Oneironomicon

Humor: Impressive Personal Library

2012-02-01T15:00:00.000-05:00

The future of the impressive personal library – funny, but also a philosophical nudge to consider the role of books as public branding artifacts, not just personal intellectual experiences.

Interview: Alan Moore

2012-02-01T11:30:00.000-05:00

Alan Moore talking about science and imagination in an interview backstage at Nine Lessons and Carols for Godless People, December 2011.

Short Film: Poem

2012-01-31T12:00:00.000-05:00

"Poem" by Matthias Zentner

Although this has been used as a commercial for Showtime in Ukrain, it's still a beautiful piece of art worthy of the title "short film." In all likelihood, without the money behind the advertiser, it would never have been produced, which would have been a terrible loss.

In this piece, the reading experience is represented as a visual metaphor as a woman passes through four stages of her life. I particularly like the part where the books escape from the bird cage, but everything about this is quite beautiful.

poem was the 3rd project in a row velvet did for showtime beyond (suspension channel). this spot, directed by matthias zentner of velvet, reflects journey through daydreams, nightmares and passionate escapes a reflection of a normal day spent at showtime beyond, where nothing is real, and extraordinary is ordinary. its transporting the viewer to an imaginary place where stories and imagination ignite. stories come alive as they are passed from person to person and from generation to generation. on showtime beyond storytelling opens the imagination in limitless ways. it was shot in just 2 days in kiew/ukraine.

In very complex postproduction (mostly flame & 3d) real-film-shoot was combined with vfx/animation elements.

Interview: Patton Oswalt Interviews Harlan Ellison

2012-01-23T20:30:00.000-05:00

At the Cinefamily Harlan Ellison event on January 19, 2012, Patton Oswalt crashed the interview and took over from Josh Olson.

Lecture: The Enigma Machine

2012-01-23T20:00:00.000-05:00

At Fractal’11 last April, author Kij Johnson gave an interesting lecture entitled The Enigma Machine: Writing, Typewriters, and Decoding the Truth.

During World War two, the German military sent information critical to the war through messages encoded and decoded on Enigma machines, small rotor machines that looked a bit like typewriters. A message encoded by an Enigma machine was nearly impossible to decode except with another Enigma machine.

Here’s another way to think of it: the Enigma was a typewriter that concealed and revealed the truth. Every writer works as an Enigma machine, using her typewriter (or computer keyboard or pen) to do the same things. This talk explores the ways a writer uses fiction to code and decode reality, lie and tell the truth.

Quote

2012-01-23T08:00:00.001-05:00

Bookshelves: Plumber's Pipes

2012-01-23T08:00:00.000-05:00

Plumber Bookshelves by Stella Bleu Designs

The Corner Industrial Bookshelf is a great conversation piece turning heavy iron piping into a modern urban look that will add a sense of history and character to any space.

This design holds books 8 shelves and conveniently fit in those tight corner spaces.

Book Reading: Ursula K. Le Guin Reads from Lavinia

2012-01-17T12:00:00.000-05:00

Ursula K. Le Guin reads from her latest novel, Lavinia. The author spoke at Powell’s City of Books in Portland, Oregon, on April 22, 2008.

Fiction: Variation on a Theme of Coleridge

2012-01-17T08:00:00.000-05:00

Author Alberto Chimal of Mexico City reads his story "Variation on a Theme of Coleridge" from Three Messages and a Warning: Contemporary Mexican Short Stories of the Fantastic (Small Beer Press, January 2012), an anthology of new Mexican fiction never before translated into English.

Book Trailer: Keep Our Secrets

2012-01-13T14:30:00.000-05:00

Teaser trailer for KEEP OUR SECRETS, a color-changing kids' book by Jordan Crane. Coming in November 2011 from McSweeney's McMullens, the brand new children's imprint from McSweeney's Books in San Francisco, CA.

Art: Fictional Landscapes

2012-01-12T08:00:00.000-05:00

Fictional Landscapes by UK-based artist Kyle Kirkpatrick

Video: The Joy of Books

2012-01-10T12:00:00.000-05:00

After organizing their own bookshelf earlier this year, Sean Ohlenkamp and wife Lisa re-doubled their efforts for Type Books in Toronto. After several sleepless nights of animating with a crew of over 20 people, the Joy of Books was born. Music composed especially for the short by Grayson Matthews. See many more books here.

