the crossroads

nevver: “Perhaps, when we remember wars, we should take off our...

Fri, 24 May 2013 19:05:54 +1000

“Perhaps, when we remember wars, we should take off our clothes and paint ourselves blue and go on all fours all day long and grunt like pigs. That would surely be more appropriate than noble oratory and shows of flags and well-oiled guns.” — Kurt Vonnegut, Cat’s Cradle

Supermoon Rises Behind a Tree — Nikolakakos Panagiotis

Thu, 23 May 2013 11:47:26 +1000

Supermoon Rises Behind a Tree — Nikolakakos Panagiotis

Photo

Wed, 22 May 2013 11:55:42 +1000

thedailywhat: Heartwarming Tearjerker of the Day: Moore Tornado...

Wed, 22 May 2013 10:55:09 +1000

thedailywhat:

Heartwarming Tearjerker of the Day: Moore Tornado Survivor Finds Her Dog in Rubble

This morning, Moore, Oklahoma resident Barbara Garcia was in the middle of an interview with CBS News about losing her home and her beloved companion dog to the deadly tornado, when something miraculous unfolded right in front of them and the viewers at home (starting at 1:32). Just try not to tear up.

science-junkie: seafarers: Giant’s Causeway by Horia...

Wed, 22 May 2013 07:45:08 +1000

science-junkie:

seafarers:

Giant’s Causeway by Horia Bogdan

Name and legend fit because this expanse of stone columns, viewed from above, can easily be mistaken for a road paved by a giant. But geologists know a thing or two about natural structure of volcanic origin and they tell us a different story. They let us know that, about 50 million years ago, a large part of Northern Ireland and the West of Scotland were subjected to prolonged volcanic activity of the crust.

Spilling from long cracks in the crust, lava covered these areas with thicknesses of hundreds of meters. Cooling slowly and uniformly, the lava generated regular polygons of basalt in the more superficial layers, through a process of contraction — like the mud when it dries in the sun.
The surface cracks gradually deepened, dividing the entire thickness of basaltic rock in the stone columns. Then, when the wall rock surrounding these basalt formations were eroded by the activity of the sea, the entire columns came to light.

Anyway, they take the breath away.

nprfreshair: Smithsonian: In the 1960s, Jerry Uelsmann...

Wed, 22 May 2013 07:23:54 +1000

nprfreshair:

Smithsonian:

In the 1960s, Jerry Uelsmann revolutionized the art of photography by manually blending negatives to produce dreamlike landscapes. “The primary creative gesture for most photographers used to be when they clicked the shutter,” Uelsmann says. “But I realized that the darkroom was a visual research lab where the creative process could continue.” Though we’re now in the era of Photoshop, he continues to forsake digital manipulation, as with the 2006 untitled image made from three photos, one including his wife’s hands. “It is an incredible leap of faith to think maybe this tree could blend into these hands,” Uelsmann says. “But the camera is a license to explore.” Uelsmann’s creations are showcased in a traveling exhibit, “Faking It: Manipulated Photography Before Photoshop,” at the National Gallery of Art through May 5.

A Buddhism FAQ

Tue, 21 May 2013 19:12:42 +1000

A Buddhism FAQ: “Because we produce our own suffering, it is within our power not to produce...

nevver: Dead at 74, Ray Manzarek

Tue, 21 May 2013 10:29:57 +1000

nevver:

Dead at 74, Ray Manzarek

Photo

Tue, 21 May 2013 10:24:00 +1000

metalonmetalblog: Laurent Fièvre

Tue, 21 May 2013 07:24:53 +1000

metalonmetalblog:

Laurent Fièvre

Viva la Resistance!

Mon, 20 May 2013 12:57:02 +1000

Viva la Resistance!

laughingsquid: George Takei Responds to Teenage ‘Traditional’...

Mon, 20 May 2013 11:33:37 +1000

laughingsquid:

George Takei Responds to Teenage ‘Traditional’ Marriage Fans With Humorous Signs

lori-rocks: Sunset at Second Beach in Washington state’s...

Mon, 20 May 2013 08:51:45 +1000

lori-rocks:

Sunset at Second Beach in Washington state’s Olympic National Park by Inge Johnsson

Wow

thatscienceguy: This is a simulation of a rotating 4...

Mon, 20 May 2013 08:07:03 +1000

thatscienceguy:

This is a simulation of a rotating 4 dimensional Cube, otherwise known as a Tesseract.

What you are seeing is it Rotating. It is not being distorted, reshaped, or anything like that. it is simply Rotating - It appears to be distorted because you are only seeing the ‘projection’ of it. similarly if you rotated a 3D cube infront of lamp the shadow you would see would appear to distort.

booksdirect: “Vintage social networking.”

Sun, 19 May 2013 15:13:29 +1000

booksdirect:

“Vintage social networking.”

lori-rocks: Milky Way Over Cathedral by Wolongshan

Fri, 17 May 2013 14:09:28 +1000

lori-rocks:

Milky Way Over Cathedral by Wolongshan

“This piece was primarily a trust exercise, in which she told...

Fri, 17 May 2013 10:37:50 +1000

“This piece was primarily a trust exercise, in which she told viewers she would not move for six hours no matter what they did to her. She placed 72 objects one could use in pleasing or destructive ways, ranging from flowers and a feather boa to a knife and a loaded pistol, on a table near her and invited the viewers to use them on her however they wanted.

Initially, Abramović said, viewers were peaceful and timid, but it escalated to violence quickly. “The experience I learned was that … if you leave decision to the public, you can be killed… I felt really violated: they cut my clothes, stuck rose thorns in my stomach, one person aimed the gun at my head, and another took it away. It created an aggressive atmosphere. After exactly 6 hours, as planned, I stood up and started walking toward the public. Everyone ran away, escaping an actual confrontation.”

This piece revealed something terrible about humanity, similar to what Philip Zimbardo’s Stanford Prison Experiment or Stanley Milgram’s Obedience Experiment, both of which also proved how readily people will harm one another under unusual circumstances.”

This performance showed just how easy it is to dehumanize a person who doesn’t fight back, and is particularly powerful because it defies what we think we know about ourselves. I’m certain the no one reading this believes the people around him/her capable of doing such things to another human being, but this performance proves otherwise.”

this is why performance art is important

did-you-kno: Source

Wed, 15 May 2013 12:31:46 +1000

did-you-kno:

Source

Iron Bean or Mr. Man?

Wed, 15 May 2013 08:07:47 +1000

Iron Bean or Mr. Man?

Photo

Wed, 15 May 2013 08:01:32 +1000