KaleidoPope

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KaleidoPope is an interactive site by Michael Silber that creates brilliant kaleidoscopic papal images.

Via

LSD inventor/discoverer Albert Hofman died 5 years ago today

Five years ago today, the Albert Hofman, the Swiss scientist who first synthesized LSD, died at 102 years of age.
While researching lysergic acid he accidentally absorbed a small quantity through his fingertips was intrigued by the effects and decided to investigate further. On April 19, 1943, Hofmann took 250 micrograms of LSD. This day is now known as "Bicycle Day," because after starting to feel the effects of the drug he rode home on a bike, and that became the first intentional acid trip.

Via Boing Boing 

#FLOCK: The Twitter Cuckoo Clock

Twitter has teamed up with London-based design studio BERG to create an absolutely darling limited edition cuckoo clock. It is powered by tweets and alerts users to incoming tweets, retweets and replies. If I had one of these I'd be more inclined to use Twitter. I guess that's the idea.

Via HUH

Lantern Slides of Norway (ca.1910)

A selection from a collection of early 20th century lantern slides held at the Fylkesarkivet of Sogn og Fjordane, a county in the west of Norway.

All images taken from the Flickr Commons collection of the Fylkesarkivet i Sogn og Fjordane.

See more lovely images at  The Public Domain Review

Cupcake craving at 4am? No worries.

Rumours of the demise of the cupcake craze may be premature.

The Beverly Hills location of Sprinkles Cupcakes is opening a 24-hour, cupcake-dispensing "ATM"
and plans to deploy similar automatons in 10 other cities.



Read more at The Atlantic Cities

Thanks Bruce!

The Oxford Project

In the spring and summer of 1984, photographer Peter Feldstein took portraits of everyone in Oxford, Iowa (pop. 673). Twenty-one years later, Feldstein went back, and this time he brought along writer Stephen G. Bloom to document people’s stories. The Oxford Project (Welcome Books) is the remarkable portrait of a small town“virtually untouched by both the vitality and vulgarity of urban America.”

Ben Stoker: Both his parents have passed away.

Hunter Tandy: Ashton Kutcher is his second cousin

Pat Henkelman: Cleans houses, has lunch and a cup of tea, watches CNN
and has a nap.

I love then and now themed posts! This one is both interesting and poignant.

Here is a video of The Oxford Project:



See Rosecrans Baldwin's interview with the photographer at The Morning News

All images copyright the authors, courtesy Welcome Books, all rights reserved.

A bed, a small seating area, some posters on the wall and clutter on the ground

Netherlands photographer Henny Boogert shot Images Connect, a series of Students Posing in Their Housing Around the World.

Frances Sheryn Cabuyoo from Manila, Philippines

Douglas Yam Tin Yi, Bosco Kuo Ko Wai and Eric Ng Chung Wing from Hong Kong, Hong Kong

Carmen Luz from Santa Clara, Cuba

Mexican Building Eats Smog

Mexico City's poor air quality is notorious. The Manuel Gea González Hospital designed by Berlin’s Elegant Embellishments acts as an air filter and neutralizes the equivalent daily of about 9,000 cars. Here's how it works:

 The 2,500-square-meter facade is constructed from the firm’s 3D Prosolve 370e (PDF) modules. These modules are coated with a special pigment that, when hit by ambient ultraviolet light, reacts with urban air pollutants, breaking them down into less noxious compounds like carbon dioxide and water. The pigment itself remains unchanged, which means the modules can keep purifying the air for as long as a decade, or until their coating wears off.

Via Holy Kaw!

Baby jaguars celebrate first birthdays at San Diego Zoo

How do Tikal and his sister Maderas  celebrate? With a delicious cake of blood and cow's heart of course. Yum!





Via guardian.co.uk

The Diver Who Saved Winchester Cathedral

In 1905 parts of Winchester Cathedral were under serious threat of collapse. But the Cathedral was built on a high water table and any trenches that were dug around the foundation quickly filled with water. This called for a diver  to shore up the historic foundations with concrete to preserve one of England's greatest buildings. That diver was William Walker. He worked from 1906 until 1911 supporting the Cathedral using more than 25,000 bags of concrete, 115,000 concrete blocks and 900,000 bricks.
He was a hero but a modest one.

