20th March
Netsuke: Fantasy and Reality
in Japanese Miniature Sculpture.
'A netsuke is an intricately and beautifully carved miniature sculpture
drilled with connecting holes so that it can be threaded on a cord and serve
as a toggle. Netsuke were probably first used starting in the seventeenth
century, when fashionable men began suspending everyday necessities such as
medicine containers, tobacco pouches, and pipe cases by silk cords from the
sashes of their kimonos. '
The Netsuke Store.
Bob Sacha | Under New York.
'Looking beneath a city street is like peeking under your skin: the terrain
upon which your well-being depends is so close, yet so full of secrets.
Under New York City there are more than 32 million miles of utility lines,
22 tunnels in all and 443 miles of subway tracks. The gas mains and steam
pipes would reach across the United States and back three times. Maps of
this underworld are so tangled with diagrams of cables and tunnels and pipes
and mains - there are 750,000 manholes alone - that they look as if someone
spilled bottles of colored inks on a sheet of paper. A fair number of people
still choose to live underground, and once a year a whole herd of elephants
pass through. It's another world, one that's frightening and fascinating at
the same time.'
Great British Piers. 'The fundamental
aim of the Great British Piers web site is to generate, and promote, a
greater interest in the many and varied seaside piers situated around the
beautiful coastline of the British Isles, by collating into one place,
anything, and everything, pier related. However, you will notice that a
number of non pier related sections have recently been added. The reason
behind this situation is as follows. I eventually intend to incorporate the
Great British Piers website into a far superior nostalgia related website.
The new website shall be known as Yesterday's Britain, for which the domain
name ( yesterdaysbritain.co.uk ) has already been purchased. The website
will contain many sections including Steam Trains, Trams, World War I, World
War II, Vintage Ocean Liners, Vintage Aircraft, Vintage British Cinemas and
Films and - of course - British Seaside Piers.'
Gabriela Mistral. A short biography,
poems and Nobel speech.
Gabriela Mistral and
Pablo Neruda.
'
"I Do Solemnly Swear . .
.": Presidential Inaugurations is a collection of approximately 400 items or
2,000 digital files from each of the 54 inaugurations from George
Washington's in 1789 to George W. Bush's inauguration of 2001. This
presentation includes diaries and letters of presidents and of those who
witnessed inaugurations, handwritten drafts of inaugural addresses,
broadsides, inaugural tickets and programs, prints, photographs, and sheet
music. The selections are drawn from the Presidential Papers in the
Manuscript Division and from the collections of the Prints and Photographs
Division, Rare Book and Special Collections Division, Music Division, and
the General Collections of the Library of Congress. Additional material has
been included from the photography collections of the Architect of the
Capitol, the White House, and the United States Senate Office of the
Sergeant at Arms.'
Beck Isle Museum. 200 years of rural
Yorkshire life.
Stein's Virtual Insectary.
'Welcome to The Virtual Insectary! Just like insect zoos and butterfly
gardens, you've found a unique place to study and observe a few insects. The
Virtual Insectary not only provides images of some common insects, but
includes information on the foods which they eat as well as the habitats
where they can be found. As you visit The Virtual Insectary, take time to
follow the links and learn how insects are part of this "much bigger
picture".'
BookCrossing.
Thanks to Laura,
the Null Device and
Eclectica.
Short stories.
Ascii art plans for
transporters, thermonuclear devices and plastic bottle rockets. Via
Grouse.
Plan could "throw
20 million off land" in India.
'Farmers from one of India's poorest states charged the UK government on
Monday with helping fund a development scheme that will throw 20 million
people off their land.'
Satellite images of Antarctic ice shelf collapse from the
University of Colorado's National Snow and Ice Data Center.
Lots of rollercoaster links from
Lukelog's archives!
Targeted Serendipity. An interesting article about weblogs -
via Rebecca's Pocket and
Follow Me Here.
'
Two months ago the world could boast just 62 kakapos, the world's rarest
parrots. '
'Today that number has risen by a third, to 84 birds, thanks to a bumper
brood of chicks. '
Such cute things, they are.
'
Japan's Sony Corporation has unveiled a prototype robot that can sing and
dance. ' Pictures!
'A £500m
revamp of Britain's ageing canal network has been unveiled. '
Brazilian to sail 14,000 miles in boat made from plastic bottles.
