First-Century Silk Scams, Popcorn, Elephants, and Other Answers with More Questions

Things I have learned and things I still need to find out:


1) I have learned that Chicago Style Popcorn is mixed Caramel and Cheese Popcorn

I still need to know what makes this Chicago style popcorn, not just "yummy, mixed flavor" popcorn.

2) I have learned that trees share nutrients through the fungal web, even with trees of different species. Douglass firs and paper birch, for an example, have a seasonal relationship: Paper birch trees send nutrients to Douglass fir trees when the latter are shaded by other trees; in the fall and spring, when the birch have no leaves, the Douglas firs send nutrients their way. It's very tidy.

I still need to know how many other trees do this? How much is the fungus deciding and how much the tree? Or can we even say "This is the tree, and that is the fungus"?

3) I have learned that the Syrians spent years in the first century unweaving heavy Chinese silk and reweaving it into something lighter. The Parthians then took it back to China claiming that the Romans just had better silkworms (See Justinian's Flea)

I still need to know how long this went on, how many people were in on the scam, and what the Chinese did or thought when they found out.

4) I have learned that all comic books should have T-Rexes

I still need to know why they don't.

4) That some farmers in Kenya are using bees to protect them from elephants, and have been for a while. It seems that in 2002 someone noticed that elephants don't bother acacia trees with hives in them. In 2011, this was taken to the logical conclusion: The hives are placed on a fence around the crops, and when the elephants bump the fence, the bees get mad. Elephants do not like being stung and usually steer clear. As a bonus, the farmers are harvesting the honey.

Apparently, the elephants don't always even need to bump the fence since they know what bees smell and sound like.From the 2002 acacia observations:

Elephants may even avoid the sound of bees. One old bull that had been badly stung several years earlier turned tail at a tape recording of a buzzing hive, the researchers point out. The control treatment - a Bach violin concerto - left elephants unmoved.

I still need to know how the farmers get in and out of the field without getting stung, how widespread it is (there is a Facebook page that may help with that), and what elephants really think of Bach.

5) Yes, that adoring doggy gaze is adoring, and dogs actually respond positively to holding the gaze of a known human.

I still need to know how this relates to all that advice about not looking directly at a dog because it signals an attempt at dominance. Is this only true with strange dogs? Or was it never true at all?

6) That bees may actually like some of the new neonicotinoids pesticides (IMD & TMX). In the lab, when given a choice between sugar water and sugar water with just a teeny bit of pesticide--the equivalent of what would be in nectar--they actually sought out the pesticide-laced stuff. This is not good, as they are still damaged by it. The researchers who did the experiment were extremely careful not to say that the bees were addicted to the pesticides, and to say that there needed to be further study, but if the bees do find the pesticide tasty, that's...not good, to put it mildly.

I still need to know: Are they addicted? Also, what are IMD & TMX compared to everything else?

7) That spiders sprayed with graphene produce silk that is 6x stronger than regular silk.

I still need to know: Why would anyone spray a spider with graphene? What were the researchers doing, sitting around and spraying spiders with whatever they had on hand? Hairspray? Paint?

It's nifty in a way because it does raise the possibility of making other "bionic materials" and it leads to more questions about how spiders spin their webs anyway (Why did the graphene end up strengthening the web?). It's hard on the spiders, though. Four of the five died shortly thereafter.

Bones, Monsters, and Magnets: Links April 25, 2015

Some new-to-me stuff:

1) It is possible, at least in some cases--at least in one case so far--to use nose nerve cells to repair spinal cord damage. A Bulgarian man paralyzed after being knifed, is now walking again with a walker for support after physicians grafted cells from his nose into his spine. They also used tendons from his ankle to give the nerve cells something to grow on. Apparently, nose nerve cells, unlike spinal nerve cells, are programmed to keep regenerating and repairing. No one is sure, though, whether this is going to be generally applicable, or applicable only after very straight cuts.

2) Blind rats (one article said their eyes ere "sealed shut," which makes me hope they were unsealed afterward) implanted with geomagnetic sensors that let them sense the difference between north and south could use them to navigate. This is interesting because--well, because it is. I mean, brains not wired to run on magnetic signals can learn to do so in a remarkable short span of time. Also, it might be useful because of the possibility that blind people might be given similar sensors. Or, sighted people might also be given them "just because:"

"I'm dreaming that humans can expand their senses through artificial sensors for geomagnetism, ultraviolet, radio waves, ultrasonic waves and so on," says Yuji Ikegaya of the University of Tokyo in Japan, head of the team that installed and tested the 2.5-gram implant. "Ultrasonic and radio-wave sensors may enable the next generation of human-to-human communication," he says.

(Newscientist.com)

Personally, I am not all that thrilled about people poking around in my brain to add extra equipment, but I have to admit that it is interesting, and if anyone else does it, I'll be there asking questions.

3) Ten Things to Know About Medieval Monsters: A useful guide to monsters you may happen to meet if you go time traveling. There is also a book on the subject published by the British library.

4) EpiBone is figuring out how to grow human bones "In the future, Tandon says, EpiBone’s technology could be used to treat anything from bone loss and broken femurs to complex facial fractures and genetic defects." It will take a while to be ready for commercial use; right now EpiBone has only 3 full-time employees.

5) 3-D printed food continues to spread. One company is planning on selling home-printers (called Foodinis) soon. The results can be decorative, like layered chocolates with the country of origin printed in gold on the outside of the sphere, or odd, like purple broccoli-flavored cubes (Why?). It's still super-slow, but I'm trying to imagine what I would print if I could. What about you?

6) I meant to post this last week, but I got so distracted by trailers and all that I forgot: THE BRONTOSAURUS IS BACK! Pluto will probably never be restored to planethood, but our favorite big vegetarian has been recognized as real.

7) Carnivorous Flamingos Abound:

http://erinbowbooks.tumblr.com/post/114554398369/stunningpicture-a-flock-of-lawn-flamingos-can

Apparently, this is actually on the Google Campus, though the T-Rex, at least, predates Google.

8) Three Reasons Not to Leave a Dead Body on the Carpet. In case you were wondering. Also, dogs are amazing.


Book News

1) As I am totally in love with Ben Aaronovitch's Rivers of London series, I was delighted to learn that, not only is there going to be a Rivers of London comic book miniseries, it is going to be set in the same continuity (Between Foxglove Summer and Broken Homes) and Ben Aaronovitch is one of the writers!

2) April has been a very good month for books. I have not actually managed to read them all, but I have most of them corralled for reading:
Tracker by C.J. Cherryh--the sixteenth (!) book in her Foreigner series
The Book That Proves Time Travel Happens by Henry C. Clark
Jinx's Magic by Sage Blackwood (A satisfying end to the series that leaves the right number of things open while tying up the main points)
The Mad Apprentice by Django Wexler
Captain Marvel Vol. 2 by Kelly Sue DeConnick
William Shakespeare's The Phantom of Menace by Ian Doescher (Which I reviewed over on FangirlNation)

Special mention to two books from earlier this year:
The Boy Who Lost Fairyland by Catherynne M. Valente, which I have only just started.
A Darker Shade of Magic by by V.E. Schwab, which is an awesome book, has an upcoming sequel, and possesses a marvelous cover.

Links! Trailers! Talking!

It has been a good week for trailers. First, and most important, and making it a good week all on its lonesome, there is the trailer for Star Wars: The Force Awakens



I could watch the Millennium Falcon fly all day. I didn't just watch A New Hope through Return of the Jedi when I was a kid; I absorbed them. If epigenetics is a thing, then my genetic structure has been irrevocably altered by the existence of the movie.

I can still remember sitting in the theater and watching the star destroyer loom over me in the opening of A New Hope, approaching and growing bigger and bigger as it went by.

And I was young enough not to know Han Solo would come back. "Of course he came back," I say now, but then? The world of myth was all new and unexpected and grand. Much has been gained in growing up and in reading and watching many, many more stories, but that first moment...the time I didn't know? When The Falcon came swooping in and saved everyone. That was pure joy. I'm glad I remember.

This does not, by the way, mean that I did not adore Luke. He was my hero in every way.

I still prefer heroes who want to be heroic.

And on a different note, there is the official Batman v. Superman: The Dawn of Justice trailer which, to be honest, I have only just watched once. I like Superman, in a casual sort of "Yes, he's a superhero who has always been around" sort of way, but he isn't my absolute favorite, and this trailer... Um, what is Batman wearing? Is that metal?! A knight's suit of armor? What? Why is he trying to fight Superman anyway? I mean, other than the fact that the title says he has to.



This doesn't mean I want the movie to fail. I would love to love it. It just means... What is Batman WEARING?

And Ant Man released a full trailer, and I started looking forward to the movie.



Ant Man has never been a favorite of mine; in fact, he's barely been a blip on my reading radar. I know he/they are there, but I can't, at any given moment, name the current holder of the title, and I really only pay attention to him when he happens to be in the Avengers. Then again, Iron Man wasn't anyone I cared much about--and that changed quickly!

My only concern from this really brief bit is that it looks like Scott Lang may end up being a clone of Peter Quill, and while I liked Peter Quill in Guardians of the Galaxy, I don't know that I want him to be the new "type" (See my preference for white-hat heroes).

On another front--

I just found out that there is a real, for true, street-legal, steampunk snail car that shoots fire from its eye stalks. It was "Conceived of in a dream by artist Kyrsten Mate" (How else does such a wonder come to be? And built by her and her husband Jon Sarriugarte and a team of artists. It's called the Golden Mean


The world just became a better place. There are oodles of pictures on the site I linked to (It looks like you can maybe get directions for making one?) but I'm also including a clip of the car in action:

Tor has started A DragonLance Reread which has gotten me to pick up Dragons of Autumn Twilight again. I read and reread that opening trilogy many times in High School. I was a little afraid to open it again, but you know, I'm having fun. It's definitely not the best prose I ever read, but it's still enjoyable. I am not sure how far I will get in reading the Dragonlance books--probably not past that original trilogy--but we'll see.

This has also meant learning that Tracy Hickman is male. I've spent years picturing Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman as a pair of women working happily together on the many series they wrote, but no... Some day I may recover from the disillusionment.

I have also been following the news on the upcoming Shannara Chronicles on Terry Brooks site.The only planned minseries at this point is based on Elfstones of Shannara, but you never know! It will air on MTV, which I do not get, but there are plans to release it elsewhere in other formats, one of which I am sure I will be able to get my hands on. In any case, I am looking forward to it. There is no date given yet, but they're still providing more information than the other series I've been watching for.

Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, airing on BBC America finally has a month named--May, but that's about it! We have a teeny, tiny, smidgen of an almost-trailer and a cast list, and...that is it!!! There are some photos on the show's Facebook site, but I want news and a proper trailer! This business of keeping everything hush-hush is very strange.

Link List: Robo Roach to the Rescue! Secret Dungeons, Taking Care of Your Zombie Problems, and Other Wonders from the Web

1) Scientists actually have found blood in a mosquito fossil (found in shale, not amber, too bad!). It's not quite the quality needed to make even one dinosaur from, much less a whole park, but it's still a nifty find.

According to Dale Greenwalt, a volunteer research collaborator at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History and the lead author of the study on the mosquito, it might be in the genus Culiseta, which means it might be full of ancient bird blood.

No one has looked directly at the blood, finding it by "detecting heme—a pigment in red blood cells—via a special method of nondestructive x-ray spectrometry." I suppose cutting open one-of-a-kind fossil open to look directly really is a no-no.

2) Cyborg insects exist, and they may be more than curiosities. It's possible that a large number of "biobots" (The ScienceWorld Report article calls them a swarm. Are large collections of cockroaches really called swarms?) could be sent in to crawl randomly around an enclosed areas--places where GPS would not work. Each insect would signal when it met another insect, however, scientists could use this intermittent signal to "map" the environment as the insects are instructed to find unbroken areas to run along, thus defining walls and blocked territory.

No one has ever done this yet, but it's theoretically possible and would save humans time, trouble, and risk.

While you're waiting for folks to figure out the Rescue Roach, you can start steering your own RoboRoach (and maybe helping to figure out the whole mapping problem) next month Robo Roaches courtesy of Backyard Brains, which sells a "backpack" that you surgically attache to your selected roach; after that, you can control the roach via smart phone signals that make it think it's being touched on the right or the left side. It then turns away from the touch.

This only lasts for "a few minutes" at a stretch before the roach figures out something's up and has to be "reset" through a twenty minute rest, so I guess the "swarm mapping" is going to have to be done pretty quickly.

Also, after two to seven days (depending on what, I wonder?) the roach quits paying attention to the signals all together, after which "you can clip the wires and retire the cockroach to your breeder colony to spend the rest of its days making more cockroaches for you and eating your lettuce." It's sweet of Backyard Brains to suggest treating your cyborg subjects well after they retire, even if they are cockroaches.

I find the roaches ability to learn impressive. They are being told by their senses that they have to turn because something is in the way and yet, after only a few days, they somehow figure out how to sort false signals from true--at least, the article doesn't mention them becoming permanently disoriented. That's pretty impressive!

The above drawn from Science World Report, NPR.org, and Backyard Brains.

Speaking of which: Does anyone know what became of the cyborg rats folks were talking about a while ago? The ones who could be steered through small places in search of disaster survivors. Did they end up being useful? Or are they still hypothetically so if the hypothetical rescuees can be persuaded not to be scared of rats wearing backpacks as they pick through the rubble?

3) On another note (though I think he, or at least Calvin, might like robo roaches), Bill Watterson has decided to put the entire Calvin and Hobbes archive online, for free! Read more about the whys and wherefores here, in this Galleycat article, or go straight here to read the strip online.