Read more about him here: BBC - Hampshire - History - Saving the Cathedral

Thanks Bruce!

Branch

Ramus from Danica Parry on Vimeo.

A young branch falls onto the ground from his mother tree during a storm . The small sapling, named Ramus, awakens and quickly realizes that this may be his worst nightmare.

Thanks Bruce!

The biggest expat regrets about moving to France

It has always been my dream to own a charming little maison particulière in France. Perhaps I should rethink that if I want to have friends, love, a career, property or Canadian cuisine (what, no poutine? C'est incroyable!). And did you know they mostly speak French and that I'd have to miss Canadian events? Just forget about it.

More at The Local
Thanks Bruce! You may have shattered my dream but saved me from making a large mistake :)

Against People Flying Because It Would Draw Flocks Of Whore-masters.

Joseph Addison was an English essayist, poet, playwright and politician. He was a co-founder of The Spectator magazine.

I have fully considered the project of these our modern Daedalists, and am resolved so far to discourage it, as to prevent any person from flying in my time. It would fill the world with innumerable immoralities, and give such occasions for intrigues as people cannot meet with who have nothing but legs to carry them. You should have a couple of lovers make a midnight assignation upon the top of the monument, and see the cupola of St. Paul’s covered with both sexes like the outside of a pigeon-house. Nothing would be more frequent than to see a beau flying in at a garret window, or a gallant giving chaos to his mistress, like a hawk after a lark. There would be no walking in a shady wood without springing a covey of toasts. The poor husband could not dream what was doing over his head. If he were jealous, indeed, he might clip his wife’s wings, but what would this avail when there were flocks of whore-masters perpetually hovering over his house? What concern would the father of a family be in all the time his daughter was upon the wing?

– Joseph Addison, Guardian, July 20, 1713
Lifted from Futility Closet 

60 Spectacular Seahorses and Seadragons

I think it would be soothing to have a huge aquarium with these beautiful creatures swimming in it.

Spectacular rainbow-colored seahorse at Hamburg, Germany.
Photo by Zanthia

Leafy seadragon in the Georgia Aquarium. The leafy seadragon can best
manage to hide itself easily among the plants and is therefore rarely eaten.
Photo by lecates

Pipefish are related to seahorses and seadragons, albeit a little like the ugly
 cousin of the family.Pipefish have longer, straighter bodies with tiny mouths.
There are about 200 known pipefish species in the world.
Photo by Stephen Childs

See more at this Link 
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Baboons Raise Pet Dogs

This video shows baboons stealing stray puppies from their mothers and raising them as part of their troop. It wouldn't surprise me if they were better dog owners than some humans I've seen.

Via Boing Boing

Sweet Duet

Eduard Pazhik singing Panis Angelicus by Cesar Franck with his little daughter Marianna

Childbirth vs. Getting kicked in the nuts

Which do you think is more painful?



Via Boing Boing

Lots of Cars and Trucks, No Traffic Signs or Lights: Chaos or Calm?

 Poynton, a village of 14,000 in England, has instituted a policy of "shared space" on its roadways.

No traffic lights. No traffic signs. No painted lines in the roadway. No curbs. And 26,000 vehicles passing every day through a traditional village center with busy pedestrian traffic.

And it seems to be working for both pedestrians and vehicular traffic!



 Read more about it here.
Thanks Bruce!

TARDIS Fridge Decals

Get your custom Tardis decals at artist/engineers B.E.Johnson & Joy Alyssa Day  for $185.Via Geekologie

How Humans Eat Their Food

Via Foodiggity.com

Wine Handbags

Ideal for the wino on the go!
Buy here

Moon Hoon's Play-chitecture

'architecture is alive! moving beyond its limits....also, living in the realm of imaginations...

now that's something to think about as you lie on your barbie pink day bed.'

