With the end of Breaking Bad series, we have been seeing a lot of new fan art all over the internet. One of them really caught our eye and it's the Simpsonized Breaking Bad Series by ADN. ADN aka Adrien Noterdaem is a designer and illustrator based in Brussels, France. You should check out his blog for more Simpsonized iconic and famous characters.
Over on the New Yorker's website, Ryan Lizza identifies a "suicide caucus" consisting of eighty right-wing Republican representatives whose hard-line position on Obamacare and the budget has given us the government shutdown. But what about the suicide caucus' suicide caucus?
The AIA President, Mickey Jacob, FAIA has just released the following statement on the US government’s historic shutdown: “The design and construction industry is slowly recovering from one of the worst economic crises in modern history. The last thing we need is the self-inflicted wound that can potentially further damage the economy.” To find out just how the shutdown could affect you, check out the AIA’s FAQ page here.
This 1863 image from the Wellcome Trust illustrates a distinctly vampiric set of "Syphilitic malformations of the permanent teeth" -- makes you wonder if the visual image of the vampire was inspired by the widespread horrors of untreated syphilis (for an exceptionally visceral window into a society wracked by untreated syphilis, have a look at the Mutter Museum's display of syphilitic skulls).
If asked to pick between Obamacare and the Affordable Care Act, which would Americans choose? And would it matter to them that they are synonyms for the same fucking thing?
Brain differences distinguish night owls from morning larks, and could explain why those of us who prefer a late start are at greater risk of depression
Now, this probably reminded you of the iconic scene in Alien 3 where
Ripley came face to face with the Alien xenomorph.
Image: Twentieth Century Fox
Not only that, the insect is also like the Sarlacc, which inhabits the
Great Pit of Carkoon, from the movie Star Wars.
Image: Star Wars VI: Return of the Jedi
Why Sarlacc, you ask? Here's why. An antlion
larva digs sand pit trap and buries itself in the center of the pit with
its jaws just below the surface, waiting for an unsuspecting ant to wander
in.
An ant that steps into the loose sand of the pit would slip to the bottom,
right to the waiting jaws of the antlion. A quick snap of the long mandibles
not only captures the ant, but also injects into it a cocktail of digestive
enzmes to
liquify the content of the victim's body.
Escaping the trap isn't easy - if an ant tries to climb up the wall of
the pit, the antlion would start throwing sand and pebbles at the insect
to make it fall back (the sandy wall of the pit is also prone to collapse,
thus sending the victim back to the maws of the waiting antlion).
Lucky for us! A line of savory vegetable yogurts has just hit the market from the siblings behind Blue Hill restaurant in New York City and Blue Hill at Stone Barns in Westchester County, NY .
It used to be that a reservation at the coveted Blue Hill restaurant in New York City or its rural outpost, Blue Hill at Stone Barns in Westchester County,was the only way you could get a taste of the Barber siblings’ award winning farm-to-table fare. But no more. According to a blog interview on Culintro.com, David Barber, Co-Owner and President of Blue Hill, a new line of yogurt, in carrot, beet, tomato and soon-to-come butternut squash flavors joins a line of jams and specialty grain products sold by the sibling-run restaurants (Blue Hill Restaurant was awarded for the New Best Restaurant by the James Beard Foundation while Blue Hill at Stone Barns was recognized as one of the Top 40 Restaurants in the U.S. in 2008 by GAYOT.com.)
The decision to launch a line of yogurts was a natural extension of Blue Hill Farm’s dairy operation since the farm was a working dairy from the 1860s through 1960s. The idea for savory yogurt flavors came from chef Dan Barber’s — David’s brother — who has been experimenting with making yogurt from the grass-fed cow milk from Blue Hill Farm for years. For example, Blue Hill’s current menu includes Apricot Pit Yogurt, Hazelnuts and Tomatoes. The new savory vegetable flavors allow them to source all their ingredients from local farmers they know in the Northeast.
