#central library LA

[thebaronofvenicebeach]

Appreciation Post for the Los Angeles Public Library's Central Branch

And the Bloodlines Modding Community's commitment to recovering Troika's really spot on work in recreating it.

[fightforthesoulofthecities]

Join Black Folks on Bikes for Environmental Justice

Join Black Folks on Bikes for Environmental Justice At Strategy and Soul The Strategy Center is excited to be one of eight organizations in the South-Central LA Power Up coalition working with the California Air Resources Board, LA Dept of Transportation, and LA Clean Tech Incubator to host a library of 250 E-Bikes that will be free for South LA residents for the first 6 months of the…

[we-re-always-alright]

seven years in a row!!!!!!!!

[evilminji]

Broadway :3c

And I hear ya. (Insert spooky joke here) There is a sprawling WEB of central hubs, for The Arts. For trade. For getting drunk and having a good time. The Zone is large and it is endless. You'll NEVER reach the far end. It can never reach you.

All things, in gentle sweeping waves, across eternity.

So when folks want to have "a market" or "a movie theater" or "the waterpark"? You gotta PICK a point on the endless map. Figure if you are close or far enough away for others like it, to make it worth the effort to build.

You might even be the first to do it for GALAXIES in any direction! People might fly for WEEKS to come to your place! Move their Lairs to be closer too it. Like dust gathered by gravity, slowly creating planets and stars. A mega Lair. A CITY.

They rise, they fall, the Zone shifts all the while.

But!

Does the dead starlet stop singing? Does getting gunned down, stop the show?? I think NOT! Where is her STAGE? What musicals? What dramas? What operas and tragedies and forms unknown to human kind??! Ballet dancers who CAN defy gravity! Singers who have no NEED for air! The haunting blend of instruments, that could never in life have met! From empires long turned to ASH!

The greatest show in DEATH!

Ember was a world wide hit. Yes, her voice was hypnotic. But that could be FOUGHT. It was SKILL that carried the game. And she was hardly "I was Literally The Greatest My Planet Ever Produced" skilled. She was good, great even. Not "I was Born For Greatness" Excellence.

And like?

.....eventually? Danny's gonna ask after "cultural-y" Culture stuff. Clothes and food. Music and the arts. To help his parents get used to the whole "our son is half-dead" thing. To show he's not some mindless monster now.

And? Ghostwriter? Probably an absolute legend. Does he know where you can find some CULTURE? Oh THANK ZONE! He thought you'd NEVER ask! You unsophisticated-! *fist fight in a library* Still a dick, though. Always and forever.

And just? Imagine Broadway stretched out into a floating city. That never sleeps. Never stops. Shows ever changing. Some on a cycle, some only once. Dream-like. Beautiful. Eye catching.

And yeah, Danny didn't think he LIKED musicals. It was more of a Jazz thing. But? This was important! Gotta get the whole family in the Speeder. We're going to see a play, guys! We'll pick when we get there! Family road trip! Educational! We can make notes!

His parents are trying to be supportive. Big, fixed, strained grins. Trying to pretend to be excited. But they... DO seem reluctantly intrigued? And Jazz is all but vibrating in her seat. It's basically her "before you go away to college" present. And she is THRILLED.

The longer she excitedly speculates? The more into it she gets their folks. This IS gonna be new! Exciting! Never before seen Ghost Culture! Music! As a FAMILY! Think we could find souvenirs? Ooooh, wonder if they sell CDs??!

Then? They GET there. And it's... it's like seeing the Las Vegas strip for the first time, except multiplied into a city. Made of even MORE styles and eras. At angles gravity would never allow.

The air filled with laughter and excitement, people rushing to shows or humming bits of tunes. Street stalls. Fountains. Flowers growing everywhere.

They could stay for months and not even reach a fraction of these buildings. His parents are taking countless photos. His sister squeeling with joy as she races for an information kiosk like they just arrived at Disneyland. He, at least, remembers to lock up the Speeder. Grab their day bags.

When did HE become the responsible one?

The argue over shows. Obviously. Wouldn't be Fenton's otherwise. HE wants to see the alien one. It's from mars! But it's his sister's trip, as his dad points out, so she gets to choose. She picks a musical set during the Fall of Krpton. He's... reluctantly kinda interested. I mean, EVERYBODY likes Superman, right?

It's... it's amazing. Terrible, but amazing. I mean? A coming of age story cut tragically short? Oof. Hello, massively projecting then getting FEELS about it! Yeah, sure, rip my heart out why don't you? He's fine. No, really! Just drowning in his own emotions over here. The refrain of "A Life Well Lived"? *gargling dying whale noises* he's FINE. Not grappling with anything! Go on without him!

Thankfully?

They DO sell CDs.

He... he may end up, kinda, getting a bit of a collection. Going on the weekends, hoping show to show. Wandering to whichever catches his eye in the moment. Buying the CDs for one's he likes. Which? Honestly is a lot of them. Even though there's all sorts of genres and languages. Cause it... it RESONATES you know?

The grief. The anger. The "I have died but I wasn't FINISHED. It isn't FAIR.". And? Something about ghost speak flows so BEAUTIFULLY in song? It's hard to explain. But he... he needs them.

A pair of headphones, a CD, and a clear night sky? Nothing touches it. It's like a trance made of light. Like he can just drift.

The problem? Is the CDs are kinda... Zone made? They're radioactive, for one. Nothing a Fenton CD player can't handle. But... they? Also? Kinda fuckin GLOW? Like... very, very noticeably. And not in a "ha ha, cool glow in the dark paint!" Sorta way.

.........but like FUCK is he leaving his music behind when he goes to college. Gotham will have to deal. It's already a burning shit-nado, it can handle this. Probably. He'll put um in a lead lined box. Actually, speaking OF.... he needs to get a few more of those... *goes back to packing*

Which? Is how? The Bats are treated to some of the most HAUNTING music they've ever heard, belted and crooned from Some Guy's speakers, out an open window, on the "stop for a mid-patrol drink of water and a snack" building. It's one of the intersections of their patrol routes. And THAT? That is some dude listening to a Romani ballad about death and the circus. Now it's a musical about the trenches of an obscure war.

Okay, that was DEFINITELY Kryptonian. Like... coherent Krypto- *Bruce gets a call from Clark on his "work" number DEMANDING to know where that is coming from. Who is that voice Bruce?!* huh.... Well Then.

@hdgnj @hypewinter @nerdpoe @lolottes @babbling-babull @spidori @mutable-manifestation @the-witchhunter

[heaveninawildflower]

Snowdrops by M.P. Verneuil taken from 'La Plante et ses Applications Ornementales' by Eugène Grasset, M. P. Verneuil.

Published 1896 by Librairie Centrale des Beaux-Arts.

Smithsonian Libraries

archive.org

[useless-catalanfacts]

The Episcopal Archive and Library of Vic, Central Catalonia.

This archive contains the documentation generated by the Diocese of Vic for over 1000 years, as well as some other non-religious collections about its area that the Diocese has gathered throughout the centuries. It includes, among others, the document of consecration for Vic's cathedral, 5 papyrus Papal bulls (out of the 23 that exist in the world), documents of the trials against supposed witches, and many others that tell the history of Catalonia in the last 12 centuries.