Korean-born, Australian-raised architect moon hoon designed this playful cluster of 6 weekend homes and a cafe in South Korea. I think theylook like toys.  The structures are thematically centered on ' spain', 'barbie', 'stealth' , 'ferrari', 'cave' and 'korean traditional house.' I think they look like cute toys.

image © moon hoon

image © moon hoon

diagram of the hotel complex
image © moon hoon

Much more at designboom

Midnight Barcelona

Barcelona is one of my favorite cities. It has something for everyone: beach, art, heritage, great food, architecture and has wonderful pedestrian streets for walking.



Via The Presurfer

Little Vampire Glucometer

Vampire Winny, a concept glucometer from Transylvanian designer Diana Dumitrescu, is meant to make the finger pricking experience a little more fun, a little less scary and is easier to use for kids who have to test their blood glucose levels.

Via  Gajitz

Someone Is Overcharging

Via The Queen is not Amused...but I am.

Book House Lamp

Put the book you're reading on this house shaped reading lamp to add a roof and mark your place.

Buy it here

This Is Ska

My son loves ska. Maybe I'll surprise him with some of these cool moves.



Via I Have Seen The Whole Of The Internet

Putting Canada on the map

A wooden table globe created in 1577 by Italian printmaker Mario Cartaro will be auctioned next month. It is believed to be the first to use the name "Canada" to label the northernmost part of the New World. Also on the block is a matching “celestial” globe depicting the heavens as understood by 16th-century scholars.

More at National Post 

Genesis: Sebastião Salgado

Genesis is a photographic exhibition by Sebastião Salgado that seeks to present the world in an untouched state. Salgado spent eight years traveling to unspoiled corners of the world and came back with some remarkable images.

The accompanying 704 page book, published by Taschen, has a spread of almost a metre. 

Venues for the traveling exhibition are listed here.
See more at We Made This Ltd
Thanks Bruce!

Lisa Kokin: Sewn Found Photos

 Lisa Kokin used found photographs and pieced them together. The results are intriguing. Here is what she says about these creations:

Sometimes there are inscriptions on the back (“Susie, 7 years old”) but more often they come to me stripped of all identity. I sit in my studio and speculate about the nature of the photographed people’s lives. I will, of course, never know the truth, so I feel it is my job to give them new lives and rescue them from the obscurity they would be headed for were it not for me, humble servant of the arts. I try to invent an altogether different identity for them but of course, in the final analysis these works are more about me than any of the hundreds of anonymous individuals who appear in my work.

See more at the artist's site
Via MeFi

Reese Witherspoon Arrest Transcript Read By 1990s Slam Poet

Reese Witherspoon arrest transcript read by comedian Sara Benincasa posing as a slam poet.



Via

Nina Simone: The Time Is Now

Nina Simone died 10 years ago today.


Release by the Estate of Nina Simone:
"The Time Is Now" by Nina Simone
Recording session: Home recording, Mount Vernon, 1966

One Night Stand in Wartime

Guy wakes up after a one-night-stand in Boston to find that the entire city is locked down.

With a deadline to hit and a cell phone running on 8% battery, it quickly became clear that my plan to quietly slip out and return home to fulfill my work obligations would be a near impossible feat. I was trapped.

Read the story at Esquire
Via

10 Illegal Things To Do In London

This is for those of you who like to walk on the wild side.



From a pair of scofflaws named Tom and Matt
Thanks Bruce!

Old Clock Tower Converted Into a Penthouse

This 3-floor penthouse in Manhattan spans more than 6,813 square feet (633 sq. m) and has four magnificent 14-ft glass clocks. It has 360-degree views, 16-50 ft ceilings, a glass-enclosed private elevator and a skyroof cabana and open deck.
Priced to sell at just $18m!

More at TwistedSifter

Colorful Cable IDs

These lovely color coded cable wranglers will bring some organization to your work area.

Link Via Book of Joe who suggests buying two sets so you can put matching colors at each end of the cable.

I Love This Blog

I'd link to it every day if that wouldn't be lame.

