You are an anonymous professional assassin with a perfect reputation. You lead an ordinary life outside of your work. You’ve just been hired to kill yourself.
My first thought is that the middle man I use–calls himself ‘Leader’, real name Brett Thompson, 46, balding, lives in PA–has uncovered my identity. Why else would I be staring down at a picture of my own face? I think it’s a warning, that he knows about the Sanchez job, and I nearly reach for my go bag.
Then I see the client’s name.
Vi Larson, the file tells me, male, 32, computer analyst.
I close the manila folder, tossing it away from me. The whiskey sour’s gone warm in my hand, but I drink it down anyway, eyes distant. I don’t need to read any more of the file. I can fill in the gaps well enough.
Funnily enough, this betrayal is just as sharp and unpleasant as the first one, the one that got me into this business in the first place.
“You at least owe me a crime of passion, you bastard,” I mutter into my drink. I close my eyes and sigh, willing away the stinging in my heart. I knew that my relationship was in trouble, but this is just cold.
In a way, I can’t believe it. Is a divorce really that hard? But, no, I know Vi. He’s methodical, analytical, and competent. If anything, hiring an assassin with a reputation like mine is right in line with his personality. Nothing but the best, even in the murder game.
I should be flattered, really. My rates aren’t cheap. Whatever I did to make him send this in–and he did, there’s his social security, his fingerprint, everything–it must have been killer.
I set my glass down on the counter and tuck the folder under my arm. I need to think and I do my best thinking in the tub. Vi won’t be back from his “business” trip for another three days, during which I’m supposed to kill myself.
As I head up the stairs, I can’t help but laugh. Finally, after three years of marriage, my husband does something interesting. And it breaks my fucking heart.
——————————————
He wants me to make it painless but horrific. There’s a script in the document, something that’s more common than people think, and it’s hard to read it, even surrounded by bubbles and soothing music.
“Your husband sent me. Said he needed to shed some dead weight.” I snort at the pun and close my eyes, resting the file against my face so it doesn’t get wet. Unfortunately, the tears do that anyway.
Before she learns about his secret identity, Lois Lane
thinks Clark Kent is a goddamn mess
She goes to his place to work on a joint article and it
takes her like half an hour to find out that Clark lives in an absolutely
nonfunctional house
She has to change a lightbulb but there are no stools, no
sufficiently high chairs, no way of reaching the ceiling unless you find a way
to climb the walls. “How the hell do you change your bulbs?” she asks. Clark
mutters something about misplacing the footstool and helps her drag the table
from the kitchen to the living room.
Lois watches Clark make lasagna and has to physically
restrain him from pulling the tray out of the oven with his bare hands. “Are
you out of your goddamn MIND?” she yells, scrambling to pull him away on time. “What
are you DOING? WHERE ARE THE OVEN MITTS?” and Clark is just like “Right…..oven
mitts…….. I think I lost them with the uh. footstool” both he and Lois pause
for a moment to engage in a riveting game of Mentally Punch Clark
Lois runs into the bathroom to put on a disguise and yells
out, “Where do you keep your razor?” There’s a gust of wind and Clark comes
back with slightly windswept hair. “I got it!” he says with unwarranted
triumph. “It’s right here. The razor I use.” Lois looks at it and it is CLEARLY
recently purchased and never used and she’s just like. I don’t even care
anymore
For weeks she just assumes Clark is missing some crucial
element in his home and starts stacking her own things all over the place. Lois thinking Clark has no clue how to take care of himself while Clark is Eternally Tormented and has to find ways to keep his identity a secret while living in close quarters, and the slow burn mutual pining roommates AU of my dreams begins
I didn't know there was a mermaid show in a natural spring, I've heard of the ones in tanks. It looks pretty neat!
The Weeki Wachee mermaids were magical creatures to me as a child, even though I was old enough to know they were real women. Women with awesome jobs, in my eyes. Like many little girls, I wanted to grow up to be a mermaid. But not badly enough to move to Florida as an adult. I had no idea they were still putting on shows three times a day in 2018!
Tom Scott takes us on a tour of Weeki Wachee Springs State Park in Florida, and gives us a bit of the history of the famous -and now gloriously retro- mermaid show.
The colors and the luminosity! Lovely. I also appreciate that he takes such care to depict the regalia accurately.
Artist Jeremy Winborg is known for his expressive paintings that pair palette knife backdrops with lifelike subjects. Rendered in a distinctive style, these energetic portrayals feature iconography that ranges from local landscapes to religious figures. In addition to reimagining these regularly revisited themes, Winborg has recently turned his attention toward creating eye-catching Native American portraits.
This ongoing series of oils features portrayals of young women and girls in traditional Native American dress. While the backgrounds are composed of colorful abstractions, the subjects are painted in realistic detail that draws attention to their spirited faces and exquisite clothing.
