Seed Savers Exchange Conference & Campout

Registration is now open for the 33rd annual Seed Savers Exchange Conference and Campout to be held July 19-21, 2013. The event will feature numerous speakers, workshops, and other activities on the grounds of Heritage Farm in Decorah, Iowa. A full schedule can be downloaded here [pdf]; early registration ends June 30.

A Captive Audience

Members of the Philadelphia Orchestra recently performed part of Antonin Dvořák’s String Quartet No. 12, known as his American String Quartet, while stuck in coach on the runway at the Beijing airport. It was composed while Dvořák was vacationing in Spillville, Iowa in 1893:

As for my new Symphony, the F major String Quartet and the Quintet (composed here in Spillville) – I should never have written these works 'just so' if I hadn't seen America," wrote Dvořák in a letter in 1893. In his description of the New World symphony, Dvořák was more specific: "As to my opinion, I think that the influence of this country (it means the folk songs that are Negro, Indian, Irish, etc.) is to be seen, and that this [the symphony] and all other works written in America differ very much from my earlier works, as much in colour as in character . . . . [Wikipedia]

As of this posting, well over one million viewers have taken a look at this impromptu concert--an audience far in excess of a typical performance by the orchestra.

Printing and the Mind of Merker

Kim Merker [1932-2013], master printer and proprietor of Stone Wall Press and Windhover Press, died on April 28, 2013 at age 81. A native New Yorker who travelled to Iowa City to study poetry at the University of Iowa, he launched Stone Wall Press in 1957, and published the early work of a number of significant writers, including Pulitzer Prize winners Philip Levine, Mark Strand, and James Tate.

In 1967, Merker began Windhover Press, which served as the official fine press of the university as well as a teaching press for students in the book arts. In 1986, Merker also founded the Center for the Book at Iowa, which this spring awarded the first MFA degrees in its interdisciplinary Book Arts Program.

The Grolier Club, in 1997, held a major retrospective exhibition curated by Michael Peich entitled: K.K. Merker: Serving the Muse: Stone Wall Press and Windhover Press, 1956-1996. Accompanying the exhibition was the publication of a comprehensive annotated bibliography, Printing and the Mind of Merker: A Bibliographical Study, by Sidney Berger, with contributions by Harry Duncan, Dana Gioia, and Merker himself. An obituary for Merker can be read in the New York Times.

The Ponseti Method and World Clubfoot Day

June 3, 2013 has been designated by the Ponseti International Association as the first World Clubfoot Day to commemorate the birthday of Dr. Ignacio Ponseti [1914-2009], the developer of the Ponseti Method which has been used to successfully treat congenital clubfoot in thousands of infants worldwide through non-surgical means.

A native of Spain, Dr. Ponseti graduated from medical school at the University of Barcelona in 1936, a day before the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War, and eventually came to the University of Iowa in 1941 to further his training in orthopedics. He joined Iowa's medical faculty in 1944, where he spent the rest of his career. Clubfoot was one of Ponseti's major research interests, and through longitudinal studies he discovered that surgical interventions were often ineffective if not even more detrimental. With gentle manipulations and a series of plaster casts, however, deformed feet could attain normal appearance and function in a majority of cases.

In 1996, Dr. Ponseti authored Congenital Clubfoot: Fundamentals of Treatment (Oxford University Press), and the 2008 second edition currently is available for download in both English and Spanish. The Ponseti Method is actively being taught to healthcare providers around the world, who are implementing it with high success rates in numerous countries. Further information is available on the Ponseti International Association website. 

Type on the Cob Wayzgoose

After two highly successful annual conferences in Asheville, North Carolina, the Ladies of Letterpress is sponsoring its first regional wayzgoose on June 27-29, 2013 in Printers' Hall on the grounds of Midwest Old Threshers in Mt. Pleasant, Iowa. A full complement of workshops and presentations led by leading printers, graphic designers, and book artists is scheduled. Registration is now open and further details may be found online.

