More trivia (should have been 16 August)

The Twiddler: 1924
via Shorpy Historical Photo Archive – Vintage Fine Art Prints by Dave

Washington, D.C., 1924
Tweaking the dials on a Freed Eisemann Neutrodyne receiver and a Western Electric 138 amplifier.
On the shelf: Westinghouse “Rectigon” battery chargers.
Harris & Ewing glass negative
View original post

==========================================
40 Trashy Novels You Must Read Before You Die
via Flavorwire by Michelle Dean
First things first: the history of the novel is already tangled up with the notion of “trash”. Peruse the great 19th-century realist novels – particularly Jane Austen’s, say – and you’ll catch characters insulting each other’s reading habits. But there are a lot of reasons to read other than intellectual elevation. Relaxation is one; keeping up with what everyone else is reading is another. Here are 40 of the greatest trashy books written in the last hundred years that, if you’re not looking for perfect prose, will surely decrease muscle tension over a weekend, or on vacation. These books aren’t perfect, but each has some kind of hook – either unexpectedly good construction, entertainingly inventive salaciousness, or historical import in and of itself. Enjoy!
Continue reading

It turns out that not only have I read a lot of the trashy novels mentioned on this list but I own them, they are on my bookshelf! And I rather resent the novels of Georgette Heyer being among them, OK her Regency novels are frothy but are well written, her other historical novels are superb (with the exception of "Simon the Coldheart”). My Lord John which she was writing when she died and which was published unfinished in one of my favourite reads.
Then I realised that trashy subject matter can be well-written!

==========================================
Arts & Letters Daily – ideas, criticism, debate
Silly and sweet, clowns are the epitome of buffoonish humor. And yet something sinister has always lurked beneath the face paint… more

==========================================
The Magellanic Stream Made Visible
by BIG THINK EDITORS

The Magellanic Stream, which extends almost halfway around the Milky Way, is only detectable at radio wavelengths, and made visible in the wonderful composite image above.
Credit:
Science – NASA, ESA, A. Fox, P. Richter et al.
Image – D. Nidever et al., NRAO/AUI/NSF, A. Mellinger, LAB Survey, Parkes, Westerbork, and Arecibo Obs.
I have spent far too long checking those links, all of those sites draw one in to looking at other things not just checking the accuracy of the link!!

==========================================
50 Electronic Albums You Should Own, 1963-2013
via Flavorwire by Tom Hawking
A while back, we pondered a thought experiment here at Flavorwire: if you could only buy one album a year over the course of 50 years, what would you buy? The result was an epic list of 50 albums everyone needs to own, 1963-2013, and it got such good feedback from our readers, we thought we’d repeat the idea with more specific genre boundaries. In particular, we’re looking at a genre that was in its infancy in the early ’60s and has since evolved into a globe-conquering colossus: electronic music. As before, we’ve selected one album (or, in a few cases, one single) you should own for every year from 1963 to the present day. This, of course, does mean that things are gonna be left out, so feel free to discuss our choices (nicely) in the comment section.
Continue reading

==========================================
Arts & Letters Daily – ideas, criticism, debate
The optimist lives in fear of the future. Pessimists are more productive, writes Will Self. For them, adversity is far easier to meet… more

==========================================
Could naturally dyed clothes stop you feeling blue?
information from the University of Derby via phys.org via Big Think
Wearing particular colours might not just be good for your mental health but could also boost the body as it absorbs natural dyes, suggests work by a University of Derby researcher.

Indigo seed pods have been used for centuries to produce blue dyes and traditional medicines.
Read more

==========================================
The Histomap
via Boing Boing by Rob Beschizza
John B. Sparks' 1931 Histomap charted 4,000 years of human civilization with beautiful, reductive clarity.

Here's John Brownlee, at Fast Company:
From a modern perspective, Sparks’ Histomap will raise a few eyebrows. For one, it subscribes to an outdated (but, at the time, quite in vogue) idea about how different cultures throughout history could be grouped into various "peoples." The chart also underestimates or omits certain cultures that historians at the time didn’t truly appreciate the importance of. The chart is also more Eurocentric than it would be if it were created today, with little space devoted to African civilizations or even American civilizations before Europeans settled the New World in the 15th century.

It seems hard to find in print form at a reasonable price (Amazon has it for $150). I've embedded an enormous 2MB image below.
Find it yourself here

==========================================
Arts & Letters Daily – ideas, criticism, debate
It has been a good time to be bleak, and the economist Robert Gordon, bleakest of all, commands attention… more

==========================================
50 of the Best Books You Haven’t Read by Authors You Already Love
via Flavorwire by Emily Temple
Looking for something to read but don’t want to stray too far from the authors you know and love? Seeking undiscovered literary gems to talk about at dinner parties? Want to delve into the backlist of a certain Great American Author? Well, Flavorwire has got you covered. After all, sometimes, amazing books just get lost in the shuffle, whether it’s because they’re before their time, fall out of fashion, or their author has one blockbuster that blots out all the rest. So after the jump, check out 50 great under-appreciated, under-read, and overshadowed novels by 50 of your favorite authors, and be sure to add any missing ringers to the list.

Continue reading
I didn't count but I reckon that while I’ve heard of about three-quarters of these authors, I’ve only read two of the suggested books!