Ralph Mackay 🇺🇦 🇨🇦
@chumleyandpepys.bsky.social
Lived too long in a library. Wherever a book shall open. Book lover, dustjacket appreciator, retired librarian and bookscout in search of intangible bibliographic singularities while slogging against the forces of adversity. Enjoys tea, cats & time travel.
Reposted by Ralph Mackay 🇺🇦 🇨🇦
Oscar Peterson remains one of the greatest musicians to ever come from Canada.
He was called the Man with Four Hands, The King of Inside Swing, and the Maharaja of the Keyboard for his musical skills.
He remains a legendary figure to this day.
This is his story.
🧵 1/10
He was called the Man with Four Hands, The King of Inside Swing, and the Maharaja of the Keyboard for his musical skills.
He remains a legendary figure to this day.
This is his story.
🧵 1/10
December 23, 2025 at 4:01 PM
Oscar Peterson remains one of the greatest musicians to ever come from Canada.
He was called the Man with Four Hands, The King of Inside Swing, and the Maharaja of the Keyboard for his musical skills.
He remains a legendary figure to this day.
This is his story.
🧵 1/10
He was called the Man with Four Hands, The King of Inside Swing, and the Maharaja of the Keyboard for his musical skills.
He remains a legendary figure to this day.
This is his story.
🧵 1/10
Comet 3i/atlas is getting closer to Earth. A synthwave song for backing track. The Midnight, Comet.
youtu.be/edaF3oWzqcY?...
youtu.be/edaF3oWzqcY?...
The Midnight - Comet (Official Audio)
YouTube video by The Midnight
youtu.be
December 19, 2025 at 4:40 AM
Comet 3i/atlas is getting closer to Earth. A synthwave song for backing track. The Midnight, Comet.
youtu.be/edaF3oWzqcY?...
youtu.be/edaF3oWzqcY?...
Reposted by Ralph Mackay 🇺🇦 🇨🇦
Amazon once “pulled a book off your library shelf”—internet pioneer Vint Cerf calls it shocking.
Listen as OGs & advocates explore the past, present & future of the open web on the Future Knowledge podcast.
🎧Listen & Subscribe ⤵️
futureknowledge.transistor.fm/episodes/the...
#OpenWeb
Listen as OGs & advocates explore the past, present & future of the open web on the Future Knowledge podcast.
🎧Listen & Subscribe ⤵️
futureknowledge.transistor.fm/episodes/the...
#OpenWeb
December 17, 2025 at 6:02 PM
Amazon once “pulled a book off your library shelf”—internet pioneer Vint Cerf calls it shocking.
Listen as OGs & advocates explore the past, present & future of the open web on the Future Knowledge podcast.
🎧Listen & Subscribe ⤵️
futureknowledge.transistor.fm/episodes/the...
#OpenWeb
Listen as OGs & advocates explore the past, present & future of the open web on the Future Knowledge podcast.
🎧Listen & Subscribe ⤵️
futureknowledge.transistor.fm/episodes/the...
#OpenWeb
Reposted by Ralph Mackay 🇺🇦 🇨🇦
Beautiful remembrance by @stephenking.bsky.social.
Opinion | Stephen King: Why I Hugged Rob Reiner After Watching ‘Stand by Me’
www.nytimes.com
December 17, 2025 at 2:06 AM
Beautiful remembrance by @stephenking.bsky.social.
Reposted by Ralph Mackay 🇺🇦 🇨🇦
Completely dazzled by Networks of the Past, a new gallery @CSMVSmumbai charting India's relationship with the ancient world. Its not just one of the best curated museum galleries in South Asia, it is also the best visual representation I have ever seen of the world I describe in The Golden Road...
December 13, 2025 at 10:00 AM
Completely dazzled by Networks of the Past, a new gallery @CSMVSmumbai charting India's relationship with the ancient world. Its not just one of the best curated museum galleries in South Asia, it is also the best visual representation I have ever seen of the world I describe in The Golden Road...
John Carey (1934-2025) has left the stage. Have to admit his "The Intellectuals and the Masses" was a bit of an assault on general perceived notions. I remember reading it and feeling like he'd shifted the backcloth on the period in question.
December 13, 2025 at 12:24 AM
John Carey (1934-2025) has left the stage. Have to admit his "The Intellectuals and the Masses" was a bit of an assault on general perceived notions. I remember reading it and feeling like he'd shifted the backcloth on the period in question.
Reposted by Ralph Mackay 🇺🇦 🇨🇦
Tonight, Amia Srinivasan will give the first of this year’s LRB Winter Lectures: ‘The Impossible Patient’.