When creating each piece, Winborg pays particular attention to the figure's regalia, conducting in-depth research to ensure that his representations are as authentic as possible. This approach has culminated in a collection of awe-inspiring paintings that “preserve a bit of history on each canvas.”
We recently had the chance to speak with Winborg about this ongoing series of oils and his celebrated practice in general. Read on to learn about the inspiration behind his signature aesthetic, choice in subject matter, diligent research methods, and more.
As a lifelong painter, how has your work changed over time? Have portraits always been your speciality?
My dad was an illustrator and he worked from home so I was constantly around artwork during my childhood. I painted whenever I wasn’t playing with toys or climbing trees.
I started painting seriously when I was 15 years old. I painted a large, wild acrylic of the Smithsonian castle. The state of Utah education department saw it and bought it. It ended up hanging in the Capitol Building in Washington DC for a month and every teacher in Utah was given a print of it. That was the first painting I made. It was a huge success. So, I continued to paint large, wild acrylics during my teen years.
At 22, I got married and started a family that I had to support so I began to paint what I thought people wanted. My dad had an art show in a gallery in Washington DC and the owner of that gallery told me that portraits don’t sell and that I should continue with landscapes. My landscapes were well-received and I was able to support my wife and five kids for over a decade painting local scenes in Utah and historic pieces. I liked to paint landscapes, but wasn’t super excited about them. I really wanted to do something different, and I was drawn to portraiture.
Your portraits feature a unique blend of realism and abstraction. How did you develop this aesthetic?
To tell you the truth, I just got super bored of creating the realistic backgrounds. I seemed to spend more time on those and stressed out about them more than the actual figures and it wasn’t fun. Now, I have fun with what I’m doing and I really enjoy it. I really love the juxtaposition of the realism with the abstraction.
In what ways do your paintings of Native Americans “preserve a bit of history?”
All of my paintings feature Native Americans wearing traditional, authentic native clothing. I do a lot of research and consult historians to make sure I get it right.
Is it difficult to assure that the dress is as genuine as possible? What research goes into each painting?
I have a great source for the clothing. It is a couple that dedicates their whole life to the history of the American West. I consult them with any questions I have. They actually make all of their own museum-quality replica clothing. They make them the traditional ways with traditional materials; when they use a buckskin, they’ll actually tan the leather themselves. They do all their own beadwork, they use real animal sinew and shells and hooves and pelts. They do really incredible work and you can see that authenticity in my paintings.
In addition to Native American subjects, what else inspires your work?
I live in a really beautiful part of the country. I am close to Grand Teton Park and Yellowstone and also southern Utah and all the national parks there in the desert. I get a lot of inspiration from those scenes. Often times I’ll be driving down the road and have to pull over and photograph a house or a building or a cloud or the way the light is hitting a tree. I always have my camera with me and I’m constantly inspired by nature.
Plus, I’m always on the lookout for potential models that have a lot of character in their faces. I try not to be too awkward but, I’ve had many instances where I’ve gone up to people and said “hey, I’m an artist, would you be interested in modeling for me?” I actually photographed an eighty-year-old man on a beach while on vacation in Hawaii. I find inspiration everywhere.
We look forward to seeing more of your paintings! Any upcoming plans or projects?
I will be at The Collector’s Rendezvous in Montana in May. It’s a three-day event where collectors and artists meet together for painting demos, a forum to speak with the artists, and information for collectors about auctions, buying, and collecting. They only invite four artists and I’m honored to be invited.
I also plan on continuing to paint, have art in galleries, and enter different shows throughout the nation. The best way to stay up to date is to sign up for my newsletter on my website.
Then, as a psychologist, I think you’re confusing suicide with self-destruction, and they’re very different. Almost none of us commit suicide, whereas almost all of us self-destruct. Somehow. In some part of our lives. We drink, or take drugs, or destabilize the happy job… or happy marriage. But these aren’t decisions. They’re impulses. And in fact, as a biologist, you’re better placed to explain them than me. What do you mean? Isn’t the self-destruction coded into us? Imprinted into each cell.
there were so many shots of alicia vikander/lara flexing on tomb raider 2018 and honestly im glad that we as a society evolved from the ass shots of the jolie movies to the arm shots of this one
How did it take me this long to discover Patty Cake Productions?? I mean, it's Disney, it's catchy pop songs, and it's based right here in Orlando. My shame is great.
BUT! I *did* finally find them, and my gain is your gain, fellow Dizgeeks.
There are lots more on Patty Cake Production's Youtube channel, and you should absolutely watch them all - even when some of the song selections are a little hit-or-miss, ha. (I'm not sure I can forgive them for making Snow White sing "Hold It Against Me" by Britney Spears. NOOOOOO.)