Saving Our Heritage: MayDay 2013

Since 2006, the Society of American Archivists (SAA) has designated May 1st as MayDay, or a day of action for both individuals and organizations such as archives, libraries, museums, and historical societies to improve their capacities to deal with emergencies that can threaten or destroy historical collections. The ravages of recent tornadoes in Alabama and other states is just one example of the physical risks facing cultural heritage institutions.

Although the landmark study, A Public Trust at Risk: The Heritage Health Index Report on the State of America's Collections (2005), systematically documented that most institutions lack an adequate disaster preparedness plan, the SAA has worked to mitigate these deficiencies. The SAA web site provides recommendations for MayDay activities, as well as a compilation of resources, including technical literature and tools, disaster plan templates and examples, tutorials and courses, bibliographies, and other resources.

National Collegiate Book Collecting Contest

Entries are now being accepted for the 2013 National Collegiate Book Collecting Contest. Begun in 2005 by the Fine Books & Collections magazine for bibliophiles, the competition is now jointly sponsored by the Antiquarian Booksellers' Association of America, the Fellowship of American Bibliophilic Societies, as well as the Center for the Book and the Rare Books and Special Collections Division of the Library of Congress.

A number of contests are currently held at colleges and universities around the U.S., with Swarthmore College's competition being the first in the 1920s. College-level students from all educational institutions, however, are encouraged to participate. Entries for the 2013 competition are due by May 31, 2013. Contest rules and further information are available at the Antiquarian Booksellers' Association of America website. The Library of Congress will be the site of this year's awards ceremony on October 18, 2013.

4.20 Is Record Store Day 2013

Ambassador White says "Gimme the combo platter." Find a participating shop near you at the Record Store Day website.

Books over Bloomberg

On April 9, 2013, the Occupy movement scored a victory when a settlement was reached in the case of Occupy Wall Street (OWS), "an unincorporated association," against the City of New York, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, and other city officials and individuals. The suit was filed because of the seizure and destruction of books, library furnishings, and equipment of the People's Library at Zucotti Park in New York City on November 15, 2011. Among other things, the settlement provides for the payment of $47,000 to the OWS Library Working Group and $185,000 in attorneys' fees for the plaintiffs. The full text of the settlement can be read online. Further information about the People's Library and its history can be found at its blog.

Moon Hoax Not

Moon Hoax Not by S.G. Collins is a quick-paced video describing the technical implausibilities and impossibilities that would have been involved in any attempt to fabricate the visual documentation of NASA's moon shot in 1969. The Common Curator also has these earlier offerings for All Fools' Day, including its putative origin and other notorious hoaxes.

The Twist and D-Day Broadcast among Latest Entries to the National Recording Registry

In the eleventh year of the National Recording Registry, Librarian of Congress James Billington has selected 25 sound recordings as the official entries for 2012, stating: "Congress created the National Recording Registry to celebrate the richness and variety of our audio heritage and to underscore our responsibility for long-term preservation, to assure that legacy can be appreciated and studied for generations. Our challenge, however, continues to be finding collaborative and innovative ways to protect and make available this unmatched legacy to the public."

In reverse chronological order, the selections for 2012 are as follows:

1. "The Audience with Betty Carter," Betty Carter (1980)
2. "Einstein on the Beach," Philip Glass and Robert Wilson (1979)
3. "Saturday Night Fever," The Bee Gees, et al. (1977)
4. "Ramones," The Ramones (1976)
5. "Wild Tchoupitoulas," The Wild Tchoupitoulas (1976)
6. "Music Time in Africa," Leo Sarkisian, host (July 29, 1973)
7. "The Dark Side of the Moon," Pink Floyd (1973)
8. "Cheap Thrills," Big Brother and the Holding Company (1968)
9. "Sounds of Silence," Simon and Garfunkel (1966)
10. "Hoodoo Man Blues," Junior Wells (1965)
11. "Old Time Music at Clarence Ashley’s," Clarence Ashley, Doc Watson, et al. (1960-1962)
12. "The Twist," Chubby Checker (1960)
13. "Crossing Chilly Jordan," The Blackwood Brothers (1960)
14. "The Shape of Jazz to Come," Ornette Coleman (1959)
15. "A Program of Song," Leontyne Price (1959)
16. President's Message Relayed from Atlas Satellite, Dwight D. Eisenhower (Dec. 19, 1958)
17. Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1, Van Cliburn (April 11, 1958)
18. "Descargas: Cuban Jam Session in Miniature," Cachao Y Su Ritmo Caliente (1957)
19. "South Pacific," Original Cast Album (1949)
20. "Just Because," Frank Yankovic & His Yanks (1947)
21. D-Day Radio Broadcast, George Hicks (June 5-6, 1944)
22. "You Are My Sunshine," Jimmie Davis (1940)
23. "Begin the Beguine," Artie Shaw (1938)
24. "Bacon, Beans and Limousines," Will Rogers (Oct. 18, 1931)
25. "After You’ve Gone," Marion Harris (1918)      

