Russian Sledges

"Tabula logarithmorum vulgarium" from Vega, Georg, Freiherr von, 1754-1802.
Logarithmisch-trigonometrische Tafeln nebst andern zum gebrauch der Mathematik eingerichteten Tafeln und Formeln, 1797.

 Math 837.97*

Houghton Library, Harvard University

Fenollosa, Ernest Francisco, 1853-1908. Papers.

MS Am 1759.4 (1)

Houghton Library, Harvard University

Between Better Call Saul's staffing decisions and potential cameos, it's almost like Breaking Bad never ended at all. Yeah, that's the ticket. It never ended at all. Variety reports that Breaking Bad's Thomas Schnauz and Gennifer Hutchison have joined the AMC prequel as co-executive producer and supervising producer respectively. Schnauz ... More »

monobeartheater:

malapropsbookstore:

infinitywhale:

gunpowderchant:

Get your facts straight, CNN.

If you didn’t know, Stephen Colbert is a literal expert on Lord of the Rings. He went onto the sets of one of the films and managed to beat the resident lore expert in a trivia contest. Someday he will die and Death will come, and he will live forever by challenging him to a contest of LoTR trivia.

Headcanon accepted.

friendly reminder that when they were making armor for the monsters in the LOTR movies colbert came on set and gave tips to improve and make them more accurate

The niece of the great Mongol leader, Kubla Khan, Princess Khutulun was described by Marco Polo as the greatest warrior in Khan's army. She told her uncle she would marry any man who could wrestle her and win. If they lost they had to give her 100 horses. She died unmarried with 10,000 horses.

jeou:

The interior decor of the Ettal Abbey, located in in Bavaria, Germany

Original Source

earthqirl:

 

icreateidestroy:

It’s Hotel Kakslauttanen! This is their glass igloo village where you can watch the beautiful and vivid northern lights from your bed. How wild would that be?! There is so much do and experience here. If you are brave enough you can take it one step further than the glass igloo, and sleep in real snow-built igloos! Of course, they have cabins too (that are absolutely amazing and drool worthy). I would love to go someday!

A reporter in South America called yesterday to ask me about the new rules for food labels and marketing to children just issued by the Chilean ministry of health.

The rules establish nutrition standards for foods.  Products that exceed the standards will have to say high in sugar, salt, or fat in brightly colored labels (red, green, blue) on the front of the packages.

The standards themselves are much stricter than anything ever proposed in the United States, even than those of the ill-fated Interagency Working Group (IWG).

Sodas, for example, can only contain 15 grams of sugars per 8 ounces (they typically contain 27 grams).

I’m told that other rules deal with advertising to children (no toys, nothing specifically enticing such as cartoons).

How could this happen?

I’m not up on Chilean politics.  All I know is that these rules were proposed under the current president whose wife was behind the Elige Viver Sano program, one quite similar to Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move!

If you know something about the politics of this initiative, please write a comment.  I’d like to know more about this.  Thanks!

Update: Thanks to Dr. Corinna Hawkes Dr Corinna Hawkes, Head of Policy and Public Affairs for the World Cancer Research Fund International sends the following information:

• The Chile regulation (needs updating)
• A speech on Chile’s regulation given at Bellagio
• Ecuador’s regulation on front-of-package labeling and marketing to children
• An article about Ecuador’s labeling program
• An article about Ecuador’s traffic-light labels

 

 

 

suebuzz:

jessicaisgray:

"When I got into the music industry a majority of female artists I’d seen were trying to regurgitate an ideal of the female image. They were trying to be almost a replica of what was popular. I just found that to be very boring and dishonest. I just wanted to be in control of my clothes. I wanted that choice. That’s the only thing that I’m saying. Women should not be marginalized. We shouldn’t play into the sexism." - Janelle Monae [x[

Is it possible to love this woman even more?

This holiday season we’ve been celebrating the sweet side of the seaon with confection-inspired projects: Laura’s Candy Button Hat, Molly’s Taffy Twist Felt Garland and Ribbon Candy Ornaments and Whitney’s Crocheted Candy Ornaments. And while usually at this time of year we share an original cookie recipe, this season, to observe our candy-sweet yuletide theme, we tried our hand at candy making! 

Page comes from a long line of Italian foodies, and one of her obsessions is honey-flavored torrone, a traditional Italian Christmas treat. Her version of this beautiful, glittering nougat is so seasonal and wintery, like a smooth blanket of snow flecked with jewels. (The colorful little sparkles are actually rock candy!) Dole out delicious pieces at your holiday festivities or wrap up some bars as a yummy gift! 

This recipe is a great first foray into the world of candy making! So take a break from sewing up that final seam or weaving in that last end and give it a try! For a less sweet version, make it the traditional way with almonds or pistachios instead of rock candy.

 

All of us at Purl Soho and the Purl Bee wish all of you a very sweet and merry Christmas!

The competition facing early-career academics in the United States, Europe and other places continues to sharpen.