For example, I didn't know most of the Ariana Grande songs they used for Little Mermaid, but Vanessa singing Dangerous Woman makes the whole video, so don't skip it. Besides, even if you don't like a song choice, the visuals and costumes are still pretty incredible.
I'll end with the first Unexpected Musical I watched, The Disney Showman. You guys, it's the story of Walt Disney told with Greatest Showman songs. SQUEEEEE. And again, so, SO well done:
I'm surprised this hasn't gone viral yet. Go give the Patty Cake team some love, won't you? I don't know them or anything - I just want them to make more! :)
Saw this through my facebook friends in Boston but the whole story is even better.
When Elsa stopped being a cold-hearted villain and changed her wicked ways she promised her sister Anna that she would become a chilly force for good, dropping the brooding bad girl act to become a hero.
And it appears Elsa has kept her promise to Anna and is continuing to help us mere mortals whenever she can, making an appearance in Boston during a blizzard.
Okay, that's obviously not the real Elsa from Frozen, it's actually 37-year-old attorney Jason Triplett out enjoying the snowfall in his Elsa costume.
Jason thought it would be entertaining to head out into the snow dressed as Elsa and film the fun, but Jason soon found himself proving he's a cosplay hero when a police wagon became stuck in a snowdrift.
Elsa, I mean Jason, helped push the police vehicle free of the snow, and thankfully the whole thing was caught on video by bystander Christopher Haynes:
A drag queen dressed as Elsa just single-handedly freed a stuck police wagon from a blizzard in the middle of March. If that sentence doesn't perfectly encapsulate the spirit of Boston, I don't know what does.
Hehe, this looks like it will be painfully hilarious.
We love us some Taika Waititi around here, and while we are all about Thor:Ragnarok, we also know that he’s been delivering his unique brand of energy, humor, and irreverent storytelling to all sorts of films, both as a director and as an actor. Waititi also knows huge comedic talent when he sees it, which is likely why he’s a producer on an awesome-looking new sort-of-rom-com, The Breaker Upperers. Check out the trailer above!
Written, directed and starring Jackie van Beek and Madeleine Sami, The Breaker Upperers is about a pair of best friends who “run a business breaking up couples for cash, but when one develops a conscience their friendship unravels.” What’s refreshing about this movie, in addition to its wackadoodle humor, is that, while there is a romantic element for one of the protagonists, the film is ultimately about their friendship being the most important relationship they’re in, as well as the ethics surrounding their chosen business.
Tori Preston at Pajiba was at the SXSW world premiere of the film, and loved it. She also attended a Q&A with van Beek and Sami afterwards and writes:
“They wrote the script together over 4 years and initially wanted Taika to direct, but… he was a little busy. Seeing what Jemaine Clement and Taika did with What We Do In The Shadows inspired them to try and direct this film themselves. Essentially: “If they can do it, why can’t we?””
From the looks of this trailer, I’m very glad they did! The Breaker Upperers opens in its native New Zealand in May. No info yet on a U.S. wide release date.
Japanese artist Sakae creates delicate floral hair accessories using colorful resin and wire. In Japan, these ornamental hair pins are known as Kanzashi, and today they’re worn with kimonos by Japanese women on special occasions. Sakae calls her craft “dip flower,” which involves sculpting the metallic wire into floral shapes and dipping them into the liquid plastic. Once the individual petals, leaves, and buds are dry, the artist then combines them to create glassy bouquets of lifelike cherry blossoms, carnations, lotus flowers, and more.
The tradition of wearing Kanzashi began during the pre-historic Jōmon period (1000 BCE), when the Japanese believed that the pin rods held special powers and the ability to ward off evil spirits. It wasn’t until the Edo period (between 1603 and 1868), that women started wearing the ornamental hair accessories purely for fashion. During this time, hairstyles became larger, more extravagant, and required more pins and combs. Artisans then began producing a range of decorative Kanzashi, and some pieces were even designed to be used as protective weapons.
Sakae carries on the Kanzashi tradition, capturing the fragility of real life flowers with amazing detail, and invites fans of her craft to “adorn your hair with flowers, butterflies, and other subjects captured forever in their prime.”
Because each piece is so fragile, Sakae’s hair accessories are currently only available in Japan through Yahoo! auction. However, there are plans to sell abroad, so keep an eye on the artist’s Facebook page for updates.
Japanese artist Sakae creates delicate floral hair accessories using colorful liquid resin and wire.
These days everybody is going back to basics with their workout routine, trading in their expensive exercise machines and electronic gadgets for kettlebells, free weights and good old fashioned freestyle cardio.
9. DANCE FOR YOUR LIFE
Dance vigorously and often to your favorite lute melody or hip-hop album while wearing mail armor.
