The hidden treasures of language

My friend and colleague, Kat shared this Brain Pickings link with us at work today. As a lover of language and admirer of fine illustration, I just had to share this myself. These visual interpretations of unusual words, created by Project Twins, were originally exhibited at the MadArt Gallery in Dublin, 2011, and they are absolutely marvellous.

‘Bold graphics and visual wit are used to interpret and represent a collection of strange, unusual and lost words. These images explore the meaning behind the words, which are sometimes even more strange or unusual.’ – Project Twins

There is a whole alphabet to feast your eyes upon, viewable here, but these are my favourite illustrations along with their words and meanings.

B is for Biblioclasm

The practice of destroying, often ceremoniously, books or other written material.

F is for Fanfaronade

Swaggering; empty boasting; blustering manner or behavior; ostentatious display.

H is for Hamartia

The character flaw or error of a tragic hero that leads to his downfall.

J is for Jettatura

The casting of an evil eye.

L is for Leptosome

A person with a slender, thin, or frail body.

M is for Montivagant

Wandering over hills and mountains.

O is for Ostentiferous

Bringing omens or unnatural or supernatural manifestations

S is for Scripturient

Possessing a violent desire to write.

W is for Welter

A confused mass; a jumble; turmoil or confusion.

Z is for Zugzwang

A position in which any decision or move will result in problems.

World Cat Day

A lunchtime spent browsing through my Twitter-stream told me that today is, apparently, World Cat Day! How did I not know?!

I had a read/look at this Best Cats on the Internet post by i100 – a website I keep finding myself linked to (via Twitter) lately. The website seems, to me, to be a more respectable version of Buzzfeed – from The Independent newspaper – with lots of Top 10 articles and weird/interesting news stories.

And so I read the article, featuring their Top 13 cats on the Internet, but found myself disagreeing with the list. Some of the cats I haven’t even heard of or seen before – Snoopy? Brother Cream? And Maru should definitely be a lot higher up the list!

I decided, as the crazy-cat-lady that I am, I should make my own list! Not just Internet cats, however. Because all cats are awesome whether they are of Internet fame, fictional or just a random kitty you see walking down the street.

TOP 9 CATS

(because 9 lives, y’know.)

9 Tara the heroine
The cat that saved her young human from a dog attack.

8 Nyan cat
The rainbow-pop tart cat with an incredibly catchy soundtrack.

7 Pusheen
The adorably animated fat cat.

6 Street Cat Bob
The ex-stray cat who found his human busking on the streets of London.

5 Keyboard cat
The most talented of musical cats.

(Also, seen in the cinema last night… this is amazing!!)

4 The Bear
The world’s most melancholic cat, literary and Twitter star.

3 Catbus
Everyone’s favourite animal/vehicle, from Studio Ghibli’s My Neighbour Totoro.

2 Maru
The box-loving cat from Japan.

1 CLEO
The [cat] love of my life and feature of many-a-Instagram post, my tailless-tabby-cat.

Rail Transport in Westeros

I’m a big fan of transport maps, I’m a big fan of maps of fictional places and, of course, I’m a big fan of Game of Thrones. So this map of Westeros based on US Subway systems (would have been nice if it was the London Underground instead, but oh well) is incredible. The level of detail and accuracy that its creator, Michael Tyznik, has put into it is crazy.

The map, and an extended map of all known lands in the books, are available to buy as prints. I need one for my flat.

The Most Amazing Trees

I love trees. The more unusual and interesting the better.

Apparently, Bored Panda agrees.

144-Year-Old Wisteria in Japan

Maple Tree Tunnel in Oregon, USA

Baobab (Lion King) Trees in Madagascar

Dragonblood Trees in Yemen

Rainbow Eucalyptus in Hawaii

The Third-Largest Giant Sequoia Tree in the World, California, USA

The Dark Hedges in Northern Ireland

(I’ve seen this with my own eyes. Well, not this specific photo but…)

Global Language… for Animals

I saw this ‘Most languages agree on the sound cats make’ illustration on the Catnip Times page on Facebook, this evening. Finding the cats in the illustration adorable, (Well, I would. They’re cats, but still…) I did a nifty little ‘search Google for this image’ to find it’s source – because as is the way with the Internet and social media, the Catnip Times didn’t say where the artwork was from.

Google worked it’s magic and I found this Design Taxi article and a link to the illustrator’s blog – James Chapman. As the Design Taxi blog post is over 6 months old, it’s great to see some more recent illustrations (and animations) by James. What’s more, they’re all in the language theme!

Animal sounds:

Other sounds:

Tiny Tokyo

‘Anyone who has ever set foot in Tokyo or dreamed of seeing its kaleidoscopic wonders will fall in love with this totally unique tour of the beautiful megalopolis. Here are all the spectacular sights of the great big Japanese capital, made tiny enough to fit in a pocket! This teeny tome collects incredible bird’s-eye views of the bustling cityscape, all shot using a distinctive photographic technique known as “tilt-shift” that has the effect of seeming to shrink its subjects— making one of the vastest cities in the world look like a miniature model. Epic skyscrapers, crowded city streets, and even sumo wrestling matches resemble tiny plastic toys in this one-of-a-kind little book.’ – Chronicle Books, on Tiny Tokyo by photographer Ben Thomas.

TINY TOKYO – THE BIG CITY MADE MINI – BEN THOMAS//CHRONICLE BOOKS
from Ben Thomas on Vimeo.

Ben Thomas is an Australia-based photographer whose award-winning tilt-shift photographs of cities around the world – Cityshrinker – have been exhibited internationally.

Also see: Take a Tour of Tokyo in Miniature by Jordan G. Teicher on Slate.com

Pentalum

Pentalum luminarium is a sculpture people enter to be immersed in radiant light and colour.

Inspired by the beauty of natural geometry and Islamic architecture, the Architects of Air created the Pentalum with winding passages, domes and pods where you can sit down and absorb the ambience.

The Pentalum is the only bit of Milton Keynes’ International Festival that I have managed to see and be a part of. Having moved to Bedford now, and with the Bedford River Festival taking top priority last weekend, it hasn’t been practical for me to see, for myself, all of what’s been going on in MK over the last 10 days. I’m glad mum and I made it to the Pentalum, on the festival’s last day, this afternoon though, as it was pretty impressive.