Above are excerpts from a collection of restored audio and oratory from many notable people around the turn of the 20th Century. Quite a few fall into that hazy, near past just before film and radio, and I didn’t know recordings of them existed. It would be great to hear Arthur Conan Doyle reading more Sherlock Holmes.

• Solarized is an attempt to optimize screen display colors for high contrast regardless of situation (and using either light or dark backgrounds). The site itself uses the sixteen-color palette.
• To my disappointment, I didn’t hear about Chicago’s robot opera performance until it was too late. Even after reading a review, I’m unclear what exactly transpired, but it sounds cool—though I’m doubtful it “proved Chicago the next stage in the future of opera.”
• A wikipedia list of fictional books from television and movies. See The Royal Tenenbaums; The Simpsons; and lists from other media.

A photo of Chicago and the southern tip of Lake Michigan taken onboard the ISS (you can see it in the foreground). The photo comes from an In Focus photo collection covering the recent changing of the guard at the ISS. NASA loves documentation, and this video shows the hugs and handshakes when they opened the hatch in February on Discovery’s last trip.

This informal black-and-white portrait of Leonard Cohen shows him at age 30 on a visit to his hometown of Montreal, where the poet, novelist and songwriter comes “to renew his neurotic affiliations.” He reads his poetry to an enthusiastic crowd, strolls the streets of the city, relaxes in this three-dollar-a-night hotel room and even takes a bath.

This Canadian program was done in 1964, a few years before Cohen’s first album was released.