15th August
First
Scottish Books.
'The only known copies of the nine earliest books
printed in Scotland are the most precious
items held by the National Library in its role as
custodian of the nations printed heritage.'
'Known as The Chepman & Myllar Prints, they were
produced in or about 1508 on Scotlands first
printing press, established in Edinburgh (in what is
now the Cowgate) by Walter Chepman and
Androw Myllar. Chepman, an Edinburgh merchant,
provided the money; Myllar, an Edinburgh
bookseller who had previously been involved with
printing in France, brought with him
experience in the book trade.' (National Library of
Scotland)
Thomas Bateman's Ten Years' Diggings.
'The antiquarian Thomas Bateman, of Rowsley,
Derbyshire, excavated more than 200 barrows in the
Derbyshire and Staffordshire Peak District between
1843 and his death in 1861. He published his
work in two volumes, Vestiges of the Antiquities of
Derbyshire (1848) and Ten Years' Diggings
(1861). '
'Appreciation of the results of Bateman's work, which
was crude by modern standards, is
fundamental to a grasp of the early Medieval
archaeology of the Peak District, the territory
of the elusive Pecstna of Tribal Hidage. Presented
here is Bateman's own account of his
excavations of some the 7th century barrow burials of
the Peak Dwellers, extracted from Ten
Years' Diggings and Vestiges.'
Teralab.
'This site is an attempt to document some of the
physics experiments and science projects
which I have conducted in my laboratory at home. These
experiments include high vacuum,
electron optics and electrostatics. There is also a
virtual museum of scientific instruments,
antique lamps and antique valves.'
'Disclaimer: This site describes science experiments
which are dangerous. If you attempt to
reproduce any of these experiments, the author accepts
no responsibility for the consequences.
The author also accepts no responsibility for loss or
damage resulting from errors or
omissions.
Enter at your own risk!'
Earliest
Uses of Various Mathematical
Symbols.
Walking
with Woodlice.
UK woodlouse survey.
Ibonia:
An Epic of Madagascar.
(skip
intro)
The
Scapegoat Society. (Link corrected 17/8/02)
'The Scapegoat Society was formed in the autumn of
1997 for those concerned with the dynamics
of attributing blame to others - the core of
scapegoating and demonizing. The Scapegoat
Society is a resource both for people who have
experienced being a scapegoat, and for people
working professionally to resolve scapegoat problems.
'
Diaries
of Court
Ladies of Old Japan. Online translations.
Digging
Up Buddha's Foot.
Archaeology in Thailand.
A
Brief
History of Chinatown Manchester.
The Heidelberg
Project, Detroit.
'The Heidelberg Project is an outdoor art environment
in the heart of Detroit a bridge -
a seed - and a beacon for the people of Heidelberg
Street, the city of Detroit, and beyond.
It is a demonstration of the power of creativity to
transform all those whose lives it
touches. ' They do interesting things with houses.
Grottos
of the American
Midwest.
'Anthropologists and folklorists are interested in the
things that people make in order to
understand the ideas by which they order their world.
Throughout the American Midwest are
examples of a distinctive folk building tradition.
Known locally as grottos, these structures
are built of concrete studded with glass, stone,
ceramics, and sometimes whole objects. Such
constructions are good examples of vernacular
architecture.'
The
Great Honduras-Salvador Football
War.
'This is a true story. The futbol war happened. People
died. Others prospered, just like always
happens with any war. Even a silly war, like this one
... '
'This style of story-telling is called "fact-ion"
because, while the events described are
true, and the people involved were/are real people,
some of the events themselves may be taken
out of the precise time sequence in which they
occurred, to facilitate the telling of the
story, and improve continuity. To further clarify,
Mother Goose is fiction, this story is
fact-ion" - and newspapers are supposedly filled with
"fact." ... '
'Soccer may be just a game in other parts of the
world, but in Central America it's an endemic
form of madness that perennially returns to infect the
entire populace for several months.
Locally known as "futbol" - there is nothing else in
the form of sports that can begin to
approach the levels of passion it evokes in the land.
