a secret New York subway station

…We don’t know how, but somehow, somewhere in New York’s subway system, a secret City Hall subway station lurks. With its tall ceilings and brass fixtures, it looks positively majestic and grand. The station has been closed to the public since 1945 as it was deemed too unsafe for use, but apparently, commuters in the know can see the station without getting off on the 6 Train.

   

The post City Hall, the secret New York subway station appeared first on Lost At E Minor: For creative people.

Spain’s “Move Your Money!” Campaign Advocates for Ethical Banking

…from the splendid Global Voices. Open a window on the world and cultivate a global perspective by following it if you are not already. 

PS great other language reading practice too when you

Various organizations have joined together to launch the “Move your money!“ [es] initiative in Spain, aiming to convince citizens to transition from traditional banks, which are in large part responsible for the current economic crisis, to emerging financial institutions commonly called “ethical banks.”

Read the rest of Spain’s “Move Your Money!” Campaign Advocates for Ethical Banking ~ Global Voices

Edinburgh literature festival that could change history

Heart of Midlothian, title of a Sir Walter Scott historical
novel and  symbol for Edinburgh football team, Hearts

…books are places along the way too…either place in books OR places and books are doubly so…

The first festival of historical fiction could mean that the 'problematic' historical novel will soon be a thing of the past. The genre-defying historical novel can come in the form of a crime novel, a romance, a political thriller, a biography or a literary novel.

This weekend, the Summerhall arts venue in Edinburgh is hosting the first ever literary festival devoted to historical fiction. It's the brainchild of Iain Gale, the art critic and author of several works of military historical fiction in the vein of Bernard Cornwell and Patrick O'Brien, and Allan Massie....

The "historical novel" isn't really a genre – since every genre can be made historical. Steampunk is really just historical SF; and Adam Roberts has written superb works, such as Yellow Blue Tibia, featuring science fiction tropes in a historical setting. And steampunk begat flintlock fantasy: I'm rather fond of Naomi Novik's Temeraire series (Napoleonic sagas with dragons). Kim Newman's Anno Dracula series gives us historical horror. I have so far been unable, much to my chagrin, to obtain a copy of Peter H Cannon's 1994 intersection of PG Wodehouse and HP Lovecraft, Scream for Jeeves.

Even within literary fiction, the idea of the "historical novel" is problematic.

The Edinburgh literature festival that could change history | Stuart Kelly | Books | The Guardian

latin america's economic spotlight

…reposted from Book Forum's blog, Omivore, best & truly eclectic collections of briefly annotated links on the tubz…politics, religion, science, education, culture, literature, arts & more...for the omnivorous reader

Nancy Birdsall (CGD): A Note on the Middle Class in Latin America. Nora Lustig (Tulane), Luis Felipe Lopez-Calva (Colegio de Mexico), and Eduardo Ortiz-Juarez (UNDP): Declining Inequality in Latin America in the 2000s: The Cases of Argentina, Brazil, and Mexico. Esteban Perez Caldentey, Daniel A. Titelman, and Pablo Carvallo (ECLAC): Weak Expansions: A Distinctive Feature of the Business Cycle in Latin America and the Caribbean. The magic number: South America's experience suggests a tantalizing possibility — that reaching $8,500 in income is the secret to sustainable growth. Think there's no alternative? Latin America has a few. Why is Mexico concerned about Latin America's economic spotlight shifting to Brazil? Colombian elites are celebrating economic and security gains, but not everyone is benefiting — just ask the Afro-Colombian minority.

latin america's economic spotlight - bookforum.com / omnivore

How Manhattan Got Its Street Grid

Measure of Manhattan, John Randel, Jr
Cartographer, Surveyor, Inventor

To accommodate a fast-growing New York City, John Randel, Jr., began to lay out the city’s streets in 1808—an impressive endeavor that holds lessons for today’s information infrastructure.

A few years ago, researchers began looking for the earliest evidence of Manhattan’s iconic grid plan, which places streets and avenues along mostly horizontal and vertical directions (in contrast to the spoke-and-wheel layouts of cities such as London or Paris). In particular, they were hunting long-lost surveying marks left by a complicated young man named John Randel, Jr., whose maps helped establish the shape of New York City. The following excerpt (link below) is adapted from the book, The Measure of Manhattan: The Tumultuous Career and Surprising Legacy of John Randel, Jr., Cartographer, Surveyor, Inventor, by Marguerite Holloway (W. W. Norton, 2013). Copyright © Marguerite Holloway.


How Manhattan Got Its Street Grid [Excerpt]: Scientific American