dan boehl

Drunken Lava Flows

Single Wavy Line

Lava Flows

WonderHowTo has a gallery of jailer key guns, which came in handy in the days of yore.

Most correctional officers today do not carry firearms, unless they're isolated away from the prison population. But back in the olden days, prison guards on their rounds needed a little backup power in their hands, especially when opening cell doors—usually a two-handed job.

So came the birth of jailer key guns, a cell door key that doubles as a primitive one-shooter. Filled with gunpowder, "turnkeys" could fire the miniature key-pistol in case there was any trouble with the prisoner when opening the door.

Mini Key Guns: How Jailers Used to Keep Prisoners in Check

slacktory:

ryanhatesthis:

Well, that’s enough internet for me today.

I will never not love how beautifully this spirals into madness.

Available here.

A House Built from Salvaged Materials Physically Transforms into an Open Air Theater

[Video Link] Matthew says: "Here's a video taken from inside the Mitsubishi Evo 10 during the 2013 Coimbatore Rally, part of the Indian National Rally Championship. The car is being driven by Samir Thapar and his co-driver/coach, Vivek Ponnusamy."

On the night of August 20, 1863, proslavery guerrillas from Missouri set off to attack the antislavery stronghold of Lawrence, Kansas, burning it to the ground and killing at least 150 people. There's an organized reenactment happening on Twitter tonight and tomorrow, under the hashtag #qr1863. It features Twitter accounts for Lawrence townspeople of the time, as well as Union soldiers, and proslavery leader William Quantrill — all tweeting their perspective of the raid using real historical sources.

The hashtag is just getting started up now. The real action will kick in tomorrow, on the anniversary of the attack. Fascinating use of tech to draw attention to an oft-overlooked part of history!

James Meyer "stumbled into a position with Mr. Johns that lasted 27 years. During that time, he also tried to make his own name as an artist with works whose influences included suburbia and Dostoyevsky filtered through the techniques and sensibilities of Mr. Johns." The New York Times 08/18/13

"The desire for readers to see their favourite authors perform relates to the rise of social media - the accessibility of authors on sites such as Twitter leading to a desire among readers to meet them in person." The Guardian (UK) 08/18/13

An anonymous commenter who identifies her/himself as a funeral director has posted a magnificent rant to a Reddit thread, explaining all the ways that funeral directors con bereaved families into paying for things they don't need, like $5000 painted plywood boxes and "barbaric," environmentally degrading "mutilation" (embalming), which are often described as legal requirements (they aren't). The post is full of great intel and advice, including mention of the FTC funeral rule, which sets out your rights in clear, simple language. I didn't know that US law requires funeral directors to accept your own coffin, which you can get at your local big-box discount store or have delivered from a variety of sellers through Amazon.

I’ve seen funeral directors force-feed families absolute horseshit – saying anything – to get them to sign a contract. Here’s a hint: don’t sign any pre-printed “form” contracts. Most of the contracts we use are super vague, so we can charge you for just about anything and justify it by pointing to your signature on the dotted line. It is in your best interest to only agree to specific itemized charges – i.e., have the hearse but no limousines. Or have hair/makeup done without any embalming. The law is very specific and on your side, but we count on your ignorance and vulnerability.

Even better, find a trusted friend or family member who is more emotionally stable right now and appoint them as your lawyer/detective. You know that bitchy sister-in-law everyone has who makes major holidays a nightmare? I can spot her a mile away and will do everything I can to keep her out of financial discussions – because I know she will take that obnoxious nagging and throw it at me for every single penny I’m trying to get out of your family. See my co-workers standing around looking somber and respectful? They’re not there to just have a presence of authority, they are studying you. They are watching the family dynamic and will report back to me with any potential angles I can play to manipulate your emotions, which family members are taking it the hardest and will therefore be the easiest prey, and their estimation of your financial well-being. If, by the way, you appear to be less affluent, I’ll tell you to take your business elsewhere. This is not a hospital and I don’t provide a service – this is a business. If you aren’t paying me (in full and up front, generally), all you’re getting is my sympathy.

arrghbrains comments on What is a "dirty little (or big) secret" about an industry that you have worked in, that people outside the industry really ought to know? (Thanks, Marilyn!)

lilcheeseburger:

askgoodolmothy:

midwest-monster:

broadway antique market

i bought this telegram, because it’s probably the best thing i’ve ever seen.  i’m framing it.  it cost $1.

