Happy Birthday Ira Glass

Ira Glass (born March 3, 1959) is an American public radio personality, and host and producer of the radio and television show This American Life, one of our favorite podcasts to enjoy on road trips.

You can learn more about him here, he answers questions about himself here, and listen to him interview his first cousin once removed composer Philip Glass here,

Ira Glass/Philip Glass Join Forces At Soho Apple Store Jan 21, 2010

Fishs Eddy & Vintage Metal Stationer’s Engraving Blocks

via pomme designs

“ . . . Dave, one of the owners of Fishs Eddy, made a fortuitous find on a recent buying trip to the Midwest: Vintage metal stationer's engraving blocks from the 1940’s and 1950’s! He came back with hundreds of initials and full addresses, most in their original boxes with handwritten names and dates of when they were last used.”

I had the great pleasure of seeing these engraving blocks in person with two of my best  friends. Fishs Eddy is a fascinating place to wander through. I noticed what looked like letterpress blocks nestled on an old desk surrounded by glassware. The outer boxes were curious as well with handwritten labels from the ’40s. I realized what they were, and while looking through the various names, monograms, and address blocks from the Philadelphia region, it was thrilling to even find a few that were still wrapped and taped closed, never opened since they were created by Baily Banks & Biddle. Priced very reasonably, I just couldn’t figure out what I could use these for, so I just appreciated them for their beauty and craft and continued exploring and shopping with my companions.

Earworm: The Chain

A few years after this album was released, I picked it up [along with a dozens other albums being discarded] beside a dumpster behind the Mifflin County Library. This  was before I drove, so I balanced the stack on my skateboard, and pushed them home through the back alleys to Walnut Street.

Listen to The Chain here.

Shackleton’s Antarctica in Color, 1915

via retronaut

“These are Frank Hurley’s famous early colour photographs of Sir Ernest Shackleton’s ill-fated ‘Endurance’ voyage, as part of the British Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition, 1914-1917. Hurley was the official photographer on the expedition.”

Read the rest, and see more of Hurley’s color photographs here.