Poetry: "Oh, the Places You'll Go"

2012-01-09T14:00:00.000-05:00

"Oh, the Places You'll Go" by Dr. Seuss
Performed by the attendees of Burning Man 2011

Art: Storybook

2012-01-05T08:00:00.000-05:00

Storybook by Jeannette Woitzik

Art: Surmounting the Classics

2011-12-31T08:00:00.000-05:00

Painted by Ricky Colson

Infograhic: Harry Potter Experience

2011-12-26T16:30:00.000-05:00

Via: Mad Potterhead

Quote

2011-12-23T08:00:00.000-05:00

Source: Etsy.com

Art: Carved Book Landscapes

2011-12-22T16:00:00.000-05:00

Carved Book Landscapes by Guy Laramee

"So I carve landscapes out of books and I paint Romantic landscapes. Mountains of disused knowledge return to what they really are: mountains. They erode a bit more and they become hills. Then they flatten and become fields where apparently nothing is happening. Piles of obsolete encyclopedias return to that which does not need to say anything, that which simply IS. Fogs and clouds erase everything we know, everything we think we are."

Interview: George R.R. Martin

2011-12-21T13:00:00.000-05:00

A video of George R.R. Martin's visit to the offices of Audible where he was interviewed by Steve Feldberg.

"Recently we had the pleasure of welcoming to our office a great figure in the literary community (and one of Time's 100 Most Influential People of 2011!). George R.R. Martin, who recently completed the fifth book in his hugely popular series, A Song of Ice and Fire, shared stories about his life, his careers in both literature and television, and the power of fiction."

Quote

2011-12-19T11:00:00.000-05:00

Reading a book should be a conversation between you and the author. Presumably he knows more about the subject than you do; if not, you probably should not be bothering with his book. But understanding is a two-way operation; the learner has to question himself and question the teacher, once he understands what the teacher is saying. Marking a book is literally an expression of your differences or your agreements with the author. It is the highest respect you can pay him.
- Mortimer Adler, 1940.

Bookshelves: Target Bookshelf

2011-12-19T10:00:00.000-05:00

Target Bookshelf by Mebrure Oral

The 'target books' shelf by Turkish designer Mebrure Oral is designed to keep books organized
by separating them into sections of 'already read' and 'yet to read.' Each segment is demarcated
by its own bookend, a line of text that is built into the shelf that states either 'has been read' or 'will be read.' Each 'target books' shelf is produced in three pieces via injection molding of recyclable ABS plastic.

Art: Mini Christmas Tree

2011-12-19T09:00:00.000-05:00

Via: Tumblr

Book Trailer: A Monster Calls

2011-12-19T08:45:00.000-05:00

A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness and illustrated by Jim Kay

At seven minutes past midnight, thirteen-year-old Conor wakes to find a monster outside his bedroom window. But it isn't the monster Conor's been expecting-- he's been expecting the one from his nightmare, the nightmare he's had nearly every night since his mother started her treatments. The monster in his backyard is different. It's ancient. And wild. And it wants something from Conor. Something terrible and dangerous. It wants the truth. From the final idea of award-winning author Siobhan Dowd-- whose premature death from cancer prevented her from writing it herself-- Patrick Ness has spun a haunting and darkly funny novel of mischief, loss, and monsters both real and imagined.

Art: Bookguns

2011-12-19T08:00:00.001-05:00

Bookguns by Robert The

"Books (many culled from dumpsters and thrift store bins) are lovingly vandalized back to life so they can assert themselves against the culture which turned them into debris."

Link Round-Up: December 19, 2011

2011-12-19T08:00:00.000-05:00

Condescending Literary Pun Dog

5 e-Book Collections with Over 100,000 Free e-Books

After 2 years of work, Jonathan Harris (of We Feel Fine fame) launches Cowbird, a “simple tool for telling stories and a public library of human experience,” beginning with a “saga” about the Occupy

Bookfessions: confessions and thoughts of a bibliophile. "797. When I finish a book, I close the back cover and just sit there."

George Whitman, founder of the Parisian landmark bookstore Shakespeare And Company, has died at the age of 98

Library Use Value Calculator: Library users might want to try out this little exercise to see what your public library means to you and your wallets - and to learn what services you may not have known your library offers. I ran the calculations, and my public library turns out to be worth about $5,000 a year to me.

How to Extend the Due Date of Your Library eBook on the Kindle

New York based artist Robert The carves guns out of old books found in dumpsters and thrift store bins.

Novel First Sentences, Novel Last Sentences