While Barber acknowledges that there are challenges to creating a product that can be widely distributed, he can stand ‘fully behind every ingredient in the cup’:
Blue Hill Yogurt is “all grass, all the time”—it’s made only with milk from 100% grass-fed cows, from small, family-owned farms in the Northeast (including our own farm in the Berkshire Hills, so that every Blue Hill Yogurt has a bit of Blue Hill Farm in it).
In addition to enjoying the yogurts as stand alone snacks, Barber recommends them to be eaten just like sweet yogurts with mix-ins like nuts and dried fruit or as an ingredient in a shake. But what’s really fun is their savory potential. Barber suggests adding them to baked potatoes, in a soup or to a salad dressing. He adds: “The tomato yogurt as an ingredient in your list of taco toppings is really delicious.”
Blue Hill yogurts are currently available only in New York State from East Coast Whole Foods Markets.
The cupcake you see here will be sold at the Eat Your Heart Out 2013 pop-up cake shop in London, England, open October 25-27. Food artists will be offering the world's most gruesome and delicious treats. These cupcakes are made by Twisted Fondant, a macabre division of Fantasy Fondant. What makes them so gruesome? The explanation may be a bit disturbing, visually, so if you are up for it, continue reading.
The name of these cupcakes is Mango Fly Larvae Removal cupcakes. Miss Cakehead calls them DIY Maggot Extraction cupcakes. They are served with a glove and a pair of freezers so you can do the deed. Just keep reminding yourself that no matter what it looks like, this is all delicious cake and edible icing.
Gently pull that maggot out. Gently! You don't want it to tear apart!
It's almost out.
What a relief! The maggot is edible. Really.
Don't forget to squeeze out the pus. It's mango-flavored!
A new video, released by the Sagrada Família Foundation, illustrates what some of those changes might look like. Combining helicopter footage with computer-animated renderings, the structure’s final stages take shape before you eyes. Spires shoot up in succession, the central cupola rises into view, and the Glory facade--the church’s principal entrance as outlined by Gaudí--materializes out of thin air.
Beer cocktails are all the rage right now, and we've found they're a great way to convince "beer only" drinkers that they might be cocktail people after all. We like this combination of Aviation gin, lemon, honey and Hefeweizen - we imagine it's floral, tart and sweet without being overwhelming. The Aviation folks say it pairs well with Buffalo chicken and football, so who are we to question that?
Beer's Knees Cocktail
Ingredients:
1½ oz. Aviation American Gin
1 oz. Lemon juice
1 oz. Honey syrup*
3 oz. Widmer Hefeweizen
Directions:
In a pint glass, add spirits and mixers (through beer). Fill with ice. Shake vigorously. Strain into a collins glass filled with or without ice. Garnish with a lemon wedge.
*To make honey syrup: Combine equal portions of honey and water in a sauce pan. Bring to a boil until all the sugar has dissolved. Let cool.
If you’ll permit a brief tangent: Joseph Conrad’s "Lord Jim" has sneakily become one of my favorite books, slowly growing in my esteem over many years since I first read it, to the point where I love it far more than "Heart Of Darkness." It has one of my favorite and most-quoted scenes in all of literature, arguably the most famous passage in the novel. The narrator, Charles Marlow (Conrad’s stand-in who also narrates of "Heart of Darkness") talks with Herr Stein, an eccentric trader and butterfly collector, who opines on humanity’s impossible quest of the ideal:
“A man that is born falls into a dream like a man who falls into the sea. If he tries to climb out into the air as inexperienced people endeavor to do, he drowns—not true? No! I tell you! The way is to the destructive element submit yourself, and with the exertions of your hands and feet in the water make the deep, deep sea keep you up.”
As Ursula Lord wrote in her book on Conrad’s novels, “this passage is simultaneously pessimistic and bravely accepting of the challenge of life itself.”
I keep coming back to that scene as I think about the end of Breaking Bad, this idea of submitting yourself to darkness, to a destructive element, and Walter White’s spiral into crippling solitude. It’s also a metaphor for how I manage to recommend the show to anyone who hasn’t seen it before, but fears the daunting task of watching something they know will have no hope of a happy ending.