Couple
finally marry after 62-year engagement.
Driving tutor wins car by living among rubbish for 23 days.
'
A new
insect species that looks like a cross between a locust and a cricket was
discovered in the southern African country of Namibia, a team of scientists
said.'
'
A previously unknown Inca settlement has been discovered on a
remote and rugged Andean peak, a find that could shed new light on the
origin and demise of the last great Indian empire in the Americas. '
This news article includes a map!
'
The Baghdad press announced on Wednesday that two new
novels, which Iraqi writers believe to be written by President Saddam
Hussein , will be issued soon. '
A funny article about
Iceland's Phallological Museum.
link
19th March
New domain - www.plep.org.
The old URL will continue to work, though. Any problems, let me know. Thanks are
due to Brendan for his
helpful advice.
Am now contributing to
UK Environment - take a look sometime.
Defunct Amusement Parks.
Japanese Vending Machines. From
Japan Gizmos Wonderland.
Pin-up Girls of America. Via
the Presurfer.
Love or Indigestion. 'A
gastronomic poem of romantic dimensions.' From
Glasswings.
'
Disappointed Londoners who
missed Art-Tube 01 now have another chance to catch it here at London's
Transport Museum. Art-Tube 01 ran for one month on a Piccadilly line tube
train 1.11.01 - 1.12.01. 120 advertising spaces were filled with specially
commissioned panels by forty-two leading contemporary artists.'
Art-Tube.com.
Two Margaret Ropes - Stained Glass
Artists of the Arts & Crafts Movement.
'This site is dedicated to the stained glass work of two women called
Margaret Rope.'
'They were cousins, born within 9 years of each other at the end of the
nineteenth century and active from the second to the eighth decades of the
twentieth. To tell them apart, I have taken the liberty of calling them by
their nicknames: the elder, Margaret Agnes, was "Marga" and the younger,
Margaret Edith, was "Tor".'
'They were among the score or so women stained glass artists of the Arts and
Crafts Movement and produced work that can be seen in many churches and
other buildings in England, Scotland and Wales as well as in Australia,
Canada, Italy, South Africa,
Sri Lanka and Trinidad. '
Castle Fine Arts.
'We Specialize in fine
18th, 19th, & 20th Century Japanese woodblock prints, including Ukiyo-e,
Shin Hanga, Sosaku Hanga, prints & graphics, and works by Pacific Asian
painters and China Trade artists.'
Cuban Poster Art.
'Cuba has a long tradition of producing unique and powerful posters. Ater
the revolution in 1959, posters took on a vital social role in promoting the
wide range of issues facing a small country struggling for
self-determination and identity. '
Antbase
'is now providing, for the first time, access to all the ant species of the world, one of the
ecologically most important groups of animals worldwide. '
'
After four years of
cooperation and tenacity worthy of their quarry, ant experts have completed
Antbase, a centralized, online information resource cataloguing all 11,000
known species of ant.'
Picture gallery: Giotto's fresco reborn.
Giotto.
'
A team of explorers has discovered an ancient Inca settlement in the
south-eastern mountains of Peru that may hold an unparalleled record of the
Indian civilisation from beginning to end. '
Save Machu Picchu.
'
Objects across the world have fallen prey to the "roaming gnome" prank, and their
owners have the snapshots to prove it.' Cheers,
JP.
'
People who think
of themselves as being intuitive make worse lie detectors than those who do
not trust in a "gut instinct", according to new research. '
Four
and five-leaf clovers start growing in woman's garden.
Helicopter wasp man plans ground assault.
'
Sony
has created a human-shaped robot which disco-dances, sings and remembers
people's faces.'
Midnight in the garden of England. 'Andy Beckett is fascinated
by the exiles and eccentrics of the Kentish coast in All the Devils Are Here
by David Seabrook.'
'
A
vast ice shelf in Antarctica has collapsed and is now floating freely in the
Amundsen Sea south of the Pacific Ocean, scientists say. '
'
Arundhati Roy's decision to pay a fine in order to leave a New Delhi jail
is drawing criticism from some, but the award-winning novelist and outspoken
activist says that remaining behind bars would have accomplished nothing. '
27/30 in 15 minutes (but I have to say, I'm sceptical about the
entire concept).