Tokyo International Forum | Rafael Viñoly | Manuela Martin

Dating Tip #233: Tell her you are from a race of power hungry maniacs currently devastating the Universe, on the first date.

Credit to: c-d-e

Hokusai’s The Great Wave Off Mass. Ave.: pic.twitter.com/BhhYEFAvSf

matineemoustache:

Peter O’Toole & Audrey Hepburn by Terry O’Neill

On the set of How To Steal A Million 1966

Something Called "The Object" Stops World's Largest Tunneling Machine:

gjume:

sittingsidewaysinaredthotorghini:

voidrituals:

Bertha, the world’s largest tunneling machine, churning through the rock and mud beneath Seattle, has hit a mysterious roadblock €”so mysterious, it is only known for now as “the object.”

yo what the fuck stop digging into the earth

man i hope some wild shit wipes out humanity

this is fucked up i told you all i warned you

what the fuck kinda monster would be livin underneath seattle anyways. Bet The Object is just the name of the worlds most underground band

crowcrow:

this happy goat is making me feel so happy about everything

In striking down Utah's same-sex marriage ban today, the Obama-appointed federal judge seemed almost to take pleasure in embracing Antonin Scalia throughout the opinion.

Frozach Submitted

Massachusetts state police announced today on an official Facebook page that a trooper stopped a vehicle in which 1,250 packets of heroin stamped "Obamacare" and "Kurt Cobain" were found. The four people inside the car were arrested. A state police dog ("K9 Frankie") found the bags of heroin after a routine traffic stop. AP:

State police Lt. Daniel Richard says it's not unusual for heroin to be stamped with numbers, words or symbols to identify who's selling it. But he says the "Obamacare" stamp is one he hadn't heard of.

NBC Connecticut:

Police arrested Tyler Robenstein, 23, of Colchester, Vt., and charged him with trafficking in heroin, conspiracy to violate the drugs laws, possession to distribute a Class A substance, speeding, unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle and failure to change lanes for an emergency vehicle. The three passengers -- Marquese Jones, 22, and Sherod Green, 24, both of Newark, N.J., and Ashley Beaulieu, 21, of Colchester, Vt. -- were charged with trafficking in heroin, conspiracy to violate the drugs laws and possession to distribute a Class A substance.

My mom used to make me a special cake on my birthday. It was a four-layer white cake, each layer filled with lemon pie filling. The cake was frosted with Seven Minute Frosting – which is basically like marshmallow fluff – and coated with sweetened shredded coconut.

I loved this cake. It went down like sweet, fluffy air and the acid from the lemon pie filling (from a can as I recall, not that I minded) just slightly offset the sugar-bomb joy that was the rest of the cake.

The first time I made homemade lemon curd, my mind went back to that cake. It was like lemon pie filling had grown up, discovered mascara, and slipped into a damned sexy strapless sundress. Lemon curd was a head-turner. Lemon curd had something going on – sweet, bright with citrus flavor, just a bit tart, smooth and equally at home at a casual picnic, alongside a wedge of Almond Cake or as the star of a high-end French tartlet.

I was in love.

It’s Meyer Lemon season now, which means it’s time to make and stash away a few jars of Meyer Lemon Curd so the love affair can continue.

Meyer lemons are less tart than the Eureka (and similar) lemons that you are likely to find at the supermarket, and their skins are thinner and more golden-orange in tone than yellow. If you can’t track down Meyer lemons, this recipe is equally delicious (though a bit more puckery) with regular lemons. Or substitute lime juice and lime zest for lime curd. You really can’t go wrong.

I never water bath can my citrus curds – although it’s possible with the right recipe (not this one), the shelf life is quite limited and the powers-that-be insist that bottled citrus juices be used for safety. Using anything but freshly squeezed juice in a curd recipe would be an absolute offense. Don’t waste your butter.

Instead of canning, I freeze my curd for longer storage. It freezes perfectly for several months – probably longer, but I’ve never had a batch last more than 3 months because it’s that good. In fact, frozen curd is a treat in itself, and I have snuck more than a few spoonfuls straight out of a jar in the freezer to eat like the world’s most delicious lemon sherbert.

My favorite lemon curd recipe comes from Fine Cooking. The proportions given here will make a triple batch – enough to get 6 or 7 half-pint jars of curd stashed away.

Bulk Peeling and Juicing

You’re going to need about 10 medium Meyer lemons for this recipe, but it’s best to have a few extras on hand in case your specimens are smaller or less juicy. Lemon zest is infinitely useful, so when I have a lot of lemons to juice, I take a bulk approach to zesting and juicing.

First I wash and dry all the lemons. I recommend organic lemons, but if all you can find is conventional, be particularly vigilant about scrubbing the peels well to remove as much wax and pesticide residue as possible.

Next I peel each lemon with a vegetable peeler.

All the peels get set to one side and the naked lemons get set to the other.