The building also contains the Episcopal Library, which has about 200 incunables (books printed in the very earliest stages of printing in Europe, before the year 1500) and more than 300 manuscripts, the earliest of which is a parchment scroll dated in the year 882.

Photos by Victòria Rovira Casanovas published in La Mira. Information from Arxiu i Biblioteca Episcopal de Vic and La Mira.

[carabas]

Sorting out Veilguard thoughts. This is very long, I had mixed feelings about Solas's endings and this is me trying to make Solas's actions and motivations make sense to me through quotes and bullet points.

Basic starting principle of the game: Solas is trapped by regret. We left him at the end of Trespasser heading out on the din'anshiral but not exactly enthusiastic about it, he's conflicted, he doesn't want to break the world again but he feels he has to, the whole plot here grows out of that. He tried to save the world and woke up finding he'd created a nightmare hell world a la the Inquisitor's trip to the terrible future version of Redcliffe, and it's his responsibility to fix that.

Specifically, the problems that make this a nightmare hell world:

The Blight's still here!! The whole point was to trap the Blight and yet it's still leaking into the world, his world-saving plan didn't even get that part right, what the fuck.

Mortality. First spirits took bodies which he had mixed feelings about to begin with, and which was the crime against the Titans which ultimately resulted in the Blight which I can't imagine improved his feelings about it - but also now they die, he is personally responsible for generations of people being permanently trapped in bodies which die, he didn't even want a body in the first place. "Your legends are half-right. We were immortal. It was not the arrival of humans that caused us to begin aging. It was me. The Veil took everything from the elves, even themselves."

A world of Tranquil. It's not just how long mortals live, it's the way they live, with no connection to the Fade outside their dreams. "You saw the remains of Vir Dirthara. The library was intrinsically tied to the Fade, and the Veil destroyed it. There were countless other marvels, all dependent on the presence of the Fade, all destroyed." Instead of those marvels, there's a fear and distrust and ignorance of all things Fade - and there are few things that frustrate Solas as much as ignorance - and that fear of the Fade naturally results in the fear of mages, the whole central plot of DA2, the struggle for mage freedom which Solas was vocal about and which was a big factor in his approval in Inquisition.

The effects on the spirits of the Fade, who Solas sees as people when most of the mortal world does not. ...You know what, I'm just going to copy-paste some longer quotes from Inquisition for this one because this is something that wasn't touched on much at all in Veilguard.

Even in Solas's very early-game conversations with the Inquisitor, he tells us exactly how he sees the effects of the Veil on spirits and how the mortal world relates to them:

Inquisitor: I'd like to know more about the Veil.

Solas: Circle mages call it a barrier between this world and the Fade. But according to my studies in ancient elven lore, that is a vast oversimplification. Without it… Imagine if spirits entered freely, if the Fade was not a place one went but a state of nature like the wind.

Inquisitor: It sounds like it would be wonderful.

Solas: And dangerous, but… yes. A world where imagination defines reality, where spirits are as common as trees or grass. Instead, spirits are strange and fearful, and the Fade is a terrifying world touched only by mages and dreamers. I am glad that I am not alone in seeing the beauty of such a world, along with the obvious peril.

And:

Inquisitor: I’d like to know more about demons.

Solas: The Chantry says that demons hate the natural world and seek to bring their chaos and destruction to the living. But such simplistic labels misconstrue their motivations and, in so doing, do all a great disservice. Spirits wish to join the living, and a demon is that wish gone wrong.

Inquisitor: Is there a way to coexist? To live with them, if not in peace, at least without such active confrontation?

Solas: Not in the world we know today. The Veil creates a barrier that makes true understanding most unlikely. But the question is a good one, and it matters that you thought to ask.

And this was the codex entry description of demonic possession in the first two games, as written by a senior enchanter from Ostwick:

Why do demons seek to possess the living? History claims they are malevolent spirits, the first children of the Maker, angry at their creator for turning from them and jealous of those creations he considered superior. They stare across the Veil at the living and do not understand what they see, yet they know they crave it. They desire life, they pull the living across the Veil when they sleep and prey on their psyche with nightmares. Whenever they can, they cross the Veil into our world to possess it outright. We know that any demon will seek to possess a mage, and upon doing so will create an abomination.

And this was Cole's reaction to discovering the history of the Veil in Trespasser:

Cole: The Veil isn’t real. It’s false, fake, fabricated to forbid. Isn’t it wonderful? It means I belong here! Helping, healing the hurt! I’m not a wrong thing, a wreck, a ruin. I’m what I should be!

...We're repeatedly told throughout the series that spirits desire to be with the living and the Veil is preventing that, for good or ill. Rook's team cares about this in terms of the threat of their world being destroyed by a sudden flood of demons, but from Solas's point of view the spirits belonged here to begin with and it's his mistake that makes coexistence impossible.

But at the same time, the first three games were set in the South - Veilguard shows us the Mourn Watch and Rivaini seers who do coexist with spirits, even with the Veil still in place. Other characters are less comfortable with this, but we're not getting anywhere near the same focus on the fear of spirits and mages here that we saw in the South. The game's just... not really interested in discussing this, we're not focusing on these ongoing effects of the Veil right now in this game about Solas trying to bring the Veil down, sure there's the occasional haunting and plenty of demons to fight but we're treating the ability to coexist with spirits as basically a solved problem in northern Thedas. And we've already put the mage rights plotline to rest in Inquisition. We're done, we're moving on, those parts of Solas's motivation are still important in that Solas's attitude toward spirits is important, but focusing on those problems is not a priority right now.

So of Solas's motivations that we saw back in Inquisition, the outlook now... the Blight's a problem, everyone's on the same page about the Blight being a problem, and in the good ending Solas winds up working on that aspect of the problem - but his other motivations, although they may still be problems, do not look as huge and pressing in Veilguard as they did in Inquisition. We've seen cultures where people and spirits coexist even with the Veil in place; mages in the north seem to be doing fine, at least as far as my Nevarran mage Rook's experience goes, and even in the south the treatment of mages is no longer what it was in the first two games; and the wonders of the Fade may be great but there are also dangers, acknowledged by Solas, and if a lot of people would rather keep the dangers out than bring the wonders or the immortality back in... who has the right to decide that for the whole world?

That's become the sticking point here. It's not really about how to solve the ongoing problems created by the Veil... it's whether they're Solas's problems to solve. And there's plenty of reason for him to answer yes to that, he created the problem to begin with and few other living people even have the knowledge that the Veil is unnatural, much less the ability to fix it - but also, let's be real, his attempts at solving problems have had some extremely fucking questionable results thus far.

And the stance this story has taken is: Solas is imprisoned by regret. Whether the Veil should come down or not, the reason Solas specifically has to walk this path is because of regret. And this story's happiest ending that takes the most effort to unlock is trying to release him from the role his regrets have imprisoned him in. (Relevant parallel: Lucanis carrying his mental prison around with him to the point that Spite can't tell they ever left.)

