A little cuteness for your Monday morning with a stop-motion magic show by Blabla:
I feel like this could easily be the inspiration for a picture book series. (via babble)
Category: Video
Black Magic in Elizabethan London
Very intrigued by this book trailer for Black Arts by Andrew Prentice and Jonathan Weil.
Elizabethan London, demons, pickpockets, and time travel? Yes please.
(Confession: In college I took a class on the history of witchcraft. And then another about the Salem witch trials. I am kind of a target audience for this.)
Dewey Decimal Goes Stop Motion
Most libraries have online databases now, but that doesn’t mean you can’t still have fun with card catalogs. Check out this delightful video from Sterling Memorial Library at Yale University:
A little part of me hopes this was created in an effort to procrastinate studying for finals.
(H/T Noa Wheeler)
Get on Down to Caine’s Arcade
This feels like something that should be part of an awesome middle grade novel: 9-year-old Caine Monroy made his own arcade:
Caine is pretty much the coolest kid ever. He’s so creative and hard-working! And I love that Nirvan inspired so much support for Caine, both through the flash mob and through this video. This totally warmed my heart.
The Science Behind That Old Book Smell
You know that delightful old book smell? Here’s the chemical explanation behind the scent:
Chemistry and literature, together at last!
(via io9)
How a Book is Made
A beautiful video by Glen Milner about the making of a book with traditional printing methods.
It might sound silly, but I’m reminded of segments on Sesame Street that showed how things like crayons or peanut butter were made. This is more sophisticated, but it’s still so cool to see the creation process of something you enjoy.
(via bookshelves of doom)
Science, Not Fiction
Breaking News: Pigeons React!
Mo Willems is the coolest. Also I really want a Pigeon stuffed animal now.
Reminder, Bostonians: Mo Williems will be at Brookline Booksmith on April 1!
(HT: Wellesley Booksmith)
Creativity and the Power of Frustration
Art and innovation doesn’t just come from someone working happily away on their project. Part of creative work involves frustration and failure. This video by Flash Rosenberg examines the agony of art and how that can lead us to imagining and creating the impossible:
Definitely something to bookmark and watch again when you feel like an artistic failure.
(via Brain Pickings)
Katniss Everbean
Probably the best Hunger Games parody I’ve seen so far:
This one might have the better fire-dress version. Well done, beanies*!
*And looking at the production list, I’m convinced that I might actually know a couple of the people involved. The internet is a small, strange world.