--------  MANTEX NEWSLETTER --------

	Number 104 - May 2005 - ISSN 1470-1863

	Design - History - Writing - Literature


0---	'Rodchenko, Lissitzky, Moholy-Nagy'

	These three names represent the finest
	of Russian constructivist design at the
	highpoint of modernism.

	Typography, advertising, photography,
	product design - they ranged widely,
	exploited new technology, and had an
	influence which is still felt today in
	the work of people such as Neville Brody.

	But they were also political revolutionaries,
	and prepared to put their talents to the
	service of the Bolsheviks.

	Victor Margolin has written a fascinating
	study of how they managed to square their
	artistic ambitions with their work as
	propagandists for the communist state.

	It's an elegant book, well illustrated,
	and scholarly to the nth degree.

	http://www.mantex.co.uk/reviews/margolin.htm



0---	Pub Quiz - Question #1
	What sort of creature is a fluke?

0---	Weird Facts #1
	Ralph Lauren's real name is Ralph Lifshitz



0---	'Nineteeth-century Britain' - new book

	Oxford University Press have just brought
	out a new series of pocket-book introductions
	to important writers and ideas.

	This one gives a potted study of the political,
	social, and economic history of Britain from the
	French Revolution up to the end of the Victorian
	era. Good for a quick overview. Natty format.

	http://www.mantex.co.uk/reviews/oxf-19c.htm

	And if you are interested in nineteenth-century
	studies, you might like to check our timeline
	which has just been updated. This gives details
	of significant events and when they happened,
	plus links to major publications, cultural
	events, and important inventions.

	http://www.mantex.co.uk/ou/aa810/aa810-01.htm




0--- 	Pub Quiz - Question #2
	Which religious group founded Philadelphia?

0---	Weird Facts #2
	Barbie's measurements if she were life size
	would be 39-23-33.



0---	'Twentieth-century Britain' - new book

	This is another in the OUP very short
	introduction series - and it follows straight
	on (as you might imagine) from the 20th C
	volume mentioned above.

	First world war; the dark days of the inter-war
	years; second world war; Conservative-Labour
	seesaw; ambiguous relations with Europe.

	Kenneth Morgan's account is particularly good
	on the twists and turns of fortune for the
	political parties - but he keeps writers, the
	theatre, music and architecture in the picture.

	http://www.mantex.co.uk/reviews/oxf-20c.htm



0---	The Wisdom of Celebs #1 -  Brooke Shields

	"Smoking kills. If you're killed, you've lost
	a very important part of your life."



0---	Speak my Name! Text-to-Voice program

	Type your text into a box, press the button,
	and this little novelty program will speak
	it back to you.

	There's a choice of voices and languages.
	I got Crystal (US English) to say some
	very interesting things to me :-)

	http://www.research.att.com/projects/tts/demo.html



0--- 	Pub Quiz - Question #3
	Which ship sent the first S.O.S. message?

0---	Weird Facts #3
	CDs read from the inside to the outside edge,
	the reverse of how a gramophone record works.



0---	'FastStone' - F.r.e.e graphics software

	I lost my old copy of Paint Shop Pro during
	a recent system changeover, and last week
	was short of a program for image manipulation.

	Wow! Was I lucky to come across FastStone -
	a neat, compact, and smart-looking bit of
	kit with lots of powerful features.

	You can	do all sorts of things with graphic
	files - change colours, add drop shadows,
	and even remove the Red Eye from all those
	snaps you took at the party with your new
	digital camera. And it's completely f.r.e.e

	http://www.faststone.org



0--- 	Pub Quiz - Question #4
	What can be a pastime, a horse, or a falcon?

0---	Weird Facts #4
	The name Wendy was invented for the book 'Peter Pan'.



0---	Animations - Interactions - Design

	Last week I came across two of the stickiest fun
	sites in a long time. J+E Design has a crisp,
	whacky, and comic-book selection of work at

	http://www.jandedesign.com

	and the same two people seem to be responsible
	for a collection of navigational madness and
	visual high jinks at WhatWhat. Yes, that's the
	name. Be prepared to click around a lot at -

	http://www.whatwhat.co.uk



0--- 	Pub Quiz - Question #5
	Where do cars with BG plates come from?

0---	Weird Facts #5
	Babies are born without kneecaps.



0---	The Wisdom of Celebs #2 - Christina Aguilera
	"So - where's the Cannes Film Festival being held this year?"



0---	Design Classics - Typography

	Subscribers to Internet lists dealing with fonts
	and typography often ask, "Which books would you
	recommend as a guide to good design principles?"

	And no matter how many responses, one book comes
	out on top every time Robert Bringhurst's "The
	Elements of Typographic Style".

	There are two reasons why it's a persistent
	poll-topper. First, it deals with every detail
	you could possibly imagine on the subject of
	typography and page design - and it does so
	in a very elegant, often quite poetic style.

	Second, it is a beautifully created book in
	itself, rich in illustrative examples of
	fonts and sample page layout designs. It's
	also a breathtakingly scholarly work - and
	good value into the bargain.

