The Song Map is a “road map made-up of song titles: from Highway to Hell to Penny Lane, Itchycoo Park to Heartbreak Hotel.” The cleverly imagined map, which looks suspiciously like a London map, is the creation of the very inventive design collective known as We Are Dorothy. You can see more of their work on the website and even buy a copy of the Song Map.
I was intrigued when a regular reader of Travel Between the Pages sent me a link to this interesting stop-motion animation video. Based on the works of Hermann Hesse and Carl Gustav Jung, the film, as well as the score, was was created by one Alex Schulz of Pforzheim, Germany. Take a look at “Inner Steppe” :
If you’ve ever visited the Netherlands, then you know that the Dutch are mad for bikes. In fact there are more bicycles than people in the country. Well, now the De Cafe Racer company has come up with the very first School Bus Bike. Entirely powered by children, with an adult driver of course, the bike costs about $15,000, but comes in six bright colors including yellow.
In 1935, President Roosevelt initiated the Works Progress Administration to both create jobs and to encourage community spirit. The much respected New Deal agency recruited millions of Americans from all walks of life and launched thousands of valuable public service projects around the nation. The WPA was a great supporter of artists, writers, designers and publishing., and inspired a wealth of wonderful public service posters like these:
First awarded in 1978 to the Proceedings of the Second International Workshop on Nude Mice, the Diagram Prize for the Oddest Book Title of the Year has released the shortlist for this year’s prize. The winner will be announced by the Bookseller on March 30th and you can help pick the “winner” by voting for your favorite here.
This year’s short list:
A Century of Sand Dredging in the Bristol Channel: Volume Two by Peter Gosson (Amberley). A book that documents the sand trade from its inception in 1912 to the present day, focusing on the Welsh coast.
Cooking with Poo by Saiyuud Diwong (Urban Neighbours of Hope). Thai cookbook. “Poo” is Thai for “crab” and is Diwong’s nickname.
Estonian Sock Patterns All Around the World by Aino Praakli (Kirjastus Elmatar). Covers styles of socks and stockings found in Estonian knitting.
The Great Singapore Penis Panic: And the Future of American Mass Hysteria by Scott D Mendelson (Createspace). An analysis of the “Koro” psychiatric epidemic that hit the island of Singapore in 1967.
Mr Andoh’s Pennine Diary: Memoirs of a Japanese Chicken Sexer in 1935 Hebden Bridge by Stephen Curry and Takayoshi Andoh (Royd Press). The story of Koichi Andoh, who travelled from Japan to Yorkshire in the 1930s to train workers at a hatchery business the art of determining the sex of one-day-old chicks.
A Taxonomy of Office Chairs by Jonathan Olivares (Phaidon). Exhaustive overview of the evolution of the modern office chair.
The Mushroom in Christian Art by John A Rush (North Atlantic Books). In which the author reveals that Jesus is a personification of the Holy Mushroom, Amanita Muscaria.
Horace Bent, the custodian of prize, said: “Never has the debate raged so fiercely as to which books should be put forward for the shortlist. Which is why this year we have selected seven shortlistees, rather than the traditional six. And what a shortlist we have.”
Philip Stone, the prize administrator, said: “Despite the global economic turmoil, publishers continue to invest in imaginative, diverse and niche publications, and this award wonderfully reflects that.
“Sadly, though, and despite publishers regularly boasting that they are moving with the times, just one of this year’s seven shortlisted titles is currently available to buy in a digital format: Scott Mendelson’s intriguing work, The Great Singapore Penis Panic.”
This magical and mesmerizing tilt-shift film of Rio de Janeiro, titled The City of Samba, was created by Keith Loutit and Jarbas Agnelli during the 2011 Carnival. The music was also produced by Agnelli. The film’s fabulous illusion of miniaturization and the stop motion feel were derived from an astonishing 170,000 still shots.
The Voyage of the Pequod is one in a marvelous series of twelve literary maps based on American and British classics produced by the Harris-Seybold Company of Cleveland, Ohio between 1953 and 1964. The Map of Moby Dick was created by illustrator, commercial artist and muralist Everett Henry for the series.
Jeff Diehl faced errant yaks, inconvenient breakdowns and bandits on his eleven day drive across Mongolia from the Russian border to the capital Ulaanbaatar. Along the way he created this amazing film which compresses the escapade down to just four minutes. The time-lapse video is interrupted by some real-time clips and commentary from Jeff. I can’t believe that he chose a Fiat Panda for this wild excursion across the bleak landscape of Mongolia.
Yesterday was another red letter day for London’s public transport riders and bus enthusiasts. The much awaited new incarnation of London’s historic Routemaster bus made its maiden voyage on the 38 Route through the West End. The new Routemaster is being touted for its “green” credentials, with 15% better fuel efficiency than the current hybrid buses and 40% improvement over conventional diesels. The new double-stairway buses even carry more passengers.
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