So it stands to reason that out of shape modern people might seek guidance from the fit people of the past, and if you're looking for a CrossFit-style workout that makes losing weight fun you should go to Knight classes.
6. STONE THROW
Pick up a large stone. Throw it. Repeat as necessary. (This was one of Boucicaut's favorite childhood games, which no doubt served him well on the battlefield.)
French knight Jean Le Maingre, aka Boucicaut, shared the details of his strict fitness regimen in his 1409 biography, revealing the exercises that made him such a mighty warrior, all done while fully armored, of course.
5. HAMMER SWING
Take a sledgehammer and swing it about. Note your surroundings. Splitting wood with an ax is a suitable alternative.
Ahahahahahaha. Hm. A good reason not to do more cardio?
The age old question, "How fast can you run?" is answered logically by "It depends on what's chasing me." But sometimes even that motivation isn't enough. What could possibly lead to this scenario? Could it be a nagging idea that you've let your body go to pot by sitting all day? You sit at work, you sit in the car, you go home and sit while watching TV or playing on the internet. No wonder your legs have no loyalty. And no taste, either, according to the monster. This is the latest comic from Zach Weinersmith at Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal.
LOL! "Sure, we did not successfully return the goose to human form, but he wasn’t a goose anymore, and that’s kind of the same thing."
Yesterday one of the regular members of my Dungeons & Dragons group had to cancel, so the rest of us decided to roll some new characters for a one-off campaign. Shortly before our gathering, one of them texted to ask if it was alright if we all played as bards. “We’ll be like a traveling pop punk band!” they said. As…
I didn't know that a particular type of blue was responsible for the origin of blueprints, that's really cool.
The color blue is associated with two of Earth’s greatest natural features: the sky and the ocean. But that wasn’t always the case. Some scientists believe that the earliest humans were actually colorblind and could only recognize black, white, red, and only later yellow and green. As a result, early humans with no concept of the color blue simply had no words to describe it. This is even reflected in ancient literature, such as Homer’s Odyssey, that describes the ocean as a “wine-red sea.”
Blue was first produced by the ancient Egyptians who figured out how to create a permanent pigment that they used for decorative arts. The color blue continued to evolve for the next 6,000 years, and certain pigments were even used by the world's master artists to create some of the most famous works of art. Today it continues to evolve, with the latest shade discovered less than a decade ago. Read on to learn more about the color's fascinating history.
Egyptian Blue
Egyptian Juglet, ca. 1750–1640 B.C. (Photo: Met Museum, Rogers Fund and Edward S. Harkness Gift, 1922. (CC0 1.0))
There’s a long list of things we can thank the ancient Egyptians for inventing, and one of them is the color blue. Considered to be the first ever synthetically produced color pigment, Egyptian blue (also known as cuprorivaite) was created around 2,200 B.C. It was made from ground limestone mixed with sand and a copper-containing mineral, such as azurite or malachite, which was then heated between 1470 and 1650°F. The result was an opaque blue glass which then had to be crushed and combined with thickening agents such as egg whites to create a long-lasting paint or glaze.
The Egyptians held the hue in very high regard and used it to paint ceramics, statues, and even to decorate the tombs of the pharaohs. The color remained popular throughout the Roman Empire and was used until the end of the Greco-Roman period (332 BC–395 AD), when new methods of color production started to evolve.
Figure of a Lion. ca. 1981–1640 B.C. (Photo: Met Museum, Rogers Fund and Edward S. Harkness Gift, 1922. (CC0 1.0))
Fun fact: In 2006, scientists discovered that Egyptian blue glows under fluorescent lights, indicating that the pigment emits infrared radiation. This discovery has made it a lot easier for historians to identify the color on ancient artifacts, even when it’s not visible to the naked eye.
Ultramarine
“Virgin and Child with Female Saints” by Gérard David, 1500. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)
The history of ultramarine began around 6,000 years ago when the vibrant, semi-precious gemstone it was made from—lapis lazuli—began to be imported by the Egyptians from the mountains of Afghanistan. However, the Egyptians tried and failed to turn it into a paint, with each attempt resulting in a dull gray. Instead, they used it to make jewelry and headdresses.
Also known as “true blue,” lapis lazuli first appeared as a pigment in the 6th century and was used in Buddhist paintings in Bamiyan, Afghanistan. It was renamed ultramarine—in Latin: ultramarinus, meaning “beyond the sea”—when the pigment was imported into Europe by Italian traders during the 14th and 15th centuries. Its deep, royal blue quality meant that was highly sought after among artists living in Medieval Europe. However, in order to use it you had to be wealthy, as it was considered to be just as precious as gold.