	Full details and a review available at -

	http://www.mantex.co.uk/reviews/bring.htm



0--- 	Pub Quiz - Question #6
	Who wrote the play 'Private Lives'?

0---	Weird Facts #6
	A rhinoceros' horn is made of compacted hair.



0---	Saul Bellow 1915-2005

	Nobel prizewinner Saul Bellow died last month.
	As an act of homage to a writer who has given me
	a great deal of pleasure in the past, I read his
	last novel 'Ravelstein' (2000) with which I had
	not caught up - due to the pressures of life.

	It follows the same formula as 'Humboldt's Gift':
	one writer paints a word portrait of another.
	It's a not-so-carefully disguised portrait of his
	friend Allan Bloom - the author of the best-selling
	'The Closing of the American Mind'.

	You can check out guidance notes on most of Saul
	Bellow's major works in our section on great writers.

	http://www.mantex.co.uk/ou/a319/bellow.htm



0--- 	Pub Quiz - Question #7
	Dorothea Brooke is the central character in which novel?

0---	Weird Facts #7
	Mozart was buried in an unmarked pauper's grave.



0---	Web Spoofs - great fun!

	Did you see the excellent animation
	advertising the new Citroen C4? The car
	morphs itself into a break-dancing robot.

	Here's an amazingly life-like take on
	the ad, featuring the old deux chevaux.
	Well worth the wait.

	http://www.themoog.f2s.com/2CV.wmv

	If you haven't seen the original C4 ad,
	watch it first at

	http://www.citroen.co.uk/c4/homepage.asp?pagetype=c4



0--- 	Pub Quiz - Question #8
	Who was the mother of Eros?

0---	Weird Facts #8
	Crickets hear through their knees.



0---	Snip those long URLs - F.r.e.e service

	Website URLs are getting longer and cumbersome.
	Not only are they difficult to remember, it is
	also a pain sending them in emails because they
	wrap on to more than one line and become un-clickable!
	SnipURL is a fast and free service that allows you
	to "snip" your long URLs into small, compact links
	for sharing in emails and remembering easily.

	http://www.snipurl.com/



0--- 	Pub Quiz - Question #9
	Who painted 'Broadway Boogie-Woogie'?

0---	Weird Facts #9
	Oak trees do not have acorns until
 	they are fifty years old.



0---	Writing - an annotated bibliography

	We've updated the pages of our annotated
	bibliography of writing. This covers the
	history and theory of writing; practical
	writing skills; style guides; editing;
	academic writing; and communication skills.

	http://www.mantex.co.uk/samples/bib1.htm



0--- 	Pub Quiz - Question #10
	Who composed 'Honeysuckle Rose'?

0---	Weird Facts #10
	Human hair and fingernails do not continue
	to grow after death.
	[Check it out next time you get the chance.]



0---	PUB QUIZ - ANSWERS

	#1. What sort of creature is a fluke?
	ANSWER: A worm

	#2. Which religious group founded Philadelphia?
	ANSWER: The Quakers

	#3. Which ship sent the first S.O.S. message?
	ANSWER: The Titanic

	#4. What can be a pastime, a horse, or a falcon?
	ANSWER: A hobby

	#5. Where do cars with BG plates come from?
	ANSWER: Bulgaria

	#6. Who wrote the play 'Private Lives'?
	ANSWER: Noel Coward

	#7. Dorothea Brooke is the central character in which novel?
	ANSWER: 'Middlemarch'

	#8. Who was the mother of Eros?
	ANSWER: Aphrodite

	#9. Who painted 'Broadway Boogie-Woogie'?
	ANSWER: Piet Mondrian

	#10. Who composed 'Honeysuckle Rose'?
	ANSWER: Fats Waller



0---	COMING SOON

	'Weather Bird' - Jazz Reviews

  	'The History and Power of Writing'

	'Web Services Essentials'

	'Oxford Spellchecker and Dictionary'

	'Russian Literature: A Very Short Introduction'

	'Literary Theory: A Very Short Introduction'

	'Art Theory: A Very Short Introduction'

	'Design in the USA'

	'Grid Systems'


	(c) Copyright 2004, MANTEX
  	All Rights Reserved

	PO Box 100    Tel +44 0161 432 5811
	Manchester    Fax +44 0161 443 2766
	M20 6GZ UK    www.mantex.co.uk


	If you like this newsletter, PLEASE
	FORWARD IT to friends and colleagues.
	New subscribers	should register at
	the following address --

	http://www.mantex.co.uk/newslet.htm

	BACK ISSUES featuring news items,
	reviews, and product details at -

	http://www.mantex.co.uk/news/archive.htm

	Please retain the copyright and
	list-joining information. It may be
	posted, in its entirety or partially,
	to newsgroups or mailing lists, so
	long as the copyright and list-joining
	information remains.

	If you have any requests, observations,
	or items you would like to be included
	in our next issues, just mail us at --

	news@mantex.co.uk

	You receive the MANTEX newsletter
	because you subscribed to it. If you
	wish to leave the list, go to --

	http://www.mantex.co.uk/newslet.htm


	News-104-May-2005
	ISSN 1470-1863
	The British Library