On the dusty roads of a small village, a traveling salesman was having difficulty selling his wares. As he wandered the outskirts of town in the hopes of finding some new customers, he heard a high-pitched yelp coming from the edge of the forest. Following the screams to their source, he discovered a trapped tanuki. […]
Tolkien is widely regarded as the most influential author on the fantasy genre… period. But one of the less-discussed aspects of his work is the way Tolkien used constructed language in his writing. Nowadays authors are constantly making up words and languages for the worlds they build, but Tolkien was unique in that he constructed […]
Listen to J.R.R. Tolkien being interviewed by BBC producer Denys Gueroult in 1964. A fascinating look into Middle Earth and the mind of one of the greatest fantasy writer of all time. [Sidh]
From Star Trek’s Klingon to The Dothraki language from Game of Thrones, here r 25 fictional languages you can learn to speak right now, with some being composed of over 3,000 words! [Source: Rayburn Tours]
I’m sure as geeks we’ve all encountered our fair share of grammar nazis in our time (and many of us may be ones in our own right). Of course, when you really take a look at the English language (especially if you have another non-European language to compare it to) you can start to forgive […]
The last blockbuster is a fun and nostalgic documentary following the manager of the final remaining Blockbuster video rental store as she struggles to keep her business open. I miss Blockbuster! There was something truly magic about video rental stores: The smell, the popcorn, the satisfaction of browsing though all those VHS/DVD/Blu-Ray cases. Even though […]
Get to know the thinkers, tinkerers and creators behind oh-so-useful and flat-out-fun things. [Great Big Story]
An informative video taking a look at how the name “Dick” became to be short for Richard. The name Richard is thought by most etymologists to derive from the Proto-Germanic ‘Rikharthu’, meaning more or less “hard ruler” (‘Rik-‘ meaning ‘ruler’ and ‘-harthu’ meaning ‘hard’). This was adopted into Old High German as ‘Ricohard’, and from […]
Check out this absolutely delightful cover of Scarborough Fair by cellist Tina Guo and pianist Leo Z. This is one of my facorite traditional English ballads, and the musicians give it a unique twist that transforms it into something unique and magical. [Tina Guo]
A wonderful journey through thirteen centuries of spoken English by Youtuber A.Z. Foreman. [A.Z. Foreman | Via BoingBoing]