4)Take a look at this map which shows what each country is leads the world in. The U. S. leads in Nobel Laureates and lawnmower deaths; Russia in raspberries and nuclear warheads; Canada in maple syrup and asteroid impacts, and so on.
Doghous Diaries via Io9.

5) Here's a series of images by Nickolay Lamm approximating the way cats see the world in contrast to the way humans see it, with explanations of how and why in the article below. It's one thing to read that cats have a wider field of vision, or see fewer colors, than humans, it's another to see it for oneself.

from Wired

6) Just under two weeks ago, a man in an unnamed part of the UK rented a small, studio apartment, only to discover a spacious dungeon underneath. Seems unreal as well as both fun and creepy, but there's nary a hint of anyone saying "Nope! Not true!" so I'm thinking that somewhere out there, there really is someone who's found the perfect space for "a dungeon party."

Images on Imagur.com found via The Geek Girl Project.

7) Forget about dungeons, for a minute; let's talk about zombies. This is just the time of year for the shambling undead to come out and terrorize the town--unless, that is the wild animals get to them first!. National Wildlife Federation naturalist David Mizejewski has an article on BoingBoing explaining that the standard zombie is really just so much self-propelled food as far as many of our local animals are concerned. He breaks things down by category, starting with "Birds: Winged Zombie Annihilators" and moving on through "Mammals: Zombie Dismemberment Crew," "Reptiles: Scaly Zombie Clean-Up Committee," and down to the "Decomposers: Masters of the Zombie Buffet."

He explains that many of the meat-eating animals have no problem with carrion, and even the non meat-eaters can be ferocious, if threatened. Among the birds, for example,

The two vulture species native to North America, the turkey vulture and the black vulture, flock up to make short work of any corpses they find. Both vulture species are dwarfed by the massive California condor, whose wingspan can reach 10 feet and which relish carrion. A sluggish zombie wouldn't stand a change against one of these giants or a flock of vultures.

Alligators and crocodiles are

are stealth hunters, and can burst from the water at surprising speeds to pluck large prey from the shoreline. They are quite capable of tearing a human-sized meal into bite sized chunks of meat with their toothy, vice-like mouths. Soft zombie flesh would melt in their mouths like butter.

What's more, Mizejewski explains, both American crocodiles and California condors are endangered and would benefit from regular, tasty carrion self-delivery. When you put it that way, a zombie invasion almost sounds like a good idea.

It probably wouldn't be a very long-lasting invasion, though. Not only would the big eaters move in for lunch, various microbes, beetles, maggots, and other small but active decomposers would settle in for a fleshy feast, finishing the decay of the undead in record time.

Head on over to the article for more of Mizejewski's explanations plus pictures and video demonstrations of just how quickly a determined animal can tuck in.

from BoingBoing found via a whole bunch of friends who thought I should see this and were right.

8) Sisters Jill and Lorna Watt yarn bombed a magnolia tree in San Mateo nd turned it into a squid. It's truly a work of art, very silly, and took over four miles of yarn and a lot of planning.

Book News

Hyperbole and a Half: Unfortunate Situations, Flawed Coping Mechanisms, Mayhem, and Other Things That Happened by Allie Brosh is really real, and it is coming out October 29, 2013. Yay!

The publisher's description:

Named one of the Funniest Sites on the Web by PC World and winner of the 2011 Bloggies Awards for Most Humorous Weblog and Best Writing, the creator of the immensely popular “Hyperbole and a Half” blog presents an illustrated collection of her hilarious stories with fifty percent new content.In a four-color, illustrated collection of stories and essays, Allie Brosh’s debut Hyperbole and a Half chronicles the many “learning experiences” Brosh has endured as a result of her own character flaws, and the horrible experiences that other people have had to endure because she was such a terrible child. Possibly the worst child. For example, one time she ate an entire cake just to spite her mother.

Brosh’s website receives millions of unique visitors a month and hundreds of thousands of visitors a day. This amalgamation of new material and reader favorites from Brosh's blog includes stories about her rambunctious childhood; the highs and mostly lows of owning a smart, neurotic dog and a mentally challenged one; and moving, honest, and darkly comic essays tackling her struggles with depression and anxiety, among other anecdotes from Brosh's life. Artful, poignant, and uproarious, Brosh’s self-reflections have already captured the hearts of countless readers and her book is one that fans and newcomers alike will treasure.

Other useful information:
Paperback, 384 pages (there are other versions, including ebook)
Expected publication: October 29th 2013 by Touchstone
ISBN 1451666179 (ISBN13: 9781451666175)

As a long-time follower of Brosh's blog, Hyperbole and a Half, I am delighted! Her work unpredictable, quirky, funny, sad, and original. Also--after her struggles with depression, it's good to see that she was able to finish this. The Publisher's Weekly review is up here.

Sorrow's Knot by Erin Bow will be out in the US next month. It's already out in Canada. The publisher sent a review copy to The Geek Girl Project, which I reviewed. Read about the book that gave me the best/worst book-hangover in a long time by following the link.

Psst: Plain Kate, Erin Bow's first book, is also very, very good. I snagged a copy from the library for review purposes some time ago.

Clips & Bits

If you haven't watched it already, you definitely need to see this music video featuring Rick Astley's “Never Gonna Give You Up” in Klingon. The amount of energy, creativity, and sheer fun that went into this is inspiring.



I've embedded the video for your viewing convenience, but it's worth visiting Youtube to read their notes. For one thing, that's how I found that, "All performers are part of the cast and company of "A Klingon Christmas Carol" (2013) in Chicago, Illinois by Commedia Beauregard"

That is, they are performing The Christmas Carol, in Klingon.

Scrooge has no honor, nor any courage. Can three ghosts help him to become the true warrior he ought to be in time to save Tiny Tim from a horrible fate? Performed in the Original Klingon with English Supertitles, and narrative analysis from The Vulcan Institute of Cultural Anthropology.

The Dickens classic tale of ghosts and redemption adapted to reflect the Warrior Code of Honor and then translated into tlhIngan Hol (That's the Klingon Language).

This is the first time I've ever wished to be in Chicago in the winter (or ever).

2) Improv Everywhere is continuing their Movies in Real Life series. Last week, they recreated Gandalf the Grey's "You shall not pass!" scene from The Lord of the Rings in New York's Central Park.

Tourists are harder to impress than balrogs.

On the other hand, no one shoved him of the bridge.




Trailers and Such
The trailer for the upcoming Day of the Doctor is a really cool series of images of past Doctors. I'm pretty sure long-time fans of Old Who are having a great time picking it apart and that there are probably a lot of clues about the upcoming episode in there. I like Old Who, but am not conversant enough to do anything other than nod and say "Yep. Looks good."



Did I miss something I should've included? Contact me or let me know in the comments!

Link List: Petrifying Lakes, Octopus Brains, Books, and More!

1) This lake is petrifying its visitors. Lake Natron in northern Tanzania has a high concentration of natron means that animals that die there--and that's any animal immersed in the water--are calcified. Photographer Nick Brandt saw the perfectly preserved bird carcasses on the shore and did what anyone would do: He posed them and took pictures.

