Social media doesn't care for Reese's misshapen Peanut Butter Christmas trees.
Via: Neatorama
Monday, November 30, 2015
A moving cover for the New Yorker
Chris Ware, in collaboration with John Kuramoto, Ira Glass, and Nico Muhly, made a moving cover for the latest issue of the New Yorker, both in the sense that it is actually in motion and that the story it tells is touching and makes an impression.
Via
Via
Saving Snowflakes
How to preserve snowflakes forever by following this method. (I'm not looking for hot neighbour action so I won't be doing this.)
Via Holy Kaw!
Via Holy Kaw!
How Long Travel Took 100 Years Ago
This wonderful isochronic map shows how long it would take—in days, not hours—to travel to locations around the world in 1914. It was first published by John G. Bartholomew, cartographer royal to King George V, in “An Atlas of Economic Geography”.
Link
Via
Click here for larger image
Link
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Can you identify the world cities from their 'naked' metro maps?
Artist and urban planner Neil Freeman of Fake is the New Real has been updating his geographically accurate maps of city subway systems, all drawn to the same scale. Can you identify the cities? I'll give you the first one. It's London.
Take the quiz
Take the quiz
Sunday, November 29, 2015
Drowning Megacities
African megacities are under dual pressure from uncontrolled urbanisation and floods worsened by climate change. The result is a catastrophe that is unravelling in slow motion and threatening the livelihoods of millions of people.
Drowning Megacities is a web documentary by Lasse Wamsler, Sune Gudmundsson and Sven Johannessen.
Images: Tom Saater
Images: Tom Saater
Michelle Kingdom Embroidery
California-based artist Michelle Kingdom creates tiny worlds in thread. The scenes are densely sewn into compressed compositions using thread as a sketching tool that simultaneously honours and undermines the tradition of embroidery.
Via
Hotel 22
Documentary filmmaker Elizabeth Lo filmed the night crowd on Line 22, the only 24-hour bus line in California’s pricy Santa Clara Valley. Homeless people take its 1.5 hour route to and fro at night to sleep in relative safety.
Via
Via
The IKEA Dictionary
Lars Petrus has divided the names into these main groups:
- Proper Swedish words.
- Improper Swedish words. IKEA laughs at the 'rules' of human language!
- First names. Mostly Swedish, some Scandinavian, occasional exotic names. Geographical names. Swedish, Danish, Norwegian or Finnish. Yes, there are patterns.
- A few names that defy categorization.
- Mystery names ... Currently 130 out of 1362 names.
Via
The "Quiet Beatle" Died On This Date
George Harrison, my favourite Beatle, left this world on this day in 2001.
Tour Petra Without Leaving Home
Google Maps has launched Street View imagery in more than 30 historical sites in Jordan, including Petra, one of the most famous archaeological sites in the world. The imagery was collected with the Street View Trekker, which is a 40-pound backpack that snaps photos as the operator walks.
Link
Via: bookofjoe
From The Annals Of Law, Medicine And Teenagers Gone Wild
Today frequent contributor, Bruce, sent me three interesting reports from centuries past.
The first is about a thief who stole an Italian greyhound. When caught he was offered two choices: he could either be consigned to the police or he could kneel down on the street and kiss the little dog.
More: Mimi Matthews
The second story concerns a woman who was struck dumb when she swallowed thunder.
More: Thomas Morris
Number three tells us about Victorian era writers who were rebellious teenagers.
More: Writers In London In the 1890s
The first is about a thief who stole an Italian greyhound. When caught he was offered two choices: he could either be consigned to the police or he could kneel down on the street and kiss the little dog.
More: Mimi Matthews
The second story concerns a woman who was struck dumb when she swallowed thunder.
More: Thomas Morris
Number three tells us about Victorian era writers who were rebellious teenagers.
More: Writers In London In the 1890s
Saturday, November 28, 2015
Clandestine Cameras From The Golden Age of Espionage
British auction house, Bonhams, is holding a rare cameras auction in Hong Kong on December 3. Among a broad selection of photography equipment and accessories will be 14 spy-worthy clandestine cameras.
More here
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| Doryu 2-16 gun camera (Doryu Camera Co, Japan, 1952) |
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| Taschenbuch book camera (Haake & Albers, Frankfurt, 1888) |
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| ABC watch camera (Steineck, Germany, 1948) |
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| Kodak Matchbox camera (Eastman Kodak Co. Rochester, NY, 1944) |
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| Lucky Strike spy camera with Ohio Safety match box light meter (Mast Development Corp, USA, 1949) |
More here
Justin and the Mannequins
The is a sweet video for the State Lotteries in Spain. Justin is security guard in a mannequin factory. His loneliness and his desire to share lead him to interact with the mannequins, and later to communicate through them with his colleagues on the morning shift.
