"The barbershop is based on men coming together grooming each other to become better men, and I think books and education is a fundamental part of that," says Reggie Ross, the owner of Royal Touch Barbershop In Palm Beach County, Florida, where the shop is located, the graduation rate for African American boys is 50%. We also know that the less money one's family has the less likely there are books at home. So Ross offers his young visitors books to read while they wait and when they are in the chair. There is now television or radio to divert their...
The Joy of Reading: Canadian style
Created late last year, this infographic from our friends up north visualizes some of the benefits of leading a reading life. Good stuff.
Bringing Good Books to Life: Self-Portraits by Pierre Beteille
French photographer Pierre Beteille has produced a series of self portraits where, with a little digital magic, the text and the reader morph into some pretty cool imagery. From Robinson Crusoe to Charles Bukowski's Notes of a Dirty Old Man and plenty in between enjoy this trip through Beteille's reading life. [caption id="attachment_5558" align="aligncenter" width="640"] reading Notes of a Dirty Old Man by Charles Bukowski[/caption] [caption id="attachment_5560" align="aligncenter" width="640"] reading Robinson Crusoe[/caption] See the rest of the portfolio at 500px ISO h/t Shelf Awareness
Holy Robot: Exhibit features robotic rendering of the Torah
"The Creation of the World. Illustrated Manuscripts from the Braginsky Collection," currently on view at the Berlin Jewish Museum features both a robot and a rabbi transcribing the torah. The yet unnamed Torah-writing robot comes to us courtesy of the German artists' group robotlab. The installation is titled"bios [torah]" and: refers to the activity of Torah writing performed in the Jewish tradition by a specially trained scribe, the Sofer. While the Sofer guarantees the sanctity of the Scripture, the installation highlights its industrial reproducibility. It simulates a centuries-old cultural technique that has long since been overtaken by media developments...The installation title refers to an...
Two sides of the Obama Presidential Library
While the battle for the bragging rights to host the Obama Presidential Library continues to heat up some folks in Newport, Nebraska had a different take on where it should be housed. The most popular float in this years July 4th parade was the one being pulled along by a blue pick up truck. It featured an outhouse titled "Obama Presidential Library" and featured a zombified President Obama. The driver of the float, Dale Remmich, has said that “the float was political satire and an expression of political disgust,”and that “there was no racism involved, no hate for anyone.” No one asked him if he watched FOX News....