torp3918

Photos by Jon Kay

Elementary students at Bridge Farm Primary School in Bristol arrived this morning to discover an eye-opening new mural by Banksy that appeared sometime in the night, but the placement wasn’t random: the building itself is used for a house bearing elusive street artist’s name. Several weeks ago the school held a competition to rename houses and the winners were Brunel, Blackbeard, Cabot and Banksy (the artist’s work first appeared in the city in the early 1990s). When the students returned from half-term they found the new mural on a blank wall of the building.

The new piece depicts a scribbled figure of a child playing with a stick and hoop, but the hoop has been replaced with a giant flaming tire. Perhaps not the inspirational motif you’d expect to adorn a primary school, but we imagine it must be inline with their sense of humor. The mural was also accompanied by a fantastic note:

“Dear Bridge Farm School, thanks for your letter and naming a house after me. Please have a picture, and if you don’t like it, feel free to add stuff. I’m sure the teachers won’t mind. Remember, it’s always easier to get forgiveness than permission. Much love, Banksy.”

(via Arrested Motion)

Photo by Jon Kay

Photo by Jon Kay

Photo by Jon Kay

All images via @mirkosata

Milan-based tattoo artist Mirko Sata focuses on serpentine designs, snakes that twist around his clients’ arms, hands, and legs. The snakes he creates are typically done in just two shades— stark white and deep black. Layering and curling these creatures around each other, Mirko Sata produces a sort of yin and yang, placing opposite colors together with a force that seems to transcend traditional black and white tattoos.

Mirko Sata tattoos at Satatttvision in Milan, and you can see more of his designs on Instagram and Satatttvision’s Tumblr. (via @thefoxisblack)

Amazing Culinary Creations by Olga Noskova

On her Instagram account, the Russian confectioner Olga Noskova reveals some beautiful culinary creations with perfect shapes, complemented by impeccable glazes, which give these cakes and pastries an amazing colored mirror finish.  

You need the art in order to love the life. We guarantee you that!

posted by Margaret via

It's been a tough 24 hours for Loblaws. Earlier today the grocery chain saw all its affiliated stores temporarily close when a computer bug prevented them from processing sales. And yesterday, one of the worst No Frills in the city suddenly shut down over worries that the aging grocery store was unsafe.

The No Frills at Coxwell and Gerrard won't win any awards for its shopping experience. Unlike some other No Frills locations (the one at Dundas and Lansdowne comes to mind), the store is small, uninviting and is otherwise the epitome of a grocery shop without any of the so-called frills.

It is, however, the only major grocery store in what is a burgeoning neighbourhood on Toronto's east side. Just down the street a brewpub is under construction and a Pizzeria Via Mercanti is scheduled to open soon around the corner.

A note posted to the front door indicates the No Frills will undergo building repairs and renovations and that plans are in the works to arrange for a shuttle bus to take area residents to the nearest No Frills at Carlaw and Gerrard.

Passerbys milling outside the store last night were sharing what they heard about the closure with the (unverified) gossip being the store had just been visited by a building inspector that morning who found the building unsafe and declared it be evacuated and shut down immediately.

A Loblaws spokesperson told Beach Metro Community News that the store was "not closed due to an infraction" and that the closure would not be permanent.

If you've never heard of payday loans, consider yourself lucky. They're an absolutely vile form of lending with annual interest rates that often creep over 1000%. Until now, Google has allowed these companies to advertise their services on its AdWords platform. Effective July 13th, you won't see ads for these services from Google. Believe it or not, there are people who think publicly defending this industry is a good idea, and they're all over the comments on Google's post.

Google Is Banning Payday Loan Ads From AdWords, And Payday Loan Shills Are Out In Full Force To Complain was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

If you're a fan of butter tarts this festival is for you. The annual Ontario's Best Butter Tart Festival is back for its fourth year.

The quirky pastry filled festival will take over King Street in downtown Midland, Ontario on June 11 from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Spend your day tasting butter tarts from 150 different vendors ranging from bakeries to home bakers from across Ontario.

The festival also includes a contest where a panel of judges will crown The Best Butter Tart in Ontario.

Photo of the butter tarts at Andrea's Gerrard St. Bakery by Jesse Milns.