The full National Recording Registry currently numbers 375 recordings, and can be viewed here. The Registry solicits nominations for inclusion on the registry; further information on the criteria and procedures for making nominations is available at the Registry website.       
  

Complete Route for RAGBRAI XLI

The complete route for the 2013 Register's Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa has just been announced. Beginning in Council Bluffs on July 21 and concluding in Fort Madison on July 27, the overnight and pass-through towns are shown on the map above, which can also be downloaded as a PDF. Registration for RAGBRAI XLI is still open online, with an April 1 deadline for week-long riders.

A Song for International Women's Day 2013

Launching on International Women's Day, celebrated annually on March 8th, "One Woman" is "a rallying cry that inspires listeners to join the drive for women's rights and gender equality." The song was written for UN Women, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women.

The theme for this year's International Women’s Day is "A promise is a promise: Time for action to end violence against women." Violence against women is "a gross human rights violation that affects up to 7 in 10 women and a top priority for UN Women." For further information and a schedule of events sponsored by UN Women, including a live webcast, visit the IWD 2013 website.

The Emancipation Proclamation at 150

The sesquicentennial of the Emancipation Proclamation was observed by the U.S. Postal Service on January 1, 2013 with the issuance of a commemorative stamp at the National Archives. While marking a momentous event in American history, what is unusual about this stamp is that the design is based on a letterpress-printed broadside. Designer Gail Anderson and art director Antonio Alcalá collaborated on the graphic design, with printing executed with the assistance of Jim Sherraden at Hatch Show Print. Photos of the process can be viewed at the Felt & Wire web site. In addition, the U.S.P.S. is offering a limited edition of both numbered and signed and numbered prints, as well as the stamps themselves with and without the first day of issue cancellation.

WFMU Marathon 2013: Freedom Is Free-Form!

Love free-form radio? Then consider supporting independent station WFMU during its annual fundraising Marathon that runs March 4 through March 17, 2013. WFMU first hit the airwaves on April 24, 1958 at the now-defunct Upsala College and has never looked back. Currently based in Jersey City, New Jersey, WFMU broadcasts at 91.1 Mhz and via a second signal at 90.1 Mhz in Mount Hope, New York. WFMU has also long been an Internet pioneer, streaming its programming 24/7 in multiple formats, including iPhone and Android. Past shows are archived at the station's website, which also features WFMU's entertaining and content-rich blog.

What is free-form radio you might ask? WFMU describes itself as follows:

WFMU's programming ranges from flat-out uncategorizable strangeness to rock and roll, experimental music, 78 RPM Records, jazz, psychedelia, hip-hop, electronica, hand-cranked wax cylinders, punk rock, gospel, exotica, R&B, radio improvisation, cooking instructions, classic radio airchecks, found sound, dopey call-in shows, interviews with obscure radio personalities and notable science-world luminaries, spoken word collages, Andrew Lloyd Webber soundtracks in languages other than English as well as country and western music.

And because WFMU is 100% listener-supported, with zero corporate, government, or other underwriting, WFMU DJs have for years maintained complete autonomy and control over their own programming, which is indeed extraordinarily eclectic. Check out the current WFMU audio smorgasbord, and see for yourself!