YouTube link.

This is a true color movie, not a "colorized" one.

This wonderful film was made in 1927 by Claude Friese-Greene. Colour film from the 1920s is exceptionally rare, and this is a very powerful example... The Cenotaph sequence from around 3:37 to 3:54 is very poignant. This was filmed only nine years after the end of the Great War. The women and looking at the wreaths would very likely be wives and mothers of the men killed, and the Second World War was, at that time, inconceivable.

Claude Friese-Greene was the son of pioneering cinematographer William Friese-Greene, and devoted himself to developing commercially his father’s colour process – Biocolour – but without great success. It was soon overtaken by Technicolor and Claude abandoned the process. His role as a pioneer of colour film has now been recognised.

Some aspects of London have changed a lot in 80+ years; others have changed very little.

http://www.howtobearetronaut.com/2010/02/stunning-colour-film-of-1920s-london/.

The objects above are remarkably ornate baby rattles/ teething toys, as crafted by a master silversmith.  They are attributed to Nicholas Roosevelt, an 18th-century American craftsman, and are now part of the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

This rare and precious gold toy, with its elaborate chased and repoussé ornament, might have been given as a lavish christening gift. It consists of a whistle, a piece of teething coral, six of the original eight bells, and a loop to hang a toy on a ribbon around the child's neck. Aside from being a teething device, the coral in the whistle and bells was thought to ward off enchantment and disease.

One can't help but wonder if creations such as this had some influence on the development of the idiom "bells and whistles" to describe supplementary showy functions.

Link, via Titam et le Sirop d'Érable.

The British Library has announced that the Klencke Atlas will have its first-ever public showing this summer as part of a map exhibition.

It is almost absurdly huge – 1.75 metres (5ft) tall and 1.9 metres (6ft) wide – and was given to [Charles II] by Dutch merchants and placed in his cabinet of curiosities.

At the time of its creation, it was intended as "an encyclopaedic summary of the world."

Link.  Previously on Neatorama:  The [other] Largest Book in the World

A variety of birds may use their crests and protruberant feathers to feel their surroundings.  Studies were conducted on auklets, who breed in dark, rocky crevices.

The researchers placed individual auklets into a dark experimental maze, designed to resemble a natural crevice, and recorded how often they bumped into things.  Both crested and whiskered auklets bumped their heads 2.5 times more often if their feathers on their heads had been artificially flattened.

When the ornithologists then compared the lifestyles of birds with their feather patterns, they found that "Birds that live in complex, cluttered habitats and are active at night tend to have a greater probability to express such facial feathers."

Cat owners will not be surprised by this news, since whiskers serve an equivalent purpose.

Coincidentally, this week National Geographic is reporting the existence of a tentacled snake whose head appendages are used to find prey in murky lakes at night.

Link.

A patent has been issued for this device, which would conserve space in burial grounds.  The inventor even envisions a transparent variety:

“A clear plastic Easy Inter Burial Container, where the body is additionally encased in clear resin and is standing erect for all to view during installation, creates a very impressive image.”

The screwing-into-the-ground would be performed either by humans or by an adaptation on a tractor backhoe.

Link, via.

AbeBooks asked their booksellers to reveal what items they have found inside the books that pass through their hands.  They reported many instances of discovering credit cards and banknotes, including this heartbreaker:

“A wealthy, elderly woman in my town died a few years ago and left a large book collection with many fine books, much of which wound up in my inventory. The remaining books went to a local thrift shop, including a microwave cookbook which, as it turned out, contained 40 $1000 bills. The book was purchased by someone from out of town who was idling away the time waiting for her ride. She took the money to a local bank to verify its authenticity and that was how we heard about it. She didn't give a cent back to the thrift shop, either. A deeply frustrating experience for many, I can assure you.”

Other items have both monetary and historic value:

“Inside a volume, one of eight bought at a local garage sale, I found a charming child's Christmas card with the inscription "Merry Christmas to Harry from .....(fairly illegible). About two years later while trying to decipher the signature, the name suddenly revealed itself...."from Frank Baum."

Other dealers have found items such as a Mickey Mantle rookie baseball card, a golf scorecard signed by Don Drysdale and Sandy Koufax, a diamond ring, and a variety of other odd and unusual items, including the inevitable... strip of bacon.

Perhaps most impressive is this report from Bookride:

Eight relief hand-coloured etchings [by William Blake] discovered by a book collector between the pages of an international rail timetable bought in the late seventies from a ‘North London book dealer’, and recently acquired by the Tate for £441,000. Apparently, the reason suggested as to why the dealer hadn’t bothered to check through the huge timetable before putting it out for sale was because it was so ‘ boring'.

What have you found?  Or what have you lost?  Do you use something odd as a bookmark?

Links to AbeBooks' list and the Bookride report.

YouTube link.

In the storage facilities of the Walker Art Center the process is facilitated by labeling the art as such:  "Do Not Open! Box Is Art."

One presumes that the trash is not labeled.

Via Artist Survival Skills.

YouTube link.

Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel is a classic children's story first published in 1939.  In this video the illustrations come from the classic text, but the text of the story has been modified slightly by the narrator (who is NOT Werner Herzog).

Via The Presurfer.

The context of the photo is explained at the White House's Flickr photostream:

June 6, 2009
“After his speech in Normandy, a crush of people tried to get close to the President to shake his hand. I noticed this guy waiting patiently and then literally being pushed back into the crowd. I felt bad for him, and mentioned the incident to the President’s trip director, Marvin Nicholson. Marvin pulled the guy out of the crowd, found him a wheel chair, and brought him over to meet the President. He was a French veteran. The man’s face shows his emotion.”

Official White House photo by Pete Souza, via Reddit.

YouTube link.

Murray Hill Incorporated has just announced its intention to run for Congress in Maryland's 8th Congressional District.

Murray Hill Inc. is believed to be the first “corporate person” to exercise its constitutional right to run for office. As Supreme Court observer Lyle Denniston wrote in his SCOTUSblog, “If anything, the decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission conferred new dignity on corporate “persons,” treating them — under the First Amendment free-speech clause — as the equal of human beings.”

Murray Hill Inc. plans on spending “top dollar” to protect its investment. “It’s our democracy,” Murray Hill Inc. says, “We bought it, we paid for it, and we’re going to keep it.”

The campaign’s designated human, Eric Hensal, will help the corporation conform to antiquated “human only” procedures and sign the necessary voter registration and candidacy paperwork.

To emphasize its point, this liberal public relations firm will file to run in the Republican primary.

Link, via Reddit.  The company's press release.

The product isn't liquid glass in the sense of molten glass, but rather a nanoparticulate form of glass developed and patented by Nanopool, a German-owned company based in Turkey.

The liquid glass spray produces a water-resistant coating only around 100 nanometers (15-30 molecules) thick. On this nanoscale the glass is highly flexible and breathable. The coating is environmentally harmless and non-toxic, and easy to clean using only water or a simple wipe with a damp cloth. It repels bacteria, water and dirt, and resists heat, UV light and even acids. UK project manager with Nanopool, Neil McClelland, said soon almost every product you purchase will be coated with liquid glass.

Because a glass-coated surface resists soiling, the process is envisioned to be used extensively in hospitals, coating equipment, catheters, and bandages.

The spray cannot be seen by the naked eye, which means it could also be used to treat clothing and other materials to make them stain-resistant. McClelland said you can “pour a bottle of wine over an expensive silk shirt and it will come right off”.

The photo in the insert is of Alec Guiness, who famously portrayed "The Man in the White Suit," a character whose invention of unstainable clothing turned out to be a mixed blessing.  Other factors to consider include the substance itself - silicon dioxide.  When inhaled in macroparticulate form it can cause silicosis of the lungs; nanoparticles may have different toxicity, although none apparently have been reported with this product.  Yet.

Link, via Reddit.  Photo via.

Terri Carlson  is 45 years old, has health problems because of a genetic C4 complement deficiency, and her COBRA health insurance will expire in a year.

It is not easy living with my disease and now that I have the genetic answer for my health issues, every insurance company uses the information to deny me insurance coverage.  You know, I am not happy I was delt [sic] this deck of cards in my life.  However, if I don't fight for myself nobody will.  While the goverment fights over healthcare reform people like me suffer.    I will continue on this crusade for healthcare reform.

And yes, as drastic as it sounds, I will marry for health insurance!!!

Is this a real person's website? A joke? A political ploy? Stay tuned.

Link, via Reddit.

YouTube link.

The images in the video are "safe for work," but the audio is of a 911 call with a lethal outcome, so those sensitive to such tragedies might consider leaving the video "under the fold."

Toyota has released some advice re what to do in their vehicles if the accelerator pedal becomes stuck:

• If you need to stop immediately, the vehicle can be controlled by stepping on the brake pedal with both feet using firm and steady pressure. Do not pump the brake pedal as it will deplete the vacuum utilized for the power brake assist.

• Shift the transmission gear selector to the Neutral (N) position and use the brakes to make a controlled stop at the side of the road and turn off the engine.

• If unable to put the vehicle in Neutral, turn the engine OFF. This will not cause loss of steering or braking control, but the power assist to these systems will be lost.

• If the vehicle is equipped with an Engine Start/Stop button, firmly and steadily push the button for at least three seconds to turn off the engine. Do NOT tap the Engine Start/Stop button.

• If the vehicle is equipped with a conventional key-ignition, turn the ignition key to the ACC position to turn off the engine. Do NOT remove the key from the ignition as this will lock the steering wheel.

Another excellent source of advice is an article at Car and Driver about coping with unintended acceleration.

Via Reddit, where there is an informed discussion thread.

Inspired by the resume of Leonardo daVinci, I thought it would be interesting to post the resume of Sir James Murray.  This passage comes from a letter he wrote when he applied for a position in the British Museum Library.

"I have to state that Philology, both Comparative and special, has been my favourite pursuit during the whole of my life, and I possess a general acquaintance with the languages & literature of the Aryan and Syro-Arabic classes... With several I have a more intimate acquaintance as with the Romance tongues, Italian, French, Catalan, Spanish, Latin & in a lesser degree Portuguese, Vaudois, Provencal, & various dialects. In the Teutonic branch, I am tolerably familiar with Dutch (having at my place of business correspondence to read in Dutch, German, French & occasionally other languages), Flemish, German, Danish. In Anglo-Saxon and Moeso-Gothic my studies have been much closer, I having prepared some works for publication upon these languages. I know a little of the Celtic, and am at present engaged with the Sclavonic, having obtained a useful knowledge of the Russian. In the Persian, Achaemenian Cuneiform, & Sanscrit branches, I know for the purposes of Comparative Philology. I have sufficient knowledge of Hebrew and Syriac to read at sight the Old Testament and Peshito; to a less degree I know Aramaic Arabic, Coptic and Phoenician to the point where it is left by Genesius."

Remarkably, he was turned down for the job.  Some years later he was appointed editor for the creation of the Oxford English Dictionary.

Link.   Photo credit.

YouTube link.

The video documents a seagull "dancing" to bring earthworms to the surface.  When humans do this, it's called "worm-charming" or "worm-grunting."  Wood turtles also use this technique, by repeatedly bumping their carapace against the ground.

Via Reddit.