blackhistoryalbum:

Black Style | 1880s

Studio portrait of an African American female equestrian rider from the late 1880s.

via Black History Album, The Way We Were
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riding outfits forever

Today on Toothpaste For Dinner: im like a brony

Now the first episodes of the new series are out, I think it’s time to reveal a trade secret in The Doctor’s latest attire that would otherwise go completely unnoticed, and give a bit of credit where credit’s due.

If you’ve watched any of the old Doctor Who Confidential episodes, or the documentaries on the DVDs you’ll have picked up that a lot of crew working on the series are themselves long time fans.
They often sneak in secret in jokes or spend bit more time than the usual to make the episodes have hidden depths.

When the boot makers were asked to prepare new footwear for series seven, part of the brief was to make the boots more ornate and intricate.

Their response was to decorate all edges of the leather with a hand-punched design.

This detailing extends to the toes of the boot, over which is a scrolled pattern.

Rather than just do some random design, the cutter at the boot makers said “Let’s have some fun”.
He looked on the internet and downloaded an image of the Seal Of Rassilon, first used as the symbol of the Time Lords during The Deadly Assassin in 1976.

Passing it to his cutter, the boot maker said “Use this, but make it different”.


As a result he came up with the design on the purple boots which has a mirror symmetry rather than rotational as seen on the Rassilon Seal.

A second pair of boots in brown were also made to the same pattern, but these have a nondescript design on the toe and aren't used as prolifically as the purple version.

You can see here the finished toe of the boots, with the card pattern used to make the hole punches.
The figure-eight design of the Rassilon seal is clearly evident, now you know what it is supposed to represent.


How cool is that? And how subtle so no-one really knows - until now!

Early on the morning of May 13, 1862, a lookout on the U.S.S. Onward spotted a Confederate steamer heading out of Charleston Harbor directly toward the Union blockade. Commander F.J. Nickels was about to fire when he saw that the steamer was flying a white flag. “The steamer ran alongside and I immediately boarded her, hauled down [the] flag of truce, and hoisted the American ensign, and found that it was the steamer Planter, of Charleston, and had successfully run past the forts and escaped.”

The transport ship’s pilot, Robert Smalls, had resolved to escape slavery by steaming out to the Union warships blockading his city. When the ship’s white officers had gone ashore that night, he directed his eight fellow slaves to fire up the boilers and guided the ship to a nearby wharf, where they collected their families. Then Smalls donned the captain’s hat and coat and gave two long and one short blasts on the whistle as they neared Fort Sumter, as he had seen the captain do. The sentry sent him on his way. As he made for the Union fleet three miles away, he put up one of his wife’s bedsheets as a flag of truce.

Harper’s Weekly called the theft “one of the most daring and heroic adventures since the war commenced.” In his Naval History of the Civil War, Union admiral David Dixon wrote, “The taking out of the ‘Planter’ would have done credit to anyone, but the cleverness with which the whole affair was conducted deserves more than a passing notice.”

Smalls was given a monetary reward for the captured Planter and went on to serve in the South Carolina legislature and the U.S. House of Representatives. When Abraham Lincoln asked why he had stolen the ship, he said simply, “Freedom.”

“To the Batmobile!”

The Batman Family Car Decal Set consists of three window stickers depicting a very sad Batman and two gravestones honoring his deceased parents (Dr. Thomas Wayne and Martha Wayne). It is available to purchase at ThinkGeek.

Gotham Showers

The rain beats down.
It floods the filth into the streets
But doesn’t cleanse the city.
I stood in the rain waiting for my parents.
No one came, and my dreams were washed away.

-B. Wayne, age 9

“That poem was written by Master Bruce many years ago. I’ve tried everything to make him smile: from finding him new Robins when the old ones get boring (or too old or too dead), to getting him the latest in tech gear, to adding marshmallows to his cocoa. Nothing seemed to work. Until I got him this Batman Family Car Decal Set, that is. Then he smiled, but I suspect it was a sadly ironic smile. Oh well – can’t have everything.”

