The Bookwheel, invented in 1588 by Italian engineer Agostino Ramelli, was a heavy, 600-pound wooden rotating bookcase that let scholars easily use up to eight open books at once. It had a clever gear system to keep the books upright as the wheel turned by hand, saving time for readers who didn’t have to fetch books from shelves. Featured in Ramelli’s book of machines, it was a creative Renaissance tool for studying, though it’s uncertain how many were actually made
If you like travel, and you like cats, then you will enjoy the game Travel Cat, TripGeo’s playful flight-sim exploration game allows you to explore over 11,000 cities worldwide from the comfort of a feline piloted golden monoplane.
“Welcome to Travel Cat – an exciting adventure where you control a globetrotting feline to explore the wonders of the world! With access to a plane, car, and boat, the whole planet is your playground.
Soar through the skies, cruise the open roads, or sail the seven seas to any destination you choose. Leveraging the power of Google 3D Maps and Street View, Travel Cat brings the world to life in immersive detail.
Want to climb the Eiffel Tower? Easy. Race through the streets of Tokyo? You got it. Island hop in the Caribbean? All it takes is a few clicks. With the ability to travel at high speeds and make quantum leaps to any location, there are no limits to where you can go and what you can discover.
So pack your bags and get ready for the trip of a lifetime with your trusty Travel Cat. A world of adventure awaits!”
Man is so intelligent that he feels impelled to invent theories to account for what happens in the world. Unfortunately, he is not quite intelligent enough, in most cases, to find correct explanations. So that when he acts on his theories, he behaves very often like a lunatic. Thus, no animal is clever enough, when there is a drought, to imagine that the rain is being withheld by evil spirits, or as a punishment for its transgressions. Therefore you never see animals going through the absurd and often horrible fooleries of magic and religion. No horse, for example, would kill one of its foals in order to make a wind change its direction. Dogs do not ritually urinate in the hope of persuading heaven to do the same and send down rain. Asses do not bray a liturgy to cloudless skies. Nor do cats attempt, by abstinence from cats’ meat, to wheedle the feline spirits into benevolence. Only man behaves with such gratuitous folly. It is the price he has to pay for being intelligent, but not, as yet, quite intelligent enough.
— Aldous Huxley, Texts and Pretexts, 1932
Click here for the full book for free.
No, I’m not referencing the British royal family—although they are a shambolic mess—I’m referring to a lovely, rickety looking building a historic Windsor, England. If you have every visited the tourist town, you have likely had a peep at the charming house.
Although this building stands at a distinctive slant, it’s completely sturdy, and has been around since 1687. The house wasn’t always crooked, though. The house was originally built in 1592 and initially served as a butcher’s shop. The building’s unique slant is the result of its reconstruction in 1687. After a land dispute, the town council in Windsor was ordered to rebuild the house quickly. Unseasoned green oak wood was used in a rush. As the wood dried, the structure buckled and became tilted in a way that is stable but wonky looking.
The building underwent a complete restoration—maintaining the slant of course—and has a new life as a café. The Crooked House now hosts The Shambles, a bar and bottle shop where proprietors Pip and Hamish will gladly serve you some of Windsor’s finest cocktails, a carefully curated wine selection, delicious nibbles, and coffee. It makes the list of the top five places in Windsor for coffee and drinks, and is an excellent place to watch the Changing of the Guard or rest your feet after trudging The Long Walk.
I recently spotted the video below about Bergen, Norway’s amazing bike tunnel. And, I had two thoughts. First, wow, this is a wonderful piece of transit engineering. Second, I haven’t been in Bergen in more than 40 years. Even if you aren’t a biker, the video is worth a view.
We may or may not be on a break, it depends who you ask. Please check back soon.
As I may have mentioned 20 or 30 times, I’ve been planning a trip to Japan and keep falling down Japan related rabbit holes. Like any sane person, I love Japanese cuisine, but as a vegetarian it’s sometimes difficult to find acceptable dishes. One of my guilty pleasures is tempura. While I rarely eat deep fried food these days, I’m willing to make an exception for tempura. But I was today years old when I learned that Japanese tempura was originally a Portuguese import.