All images via Mo Ganji

Berlin-based Mo Ganji produces tattoos that utilize a single line, black images with little more detail than a couple of dots to offset his swirling strokes. The images are all figural, yet range from elephants and koi fish to more gestural images of half-drawn faces. Each work is breathtaking in its simplicity, stark images that relate to the artist’s own views of mastering a simple and honest life. To check out more of Ganji’s work, head over to his Instagram. (via Coudal)

Photograph © Danilo Dungo

Every spring, photographer Danilo Dungo spends time at Inokashira Park in Tokyo, famous for its abundance of blooming cherry trees. The photographer has become a master at capturing the event from all angles, especially with aerial shots that show the pink flowers covering the nearby lake. Seen here are a handful of shots from the last two years, but you can explore much more on his NatGeo Your Shot page. (via Fubiz)

Photograph © Danilo Dungo

Photograph © Danilo Dungo

Photograph © Danilo Dungo

Photograph © Danilo Dungo

The second episode of Season 6 of Game of Thrones heavily focused on the storyline of Bran Stark, not seen at all in Season 5.

In what looks more like a scene out of a James Cameron movie, researchers on a NOAA expedition aboard the Okeanos Explorer were filming with the help of an ROV in the Marianas Trench last week when an improbable creature suddenly popped into the frame. With just a few wiry tentacles and a cluster of 8 brightly reflective orbs inside its body, this new jellyfish looks like something from the realm of Photoshop than science. But incredibly, it’s real, living happily at 2.3 miles (~3,700 meters) underwater. From Scientific American:

Scientists believe this animal belongs to the genus Crossota, a group of jellies that does not have a sessile polyp stage; all phases of their lives are ocean drifters. They also believe this animal is an ambush predator – note the posture it had assumed in the first half of the video: its bell motionless with its tentacles outstretched like the struts of a spider’s web, waiting for something to bumble into them. The red canals, they suggest, appear to connect the bright yellow objects, which may be gonads.

You can get more photo and video updates from the Okeanos Explorer here. (via Neatorama, Scientific American)

Update: An earlier version of this article mentioned the jellyfish may be ‘bioluminescent’. While that may be true in some regard, several people with much more impressive scientific credentials than mine have written to suggest the “lights” seen inside the jellyfish in this video are merely reflective. The most likely scenario is that the gonads of this particular species exhibit some form of fluorescence but do not illuminate independently. Thanks, Steven.

Toronto's streetcar tracks can be a nightmare for cyclists, but they're pretty benign for drivers. Not so this past weekend.

At about 4:30 a.m. on Sunday morning, a car drove into the streetcar loop at Union Station and got stuck on the tracks. It took until 2:30 p.m. for the TTC to tow it out.

The grey vehicle had Alberta plates and the driver fled the scene. The Toronto Police are now looking into the incident.

Brad Ross, the TTC's executive director of corporate communications, says this has happened before, maybe twice in the past year. But it's still pretty rare.

"There are lots of signs and flashing lights at the tunnel entrance, but we're looking at further measures to make it even clearer that autos can't go down there," say Ross via email.

Photo via @bradTTC on Twitter.

Trying to capture a medium that’s in a constant state of flux would seem stressful in any situation, but photographer Warren Keelan works comfortably in a wetsuit amongst crashing waves on the South Coast of New South Wales, Australia, always trying for the perfect shot. Whether working completely submerged or perched precariously on the cusp of a behemoth swell, he’s consistently able to find the right angle and lighting to highlight the monumental power of the constantly moving ocean. He shares about his process:

I’ve always had a fascination with nature, especially the ocean and its ever changing forms, and I am compelled to capture and share what I feel are special and unique moments in the sea. I love the raw, unpredictable nature of water in motion and the way sunlight brings it all to life, from both above and below the surface. For me, the challenge is creating an image that hopefully tells a story or leaves an impression on the viewer.

Keelan has a gallery in his hometown of Wollongong, Australia, and many of his photos are avilable as prints online. You can also follow him on Instagram. (via This Isn’t Happiness)

Homeless Dog Found In Garbage Becomes The Lion He Deserves To Be

When German photographer Julia Marie Werner found a scruffy homeless dog hunting for scraps of food in her garage in Spain, she fell in love with him immediately. While other people saw nothing but a homeless mutt, she saw a brave little lion, and she now wants the world to share her vision with this heartwarming series of photographs.

“He already looked like Simba to me,” Julia told Bored Panda. “And I am a big Lion King Fan. A friend of mine had some fabric left over so one afternoon we stitched the mane together.”

The cute canine model is named Tschikko Leopold von Werner, and the project is called Grossstadtlowe, which means “Big City Lion”. And as you can see from these pictures, he really does look like the king of the (urban) jungle!

