Time Warp Wives: Meet the women who really do live in the past By Diana Appleyard Updated: 09:06 GMT, 8 August 2008 The credit crunch, a knife crime epidemic - no wonder so many of us are sick of the 21st century. Most of us just grumble, but some women have taken radical action to escape what they see as the soulless grind of modern life. Meet the 'Time Warp Wives', who believe that life, especially marriage, was far more straightforward in the Thirties, Forties and Fifties. 1950s Joanne Massey, 35, lives in a recreation of a 1950s home in Stafford with her husband Kevin, 42, who works as a graphics application designer. I love nothing better than fastening my pinny round my waist and baking a cake for Kevin in my 1950s kitchen. I put on some lovely Frank Sinatra music and am completely lost in my own little fantasy world. Enlarge Joanne Massey: 'Living like this makes me happier' We've been married for 13 years and we're extremely happy because we both know our roles. What's wrong with wanting to be adored and spoiled? 1940s 1930s Anyone for tea?
The Smoked Corpses of Aseki, Papua New Guinea We tend to associate mummies with ancient Egypt, but a lot of culture around the world practiced mummification. The Anga tribe of the Aseki region of Papua New Guinea is one of them. Anga’s mummies, however, aren't wrapped in bandages and placed in tombs. They are left in the open, high above a cliff, often overlooking the village where they once lived. One of the most important process of mummification is the removal of moisture from the dead bodies, because water promotes decomposition, and a decomposed body cannot be preserved by mummification. Photo credit: Michael Thirnbeck/Flickr The elaborate process began by slicing open the knees, elbows, feet, and other joints. Most of what’s known about the mummies is based on the exaggerated tales of one British explorer named Charles Higginson, who was the first person to document a report on the smoked corpses in 1907. Photo credit: Ian Lloyd Neubauer/BBC Mummification came to an end in 1949 when missionaries took firm root in Aseki.
“Did you know that stones bleed?” Journey in the mysterious world of Pino Sciola Pino Sciola stone museum “What is the first word that comes to your mind when you think of a stone?” Asked me Pino Sciola welcoming me to his house-lab. “Hard? “What about elastic?” This is how my interview with the acclaimed sculptor who makes sound out of stones started. Pino Sciola in his open-air museum in San Sperate Pinuccio Sciola, as he’s known among his fellow countrymen of the colorful town of San Sperate, in southern Sardinia, is an all-round artist, but his soul lies in the mysterious world of stones: “Stones are the backbone of our planet, they were here since time began, over the span of millennia, and they will never cease to exist.” As Confucius already in the 6th century BC praised the importance of harmony between people and nature, today he would have been very pleased to see that Sciola has towards stones the same conception of Chinese ancient culture: they are a gift from Nature to us, and we must cherish them. Pino Sciola sounding stones Pino Sciola sound stones museum
The most beautiful suicide On May 1, 1947, Evelyn McHale leapt to her death from the observation deck of the Empire State Building. Photographer Robert Wiles took a photo of McHale a few minutes after her death. The photo ran a couple of weeks later in Life magazine accompanied by the following caption: On May Day, just after leaving her fiancé, 23-year-old Evelyn McHale wrote a note. From McHale's NY Times obituary, Empire State Ends Life of Girl, 20: At 10:40 A. The serenity of McHale's body amidst the crumpled wreckage it caused is astounding. Update: Here's a better photo of Warhol's print. Update: Here's the page as it appeared in Life Magazine. Update: Codex 99 did some research on McHale and her activities on the day she died.
Surfing The Apocalypse FEBRUARY 2000 The following item was placed for sale to the highest bidder at the online auction site Ebay. A SURFING THE APOCALYPSE exclusive interview with the new owner of the painting can be found following the copy of the ad. Here is the unedited text of the original ad. Photos that appeared in the ad are also included but have been resized/positioned to fit the page. They do appear in the original order This auction is nearing the end. The Original Ad Can Be Viewed HERE Until Ebay Ceases To Archive It. SURFING THE APOCALYPSE followed up on this story in an email interview with the new owner of the painting. SURFING: What attracted you to the "Haunted Painting?" L.B.: Visually, it seemed like a good composition, the artist displayed a certain professional handling of the medium, and the subject matter was compelling. SURFING: How long have you had the painting? L.B.: Since March 7. SURFING: Has anything "unusual" happened with the painting? L.B.: Yes. March 12, 2000 Giclée on canvas.