“Girl with a Pearl Earring” by Johannes Vermeer, circa 1665. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons {{PD-US}})
Ultramarine was usually reserved for only the most important commissions, such as the blue robes of the Virgin Mary in Gérard David’s Virgin and Child with Female Saints. Supposedly, Baroque master Johannes Vermeer—who painted Girl with a Pearl Earring—loved the color so much that he pushed his family into debt. It remained extremely expensive until a synthetic ultramarine was invented in 1826, by a French chemist, which was then aptly named “French Ultramarine.”
Fun fact: Art historians believe that Michelangelo left his painting The Entombment (1500–01) unfinished because he could not afford to buy more ultramarine blue.
Cobalt blue
“The Skiff (La Yole)” by Pierre-Auguste Renoir, 1875. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons {{PD-US}})
Cobalt blue dates back to the 8th and 9th centuries, and was then used to color ceramics and jewelry. This was especially the case in China, where it was used in distinctive blue and white patterned porcelain. A purer alumina-based version was later discovered by French chemist Louis Jacques Thénard in 1802, and commercial production began in France in 1807. Painters—such as J. M. W. Turner, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, and Vincent Van Gogh—started using the new pigment as an alternative to expensive ultramarine.
“Dinky Bird” by Maxfield Parrish, 1904. Via Wikimedia Commons {{PD-US}}
Fun fact: Cobalt blue is sometimes called Parrish blue because artist Maxfield Parrish used it to create his distinct, intensely blue skyscapes.
Cerulean
“Summer's Day” by Berthe Morisot, 1879. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons {{PD-US}})
Originally composed of cobalt magnesium stannate, the sky-colored cerulean blue was perfected by Andreas Höpfner in Germany in 1805 by roasting cobalt and tin oxides. However, the color was not available as an artistic pigment until 1860 when it was sold by Rowney and Company under the name of coeruleum. Artist Berthe Morisot used cerulean along with ultramarine and cobalt blue to paint the blue coat of the woman in A Summer's Day, 1887.
Fun fact: In 1999, Pantone released a press release declaring cerulean as the “Color of the Millennium,” and “the hue of the future.”
Indigo
Indigo, historical dye collection of the Technical University of Dresden, Germany. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0))
Although blue was expensive to use in paintings, it was much cheaper to use for dying textiles. Unlike the rarity of lapis lazuli, the arrival of a new blue dye called “indigo” came from a excessively grown crop—called Indigofera tinctoria—that was produced across the world. Its import shook up the European textile trade in the 16th century, and catalyzed trade wars between Europe and America.
Indigo dyed textile (England), 1790s. (Photo: Matt Flynn via Wikimedia Commons {{PD-US}})
The use of indigo for dyeing textiles was most popular in England, and was used to dye clothing worn by men and women of all social backgrounds. Natural indigo was replaced in 1880, when synthetic indigo was developed. This pigment is still used today to dye blue jeans. However, over the last decade scientists have discovered that the bacteria Escherichia coli can be bio-engineered to produce the same chemical reaction that makes indigo in plants. This method, called “bio-indigo,” will likely play a big part in manufacturing environmentally friendly denim in the future.
Fun fact: Sir Isaac Newton—the inventor of the “color spectrum”—believed that the rainbow should consist of seven distinct colors to match the seven days of the week, the seven known planets, and the seven notes in the musical scale. Newton championed indigo, along with orange, even though many other contemporary scientists believed the rainbow only had five colors.
Formally known as marine blue, the darkest shade of blue—also known as navy blue—was adopted as the official color for British Royal Navy uniforms, and was worn by officers and sailors from 1748. Modern navies have since darkened the color of their uniforms to almost black in an attempt to avoid fading. Indigo dye was the basis for historical navy blue colors dating from the 18th century.
Fun fact: There are many variations of navy blue, including Space cadet, a color that was formulated in 2007. This hue is associated with the uniforms of cadets in the space navy; a fictional military service armed with the task of exploring outer space.
Prussian blue
“The Great Wave off Kanagawa” by Katsushika Hokusai, 1831. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons {{PD-US}})
Also known as Berliner Blau, Prussian blue was discovered accidentally by German dye-maker Johann Jacob Diesbach. In fact, Diesbach was working on creating a new red, however, one of his materials—potash—had come into contact with animal blood. Instead of making the pigment even more red like you might expect, the animal blood created a surprising chemical reaction, resulting in a vibrant blue.
Pablo Picasso used the Prussian blue pigment exclusively during his Blue Period, and Japanese woodblock artist Katsushika Hokusai used it to create his iconic The Great Wave off Kanagawa, as well as other prints in his Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji series. However, the pigment wasn’t only used for creating masterpieces. In 1842, English astronomer Sir John Herschel discovered that Prussian blue had a unique sensitivity to light, and was the perfect hue to create copies of drawings. This discovery proved invaluable to the likes of architects, who could create copies of their plans and designs, that are today known as “blueprints.”
Fun fact: Today, Prussian blue is used in a pill form to cure metal poisoning.