-Alfred Pennyworth

images via ThinkGeek

It took me years and years of cooking and canning with inadequate measuring utensils and obsolete recipes to memorize how many teaspoons are in an ounce (which is 1/8 of a cup). All that would have been easier with this handy conversion chart from S.B. Lattin Design. Print yours out and hang it on the inside of the cabinet door where you keep your baking supplies. Link -via mental floss

gallowhill:

The Factory, in Sant Just Desvern, Spain by architect Ricardo Bofill

Brooklyn-based artist Marsha Cottrell creates imaginary star maps. Enjoy.

For almost every day last month Malaysian artist/architect Hong Yi (who often goes by the nickname Red) created a fun illustration made with common (and occasionally not so common) food. Her parameters were simple: the image had to be comprised entirely of food and the only backdrop could be a white plate. With that in mind Yi set out to create landscapes, animals, homages to pop culture, and even a multi-frame telling of the three little pigs. The project, which still appears to be ongoing, has been documented heavily around the web, but if you haven’t seen it all head over to her Facebook and read an interview on designboom. Photos will also be appearing on her Instagram at @redhongyi.

When you first start playing Evoland, it doesn't look all that impressive. The pixelated visuals are lacking in color, and there isn't even any sound — it's like an original GameBoy game blown up to the size of your monitor. But as you play, you'll not only unlock new items and abilities like in most games, but also new features that bring Evoland closer to the present. Essentially you're playing through the modern history of games, going from an 8-bit black-and-white world all the way to detailed 3D — you'll even have to unlock modern conveniences like the ability to save.

Evoland started its life at the Ludum Dare game jam, an online contest where developers attempt to build a game around a particular theme in just 48 hours. For...

Continue reading…

"Why are crackers so 'spensive?" (read that with attitude)

That's what runs through my head every time I wander down the cracker aisle. I rarely buy crackers, but when you're entertaining and you've got four or five different dips, they're kind of required. Sure, you can have pita wedges, vegetables, or pretzels, but nothing beats a cracker.

I'm really excited about this recipe. Not because they're the best cracker that I've ever had (admittedly, they're not), but because it's a really fun project and there are so many ways to alter and expand the recipe. I seriously can't wait to try more!

These crackers did turn out pretty tasty (I polished them off in just a couple days, thanks in part to a yummy batch of hummus). They had just the right amount of crunch without being too hard. I didn't taste the rosemary or cracked pepper as much as I'd like, though, and next time I'll also add a sprinkle of salt to the top of the crackers before baking. That being said, I definitely think you should try making your own crackers. It was surprisingly easy and definitely fun! ...I'm going to try a whole wheat olive oil version next!

Rosemary Crackers

Total Recipe cost: $1.20 (Makes about 6 cups)
Prep time: 15 min. Cook time: 25 min. Total: 40 min.

INGREDIENTS		COST
2 cups	all-purpose flour	$0.45
1 tsp	baking powder	$0.10
1/2 tsp	salt (plus more for sprinkling)	$0.05
1 Tbsp	rosemary	$0.15
to taste	freshly cracked pepper	$0.05
4 Tbsp	cold butter	$0.40
1/2 to 3/4 cup	cold water	$0.00
TOTAL		$1.20

STEP 1: Chop the rosemary well so that there are no large, sharp pieces. Add the rosemary, flour, baking powder, salt, and some freshly cracked pepper to a food processor and pulse until the mixture is evenly mixed (or just stir them together in a bowl).

STEP 2: Cut the butter into pieces and add it to the food processor. Pulse the mixture until the butter is completely incorporated and no chunks remain. Or, cut the butter into the flour mixture with pastry cutter, two knives, or just with your hands until the butter is completely worked into the flour mixture.

STEP 3: Slowly add cold water to the food processor while pulsing, just until it forms a dough (or stir it in by hand until a dough forms). Depending on the humidity and moisture level in your flour, it will take between 1/2 and 3/4 cup water. I used approximately 2/3 cup.