Now you can process your lemon peels in bulk – I just popped all mine in the food processor to mince them. I used what I needed fresh in a few recipes and then dehydrated the remainder. Easy peasy.

I turned the lemons over to my son for juicing. He did great!

Meyer Lemon Curd Step-by-Step

Combine the butter, sugar and lemon zest in the bowl of a food processor.

When all the butter and sugar is well combined, add in the eggs with the mixer running.

Scrape down the bowl once or twice and process until smooth.

If your food processor is large enough, add in the lemon juice and process to combine and then transfer the curd mix to a heavy saucepan. If you don’t have enough room to blend the juice in the food processor, just scrape the butter-sugar-egg mix into a heavy saucepan and whisk in the lemon juice. If the mixture looks a bit curdled, don’t panic. It will be fine.

Heat curd mix over low-to-medium heat, depending on how ballsy you are. Stir consistently until mixture thickens and changes from pale yellow to bright lemon yellow. It is done at 170-degrees, or when you can run your finger through a dollop of curd and the line of your finger stays. If you get the curd too hot you’ll have sweet, lemony scrambled eggs – not so nice.

At this point, if you want you can strain your curd. If you are concerned you may have a little bit of floating scrambled egg in there, or if you prefer your curd without the lemon zest, strain. I don’t – I like those little flecks of zest. Ladle the curd into clean, dry half-pint jars.

I press small squares of plastic wrap down on the top of the curd to help keep a skin from forming. This is optional. You can also use waxed paper.

Transfer the curd to the fridge. It will firm and thicken as it cools. Transfer whatever curd you won’t eat within a week to the freezer for longer storage.

Printable Meyer Lemon Curd Recipe

 

What is your favorite way to use Lemon Curd?

surprise you’re in rural atlantic canada

my-doctor-who-feels:

i-am-a-lullaby:

I have a little rule of reblogging this whenever it appears in my dash

IF HE DIDN’T GET THAT KITTEN THEN THAT’S IT I’M DONE I QUIT LIFE

And the kitteh is all like, I CAN HAZ TIME LORD?

"The ignorant mistake the rich for the beautiful, the costly for the elegant. I make war upon these glittering atrocities."

From Drinks

Cocktail lovers stateside are pretty familiar with Carpano Antica Formula—so much so that a writer for Food & Wine joked that "If you add Carpano Antica to whiskey, people will think you are a good bartender." But while we've enjoyed our share of drinks enriched with the Antica, Europe got early access to the Bianco version, which finally launched this fall in the US.

Made with a white wine base (using Trebbiano, Chardonnay and Cortese grapes), Carpano Bianco is fortified and then flavored with ginger, cloves, chamomile, hyssop, and what they're calling 'artemisia' (The artemisia genus includes several hundred species including wormwood, sagebrush, and mugwort). It's selling for around $22 for a 750 mL bottle.

We gave it a try, and immediately noticed its super-floral aroma—think candied violet, candied ginger, and wafting perfume...with a hint of hair salon. It has nice orangey-lemony flavors (and floral grapey notes that might remind you of muscat), and a little lingering bitterness that's noticeable when the floral notes recede. On its own, we weren't convinced.

But choose the right gin to mix it with, and you might have a winner. While Hendrick's was way too soft and floral, making the combination all sweet perfume and Lemon Pledge, Broker's London Dry Gin worked a bit better. The juniper flavors dominated a bit, but the Carpano Bianco adds good body to the mix. The best of the mixing options wasn't the soft-floral Hendrick's or the more traditional Broker's: it was Reisetbauer Blue Gin from Austria, which blended seamlessly with the Bianco Vermouth, for a smooth, creamy, plush result.

Have you tried Carpano Bianco? Discover any good cocktail combinations that include it?

About the Author: Maggie Hoffman is a Senior Editor at Serious Eats, based in San Francisco. She founded Serious Eats: Drinks in 2011. You can follow her on Twitter @maggiejane.

Flights that ferry us the farthest

THIS is your captain speaking. Welcome aboard Economist flight DEC20 to London. Today's in-flight entertainment is an infographic of the longest commercial flights—“ultra long-haul” routes that last more than 12 hours. We regret to announce that the lengthiest—Singapore Airlines’ flight from the city-state to Newark Airport near New York, at 15,263km—was discontinued last month. That now makes Qantas’ Sydney to Dallas flight the longest, at 13,790km. For those travelling during the holidays, spare a thought for passengers strapped into their seats for around 16 hours, the journey time for these flights. That’s double the duration it took Concorde to complete a similar distance (going round trip between London and Barbados). In the chart below, scroll down to see how these ultra long-haul flights compare. And thank you for choosing The Economist. We appreciate that there are other chart providers and we hope to serve you again for all your infographic interests.

Continue reading

Political Science, University of California, Berkeley.

passeriform:

jazzvampire:

steroge:

Fencing class at the girl school…

No masks? Are you nuts? (staged, I bet)