It isn't hard to imagine a soccer game
serving to start a war in this region, but the
fighting that erupted between Honduras and El
Salvador in July, 1969, had been building up for a
long time before the sporting event that
provided the "Futbol War" label ... '
Eclipse 1999 Expedition
to Iran.
'In August of 1999 I traveled to Iran to view the total solar eclipse from
Esfahan (which you'll also see transliterated from Farsi as "Isfahan"--in
this document I use the more common transliteration which is by far the most
commonly seen in Iran itself). Esfahan is a beautiful city of about a
million near the centre of the country, surrounded by high desert which
makes for excellent weather at the time of the eclipse. Here's the eclipse
track through Iran ... '
Humanoid Project.
'The Humanoid Project is a project being undertaken at Chalmers University
in Gothenburg, Sweden. The long term aim is to build a life-sized humanoid
robot which is capable of walking, navigating around obstacles, and
operating completely autonomously whilst being controlled verbally. To date
a 60cm tall prototype robot named Elvis has been built ... '
Godzilla attacks
harmless blogger.
Megafauna at the
Museum of Central Australia.
'Alcoota is a very remote and protected location but that doesn't mean you
can't experience megafauna fossils first hand. MAGNT's Museum of Central
Australia in Alice Springs has a beautiful display of megafauna fossils
including reconstructions of the giant bird Dromornis stirtoni and two
diprotodontoids.'
IND Chambers St
Station: Oculus.
'An artwork entitled Oculus (Eye) is being installed all over the
Chambers/WTC station complex. It is being created by Kristin Jones and
Andrew Ginzel. It consists of 300 different mosaic eyes, all based upon
actual human eyes taken from photographs--not computer generated. The press
release states: "Oculus was created to personalize and integrate the
stations. Eyes are both subtle and strong--they engage passing individuals,
allowing for meditation or inviting dialogue. People make the choice, but
either way they're drawn into a dynamic and connected with the environment.
Oculus animates the underground world, it humanizes and challenges, even as
it reflects NY's wonderful diversity and the diversity of the larger world."
The central "eye"-piece is a 20'x40' oval shape and is surrounded by bands
of brilliant glass and stone. The large eye was created in a "studio" on the
floor of the Winter Garden at the World Financial Center where the tiles
were cut and assembled for passers-by to watch. It was then moved into the
Chambers St. Station in large sections for final assembly. The mosaic
installation also includes a large outline map of New York City.'
The Worshipful Company of
Gardeners of London.
link
14th August
The Orlando
Project.
'An Integrated History of Women's Writing in the
British Isles.'
Largely of interest due to the
'this week in the Orlando chronology' feature.
Parasite
Gallery.
'An extraordinary variety of viruses, bacteria, and
parasites stand ready to attack us and
feed off our bodies' cells, incidentally producing
disease. Using microscopes of varying
power, photographers show us a teeming microbial world
that we could barely imagine without
their help.'
Orkney's
Standing Stones.
'First cut from Orkney flagstone and erected before
the Egyptians had begun constructing their
pyramids, Orkney's stone sentinels have withstood rain
and shine for over three thousand
years.'
Aerospace
Robotics Laboratory.
(Stanford University) Interesting projects.
Golestan
Palace, Iran.
(Warning - music).
'The Golestan Palace complex is all that remains of
Tehran`s historical citadel (Arg) which
once
glittered like a jewel ... '
Persian
Paradise.
'Our Mission has three components:
To discuss History of Garden Designs.
To share our dream of building a Persian Paradise
Garden in the United States of America.
To facilitate interactions between friends of the
garden and to exhibit their works of art. '
The Joy of
Sake.
Lao Tzu's Tao Te
Ching in Modern English.
'A site for people interested in the Tao Te Ching
(also called "The Tao", "The Dao" or the
"Dao De Jing"), by Lao Tzu (also called Lao Tse), one
of the most influential books in
history. Written over 2,500 years ago in China, it is
the source of famous Chinese sayings
such as "Those who know do not speak, those who speak,
do not know" and "Even a 1,000 mile
journey starts with a single step". '
'
Here's a 180 panorama of the entry to the biggest
Taoist Temple in the Southern Hemisphere. '
Anno
Atomi.