It's not like the whole world has taken a vote and decided that the Veil is good and immortality/wonders/coexistence with the Fade are not worth it. Obviously the player character of Veilguard is firmly in favor of guarding said Veil, but in Trespasser and the Masked Empire, Solas had agents working for him; in Tevinter Nights, Solas's monster wolf form was followed by an army of Valor and Justice spirits; in Veilguard, Solas said he had a host of spirits ready to help when the Veil fell to minimize the loss of life. For all the reasons Solas believed the Veil must come down, there's room to believe there are other characters on both sides of the Veil who also see those as problems and would presumably still be working on those problems, although that's not the focus of this game. And more people know about the origins of the Veil now, the story of the gods and Titans.

Solas tried to share the truth with the Dalish when he first woke up, but it went badly then; we know the truth now. Maybe if Solas were just a wisdom spirit he could even have been satisfied by sharing that history and having the truth be heard without taking the whole fate of the world on himself - but Solas is not just a wisdom spirit, and he has been defined by both wisdom and pride. He took on a role he never wanted because Mythal asked it of him, he so hates when spirits are twisted away from their purpose and his got complicated the moment he first took a body. Having the truth heard isn't nearly enough to fix this situation, and he needs to fix it, it is his responsibility to fix it, he is trapped by his regrets.

Talking with Rook about Elgar'nan...

Solas: Can you see how he and I might frustrate one another?

Rook: The two of you are too much alike. Both of you want to be in charge.

Solas: I have no desire to be "in charge."

Rook: No, you just want to be able to correct anyone who's not doing everything the way you'd've done it.

Solas: (Chuckles) I see you have been observing me as well during these conversations.

...Rook and their team can come up with a very wide variety of opinions on Solas, but that line did seem to amuse Solas, Rook had a point with that one. That is the place where Solas's wisdom meets pride.

Rook: All right, I can see how you and Elgar'nan would hate each other.

Solas: He has always been what I most feared becoming. Callous and uncaring, his arrogance unchecked. To have that much power and no one to remind him that he could be wrong…

Rook: Well, he had you.

Solas: (Chuckles) And I suppose I had you.

Solas was afraid of becoming like Elgar'nan, more pride than wisdom. He could see the possibility of that happening, the same way spirits become demons. And in the final scene, if he's not convinced to turn away from his path and attempts to tear down the Veil, he sounds very much like Elgar'nan. In the trickery version, Rook calls him out on this and Solas argues against it but then he comes out with these extremely Elgar'nan-like lines:

Solas: You think yourself capable of judging me? I have faced things you could not possibly comprehend! You are a mortal! A mortal! And I am a--(Rook interrupts him by shoving him toward his prison, and then Solas 'chuckles bitterly') I am a fool…

Even more so if Rook fights him instead of tricking him, with Solas declaring that compared to you mortals, he is a god - which Solas was pretty emphatic about denying before. And maybe that's what he was starting to say in the trickery version too before he was interrupted, "I am a--" and then he had a moment to realize what he was saying.

He was a spirit originally, and spirits are changeable by beliefs and expectations, and in this game the attempt to tear down the Veil very much does change him, instantly. The game treats him as a spirit who is being twisted away from his purpose by the act of tearing down the Veil. More than that, his purpose has already been twisted for a very long time, he already had regrets about this in those memories of ancient Elvhenan, talking about how at least the Disruption spirits died without being twisted from their purpose. He was wisdom before he was pride.

So if the bad endings are about Solas being twisted away from his nature by the very thing he feels he must do to save the world - the good ending is the opposite. It's about bringing him closer to the spirit he used to be, by finally putting down the thing that has been twisting him up.

In the good ending, Rook tries to talk Solas around even before Lavellan and Mythal join in - Rook doesn't want to see the world go through even more pain on top of what Elgar'nan has done, the world is broken but breaking the world again is the wrong way to make up for the damage Solas has caused, Solas has a chance right now to save the world by saving the Veil - and this argument is actually tempting to Solas! It's not enough, but he does pause, he thinks about it, he's conflicted, he's been conflicted this whole time, he was already wrestling with this back in Inquisition when he had only just woken up and had only seen a little of this new world, he has never wanted to break the world. He believed he had to.

Solas: I cannot. To stop now would dishonor those I have wronged to come this far.

Lavellan: Even if those you've wronged asked you to stop?

Solas: Vhenan…

Lavellan: You think you've gone too far to come back, but you're wrong. I am here, walking the dinan'shiral with you!

Solas: I lied. I betrayed you.

Lavellan: I forgive you! All you have to do is stop.

Solas: Ir abelas, vhenan… But I cannot.

...He actually paused way longer for Rook's argument about breaking the world than for this. He is more emotional with Lavellan, this did affect him, but that wasn't a convincing argument. I lied, I betrayed you - she tells him she's with him and he gives her a list of reasons she shouldn't be, he can't let himself respond to this right now.

Solas: Long before we met, I failed my oldest friend. She died for that failure. If I leave the Veil in place, I am destroying the world she wanted. And I will have… She will have died for nothing.

He believes the Veil is destroying the world Mythal wanted - and they were the firstborn elves, she invited him to take a body, the union of spirits and the mortal world is integral to his memory of her.

Side note here. If Bellara is in your team when you and Solas are traveling together during the endgame, you get this conversation:

Bellara: All I really want to know is why you killed Mythal.

Solas: The Evanuris killed Mythal.

Bellara: Only the first time. The second time, she was in Flemeth's body, and she didn't want you to destroy the world to avenge her… But you killed her. Was it because she was willing to stop, and you weren't?

Solas: That was not Mythal. It was merely a fragment.

Bellara: Right. That you killed.

…He didn't answer her after that. And now, here at the end of the game, "I will have.... She will have died for nothing," the fact that he killed that merely a fragment of Mythal for this is sticking in his mind, and we saw his regret about that moment plastered on the wall of the Lighthouse, and he is imprisoned by that regret - however conflicted he might feel, he was firmly committed to this path the moment he killed Mythal for a second time.

The final straw, the moment he finally gives up his plan, isn't about the fate of the world at all:

Mythal: I pulled you from the Fade you loved and sent you into war. I used your wisdom as a weapon… and it broke you.

Solas: The things that I have done…

Mythal: Are not for you alone to bear, my friend. The many wrongs we did, we did together. I release you from my service.

For this, he is hunched over and small, like she broke him all over again - maybe he had the right idea and breaking something a second time is the way to fix it in his particular case. He was a wisdom spirit before she sent him to war, before he was the Dread Wolf, before he broke the world trying to save it. He has been at war with one thing or another for a very long time.

Here Lavellan says "There is no fate but the love we share," and he doesn't argue with her this time. He can't look at her yet. He makes a fist. He puts a hand to his brow - was Mythal's vallaslin there once? Lowers his head. Looks at the tear in the Veil. Now he finally looks at Lavellan and the other people standing in front of him, not that fragment of Mythal, Mythal is gone. And then he binds himself to the Veil.

He hasn't let go of his past mistakes, that's not what's happening. He's still got regrets. He is letting go of the Dread Wolf, the role that a spirit of wisdom was twisted into.