Do not be afraid, do not avoid what is difficult but certain in life. Submit to the destructive element, and with the exertions of your mind make the deep, dark ocean of Shakespearean tragedy keep you up.
To be frank, I have absolutely no idea what will happen in the Breaking Bad finale. And that doesn’t bother me. It’s useless to me to field predictive questions asking my opinion on Walt’s fate, or any of the other characters. I just want to sit back, shed a few tears, and let the story finish on its own terms. The Breaking Bad pick ‘em card that’s been floating around the Internet the past few days reeks of this rabid fascination with being retroactively clairvoyant. Sports have been infected with the same desire for accurate punditry. I am not obsessed with being right about this show. I don’t want to be able to predict what will happen. It’s not fun--or my job-—to be right about where the chips fall. I just want to be able to pick up the pieces that remain and try to make sense of them.
So with that, I’ll leave off with a bit of further review on some elements that went unremarked over these final episodes, or anything I found particularly relevant to the finale:
1. When the news came down that AMC would wrangle Chris Hardwick for a Talking Dead-style aftershow called Talking Bad, “skeptical” would not begin to describe my feelings. If anything, that was the first sign of a set of frantic moves by AMC--splitting the final season of Mad Men, commissioning Better Call Saul and a Walking Dead spinoff-—that tells me the network would rather cling to past success and coast instead of put in the hard work to establish new shows on the same level. Low Winter Sun has been a disaster. But after watching these final discussion shows, I’ve been amazed at the conversations begun in the time constraints of a half-hour live studio show. In particular, Parks And Recreation star Adam Scott proved to be an incredibly detailed commentator. But the best moment for me was during Bryan Cranston’s interview a few weeks ago, discussing his character:
“Walt has changed. He used to be methodical, a scientific mind. And now he’s much more emotional, this experience these last two years of his life have created an emotional being which he never really was open to before. So he’s impulsive, hence the shooting of Mike, [after] being insulted by him. Leaving the book out. It was sloppy; it was careless.”
2. From the opening flash-forward in “Live Free Or Die”: Walt has breakfast at a Denny’s in Albuquerque, having driven back across the country for whatever he has planned. After seeing Walt arrange his bacon into a 52 for his birthday, the waitress mentions the offer of a free birthday meal, which Walt initially refuses. Her response: “Really? Free meal. Free is good, even if I was like, rich. Free is always good.” If the showrunner fallacy has taught me anything, it’s not to credit re-watch epiphanies to any one person, but the resonance of that accidental sentiment. Walt is exorbitantly wealthy and yet trapped by the scenario he engineered. This turned out incredibly prescient in light of the final season.
3. We need to pay more attention to casting directors and how instrumental that particular role in production has played in making Breaking Bad such a phenomenal series. Jesse Plemons and Kevin Rankin (Todd and Kenny) have shown the polar opposite from their "Friday Night Lights" characters (Landry and Herc, respectively). And though it took me a while to realize it, Uncle Jack is Michael Bowen, who I know best as Buck from Kill Bill: Vol. 1. This is a series that shows how much we take casting directors for granted.
4. The cinematography has been incredible throughout the show, but I failed to zero in on the first post-credits scene in “Buried” that depicts Walt and Hank in an old-fashioned Western standoff. The sequence is essentially framed as a duel between gunslingers, wind whistling around, complete with the little kid’s RC car playing tumbleweed in the background.
Image courtesy AMC
5. Also from “Buried,” perhaps the only moment of pure, unadulterated joy in the final eight episodes, courtesy of Huell and Kuby. Breaking Bad has taken the Rosencranz/Guildenstern model of comic relief—like Laurel and Hardy or C-3PO and R2D2—in crafting characters like Huell/Kube and Badger/Skinny Pete, right down to the Pete’s incredibly poignant and sad abilities as a piano savant.
