Best Olympic Sport That Doesn’t Exist in Real Life

1. Croquet (from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland)
Like regular croquet, but using flamingos for mallets.
And the gold goes to: England.

Calvinball, Quidditch, and Other Fictional Sports We Wish the Olympics Would Adopt — Vulture — Entertainment & Culture Blog — New York Magazine

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The Libraries of Timbuktu

Several decades ago I sat in Mopti, Mali while two of my friends were stuck in Timbuktu waiting out a sandstorm. I had chosen not to go, a decision I’ve since regretted. At the time it seemed too far for too little; the place itself was not suppose to be that interesting compared to Mopti and other places in Africa I’d been. The reason to go was to say one had done so, one had been to that fabled place that was as far away as could be.

Today Timbuktu is getting long overdue attention for something else, for its incredible libraries. And fortunately the owners of these libraries are getting help saving them. Africa’s Literary Treasure Trove: The Rush to Save Timbuktu’s Crumbling Manuscripts – International – SPIEGEL ONLINE – New

(via bookninja)

All the Privileged must have Prizes

Teaching on the part-time staff at Harvard is a little like visiting Disney World. The magic dust induces a light narcosis. The mind goes incontinent in the presence of paradox and conflict, and it is tough to tell how much fun you are having from how much you are having to pretend. The important thing is never to become the screamer who ruins the ride for everyone. The line is long.

John H. Summers at the Times on teaching at Harvard.