Thanks Bruce!
Thanks Bruce!
Bob Dylan in Hamilton, Ontario 1986
Bob Dylan acting like a regular guy in a car park in Hamilton, Ontario, in 1986. For some reason I find it hilarious. This was the closing scene of a BBC TV 'Omnibus' documentary Getting To Dylan about Bob Dylan's starring role in the movie Hearts Of Fire directed by Richard Marquand.
You can see the whole documentary here.
Via
You can see the whole documentary here.
Via
Friday, November 27, 2015
East German Stasi Used Flash Cards For Facial Recognition
The Berlin Wall, built in 1961, separated East Berlin, a Soviet sector, from the American, British, and French zones that became known as West Berlin. It stood 12 feet high and stretched for 96 miles. Anyone crossing between East and West Berlin was subject to the scrutiny of armed border guards whose job was to assess whether or not they looked like the photograph they have presented. Guards on the Eastern side of the Berlin Wall had three years of training in a very specific system of facial recognition.
Images: The booklet People's Physical Characteristics, published in 1970 by the Ministry of State Security ("Stasi").
More: Atlas Obscura
Space Glass
Space Glass is a series of pendants by Japanese glass artist Satoshi Tomizu. Tiny galaxies appear inside every beautiful piece. Each has a loop on top, allowing you to turn them into unique necklaces.
More: My Modern Met
Via
More: My Modern Met
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How to Spot a Communist in 1955
In 1955, the United States was entering the final stages of McCarthyism or the Second Red Scare. Entertainers, educators, government employees and union members were blacklisted and their lives destroyed. Congress, the FBI, and the US military encouraged Americans to look for Communists and turn them in. Some Communists were out in the open; however, others “worked more silently.”
More: Open Culture
More: Open Culture
Thursday, November 26, 2015
Thanksgiving in Space Much Like Thanksgiving on Earth
Rejected Thanksgiving Balloons
These illustrations by Mark Bernice capture the true spirit of Thanksgiving.
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| 10 POUNDS OF ADDED FAT |
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| BLACK FRIDAY DOORBUSTER AD |
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| THE TURKEY’S HEAD |
More balloons: The New York Times
Photographer Recreates Famous Artworks Casting Herself In Lead Roles
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| After Whistler |
Stages is a self-portrait project by American photographer Laura Hofstadter. She re-creates classical paintings using simple household props and casting herself in the lead role. The project illustrates the various stages of life that we pass through, as well as those of loss and aging. It also examines the artist’s own experience battling cancer and the effects the treatment has bestowed upon her body.
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| After Magritte |
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| After Vermeer |
Sylvie Vartan Scopitone
Let Sylvie and her friend twist your troubles away! Sylvie Vartan was a yé-yé artist who was very popular when I was growing up in Montreal.
Scopitones were the precursors of today's music videos and were popular during the sixties. They were films played on a 'film jukebox' that was also called a Scopitone. You can see more here.
Link
Via
Scopitones were the precursors of today's music videos and were popular during the sixties. They were films played on a 'film jukebox' that was also called a Scopitone. You can see more here.
Link
Via
You're Left Wing And Look About 12
Journalist Owen Jones goes to Dorset to meet one of his twitter trolls to see why he does it. (If you're offended by vulgar language give it a pass).
Via
Via
This Image Was 6 Years and 720K Photos in the Making
“Kingfishers dive so fast they are like bullets so taking a good photo requires a lot of luck – and a lot of patience,” says Scottish photographer Alan McFadyen. He spent an estimated 6 years, 4,200 hours, and 720,000 exposures trying to nail the perfect symmetrical shot of a kingfisher diving into its reflection.
More here
More here
The Case Of The Poisoned Dumplings
‘Before the just and almighty God, and by the faith of the holy sacrament I have taken, I am innocent of the offence with which I am charged.’Her case became instrumental in the fight for doctors to be better trained in the newly developing science of forensics and also led to the launch of experiments on yeast and arsenic that continue to this day.
Ms Fenning left another legacy behind: when Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein she based the character of the wrongly accused Justine on Eliza.
Read more here
It’s Carving Time!
In the nick of time here's a vintage video from the U.S. Department of Agriculture that tells you everything you need to know about carving the festive bird. Bon appetit, my American friends!
Via
Via
Dredging Drowned Bicycles From Amsterdam Canals
There are an estimated 800,000 bicycles in Amsterdam. How many of these end up at the bottom of a canal? Hundreds, many of which are vintage. A giant claw machine perched atop a barge dredges them up from canal floors.
Not only bikes but shopping carts, wagons, and even an occasional car are fished out.