Image courtesy AMC
6. I suspect the lasting image of the season for me will be the location where Saul tells Jesse, and then Walt, to wait for Robert Forster’s vacuum cleaner repairman in order to disappear with a new identity. The actual shooting location is the John B. Robert Dam in Albuquerque, which is a dry spillway designed for flood control. It’s a beautiful and haunting array of giant cement slabs, and I know I’ve noted several times how much they resemble gravestones. Walt standing in front of a giant metaphor for the ways in which man attempts to control the natural world, and one that strongly connotes death, speaks to me as a defining image for the character and the series. Appropriately, the dam has already become a pilgrimage point for fans of the show before the finale.
Image courtesy AMC
7. Let’s revisit a few of the callbacks from “Ozymandias” for a bit:
First, the way the dissolves change the landscape at To’Hajiilee, from Walt and Jesse’s first cook, to the barren reservation, to the shootout:
Image courtesy AMC
Image courtesy AMC
Image courtesy AMC
And here’s that opening shot of Skyler on the other end of the phone call that opens the episode:
Image courtesy AMC
And then Skyler’s choice between the phone and the knife:
Image courtesy AMC
There are so many images from “Ozymandias” burned into my brain. But what I keep returning to is how strongly the episode—-and arguably the series as a whole—-ties into Percy Shelley’s poem. From the “two vast and trunkless legs” of Walt’s pants to the “shattered visage” in the sand, to the solitary white king on the chess board at the fire station, there’s a full essay’s worth of detail in that one episode about “Ozymandias” and the obsession with tying the season and series up in callbacks. It is truly an outstanding achievement, one that has only improved on multiple viewings for me over the past few weeks.
Image courtesy AMC
8. Music selection has also been a totemic positive for the show, but instead of talking about the song cues, I’ll end with Dave Porter’s incredibly score. The second volume of his music for the show was released on Friday, so let’s end with the first track from that new album, “Sunset End Credits.” I’ll see you all right here after the finale to pay tribute to what has been a brutally rewarding five and a half year journey.
Read Season 5 episode recaps and all of our Breaking Bad-related posts in our Breaking Bad archives.
Drakegoodman scanned this 1917-ish photo of Soviet planespotters in exotic headgear; according to a commenter, the binox are focused at infinity "so that when you found the source of the sound by turning your head, you could see the aircraft creating that sound."
The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH for short) has coined the term “vanity height” to describe the empty, unoccupied space atop the world’s tallest towers. Here are the top ten wasteful Supertalls from the top down.
The CTBUH has been using the term “supertall” to describe skyscraping buildings at least 300m (984.25ft) in height and has recently added the term “megatall” for buildings over 600m (1,968.5ft) high. All of the buildings on our list are at least 309m (1,013.75ft) tall but Dubai’s 828m (2,719ft) tall Burj Khalifa truly belongs in a class of its own.
The Burj Khalifa’s staggering height is a bit misleading, however, if one takes the CTBUH Vanity Height factor into account. Fully 29% of the structure is non-occupiable – that works out to 244m (800.5ft), higher than a host of notable skyscrapers that DO offer renters and owners a significant amount of useable commercial and residential space.
Zifeng Tower, Nanjing, China: 133m (436.5ft) of Vanity
The 450m (1,480ft) tall Zifeng Tower boasts 89 stories and was completed in 2010. Looking out the window on an 89th-floor suite won’t get you the view you expect, however, as the top 30% of the building is non-occupiable. Formerly known as the Nanjing Greenland Financial Center, the building was designed by a team led by Adrian Smith of Gordon Gill Architecture.
The Zifeng Tower still offers tenants and visitors 317m (1,040ft) of practical and accessible space, with the upper floors providing a spectacular view of downtown Nanjing from any direction. Restaurants, a hotel and a public observatory are stacked atop a mix of retail and office space in the Zifeng Tower’s lower section. Amusingly, the building’s official website header reads “GREEDLAND PLAZA/ZIFENG TOWER”… we realize this is a commercial endeavor but could the owners be a little less obvious?