They're somewhere between creepy and beautiful, and very suitable for Halloween contemplation.

Found on NewScientist.

2) The brain of the octopus is distributed rather than single-site, housed in a downright anti-social invertebrate, and generally not the sort of thing we humans think of when we think of thinking. And yet--octopi learn. They learn well, and they learn pretty quickly.Possibly they even used tools.

They can also be cranky, unwilling to keep wires in their heads so we can measure their brain waves and, having decided to pull the wires out, are flexible enough to enforce that decision.

In short, they're a fantastic way to study a completely alien brain without leaving earth, and a good way to tease ourselves with the ongoing question "What does it mean to be intelligent?" and "What equipment is required?"

Lots more analysis and comment in this Wired article!

Book News

1)

I just found out that Tony Hillerman's daughter, Anne Hillerman, is continuing the Navajo mystery series. She's made Bernadette Manuelito (a relatively minor character in the series) a major character in Spider Woman's Daughter. It sounds to me like a winning solution: We readers get to have more of the Navajo mystery series, but by focusing on a different character, Anne Hillerman gets to tell her own stories.

It's not even unprecedented in the series as a whole; it started out focusing more on Leaphorn and then Chee moved into the spotlight with Leaphorn taking more of a support role, so if Anne Hillerman's work goes past the two works she's currently contracted for, it would be in keeping with the series as a whole to let Bernadette move forward to the lead and develop her own set of friends and relatives while Chee and Leaphorn move more to the back--without, one hopes disappearing completely!

I love the way she refers to Leaphorn and Chee as "adopted uncles."

From the publisher's description:

It happened in an instant: After a breakfast with colleagues, Navajo Nation Police Officer Bernadette Manualito saw a truck squeal into the parking lot and heard a crack of gunfire. When the dust cleared, someone very close to her was lying on the asphalt in a pool of blood.

With the victim in the hospital fighting for his life, every officer in the squad and the local FBI office are hellbent to catch the gunman. Bernie, too, wants in on the investigation, despite regulations strictly forbidding eyewitness involvement. Her superior may have ordered her to take some leave, but that doesn't mean she's going to sit idly by, especially when her husband, Sergeant Jim Chee, is put in charge of finding the shooter.

Pooling their skills, Bernie and Chee discover that a cold case involving his former boss and partner, retired Inspector Joe Leaphorn, may hold the key to the shooting. Digging into the old investigation with fresh eyes and a new urgency, husband and wife find themselves inching closer to the truth with every clue . . . and closer to a killer who will do anything to prevent justice from taking its course

Need I say I have the book on hold at the library?

Now I also want to read Tony Hillerman's Landscape: On the Road with Chee and Leaphorn by Anne Hillerman, which is about the Navajo country featured in Tony Hillerman's work and which I have to admit, I hadn't heard of until now.

2) Quirk Books is releasing sequels to Star Wars: Verily a New Hope! Verily a New Hope. The Empire Striketh Back will be out March 2014 and The Jedi Doth Return in July 2014. Both are by Ian Doescher, writer of Verily a New Hope.

In case you missed the trailer for Verily a New Hope, it's still available.

Random Cuteness

There's nothing like a lion cub learning to roar to brighten your day:



Found on Io9

TV Stuff

Did you know ABC was airing Toy Story of Terror on Wednesday, October 16 at 8pm/7pm Central on ABC? You do now! So do I, and you better believe I plan on watching.



With thanks to Io9 for the heads up.

Link List: Bejeweled Skeletons on Display, Beetle Embroidery, Knights Fighting Snails, Etc.

1) Take a look at these bejeweled skeletons. It seems that in Medieval times, the bones of saints weren't just collected and saved in caskets. Sometimes, they were decked out in jewels and clothing and displayed.

Paul Koudounaris was photographing a crypt full of skulls in Oppenheim, Eastern Germany, when a local told him about a fully-dressed skeleton saluting all comers with a goblet of blood. He had to go see it, and after that, went around Germany looking for other, similarly preserved and bedecked saints--or ex-saints; come the nineteenth century, folk started to question the saintly origin of the bones and packed many of them away. Some, however, are still out there, greeting the world in style.

2) There's crafting, and then there is crafting IN SPACE. NASA astronaut Karen Nyber just finished making a cute little dinosaur toy--while she was working as a flight engineer on the international space station. The cute little T-rex is " made out of velcro-like fabric that lines the Russian food containers [that are] found here on the International Space Station," and "lightly stuffed with scraps from a used t-shirt."

Found on collectSPACE

3) Beetle wing embroidery was a thing in Britain in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century. This dress and the accompanying text from the Museum of London is evidence. You cannot buy the dress, but you could buy a picture of the dress, if you so wished. According to the museum,

Although Indian embroiderers introduced the technique, using it to decorate dress and domestic textiles, Europeans copied them, sometimes using the wing cases of a species of South American jewel beetle. This style of embroidery was also thought to be a suitable pastime for ladies of leisure, who were advised to use a Walker's number eight needle and green silk thread.

I like that bit about the thread; it's so very precise and domestic for such an interesting decorative choice.

Once I started searching, I found a whole plethora of links and images.

Here, for example, is a Victorian tea-cozy, probably made in India and exported and "perhaps put away for best, and then thought too precious to actually use, merely adorning a sideboard for high tea on occasion," so it may never have covered an actual teapot. That's probably why it's in such good shape, but at the same time, it's almost a pity. Something so sparkly and strange really ought to be used at least once.

Best of all, it turns out that Victorian actress Ellen Terry wore an elaborate, sparkling green beetle-wing dress as Lady MacBeth. It seems a fitting dress for the role.

There are, of course, modern practitioners, though, while more common than fore-edge painting, it doesn't exactly seem an every-day art. Michael Cook, embroiderer, silk-worm breeder, and author of WormSpit has several examples of work from 2006.  Mary Corbet of Needle 'N Thread has examples of work from 2007 through at least 2012 up together with suggestions for your own projects (like this article on wing preparation).

If you want to learn how to do it for yourself, Mary Corbet's blog has some advice, and there's also The Stumpwork, Goldwork and Surface Embroidery Beetle Collection by Jane Nicholas is supposed to be a good source. I say "supposed to be" as I have yet to look at it myself and am unlikely to try the projects if I do. But, hey, if you do let me know! Also, please let me know if you have so I can give more accurate information than a third-hand reference. It is probable, however, that there are not very many instructional manuals to compare it to, not on beetle wing embroidery.

For further reference:
 Beetles in Textiles. It covers ancient and modern use in a number of countries, plus adds a bit about the beetles themselves.

4) I have a long-standing love for Improv Everywhere, "a New York City-based prank collective that causes scenes of chaos and joy in public places," and can spend a long time browsing back through their old missions. Favorites of mine include "Look Up More," which I think is the first mission video I ever saw, and "Food Court Musical," a spontaneous musical staged in a public food court. I check regularly to see if there have been any updates, and this last week included a new mission, "Conduct Us," in which a Carnegie Hall orchestra sat out in New York with an open invitation to passers by to "Conduct Us." It's my favorite sort of mission: Lots of laughter and fun for everyone. There's no "gotcha" in this joke, only fun.