Atmospheric atom bomb tests, Nevada, 1957.
'As a small boy, scientists, jet pilots, and Captain
Midnight were my heros; airplanes,
rocket sleds, atoms and astronomy were some of my
amazements. I had a nice collection of
model planes and rockets. I loved the rockets
aerodynamic shapes and the pictures of their
fiery takeoffs. Of course I had no idea of the weapon
their full-sized counterpart had been
designed to carry nor anything of its power.'
'That is, until 4:30 a.m. on a dark summer morning in
1957. We were returning from a visit
with my grandparents in California, riding in my
uncle's 1956 Oldsmobile. He had decided to
drive at night to avoid the hot desert sun of Death
Valley. Unknown to us the Nevada Test
Site was just behind us on our left. '
Louisiana
Highway 90.
'The Southern Route 66 went from the Atlantic Ocean at
Jacksonville, Florida to the lonely
town of Van Horn in west Texas. Here's some vintage
postcards that commemorate this wonderful
road. '
Medical
History of America Presidents.
'This website tabulates the illnesses of American
Presidents and other notable people.
Both laypersons and physicians will find it
interesting. '
A Cross Country
Walk for Peace. Cross-USA.
St. Peter's
Chapel, Bradwell, Essex, England.
An Anglo-Saxon chapel, designed by St. Cedd as a
cathedral in 654.
'This is the official website for the Chapel of St
Peter-on-the-Wall, Bradwell-on-Sea,
Essex, a uniquely spiritual place that is the focus
for people all over the world. The aim
of the website is to make St Peter's accessible to as
many people as possible. Here you can
learn about the Chapel and its events and then make a
visit in person (your own personal
pilgrimage). But if you cannot get to St Peter's
Chapel just yet we hope the website will
give you a flavour of its wonder and its history.'
History
of Salt.
'Salt was in general use long before history, as we
know it, began to be recorded. Some 2,700
years B.C.-about 4,700 years ago-there was published
in China the Peng-Tzao-Kan-Mu, probably
the earliest known treatise on pharmacology. A major
portion of this writing was devoted to a
discussion of more than 40 kinds of salt, including
descriptions of two methods of extracting
salt and putting it in usable form that are amazingly
similar to processes used today.
Chinese folklore recounts the discovery of salt. Salt
production has been important in China
for two millennia or more. And the Chinese, like many
other governments over time, realizing
that everyone needed to consume salt, made salt taxes
a major revenue source. Nomads spreading
westward were known to carry salt.'
Beagle 2: The
British Led Exploration of Mars.
'The Beagle 2 project is the British led effort to
land on Mars as part of the European Space
Agency's Mars Express Mission to be launched in June
2003. '
The
Royal Collection,
'one of the finest art collections in the world, is
held in trust by The Queen as Sovereign
for her successors and the Nation. It is on public
display at the principal royal residences
and is shown in a programme of special exhibitions and
through loans to institutions around
the world. '
Visiting
the Royal Collection
can be a bit tricky, though.
Australian
and
Chinese
works in the
Royal Collection.
Iranian
Oral History Project.
'The Iranian Oral History Project was launched at
Harvard's Center for Middle Eastern Studies
in the fall of 1981. The project provides scholars
studying the contemporary political history
of Iran with primary source material consisting of
personal accounts of individuals who either
played major roles in important political events and
decisions from the 1920s to the 1970s or
witnessed these events from close range.'
'During the last nineteen years, the project has
recorded the memoirs of 134 individuals
(see Narrators and Interviews), comprising
approximately 900 hours of tape and 18,000 pages of
transcript at a cost of over $800,000. The project has
been funded by a large number of
supporters including the National Endowment for the
Humanities ($300,000) and the Ford
Foundation ($50,000).'
'The collection embodies the most comprehensive
chronicle of eye-witness reports of modern
Iran by some of the key figures who defined her
history. Microfiche of the collection has
been purchased by libraries of major universities in
Canada, England, Germany, France, and
the United States (see Libraries Holding the
Collection). A more complete description of the
project can be found in The Reference Guide to the
Iranian Oral History Collection (see
Publications).'
Clandestine
Radio. World guide.
