Moonwalk Map
A map created by Nasa of the first moonwalks of Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin in 1969 - superimposed on a football pitch to show how far they went. Via Strange Maps.
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March 28, 2008
March 21, 2008
Time for Spring
Today is the first day of spring, it's official. This Happy Harmonies cartoon from 1936 explains how the technology behind spring works - helpful if you're living in the UK and feeling a bit confused about why it's snowing. It's worth watching til the end to see the test tubes really doing their stuff.
March 17, 2008
Dance Diagrams
I don't know why, but I find these notations of various dance steps, from baroque to Morris dances, very appealing, although completely incomprehensible. Perhaps it's the idea that to someone these complicated symbols and figures actually mean "Hop, wiggle, skip here".
March 11, 2008
Gould's Tropical Birds
Beautiful ornithological works by John Gould, from a 1948 picture book.
You can still buy this book here
March 9, 2008
The New Way to Watch Television
I’ve linked to Speechification before – a way for people who like radio to find appealing programmes without having to wade through You and Yours and other horrors. Now Watchification aims to do the same for telly, featuring picks mainly from the BBC's iPlayer and YouTube. I’ll be writing the odd post over there, so take a look if you’re constantly feeling that There’s Nothing On: there is, but you have to hunt for it.
March 4, 2008
Spin a Little Web of Dreams
If like me you are suffering from flu, can I recommend this demented Busby Berkeley number as a distraction. It makes a perfect kind of sense when you’re feeling a bit feverish anyway. A poor little seamstress falls asleep and dreams of blonde lovelies made into harps.
If you’re really spaced out you could try the Shadow Waltz - it starts fairly normally but wait til the neon violins turn up: