M.J. Rose

These are just fantastic!

Cold War dollhouses from the Socialist paradise of East Germany

(Dangerous Minds)

“The Flickr user diepuppenstubensammlerin (the name means “the dollhouse collector”) has a remarkably wide-ranging and detailed series of galleries documenting dollhouses from Germany, with many of the sets pictured dating from the 1950s through the 1970s. The set pictured here came from a company called VEB Grünhainichen, if I understand correctly, and it was in East Germany, in fact on the border to what was then called Czechoslovakia.

The notion of children playing with dollhouses that have this kitschy wallpaper and kitchen tiles or tasteful/chintzy furniture of indubitably modern design. All you need is a Trabant driving by outside or the tones of the Klaus Renft Combo emanating from the hi-fi system and the picture is complete…”

For the rest, click .

We are constantly both amused and amazed by the fact that reality is consistently proving to be even more magical than magic. As science progresses, the schism between the known and the unknown, the impossible and the provable, becomes smaller and smaller…

From Science Alert,

Here’s the place to build brick by brick and book by book in your mind’s eye for those moments when you need to curl up in the most magical library on earth…Or you could hop on a plane!

6 Reasons to Add the Bodleian Library to Your Book Bucket List
Posted by Hayley Igarashi (Goodreads)

“If “books are a uniquely portable magic,” then libraries must be one of the most magical places on earth (and librarians must be magicians). Oxford University’s Bodleian Library certainly looks the part. This historical institution—and part-time Hogwarts stand-in—is a must-see for any traveling book worm. If it isn’t on your book bucket list already, we think we can change your mind.

Reason #1: It has over 11 million printed items.

Not to shame your local library, but we’re betting your usual book haunts can’t quite compare to Bodleian’s veritable army of tomes. Among the 11 million items to browse are a rare copy of Shakespeare’s First Folio, unbound and unrestored, along with the largest collection of pre-1500 printed books in any university library in the world….”

For the rest, click here.