Long a tradition staple of Japanese dining—fried vegetables or tempura (天ぷら)—was introduced by Portuguese traders who had a presence in Japan for about a century until being banished in 1639 for proselytizing, the ruling shogunate believing that Christianity was a threat to a stable society.
The recipe adapted from peixnhos da horta (little fish of the garden) for battered and fried green beans came to be known as tempura is etymologically tied to Christianity, being a Lenten substitute for a filling meal for those too poor to afford actual fish as a break from fasting, coming from the Latin tempora which indicated the time for abstaining.
Now you can impress your friends with a bit of Japanese/Portuguese trivia.
Westeros vs Britain & Ireland
Birth country of most recent immigrants
Establishment of Europe’s oldest universities
A very nice, well-appointed lady spends about an hour browsing the stock, including the locked cases. After building a rather formidable stack of unrelated books worth over $3,500 (including some very scarce Mark Twain first editions), I couldn’t resist asking:
What do you collect?
Oh nothing, but I will purchase these.
(My curiosity getting the better of me) A gift?
No. I am going to use them to decorate my daughter’s bathroom.
(Silly me! I failed to notice that the books were all various shades of green. This is a good thing, since the books will soon be color-coordinated with the mold).
Let me help you carry these out to your car.
(phone call – grownup)
I have a book I want to sell.
What is it?
It’s by John Stainback. It’s called “The Wayword Bus”
Who’s the publisher?
I just said, John Stainback
He’s the author, sort of. Let’s try again, what does the copyright page say?
Where’s that?
Sorry, I can’t use it. Thanks for calling.
phone call…
I have a bunch of old books I want to sell on e-bay. Can you tell me what they are worth?
Why would I want to do that?
My friend said to call you and that you know a lot about books.
You are missing my point. Why should I waste my time helping you?
So I can know what reserve to put on my books.
I charge for appraisals.
Well this isn’t an appraisal. I just want to know what they are worth.
Sorry, you will have to call someone else. Good luck!
(Woman mid-thirties, pondering a purchase)
I have never read a book this long. It would really have to be good for me to read this one (149 pps.).
(Woman, in her mid 30s)
Do you have the “Titanic” book?
No.
I’d like to read it.
Uh huh.
Did you know it’s a true story, except for the romantic part?
(this is worse than I thought!)
You have a book I want, but it’s $30. Would you take less? I just want to look at the pictures.
It’s too hot in here! Why don’t you turn on the air conditioning or something?
You could take off your sweater.
Have you read all these books?
Of course! I never sell a book without reading it first.
(Real long pause)
When do you watch TV?
Hi, are you hiring?
No. Not at this time.
I like books.
So do I.
I promise not to get in the way. I could just read or something.
Have you ever seen the Guggenheim Bible?
Yes.
Wow!
phone call…
Are you hiring?
No.
Good! Can I have your company’s name?
Why?
I have to tell the Unemployment Department that I am looking for a job.
This is the Unemployment Department. Can I get your name?
(click)
phone call…
I have a rare book.
What do you have?
It’s called Sea Wolf.
By London.
Yea.
What makes you think it’s rare?
It’s signed by him.
Is it a first edition?
Yea.
Who is the publisher?
Dell.
It’s a paperback?
Yea.
What year was it published?
1976.
He must have been pretty old when he signed it.
Yea, he was.
I have to go now.
Do you want to buy it?
No.
(Customer fills out search card: 16 Chapels)
(me) Oh, you’re after books on European Churches?
No, just books about the 16 Chapels.
16 Chapels?
Yea, you know the one with the big painting on the ceiling.
We will let you know what we find (once we stop convulsing).
There are more at the BookMine, which is an online bookshop in California.
Travel Between The Pages 