STEP 4: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and roll it out until it is approximately 1/16th inch thick. Use a pizza cutter or knife to cut the dough into small rectangles, squares, or triangles. Prick each "cracker" with a fork. Carefully transfer the cut crackers to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

STEP 5: Sprinkle the crackers lightly with salt, if desired. Bake the crackers for 20-25 minutes, or until they are golden brown. The total amount of baking time needed will depend greatly on the thickness and size of the crackers, so watch them closely. Allow the crackers to cool and then store in an air-tight container at room temperature.

Step By Step Photos

Making crackers is a lot like making pie dough or biscuits. You mix the dry ingredients together first, then work in the butter, and then add liquid until a dough forms. I used a food processor just to make it quick and easy. You can do it by hand, but it will take a bit of elbow grease to work the butter in. Anyway, first combine the flour, rosemary, baking powder, salt, and pepper. You'll want to chop the rosemary up a bit first to prevent large pieces that can poke.


Cut the butter into a few pieces and add it to the food processor. Pulse the mixture until the butter is completely worked in and no chunks remain. In a pie or biscuit dough you'd want some chunks because that's what makes it flakey, but I didn't want a flakey cracker, so I worked it in completely.


See? The butter is completely worked in.


Slowly start to add cold water while pulsing (or just stir in a little bit at a time) until it forms a dough. I know this doesn't look like dough, but that's because the blade cuts it when it pulses. I took a chunk and squeezed it together with my hand and it definitely held together like a dough, so I knew it was done. I used about 2/3 cup water, but you may need slightly more or less depending on humidity and other factors.


Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface.


Roll the dough out really, really thin. I probably could have rolled mine even thinner. It does puff up slightly when baked. You may also want to re-dust the work surface as you roll it out to make the crackers easier to lift once cut.


I used a pizza cutter to cut the dough into small rectangles (don't use a lot of pressure to prevent damage to your counter top and pizza cutter).


I really didn't know exactly how these would turn out, so I decided to only prick about half of them with my fork. I ended up liking the pricked crackers better than the non-pricked, but that's just personal preference.


Carefully transfer the crackers to a baking sheet covered in parchment paper. Bake the crackers in a preheated 400 degree oven for 20-25 minutes, or until they're golden brown. You'll want to watch them closely because the size and thickness of your crackers will greatly influence the amount of time needed to achieve golden-brownness.


And then they're done and absolutely adorable... and pretty tasty, too!


And SO good with hummus!

STOCKHOLM (AP) — Ikea says it has withdrawn 17,000 portions of moose lasagna from its home furnishings stores in Europe after traces of pork were found in a batch tested in Belgium.

An anonymous reader writes "An assistant professor at Ohio State University who recently earned her Ph.D. in literature writes a warning in Slate for others following the same path. She says, 'I now realize graduate school was a terrible idea because the full-time, tenure-track literature professorship is extinct. After four years of trying, I've finally gotten it through my thick head that I will not get a job—and if you go to graduate school, neither will you. ... Don't misunderstand me. There is unquantifiable intellectual reward from the exploration of scholarly problems and the expansion of every discipline—yes, even the literary ones, and even if that means doing bat-s**t analysis like using the rule of "false elimination" to determine that Josef K. is simultaneously guilty and not guilty in The Trial. But there is one sort of reward you will never get: monetary compensation from a stable, non-penurious position at a decent university. ... By the time you finish—if you even do— your academic self will be the culmination of your entire self, and thus you will believe, incomprehensibly, that not having a tenure-track job makes you worthless. You will believe this so strongly that when you do not land a job, it will destroy you, and nobody outside of academia will understand why. (Bright side: You will no longer have any friends outside academia.) ... In the place of actual jobs are adjunct positions: benefit-free, office-free academic servitude in which you will earn $18,000 a year for the rest of your life."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Montreal woman arrested for posting photo of anti-police graffiti to Instagram
A Montreal woman is facing a criminal charge after posting a photo online of graffiti showing a senior police officer with a bullet in his head.

Jennifer Pawluck was placed under arrest on Wednesday, released under conditions and ordered to appear before a judge at a later date to face a charge of criminal harassment.

The picture she snapped is of a graffiti drawing of Cmdr. Ian Lafreniere, a longtime Montreal police spokesman and one of the most visible faces of the force.

