Saturday 14 June 2008


London's Lost Rivers.


'The easiest pub quiz question in the world: name a river that flows through London. Answer: the Thames. A somewhat more difficult question: name another river that flows through London. A few might know of the river Lee (or Lea) that springs near Leagrave in Bedfordshire and joins the Thames at Leamouth in the London borough of Tower Hamlets. But how about: name a third river that flows through London? And a fourth, a fifth, a sixth?'




Early Real Estate Atlases of New York.


'Over 2,000 maps of New York City, including Manhattan and Brooklyn "fire insurance maps" from the 1850s-1860, showing streets, blocks, tax lots, natural and manmade features, and more. '




The Great British Venn Diagram.


'So I guess a lot of people are in some doubt as to what the difference is between England, Great Britain, the British Isles and the United Kingdom. Here I present a handy-dandy Venn diagram to explain this.'




The Daily Puppy.


'Your Daily Fix for Puppy Pictures'.




Dialou: Multi-Storied Defensive Village Houses in Kaiping, China.





Murals in San Francisco's Mission District.





Jazz Musician Photo Gallery.





Joan Miro: Aidez L'Espagne.


'In the late 1930’s painters, poets, writers and intellectuals in Europe and outside, and especially those of Spanish nationality, were almost all united in their condemnation of the Fascism of General Franco’s army, and of their attacks against Republican Spain. The Spanish Civil War was the cause ‘cause cĂ©lebre’ inspiring some of the greatest artistic works of the era, including Picasso’s ‘Guernica’...'




Antebellum Architecture of Tuscaloosa, Alabama.


Old photographs from before the American Civil War.




The Mysterious World of Cosplay: Love is Everything.


The subculture of Japanese manga/anime fashion.




Secret Topsham, Devon.


'Topsham, Devon, is an atmospheric little town on the Exe Estuary, now a suburb of Exeter, that used to be a major port. Many aspects of its features and history are well-known but for a time I've been intending to compile some of the more obscure facts, mostly omitted from official guides, that I've encountered since living here. They may be of interest to visitors, and can be viewed in a circular walk that takes about an hour.'




American Public Health Posters.





Plains Indian Ledger Art.


'This genre, often called Ledger Art, represents a transitional form of Plains Indian artistry corresponding to the forced reduction of Plains tribes to government reservations, roughly between 1860 and 1900...
...Beginning in the early 1860s, Plains Indian men adapted their representational style of painting to paper in the form of accountants ledger books. Traditional paints and bone and stick brushes used to paint on hide gave way to new implements such as colored pencils, crayon, and occasionally water color paints. Plains artists acquired paper and new drawing materials in trade, or as booty after a military engagement, or from a raid...'

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