Link
Not only bikes but shopping carts, wagons, and even an occasional car are fished out.
Link
Wednesday, November 25, 2015
Fore-edge Painting
In this 1947 film a scene is painted on the edges of the pages of a book. She's pretty handy with a paintbrush, she even painted her hair to match the walls.
Forecasting Vivid Sunsets
Never miss another glorious sunset! The team of three Pennsylvania meteorologists behind SunsetWx has developed a model to provide a coast-to-coast sunset quality forecast.
"The model blends high-resolution forecasts of humidity, pressure changes, and clouds at various levels of the atmosphere, weighting wispy upper-level clouds the strongest and penalizing for thick, low-level clouds or average clear sky evenings."Image: @AirlineFlyer
Link
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Old School Snowball Fights
Were these three members of Princeton’s class of 1895 involved in a boxing match? No, these battered faces are the result of a truly extreme sport, the yearly freshman/sophomore snowball fight.
Niume | Posts
Niume | Posts
The Oak in a Dovecote
In the old days, the possession of a dovecote was a symbol of status and power, and only the nobles had the privilege of owning one.
When feudalism in France was abolished on 4 August 1789, the rights to keep dovecotes were thrown out as well. Thousands of dovecotes all across France fell into disuse.
When feudalism in France was abolished on 4 August 1789, the rights to keep dovecotes were thrown out as well. Thousands of dovecotes all across France fell into disuse.
An abandoned dovecote in the town of Béceleuf, in the department of Deux-Sèvres lost its roof letting in rainwater and sunlight and a young oak tree grew. This dovecote has 2700 recesses or wall openings and could house approximately 5000 pigeons. The tree is now a hundred years old. It has outgrown the stone cylinder that protected it from predators when it was young, today forming a crown over its head.
Images: pierrecuny.canalblog.com Via Amusing Planet
Tuesday, November 24, 2015
The Trout That Stole the Rainbow
Smokerless Smoked Chicken
Easy crispy-skinned smoky chicken cooked inside without a smoker. I'm going to try it.
Thoughts on Romance From the Road
In her series Thoughts on Romance From the Road American photographer Victoria Crayhon posts her inner thoughts on old cinema marquees instead of on social media.
‘I think I am making fun of the insatiable need to ‘update one’s status’ in the various ways we do it’, she says. ‘The texts come from my rephrasing of my own memories of thoughts and conversations within past or current relationships, ad campaigns, made-up truisms, quotes from particularly ridiculous celebrity interviews, snippets from ‘romance’ stories from vintage women’s magazines, movie or TV character titles or dialogue, all sorts of things like that’.
Link
Women in Autochrome
A collection of amazing color portrait photos of women from the early 20th century; these photographs were made on color photographic Autochrome plate technology.
More: vintage everyday
Via
Ai Weiwei Wants You To Toss Lego Into The Sunroof Of This Car
Dissident contemporary artist Ai Weiwei recently placed a large order for Lego bricks to be used in an art piece; the Danish toymaker declined, citing a policy against involvement in political work. So the Art Gallery of Ontario, along with several other international institutions, is collecting Lego donations on Weiwei's behalf. Per his studio's instructions, the blocks are to be tossed through the sunroof of a second-hand BMW sedan parked outside the AGO at Dundas and McCaul. It'll stick around through January 3, with the roof open during regular gallery hours, weather permitting.
More: NOW Toronto Magazine
Inside Russia's Closed Cities
ZATO is a project by 36 year-old Russian photographer Sergey Novikov that takes us inside Russia’s secret cities.
These cities were established in the 1940s to serve as nuclear weapon development or disposal sites, and were home to the navy and missile forces. They were not on any maps, had encrypted names and were called “mailboxes”. The residents were told not to mention their place of residence, but to use the name of the nearest major city instead.
With the collapse of the Soviet state, the cities are no longer secret but a pass is still required to enter. Today 1.2 million people live in 41 closed cities in Russia. They receive budget subsidies, have low crime rates, high-level medicine and social services. Recent polls among the residents revealed that the majority of people are still against a radical change of territorial policy.
More: Fotografia Magazine
These cities were established in the 1940s to serve as nuclear weapon development or disposal sites, and were home to the navy and missile forces. They were not on any maps, had encrypted names and were called “mailboxes”. The residents were told not to mention their place of residence, but to use the name of the nearest major city instead.
With the collapse of the Soviet state, the cities are no longer secret but a pass is still required to enter. Today 1.2 million people live in 41 closed cities in Russia. They receive budget subsidies, have low crime rates, high-level medicine and social services. Recent polls among the residents revealed that the majority of people are still against a radical change of territorial policy.
More: Fotografia Magazine
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