blog.rightreading.com

A new look for the BBC

Bronwyn van der Merwe has an interesting post over at the BBC Blog about redesigning their web content. Whether you approve of all the decisions or not, what’s wonderful about the post is how through and generous it is in sharing the various elements of the design. The design uses a grid system, which is [...]

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A new look for the BBC

A new portrait of William Shakespeare

What did Shakespeare look like? I will come to how I created the above image in a moment. First we need to review the existing portraits that are claimed to be of Shakespeare. All of the three or four likeliest images of him are problematic in one way or another. The three likeliest portraits are the [...]

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A new portrait of William Shakespeare

Friday roundup

“Honour commercio’s energy yet aid the linkless proud, the plurable with everybody.” — Finnegans Wake Google responds to privacy issues : CEO Eric Schmidt “expressed regret—especially to Patricia Fort, a single mother taking care of Jordan, Sam, and Rebecca, ages 3, 7, and 9″ (via the Onion) Oscar Villalon leaves McSweeney’s : Beyond that not much [...]

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Friday roundup

World Book News: Dictionary of Americanisms

El Pais is talking about a new Dictionary of Americanisms (Diccionario de americanismos) published by the Asociación de Academias de la Lengua in Madrid under the direction of Humberto Lopez Morales, secretary general of the academies. Lopez Morales, though now a resident of Madrid, was born in Cuba and lived in Puerto Rico. Americanisms are a [...]

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World Book News: Dictionary of Americanisms

The illusion of competence

I’ve seen them in meetings (especially “NATO Initiatives”: meetings that are “no action, talk only”). They’re listing to the discussion, sometimes contributing comments, browsing documents, and responding to text messages on their cell phones. They think they’re pretty sharp. But, according to Clifford I. Nass, a Stanford psychology professor, “Heavy multitaskers are often extremely confident in [...]

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The illusion of competence

Can you read this?

This may be the earliest example of written English to survive in a British church. Recently discovered on a wall in Salisbury Cathedral, Wiltshire, it probably dates from the fourteenth century. But what does it say? Dr John Crook, who produced the digitally enhanced image of the text shown above, is asking the public for help [...]

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Can you read this?

Odd book titles of 2009

The Bookseller is back with another round of odd book titles. This year the six finalists for the Diagram Prize for odd book titles are the following: Afterthoughts of a Worm Hunter Collectible Spoons of the Third Reich Crocheting Adventures with Hyperbolic Planes Governing Lethal Behavior in Autonomous Robots The Changing World of Inflammatory Bowel Disease What Kind of Bean [...]

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Odd book titles of 2009

World book news: 13 rules for writers

Today I initiate what I am hoping will become a more or less weekly feature here at blog.rightreading.com — a report on book news from newspapers and journals around the world. (I say “more or less weekly” because I am currently working on a big project that is taking most of my time, and this [...]

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World book news: 13 rules for writers

Trilby, Allumi, Calluna, Giorgio, Leksa, Sentinel, Catacumba

Who or what are Trilby, Allumi, Calluna, Giorgio, Leksa, and Catacumba? a. Captains of vessels in the fleet of the early seventeenth-century Dutch adventurer Joris van Spilbergen. b. Winning dogs in the hunting dog category at the Westminster Kennel Club dog show. c. Characters in a new Star Trek television series to be released next fall. d. Other. . . [...]

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Trilby, Allumi, Calluna, Giorgio, Leksa, Sentinel, Catacumba

Polls are wonderful

A new New York Times/CBS News poll finds that 70 percent of Americans support gays and lesbians serving in the military. But only 59 percent support the same for homosexuals. FURTHER READING End-of-month companion sites roundupAt Frisco Vista Capitola Kite Classic San Francisco skyline from Alameda / Oakland ferry Old...Two weeks until election day Impossible not to talk [...]

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Polls are wonderful

Publish and perish

Having completed my scriptorium and tabularium and got my books somewhat organized, I found myself with a bunch of duplicates and some other books I no longer needed. So I gave some away and boxed a bunch more up to exchange at a used bookstore. At the store the buyer rejected most of the books (as [...]

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Publish and perish

Venice book tower

This house on the beach in Venice, California, has no doors (on its upper story), and the walls are made up of bookshelves and storage units. Read about it at BLDG BLOG. FURTHER READING Works and DaysThat's the name of a book about the life of Yeats, which will accompany a major exhibition this [...]

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Venice book tower

J. D. Salinger

Now that he’s passed away everybody who has ever read a book is writing about him. Enough! I call time out! FURTHER READING Independent book publishing, part 1It's easy to get so immersed in a subject that you lose track of how much of it is generally known. ...Post from Right Reading, Tom [...]

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J. D. Salinger

Rag or justified?

These are preliminary design pages for a new book about the art of Bali. The font is Garamond Premier Pro. The image is a cool piece by I Ketut Ngendon (1903–1948) called Goodbye and Good Luck to Margaret Mead and Gregory Bateson, 1938 (Batuan, Bali. Ink on paper. Mary Catherine Bateson). The pages are the [...]

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Rag or justified?

Inigo Jones FTW

Back in the Jacobean period, the early seventeenth century, Shakespeare was seeming a bit old-fashioned to the lord and ladies in the expensive seats. They wanted a little pomp and spectacle — well, a lot of pomp and spectacle actually — and they got it in the form of the court masque. The masques were [...]

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Inigo Jones FTW

A tip for authors

News that Sarah Palin’s political action committee has bought more than $63,000 worth of Going Rogue shows that the ex-governor knows how to manage her books. Going Rogue retails for $28.99. If the books were bought at full retail price and author got a 15 percent royalty off the retail price, that means that 15 [...]

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A tip for authors

Wikipedia is marvelously comic

This strikes me as quintessential Wikipedia. I love that someone thought that a reader interested in the Russian tsar Boris Gudunov (1551-1605) would want to know about a character in the animated cartoon Bullwinkle, and that a moderator would challenge this information with a request for a citation. Wonderful! A play on the name Boris Gudunov [...]

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Wikipedia is marvelously comic

On the loss of vitality in writing

When the ancients wrote books they were trying to get at reality and transmit spirit. But all they could convey was a general idea, in order to help lead people to the truth. Much of their spirit, their energy, their words and laughter and actions, could not be captured. When modern generations write books they ape [...]

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On the loss of vitality in writing

Motorized paraglider

I don’t know what you call this — it appears to be some form of motorized paragliding. There were a couple of guys taking off from Anna Maria Island when we were there in Florida during the biting cold spell this January. Whatever it is, like jet skiiing, off-road biking, and similar activities it’s probably fun [...]

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Motorized paraglider

Friday roundup | Duly quoted

“Every separation is a link.” — Simone Weil Crayola’s increasing complexity: that links to the discussion, here’s the image A facebook campaign to get Tess ungrounded : What activism has come to in 2010 Divorce rates are higher in states with gay marriage bans : Preserving the sanctity of divorce In related news : Gay couples are not so [...]

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Friday roundup | Duly quoted