“IKB 191”, 1962 by Yves Klein. (Photo: Christophe Brocas via Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0))
In pursuit of the color of the sky, French artist Yves Klein developed a matte version of ultramarine that he considered the best blue of all. He registered International Klein Blue (IKB) as a trademark and the deep hue became his signature between 1947 and 1957. He painted over 200 monochrome canvases, sculptures, and even painted human models in the IKB color so they could “print” their bodies onto canvas.
Fun fact: Klein once said “blue has no dimensions. It is beyond dimensions,” believing that it could take the viewer outside the canvas itself.
In 2009, a new shade of blue was accidentally discovered by Professor Mas Subramanian and his then graduate student Andrew E. Smith at Oregon State University. While exploring new materials for making electronics, Smith discovered that one of his samples turned bright blue when heated. Named YInMnblue, after its chemical makeup of yttrium, indium, and manganese, they released the pigment for commercial use in June 2016.
24-year-old Mirai Nagasu became the first American woman to nail a triple axel jump at the Olympics last night, and her flawless routine earned her a score of 137.53.
If you’re wondering why everyone’s making such a fuss, this video from Vox explains the physics and history of the triple axel, and why it’s such a big deal (there’s also a great scene in I, Tonya about the physical feat around Tonya Harding being the first woman to land one at a competitive event):
Naturally, the internet celebrated her amazing jump and our hearts swelled with patriotic pride:
Adam Rippon and Mirai Nagasu are roomies at the Olympics. They ate In and Out Burger when they didn’t make the 2014 Olympics. Today, he almost cried when she landed her triple axel. #Olympicspic.twitter.com/gHmwemEMnM
The skater had been snubbed in 2014 for a position on the Sochi Olympic team, and many were unhappy that the third spot was awarded to Ashley Wanger instead. The Washington Post writes that after that, Nagasu “doubled down on her commitment to the sport” with a new coach and increased dedication. There was never any doubt about Nagasu’s talent: at 13, when she won the U.S. junior title and at 14 she became the second youngest to win the U.S. senior ladies title. On the 2010 Olympic team, she placed fourth at the age of 16. She’s proved herself time and time again. However, many saw in her historic triple axel an answer to the 2014 snub—no one could dispute her talent now and her rightful place. It’s clear to see her hard work paid off.
Nagasu continued to celebrate, tweeting that she had “No words” and reveling in the fact that she had made Reese Witherspoon, Meryl Davis, Lea Salonga (especially sweet when you consider she skated to music from the Miss Saigon soundtrack), and Kristi Yamaguchi proud.
Saw this elsewhere but it's still so wonderful. The whole set of photos looks amazing.
In the run-up to Black Panther‘s theatrical release, its groundbreaking potential for representation has come up again and again. From the #BlackPantherChallenge that raised money to help kids see the film, to the #WhatBlackPantherMeansToMe hashtag that explored the significance of a black, African superhero, thousands of people have recognized the role that Black Panther can play in inspiring the next generation of black kids.
London-based Nigerian photographer Àsìkò perfectly captured the importance of this representation in a recent photo series. In the photos, children recreate the powerful Black Panther character posters. “As a kid who read comics,” Àsìkò wrote on Instagram, “Black Panther was one of the very few black superheroes I came across. For a child, it is a beautiful thing to see yourself represented in a positive light in pop culture. What is also great is that it’s a hero steeped in culture and heritage and not drug deals or street thugging (is thugging a word?). Ryan Coogler and Marvel Studios have made a film that is part of the positive narrative changing voice of Africa and the black race and, boy, does it matter. I can imagine a child being empowered watching Black Panther [and]thinking, ‘That superhero looks just like me.'”
The photos were commissioned by Looks Like Me, a UK talent and casting agency dedicated to raising the profile of underrepresented groups. Styling was done by Basma Khalifa, and makeup and face painting was done by NyGlorious Face Arts. Below are some of the photos, as shared on the Looks Like Me Instagram.
The women of the US Olympic Ski Team have been spotted wearing uniforms that make them superheroes! Marvel teamed up with the sportswear company Spyder for ski gear the team is wearing in PyeongChang. These are not the official uniforms for the actual events, but practice uniforms. They are still getting all the attention. Above you see gold medalist Lindsey Vonn decked out as Captain America. And other skiers are wearing the uniform of Captain Marvel, who'll be seen in her own movie in 2019.
Photographer Matěj Kříž explores the depths of the great unknown with his camera. Using a combination of on-the-ground and aerial photography, he has captured the mystifying ice caves of Iceland. The breathtaking locale looks like it’s encased in glass and from certain vantage points doesn’t look like a landscape at all. This is most notable in the photos of the blue glaciers; with their different shades and organic shapes, they could double as an abstract oil painting.