CoolnessGraphed

Some Cocktails

It's Saturday night. Cocktail time!

The vespa cocktail
The goblet of fire cocktail
Perfect Manhattan

Via Coudal (They seem a little cocktail obsessed over there. Not that there's anything wrong with that.)

On This Day

Ruins of the Ludlow Colony in the direct aftermath of the massacre

On April 20, 1914 the Colorado National Guard attacked a tent colony of 1,200 striking coal miners and their families at Ludlow, Colorado. Two women and eleven children were asphyxiated and burned to death. Three union leaders and two strikers were killed by gunfire, along with one child, one passer-by, and one National Guardsman. In response, the miners armed themselves and attacked dozens of mines, destroying property and engaging in several skirmishes with the Colorado National Guard.

Read more at this Link 

Dope Design

It's 420 and If It's Hip, It's Here invites you to head on over to Pinterest to see a collection of over 100 well-designed items related to marijuana.

Evolution of the New York Driver’s License

1910

The state began issuing paper licenses with personal data and a photograph on the back. In 1903, the
 state had been the first to issue any form of motor vehicle operator’s registration, only for chauffeurs

1941

The state introduced its first three-year license for both chauffeurs and standard operators, adding
space on the back to list criminal convictions and a change of address.

2013

The newest licenses, made of polycarbonate materials, are laser engraved, not printed, and feature
a pair of black-and-white portraits that help make the licenses more difficult to counterfeit.

Link Via Blort

UK fire investigation dog, with special boots to protect his paws from heat/debris.

Isn't he wonderful?

Via Imgur

Are you interested in finding out more about what these dogs do? The Association of Fire Investigation Dog Handlers  promotes the use of Fire Investigation search dogs in the United Kingdom by Fire & Rescue Services, Police Services nationwide and the Forensic Science Service in the detection of ignitable liquid residues at the scene of the suspected arson fire.

Deserted Boston Streets

Eerily beautiful photo of Boston when the city was on lockdown after the Marathon explosions.

Link Via  Neatorama

Mary Ellen Matthews, SNL Photographer

Mary Ellen Matthews has been photographing Saturday Night Live's weekly celebrity hosts since 1999. She tells us about her creative process and about how she manages the turnaround from week to week. 

Read more about Matthews at Peta Pixel

How Much Food Will $5 Buy Around The World?

Do you like potatoes and bananas? You can buy a lot of them in Ethiopia for $5.
Go to China for cheap eggs and beer.
See more at Blog on a Toothpick

An Easy Way To Clean Your Dishwasher

I usually scrub the inside of my dishwasher when it gets a little scuzzy but it's awkward leaning inside. This looks much easier. I'll let you know if it works.

• Place 2 cups of vinegar on the top rack of your dishwasher in a flat bottom dish.
• Place 1/2 cup of Baking Soda in another flat bottomed dish on the top rack of your dishwasher.
• Run the dishwasher on the hottest setting for a complete cycle.

Via The Homestead Survival

Newly-Discovered 12th Century Recipes To Be Recreated

A newly-discovered 12th century manuscript contains recipes that predate the earliest known ones by 150 years. The recipes will be recreated as part of a cookery workshop for history, English and archaeology Master of Arts (MA) students from Durham on April 25th at Blackfriars Restaurant in Newcastle.

Here is a taste of what you might expect:

“The recipes are for sauces to accompany mutton, chicken, duck, pork and beef. There’s even a seasonal version of the chicken recipe, charmingly called “hen in winter”. We believe this recipe is simply a seasonal variation, using ingredients available in the colder months and specifying “hen” rather than “chicken”, meaning it was an older bird as it would be by that time of year. The sauces typically feature parsley, sage, pepper, garlic, mustard and coriander which I suspect may give them a middle eastern, Lebanese feel when we recreate them.

Link via The Presurfer 

Movies In Color

Movies In Color is a blog featuring stills from films and their corresponding color palettes. Below is a scene from Martin Scorsese's Goodfellas (Cinematography: Michael Ballhaus):

Via Mefi