Bank of America Tower, New York, USA: 131m (429.8ft) of Vanity
Too big to fail? Not according to CTBUH who note the 366m (1,200.8ft) tall Bank of America Tower in midtown Manhattan offers a mere 235m (771ft) of occupiable height to its tenants. That works out to a whopping 36% measurement of non-occupiable height. Not the ideal return on investment for the billion-dollar project, one might say.
On the bright side, COOKFOX Architects designed the Bank of America Tower to be one of the world’s most efficient and ecologically friendly buildings. Admirable indeed but the building, completed in 2009, needs asterisks added to its claims to be the third tallest building in New York City (after One World Trade Center and the Empire State Building) and the fifth tallest building in the United States… and you can bank on that.
There are many beloved animals in the wild, like koalas, deers and monkeys, but there's one more I'd like to show some love today: giraffe! This long-necked creature is really a lovely one!
That long neck truly makes the giraffe a pretty unique animal, and it's simply amazing how photographers manage to capture such great moments of this animal, like parenting! Baby giraffes are simply too cute! So, for more of these, please check each photographer's portfolio simply by clicking each image. I hope you enjoy these as much as I did. Also, if you got your own giraffe photos, share them with us! Cheers! ;)
John Watson and Rosalie Rayner were two researchers at Johns Hopkins University who innocently wondered what caused phobias. Their next move was not quite so innocent. They got themselves a baby, about nine months old, and experimented with drilling fear into a child's mind.
Science meets luxury in this levitating coffee table composed of hovering blocks that seem to magically shift back into formation when applied pressure is removed.
Like an over-sized Rubik’s Cube, the basic design is composed of a three-by-three grid of smaller wooden cubes, inexplicably (at least at a glance) separated in space. Also like its little cousin, the object is … puzzling.
The solution to the puzzle hides partly in the voids – thin wires keep each cube from flying away from the others, while powerful magnets hold the constituent pieces apart. Effectively, The Float Table, is a matrix of “magnetized” wooden cubes that levitate with respect to one another. The repelling cubes are held in equilibrium by a system of tensile steel cables.”
The co-founders of Rocket Paper Robot, creators of The Float Table, have backgrounds in robotics, electrical engineering and artificial intelligence, on the one hand, and design, film and advertising on the other. The company itself “is an engineering boutique specializing in the innovation and fabrication of high-end kinetic furniture, lighting, and installations.”
Of their work, RPR writes: ”It’s classical physics applied to modern design. Each handcrafted table is precisely tuned to seem rigid and stable, yet a touch reveals the secret to Float’s dynamic character.”
And about their firm: “We relish in defying expectations through artful execution with a staunch allegiance to utility,(apparent) simplicity and technical excellence. We also work with clients to customize aesthetic yet functional products that enhance the versatility of residential/commercial spaces and celebrate the expression of unabashed style.”
Hugh Pickens DOT Com writes "Having spent the last decade wreaking havoc in Russia, a flesh-eating drug called Krokodil has arrived in Arizona, reports Eliza Gray at Time Magazine. The Banner Poison Control Center has reported the first two users of the drug which makes user's skin scaly and green before it rots away [Warning: Graphic Images]. Made of codeine, a painkiller often used in cough syrup, and a mix of other materials including gasoline, paint thinner, and alcohol, Krokodil become popular in Russia because it costs 20 times less than heroin and can be made easily at home. Also known as Desomorphine, Krokodil has sedative and analgesic effects, and is around 8-10 times more potent than morphine. When the drug is injected, it rots the skin by rupturing blood vessels, causing the tissue to die. As a result, the skin hardens and rots, sometimes even falling off to expose the bone. 'These people are the ultimate in self-destructive drug addiction,' says Dr. Ellen Marmur. 'Once you are an addict at this level, any rational thinking doesn't apply.' The average life span of a Krokodil user is two to three years, according to a 2011 TIME investigation of the drug's prevalence in Russia."
One of the most quotable moments from Breaking Bad is Walter White's menacing "I am the one who knocks" speech. But what if that speech was written not by the show's staff, but by the likes of George R.R. Martin or J.K. Rowling?