Artists
Without Borders.
'brings psychological relief to the victims of war in
the form of art and/or entertainment. '
Chechen
children's exhibition.
Kosovo
children's exhibition.
The
Urasenke Konnichian Web Site.
A site about the tea school founded by Rikyu in the
16th century.
The
Urasenke Lineage.
Journal of Buddhist
Ethics.
Sabbathday Lake
Shaker Village.
'The United Society of Believers, commonly called
Shakers, was founded in 1747, in Manchester,
England. They were called in derision, "Shaking
Quakers," because of their ecstatic and violent
bodily agitation in worship. To this group of
separatists came a remarkable young woman named
Ann Lee (1736-1784). In 1770, she was imprisoned for
her religious views. During this time she
experienced a series of visions. From that date on Ann
Lee was acknowledged as their leader and
known as Mother Ann. '
'In 1774, a decision was made to remove to America.
Mother Ann and eight of her followers
boarded The Mariah in Liverpool. They landed in New
York City on August 6, and immediately
set to work and found employment. Several went up
river to a place outside Albany then called
Niskayuna. They began to clear the land and erect
buildings. In 1776, the little band of
Believers began Community life together ... '
The Route 66
Collection. Maintained by the California
Historic Route 66 Association.
Desert
Memories
'was written as a series of monthly articles in the
Newberry Springs, CA newspaper The Silver
Valley Sentinel. These stories are the result of the
many memories spawned by little everyday
happenings after I moved back to my childhood home on
the family homestead.'
McDonald's
/ Route
66 Museum.
'On December 12, 1998 a significant bit of San
Bernardino history at 14th and "E" Streets
was revived to local prominence like the phoenix
rising from its ashes. Once again the
imposing red sign with white lettering announced 15
cent hamburgers beneath the sawed-off
arch that became the icon of American fast food. This
was the 50th anniversary of the birth
of McDonald's on the site where it all began. The
original stand is long gone, but the
building on its premises is now home to an unofficial
McDonald's museum. '
Railroad
stations of Route 66.
The
Labour Stamp: The Image
of the Worker on Canadian Postage Stamps.
'It is often said that you can learn much about a
country's history and culture from its
postage stamps. Pierre Berton, for instance, has
written that on postage stamps "the great
milestones of the past" in Canadian history "have all
been recorded in miniature."
A closer examination demonstrates that postage stamps
have usually presented a selective
reading of the public identity and that some
narratives are privileged and others are
neglected. In a recent study of the politics of
commemoration, John R. Gillis has pointed out
that public memories and identities are socially
constructed and are embedded in complex class,
gender, and power relations that determine what is
remembered or forgotten. Several groups,
including workers, minorities, young people, and
women, have been relatively slow to gain
admission to the public memory ... '
R. Buckminster Fuller's Dymaxion House. Best viewed over
a fast connection.
St Marylebone Parish Workhouse.
'From 1793, Britain's war with France led to a widespread increase
in pauperism. Even with its much increased capacity, the new workhouse soon
became full, reaching 1,168 inmates by 1797. Reluctantly, the Guardians had
to resort to providing out-relief without demanding entry into the workhouse. '
Swedenborgian Church of San Francisco.
An interesting building.
'Its creation in 1895 was influenced by an elite group of early
California pioneers: the painter William Keith, naturalist John Muir, architect
A. Page Brown, draftsman Bernard Maybeck, and most particularly by the
Reverend Joseph Worcester, who would be its first minister. The spirit of the
church arose from an appreciation of the beauty of nature, and a will to
express that beauty as divinity itself. '
link
13th August
Manx National Heritage.
'Protecting, presenting and promoting the unique cultural
and historical heritage of the Isle of Man.'
The Manx
language.
The stone
crosses.
The Government Art Collection
'is a unique British cultural resource. Works of art from the
Collection are displayed in British Government buildings both
in the United Kingdom and around the world, playing a
significant role in promoting British art and culture across
diverse and international environments. Over 4000 works - about
a third of the Collection - are now listed on this site.'
The Kepler Mission,
'a special purpose space mission in the NASA Headquarters Discovery
Program for detecting terrestrial planets, that is, rocky and Earth-size
around other stars.'