'
Honduran scientists have discovered architectural alignments
and observation points for viewing the sun during equinoxes, solstices and
zeniths in the main plaza of the Mayan ruins at Copan, confirmed by
measurements from that ancient civilization's calendar. '
Ancient stones found
in El Salvador.
Argentina crisis prompting 'themed protests'.
'
A
Hungarian shoemaker who is bitter about the decline of his trade has
completed what he claims is the world's biggest shoe.' Picture!
Mirrors may make flamingos frisky.
'A zoo is hoping mirrors will put its flamingos in the mood for love.'
'Experts believe the birds will be fooled into thinking they are in a flock of thousands like those in
the wild.'
Buddha's 'finger' beckons Taiwan crowds.
link
18th March
The Paris Commune Archive.
Gardens of Suzhou.
Tango in Buenos Aires.
Zen Paintings. Paintings by Japanese monks
from the 17th century to the present.
'
This gallery
showcases some of the many images that have been sent to AIGA to commemorate
the 9/11 disaster. To view more images, share your thoughts, or submit your
work please go to AIGA Design Forum. '
In the Sticks 'is a publishing house, which
specialises in properties of all types for sale in rural areas and villages
throughout the British Isles.' Good for dropping out of the rat race.
Twin Oaks Community. 'Twin Oaks is an intentional
community of around 85 adults and 15 children living on 465 acres of farm
and forest land in rural Virginia, USA. Since the community's beginning in
1967, our way of life has reflected our values of cooperation, sharing,
nonviolence, equality, and ecology. We welcome you to schedule a visit. '
Darwin Country. The natural and human history
of the English West Midlands.
Tangology. A tango glossary. From
Libertango.
Coney Island History Site.
'This interactive educational site covers the history of Coney Island in
Brooklyn, New York. It features timelines, historic articles and
photographs, interactive maps that when clicked on show historic views, and
lists of movies filmed on Coney Island's streets, beaches and amusement
parks. Coney Island was considered the world's largest and premier amusement
area during the first half of the 20th Century. It was a beach resort that
provided carefree entertainment and thrilling amusement park rides to the
millions of residents that lived in New York City. It featured three huge
amusement parks; Luna Park, Steeplechase and Dreamland, and countless other
attractions along the Bowery, Surf Avenue and its numerous side streets. '
Tokyo Progressive. 'Linking progressives east and west since
1997'.
The UK Canal System.
'The UK is riddled with canals and navigable rivers like the blue veins in a
piece of cheese. These date mostly from the 18th Century, but some are as
old as Roman times (Fossdyke, for example). The canals grew from the need
for a cheap means of bulk transport but their commercial use was eventually
supplanted by the railways, with which they could not complete. Most of
these canals are interlinked into a vast water network and that is the key
to their latter day success as a leisure facility. You can board a
narrowboat in London's docklands and head off to Bristol, Birmingham,
Sheffield, Leeds, Manchester or Liverpool. They are also linked in with most
of the navigable rivers, such as the Thames, Severn, Upper Avon, Trent and
Ouse, and provide a vast leisure resource for both local communities and
boat-owners alike. '
Moscow Life.
'...Here I only share with you events and small pleasures of the life of a Muscovite, the
random details that make our life worth living. '
'I am also trying to do my best in showing you how beautiful, in its own way, Moscow -
and Russia - is. And how sometimes strange by your standards. And how fast it changes. Ten
million people live in Moscow, and their apartments, habits, jokes may look and sound strange to
you. Or not - let us check? ...'
Japan Print Gallery.
'The Japan Print Gallery was established in Notting Hill Gate, London in 1976. We
specialise exclusively in fine Japanese Woodblock Prints (Ukiyo-e) from the 18th to 20th century. '
Ghost Towns of Arizona.
An interactive map linking to short articles on each of the
towns.
When cosmic winds collide.
Two poems.
London School of Striptease.
Bluebell woods.
Adventure Games Live.
'Many veteran gamers will recall the hours spent solving text adventure
games with a certain fondness, and many purists still play them today.
Adventure Games Live is a suite of new adventure games that you can play on
the web, free of charge. The engine that runs the games provides a
menu-driven interface, supports graphics, and does not require Java.'
Trench Art. Symbols
and memories of the Great War and beyond.
War letters. American soldiers' letters home, from many
conflicts.