Solas: With every breath I take, I will protect the innocent from my past failures. The Titans' dreams are mad from their imprisonment. I cannot kill the blight, but I can help to soothe its anger. I will go and seek atonement.

And then he is finally able to respond to Lavellan's love for him, to make this journey together.

[monologuerhead]

Radiohead public library

The idea of the archive is a romantic one: in the age of information technology who can resist the pull of a centralized archive? Not any who has ever followed a trail of hyperlinks through the channels and nooks of Wikipedia. I find myself pulled into the romance of the archive drawn by the hint of knowledge that is just out of reach. The archive is just one way to make sense of the themes that have dominated the 20th century onwards*; cycles of repression, isolation, and capital make themselves clear almost immediately with any sort of sifting into the history of information technology (which is tied inextricably to the history of the archive), but in ways that are difficult to categorize and quantify.

This interest lead me to look into the radiohead public library. In its thoroughness (and their rare willingness to include an archive of their own websites, in the memory hole!) I have been pleasantly surprised to find a reflection of the original memex proposed by Vannevar Bush in his 1945 essay “As We May Think”, a labyrinth of articles linked by the paths of those who have read them before, and open to further linkages as the reader proceeds on. The memex could be seen as the prototype for any website stitched together by hyperlinks, a la wikipedia or the encyclopedia britannica, or more obscurely certain sections of the museum of jurassic technology’s website, and it is through the memex’s associative potential that a nonlinear (even networked) model of the world can be studied for its array of information, displayed for casual consideration, or even used to hypnotize the pursuant into a fictionalized version of events (for example, I still have yet to figure out how close to consensus reality the history of the museum of jurassic tech that is featured on its website. Clicking through the site itself is a trippy experience).

The mind fills the gaps between dream imagery with narrative and the cuts between movie scenes with implication— could the same be true for the spaces between hyperlinks, or even the silence between one tiktok video and the next? What is the meaning that links one thing to another? The Dewey Decimal System incorporates within its classification incredible bias against marginalized groups (thankfully, bias that is, albeit slowly, being addressed) simply in the way that information in the form of published books is sorted into one group or another. Through this sorting information of a slippery kind is introduced into the unwary unconscious. A connection between ‘x marginalized group’ and ‘abnormal psychology’ (DDC 301(dot)4157), has been made in the mind of the pursuant irrationally, and without any supported evidence, anecdotes, or even necessarily logic.

This is an important distinction between these hyperlinked archives and the Borgesian ‘total archive’ introduced in the short story The Library of Babel. The Library of Babel simply presents information at its rawest and most indigestible- disregarding all meaning, all truth, and all direction, the pages of its books contain more or less entire nonsense unless one is willing to use the website to find a specific hex that will repeat to you the phrase that you have asked for. Sure, it contains the summation of all human knowledge (within the english alphabet), but only at infinitesimal odds does one stumble upon meaning within its halls. It is perhaps better (or at least more sensical) if the map is smaller than the territory.

I wonder if in the present day the algorithm is at odds with the old system of hyperlinks. The algorithm approaches with a seemingly benign offer of information and media— arranged on a plate you hardly have to make the connections yourself. It’s far more coherent than the Babelian library, but its system of organization is just as dense and nonsensical (at least to the user, I have no idea what’s going on in the back end. Ping pong tables and swanky apartments in Brooklyn?). The threat within the algorithm is that the connections themselves are unstable and irrational, based and reinforced on the patterns that people already move within, but also directing their movement towards undemocratically controllable goals (I was about to simply say uncontrollable goals, but I realized that yes, there are people behind the algorithm directing it to hit certain metrics of responses or views or emotions or whatever). Being irrational, they’re difficult to rationalize, understand, and either follow further, outside of any given algorithm, or deprogram from the pursuant themself. I’m reminded of Burrough’s cut-up technique that he uses for The Soft Machine and the kind of magical terrorism that he inflicts upon his least favorite cafe. Information will resolve into meaning and meaning will condense into (re)action whether consciously or unconsciously. Even the space within paragraphs, even sentences, requires a willingness to find associative potential.

And so here I am back to my romantic archive, (let’s pretend wikipedia) where I can pretend to see within the spaces between a kind of orderly, genteel meaning, where I the pursuant can follow my own heart down the isles, tracing my own steps in a trail of purple hyperlinks. Or if I’m in the depths of the past twenty-five years of archived radiohead websites, I can find a surreal landscape where I can only partially direct my path through lyrics and images both familiar and unfamiliar; things that pertain to the year that the site was archived and things that did not reappear until much, much later (burn the witch). Still, despite all its surrealism, meaning surfaces like the white whale, and the ship goes down with its hunt.

Anyway, I wrote this all on a whim. I like to pretend to be 45 years old. I like radiohead.

*I’d be very open to extending this date further back but unfortunately I haven’t found a whole lot of material that goes further than that— or maybe I’m just not that interested in anything much older

[scotianostra]

On August 14th 1827 the foundation was laid of George IV Bridge, Edinburgh.

Only the name of the bridge gives away that there is actually one long crossing along this stretch of Edinburgh, the build up of housing etc covers most of the structure nowadays.

Measuring 300 metres in length, the bridge was constructed, after money ran out for the project, between 1829 and 1832 as part of the Improvement Act of 1827, it was designed by architect Thomas Hamilton.

The bridge crosses the historic Cowgate, alongside the National Library of Scotland and opposite the Edinburgh Central Library, both constructed with money provided by the subject of yesterday's post, philanthropist Andrew Carnegie.

Along the bridge, which runs from Lawnmarket, on The Royal Mile, to Forrest Road, are la number of bars and restaurants and takeaways, as well as the Wallace College, Augustine United Church, and the old Martyrs Church, which is now Frankenstein's Bar. Of course the main point of interest for many a local and tourist alike is the wee statue of Greyfriars Bobby on the south of the street with its junction of Candlemaker Row..

The first pic gives you an idea how the bridge and the surrounding area was fromed, it shows what was Melbourne Place and Victoria Terrace, to the left is the North end of the bridge, India Buildings, built in 1864 occupies the space, Victoria Street was formed leading down to the Grassmarket, joining onto EWest Bow and what was part of The Old Town. mUch of India Buildings is now a hotel, archeological digs went on before the new parts were built on, check the link to see how it went and what they found. at the link below. The second pic shows the only real part of the bridge looking west, visible today. https://www.aocarchaeology.com/news/article/india-buildings

[k-hippie]

CHAMPIGNAC ... FEW LAST DETAILS :)

And of course, we have some mistakes in the links and in the cc content we are currently correcting ... What is a good Sims 3 World without a little headache ? :D And because we love difficulties, we are currently updating our own website ( which is a mess ) ... What else ? Nothing, everything is fine under the sun of this hot summer :D

The General Hospital is a Maxis one, but from Riverview. @nornities ( thanks A LOT for his/her patience to check Champignac ) pointed to us different things : missing mostly. so, somes of you may not see the Hospital ( Hopital des Bleuets ) in their game.