Parasite Image Library.
'Welcome to the DPDx Parasite Image Library. From this page
you can directly access all images contained in the DPDx Web
site. Parasites and parasitic diseases are listed
alphabetically and are cross-referenced. '
A Playful World.
'One thing that we have in common is that we were all once kids, and as
children each of us delighted in whatever forms of play were common to
our environment. '
'This section of the site, known as "A Playful World," documents the
games and play of children from different places around the globe. Our
goal is to help preserve these joyful aspects of our cultures and
encourage people from different parts of our planet to connect with our
common heritage. '
Kite flying gallery. (Use the arrow keys to navigate).
Via Streetplay.
Time Slips Project.
A storytelling project with people with Alzheimer's.
'Time Slips began in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in
1998 as a research project. We assembled a team of artists,
caregivers, and people with dementia to see if creative
storytelling could help open communication with and
understanding of people with Alzheimer's disease.'
akaKurdistan.
'This site, a borderless space, provides the opportunity to
build a collective memory with a people who have no national
archive.'
Kurdistan: In the Shadow of History.
'The exhibition creates a living archive from scattered
fragments, pulling together never-before exhibited photographs
from private collectors, family collections, and national
archives. Juxtaposing unforgettable images with text from
diaries, newspaper stories, memoirs, and telegrams, Kurdistan:
In the Shadow of History lets history speak for itself through
the words of freedom fighters and farmers, missionaries and
spies, diplomats and princes. '
Towards the Chinese British Isles, A Round Trip or
3333, Point 3 to Infinity: On Mileage and 'British-Chinese' Art.
'In 1999, the British-based artist Anthony Key made a piece of work
called Free Delivery, a map of the British Isles atop a military-style
table, carefully punctured by numerous red flags, bearing the names of
restaurants and takeaways. From metropolitan centres to the far-flung
reaches of a disunited kingdom, conventional historical, architectural
and political landmarks are usurped by a proliferation of Bamboo Inns
and Golden Dragons, Silver Lakes and Peking Gardens, a flood of
fantastically named though often mundanely housed eateries curiously
transforming the landscape ... '
'Death Files', Song Yongping. Photographs of the
artist's parents.
Via
Chinese Contemporary Art.
Dentokogei.com
'is devoted to showcasing the work of the shokunin, or
artisans, still working and carrying on the traditions of
handcraft production in Japan. '
Roy's Cafe & Motel,
Amboy, California.
'The crustiest, dustiest gas stop on all of RT.66 Pure untouched
Americana where the heyday of motor travel is preserved in original
condition.'
U.S. Highways: From US 1
to (US 830).
'This web site is intended to be a historical resource, dedicated to the
preservation and celebration of the US numbered highway system. The
American Association of State Highway Officials (AASHO), working in
conjunction with the Department of Agriculture's Bureau of Public Roads,
laid out the US highway system along primary intercity roads of the day.
Preliminary planning of the US highway system began in 1924. A list of
proposed route numbers was ready in late 1925. The final list of US
highways was agreed upon on November 11, 1926. In the early years, auto-
tourist followed the US routes like they had the Auto-Trails. During the
Great Depression, the U.S. and state governments put men to work
improving and extending the nation's roads and highways ... '
The Right to
Drive Right. The driver's handbook for Detroit, Michigan
in 1937.
'This book belonged to my grandmother,
Mary Blanche Einhouse.'
Baltimore Ghosts.
'Unsung monuments in the monumental city.'
'Most of the dramatic change in Baltimore's appearance during the past
decades has to do with its changing architecture, as old buildings are
razed and new ones rise in their place. A small but steady amount of
popular buildings are saved for their historic charachter, but all too
often it seems that many others that carry a great deal of charachter
are left to grow shabby and eventually be condemned to be leveled. In
thier place rise new faceless modern structures that lack the appeal of
the originals. '
'Still, a healthy number of fascinating historic buildings do survive:
some are protected by landmark status, the majority sadly are not, as
most of them are not often thought of as being truly historic in the
ways most protected structures are. It is the hope that a number of
these ghosts will live to haunt the landscape for many years to come,
regardless of their status: '
link
12th August
The Megalith
Map.