British trench warfare 1917-18.
'This page is a small reprint from the British reference manual on Trench Warfare,
British Trench Warfare 1917-1918. The manual was originally prepared by the General Staff at
the British War Office. It offers a tutorial in state-of-the-art trench construction. This book was
recently reprinted by London's Imperial War Museum and the Battery Press and it is with thanks to
both of them that we can view it today. The chapter reproduced here represents only a small
section of the manual. The book is 200 pages with almost half of that being diagrams. '
World War I posters.
The letters of
Francis James Mack, an ANZAC soldier on the Western Front.
World War I
German soldiers' postcards home.
Jack London on
the Great War.
WorldWar1.com.
The 'Bushmen', or Gana and Gwi peoples of Botswana, and
the problems they face.
Text-based Pong. Via
Coudal and
Jilly.
Mental Bonds.
'A closer look at the once intractable nature of slavery in Gabon in West
Africa
provides a case study for the global phenomenon of human bondage.'
The Social Psychology of Modern Slavery.
Free the Slaves.
Anti-Slavery Organisation.
Dear Mary... Your etiquette problems solved!! This
week's edition includes useful advice about ill-mannered
chickens.
'
Bird-like predatory
dinosaurs up to 16ft long once roamed the Isle of Wight, according to a new
analysis of a fossil held in the Natural History Museum for more than a
century. '
'
An archaeologist
claims to have found the palace from which Helen of Troy was abducted at the
dawn of European history, triggering the Trojan War. '
New record for
Universe's most distant object.
'The Subaru Telescope on Hawaii has produced a stunning image of Uranus. '
Via Reenhead.
Uranus photo gallery.
'
An
experimental brain implant the size of an M&M has allowed a monkey to
control a computer cursor by thought alone, Brown University researchers
announced Wednesday. ' Via
dumbmonkey.
'
A Harvard University
archaeologist's quest for shade from the searing Guatemalan sun has led to
one of the most significant finds in the past 20 years involving the ancient
civilization of the Maya. '
'
Saudi Arabia's religious police stopped schoolgirls from leaving a blazing building
because they were not wearing correct Islamic dress, according to Saudi newspapers. '
'
Serbia and Montenegro have signed an accord which will consign the name
Yugoslavia to history and shelve any immediate plans for Montenegrin independence. '
'Under the deal, the two remaining partners in the Yugoslav Federation will become two
semi-independent states, running their own economies, currencies and customs systems. '
George Galloway believes 'revolution is in the air' in the UK
Labour Party.
Male fertility fears over pollution in water supply.
'Oestrogen in rivers makes fish change sex and poses
potential risk to humans.'
'
A Newsnight investigation raised the possibility that there was a secret CIA project to investigate
methods of sending anthrax through the mail which went madly out of control. '
Bloodsucking flies may have begun HIV epidemic.
Asteroid buzzes Earth from "blind spot".
'One of the largest asteroids known to have approached the Earth zipped past about
450,000 kilometres away on March 8 - but nobody recorded it until four days later.'
'
Rejection can dramatically reduce a person's IQ and their ability to reason analytically,
while increasing their aggression, according to new research.'
Happy
St. Patrick's Day! (Somewhat belated).
link
16th March
Still busy. Was going to wait till Monday to update, but
I wanted to post these links about the
Zimbabwean election (in particular, an Amnesty International
article which includes fax and email contacts for President
Mugabe). Normal service will be resumed on Monday!
Guardian weblog special: Zimbabwe.
'Robert Mugabe has been declared winner of Zimbabwe's presidential election - but
opposition MDC supporters have complained of widespread harassment and vote-rigging, leading
to the disenfranchisement of millions. We pick the best journalism from Zimbabwe and the rest of
the continent.'
Fear and
loathing in Harare.
'
Amnesty International is gravely concerned about the high risk of violence in the
aftermath of the elections held on 9, 10 and 11 March 2002, especially in light of the departure of
many international election observers. On the basis of previous experience in Zimbabwe the
organisation is concerned that there is a risk of attacks on perceived supporters of the opposition
and of violence around any protests about the election results. Amnesty International is calling for
the police to abide by international human rights standards when fulfilling their duties. '
(The Amnesty page includes an email address for contacting President
Mugabe to express concern).
link