Bad links are currently corrected and both CC sims3packs folder and CC packages folder updated to include few missing stuff, including the Fresco Market items and the Skylight Studio roof elements we used + the Riverview Hospital :) HERE

The Open Swimming pool ( Champignac Bains Romains ) has lost its border texture ... don't worry : just replace with a one you like :)

The School is not the good one : too many missing stuff there, so we are currently uploading a new Champignac save game which should correct the little mistakes here and there HERE

Our Carpets Rabbit Holes folder had to be updated to get the Bistro RH : it is currently done ! But, you have to re-download the Rabbit Holes HERE

Our apologizes for this ! Really ... Anyway, we'll upload in the next hours a folder with ALL Community Lots and another one with ALL the residential Lots :) Just in case ... And here the 2 listings :

CHAMPIGNAC COMMUNITY LOTS

Small Park : Monticule funéraire oublié - Colline des Celtes Small Park : Petit Fleuriste Small Park : La Vieille Tour no1 Small Park : La Vieille Tour no2 Small Park : Place Olivier Magnolia Horse Training Grounds : Elevage Pégase Junkyard : Neo Casse Stadium : Football Club Fire Station : Pompiers Volants Pool : Piscine Municipale Pool : Bains Romains de Champignac Diner : Brasserie du Cercle Gym : Gymnase Club Visitor Allowed : Boulangerie DeNimes Elixir Shop : Boutique d’élixirs : Elixirs et Reliques Theatre : Théâtre & Opéra Cemetary : Cimetière Civil Hospital : Hôpital des Bleuets Bookstore : Le Kiosque no5 Library : Bibliothèque V. Hugo Café : Café Catane Military Base : Bureau des Armées Police Station : Police Municipale Grocery Store : Epicerie des Halles Market : Marché Bio City Hall : Nouvelle Mairie Art Gallery: Villa Medicis Fishing Spot : Lac des Collines Criminal Hideout : Cyber Crime Beach : La Petite Plage Gypsy Wagon : Oeil d’Irma Science Lab : Bio Sciences Supernatural Hangout : Taverne du Nain Business & Journalism : Centre d’Affaires Consignment Store : Boutique & Brocante Bistro : Bistro Gastronomie Nectary : Le Monastère School : Ecole Municipale Vampire Bar & Cocktail : Midnight Lounge

CHAMPIGNAC RESIDENTIAL LOTS

Maison Familiale : 1 double bed + 2 single bed Maison Bleu Indigo : 1 double bed Maison des Pensées : 2 double bed + 2 single bed Maison des Prés : 3 double bed + 1 single bed Maison Ensoleillée : 1 double bed + 1 single bed Maison des Colocs : 2 double bed Maison Élégante : 2 double bed + 2 single bed Maison Tournesol : 1 double bed + 1 single bed Maison Biscornue : 2 double bed + 1 single bed Maison des Haies : 1 double bed + 2 single bed Maison Neo Rustique : 1 double bed + 1 single bed Maison du Mardi : 1 double bed + 1 single bed Maison du Chanoine : 1 double bed + 1 single bed Maison de la Vieille Tour de Garde : 1 double bed Maison des Gardiens : 1 double bed + 1 single bed Maison des Roses : 1 double bed + 2 single bed Maison des Chardons : 1 double bed + 1 single bed Maison Nénuphars : 1 double bed + 1 single bed Maison du Bonjour : 1 double bed Maison en Coin : 1 double bed + 1 single bed Maison du Thym : 1 double bed + 2 single bed Maison Fougères : 1 double bed + 2 single bed Maison des Collines : 1 double bed + 1 single bed Maison du Coquelicot : 2 double bed Maison du Ginkgo : 1 double bed + 1 single bed Manoir Central : 2 double bed + 2 single bed Manoir Chapelle : 1 double bed + 1 single bed Mas des Vignes : 1 double bed + 1 single bed Ferme des Tortues : 2 double bed + 2 single bed Ancien Lavoir : 1 double bed + 2 single bed Ancienne Ferme : 1 double bed Intro de Qualité : 1 single bed Le Camp des Hippies : 1 double bed Le Bosquet de Gardenias : 1 double bed Champignac Starter no1 : 1 single bed Champignac Starter no2 : 1 single bed

We have carefully furnished all the houses of Champignac to avoid half empty houses when visiting your Sims friends in town but not too much to avoid useless weight ;)

Do you know the origin of the name Champignac ?

We'll ... Champignac is a village from Spirou & Fantasio which is one of the most popular classic Franco-Belgian comics. The series, which has been running since 1938, shares many characteristics with other European humorous adventure comics like The Adventures of Tintin and Asterix. It has been written and drawn by a succession of artists ... Spirou and Fantasio are the series' main characters, two adventurous journalists who run into fantastic adventures, aided by Spirou's pet squirrel Spip, the Marsipulami, and their inventor friend the Count of Champignac ... :D

Once again, sorry for the inconvenient. All files should be ok now, and oh ! one last detail ... Have Fun ! \o/

Blackgryffin

[girlfriendsofthegalaxy]

tuesday again 1/23/2024

listen i got my last job through one of youse on here so weirder things have happened: i got fired bc the nonprofit wasn’t doing so hot. let me know if you have a weird data/database or market/tech research job. i promise my worksona is so so so nice and pleasant to work with. remote only, looking more in the $75k range but can be a bit flexible if it’s a cool enough job, i am in the central time zone of the USA and will not need sponsorship anywhere but DO need the cadillac of healthcare and dental plans. portfolio, publication list, and linkedin with my government name available on request!

listening

both of these are from my sister! this is another FULL ALBUM rec (good lord). The Offline’s album La couleur de la mer is a soundtrack to a movie that doesn’t exist, inspired by his long walks in the fog on the French Atlantic coast. a little spacey, a little soul, very sixties/seventies neonoir. i am quite fond of the very first track, Thème de la couleur de la mer.

she’s also sent me a bunch of tiktoks with Perfect (Exceeder) by Mason and Princess Superstar. hell of a goddamn music video for this thing. mid-aughts clubbing music at its finest. stopped me from dissolving into a puddle of emotions on the way to and from the vet today bc it’s too goddamn bouncy to be sad around

reading

im reading a trilogy i want to discuss as a whole whenever the third one comes through as a library hold, and a book by a friend. i do not typically talk about books or fics by friends here bc none of them have ever asked for critique, and i dont want to play favorites or inadvertently miss someone’s work. so here’s a story about porn on Wikimedia, which is the kind of database drama and technical arguments that fascinate me.

given the number of articles from 404 Media i shout about here and elsewhere i really should sign up for their $5/mo subscription tier when i have a steady income again

watching

somehow missed Star Wars Visions 2, their second anthology of weird little shorts. i was not super impressed by the overall storytelling this time around, but it was fun to see them reach out to more global studios and see a wider range of styles. there’s some goddamn incredible stop motion in here.

i particularly enjoyed Journey to the Dark Head, which not only has some interesting fringe Force believers and beliefs but has one of the sickest anime bullshit lightsaber fights in this season. this one is by Studio Mir, most known for the Legend of Korra.