5) I had to read this Io9 article just for the title "Why do knights fight snails in illuminated manuscripts?". Knights fight snails? Really? When? Where? And, why?

And, yes, those are three different links gained from link hopping, each leading to more illustrations and random musings about the snails and their knightly opponents who, I will add, often seem to be losing their battles..

You're welcome.

About Books

The Urban Bestiary by Lyanda Lynn Haupt came out September 17.

From the publisher's description:

In The Urban Bestiary, acclaimed nature writer Lyanda Lynn Haupt journeys into the heart of the everyday wild, where coyotes, raccoons, chickens, hawks, and humans live in closer proximity than ever before. Haupt's observations bring compelling new questions to light: Whose "home" is this? Where does the wild end and the city begin? And what difference does it make to us as humans living our everyday lives? In this wholly original blend of science, story, myth, and memoir, Haupt draws us into the secret world of the wild creatures that dwell among us in our urban neighborhoods, whether we are aware of them or not. With beautiful illustrations and practical sidebars on everything from animal tracking to opossum removal, THE URBAN BESTIARY is a lyrical book that awakens wonder, delight, and respect for the urban wild, and our place within it.

I enjoyed her Crow Planet, and this sort of book--exploring what's happening with wildlife in the cities--is just my cup of tea, so I'm definitely going to be reading it.

There's a good-sized excerpt here, if you're wondering about whether or not to read it.


Teasers and Trailers

Marvel has finally released an official version of theier teeny, tiny teaser for Avengers: Age of Ultron. Basically: Someone builds Ultron while clips from The Avengers play in the background. It's nice to see it real, for true, and not fuzzy and leaked, but it's not very informative.



I won't be posting Age of Ultron links nearly as religiously as I did the Shield teasers (take that as a warning or a reassurance, as you will!) because, much as I loved Avengers I'm not looking forward to the movie with quite the same intensity as I looked forward to the TV show.

The movie I will share every tiny little detail about is Guardians of the Galaxy. That, you'll hear about endlessly.

Link List: In which there is much about octopuses, some dogs, and assorted other items of interest gathered together for your perusal

1) Octopuses believe in numbers. They keep eight arms, three legs, and multiple brains (one main brain, and a lot of neurons in the arms. What that adds up to seems to depend on who's doing the talking and what the speaker in question means by the word "brain.") When it's time to reproduce, these cephalopods go for broke: Thousands and thousands of eggs, all laid at once, all hatching at once.

Most don't live (tiny octopus=tasty treat for a number of creatures), but enough do.

Here, thanks to diver Laura James is a brood of Giant Pacific Octopuses hatching:



video found via Scientific American

This is the mother octopus' last act, by the way. She's taken good care of the eggs, but hasn't eaten in all that time and will now die of starvation. Female octopuses won't eat even if someone offers food (that last bit courtesy of Kraken by Wendy Williams

Not enough octopus for you? You might also want to look at

1. Even Severed Octopus Arms Have Smart Moves, which discusses the possible intelligence of the octupus arm and how the central brain might or might not coordinate the lot.
   
2. Watch Kerry Perkins, "who researches marine life" describe How to Play with an Intelligent Octopus. This involves Duplos, which makes me hapy.
   
3. Want more? There are lots of octopus images available in these NOAA desktop images. Which one do you want to view on booting up?
4. Whatever you've heard about octopus camouflage, it won't be as impressive as watching this beast appear from nowhere and just as quickly vanish again.
   
5. And, of course, you must go see Cake Wrecks Special Octopus entry!
   
   

 

2) Switching from arms to ears, take a look at this article on creating machine voices, the work that goes into turning a voice actor's voice into a believable voice for the GPS, or ebooks, or, some day, a way to have people's Tweets (or, one assumes, blogs) read in the authors' voices. It's clear, interesting, and fairly long, so give yourself some time.

 3) I've posted articles before (see this list, for example) about the number of bacteria we share our bodies with. Here's a nice, handy, and cute guide from Bird and Moon: "Feeling Lonely?"  

Some Dogs to Make You Smile

1) This dog does not want to wake up: Not for a rooster, a human, or an elephant, not though all three work together.

 

Found via The Mary Sue

 

2) And this dog loves leaves!

  Found through: various. More than one person shared this, and no wonder!  

Trailers and Such

 

1) Despite what can best be described as a contentious relationship with Season Two of Once Upon a Time, I am still considering watching Season Three. Huffington Post has an exclusive teaser, with a minute or so of the first episode, Heart of the Truest Believer. I hope that Hook will actually have a reason to be around, that the bad guys will be kept to a reasonable number, and that reform will actually stick--or not--rather than varying from one episode to the next ("I'm good!" Now I'm evil." "Now I'm good!"). Oh, a warning about the clip: The little trailer is fun, but then it just keeps playing, seguing effortlessly from one clip to the next without asking.

Link List: Robotic Dragons, a New Book by Robin McKinley, Dissilience and More!

1) First: This is a gorgeous picture of a white whale. Second: who is Migaloo? Third: There is such a thing as a " White Whale Research Centre"? I'm just going to savor that for a while.

2) Someone has built walking, fire-breathing, dragon robot. Let me repeat: This is a robot dragon. It breathes fire. Also, it acts in German plays. What more do you want from a robot?

3) One of the many, many things I subscribe to is dictionary.com's word of the day. Saturday's word was dissilient "bursting apart; bursting open." Isn't that a wonderful word? It sounds like a word meaning "bursting apart" should sound, and it's unique, specific, and just plain lovely.

Just think how much less frustrating all those groceries tumbling out onto the floor will be when you can complain about the dissilient bag.

And, as a bonus, it comes as a noun, too! You may talk about disilience, or disiliency, should you wish (and you know you do).

This means you may discus the disilience of the dandelions out front, or the disiliency of soda cans left too long in the freezer, or any number of things, and have them turn strange and wonderful by virtue of this singular word.

Go on, give it a try!

3) There is an insect, a planthopper, that has gears in its legs. It's had them for a very long time, but we only just got around to noticing them and find them quite extraordinary.

The Issus coleoptratus, meanwhile, hops on its way without making comment.

If, like me, you tend to ignore or photograph the dissilient population of bugs in your garden rather than reaching for the insecticide (organic or not), you can now point out the intriguing qualities of the critters to any critics. They'll either be converted or confused (or maybe bemused) and will leave you alone to enjoy your greenery, both leaved and legged, in peace. Or you could just hug the knowledge to yourself in secret happiness. There's something to be said for both approaches

There are tons of articles out about the geared insect. I think every single bug-person I follow on Twitter was gleefully swapping them through these last few days.

That's @Myrmecos, @bug_girl, @TheBugChicks, @JosephTLapp aka SpiderJo, who may not have shared this particular bit, but is a bug guy, all the same, @Insect_News, and @derekhennen, in case you were wondering. I think that's the lot, anyway.

