Merry Beardmas 

“Have Yourself a Very Beardy Christmas and a Happy New Beard”

2013 Winter Solstice Playlist 

Image by Benoit Courti via This is Colossal

This is actually a sextodecimo plus eight - you know, for the kids… In an effort to play appropriately seasonal music without the treacle or kitsch you might so often hear in our temples of retail and coffee I have assembled the following concoction. How many gluten-free, low-calorie, vegan, shade-grown, dolphin-friendly treats can you enjoy in December? Well, here's one.

Listen at Rdio (subscription required).

Or download from here.

Tracklist is as follows: Read more »

Absurdly Quotidian 

“Making the ephemeral ephemera,”

This year's almanac is at the printers as I write this and only days away from shipping, but I thought I'd post a preview here. One thing you may notice is the re-christening of the Almanac of General Knowledge as the Absurdly Quotidian Omnibus. To be accurate the full title is Roget's Almanac of General Knowledge Presents the 2013 Absurdly Quotidian Omnibus, if you're not into the whole brevity thing. Or the 'bus for short, if, you know, you are into the brevity thing. Why the change? Boredom I suppose, but also it's a truer reflection of what the book is. An omnibus. A collection of previously published works, both by me and from the public domain — if you describe the Internet as a domain in the public and if you consider “copy/paste” part of fair use copyright laws (laws, schmaws… am I right?)

You can download a PDF of the 'bus from Issuu.com but there is a limit of only 25 downloads available so act now! Okay, the directive that you should act now may in fact be hyperbole. For those so inclined, I do intend to make an ePub version available once I have the time. So follow me on Twitter @rowdyman for further announcements. I'm kidding of course. I know exactly 3, maybe 4 people out of 6.5 billion who may actually want a digital version and even then they are just being polite.

It's funny I should bother doing that because it's so backward. I mean, this Web site is the digital version of the Omnibus. The whole idea of making a book in the first place was to explore the idea of the printed Web. Well, the real reason behind the Almanac was one year I noticed mother had left me out of the Christmas newsletter and this is my revenge. I like the idea of curating pieces of writing and projects that are born in the digital ether of the Internet and turning them into something so three dimensional as a book. Making the ephemeral ephemera, you might say. What once was only server space shall now be shelf space, and for that I truly am sorry.

And They Said it Couldn't Be Done 

Guggenheim Museum, modelled in icing, gingerbread, cotton candy, candy wrappers, licorice, sugar.

I'm pretty sure I had this idea first, which only goes to show, ideas are cheap, actions are money.

Food artists Caitlin Levin and Henry Hargreaves have beautifully crafted these amazing candy land versions of world famous Modern museums.

I still don't see a Farnsworth House or Philip Johnson's Glass House so I'm assuming they are still up for grabs. I call dibs - AND I get to lick the spoon!