Tadeu

Vienna’s Café Central was crowded with intellectuals at the turn of the 20th century, including Freud, Lenin, the Vienna Circle of logical positivists, and endless chessplayers.

When Victor Adler made the argument that war would provoke a revolution in Russia, Leopold Berchtold replied, “And who will lead this revolution? Perhaps Mr. Bronstein sitting over there at the Café Central?”

Mr. Bronstein was Leon Trotsky.

asian:

Go home bus you’re drunk

[mrlovenstein] (hidden panel)

[deathbulge]

More annoyance.

Here on this corner of the internet, we see a lot of abandoned places. For some of them, we can even understand how circumstances might have led their abandonment. This however, is a head-in-hands kind of moment.

The Castello di Sammezzano is a show-stopper, a jaw-dropper. Hidden away in the Tuscan hills of Northern Italy, this electrifyingly beautiful Moorish castle was built a whopping 400+ years ago in 1605, but for more than two decades, it’s been sitting empty, neglected, vulnerable to vandalism and to the elements.

(c) Massimo Listri

There are 365 rooms in the Castello di Sammazzano, one for every day of the year. The Moroccan-style palatial villa is a labyrinthe of exquisitely tiled rooms, each one intricately unique. Originally built by a Spanish noble, Ximenes of Aragon in the 17th century, it wasn’t until the 19th century that the castle would find its arabian identity and be transformed into the etherial palace it resembles today.

(c) Dan Raven

(c) Martino Zegwaard

(c) Darmé

This is all owed to its inheritor, Marquis Ferdinando Panciatichi Ximenes, a largely forgotten but key cultural, social and political figure in Florence when the city was the capital of Italy. Ferdinando, who lived and died at the property, spent 40 years planning, financing and realizing this exotic castle that would become the most important example of orientalist architecture in Italy– only to be left to ruin at the hands of modern-day investors.

After the Marquis’ death at the end of the 19th century, there was a period of uncertainty for the property and historical records appear to be rather patchy. During the war, the Germans came looting, stealing mainly from the castle’s surrounding park that had once been considered the largest and most exotic in Tuscany. They took many important statues and fountains of Moorish style, as well as an entire bridge and a grotto featuring a statue of Venus. When the war ended, the castle became a luxury hotel, restaurant and bar.

Unfortunately there appears to be no photographs of the villa during this period, I couldn’t even get the name of the hotel, which reportedly closed its doors in 1990. For a decade, it stood without a master of the house until 1999, when a British company ceremoniously bought the Castello di Sammezzano at auction. But still, the castello would remain unoccupied; it’s vaulted rooms and archways empty and unappreciated.

The plan for Sammezzano called for an 18-hole championship golf course and a large sports facility and clubhouse. But construction hadn’t yet begun when the investment company ran into “economic issues” and the castle was forgotten, left to fall into an extreme state of disrepair. The exterior damage by vandals and the weather is fairly evident. On the inside, many windows were broken, railings cut, chandeliers and rosettes stolen.

It wasn’t until 2013 that a local non-profit committee was founded to help raise awareness of the increasingly decaying castle. They have no ownership of Sammezzano but they help to arrange and promote public openings. And while the Comitato FPXA (after the initials of Ferdinando Panciatichi Ximenes of Aragon) has been doing their part, the property has been quietly sold to the global developer, Palmerston Hotel & Resorts.

On their website, the developer’s to-do list includes several worldwide projects, including the Castello Sammezzano, which they intend to develop into a “luxurious sporting resort, incorporating a boutique hotel, apartments, spa and country club with golf, tennis and various sporting amenities”. They have obtained all necessary planning approvals and claim redevelopment is scheduled to commence in 2014.

Another luxury hotel development might not be the fairytale ending we were necessarily waiting for, but here’s hoping this arabian castle will finally be restored to its former glory– and maybe they’ll let us come round for a mint tea under those otherworldly ceilings.

Stay tuned for updates on the Comitato FPXA facebook page. 

Images by urban exploration photographers Dan Raven / Darmé / Martino Zegwaard

Comic URL: http://www.lefthandedtoons.com/1636/

dynamite with a laser beam

A Bethesda revelou hoje um novo trailer com gameplay do jogo "Wolfenstein: The New Order". O vídeo começa com imagens do Brasil de 1950 e cenas de uma partida de futebol, mas o cenário e a época são, provavelmente, só pra contextualizar o game: ele se passa em um mundo...

bunnyfood:

(via derplodge)

silentgiantla:

Animated artwork by Rebecca Mock

Fine, detailed and subtle animated artwork created by New York illustrator Rebecca Mock. Apparently the animated gif back to stay, gradually more and more people are exploring this old format and customers asking for shouting. Several of these illustrations were created for the New York Times or The Warlus magazine.

chemfusion:

zombiesandmore:

If Andromeda were brighter, this is how it would look in our night sky. They’re all out there, we just can’t see them

Distance to Earth: 2,538,000 light years

we just can’t see them :(

Having view like that would be awesome!

Using data from the National Endowment of the Arts, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Movoto calculated the musical preferences of each region of the United States and arranged them in heat maps, showing which musical genres are most popular in each area of the lower 48 states.

Most people don’t think of Minneapolis or Seattle as having a rap scene or Las Vegas as a place that puts out country music. But they do.

There are sure to be other surprises as you peruse all 17 genres…

Alternative

Bluegrass

Blues

Country

EDM/Electronica

Folk

Gospel

Indie

Jazz

Latin

Metal

Pop

Punk

Rap & Hip-Hop

Rhythm & Blues

Rock & Oldies

Soul

(via io9)

	firehose shared this story from BBC News - Home:
	see also <a href="http://www.reuters.com/video/2012/03/08/female-eagle-hunter-reaches-new-heights?videoId=231446109">http://www.reuters.com/video/2012/03/08/female-eagle-hunter-reaches-new-heights?videoId=231446109</a>

---

Last week, NASA astronaut Steve Swanson sent the first Instagram from space. It was a selfie, naturally, taken before the ISS cupola. But what caught our eye wasn't Swanson's handsome mug or the view of Earth. It was Swanson's shirt, which features a familiar spacecraft and the words: "Shipping & Logistics: Everything's Shiny."

Read more...

Remember that time HBO put out an official Game of Thrones rap album, only it wasn’t as good as it could have been because there weren’t enough nerdy book references?

Duo The Sons of Mim put out a parody album that puts HBO’s efforts to shame. Coincidentally, it’s called Shame of Tones, and I swear to you, it is not an April Fools’ joke. “Total Eclipse Of House Stark” is actually a song you can listen to in real life. Above is the music video for the Tyrion-themed “Lannista’s Paradise,” which, fair warning, does feature some offensive language. Behind the cut I’ve included the track list for the entire album, which can be downloaded on The Sons of Mims’ Tumblr.

Red Wedding
Lannista’s Paradise
Arya Gonna Make Them Pay
Even Flowdor
Another Dick on the Wall
Dr****s in Essos
Total Eclipse of House Stark

It’s impossible for me to pick a favorite. The Dany-themed “Dr****s in Essos,” a parody of “N****s in Paris,” is splendid, but the lyrics of Pearl Jam parody “Even Flowdor” are inspired. And “Red Wedding.” “Red Wedding.”

Again: Not an April Fools’ joke. You will not download these songs and find that they are all “Never Gonna Give You Up,” I swear to R’hllor. Listen to them now.

(via Geekosystem)

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There's a growing body of scientific evidence that being hangry is a completely real thing — and that low blood sugar leads to bad behavior.