5) Robin Mckinley's newest book, Shadows is just around the corner--September 26!

From the publisher's description:

Maggie knows something’s off about Val, her mom’s new husband. Val is from Oldworld, where they still use magic, and he won’t have any tech in his office-shed behind the house. But—more importantly—what are the huge, horrible, jagged, jumpy shadows following him around? Magic is illegal in Newworld, which is all about science. The magic-carrying gene was disabled two generations ago, back when Maggie’s great-grandmother was a notable magician. But that was a long time ago.

Then Maggie meets Casimir, the most beautiful boy she has ever seen. He’s from Oldworld too—and he’s heard of Maggie’s stepfather, and has a guess about Val’s shadows. Maggie doesn’t want to know . . . until earth-shattering events force her to depend on Val and his shadows. And perhaps on her own heritage.

In this dangerously unstable world, neither science nor magic has the necessary answers, but a truce between them is impossible. And although the two are supposed to be incompatible, Maggie’s discovering the world will need both to survive.

You can pre-order now, of course, or if you have access to an awesome library system like mine, you can put it on hold (I almost invariably love McKinley, but these days, I seldom by a book I don't already know I'll read more than twice. Shadows will probably be such a book, but it's a matter of principle. I'm sure you understand))--and if they don't have it on order, you can ask them to order it. They don't always order requests, but they often do, and even if they don't, they tend to be really awesome people to talk about books with and might suggest a title or two to help tide you over while you wait.

Anyway, it sounds great,and I'm looking forward to reading it.

Also, if you blog, Tweet, or Facebook about it before September 25, you might win a copy,, and winning things is good. I just found that out while writing the entry, as I was searching Mckinley's blog for other tidbits and admiring her footnotes.

Though, you know, if you enter the contest I've got more competition, so maybe I shouldn't tell you about it until afterward. What do you think?

6)Also new, and already out (September 3), is Moonday a forty page picture book by the incomparable Adam Rex. From the publisher's description:

What do you do when the moon lowers itself into your backyard?
When mornings are replaced by perpetual night,
and people sigh-sleep in their eyes.
What do you do when the tide comes in,
and all the neighborhood dogs won't stop howling?

You take the moon for a ride.

Yes, I want to read it!

Trailers and such
1) Behold! Les Misérables With LIGHTSABERS!



Courtesy of scifiriot and found thanks to The Mary Sue.

2)The probability of my including a SHIELD teaser in these lists is pretty high--by this point I'm haunting Marvel's YouTube channel for the show (I do hope I enjoy the show, but I'm getting a lot of entertainment value out of the anticipation itself)--so it shouldn't surprise you to find this clip, wherein Agent Coulson discusses Agent Ward's file:



And I think that's all for this week! Did I miss anything awesome? If so, contact me or let me know in the comments.

Link List: More on Fore-Edge Painting, What-if Superhero Art, a Book Trailer, and Other Web Wonders

1) There are ten foot long, fluorescent worms living in the ocean. They eat things. Sometimes, they accidentally end up in people's fish tanks.




They're known as "Bobbit worms" and have, on at least one occasion stowed away in aquarium decorations, bewildering the staff of an aquarium in Cornwall, England by secretly munching fish at night. In that case, the worm turned out to be "only" four feet long and was uncovered when the staff painstakingly dismantled the aquarium. "Barry" now has his own tank and has been transformed into a celebrity. "Barry" is kind of a muddy-colored, centipedish sort of critter while the one pictured in the video has some lovely fluorescence going for it.

2) I mentioned on last week's Link List that I was interested in finding out more, and Jeanne (author of Dogear Diary and other blogs) went out and located two contemporary artists: Martin Frost and Clare Brooksbank.

I've also been poking around. Fore-edge painting is a long-term tradition. The basic version, involves "just" painting the edge of the book. Hidden fore-edge painting, on the other hand, involves painting just inside the edge of the page and then gilding or marbeling the outside so that the painting disappeared until the book was held just so. Apparently fore-edge painting itself goes back to the tenth century, with examples including basic marks and family crests, and hidden fore-edge painting to the mid-seventeenth.

Any given book can have multiple paintings. Not only can they be painted to show one image one way and another when the book is flexed, Frost writes, "the top and bottom book edges can also be decorated, and if done so in both directions, can result in a total of twelve possible painted surfaces." Beth Carswell's article on ABE Books, mentions artists "some artists forgo the usual gilt or marbling on the very edges of the eaves, opting instead to include a third depiction (triple fore-edge-painting)," which brings the possibility up to fifteen possible images (The twelve hidden pages plus three openly displayed). I'm not sure if there are any books where this has been done--but wow!

I'll note that, if one is being strictly technical, the top and bottom edge paintings wouldn't count as "fore-edge" paintings, at least, the fore-edge seems to only be the page edge:

.

Fore-edge paintings are done with watercolors as they don't stick the pages together the way say, oils, would. The book is painted after it is bound and while it is held clamped at the correct angle while the artist works then allowed to dry. After this, it is re-blocked in its "usual" form and the edge is decorated.

See also The Bookologist, the Marist College article here, and the Boston Public Library's article for more information, or go to the Boston Library's virtual exhibit of their collection (be prepared to take a while). See also Melody Krafft's page for the work of another contemporary fore-edge painter.

Let me know if you find other fore-edge information, especially more on contemporary artists. I'm really surprised that Jeanne and I together only turned up three.

3) Comic Book Resources just wrote a hilarious "The Line it is Drawn" featuring a great sequence of "What if" drawings (What if Charlie Brown were the Green Lantern? What if Robin where Batman's Imaginary Companion?" and other such). Go look! Then take a quick peek at Superhero-Muppet mashups. After that, you're on your own. I will take no responsibility for any further wandering you may do in the series; none whatsoever. Me, I may emerge in time for next week's list.

4) I can't believe I left this out last week! It's the trailer for the American version of Neil Gaiman's Fortunately the Milk



There are going to be two versions, and they are going to be substantially different because they have different illustrators. The UK version is illustrated by Chris Riddell. The US version is illustrated by Skottie Young. Following the two links will take you to ISSU samples of each (links found on Gaiman's blog). The text arrangement and style are very different, and I'm not sure how I'm going to be able to read both. Will the library really be that obliging?

5) What do you do about invasive species? If you are chef Bun Lai of Miya's Sushi, you eat them and encourage others to do the same. Delicacies such as

Knot Your Mother's Lemonade
Japanese knotweed grows quickly in clusters and crowds out other herbaceous species. It has been named one of the world's 100 worst invasive species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and is currently thriving in 39 states. The taste is crunchy, juicy and tart—not unlike a Granny Smith apple. In a combination of mineral water and ice, I blend Japanese knotweed shoots with fresh stevia leaves, fresh kefir lime leaves and a splash of lemon juice.

encourage people to think of the invaders as food. Harvesting and munching on the invaders helps curb their numbers and is tasty, too.