I’m guessing the brassy dame in question here is named “Mavis”, or “Ethel”, or something else deliciously old-timey.

GET ME

via http://beautifuldelicatepeople.tumblr.com/page/4

Mivtachim Sanitarium Jacob Rechter

Images by: Architect Amnon Rechter from the exhibition: The Object of Zionism, at the SAM (Swiss Architecture Museum, Basel, 2011).

Margaux and Mariel Hemingway

Artist: Ken Price

Venue: The Drawing Center, New York

Exhibition Title: Slow and Steady Wins the Race, Works on Paper, 1962–2010

Date: June 19 – August 18, 2013

Click here to view slideshow

Full gallery of images, press release and link available after the jump. Images:

Images courtesy of The Drawing Center, New York. Photos by Cathy Carver.

Press Release:

Drawing was probably one of the first artistic things Ken Price (1935–2012) did, even before he started surfing the beaches at Malibu and playing jazz trumpet. Price drew to visualize how an object—be it a cup, egg, specimen, or mound—might get made. He also drew to relax and stretch out, to improvise imaginary scenes of retinal-searing color, and, at times, to fantasize. For years he drew with no audience in mind, and in the unfettered space of his imagination, drawing flourished. 

The first survey of Price’s lifelong rapport with drawing, Slow and Steady Wins the Race includes 65 works on paper from 1962 to 2010 and features the ten-foot, ink-on-paper scroll he conceived during a formative trip to Japan in 1962. Unfurling with autobiographical scenes paced by handwritten texts, the illuminated scroll sets this show’s tone with Price’s signature cartoon humor and sculptural innuendo. Throughout the exhibition sculptural themes complement more narrative-infused scenarios. From 2000 until his death, the sculptor sustained a quiet storm of creativity that included prolific stints of drawing: images of erupting volcanoes and lava lakes, lightning-struck bodies of water, desert craters, mutant trees, trailers occupying surreal landscapes, and an ominous bottomless pit. In the twilight of Price’s life, the intimate act of drawing was solace.

Douglas Dreishpoon
Chief Curator, Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, N.Y.

Link: Ken Price at The Drawing Center

Contemporary Art Daily is produced by Contemporary Art Group, a not-for-profit organization. We rely on our audience to help fund the publication of exhibitions that show up in this RSS feed. Please consider supporting us by making a donation today.

via http://thisisnthappiness.com/post/10655679207/invisible-please-help

Jane Fonda

j-p-g:

what i am seeing from out of my window now that it is summer (via gareth egg)

fuckyeahbookarts:

Kim Gordon’s Watercolors

I’m so inspired by Sonic Youth’s founder, Kim Gordon’s series of “noise paintings” depicting her blurred vision of the audience from the stage. She describes what it’s like to perform,

”I’m trying not to look directly at anyone in the front so the spell of concentration won’t be broken. Instead they appear as a collective mood.” 

Talking Dirty to the Mirror

Collage, 2013

Available here.

The Harry Ransom Center, a humanities research library and museum at The University of Texas at Austin, has received a gift of materials related to writer Robert E. Howard (1906–1936), a prominent and prolific writer in the fantasy genre. Though Howard is perhaps best known for creating the character Conan the Barbarian, he wrote more than 100 stories for pulp magazines of his day, though his career spanned only 12 years before he committed suicide at the age of 30. The collection, which includes more than 15,000 pages of manuscripts, sketches and ephemera, was donated by the estate of Glenn Lord (1931–2011), a Texas literary agent, editor and publisher of Howard’s prose and poetry. Lord is considered the first and most important researcher of Howard’s life and writings. Howard was born in Peaster, Texas, and he sold his first story at the age of 18 when the magazine Weird Tales published

jonmichaelfrank:

$7 @ etsy.com/shop/jonmichaelfrank