also really liked The Spy Dancer by Studio La Cachette, partly bc it’s incredibly beautiful and i like when Star Wars leans into art nouveau, and partly bc it felt the most like a complete short story. emotional arc and everything! strong beginning middle and end! this IS a really low bar, but a lot of the shorts this season did not have a coherent little story to tell or a strong emotional arc, or fumbled their arc partway through, and were just kind of vibes and animation showcases? nothing necessarily wrong with that, also how i felt about most of the last collection. my expectations are underground for any Star Wars media.

playing

as is tradition i dithered about this section the most. this is more of a What’s Next? planning ramble.

the laptop gets shipped back to my old job today so i will no longer have a working modern computer. i have to dig the switch out and see what’s up. maybe start a whole new run in breath of the wild or whatever the last pokemon game was. i think i also have the sword boyfriend game everyone was up in arms about two years ago? and i think i am somehow part of a switch family plan that lets me have some older games?

this section may look very different in the next ??? amount of time until i get a company laptop again. or finally replace the motherboard on my personal desktop but that sat in my car for several weeks during the heat wave this summer while i did not have an apartment and i am really REALLY afraid to open that box.

oh the free epic game this week is a platformer, a genre i have historically not cared about. godspeed to those of you who do

making

soup bc aldi had alphabet pasta and that jolted me out of myself for long enough i was briefly convinced making alphabet pasta soup would fix me. so i found this recipe while in aldi. despite this not being a very good soup or a very good recipe, i feel a little triumphant bc i now know enough to brown the tomato paste before putting it in the soup. unfortunately i overcooked the pasta. there’s kind of a lot of texture happening here, and i wish i had chopped things finer, but i will probably steal my best friend’s blender tomorrow and blitz some of it down.

it’s edible. im going to eat it all. it will not be going in the rotation

[annislittleshopofhorrors]

You’re so smart to pick up that detail that Jamie and Bryan appeared to change their Halloween costumes at the last minute…

And then they got a people article written about them…😂 not at all planned to give them more publicity. Not at all. The most hilarious part about all this is that this party wasn’t a Hollywood party was it? It wasn’t in LA and it wasn’t a white party in the Hamptons either.

Also Bryan getting a Hollywood reporter spread for him and his directorial debut (it was either Hollywood reporter or variety or something similar, but the outlet was the same as some other people who attended a wedding and had things to promote and movies that were coming out…)

Also…Jamie and Bryan showed up to the LA premiere for Lightyear…did anyone else notice that?

They really started showing up as “friends” heavy into 2022 and onwards. Interesting how that was also around the time the rumors were really starting to take traction. And Jamie and Bryan with IG follows the day of the Central Park debut.

I’m very glad you keep your library updated. People can choose to ignore things when they want to push a narrative. But it’s all right there in the open for you, folks.

😉

I remember Jamie showed up to the LA premiere (I remember that because I didn't like her outfit). But I couldn't find Bryan.

And thanks for the reminder, I should update the timeline 😂

[norwegianfantasia]

How to support international stories coming out in English!

I've seen many English speakers ask when they see something not out in their language commenting "Will it ever come out in English?" "[…] Can't wait for for it to be available in English :) I bet it will be a success! 🎉" "I'm having a hard time finding these in English - are they available anywhere?" "I hope your books comes to the US! Looks cool!" "I've heard great things about your book! Is it translated to English? I was having trouble finding it, but I'd be interested in reading it ^_^"

Well, on their website Seven Seas Entertainment has a monthly survey where you can send in stories, this is seemingly the easiest way although you can only usually send in 4* a month/survey (which I won't link directly to as they are monthly and we are already at the end of April and I don't know when May's will show up, so just scroll down to it). So it can take a while, and preferably no repeats, so have a list you can check off those you have already requested. You can also ask people you know to fill it, or borrow their devices, maybe even use the computers at the library, airport, school, etc. You can also send in all the ones you are interested in to Dark Horse Comics for example, but in my experience are the ones replying to this email address on their Instagram account: contestATdarkhorseDOTcom to be much nicer although they don't really reply if they are considering the suggestions or not, nor do they appear to take regular novels which is a bummer.

There's also OniPress which are going to publish Snøkattprinsen, and Arctis who has published Ravneringene, and while claiming to bring the best from all over the world to the US have they mostly taken from their German branch's library (and seem to be mostly taking novels only, but you can try convincing them to broaden their horizons). There's Yen Press, which seems to be going pretty international or at the very least East Asian, as well as Scholastic and Penguin although the latter two might not take much comics/graphic novels compared to the comic and art book exclusive Dark Horse. Apparently these prefer suggestions done by tweeting at them, so this depends on you wanting to use twitter or not. But I'd avoid DC and Marvel as then the stories might have to become part of their established universes which might be difficult for the creators, and honestly unnecessary. There's also Tokyopop that was revived in English recently with Disney and GL&BL stuff, but with their history, do I not know if I want to trust them... Especially since they are proudly showing off the stories which rights they stole from their original underpaid creators...

Whichever you decide to go for, do I personally recommend pasting the urls from the links below or write them as "[story] by [author]" to make them easier for them to find, they are only human after all.

Picture from Alena Pons' Instagram

Want an inclusive story about a magical school that isn't written by a recist TERF? Or perhaps a comedy about monster children attending school and their shenanigans? Or about a non-binary ash elf and their dragon friend? Or about how a prophecy ruins the lives of the chosen ones as they have no choice how to live their lives? Then we have stories for you!

Arkin - Lysets Vokter 🗨️♿

Asynja📖

Born from Death 🗨️♿

El príncipe de la calamidad📖🗨️

Dinokid 🗨️🏳️‍🌈🖤

Dragens Øye🗨️♿🏳️‍🌈🤍

Donde los Árboles Cantan 📖

Krypto 🗨️🖤

Gryphoon 🗨️♿

Leyendas de Parva Terra🗨️

Mia Myhr og barna som forsvant 🗨️

MiniMonsters 🗨️♿

Mørkalven 🗨️♿

Mystical📖

Nidur🗨️

Nordlys 🗨️♿🖤

Oppfinneren 🗨️♿🖤

Phenomena 📖♿🤍🏳️‍🌈

Ragnarok 🗨️♿🤍

Royalty Witches📖🏳️‍🌈❤️

Strawberry Moon 📖❤️♿

Underbyen 🗨️

Under Regnbuen 🗨️🤍🏳️‍🌈

Urara🗨️♿

The Urban Legend 🗨️**

Valhalla🗨️♿

Ville Poter 🗨️♿

보지도 못하고 듣지도 못해도 사랑해🗨️❤️♿

외발로 살다🗨️🤍♿

Legend: 🗨️=comic/graphic novel, 📖=novel, 🏳️‍🌈=lgbtqia+ characters***, ❤️=romance is a central theme, 🤍=some romance but not the focus, 🖤=no romance what so ever, ♿=disabled character(s) in a good light (counts by @cannondisabledcharacters rules), (some may change the more I read or as the story continues).