'A resource for finding any stone circle or row in England,
Ireland, Scotland or Wales.' Interactive, clickable map with
a brief guide to each site!
British Stone Circles. Stephen Dean's site has some nice
black and white photos of the circles he has visited.
The Planctus for William Longsword.
Manuscripts of a mourning poem for a Frankish ancestor of
William the Conqueror;
both high- and low- bandwidth sites.
Early Medieval Maps from many cultures, 400 - 1300 AD.
The Blue Marble.
'This spectacular blue marble image is the most detailed true-color
image of the entire Earth to date. Using a collection of satellite-based
observations, scientists and visualizers stitched together months of
observations of the land surface, oceans, sea ice, and clouds into a
seamless, true-color mosaic of every square kilometer (.386 square mile)
of our planet. These images are freely available to educators,
scientists, museums, and the public. Preview images and links to full
resolution versions up to 21,600 pixels across are located below.'
The Parasitology Images List.
'Here is a collection of images of medically important parasites. The
majority of the images show diagnostic stages of the parasite concerned,
in the most commonly encountered clinical specimen. Each has the name
and stage of the parasite shown, along with an approximate scale bar for
comparison.'
The Domain of
Bast.
A well researched site about the cat-headed Egyptian goddess.
Images of Bast.
The Peace Card.
'This site is designed to provide an easy way for you to communicate
your desire for peace directly to others, especially those in
Governments and the Media. '
Taoist Restoration
Society.
'TRS is a charitable organization dedicated to helping to preserve and
restore China's Taoist heritage through:'
'Rebuilding and restoring ancient Taoist temples and sites'
'Subsidizing older, experienced Taoists in poor or remote areas'
'Supporting research and academic study into Taoism'
'Creating a global Taoist community to support all people with active
interest in Taoism'
'Please feel free to visit as often as you like. TRS offers a huge
website with a great deal of information regarding Taoism and Taoist
practices. '
Honda Humanoid
Robot. From the 'concept' page :-
'In 1986, Honda commenced the humanoid robot research and development
program. Keys to the development of the robot included "intelligence"
and "mobility." Honda began with the basic concept that the robot
"should coexist and cooperate with human beings, by doing what a person
cannot do and by cultivating a new dimension in mobility to ultimately
benefit society." This provided a guideline for developing a new type of
robot that would be used in daily life, rather than a robot purpose-
built for special operations.'
The Atomic Duty of Pvt. Bill Bires.
'This is a short history of Pvt. Bill Bires' military duty with Co."A"
231st Engineer Combat Battalion from Ft. Lewis, Washington. Co. "A" was
assigned temporary duty at the Atomic Test Series, Buster-Jangle in the
Nevada desert, in the fall of 1951.'
'Co. "A"'s military duty at the test site was unique. While the rest
of the battalion built the tent city known as Camp Desert Rock, Co. "A"
was sent further into the desert to construct the displays of military
equipment and postitioned them around the Ground Zeros for the atomic
tests ... '
Texas Ghost
Towns.
St. Mary's Colony, a ghost town which was founded by
freed slaves.
Leadville Area Ghost Towns, Colorado.
'Leadville's historic mining district, consisting of over 20 square
miles of mining history, is considered by many to be one of the largest
ghost town areas in the state. Immediately east of Leadville's downtown
district, it consists of hundreds of mining reminents -- headframes,
hoist houses, and cabins -- which were settled in various areas with
interesting names like Stumptown and Chicken Hill. Many other ghost town
areas are accessible only by four-wheel drive -- consult our 4WD
recreational map. When exploring ghost town areas, be sure to take only
pictures and leave with only memories. All areas are private property
and rockhounding and souvenir hunting are strictly prohibited. If
posted, please only view from afar.'
Mary Murphy Mine.
History of
Leadville.
World Art Erotica.
'A Museum of Vintage Erotic Art and Sensual Literature from around the
World.' (Not suitable for work!)
Free tour.
Tales of Nasruddin. Early 20th century Iran.
Erotic art, thoughts and writings from Muslim countries
- really interesting.
link
