Bart King's Blog, page 279

Orcs with Library Cards

I posted this photo of the most excellent Kansas City Library last year... but at the time, I wasn't clear on what book titles made up the building's facade. Here's that list! Apparently, these books were chosen on the basis of their relation to Missouri. That's why there's a biography of Harry Truman, the anthology of Kansas City Stories, and a trilogy dealing with the orcs found in the region (namely, Lord of the Rings.)
The library has its own Flickr account, BTW, which is loads of fun to...

This Is Usually a "Feel-Good" Blog...

...but I have to single out AccuQuote for having the worst on-line ad I've seen this year. A girl in cut-offs weeping in front of a gravestone? Yeesh. (Bonus Demerit: The name of the graphic is "Devastated.") I guess the ad people for AccuQuote don't go in for the light touch. Hey, did this ad beat out some other "second-place" idea? I wonder what THAT ad was. (Maybe a girl dancing on someone's grave?)

"Nice book, but look at this lava lamp!"

Mega-talented photographer Chas. Dye took this charming photo of his daughters opening gifts on Christmas morning. Thanks for the photo usage! Photograph copyright by Chas. Dye.(More shots by him here and here.)

Time for Some Year-End Cleaning!

Book broom by Bookdust.com.

Do You Know How to Avoid Bullies?

According to this educational video, you should "avoid clothing that will identify you as a member of a gang"... like the kid above!

Cy Brown: The Coolest Dad of 2009

What happens when your dad is an electrical engineer with a remote-controlled model plane and a bunch of fireworks? This video, in which the kids get to try to shoot down the plane with the fireworks... and the plane's videocamera captures the action! (Video by Cy Brown.)

Hope You Got Something Good!

From over here.

Times Square Fun

It snowed in Times Square, so people decided to have a snowball fight. Cool! Photo by columbiajames.

Santa Strategies

An Ohio girl living in Ohio wrote to Santa (via Vindy.com) with her holiday wish list. The letter has a good tactic; Katie makes it clear upfront that she doesn't want much, but by the end, she's managed to check four things off of her list!

Students Write "The Big Book of Kingology"

I was lucky enough to visit James John Elementary School in Portland the other day. In addition to meeting many terrific people, I was stunned to be presented with the world's only copy of Big Book of Kingology. And it's the coolest thing I've ever seen!
The book's authors used my family pictures and biographies at bartking.net as a jumping-off point. This led to an inventive dialogue between my sister Gretchen and myself...
Some ideas for my father-in-law...
A speculation on my dad... And this...