lifeasdaddy

The books that made America: How the library of Congress was founded, and refounded.

The Library of Congress was founded in 1800.  During the War of 1812, the British lay waste to the Library on 24 August, 1814 when they torched the Capital.  One month later Thomas Jefferson offered his personal library for sale to the Congress to reextablish the library which went on to become one of the world's great cultural institutions.

It is the largest library in the world.

"Today's Library of Congress is an unparalleled world resource. The collection of more than 130 million items includes more than 29 million cataloged books and other print materials in 460 languages; more than 58 million manuscripts; the largest rare book collection in North America; and the world's largest collection of legal materials, films, maps, sheet music and sound recordings."

"Of the original 6,487 volumes that Jefferson had sold to Congress in 1815, only about 2,000 remained following the fire that started from a faulty chimney flue on a frigid Christmas Eve morning, at 7:30 a.m., Dec. 24, 1851, and spread through the congressional library housed in the Capitol"

Jefferson's library has been painstakingly rebuilt.

Read the story here, and in the Washington Post here.

Jamy Ian Swiss on YouTube

"I did a trick for a little boy. He was probably about 5 years old. Anyway, he looked up at me and said, 'I know how you did that.' I said, 'How?' He said, 'You used magic.' It's the best explanation I ever heard."

So said Al Cohen.

I've got a soft spot for magic.  And I look forward to when I can teach some simple magic to Edward.

Adam Gopnik has got an outstanding story about the current state of the magic industry/business/way of life/sub-culture in the March 17, 2008 issue of the New Yorker.

There's only an abstract available online here. One of the magicians featured in the lengthy article is Jamy Ian Swiss who is a specialist in close-up magic.  Card magic and the like.  Many people say he's the best at that there is.

Swiss is quoted in the article as (mainly) being opposed to magicians on YouTube.  So, I checked to see if he is on YouTube, and sure enough he is.  Probably unauthorised content.

Check him here, here.

Also, on his own website here.

Aside:  I read Steve Martin's recent memoir Born Standing Up - and his reverence for old-time magicians is quite touching.  Martin was no slouch in the magic stakes himself.

Interviews with 8 Supreme Court Justices of the USA

Here they are interviewed by Bryan Garner about legal writing and advocacy.

I've never seen an interview with any of the Supremes before. So far I've checked those with Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Thomas.

Chief Justice Roberts:

"Language is the central tool of our trade."

Curiously interesting.

lifeasdaddy - 55 essential articles every blogger should read.

Matt Huggins has scoured the 'net to bring you these.

[ tip from Joe Wikert ]

lifeasdaddy - What? No Dewey decimal system?

What would your local lending library look like if the books were NOT arranged according to the Dewey Decimal Classification system?

Probably something like this one from Phoenix, Arizona.

lifeasdaddy - Review of the new Harry Potter book from the New York Times.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is reviewed here in the New York Times by Michiko Kakutani.  That's about 48 hours ahead of the official release.

It's a positive review.  I'm sure that's a relief to some of you.

[ tip from Baby Got Books ]

UPDATE:  Here's a link to the Wall Street Journal's Harry Potter Notebook, which has more links to early (pre-publishing date) reviews.

lifeasdaddy - Public service flaks duck for cover

Good piece in The Australian today about flaks in government departments and instrumentalities who don't want to be named - even when they are giving a no comment.  Especially when they are giving a no comment.

While recently trying to chase down a story about gas shortages, The Australian's Matthew Warren rang the Bureau of Meteorology to ask how cold it had been.

"I can't divulge that information," was the reply.

It's one example of a clear pattern developing among media flacks in government and public agencies: even though their salaries are paid by taxpayers, they perceive their job not as giving information out but trying to keep it in.

lifeasdaddy - IBM's corporate approach to social media.

Here's a Wall Street Journal article about IBM's (mainly internal use) social media.

[ pointer from Mr Booch ]

lifeasdaddy - Some good science fiction books.

Marc Andreessen has listed some science fiction recommendations here.

lifeasdaddy - Elmore Leonard's ten rules of writing.

Being a good author is a disappearing act.

"10. Try to leave out the part that readers tend to skip."