Kříž’s Iceland landscape photography showcases the country’s mysterious beauty and speaks to his immense technical talent. The colors that Kříž achieves in the photos are brilliant despite the little amount of light entering the caves. He illuminates the space with glints of electric hues that are made even brighter with deep pockets of darkness. It’s a dramatic combination that’s achieved without the use of post editing. “[The] beauty of photography,” he explains, “is in [the] opportunity to catch [the] proper moment, capture emotions and feels into one scene.”
When it comes to shooting his photos, Kriz makes traveling a priority. While he ventured to Iceland for this series of images, he has trekked to warmer climates like the Ecuadorian jungle, where he snapped pictures of native tribes living there.
Photographer Matěj Kříž ventured to ice caves in Iceland to capture these mystifying landscape photos.
The brilliant images look like abstract paintings.
“As you read a book word by word and page by page, you participate in its creation, just as a cellist playing a Bach suite participates, note by note, in the creation, the coming-to-be, the existence, of the music. And, as you read and re-read, the book of course participates in the creation of you, your thoughts and feelings, the size and temper of your soul.”
These are the sorts of stories that make me want to go be a librarian or bookstore employee. I love such challenges, and even better, the pleased results.
This image was posted at reddit with the label When Libraries Troll Their Patrons. We've all been there, trying to find a book when we recall neither the title nor the author. Commenters started telling tales about working in book stores or libraries, or getting embarrassed by being that patron with the wonky memory. Librarians and book store workers want to help, and they consider it a challenge to find that one book you can't identify, if they have the time. Then starstarstar42 told his story.
To all bookstore employees that take the time to help... thank you.
35 y.o. me walked into a bookstore after WEEKS searching on the web for the first book my now deceased mom let me pick out on my own. Thing is, 3 y.o. me was really mad at her for some reason that day and I did not want to pick out a stupid book! I cried all the way home because she made me do so.
That night she tucked me in (me, still very mad) and read me that book. I f-----g hated the story. I f-----g hated the mouse that starred in it. I f-----g hated the colors when she showed me the pictures. I f-----g hated that book, period. At the end, my mom kissed me and smiled as she smoothed back my hair. Looking back so many decades later I understand now that her love for me was dancing in her eyes as if to say, "be mad all you want, little man of mine. I can never stop loving you. You are my world".
30 years later and I was stoically mourning my mom's death when, for no reason I can explain, I remembered that book.
I wanted it. I wanted more than anything else in my life to find it. To see the mouse in it again, to hold the cover, to bring that small part, that tiny memory of her, back into my life.
Weeks on Google. All I could remember were hazy faded images of a mouse. I searched "mouse story" on Google. 2.8 million hits. It wasn't in the first 20 pages of 100 hits-per-page results. I kept trying till one night I furiously slammed my fist on my desk and gave up. I had nothing else to go on. I was unnaturally angry and upset at myself that evening; feeling I'd let her down again, as I'd done more than once when she was still around. I barely got any sleep that night.
A week later and I'm driving past a mom & pop bookstore/vinyl record shop. With little hope, I went in and bashfully asked the question that my mind knew was stupid, but had to be said.
"I'm looking for a book. It's about a mouse. I'm so sorry, that's all I remember. Can you help me?" I didn't even tell her why this meant so much to me.
The owner, a nice lady in her 50's, spent an hour helping me. She suddenly turned into a combination of "Monk" and "Sherlock". How old was I now, how old when I read it? Was the book wider than it was tall? What colors in it did I remember? Any other characters that I could remember? Most of the answers to her questions were "I can't remember".
One hour.
She found it. "Scuttle the Stowaway Mouse" by Jean Soule. It had been out of print for decades, but she found a pristine copy of it online, ordered it for me and it got to me 48 hours later. $32 she made on that sale. Not even enough to pay to keep the lights turned on in their shop for a day I bet.
Got home, opened the book, my hands softly running over the cover as if it was my mom's face. I was unashamedly weeping bittersweet tears by the first page. Each word was like a kiss on a mad little 3 y.o. boy's forehead.
I miss my mother with my whole heart.
Thank you, bookstore lady. Thank you beyond words.
Great photos but my takeaway is that those "Old Masters" painted some weird stuff.
Photographer Gemmy Woud-Binnendijk infuses the luscious beauty of Old Masters paintings into her fine art photography. Their timeless works go beyond passing inspiration, however, and lovers of art history will find direct influences in her work. In one photo a young girl, her head covering, clothing, and accessories are styled exactly like the painting Girl with a Pearl Earring by Johannes Vermeer. Other images are less straightforward in their inspiration, but they capture the garments, poses, and softness associated with oil painting.
