Steven Pinker charts the decline of violence from Biblical times to the present, and argues that, though it may seem illogical and even obscene, given Iraq and Darfur, we are living in the most peaceful time in our species' existence. LINK: Youtube
Is it possible for art to be creepy and cute at the same time? Certainly when you see the porcelain art of Kate MacDowell in to account you are struck by two things. There is an breathtaking beauty in her attention to detail of our animal friends. Yet, many of the animals that she portrays are distinctly dead – already on the slab and undergoing a porcelain necropsy.
When you think about it our relationship with nature goes back way before human history – cave paintings drawn by prehistoric people in what they no doubt did not refer to as their leisure time show our intimacy with the natural world. Tens of thousands of years later MacDowell extends that tradition.
Yet all those many thousands of years ago we hunted and we gathered. We retain a rather idealistic impression of our union with nature in an age when our impact on our environment has never been so great or so harmful. MacDowell’s pieces reflect this dichotomy – we are the ultimate environmental stressor. We pollute, change the climate and introduce GM crops. LINK: kuriositas
Excel sure could've helped the crew of Apollo 11 get off the moon. Imagine having to do that complicated math without it. LINK: Youtube
Learn more about how Excel can help you achieve your goals faster and easier: http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/excel
This is an incredibly interesting old film made in 1938 on the 75th anniversary of the Battle at Gettysburg. It records some of the then still living survivors of that war. It's an amazing step back into history. Those old veterans gathered on that day in their own final years of life to remember those three days, July 1-3, 1863, where as young men they fought in one of the bloodiest battles of that war. It is a poignant visual reflection on the passage of time and how it heals all wounds. More Americans lost their lives in that war than have died in all the wars we have fought in since then.
Remembering our history is important. Someone once said that those who refuse to learn from history are doomed to live it over and over again. If you are moved by this short film use it as an opportunity to learn more about this battle and the history of the CIvil War. In two more years we will be celebrating the 150th anniversary of Gettysburg. America is what it is as much for the experience of the Civil War as for that of the Revolutionary War. We are our history. LINK, Via: Youtube
Another Historical Landmark in upstate New York has been destroyed thanks to the State Government System. The citizens of Louisville, New York tried to save the stone bridge constructed in the 1880's. No politicians or state officials cared enough to save the bridge. It was believed to be constructed by a Civil War Era African American Slave and could have been placed on the National Register of Historical Landmarks.."THE FIGHT WASN'T FOUGHT HARD ENOUGH." LINK: Youtube
James Arness is best known for his role as Marshal Matt Dillon in 'Gunsmoke,' one of the longest-running prime-time series in network TV history. He was a towering symbol of frontier justice in the series that broke the mold for TV westerns.
Arness died of natural causes at his home in Brentwood, said family spokeswoman Ginny Fazer. LINK
"In contrast to the Judeo Christian religions which tend to celebrate people and events, and thus can be practiced anywhere, the Navajo religion is founded on relationships to specific places. The Navajo religion is defined by and cannot be separated from its relationship to specific geographical places. These sites are sacred because of special religious events which have occurred in that particular site.
The Navajo people believe that the Creator placed them on land between four sacred mountains: Blanca Peak in Colorado, Mount Taylor in New Mexico, the San Francisco Peaks in Arizona, and Hesperus Peak in Colorado.
According to their own history, the Navajos have always lived between these mountains. The Navajo people have been instructed by the Creator never to leave their sacred homeland.
The story of the creation of the Navajo people and their emergence onto their sacred homeland is recounted in a ceremony known as the Blessingway, which is the foundation of the Navajo way of life. Blessingway focuses on the story of Changing Woman, who is the inner form of the Earth through its seasonal transformations. She is the major deity for the Navajo. LINK: Youtube
More on this at the Link above.
On this day in history: Uncle Sam cartoon debuts; Brigadoon opens on Broadway; Deadly rampage at Scottish elementary school. (March 13). LINK: Youtube
On this day in history The Boston Masacre takes place and singer Patsy Cline is killed in a plane crash. LINK: Youtube
35mm from Pascal Monaco on Vimeo.
Highlights of this day in history: World War II's Yalta Conference; O.J. Simpson found liable for the murders of his ex-wife and her friend; Patty Hearst kidnapped; the Massachusetts gay marriage ruling; aviator Charles Lindbergh born. (Feb. 4). LINK: Youtube
Ani is an abandoned city in Turkey near the Armenian border. At one time it had 200,000 residents, but no one has lived there for 300 years. Huge empty ancient buildings remain, all alone in their magnificence. The history of this city is long and bloody, and the remaining archaeological site is in danger of disappearing completely. See lots more pictures at Kuriositas. Link, Via: Neatorama
“People around the world have been smoking marijuana for thousands of years while also using the hemp plant for everything from fabric and rope to ethanol fuel. Unfortunately, somewhere along the way, a man with a bit of power and enough determination decided pot was wicked, evil and narcotic. He moved mountains to make it illegal worldwide. In the U.S., the struggle continues to this day to overcome the lies and misconceptions about marijuana that the government spent billions to spread… Here are the 42 milestones in the history of marijuana.” w/ photos. LINK
"New York City Subway Opens"
UPDATED: 10/27/2010
At 2:35 on the afternoon of October 27, 1904, New York City Mayor George McClellan takes the controls on the inaugural run of the city's innovative new rapid transit system: the subway.
While London boasts the world's oldest underground train network (opened in 1863) and Boston built the first subway in the United States in 1897, the New York City subway soon became the largest American system. The first line, operated by the Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT), traveled 9.1 miles through 28 stations. Running from City Hall in lower Manhattan to Grand Central Terminal in midtown, and then heading west along 42nd Street to Times Square, the line finished by zipping north, all the way to 145th Street and Broadway in Harlem. On opening day, Mayor McClellan so enjoyed his stint as engineer that he stayed at the controls all the way from City Hall to 103rd Street.
At 7 p.m. that evening, the subway opened to the general public, and more than 100,000 people paid a nickel each to take their first ride under Manhattan. IRT service expanded to the Bronx in 1905, to Brooklyn in 1908 and to Queens in 1915. Since 1968, the subway has been controlled by the Metropolitan Transport Authority (MTA). The system now has 26 lines and 468 stations in operation; the longest line, the 8th Avenue "A" Express train, stretches more than 32 miles, from the northern tip of Manhattan to the far southeast corner of Queens.
Every day, some 4.5 million passengers take the subway in New York. With the exception of the PATH train connecting New York with New Jersey and some parts of Chicago's elevated train system, New York's subway is the only rapid transit system in the world that runs 24 hours a day, seven days a week. No matter how crowded or dirty, the subway is one New York City institution few New Yorkers—or tourists—could do without. LINK, Video-Via: Youtube
Our pal Ben Cosgrove at LIFE posted a gorgeous slideshow of ye olde natural history museum dioramas. Seen above, an 1898 "Beisa Antelope Oryx diorama" by taxidermist Carl Akeley, from the collection of the Field Museum. "Wild Dioramas Back In The Day". Via: Boingboing
A Complete History Of The Soviet Union Through The Eyes Of A Humble Worker, Arranged To The Melody Of Tetris.
Music by "Pig With The Face Of A Boy". LINK: Youtube
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