Art by @cha-c-san

That thing from that country vs just another movie

So since 2012 has Innovasjon Norge where they gave money to fund an animation movie by a little unknown animation company known as Disney over a Norwegian series, that have continued doing that. So Norway's top 3 ways of making money are:

Oil

Tourism

Salmon

So because of the environment, they want to phase out the oil and find ✨𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔫𝔢𝔴 𝔬𝔦𝔩™✨. So first they tried increasing the salmon "farming", which led to fleas and birth defects. After the seemingly huge success of Frozen, they funded the side stuff and the sequel. Then they funded a Mission Impossible movie, to have a scene on Preikestolen, the scene was so brief and didn't really add anything to the movie so they had to beg so it wasn't cut. Then in one of the latest James Bond movies they funded it to pretend that a Norwegian mountain is in India. So why do they fund so many American productions? Well, to put it simply, tourism. If they sneak in a little of Norway into these, they hope people will want to go to Norway.

But not everyone watching know that Arendelle is based on Norway, and it goes over to being just another Disney movie doesn't it? The clip of Prekestolen, I haven't heard anyone mention that scene as standing out, honestly, I haven't heard anyone talking about that movie. The James Bond movie, they are told that beautiful mountain is in India, India has many beautiful mountains, but pretending that mountain is in India in-movie will increase tourism there, disappointed when they don't find it. So unless you read interviews or the credits closely, you probably wouldn't know that you were lied to. And if hopefully the pandemic taught them anything, do not rely on tourism too much!

So after a while they just become another movie among many others. But if they support a Norwegian story making it as big as they deserve, it'd be remembered among people as "that Norwegian thing" wouldn't it? This is why I want to support stories not only from my home country but also from others. Among the ✨𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔫𝔢𝔴 𝔬𝔦𝔩™✨ they've tried is timber, which Sweden is known for, and like oil, is finite. There's no end in creative people, and they deserve support. Here they get only 10% of what they poored their soul into while the publisher last time I checked get 70%. This the result of a print shop strike where as they only got 5%, where the boss took 90% of that and the actual workers got the remains. I don't blame the print shop workers, they deserved more. But that the publisher snuck in and took the hugest percentage, is just BS as they do the least (here at least, most authors have to advertise in their own free time themselves).

Vegetarian vampires done right, comic by David Ramírez

* This April one asked for at least 1 Manga from Japan exclusively, 2 Manga/Graphic novels/Comics from wherever, At least 1 light novel from Japan exclusively, and 2 any kind of novel from wherever. [edited in April: they want 1 manga from the 90s or older] [edited in by the end of January as they were asking for these specific genres then] For the manga and light novels from Japan: 1 fantasy/isekai manga and 1 light novel 🐉, 1 of each with lgbtqia+ topics, 1 of each with comedy🤣, romance, or drama🎭, 1oe action⚔️, horror👻, or supernaturalψ, 1oe with fanservice, smut, and stuff like that, 1oe from the 90s or older💾, 2oe Chinese (or Taiwanese or any other country they publish stories in Chinese probably), 1oe Korean 🇰🇷 (the two on the bottom of the previous list are Korean, will add some novels here), 1 Hiveworks Comic, 1 International web comic (will add some below the Korean novels), and 1oe international comic/graphic novel and novel.

If you don't read much manga but want to suggest any do I recommend (these have no "fan service") 五色の舟🗨️📖♿🏳️‍🌈🐉 (Goshiki no Fune , about a found family of Japanese disabled people during WW2 as they try to survive, none of the opposing forces are demonized and just they trying to live their lives), I S―男でも女でもない性🗨️♿🏳️‍🌈❤️ (IS - Otoko Demo Onna Demo Nai Sei, about different intersex people and their lives), 斉木楠雄のΨ難 (Saiki Kusuo no PSI Nan/The Disastrous Life of Saiki K. 🗨️♿🤍🤣ψ A comedy about a seemingly aroace guy with supernatural powers he takes all too seriously), 放浪息子🗨️🏳️‍🌈❤️ (Hourou Musuko, about trans children and their lives, not perfect but also sweet, had an English translation that was sadly dropped due to lack of sales), Ballad of a Shinigami 📖🤍♿ψ (one of the first light novels Seven Seas published, but was cancelled as it was in the years light novels and visual novels weren't taken as seriously in the west, hopefully we can uncancel it), もののけ草紙🗨️🤍♿👻 (Mononoke Soushi , well, it has some nudity but not pervy nudity. It's about a young girl Tenome growing up right before WW2 and as an adult during the war, it's a love craftian inspired horror manga with Japanese folklore and she's really badass, and even if you are a coward like me is the art, story, and characters stronger than the horror so you'd probably like it,

＋アニマ🗨️🤍♿🐉(+Anima, a darkly cute series about children gaining animal powers, was officially in English once, but deserves more love again), Luck Stealer 📖⚔️🤍♿ψ by Hajime Kazu (story about an assassin taking lives by stealing their luck by coming near them, really satisfying and badass and understandable why he does it. There's one annoying character shoehorned in by an editor it feels like, but he doesn't appear much fortunately), 心霊探偵八雲📖🤍♿ψ (Shinrei Tantei Yakumo, a mystery series about a guy who can see ghosts, can get really dark), and finally 恋の神様 古味直志短編集🗨️❤️🤍🖤ψ🐉🤣 (Koi no Kamisama, a collection of Komi Naoshi one-shots before he went mainstream with Nisekoi, a collection of weird and kind of psychological one-shots that are a lot of fun within few pages). P.A. (プライベートアクトレス) ❤️💾♿🗨️🎭 about a "private actress", pretending to be people's lover, daughter, themselves, whatever is needed, seeing her act and grow as a person, not perfect and shows it age some places but mostly surprisingly accepting. アノニマス🤍🗨️🎭 (Anonymous, about some Japanese teens from the 20s, raised without names or purpose other than to follow orders, but they meet some other teens they to their surprise befriend and so they decide to live for themselves). 周刊少年Girl 🗨️🤣🤍ψ(Weekly Shounen Girl, an absurd and wacky manga that takes full use of it's medium, it's amazing). スミレ♡16歳!! 🗨️🤣(Sumire♡16 years old!! Weird manga about a puppet attending school and somehow getting friends. Oddly sweet).

These don't quite follow the rules but are 💾: F. Compo (weird trans manga from the 90s, a cis man's desperate attempt at being "accepting", interesting to look back at), クロノクルセイド(Chrono Crusade, has some unnecessary fan service but is still my favourite manga. Is about a nun and a demon hunting demons in USA in the 1920s), ストップ!! ひばりくん! (Stop!! Hibari-kun! I remember some problematic moments, but a impressively progressive trans manga from the 80s!).

The promised Korean novels:레지나레나 - 용서받지 못한 그대에게 📖❤️♿(Regina Rena: To the Unforgiven, has a webtoon on... Webtoon and a region locked translation of the novel), 필리아로제 - 가시왕관의 예언🗨️🤍♿(Philia Rosé: The Prophecy of the Crown of Thorns, the WebToon is translated but not the novel), 마땅한 살인📖🤍♿⚔️ (Justified Murder, novel about a doctor forced to kill the father of a patient in self defense when he doesn't want her to tell authorities that he abused the patient. Her cop husband helps her dispose of the body by drawing a lipstick heart on him, the signature of a serial killer only going after the worst, it works a little too well as the killer contacts her and recruits her as the killer is actually a group). International webcomics/WebToons (those i do not know where are from don't have flags, some are already in English): City Vamps 🇪🇸, Heartblood🇫🇮, I Want to Be A Cute Anime Girl, Born From Death 🇮🇩, @XXIII, Angel's Quest 🇪🇸, Watermelon 🇸🇦, Seed 🇹🇷 (I think), Love Advice From the Great Duke of Hell 🇨🇭, The Witch and the Bull 🇹🇼, Project Novos 🇦🇹, The World Where I Belong 🇹🇭(I think), and more. Remember that the ones further up are the ones struggling to come out in English.

