of Amherst College], Mr. Marx — quoting from a speech President John … Continue reading
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After the Apocalypse
So May 21 has come and gone, and yet another prediction of the end of the world has turned out to be spectacularly false. Truth be told, I’m a little disappointed; with all the fervent Christian believers having been, er, … Continue reading
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Elves make the best librarians
A gloriously geeky reminder that libraries are embracing the future: This is an old student film (here’s another, riffing on The Matrix) from Emmy winner Chris Martin. Well done.
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Why libraries matter, cont’d: The “future library”? It’s already here.
I’ll give Seth Godin credit: he thinks libraries should matter: The library is no longer a warehouse for dead books. Just in time for the information economy, the library ought to be the local nerve center for information. [...] We … Continue reading
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