Police defended the decision to proceed with charges. Spokeswoman Anie Lemieux says it’s zero tolerance when lawyers, judges or police officers are believed to be targeted. (Instagram)

Ryan Holiday writes in Our Regressive Web:

Google Alerts, Delicious and RSS were designed in blogging’s early days as innovations to help readers reduce this noise—to help improve their reading experience. But now those gains are disappearing. I feel that the tech press has allowed this to happen.

I had not realized that Google Alerts was having problems. But it doesn’t surprise me.

I wonder if it will go away on the same day as Feedburner, or whether the two will succumb in separate clean-outs.

Theories of Anxiety

I like Cambridge Brewing but I think this is the wrong attitude:

By making Craft Beer welcoming to all by design, we’ve made it a desirable industry in which people want to play a part. This includes the inevitable number of beer marketing companies, aka contract brewers (a few of whom call themselves “gypsy brewers”), who either feel that there’s money to be made in this fad or who genuinely love craft beer but don’t want to invest the capital in their own brick and mortar breweries. This lack of skin in the game shows me that they value short term gains over long term personal investment and hard work. And I truly believe that there is no such thing as a gypsy brewer.

Luckily cooler heads from Somerville Brewing put it into perspective:

To those of us with a more mature perspective on business, we call this friendly competition. Some of the best advice I’ve received has been from people you might call “competitors”. When the entire segment of craft beer is only approaching 7% of the US beer market, it’s almost absurd to describe other folks in the industry as a threat. Sadly, other brewers internalize the presence of other brands in their local area or the arrival of new brands by people that did not chose the same career lifestyle 20 years ago as an attack on their “brewer” sovereignty.

This is one of the rare spats I've read about in the craft brewing market. Most brewers are extremely friendly and generous. Much like independent Mac development, it's friendliest when the market is tiny and everyone needs a leg up against the common enemy (InBev in the beer market and Microsoft in the software market).

bunnyfood:

Happy Birthday Grumpycat!

(via grumpycat)

 

 

 

 

Arashiyama, or “Storm Mountain”, is one of Japan’s designated Historic Sites and can be found on the western edge of Kyoto. The district features Shinto shrines, natural parks, and a stunning walk that winds through its bamboo forest. Take some time to explore even more of Arashiyama’s beauty through photos from others who have visited.

Photos from * tathei *, Shibazo, Marser, Kevin Tadge / Laura Lamp, yocca, Teruhide Tomori, arcreyes, Marie Eve K.A., TORO*, and Silent Star 101.

losed:

ANGER RELEASE MACHINE (2008) by yarisal & kublitz

Insert a coin. Your selected piece of china will fall to the bottom of the vending machine. It will shatter. You will feel better.

A 12-year-old in his cell at the Harrison County Juvenile Detention Center in Biloxi, Mississippi. The window has been boarded up from the outside. The facility is operated by Mississippi Security Police, a private company. In 1982, a fire killed 27 prisoners and an ensuing lawsuit against the authorities forced them to reduce their population to maintain an 8:1 inmate to staff ratio.

From the folks over at Tumblr Storyboard, shot an interesting vignette about barista Mike Breach who began experimenting with small coffee and milk foam portraits in a hotel kitchen where he works. Breach draws quick, intricate portraits that are enjoyed by a single person for only a moments before being consumed. He says the drawings in and of themselves are “kind of a joke” but he’s more concerned about the brief connection he’s able to make with an individual and how it impacts their day. Luckily he snaps a quick photo of each one which you can see on his Tumblr. (via vimeo)

The British Library has been given the right to archive the digital world

Three or four men drew weapons to rob a pair of pizza delivery men, they got food but no cash

DARTMOUTH, Mass. — The alpacas, with their funny Muppet faces and curly coiffed bangs, were inquisitive when the new people walked up to meet them

A pony ran over, head bobbing.

Two goats trotted near, like dogs with big horns, to have a sniff and a stare.

Todd, the goose, stayed where he was with the ponies and other animals.

"He doesn't like the ducks and chickens," said Deborah Devlin, who owns Don't Forget Us Pet Us, a 14-acre farm that is home to all manner of animals that have been neglected or have some form of special needs.