Public Art Concepts - Dan Sternof Beyer 2011 Download the PDF of these ideas : Public Art Concepts - Dan Sternof Beyer 2011 (2mb) [ New American Public Art ] postcards from google earth by clement valla mar 19, 2013 postcards from google earth by clement valla ‘postcards from google earth’ by clement valla, 2011-2013 image © clement valla brooklyn-based artist clement valla, scours the algorithmic confines of google earth in search ruptures of the archive’s ‘universal texture’, the mapping method by which google generates models of the planet’s surfaces. the three dimensional model, however, is characterized by a fluidity generated by two dimensional parameters. when texture coincides with picture plane and is subsequently stretched across 3d space, there are often seams at which the hyper-real representation betrays the dynamic data points that make up the map. valla collects these incongruous seams and exposes the points where perception confronts reality. more ‘postcards’ can be found here. millau, france los angeles, california rome, italy deception pass, washington, usa powell, montana valley pass switzerland catskills,new york, usa cat garcia menocal I designboom
Most Weird Book Ever Made : Le Livre Sans Titre | The Hidden Fact Le Livre Sans Titre (The Book without a Title) is dated 1830 and it illustrates how dangerous masturbation can be. Weird. He was young, handsome; his mother’s fond hope He corrupted himself! A devouring fire sears his gut; he suffers horrible stomach pains… See his eyes once so pure, so brilliant; they are extinguished! He can’t walk any more… his legs give way Hideous dreams disturb his slumber… he cannot sleep… His teeth rot and fall out… His chest burns… he spits up blood… His hair, once so lovely, falls as if from old age; his scalp grows bald before his age…. He hungers; he wants to satiate his appetite; food won’t stay down in his stomach… His chest collapses… he vomits blood… Pustules cover his entire body… He is terrible to behold! A slow fever consumes him, he declines; all of his body burns up… His entire body stiffens! He is delirious; he stiffens against death; death gains strength… At the age of 17, he expires, and in horrible torment
Most Interesting Libraries of the World The Royal library Black Diamond at the waterfront of Copenhagen owes its name to the black granite from Zimbabwe used for the facade of the building. The name was used by the public first and has been adapted officially later. Design by the Danish architects Schmidt, Hammer & Lassen. Photography by Mirage Bookmark Flickr.com Maps home page Down to: 6th to 15th Centuries | 16th and 19th Centuries | 1901 to World War Two | 1946 to 21st Century The Ancient World ... index of places Aegean Region, to 300 BCE Aegean Region, 185 BCE Africa, 2500 to 1500 BCE Africa to 500 CE African Language Families Alexander in the East (334 to 323 BCE) Ashoka, Empire of (269 to 232 BCE) Athenian Empire (431 BCE) China, Korea and Japan (1st to 5th century CE) China's Warring States (245 to 235 BCE) Cyrus II, Empire of (559 to 530 BCE) Delian League, 431 BCE Egyptian and Hittite Empires, 1279 BCE Europe Fertile Crescent, 9000-4500 BCE Germania (120 CE) Greece (600s to 400s BCE) Gupta Empire (320 to 550 CE) Han China, circa 100 BCE Hellespont (Battle of Granicus River, 334 BCE) India to 500 BCE Israel and Judah to 733 BCE Italy and Sicily (400 to 200 BCE) Judea, Galilee, Idumea (1st Century BCE) Mesopotamia to 2500 BCE Mesoamerica and the Maya (250 to 500 CE) Oceania Power divisions across Eurasia, 301 BCE Roman Empire, CE 12 Roman Empire, CE 150 Roman Empire, CE 500
Image evolution What is this? A simulated annealing like optimization algorithm, a reimplementation of Roger Alsing's excellent idea. The goal is to get an image represented as a collection of overlapping polygons of various colors and transparencies. We start from random 50 polygons that are invisible. In each optimization step we randomly modify one parameter (like color components or polygon vertices) and check whether such new variant looks more like the original image. Fitness is a sum of pixel-by-pixel differences from the original image. This implementation is based on Roger Alsing's description, though not on his code. How does it look after some time? 50 polygons (4-vertex) ~15 minutes 644 benefitial mutations 6,120 candidates 88.74% fitness 50 polygons (6-vertex) ~15 minutes 646 benefitial mutations 6,024 candidates 89.04% fitness 50 polygons (10-vertex) ~15 minutes 645 benefitial mutations 5,367 candidates 87.01% fitness Does it work on all images? It depends, success varies. Requirements
How to Get a Copy of Your FBI File (idea) by narzos The Freedom of Information Act is a powerful thing. If you've ever wanted to know just what those guvmint bastards have on you, anyway, here's your chance. Just fill in the italics in this form letter with the appropriate information, get your signature notarized, send it off, and you're in business! This should be free, though if your search returns reams of information, you may be charged 5 cents per page in duplication fees. The law says that your request must be responded to within 10 days, but you can expect something closer to 2 or 3 months for a definitive answer with the current backlog of paperwork. Your Name Today's Date Your Address Line 2 of Your Address Federal Bureau of Investigation Records Resources Division - Attn.: FOIA/PA Office J. This is a request for records under both the Privacy Act and the Freedom of Information Act. My full name is: Your Name. I hereby agree to pay reasonable costs associated with this request up to a maximum of $30. Sincerely,Your Signature