** Self published, but has been looking for an official publisher forever according to interviews.

*** a work not marked with this still could have some later, is not clear enough, I haven't read enough yet to know, or I haven't asked the author. But even if one seemingly does not have any does it not mean that the author is phobic or not part of the lgbtqia+ themselves, and as far as I know, no one on this list are phobic as far as I've checked.

Feel free to reblog with stories from different countries that aren't translated into English. The ones I suggest here are in languages that I understand or have accessed by other means. Also, many thanks to @godteri-takk for encouraging me and @ittibittium for making this post (which is very much have been the reason the series came out look at slide 2) and inspiring me. If you have any questions about the stories I've included here, feel free to ask ^^. If you wonder why I didn't link to Phenomena, Mørkalven, Under Regnbuen, The Urban Legend, and Underbyen on the booksfromnorway website is it that they're simply not there, the publisher haven't added them. I'd also link to Norway Comics more often as the website looks good, but haven't been updated in about 2 years, maybe they started to give up? I don't know. Thank you for your time and hopefully we can give more than a few authors a cool gift before the end of the year.

[chicanoartmovement]

CHICANO ART MOVEMENT visits: Downtown LA Central Library 2024

(View of entrance to “East Los Streetscapers: Hacia Al Norte at Downtown Los Angeles Public Library Central branch)

We traveled to Los Angeles Public Library Downtown Central location to view the vintage “Hacia Al Norte” mural on exhibition created by the East Los Streetscapers: David Botello, Wayne Healy, and Rich Raya.

(Video view of “Hacia Al Norte” mural)

We read that “‘Hacia Al Norte’ which translates roughly to Northward was commissioned in 1991 by The Outdoor Recreation Group, better known now as Outdoor Products, a manufacturer of backpacks and other hiking gear founded in Los Angeles in the 1970's by the Altshule Family.”

(Detailed view of “Hacia Al Norte” mural)

“In planning the mural, the East Los Streetscapers [Botello, Healy, and Raya] met with company employees about what themes they'd like to see in the mural. Learning that many of the employees were recent immigrants, or the children of immigrants, the artists aimed to capture the spirit of the journey to California.”

(Drafting for the “Hacia Al Norte” mural)

Elements of the “Hacia Al Norte” display that intrigued us were the historical background and the insight to planning processes by the East Los Streetscapers of brining this creation to fruition. 

The archive included photographs, letters, artistic sketches & renderings, mural execution plans, and other research materials such as: an internal diversity census of the employees and their cultural backgrounds for inspiration.

(View of rotunda entrance to “Layered Lands” exhibit)

Adjacent to “Hacia Al Norte” was “Layered Lands: Synchronous Stories of Greater Los Angeles” curated by Marissa López, UCLA professor & first scholar-in-residence at the LAPL. The exhibit is a historical timeline focusing on “three significant Los Angeles movements: when it was ruled by Spain, governed by Mexico, and as it transitioned to US rule.”

(Detailed view “Land of Sunshine” periodical)

Via their mission statement: “In this exhibition we try to capture the networked layers of story that comprise our city, to give a sense of the land’s movement through various colonial and national frames. We represent these moments primarily with material from the collections of UCLA and the Los Angeles Public Library, two public institutions with a shared mission of collecting and preserving the city’s cultural heritage and making it accessible to all.”

(View of Dean Cornwell rotunda murals at LosAnges Public Central Library)

At the top of the L.W. Cook Rotunda, we look at the massive murals by Dean Cornwell depicting historical California scenes. The pieces are painted in oils on linen canvas and each are forty feet wide.

(View of selected titles of the Los Angeles Public Library Central location)

Within the art history book collection, we found some interesting titles that deserve a proper read: (top to bottom)  “Estampas de la Raza: Contemporary Prints from the Romo Collection”

“¡Printing the Revolution! The Rise and Impact of Chicano Graphics, 1965 to Now”

“Moonlight Theater: Prints and Related Works by Carlos Almaraz”

[slugspoon]

hi all in the OC/LA area!

tomorrow i will be tabling at OC zine fest at anaheim central library; hope to see you there!

[frannyzooey]

Kelly!! I’m going to NY for an extended work trip and my mind is SPINNING thinking about walking around the same places birdie and ez are, the nyc magic, feeling the love in the springtime air 🥹 I can’t remember but do you have a post sharing all the locations you mentioned or thought of while writing? Would love to walk in their footsteps 💕

omgomgomgomg — you are living my DREAM 😍 I’ve often daydreamed about going back and taking a sort of “In The Dark” tour

Here is the official In The Dark Guide:

Chapter One:

NYU (Cee and Birdie's college)

The Guggenheim (Birdie's dream museum)

The Bean (the coffeeshop where Birdie and Cee eat lunch together for the first time)

Chelsea (the neighborhood Ezra's brownstone is in)

Chapter Four:

Chelsea Farmer’s Market

Strand Books (bookstore where Ezra corners Birdie)

Chapter Five:

Brighton Beach (neighborhood where Ezra scouts antiques)

Tribeca, Greenwich Village, West Harlem, Midtown (all neighborhoods)

Chapter Six:

Sofreh (Persian restaurant where Ezra celebrates his birthday, and drinks their signature cocktail: a Sekanjabin Martini)

Breads Bakery (French lunch stand in Bryant Park)

Chapter Seven:

The Library (punk bar in East Village)

Chapter Eight:

Central Park, the section along 59th and 6th, The Museum of Modern Art and La Bonne Soup (Ezra and Birdie's date weekend)

Chapter Nine:

The New York Public Library, East Wing (where Cee hides after finding out)

Chapter Ten:

The Museum of Modern Art (specifically the painting, The Dream by Henri Rousseau, which is actually also Pedro's favorite and he used to visit it a lot when he lived in NYC). Inside the museum, there is a section of windows that face a courtyard and that was where Ezra was pacing during his phone call with Birdie.

Chapter Eleven:

Hudson River Park, between 100th-125th St (cherry blossom lined paths where Ezra and Birdie walk)

The High Line (they also take walks here, you should def check this out)

Chapter Twelve:

NoMo SoHo (hotel where Ezra and Birdie spend their last night - it's gorgeous)

I think that's everything! A lot of the inspiration for this story came from just walking around the city with @krissology - the graffiti, the sounds, the endless streams of people, the architecture, the train, etc. A lot of the photos I used in my moodboards for this story were taken directly from my camera roll. ❤

If you end up going to any of these places, let me know!! I wish I could come with you and I hope you have a ton of fun! ❤