The Most Disturbing Children’s Books You’ve Ever Seen
via Flavorwire by Caroline Stanley
With titles like My First Little Boob Job and Daddy Hopes He Has Enough Rope in the Trunk, these incredibly warped children’s books dreamed up by illustrator Bob Staake aren’t for sensitive young readers – or any young readers, really – but they did give us a good chuckle or two.
Click through to see a selection of reads from Staake’s very naughty (and possibly NSFW) fictional library, which we spotted thanks to Kottke, and let us know in the comments whether you find the darkly humorous series as delightfully offensive as we do!
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Arts & Letters Daily – ideas, criticism, debate
The tools of hard science – statistics, data sets – have migrated to the humanities. Want to study social networks in Beowulf? You’re not alone. But what’s the point?... more
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Pretty Paintings of Charming, Vintage Objects
via Flavorwire by Alison Nastasi
Whether you remember the days of typewriters and indestructible Singer sewing machines, or you’re collecting those vintage objects now, Janet Hill’s delicate, pretty paintings (we spotted them at The Jealous Curator) evoke a powerful sense of nostalgia. The Canadian artist’s charming oil paintings, which have thankfully been transformed into affordable giclee prints in her Etsy shop, punctuate vintage patterns and palettes with vibrant colours and incredible details. The works range from portraits to interiors, but all of them contain beautiful, whimsical objects with humorous titles to match.
Curious pets, wallpaper to die for, and collectible knick-knacks you wish you owned feature prominently.
Visit our gallery of Hill’s delightful paintings of vintage objects.
And here’s my choice
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Solitary Confinement is Torture Because it Breaks Down the Mind
via Big Think by Orion Jones
The practice of solitary confinement is widespread in the American prison system, stripping those who experience it of their basic humanity, says Lisa Guenther, a philosophy professor at Vanderbilt University.
Continue reading
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Arts & Letters Daily – ideas, criticism, debate
Let us praise the pallet. Whether pooled or one-way, block or stringer, wood or plastic, pallets pretty much move the global economy... more
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New from Bodleian Library Publishing: How to be a Good Lover
via Peter Scott's Library Blog
“Don't attempt kissing in a canoe unless you are both able to swim.” So says the author of this essential guide to choosing, wooing and winning a prospective partner. Originally appearing as Dos and Don’ts for Lovers in 1936, How to be a Good Lover is being published by the Bodleian Library from a rare copy unearthed in its collections.
Ever-vigilant about the pleasures and pitfalls of love and courtship, this charming, no-nonsense self-help guide presents down-to-earth advice for those on the path of love, which, if trodden cautiously, should lead to the ultimate goal of a happy partnership and marriage.
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Chas. Organ at Mound City: 1910
via Shorpy Historical Photo Archive – Vintage Fine Art Prints by Dave
Memphis, Tennessee, circa 1910
“River packet Charles H. Organ landing at Mound City”
8x10 glass negative, Detroit Publishing Co.
View original post
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Arts & Letters Daily – ideas, criticism, debate
Lonely Planet politics: Kim Jong Il was a pragmatist. Iran is benign. The burqa is “a tool to increase mobility and security”. Why do the travel guides coddle tyrants?... more
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Whizz Wordz Deluxe
via How-To Geek by Asian Angel
In this game you have to create as many words as possible within a short time limit using the given letters.
Can you think quickly and create a winning set of words or will your mind blank out from the pressure?
I don’t suppose you’ll need the walk-through from Asian Angel – the game is fairly self-explanatory.
You have a choice between Whizz Wordz Deluxe and Whizz Wordz the original version.
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Ranking Literary Devils by Their Relative Fearsomeness
via Flavorwire by Emily Temple
The devil – or Satan, or Lucifer, or Beezlebub – has been skulking about literature almost as long as literature has existed, manifesting in many forms and with many personalities. In Victor LaValle's newest novel The Devil in Silver, published this week, the devil stalks New Hyde hospital, slowly killing off its patients before sneaking back behind a silver door on the ward. In honour of LaValle’s book, we decided to rank some of the most prominent literary devils from least to most fearsome – because every devil is its own bag of mischief.
Click through to read our rankings, and let us know if you agree – or which literary devils you’d add – in the comments.
In reverse order the list is:
Screwtape in The Screwtape Letters, C.S. Lewis
Darryl Van Horne in The Witches of Eastwick, John Updike
Lucifer in I, Lucifer, Glen Duncan
Mephistopheles in Faust, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
The Devil in The Divine Comedy, Dante
The Russian Gentleman in The Brothers Karamazov, Fyodor Dostoevsky
The Devil in Paradise Lost, John Milton
Woland in The Master and Margarita, Mikhail Bulgakov
The old man in “Young Goodman Brown”, Nathaniel Hawthorne
The Devil in The Exorcist, William Peter Blatty
but it’s worth clicking through to see a) the explanation for inclusion and position and b) the dust jackets for each of the books!
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