In a 1999 episode of The Simpsons, Homer Simpsons accidentally created the tomacco - a tomato and tobacco hybrid.
That frankenplant was recreated in real life in 2003 by Rob Baur of Lake Oswego, Oregon). In that case, the real life tomacco was created when Baur grafted a tomato plant onto tobacco roots - the plant actually lived and even bore tomatoes, which Baur suspected to contain lethal dose of nicotine.
Well, fast forward to 2013 and here comes another tomato-based combo plant: the Tomtato, a plant that is both tomato and potato.
Michael Perry, new product manager at UK's mail order seed and plant company Thompson & Morgan, told NBC News, "It's the perfect marriage. Why wouldn't someone want to buy one?"
Photo: Thompson & Morgan
The Tomtato bears cherry tomatoes above ground and white potatoes below. According to the Thompson & Morgan website, horticulturists have tried to create a creation for 15 years but the plants have only recently been successfully produced commercially. When they're just a few weeks old, tomato plants are cut at the stem and grafted onto a potato plant. Scientifically, that works because tomatoes (as well as tobacco plants) are members of the potato family (Solanaceae).
"We'd like to leave, but the company won't let us,"
"We'd like to leave, but the company won't let us," said one Nepalese migrant employed at Lusail City development, a $45bn (£28bn) city being built from scratch which will include the 90,000-seater stadium that will host the World Cup final. "I'm angry about how this company is treating us, but we're helpless. I regret coming here, but what to do? We were compelled to come just to make a living, but we've had no luck."
The body tasked with organising the World Cup, the Qatar 2022 Supreme Committee, told the Guardian that work had yet to begin on projects directly related to the World Cup. However, it said it was "deeply concerned with the allegations that have been made against certain contractors/sub-contractors working on Lusail City's construction site and considers this issue to be of the utmost seriousness". It added: "We have been informed that the relevant government authorities are conducting an investigation into the allegations."
If you’re afraid of flying stinging insects, the Asian giant hornet might just be your worst nightmare. The bug can reach two inches long, fly at 25 miles an hour and their stings, which have been described as “like a hot nail through [ones] leg” can be fatal to humans. Even honeybees have reason to fear them—the hornets literally eat them for dinner. And now, thanks to global warming, the number of human and bumblebee fatalities are up in China.
Where do you usually read? On your bed, in the backyard or in a coffee shop?
“In a good bookroom you feel in some mysterious way that you are absorbing the wisdom contained in all the books through your skin, without even opening them.” - Mark Twain
If you too agree with what Mark Twain said, just imagine how you’d feel reading your book in one of these most magnificent reading places…
1. Stuttgart Library, Germany
2. Jose Vasconcelos Library, Mexico City, Mexico
3. The Vennesla Library and Culture House, Vennesla, Norway
4. Joe & Rika Mansueto Library, University of Chicago, USA
5. Book Mountain Library, Spijkenisse, The Netherlands
All Rights to ADN
All Rights to ADN
All Rights to ADN
All Rights to ADN
All Rights to ADN
All Rights to ADN
All Rights to ADN
All Rights to ADN
All Rights to ADN
All Rights to ADN
All Rights to ADN
All Rights to ADN
All Rights to ADN
All Rights to ADN
All Rights to ADN
To be frank, I have absolutely no idea what will happen in the Breaking Bad finale. And that doesn’t bother me. It’s useless to me to field predictive questions asking my opinion on Walt’s fate, or any of the other characters. I just want to sit back, shed a few tears, and let the story finish on its own terms. The Breaking Bad pick ‘em card that’s been floating around the Internet the past few days reeks of this rabid fascination with being retroactively clairvoyant. Sports have been infected with the same desire for accurate punditry. I am not obsessed with being right about this show. I don’t want to be able to predict what will happen. It’s not fun--or my job-—to be right about where the chips fall. I just want to be able to pick up the pieces that remain and try to make sense of them.
(image via: 
(images via: 
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In a 1999 episode of The Simpsons, Homer Simpsons accidentally created the tomacco - a tomato and tobacco hybrid.
