At long last, pt. 2 of my wall-improvement series is ready. My plan had been to show just a couple of samples from the nature illustration print collection of the NY public library’s Digital Gallery, but, well, there were way too many that I adored.

and so BELOW are just an itty bitty smattering (apologies for the nautical prejudice - it’s just where my interest lies) of the vast collection of archived science/nature book pages scanned and available for purchase (for like $50 and up, depending on size):

Testudo polyphemus. from North American herpetology; or, A description of the reptiles inhabiting the United States. (1842) (omg, TURTLE BELLIES.)

Sixteen Varieties of Gooseberries, from A collection of the most esteemed fruits…with the blossoms and leaves… (1812) (who knew there were so many varieties of gooseberries? not me, that’s for damn sure.)

Himanthalia lorea, from Photographs of British algae: cyanotype impressions. (1843)

Fig. 1. Male Narwal, or Unicorn (15 Ft. in length); Fig. 2. Under side view of the same Narwal; Fig. 3. Lamantin. from American natural history. Part 1.–Mastology (1826)

Sea Anemones from Animate creation; popular edition of our living world, a natural history (1898)

Les Poissons: le Hareng, la Morue, la Baleine from Cabinet du petit naturaliste (1812) (Woodcut = yay)

Ctenophores. from The new natural history (189-?) (Just LOOK at that loverly shade of blue…)

1. Helix antiqua; 2. Helix Coreanica; 3. Helix leucostoma; 4. Helix orientalis; 5. Helix immaculata; 6. Helix caliginosa; 7. Helix decora; 8. Helix densa; 9. Helix plurizonata; 10. Helix canescens; 11. Helix conoidalis. from The zoology of the voyage of H.M.S. Samarang; under the command of Captain Sir Edward Belcher … during the years 1843-46 (1850)

Siren lacertina from North American herpetology; or, A description of the reptiles inhabiting the United States. (1842)

They also have cartography, russian civil war posters, fashion illustration (see below), industrial blueprints, architecture, menus… I just… it’s just so… overwhelming. Go forth, acquire.

from Ladies’ dress shoes of the nineteenth century (published 1900)

found via rebel:art - pretty much just a collection of signs directing you to the Internet. there are more. I’m not sure I know how to explain why I find this concept so funny. maybe its the concept of physical navigation to a virtual place? or maybe I just like somewhat absurd photo-collections. either way, checkout the rest of em.

and let me gush some more for rebel:art, (if you aren’t subscribed to their rss, you are basically dead to me), check out geeky global guerilla street art, part of the “space invaders” movement:

and

I have just discovered that there are only 2 degrees of separation between captain jean luc picard, the british-accented, french-named, american space-naval captain of the USS enterprise on star trek TNG (yes, I just used the acronym), and myself.

marlene: so my friend hangs out with patrick stewart
me: GET OUT OF TOWN
marlene: nope
me: LEAVE THE TOWN
marlene: he goes to [restauarant name removed, apologies to TMZ] and she is a manager.
me: GO TO ANOTHER TOWN
marlene: they hang out and shit, seriously
me: THIS TOWN IS NOT FOR YOU
marlene: Macbeth is at bam and bam is down the street
me: NO MARLENES HERE
marlene: so they are like bff
me: THERES A TOWN JUST A MILE A WAY WITH YOUR NAME ON IT
Marlene: for real
me: that’s so rad.

In honour of my best friend, I would like to share his appearance on rick gervais’ Extras which makes me giggle uncontrollably:

*has he even been knighted yet? it doesn’t really matter, he is a knight in my heart-monarchy.

On the Neat Scale, I’d say this is closest to the “pretty durn” end of the spectrum -
bach’s first goldberg variation:

madonna’s like a prayer:

folk song “clementine”:

from the website:

What does music look like? The Shape of Song is an attempt to answer this seemingly paradoxical question. The custom software in this work draws musical patterns in the form of translucent arches, allowing viewers to see–literally–the shape of any composition available on the Web. The resulting images reflect the full range of musical forms, from the deep structure of Bach to the crystalline beauty of Philip Glass.

Three reasons to bookmark Strange Maps: (http://strangemaps.wordpress.com):

Map Number 1: US States Renamed For Countries With Similar GDPs, or “Sweet Mary H. Christ the US is LOADED”.

Map Number 2: The Stockholm subway map + english-translation = funnier than a business man on a trampoline. (click for the full map:)

My list of favorites:

• Sharp Nude
• Suspender Pen
• Rock Star
• Awful Village Hospital
• A Spoon Farm

Map Number 3: Carpatho-Ukraine declared its independance on March 15, 1939, but was annexed by Hungary, 24 hours later.

Inspired by http://www.flipflopflyin.com/personalpies/

It would be funnier if I were kidding…