Scientific America also has a whole page devoted to recipes for invasive species.

6) "The Cutest of Cthullus and Why You Should Fear Them" A Quirk Book blog entry on the invasion of cute Cthulhus, beings who are cute, cuddly, and downright evil.

Link List: Minecraft Libraries, the Life of Yeast, Insect Dioramas, and Other Delights

1) "You're eating for trillions." Scientific American publishes more news on the need for microbes inside. The good news: They can be replenished.

Though I also remember that some of the methods area little...odd. Remember rePOOPulate?

2) Insect Dioramas for your delight and delectation. I'm rather fond of the sunbathing caterpillar.

3) "Edible Opera"

Michael Burton and Michiko Nitta (Burton Nitta) have created The The Algae Opera: they use mezzo-soprano opera singer Louise Ashcroft's voice--or rather, her carbon dioxide--to help grow algae which they then feed to the audience. It's meant to be an environmental statement about interdependence and food-growing alternatives, and it certainly is memorable.

I tend to trip on the statement:

"The singer has trained herself specially for this project so that she can further enhance her lung capacity to produce the best quality algae possible. The slightest changes in pitch and frequency can apparently determine the algae's color, texture and even whether it will be sweet or bitter."

Drawn from a longer, more serious article on LiveScience.

*Walks off pondering voice and taste and wondering whether the algae is served with a side-dish of cooked insect.

4) I bake a lot of bread, partly because I like the end result and partly because I enjoy the process. I love watching yeast divide, but, while I enjoy the fact that yeast is alive, I've not thought a lot about it. For example, I tend to think of it as a plant. It's actually a fungi, or rather, several fungi, that are only vaguely related. The budding stuff we use in bread is Saccharomyces cerevisiae, and it reproduces by budding (see below).



There's plenty more food for thought about all kinds of yeastsover at this Scientific American article--and maybe there's a couple things you don't want to think about. I certainly won't lose the thought of ethanol as "yeast pee" any time soon.

5) A library in Minecraft? Why, yes. Mattituck-Laurel Library in Mattituck, New York built their complete library into Minecraft, complete with clues pointing to the location of physical books, and treasure chests, and hunts.

6) Ever heard of fore-edge painting? I hadn't! It's the art of painting a picture on the book's edge in such a way that the image is only visible if the book is held at just the right angle. Some books may have more than one image! "The Secret Fore-Edge Paintings Revealed in Early 19th Century Books at the University of Iowa" has a whole collection of them, plus a couple of more videos. It's pretty amazing.



How on earth did the artists hold the books still so they could paint these? These aren't little sketches here, they're full fledged paintings!


7) And, speaking of book art, take a look at these images. Unfortunately, I can't figure out how to get a translation of the main page, but I think they're all by the live journal author in question. My personal favorite is the giraffe chewing the edge of the page. What's yours?

Link List: Why cockroaches? What does a poison ring look like? Who makes toys? & Other questions and conundrums from around the web.

1) Ever wonder what a poison ring looks like? Wonder no more! There's a nice, clear picture in this io9 article on a medieval poison ring from Bulgaria. It's full of cheerful information like the fact that,

according to Bonnie Petrunova, head of the dig and deputy director of the National Archaeology Institute and Museum in Sofia, that piece of jewelry has no comparison in the whole of Bulgaria.

“It’s a unique ring,” Petrunova said. “I have no doubts that the hole is there on purpose and the ring was worn on the right hand, because the hole was made in such a way so as to be covered by a finger, thus the poison could be dropped at a moment’s notice.”

She adds reassuringly that it was probably not worn at all times.

I wonder, did the wearer have a non-poison-carrying look-alike for those occasions when he wasn't planning on killing anyone? Or did medieval men of status change their rings often enough that no one would notice? Anyone out there know?

2) Hm. Another Io9 link, this time to pictures of naturally-occurring ice sculptures. They're both stunning and odd.

3) Ever wonder why we need cockroaches? In brief: They feed rats, mice, and parasitic wasps which in turn feed other, cuter animals like cats, eagles, and coyotes. Oh, and we "we really, really need cockroach poop" for plant fertilization purposes. Remember that the next time you say "Eeew!"

And once you've said "eew," gather the squished parts of your cockroach, pop it into a mailing envelope, and send it off to the National Cockroach Project for genetic testing. The Rockefeller University has high school students (and others) making genetic bar codes of cockroach DNA. More on that here, in the livescience.com article that started this whole cockroach hunt.

4) On a peppier note, take a look at this short on toy making The Secret Story of Toys by filmmaker Anthony Ladesich and/or read the accompanying Wired article by Liz Stinson.



5) North Brother Island, New York City, once a hospital for smallpox sufferers, then a rehab clinic, is now a bird sanctuary. The buildings stand abandoned and forlorn, both beautiful and eerie.

I'm a little sad about all those left-behind books.

From: So Bad, So Good

Trailers and Entertainment News

6) And Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. keeps on teasing us. This Level 7, focusing on Coulson, has maybe six seconds of footage we haven't seen before, but they're six good seconds!



I spotted this almost on time for last week's link list on The Mary Sue, but it was only *almost* on time; there needs to be some kind of cutoff point (except for TARDIS tours; those are special). Anyway, I also wanted to embed the trailer myself.

Got a wonderful link I missed? Contact me or leave a note in the comments to let me know.


Until next week!

Link List: Flock or Swarm? The Fables Game, Blake's 7, and Other Such Items of Interest

So this week is dominated by trailers again--this time, it's game trailers, what with a Fables game coming out and the chance to explore Gaiman's Wayward Manor game site, but worry not, you can also discover the precise difference between a flock and a swarm, learn about a new species of mammal, and find out what happens to those leftover bits and pieces in second hand books (at least, it happens if Michael Popek finds them).

1) Ever wonder what the difference between a flock and a swarm is? This Scientific America article explains. In brief: Swarms are a lot less organized inside. This means the single insect has a better chance of finding a mate (probably).

2) Ooh, a newly discovered species, the olinguato, a really cute, fuzzy creature related to but smaller than the raccoon. Apparently, unlike the raccoon, it's still shy and hard to see. I wonder if it will stay that way?

3) Michael Popek, second-hand book store owner and author, keeps a collection offorgotten bookmarks, letters, recipes, pictures, and other items found in the books he sells. “Letters are my favorite thing to find,” he says, though, "Turn-of-the-century letters can be pretty dry, 'When they’re basically talking about ‘It’s time to slaughter the cow,’ or ‘Old Bessie down the road died of tuberculosis.'”

He catalogs most of them them on ForgottenBookmarks.com as well as in his books. It's only most of them: Some things are too raw, like the two-year old journal of a woman trying to get pregnant found recently. He's keeping it for her, should she ever come looking; he himself only read six pages. (Found on Narratively

4) I've mentioned insect farming before. Here's an article with a short clip on farming crickets for food. There don't seem to be any recipes, which is kind of a pity. I like the idea of insects as the new sushi.

