Coldewey's Curiosities: Archive

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May 19th

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May 18th

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“And now flutes with many stops breathed forth in sweet accord a Lydian air. But...”

– Apuleius, Metamorphoses

May 12th

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May 10th

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Page 1: Great Expectations →

The first page of Great Expectations, as rendered by 70 different designers.

May 9th

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The Microphones - “I’ll Be in the...

May 7th

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May 6th

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May 5th

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“On the whole, I had rather judge men’s minds by comparing their thoughts...”

– Oliver Wendell Holmes, Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table

May 4th

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Lowcloudcover - “Skeleton Key”...

May 1st

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May 1st

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Apr 30th

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Apr 28th

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“He swoops all-conquering, borne on airy wing, With fire and sword he makes his...”

– Apuleius, Metamorphoses

Apr 28th

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Apr 28th

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Watch

Earthereal, assembled from high-resolution images taken from the ISS

Apr 28th

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“Some things are rushing into existence, others hastening to dissolution; and of...”

– Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

Apr 26th

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Jonsi & Alex - “Stokkseyri”...

Apr 25th

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Apr 24th

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“The first among elegances is idleness.”

– Les Miserables

Apr 22nd

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Fata morgana →

Fata Morgana is a type of mirage that occurs when a layer of cold air bends light downwards, creating a superior-image effect and making it look as though what is below one’s line of sight is actually above it. The name is derived from the superstition that Morgan Le Fey created illusionary castles at sea with which to seduce sailors. More information here and here. (The images above are...

Apr 18th

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Apr 18th

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Olivia Tremor Control - “Holiday...

Apr 11th

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Apr 11th

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Leaving TechCrunch

(this is a personal announcement, please ignore if we are unacquainted) In 2007, I was talking with a friend of mine who had recently been hired to write about gadgets and such part-time. It was for a site I hadn’t heard of, CrunchGear, and as there were many such sites at the time, I didn’t think much about it. But I had been doing music reviews on my old blog, Robosexual, for about...

Apr 10th

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Apr 10th

1 note

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Autechre - “krYlon” Oversteps At...

Apr 4th

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Apr 4th

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“If it is the grandeur of the revolution to gaze steadily upon the dazzling...”

– Les Miserables

Apr 3rd

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Apr 3rd

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Loscil - “Zephyr” Plume This...

Apr 2nd

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Apr 2nd

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Letter from Kurt Vonnegut to one who would burn... →

November 16, 1973 Dear Mr. McCarthy: I am writing to you in your capacity as chairman of the Drake School Board. I am among those American writers whose books have been destroyed in the now famous furnace of your school. Certain members of your community have suggested that my work is evil. This is extraordinarily insulting to me. The news from Drake indicates to me that books and writers...

Mar 30th

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Mar 28th

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“He was twice witty, first with his own wit, then with the wit which was...”

– Victor Hugo, Les Miserables

Mar 28th

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Mar 28th

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Black Forest/Black Sea - “Sevastopol”...

Mar 27th

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“Old books? The devil take them!” Goby said. “Fresh every day must...”

– Ambrose Bierce, The Devil’s Dictionary

Mar 24th

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Mar 22nd

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Mar 22nd

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Why Finish Books? →

Tim Parks in the NYRB suggests that finishing a book may not be necessary to the aesthetic experience. I don’t agree with this line of thinking, that the concept of the art in question lies entirely with the reader or viewer. If a piece of art (i.e. a book or painting) is conceived as a whole and executed as a whole, then finishing it is necessary to understanding and appreciating that piece...

Mar 16th

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“For what matter is it for us to know how high the Pleiades are, how far distant...”

– Anatomy of Melancholy

Mar 16th

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Mar 14th

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Encyclopedia Britannica Consigns Print Edition To... →

It is difficult for us to conceive of, having grown up with reference works, and more difficult still for a new generation raised with the Internet and its promise of instant access to virtually any work or knowledge. So it is likewise strange to attempt to put in context the fact that 2010′s Encyclopaedia Britannica will be the last one printed. Some will stroke their chins, some will wail and...

Mar 14th

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The Victor Of Waterloo (assembled from Les...

A passage from Les Misérables, with some minor aesthetic changes to form it into a shorter, more cohesive essay. Napoleon’s army has just been scattered. A few squares of the guard, immovable in the flow of the rout as rocks in running water, held out until night. Night approaching, and death also, they awaited this double shadow, and yielded unfaltering to its embrace. Each regiment,...

Mar 12th

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