Links

Stuff I find around the web that interests or amuses me.

Greek Mythological family tree

by

Wow. Just wow. A Genealogical Chart of Greek Mythology, by Harold Newman, looks to be fascinating.

It was about 20 years ago when Jon O. Newman, a federal appeals court judge in Manhattan, walked up to a staff member in the New York Public Library and asked, “Do you have a book anywhere in this library that has a complete genealogical chart of Greek mythology?” They didn’t.

“O.K., second question,” Judge Newman said. “If there were such a book, would you buy it?”

“We’d have to,” the librarian replied.

It was what the judge had wanted to hear. For years, his father, Harold Newman, had pursued a hobby — an elaborate genealogy project — trying to link all characters from Greek mythology in a single family tree. Judge Newman wanted to finish it.

Now, the Newmans’ work has been published by the University of North Carolina Press as “A Genealogical Chart of Greek Mythology: Comprising 3,673 Named Figures of Greek Mythology, All Related to Each Other Within a Single Family of 20 Generations.”

More details can be found at the New York Times. It’s a bit on the pricey side at \$75, but man would that be a fascinating book to spend time browsing through.

Jet-propelled sheep

by

I can’t help but think that this is one sheep that I wouldn’t want to be standing behind when it passed gas…

Shaboom the sheep’s favorite meal consists of animal feed made from nitrogen-based chemicals and other dismantled gun propellants — one of the more creative uses Albuquerque company TPL Inc. is finding for unwanted military munitions.

(via Prairie)

Dark Fairytales

by

There’s what looks to be an interesting art show opening tomorrow at the Roq la Rue Gallery called Dark Fairytales.

All of the work revolves around the title’s theme, “Dark Fairytales.” The artists were asked to work with existing fairytales — either the “classics” (such as the Grimm Brothers, or Hans Christian Andersen’s stories) — or stories from myths and legends around the world. They could even make up a fairytale of their own.

I won’t be getting home from work in time to hit the opening, but I’ll see if I can get down there sometime this weekend to check it out. Looks like there could be some interesting stuff there.

(via Kirsten [not Kirsten, though])

Stonehenge again

by

Last February, dad noted a story that I then mentioned also, regarding the possibility that Stonehenge might have been intended to resemble feminine genetalia (cold, hard, and immobile — apparently the designer didn’t have a very good sex life).

Five months later, the story is spreading (so to speak). Looks like we got the scoop on this one, dad! ;)

(via Iki)