“In the beginning he was very insecure,” said Julia. “Someone who knows a lot about dogs told me the best thing is “working“ with him and teaching him some tricks. He loves jumping on things and using the mane. The picture are both a game and teamwork between us.”

Julia believes that Tschikko was left to fend for himself after being thrown from a car in Spain. He’s come a long way since then, not just emotionally but also geographically, as after deciding to adopt him Julia brought Tschikko back to live with her in Germany.

“Everybody takes pictures of him,” said Julia. “Little kids often ask me if he is a real lion!”

Follow us on Facebook and Twitter   Posted by Andrew

Photographer Guido Mocafico

Explores a life-long fascination with the glass work of Leopold and Rudolf Blaschka in his most recent photography series, titled Blaschka. Mocafico has spent the last few years travelling to museums and universities around the world, collecting shots of some of the most impressive marine masterpieces that the Blaschkas ever created. The illuminated aquatic creatures colourful jellyfish, octopuses, sea anemones and corals come to life against plain black backgrounds in Mocafico’s series.

Follow us on Facebook |  selected by Skumar’s

A presentation of entomology specimens arranged within one aisle of the Entomology Department compactor collection cabinets at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History. Designed to illustrate the size and scope of the Entomology collection. May 9, 2006. Featured researchers: Dr. David Furth, Collections Manager; Dr. Ted Schultz, Research Entomologist; Dr. Jonathan Coddington, Senior Scientist; Patricia Gentili-Poole, Museum Technician.

Carefully arranged within thousands of drawers, flat files, and shelving units are the collections of the National Museum of Natural History (NMNH) which together comprise 90% of the Smithsonian’s collections. Found in these material assortments are the reference objects that help scientists, researchers, and museum curators understand our planet—from solid earth fragments to biological material and cultural objects from civilizations long diseased.

In this phenomenal photo series from the Smithsonian we get to see the many researchers paired with the items they explore and evaluate behind doors closed to the general public. You can learn more about these many varied collections on NMNH’s website. (via Juxtapoz)

The Botany Department Herbarium at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History, displaying algae specimens, including coralline algae, wet specimens and the usual herbarium sheets. Featured researchers: Dr. James Norris (right, front), his research assistant Bob Sims (left, front), and associate researcher, Katie Norris (left, back). All images by Chip Clark.

Botanical collections are displayed at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History. Botany staff present are Dr. David Bruce Lellinger (left, front), Carol Kellof (right, middle), and Rusty Russell (left, back).

A view of one part of the Paleontology collection in the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History, arranged by the addition of representative specimens from other parts of the three floors of fossils in the East Wing. Staff: Dr. Scott Wing, Chairman of the Department of Paleontology.

Whale skeletons from the Department of Vertebrate Zoology’s marine mammals collections are displayed in storage at the Smithsonian Institution’s Museum Support Center (MSC), located in Suitland, Maryland.

Anthropological collections on display in Pod 4 (designed to house oversized objects) at the Smithsonian Institution’s Museum Support Center (MSC), located in Suitland, Maryland. Anthropology collections staff present. Panoramic image #7 of 7 at 26mm focal length.

An assortment of mineral specimens from the Department of Mineral Sciences’ collections are displayed in the storage vault known as the “Blue Room,” at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History. Mineral Sciences staff present are (left) Paul Pohwat, Collections Manager of Minerals, and (right) Russell Feather, Collections Manager of Gems.

Collections from the Department of Invertebrate Zoology are displayed at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History. Invertebrate Zoology Staff present: Paul Greenhall, Robert Hershler, Ellen Strong, Jerry Harasewych, and Linda Cole.

Mice from the Department of Vertebrate Zoology’s mammals collections are displayed at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History.

The Department of Vertebrate Zoology’s wet collections of fish specimens preserved in alcohol, located at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History.

Anthropological collections are displayed in Pod 1 at the Smithsonian Institution’s Museum Support Center in Suitland, Maryland.

itscolossal:

WATCH: A Gorgeous Animated Penny Arcade Music Video for Jane Bordeaux’s ‘Ma’agalim’ [music video]

All images provided by Reuben Wu.

Photographer Reuben Wu‘s (previously) latest series attempts to bring the alien mystique of planetary exploration to our own world, creating theatrically-lit compositions with the aid of GPS-enabled drones. “Lux Noctis” is influenced by a confluence of 19th century romantic painting and science fiction which is expressed in the dramatic ways each drone lights the earthen subjects from above.

