Friday Link Pack 11/06/2015

It’s Friday! That means it’s time for the Friday Link Pack, my weekly post covering topics such as writing, art, current events, and random weirdness. Some of these links I mentioned on Twitter, if you’re not already following me there, please do! Do you have a link I should feature in the upcoming link pack? Click here to email me and let me know! (Include a website so I can link to you as well.) Let’s get to it…

WRITING:

Dune: An Appreciation At 50 Years
This year, Frank Herbert‘s masterpiece, Dune, turned 50. Paste magazine put together this quick retrospective look at this seminal science fiction work and its lasting impact on the genre.

How Do You Cope With Bad Feedback On Your Work?
Not everyone is going to like what you write. Some people are going to loathe it. How do you deal with that sort of feedback? How do you overcome it? The ever amazing Warren Adler has some ideas.

Alan Moore Talks To John Higgs About The 20th Century
In this video John Higgs, author of the upcoming book, Stranger Than We Can Imagine: Making Sense of the Twentieth Century, discusses the previous century in weird-fiction great Alan Moore’s own work. Along the way, the two discuss the H.P. Lovecraft (heavily), as well as Jack the Ripper, the Red Scare, the fear inherent in the early 1900s, and a lot more.

ART:

Paul Klee’s Notebooks Are Online
The pages within the notebooks of the Swiss-German artist, Paul Klee remind me of a strange yet wonderful mathematical infused grimoire. It’s fascinating to see behind the curtain on one of the most influential figures in Bauhaus. [Thanks to Steve for sharing this.]

Portraits Of Auto Mechanics Are A Homage To Renaissance Paintings
A classical look at a hard working profession. When I first saw these photos I thought it was meant to be a joke—and perhaps it is on some level. But at the same time it raises the nobility of the blue-collar worker and places them at a place where they are rarely viewed. I love it.

Museum Dedicated to Over 100 Hyperrealistic Miniature Film Sets
In the center of Lyon, France, there is a museum that houses painstakingly recreated film sets in miniature. The level of detail is so incredible that you will have a hard time telling these miniature sets apart from their physically more imposing cousins.

RANDOM:

Ranking 40 Dystopias by Their Livability
Dystopia in fiction is here to stay, but until now, no one had compared each by their liability. Which is best? Which would be the most comfortable? Jm Vorel is on the case in this article for Paste magazine.

No, Spooning Isn’t Sexist. The Internet Is Just Broken.
The internet is driven by clicks vs. quality content. As a result, it’s broken often spreading vindictive stupidity vs. well thought out discussion. Do you know who is to blame? All of us.

The World’s Northernmost Big City—A Polluted Hell On Earth
Norilsk, Siberia one of the coldest places on earth, surrounded by nearly 100,000 hectares of burned out land also happens to be one of the most polluted. io9 shares some surreal photos from this surreal city.

WEIRD WIKIPEDIA:

Tempest Prognosticator
The tempest prognosticator, also known as the leech barometer, is a 19th-century invention by George Merryweather in which leeches are used in a barometer. The twelve leeches are kept in small bottles inside the device; when they become agitated by an approaching storm they attempt to climb out of the bottles and trigger a small hammer which strikes a bell. The likelihood of a storm is indicated by the number of times the bell is struck.

H.P. LOVECRAFT STORY OF THE WEEK:

The White Ship
A lighthouse keeper walks a bridge of moonbeams to go on an adventure with a robed man on a ship that appears only under a full moon.

GIF OF THE WEEK: