Uncategorized

The future of the past

Leave a comment

Tonight, for no particular reason, I’m thinking of things that struck me as wonders of technology, long, long ago in the Age of Analog.

It was my aunt, I think, who gave our family an old black and white TV. I don’t think it was one she was discarding; I have the idea it was a TV somebody had given her, and she didn’t want it. So we were suddenly a family with two TVs, big stuff in the early ’60s. It had a blonde cabinet and was about the size of a Frigidaire. I think it was a Muntz. Dad put it in the hall, upstairs. The only problem was that our antenna was attached to our “real” TV (also black and white), down in the living room.

The solution was provided by my uncle (who sometimes reads this blog). He brought Dad a marvelous new device—an antenna signal splitter. With this piece of electrical wizardry, you could have two TVs attached to the same antenna! Who’d have believed such a thing was possible? Continue reading The future of the past →

Blogs, Socials, Goofing

“From the Frontiers of Science Department”

Leave a comment

The more I see this little piece from Roy Jacobsen’s Dispatches From Outland blog, the more it delights me. (The blog is no more.)

Gaspard, B.F. (2009). On the synchronicity of the discharge of ionized sulfur particles from Io’s polar regions and Ms. Astrid Lingonströtter commuting patterns. Journal of Applied Planetary Research and Ironmongery, 257(1), 77-193.

Publishing

I am Legend. Or Rumor anyway.

Leave a comment

I apologize in advance for the lameosity of this post. My energy is still running low, and it’s bill-paying night (I should have mowed the lawn, too, but I opted to leave it hanging over my head until the weekend, because frankly I don’t give a Damocles), and I’ve got a string of e-mails from the publisher to respond to, regarding final details of the book design. Also they sent me the final page proofs for one last close reading, which will give me a hobby for the next few days. And I promised to post something for my Facebook group tonight.

About a minute ago, bright sunshine poured in through my window for about a minute. This was the first sun we’ve seen today. And probably the last.

It was a short summer, but you’ve got to be prepared for such things under a Democratic administration.

The Vice President warns us to avoid crowded places.

Soon Avoidants will be all that remains of humanity, the only survivors.

Unfortunately, we still won’t be able to reproduce.

Goofing

Riddles

Leave a comment

Here’s an old English riddle, translated from the Anglo-Saxon Exeter Book by Thor Ewing. I’ll answer them in the comments later today.

The air carries little creatures
over the hill-sides, who are utterly black,
swarthy, sable-hued, strident in song,
they go round in gangs calling loudly;
they tread wooded headlands, sometimes the houses
of the children of men. They name themselves.
Continue reading Riddles →

Publishing

Rainy mood

Leave a comment

I’m down tonight, and there’s no really good reason. Perhaps I’m getting the flu. Or maybe it’s the wet, cold weather (which I’d consider wonderfully atmospheric if I were in Bergen or London).

I was delighted and amazed at the number of people who immediately joined my new Facebook group (nearly 30 last time I looked). I honestly expected maybe a dozen, tops. So that felt very good.

It is in my nature, though, to respond to every positive experience in a Newtonian fashion, with an equal and opposite reaction.

I got a look at the map for the new book today, and it’s very handsome indeed. The artist approached the actual locations of places with more of an eye to composition than to strict geographical accuracy, though, and I figured we’d have to fight with him some more. But he seems more amenable to revision in this area, which is a comfort.

Anyway, thanks to all of you who joined the Facebook group, many of whom are readers of this blog. It does mean a lot to me, and I’ll try to make it worth regular visits.

I’ll bet I’m getting the flu. Or maybe Ebola.

Reading

What Do You Think Was In Hitler’s Library?

Leave a comment

Hitler had thousands of books in his library. What do you think he had in them? Military history, of course. Books on horse-breeding with red marks slashed through the pictures of mares. Pornography. “German cowboy-and-Indian tales of Karl May,” “British thriller-writer Edgar Wallace,” and romances by Hedwig Courts-Mahler, “kept in plain covers so as not to reveal their titles.”



The Library of Congress has 1,200 volumes from his library, ones that were kept in a mine for safety.

Book Reviews, Creative Culture