Confession: I have eaten bugs, though not recently. I have never eaten sushi.



Trailers, Entertainment Commentary Etc.

1) An article about, and a trailer for, the upcoming Fables game, Wolf Among Us. Looks exciting and noirish, but other than, that I can't tell much. I *want* a *TV* series! I know, I know, a movie is in development, but I want the long-running, slow developing glory of it.

And if there's room for 20,000 different versions of Alice in Wonderland, there's definitely room for more than one or two fairy-tale mashup TV shows.  That means we can keep Once Upon a Time as well.

2) Speaking of games, this is old(ish), but still exciting news: Neil Gaiman is working on a computer game, Wayward Manor. That's Neil Gaiman writing a game, in case you missed it. The protagonist--you--is a ghost trying to clear out all the pesky living residents of Wayward Manor, starting the roaring twenties, which are busy "roaring elsewhere," as Gaiman puts it, and running forward to the future (How far? Who knows!). Sounds like there are one or two mysteries about life and death to solve along the way. In an interview with Mashable, Gaiman adds the additional bit, "I don't want to give anything away but it's safe to say you were killed in the 1880s and you were killed for a reason."



Visit the Wayward Manor website for more images and information.

3) I haven't read this (yet), so I probably shouldn't recommend it, but, seriously: Rex Libris tells "the story of Rex Libris, the tough-as-nails Head Librarian at Middleton Public Library, and his unending struggle against the forces of darkness."

The website is awesome, and gives a brief history of the Ordo Bibliotheca. Here, one may learn among other things, just how useful the library has been in foiling invasion plans:

With the innovation of the teleportation crystal in 1921 by Litteratus Magi Rex Libris, a whole new era in lending opened up: interstellar book loans became possible. By 1960, over ten thousand volumes of extraterrestrial origin had been collected and stored at the Middleton Book Repository, a ceramic encased bunker deep beneath the Middleton Public Library. It remains one of the most important reference collections of xenognomic material, and is often used by the Pentagon during alien invasions.

Here, also, you may learn about the sinister secrets of the missing numbers in the Dewey Decimal System. Think that the absence of number 217 is a coincidence or an oversight? Think again!

Look for reviews of the first two volumes soon, because I am going to read them!

4) In a news-like item: The remake of Blake's 7 might actually be done by Microsoft on X-Box rather than the SyFy channel on cable TV. At least, I'd think BBC News might know what they're talking about, seeing as the show originated in their neck of the woods and all. I say "news like" because it's all "might" and "maybe," but I'm pointing it out, because I keep on following the various and sundry erratic and generally abortive attempts to remake a show that I love. Maybe one day, someone will do it, and maybe they'll even do a good job. If nothing else, they might manage that US DVD release. Please?

5)I kept debating whether or not to link to The Romantics: The Avengers of Classic Lit, complete with superhero powers for Wordsworth, Byron, Keats & co because I loved it so much I shared it all over the web the moment I saw it, but I still love it, and you may have missed it, and even if you've already seen it, you might enjoy seeing it again, so I'm adding it to the list!

6) And finally, in what might end up being the "Dave Elliott" or at least the "Weirding Willows" section of the weekly link list, Dave Elliott has provided a map of Willow Weir (no labels yet, but they are promised). Also up this week is Weirding Willows #1, in its entirety. The Comixology version is easier to read (and only 99 cents), but this free version has additional author comments below, and is therefore worth a look or two either instead of (as you decide whether or not the story has you hooked) or in addition to. I had a mild amount of trouble tracking the pages in order, so here they are, linked for your convenience:

page 1, Page 2, page 3, page 4, page 5, page 6.

Did I miss something wonderful? Let me know, either here in the contacts or by email!

Link List Addendum: Explore the TARDIS via Google Maps

The TARDIS image via GoogleMaps

No, really. Do! Hurray for Jalopink for telling us all about this!

Because I'm a curious sort, I had to go & figure out what the address to type in  really is. You can either follow the directions above, or you can go to maps.google.com and type in



Police Telephone Box
Earl's Court Rd, London, Greater London SW5 9RB, United Kingdom ‎

And then click on the image of the TARDIS that shows up below the address.

*Off to explore some more.

Link List: The Life Cycle of a library book, the promise of singing dragons, and more!

1) Here's a beautiful little essay by "a librarian" about "The Life of a Library Book" describing the cycle a book takes from the moment of purchase to the final visit to the repair shop and out to the library bookstore.

As a frequenter of both libraries and library book stores, I had to say "awwww."

2) Books on Bikes: A librarian pedals his books to the farmer's market in Seattle.

*Pauses in admiration

He hauls a trailer full of books so people can check out library books while they do their grocery shopping. He also carries an iPad linked to the library system so they can get their library cards.

3) And here are some gorgeous photos of native bees. I've seen the metallic green bees. Now I'm going to have to start keeping my eyes open for some of the others. Ever noticed how you don't see some things until you know to look for them?

Sometimes the week's links skew toward arts and entertainment, of the geeky sort.

1) Check out this article on Collider.com on Bret McKenzie's newest project, a comedy that Involves “Singing Dragons and Monsters".

Do I have to tell you why singing dragons are awesome?

I doubt it! Oh, and there's more:

McKenzie revealed that he’s currently writing a film of his own that he describes as “a fairy tale comedy musical.” The Muppets co-writer and director James Bobin is helping McKenzie develop the property, which will involve singing dragons and monsters and draws on elements from both The Muppets and The Princess Bride.

....

I want to make a comedy musical with singing dragons and monsters and stuff. [It’s] live-action, so it would be a mixture of The Muppets and The Princess Bride.”

That's the Muppets, Labyrinth, and Princess Bride that just got name-dropped. I don't know about you, but I'm excited!

There's also a video interview with him in the main article.

2)Curious about cover development? Here, Dave Elliott talks about cover design for the upcoming A1 Annual and reveals how the coffee got there.

I always enjoy this kind of behind-the scenes discussion. Books-as-objects are interesting in their own right, and this adds a bit about making the cover work digitally (as a non-object??) as well as on the bound book.

3) And in case you've missed it, the trailer for Thor: Dark World came out. I am not quite in the breathless excitement phase of looking forward to this; I liked Thor, but in a "Yes, that was fun" way rather than in a "I must see more at once!" fashion. On the other hand, I loved The Avengers with a great and astonishing "must see again!" love, and now that the "origin story" (of sorts) is out of the way, Marvel can go roaring ahead to tell a grand space opera. Oh, and it has Loki in it. No one does the "crazed villain" grin like Tom Hiddleston!



4) And we got maybe two seconds worth of new material in the latest Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. trailer, spotlighting Skye. This did not stop me from watching it several times. I am in breathless excitement mode for this show. As I may have mentioned, I loved The Avengers, Agent Coulson is awesome, and I like team shows (even if the S.H.I.E.L.D. folks are "not exactly a team").



Did I miss something awesome? Let me know in the comments or by using the "Contact Me" button up top!

Til next week!