The lecture has sold out in person – but livestream tickets are still available.
£10 to watch online, both live and afterwards
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/lrb-winter...
The lecture has sold out in person – but livestream tickets are still available.
£10 to watch online, both live and afterwards
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/lrb-winter...
LRB Winter Lectures | Amia Srinivasan: The Impossible Patient
The London Review of Books Winter Lectures for 2026
www.eventbrite.co.uk
December 12, 2025 at 11:09 AM
Tonight, Amia Srinivasan will give the first of this year’s LRB Winter Lectures: ‘The Impossible Patient’.
The lecture has sold out in person – but livestream tickets are still available.
£10 to watch online, both live and afterwards
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/lrb-winter...
The lecture has sold out in person – but livestream tickets are still available.
£10 to watch online, both live and afterwards
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/lrb-winter...
Getting my exercise at least. About 3 hours today. Maybe tomorrow it won't snow. Maybe tomorrow . . . #lake-effect
December 11, 2025 at 11:26 PM
Getting my exercise at least. About 3 hours today. Maybe tomorrow it won't snow. Maybe tomorrow . . . #lake-effect
Reposted by Ralph Mackay 🇺🇦 🇨🇦
New from @EmpirePodUK
To conclude our Writers on Empire series we do a deep dive into the life of VS Naipaul:
AN AREA OF DARKNESS
THE MAKING OF VS NAIPAUL
With Pulitzer Prize winner Ben Moser
linktr.ee/empirepoduk
To conclude our Writers on Empire series we do a deep dive into the life of VS Naipaul:
AN AREA OF DARKNESS
THE MAKING OF VS NAIPAUL
With Pulitzer Prize winner Ben Moser
linktr.ee/empirepoduk
December 11, 2025 at 4:24 AM
New from @EmpirePodUK
To conclude our Writers on Empire series we do a deep dive into the life of VS Naipaul:
AN AREA OF DARKNESS
THE MAKING OF VS NAIPAUL
With Pulitzer Prize winner Ben Moser
linktr.ee/empirepoduk
To conclude our Writers on Empire series we do a deep dive into the life of VS Naipaul:
AN AREA OF DARKNESS
THE MAKING OF VS NAIPAUL
With Pulitzer Prize winner Ben Moser
linktr.ee/empirepoduk
2025 felt like . . .
December 10, 2025 at 9:37 PM
2025 felt like . . .
Reposted by Ralph Mackay 🇺🇦 🇨🇦
Pliny the Elder’s Natural History to Auction with $1.2m Estimate
www.finebooksmagazine.com/fine-books-n...
www.finebooksmagazine.com/fine-books-n...
Pliny the Elder’s 'Natural History' to Auction with $1.2m Estimate
Sotheby’s will present the first selection from the important private collection of Barry Yampol today which is led by an edition of Pliny the Elder’s Natural History with an estimate of $900,000-$1,2...
www.finebooksmagazine.com
December 9, 2025 at 3:13 PM
Pliny the Elder’s Natural History to Auction with $1.2m Estimate
www.finebooksmagazine.com/fine-books-n...
www.finebooksmagazine.com/fine-books-n...
Phthalo Green will be my colour of the coming year.
(To hell with Pantone and their fascist choice. Who died and made them king?)
(To hell with Pantone and their fascist choice. Who died and made them king?)
December 5, 2025 at 12:58 AM
Phthalo Green will be my colour of the coming year.
(To hell with Pantone and their fascist choice. Who died and made them king?)
(To hell with Pantone and their fascist choice. Who died and made them king?)
These books by Vikram Seth, Amitav Ghosh, and Tahir Shah caught my eye when they came out promising fascinating cultures, stories, people, and escape from my mundane Montreal bookish/library life. Now, decades later I hazard a reread. The books haven't changed. But I, with the world, have. #books
December 2, 2025 at 3:23 AM
These books by Vikram Seth, Amitav Ghosh, and Tahir Shah caught my eye when they came out promising fascinating cultures, stories, people, and escape from my mundane Montreal bookish/library life. Now, decades later I hazard a reread. The books haven't changed. But I, with the world, have. #books
Reposted by Ralph Mackay 🇺🇦 🇨🇦
John Atkinson Grimshaw (1836-1893)- Snow and mist.
November 30, 2025 at 1:56 PM
John Atkinson Grimshaw (1836-1893)- Snow and mist.
Reposted by Ralph Mackay 🇺🇦 🇨🇦
Happy birthday William Joseph (Dard) Hunter. The artist, papermaker, printer & designer, famous for his work with the Roycrofters, his advocacy of the Arts & Crafts movement, & his fine bookmaking, was born today in 1883.
#graphicdesign #papermaking #bookmaking
#graphicdesign #papermaking #bookmaking
November 29, 2025 at 7:16 PM
Happy birthday William Joseph (Dard) Hunter. The artist, papermaker, printer & designer, famous for his work with the Roycrofters, his advocacy of the Arts & Crafts movement, & his fine bookmaking, was born today in 1883.
#graphicdesign #papermaking #bookmaking
#graphicdesign #papermaking #bookmaking
After a day of snow squalls, a brief moment of Blue sky and sunshine. Vitamin D passersby said. Yes, get it while you can. (As I post this, it is squalling once again.) #lake-effect
November 28, 2025 at 8:17 PM
After a day of snow squalls, a brief moment of Blue sky and sunshine. Vitamin D passersby said. Yes, get it while you can. (As I post this, it is squalling once again.) #lake-effect
Reposted by Ralph Mackay 🇺🇦 🇨🇦
Thrifted this Deutsche Grammophon this week. Behrend (1933-1990) was unknown to me, but a virtuoso of his day. This 1971 cover though, like a set from a 1960s James Bond film.
November 23, 2025 at 9:40 PM
Thrifted this Deutsche Grammophon this week. Behrend (1933-1990) was unknown to me, but a virtuoso of his day. This 1971 cover though, like a set from a 1960s James Bond film.
Reposted by Ralph Mackay 🇺🇦 🇨🇦
Tom Gauld on librarians v booksellers – cartoon
Tom Gauld on librarians v booksellers – cartoon
There’s no competition …
www.theguardian.com
November 23, 2025 at 4:25 PM
Tom Gauld on librarians v booksellers – cartoon
Reposted by Ralph Mackay 🇺🇦 🇨🇦
come for a walk with me (in the snow)
Come for a Walk With Me - Part 2
YouTube video by Michael Spicer
youtu.be
November 21, 2025 at 12:12 PM
come for a walk with me (in the snow)
Reposted by Ralph Mackay 🇺🇦 🇨🇦
‘Gutenberg seems to have had a habit of falling out with people.’
Adam Smyth (@adamwithbooks.bsky.social) on a biography of the printer told through his books.
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
Adam Smyth (@adamwithbooks.bsky.social) on a biography of the printer told through his books.
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
Adam Smyth · Slice It Up: Gutenberg’s Great Invention
Gutenberg remains unknowable: an implied but not a felt presence. This is true for all but a small number of 15th-...
www.lrb.co.uk
November 19, 2025 at 2:10 PM
‘Gutenberg seems to have had a habit of falling out with people.’
Adam Smyth (@adamwithbooks.bsky.social) on a biography of the printer told through his books.
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
Adam Smyth (@adamwithbooks.bsky.social) on a biography of the printer told through his books.
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
I enjoyed Pynchon's Shadow Ticket, mainly for the inventive sharp-shooting use of language, slang and similes hitting you like flies on a windscreen, but also for the characters like Terike, the female motorcycle courier. Made me think of Itchy Boots, the motorcyclist traveller from The Netherlands.
November 18, 2025 at 5:13 PM
I enjoyed Pynchon's Shadow Ticket, mainly for the inventive sharp-shooting use of language, slang and similes hitting you like flies on a windscreen, but also for the characters like Terike, the female motorcycle courier. Made me think of Itchy Boots, the motorcyclist traveller from The Netherlands.
Yesterday I looked into one of my partner's books and "The Bookseller" caught my eye. Evocative of many booksellers and shops. (After reading recent novels by Pynchon & Banville, short fiction mix appeals: Aickman's Dark Entries, du Maurier's Don't Look Now & other stories, Innes's The Appleby File)
November 16, 2025 at 5:51 PM
Yesterday I looked into one of my partner's books and "The Bookseller" caught my eye. Evocative of many booksellers and shops. (After reading recent novels by Pynchon & Banville, short fiction mix appeals: Aickman's Dark Entries, du Maurier's Don't Look Now & other stories, Innes's The Appleby File)
1.Vertigo Todhaven spent a loonie in a gumball vending machine in Avalon Books Cafe. It plopped out a capsule with a tiny envelope providing coordinates & time for a secret Thomas Pynchon book signing. With his briefcase of first editions, he stood in the empty concrete concavity looking for clues.
November 11, 2025 at 4:00 AM
1.Vertigo Todhaven spent a loonie in a gumball vending machine in Avalon Books Cafe. It plopped out a capsule with a tiny envelope providing coordinates & time for a secret Thomas Pynchon book signing. With his briefcase of first editions, he stood in the empty concrete concavity looking for clues.