Photography represents a relatively new career path for Woud-Binnendijk. She studied goldsmithing and multimedia design in school, but in March of 2016, she began seriously taking pictures. It was this endeavor that allowed her to exercise her “great passion” for drawing and painting; she does this by focusing on the lighting of each work. Combining two art techniques, chiaroscuro and sfumato (both developed during the Renaissance), Woud-Binnendijk builds depth and form by laying color and tones. The result creates “imperceptible transitions” of children and young adults who look exactly like paintings of that time period. If you didn’t realize they were photographs, you’d think that these were Renaissance-era paintings you had never seen before.
Woud-Binnendijk does a lot of post-processing in Photoshop. For that, she is mostly self-taught and watches online lessons from photographers like Brooke Shaden, Thomas Dodd, and Paul Apal’kin to learn their techniques.
Using Old Master painting principles like chiaroscuro and sfumato, photographer Gemmy Woud-Binnendijk creates fine art photography.
If you didn't realize these were photographs, you might think they were oil paintings!
I didn't know that about the earrings and wax but it totally makes sense.
Pirates are one of the original subcultures, and like the punks and goths who appropriated their style centuries later their lifestyle and fashion choices were considered questionable by polite society- especially considering male pirates wore earrings and married other men.
Pirates didn't just wear earrings to be fashionable- they wore them to protect their hearing while firing cannons and as a form of life insurance:
The crafty sea criminals would hang wads of wax from their earrings to prevent this sound damage. They popped the waxy contraptions into their ears like a makeshift earplug when firing cannons.
The infamous piercings that pirates wore in their ears were actually insurance to make sure that they'd be given a proper burial. Whether gold or silver, the precious metal could be melted down and sold to pay for a casket and other funeral necessities even if a pirate's dead body washed ashore.
Some pirates went so far as to engrave the name of their home port on the inside of the earrings so that their bodies could be sent home for a proper burial.
Pirates also practiced gay marriage as far back as the 1600s, which is quite the practical practice when you consider practically every pirate and sailor on the High Seas was male:
Pirates spent long periods of time on ships surrounded by other men so it’s no surprise that some shared intimate relationships. Other pirates formalized same-sex relationships through a practice called matelotage, a French word that may be at the root of the pirate greeting "Ahoy mate."
In pirate society, two men could join into matelotage and share all their plunder, even receiving death benefits if one died before the other. Pirate mates would live together, exchange gold rings, and sometimes even share female prostitutes.
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Today, many color-loving creatives aim to illustrate and identify tones found in the natural world. From landscape-based color palettes to real-world Pantone matches, these polychromatic pieces sort and specify the colors that surrounds us. While new technologies have made this task easier than ever, the practice has been popular for centuries, with Abraham Gottlob Werner's 19th-century book, Nomenclature of Colours, as an extraordinary example.
Nomenclature of Colours served as a must-have reference for artists, scientists, naturalists, and anthropologists alike. The exquisitely rendered guide showcases the earth's rich range of color by separating it into specific tones. Illustrated only by a small swatch, each handwritten entry is accompanied by a flowery name (like “Arterial Blood Red” and “Velvet Black”) as well as an identifying number. What the book is truly known for, however, is its poetic descriptions of where each tone can be found in nature.
Did you know, for example, that in addition to its namesake, “Apple Green” is evident on the “underside of [the] wings of [the] Green Broom moth”? And “Prussian Blue”—a pigment still popular in paint sets today—composes the “beauty spot on [the] wing of [the] mallard duck”? With these notes, naturalists and other curious observers of the past were able to study their surroundings like never before.
Werner's Nomenclature of Colours was created by German mineralogist Abraham Gottlob Werner, Scottish painter Patrick Syme, and Scottish naturalist Robert Jameson in 1814. While it has been used by people in an array of professions and fields, it has resonated most strongly as a scientific tool, with naturalist Charles Darwin as perhaps its most renowned reader.
While Werner's Nomenclature of Colours may seem like a relic of the past, Smithsonian Books has recently opted to re-publish the beloved work. So, if you'd like a polychromatic peek into history, be sure to pre-order your own pocket-sized copy from Amazon.
Werner's Nomenclature of Colours is a19th-century color guide that describes where you can find certain tones in nature.
The natural specimens included in the color descriptions are animals, vegetables, and minerals.
Each hue is also illustrated by a small swatch and a poetic name.
You can pick up a pocket-sized copy of this beloved book on Amazon!
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As a lifelong painter, how has your work changed over time? Have portraits always been your speciality?
Your portraits feature a unique blend of realism and abstraction. How did you develop this aesthetic?
Is it difficult to assure that the dress is as genuine as possible? What research goes into each painting?
In addition to Native American subjects, what else inspires your work?
We look forward to seeing more of your paintings! Any upcoming plans or projects?
Jeremy Winborg: Website | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter
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(Image credit: U.S. Ski & Snowboard Team)