“My aim is to portray a unique perspective of the planet we live on by illuminating night landscapes with an aerial LED light,” said Wu. “Scenes which show not only the beauty of the landscape but also the versatility and awesomeness of adapting new technology to create art.”

Wu used a prototype AL250 light by Fiilex mounted on a 3DR Solo UAV. Typically known for their ability to capture visuals below rather than light them, Wu’s drones serve as flying light beams which circumvent expensive cranes or helicopters previously used to light scenes.

You can see more of Wu’s dramatically lit work on his Instagram and Facebook. (via PetaPixel, thnx John!)

There have been countless films set against the backdrop of a post-apocalyptic New York teeming with wildlife and overgrown with plants, both Planet of the Apes and I Am Legend come to mind. In this animated short titled Wrapped from Roman Kaelin, Falko Paeper and Florian Wittmann, we instead see the demise of the city as a vivid time-lapse that blends real footage, CG, and several of its own science fiction twists. The time-lapse begins with the death of a small rat that sets in motion the complete demise of the city’s human-made infrastructure that is quickly razed by super powerful vines. They share about the project:

“Wrapped” is a VFX driven short film by Roman Kälin, Falko Paeper and Florian Wittmann that combines Time Lapse Photography with CG to create a new reality. The short explores the effects of time and change focusing on the the world’s seemingly never ending cycles. The deterioration of one is the foundation for another. This fact takes on new dimensions when the unexpected forces of nature clash with the existing structures of our civilization.

Wrapped was originally released in 2014 and was screened at over 100 festivals picking up tons of accolades along the way. The film was made viewable online for the first time ever today. (via Vimeo Staff Picks)

Barcelona-based paper artist Raya Sader Bujana designed these fantastic serial plane paper figures in collaboration with photographer Garcia Mendez for an Olympic themed stock photography shoot. Each figure is cut from up to 150 pieces of paper joined by hundreds of tiny 3mm separators to create the delicate layering effect. Bujana shares more her process over on All Things Paper and you can see some of her unrelated origami jewelry in her Etsy shop. The photos seen here were shot by Leo García Mendez.

All images courtesy of Nui Studio, © ErwinBlock Photography

Nui Studio (formerly We Love Eames) has designed a lamp fit for the dim and sun-shielded garden apartments of the world, the living and working locations that are void of the light needed to grow lush plants indoors. The project is titled the Mygdal plant lamp, and is built from mouth-blown glass and aluminum. The plants placed inside this environment thrive on a completely self-sustained ecosystem that needs neither natural light or watering, with the installed LED lights sufficient enough to aid in photosynthesis for most plants.

The name of the lamp is a tribute to the Danish hometown of glassmaker Peter Kuchinke, and translates to mean “fertile soil.” Two minimal versions of the lamps were built, one to hang from the ceiling, while the other rests on top of a flat surface.

Nui Studio was founded in 2014 by Emilia Lucht and Arne Sebrantke. The two met while studying industrial design at Muthesius Academy of Fine Art where they started dating and designing together. The creative duo is currently finishing their masters degree at Burg Giebichenstein University of Art and Design. You can explore more of their furniture design and projects on their Facebook. (via Colossal Submissions)

In this series of photographs featuring the delicate details of peacock feathers, photographer Waldo Nell relied on an Olympus BX 53 microscope to take hundreds of individual shots that were combined to create each image seen here. The process, called photo stacking, blends dozens or even hundreds of photos taken at different focal points and then stitches them together to extend the depth of field. At this level of detail the feathers look more like ornate jewelry, thick braids of iridescent necklaces or bracelets, rather than something that grows organically from the wings of a bird.

By day Nell is a software engineer in Port Moody, BC, Canada, but is fascinated by technology, science, and nature, all of which he merges in his photography practice. You can see more of his work on Flickr. (via Reddit)

Amazon Canada has a great offer on Brand Women’s Jeans! The Amazon Canada offer includes:

• Get Lucky Brand Women’s Lolita Skinny Jean In Matira, for $35.70, list price $119.00, save 83.30 – 70% off + FREE shipping on order over $25.
• Get Lucky Brand Women’s Brooke Legging Jean In Livingston, for $29.70, list price $99.00, save $69.30 – 70% off + FREE shipping on order over $25.
• Click here to get all Lucky Brand Women’s collections

The Amazon Canada offers are valid foe a limited time, while supplies last.

Click here to get the Amazon Canada today’s offers.

Starwood signed a deal on Saturday to renovate and run three Cuban hotels, returning U.S. chains to the island more than 50 years after American hotels were taken over by Fidel Castro's socialist revolution.