Create Your Own Zoolander Valentine!
Posted on February 10, 2016 at 10:47 pm
Zoolander 2 and Valentine’s Day! Visit this site to show your valentine that your love is as true as Blue Steel!
Lessons from Kung Fu Panda
Posted on January 25, 2016 at 8:00 am
Be sure to check out Angela Guzman’s thoughtful essay on the lessons we can learn from the “Kung Fu Panda” series — great preparation for the third film, in theaters this Friday, January 29, 2016.
Free from the New York Public Library: Digital Archive of 180,000 Files
Posted on January 10, 2016 at 3:28 pm
The New York Public Library is one of the world’s great repositories and now 180,000 items in its collections are available to anyone with online access.
That means everyone has the freedom to enjoy and reuse these materials in almost limitless ways. The Library now makes it possible to download such items in the highest resolution available directly from the Digital Collections website.
No permission required. No restrictions on use.
To provide further inspiration for reuse, the NYPL Labs team has also released several demonstration projects delving into specific collections, as well as a visual browsing tool allowing users to explore the public domain collections at scale. These projects, which suggest just a few of the myriad investigations made possible by fully opening these collections, include:
a then-and-now comparison of New York’s Fifth Avenue, juxtaposing 1911 wide angle photographs with Google Street View; and
The public domain release spans the breadth and depth of NYPL’s holdings, from the Library’s rich New York City collection, historic maps, botanical illustrations, unique manuscripts, photographs, ancient religious texts, and more. Materials include:
Berenice Abbott’s iconic documentation of 1930s New York for the Federal Art Project
Farm Security Administration photographs by Walker Evans, Dorothea Lange, Gordon Parks, and others
Manuscripts of American literary masters like Walt Whitman, Henry David Thoreau, and Nathaniel Hawthorne
Papers and correspondence of founding American political figures like Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison
Sheet music for popular American songs at the turn of the 20th century
WPA-era lithographs, etchings, and pastels by African American artists
Lewis Hine’s photographs of Ellis Island immigrants and social conditions in early 20th century America
Anna Atkins’ cyanotypes of British algae, the first recorded photographic work by a woman (1843)
Handscrolls of the Tale of Genji, created in 1554
Medieval and Renaissance illuminated manuscripts from Western Europe
Over 20,000 maps and atlases documenting New York City, North America, and the world
More than 40,000 stereoscopic views documenting all regions of the United States
Elvis Presley Rings and Memorabilia to Be Auctioned January 7, 2016
Posted on January 6, 2016 at 8:00 am
Amy Dickinson’s Great Idea: A Book on Every Bed
Posted on December 19, 2015 at 8:43 am
My annual reminder about Ask Amy’s “book on every bed” advice for families, a wonderful annual tradition:
You take a book (it can be a new book or a favorite from your own childhood). You wrap it. On Christmas Eve (or whatever holiday you celebrate), you leave the book in a place where Santa is likely to find it. When I communicated with David McCullough about borrowing his idea, he was very clear: Santa handles the delivery and places the book on a child’s bed.
In the morning, the children in your household will awaken to a gift that will far outlast any toy: literacy.
I know this for sure: No matter who you are or what you do, reading will unlock untold opportunities, mysteries and passions. When you have a book and the ability to tell, read and share stories, you gain access to the universe of others’ imaginations. And avid readers know that if you have a book, you are never alone.
For some good suggestions, check out this list from Fault in Our Stars author John Green.